We moved to Golden Courtyard

Xu Qi had just spoken with Cheng Lixue about this name, mentioning it as the predecessor of this flower and bird market. For some reason, Xu Qi felt a sense of familiarity with it.

He must have seen it somewhere, or heard someone mention it.

Thinking this, he followed the two little girls into a narrow alley.

Unlike the main street of the flower and bird market, which is noticeably clean, this narrow alley... is already quite narrow, and it also appears rather dirty and messy.

Ellie was very distressed.

"This is terrible..."

"Just bear with it for now, about taking a shower when you get back?"

Ellie turned her head and squinted at Xu Qi.

I have a feeling that what he's implying is—we can do some exercise together while we're taking a shower.

What a bad guy!

Faced with this situation, Pado seemed quite at ease, moving with practiced ease through the narrow alley as if she were scaling walls.

She must have developed this skill by frequently "buying goods" from wealthy people's homes.

The tracking device led us through a winding, circuitous route.

And when the scene before my eyes unfolded...

"Meow?"

It was a... variegated stray cat.

The tracker clearly showed that the hair came from the wild cat that was licking its paws.

Pado was instantly discouraged.

"Huh? Have we all been tricked?"

Xu Qi took the tracking device and said helplessly, "It's probably stuck to my body, or maybe the hair was collected incorrectly. The professor's equipment is definitely reliable and accurate."

"Yes..."

Ellie stood aside, equally regretful, as this meant the trail had gone cold.

But soon, she suddenly looked towards her feet and saw a tan wildcat cautiously approaching Alicia's feet, rubbing against her calves and meowing softly.

"Ugh?"

"Wow... Sister Ellie, it seems like it really likes you."

Indeed, wild cats are unlikely to approach people willingly; they are mostly wary and timid.

Ellie's eyes softened, and she crouched down to gently pat the kitten's head.

"Hello? My name is Alicia~~"

The scene of the girl and the cat was so beautiful that Xu Qi didn't want to disturb it at all.

Pado, too, watched the scene with a slight smile, but still said, "Sister Aili, be careful. Wild cats are quite dirty, especially here."

"Just go back and wash your hands. Refusing now will hurt the kitten's feelings."

"..."

Gradually, seemingly noticing that these three unusually tall creatures weren't very aggressive, the wild cats lurking nearby slowly gathered around.

Xu Qi exclaimed in surprise, "So many? Is this their gathering place?"

Seeing this, Pado nodded.

"That must be it. Even if they don't know each other, when they're wandering around, they can only stick together for warmth."

Xu Qi seemed to remember something. He subconsciously glanced at Pado, whose expression didn't seem particularly sad, but rather had a hint of reminiscence.

"Thinking back to the past?"

"Hmm... but people don't live in the past. Pado's life is very good now, isn't it? She has the boss and everyone in the courtyard. Pado is already very content."

Contentment brings happiness; optimistic cats always have a smile that can infect people's hearts.

Xu Qi glanced around with a smile, about to speak, when suddenly his gaze sharpened!

From his perspective, a very unique cat has entered the scene.

It has short limbs, is light brown, and has a silent bell hanging around its neck...

“Pado…”

"What's wrong, boss?"

"Did I show you the picture of that cat? Can you remember it?"

"Of course! There's no cat I don't recognize!"

"Then look..." Xu Qi pointed to a beam above the alley, "Is it that one?"

Pado raised her head, and the two people and the cat stared at each other for a long time.

"Meow~~ (You! Come here!~~)"

"It's her!"

"Meow!" The tiny chinchilla instantly ran away! Paddo immediately shouted, "Stop!"

Then he rushed up.

Ellie was startled and quickly stood up! Her and Paddo's actions undoubtedly frightened the stray cats around them, causing them to scatter and flee.

"Xu Qi! We!..."

"It's okay."

Xu Qi smiled.

"Let Pado go after her. She's a professional. Even if we follow behind, we won't be able to catch up."

Ellie tilted her head and thought for a moment—it seems so…

"Speaking of which, those little wildcats were quite agile as they scattered and fled."

"Huh? Is that right? The one I just petted had some crumbs on its mouth, like it just ate something."

"There might be some trash cans around here."

