CHAPTER 757: CHAPTER 454: THE FIRST DAY BACK AT WORK_2

"Nope, I called you and Hanami-chan, but neither of you answered. I stayed home too late and didn’t want to go out. After all, the coffee shop wasn’t open yet, and I didn’t know where to put them if I picked them up. So I simply had the shop owner deliver them here today since he wanted to see the cats’ living environment anyway."

The shop owner who sells cats cares about this?

Uesugi Sakura couldn’t believe the level of meticulous care they gave to cats.

"Alright, I’m going to eat the pudding. Do you want me to save some for you?" Towa Rina waved her hand, saying to him.

"Whatever, it’s best to save a portion."

"Alright then." Towa Rina turned and left.

Uesugi Sakura continued organizing the bookshelves. He bent down to pick up a white book from the cardboard box, the title was "Snow Country".

"Snow Country," ah, a very famous book by Kawabata Yasunari.

Uesugi Sakura clearly remembered that he portrayed even the curve of a beautiful woman’s toes as likely being clean.

Opening the book cover, the first line was a very classic description: [Passing through the long tunnel of the county border, it’s the snow country. Under the night sky, all is a vast expanse of whiteness. The train came to a stop before the signal station.]

No embellishments, giving a simple yet clear image.

Uesugi Sakura couldn’t help but continue reading.

Ring~

Unaware of how much time had passed, the sound of the wind chime brought Uesugi Sakura back to his senses, and he closed the book.

"Welcome."

Upon a closer look, it was Hanamaru Hanabi who had come into the store.

With her hands behind her back, she carried a small bag and came up to Uesugi Sakura.

"Hehe." The girl smiled sweetly at him.

"What’s up?"

Hanamaru Hanabi lifted the plastic bag hidden behind her back in front of him, tilted her small head slightly, and smiled, "Two skewers of charcoal-grilled chicken for Sakura-kun."

Uesugi Sakura glanced, "What made you think of bringing this for me?"

"I got hungry when Hanabi was taking the subway, so I went to the 711 convenience store to buy something to eat. But Hanabi thought it wasn’t good to eat alone, so I brought two skewers for Sakura-kun. How is it? Hanabi is nice to Sakura-kun, right?"

Hanamaru Hanabi’s eyes curved into adorable crescent moons, and her little feet in small leather shoes nimbly stood on tiptoe.

Uesugi Sakura looked at her smiling face, feeling that she looked like a child intentionally seeking praise at that moment.

Cute and a little clever.

"Great," Uesugi Sakura took the skewers from her hand, "It’d be great if Hanabi cared for me like this every day."

"Isn’t Hanabi doing that every day for Sakura-kun?"

"Hmm, so what I want is always."

"Sakura-kun is so greedy!"

Hanamaru Hanabi said with a smile, then turned and prepared to go to the employee room to change into her maid outfit.

"Wait a minute."

"What is it?" Hanamaru Hanabi came back to her senses.

"How about revealing your identity to everyone? Working here as Hanami feels kind of weird."

"Sure, as long as no little foxes approach Sakura-kun today, Hanabi is fine with it."

The girl finished speaking, then turned, smiling, and walked into the employee room.

What little fox...

Uesugi Sakura felt that recently the dark Hanabi was becoming more and more adorable.

Could she be transitioning to become like Hanabi gradually?

Didn’t she mean that when she said she’d disappear yesterday?

Uesugi Sakura reached this point, and suddenly felt a bit uneasy inside.

Both personalities of Hanabi are her; one buries emotions deep down, while the other openly expresses them.

The shy Hanabi he hoped would always exist, but he could also fully accept the more open and confident Hanamaru Hanabi.

Growth itself is a kind of transformation.

But is Hanabi’s growth a process of separation and gradual fusion?

Uesugi Sakura knew he was prone to anxiety. Hanabi’s smile was so beautiful that even after marriage, her smile always made him want to admire and pursue it.

Uesugi Sakura looked at the picture of them both smiling on his phone screen.

Indeed, love turns into an eternal belief.

Uesugi Sakura put his phone back in his pocket, slowly closed the "Snow Country" in his hand, and placed it on the newly arranged bookshelf.

...

After organizing the books, Uesugi Sakura went to the entrance, flipped the "Open" signboard to the outside, then returned to the counter to prepare the tools needed for work today.