"Xu Qi!!" Ai Li immediately yelled at Xu Qi in exasperation. She's just kind-hearted, not unclean! She's a girl, after all, and she loves to look pretty, okay?

Xu Qi immediately surrendered and laughed, "Just kidding."

He then took out a rolled-up handkerchief from the inside pocket of his jacket and handed it to Ellie.

"Shall we wipe it off first?"

"Hmph?~~"

Traditional men even carry a handkerchief when they go out...

"Let's go?"

"Didn't you say you weren't going to pursue Padma?"

"I want to ask about something. Let's go back to Cheng Lixue's cat cafe. You can wash your hands while you're there."

"Hmph?~~"

After humming, Ellie still felt unsatisfied. She reached out and, taking advantage of Xu Qi's inattention, deliberately rubbed her hands hard on his clothes twice.

"well!?"

I applied it and ran away! So exciting!

Ellie even turned her head and stuck her tongue out at Xu Qi.

"Hehe? Serves you right for making me angry! Come and catch me, hehe?~~"

Is she a little kid? She's really a little devil...

Xu Qi smiled and shook his head.

"Watch out! Don't fall!"

"Got it? Grab me first!"

How could anyone not love Alice? He always says he dotes on Alice, but what can he do? Some girls are just born to be pampered.

538. And you, my Li Xue, you are the true hero.

"Ding-a-ling!~~"

The wooden door was pushed open, eliciting a pleasant sound of wind chimes.

Cheng Lixue, who was sitting on the blanket and petting the cat as usual, looked up and smiled – “You two, have you caught the cat yet?”

"No, I can only say I saw him."

"Saw it?"

"Hmm, it's in a small alley in the backstreet. It seems to be a gathering place for a bunch of stray cats." He said, patting Ellie beside him. "Go wash your hands."

"Oh……"

Cheng Lixue stood up, took out a box of tea from behind the counter, and brewed two cups of tea.

"Mr. Xu is back, there must be something you want to talk to me about, right?"

It was still that small white wooden table. Xu Qi looked at Cheng Lixue sitting opposite him and, sure enough, he still felt... that she was like a female knight-errant.

It seemed somewhat out of place in this cat shop.

"Well, actually I just wanted to ask Miss Cheng about something."

"No need to call me Miss Cheng. It's fate that we met. Just call me Li Xue."

"Then Lixue can just call me by my name."

The two smiled at each other, both finding it very pleasant to chat with the other.

"You mentioned before that this flower and bird market was originally called Twilight Street. So, Lixue, have you ever heard of Twilight Street?"

Cheng Lixue fell into deep thought.

"When I opened my shop here, Twilight Street no longer existed, but at that time this place had just been renovated, so you could still hear a lot of stories about this street."

For example, this street once produced a notorious thief.

Just then, Ellie finished washing her hands and came over. When she heard the words "heroic thief," her eyes lit up, and she quickly asked, "A great thief? Does he have a name?"

Cheng Lixue smiled and said, "It does have a name. Back in the old days, Huanghun Street was full of poor people and many homeless people."

It is said that the chivalrous thief was also a homeless man who would often steal money from wealthy families in the city and then distribute it to the vagrants there.

Therefore, everyone called him the 'righteous thief'.

A righteous thief?

Alicia was stunned—that wasn't…

However, when she saw that Xu Qi still looked calm, she immediately understood and chose to remain silent as well.

"Doesn't it seem pretty unbelievable? When I first heard about it, I also found it interesting. What kind of society is this? There are still people doing things like robbing the rich to help the poor."

It's just like the martial arts world of the old days, with chivalrous heroes leaping across rooftops and protecting the peace of the local people with their passion and so-called chivalrous spirit.

It sounds impossible, so... everyone just treats it as a legend.

……

Alicia lowered her head slightly, her heart filled with many words, but they were stuck in her throat, unable to be uttered.

She disliked Cheng Lixue's words, and what she disliked even more was that someone like Cheng Lixue would say such things.

People like to say that reality is cold and harsh.

But for Ellie, it was because she had also met many characters like "knights-errant" that she also believed that reality could be romantic.

But it's obviously useless for her to be the only one who firmly believes this.

So the words stuck in my throat, I wanted to say them but held back, and instead said, "What a fine autumn day!"