Towa Rina emerged with a piece of bread in her mouth from the back kitchen, holding a phone in her right hand, and said in a muffled voice:

"Ooh, Uesugi, the cats have arrived, could you go downstairs and get them?"

"Should I?" Uesugi Sakura stopped his work.

Towa Rina swallowed her bread, "Nothing I can do, Yuno and the others, Todaka Kobashi and the rest will come later."

"Alright then." Uesugi Sakura reluctantly agreed.

Sometimes coming to work too early only adds an extra workload without any benefit.

Downstairs, Uesugi Sakura saw the cats inside cages.

"Meow~"

"Meow~"

"Meow~~"

"Meow! (Weep~ Boss~)"

In the midst of soft meowing, a strange sound suddenly emerged.

Uesugi Sakura glanced at the British Shorthair Blue grabbing the metal railing with its paw inside the cage.

How odd, why is it only this one seems so aware?

"Could you please sign here, Mr. Uesugi," the store owner put down two cat cages, turned, and took a clipboard from the female employee’s hand, and handed it to Uesugi Sakura.

"Me sign?"

"Yes," Store owner Zewan looked up at the coffee shop sign above, then looked down and said to him, "After I go in and check the environment, there’ll be no issues."

"Alright." Uesugi Sakura handed the pen and clipboard back to the female employee.

"Please lead the way, Mr. Uesugi."

"No problem."

"Oh, by the way, that British Shorthair is almost a year old. I recommend getting it neutered."

"Meow! (Crafty humans!)"

Uesugi Sakura replied, "Let’s wait a bit more."

"Alright then."

The cattery owner and staff followed Uesugi Sakura upstairs to the coffee shop, feeling satisfied with the cat’s new environment.

The coffee shop’s atmosphere was also satisfactory, with greenery, balconies, a spacious area, and a spiral post designated for the cats.

Uesugi Sakura envied how modern cats can live in such a good environment.

As an adorable pet of humans, aside from the lack of complete reproductive autonomy, it’s not a bad life.

The three little kittens were handed over to Hanamaru Hanabi and Towa Rina to take care of.

Uesugi Sakura carried his own British Shorthair Blue.

"Meow~ (Boss, let me out already.)"

Uesugi Sakura put down the box and opened the door for the cat.

The cat stepped out on its white paws, tail high, round eyes surveying the surroundings:

"Meow. (Is this the boss’s base?)"

"What base?" Uesugi folded the cage.

"Meow. (A base to conquer the human planet.)" The cat leapt onto a stool, then from the stool onto the counter, sat down with its butt.

Conquer the human planet? What nonsense.

Uesugi Sakura thought this feline had quite an imagination.

"Do you have a name?"

"Meow! (Name? It’s useless, merely a slave tag humans give cats! It’s an unfair treatment! We’ll never submit to humans!)"

Ring~

"Welcome."

A mother walked in with her four-year-old daughter.

The little girl immediately spotted the British Shorthair Blue sitting on the counter, waving its tail, her eyes lit up, and she broke away from her mother’s hand, reaching out to hug it.

"Kitty! Kitty!"

"Meow~"

The Blue cat lowered its head and meowed at the little girl who was all smiles.

Uesugi Sakura understood the meaning, roughly saying: human youngster, do not block me and the boss from conquering the planet.

The girl’s mother came over, and Uesugi Sakura went to greet them.

The lady glanced around at the new facilities in the shop: "Oh~ have you renovated here?"

"Yes, may I get you something to drink?"

"Just anything, two coffees with a bit more milk, please."

"No problem." Uesugi Sakura turned and walked behind the counter, washed his hands, and began working.

Meanwhile, the little girl stealthily climbed onto the high stool, wrapping her arms around the British Shorthair Blue trying to sneak away.

"Meow!"

"Kitty~"

"Kitty~"

The little girl gently patted its head, her small hands slowly sliding from its head down its spine, feeling the smoothness, glancing up at her mother’s smiling face with joy.

"The kitty is so cute."

"Meow~"

Uesugi Sakura watched as he worked, seeing the British Shorthair Blue on the counter closing its eyes, its tail swaying back and forth.

Wasn’t this guy enjoying being petted comfortably?