Although Murphy was on "vacation," her agent, Mo Xiaojuan, didn't get a break. She still had to go back to the company to handle Murphy's work and arrange future schedules.
However, over the past few days, gossip had been spreading again!
"Some people haven't made a peep in over half a month, yet they swore they'd collected enough songs for an album!" In the hallway to the break room, Mo Xiaojuan could hear someone deliberately raising their voice.
"Exactly! Now they probably can't get songs and are too afraid of hard work. I heard they even took leave to go home and sleep it off."
"So they'll never get their big break? Are they really content to stay in the second or third tier forever?"
"Who knows? Anyway, they're past their prime and have even... cough, you know what I mean! Dreaming of being a star? Fat chance!"
"I get it, Sister Ling already issued a gag order, right? Hehe..."
A while back, Mo Xiaojuan might have argued back indignantly, but now she had learned to ignore it.
Still, her temper hadn't faded. She smiled and nodded on the surface, but inside she was fuming: "Damn it, a bunch of little bitches. When my big sister makes her comeback, I'll tear your mouths apart!"
Mo Xiaojuan still had some friends at the company, like Xiao Ai and a few other easygoing girls who didn't like conflict.
In the break room, she ran into a friendly female coworker who was eating fruit.
"Hey, Xiaojuan, do you want to get a cat?" the coworker asked excitedly when she saw her.
Mo Xiaojuan shook her head with a smile. "No way. Look how busy I am—I don't even have time to find a boyfriend, let alone take care of a little master. Do you think I'm Xiao Ai?"
"That's exactly who I'm talking about!" the coworker said. "Didn't you know? Xiao Ai is giving away her cats!"
"Giving away her cats? How is that possible? Xiao Ai loves cats like her own life!" Mo Xiaojuan asked in surprise.
The coworker nodded but then shook her head. "Not all of them, but the kittens have to go to someone else. Here's what happened..."
After hearing the gossip, Mo Xiaojuan finally understood the whole story.
It turned out that Xiao Ai's parents had set her up with a supposedly great match. But during the blind date, Xiao Ai suddenly remembered she hadn't closed the door between her bedroom and the balcony!
The adult cat was fine—it could leap around freely. But she was worried that the curious little kitten might climb onto the balcony and fall off. Even though it was only the third floor, a kitten that small would turn into a pancake if it fell!
Did people really think cats had nine lives?
So she turned down the chance to chat further with her date and rushed home to check on the kitten.
"Couldn't she have brought him back, had him wait downstairs, closed the door, and then continued the date?" Mo Xiaojuan asked incredulously.
"Who knows? Anyway, that guy wasn't great either—he even complained to Xiao Ai's parents," the coworker said with a shrug.
Never mind Xiao Ai and that guy; the blind date was a bust.
Xiao Ai's parents flew into a rage and ordered her to give away all the kittens immediately. "A girl keeping one cat is fine, but a whole litter? Are you raising them like kids? Do you want a boyfriend or not? Are you planning to end up alone?"
That was the older generation's logic. Xiao Ai had no choice but to contact everyone she knew, hoping to find good homes for her kittens. She wouldn't give them to just anyone, afraid the kittens might end up with bad owners...
"She's totally overwhelmed right now," the coworker sighed. She felt sorry for Xiao Ai and was helping her ask around.
Mo Xiaojuan's eyes lit up.
...
Murphy had been at Yang Yi's place for a few days. Aside from the first day, when she was groggy from a fever, she had been having a great time. Arranging flowers, asking Yang Yi to draw her a chibi portrait, teaming up with Xixi to criticize her dad—these were all small, everyday things, but life felt comfortable. Her smiles grew more frequent, and even evening walks felt as pleasant as a vacation.
Today, Murphy remembered that Yang Yi's coffee shop hadn't opened in days! She also wanted to check if he had kept his promise to reserve a shelf for her records and merchandise. So, using the excuse of urging him to resume business, the family headed to "The Coffee Shop at the Corner."
She hadn't noticed before, but today, as Yang Yi brought out the sign and hung it up, Murphy finally paid attention to the name: "Oh, Yang Yi, why is your coffee shop also called 'The Coffee Shop at the Corner'? It sounds just like the one in Chen Yijie's song!"
"Oh, really? I like that song too, so I changed it later," Yang Yi said calmly.
"Really?" Murphy was skeptical. She muttered, "I feel like the old sign looked pretty similar, didn't it?"
But she didn't dwell on it, and Xixi's call distracted her.
"Wow, Mommy!" Xixi had gone in first and spotted the grand piano in the shop. Her eyes lit up, and she ran back, tugging her mother's hand like she was showing off a treasure. "Mommy, let me show you something!"
"What is it?" Murphy was led by her daughter to the piano.
"This! Daddy says it's a, it's a piano!" Xixi explained eagerly, worried her mom might misunderstand like she had. "But it's not made of steel!"
"Yang Yi, you bought a piano?" Murphy was first surprised, then confused by her daughter. "What do you mean, not made of steel?"
"Yeah, I suddenly thought having a piano in the coffee shop would be nice, so I bought one," Yang Yi said, barely holding back a laugh. He told Murphy about the time Xixi compared the electronic keyboard to the piano.
"Haha, Xixi, you silly girl!" Murphy was amused by her daughter.
"I'm not silly! I can play the piano, you know!" The little girl puffed out her chest, sat down properly on the small stool in front of the piano, and asked her dad to lift the lid.
She then stretched out one finger, poked a white key, then poked a black key. Well, in her mind, making a sound meant she could play the piano!
"Get up, let Mommy show you what real piano playing is!" Murphy said enthusiastically, reminded of her childhood piano lessons by her daughter's adorable "performance."
"Okay! Xixi wants to see Mommy play!" Xixi hopped down happily.
Yang Yi watched with interest as Murphy sat gracefully at the piano. He had heard her sing many songs and even watched some of her early show recordings, but he had never seen her play the piano!
"Ding-ding-dong-dong..." Murphy ran her hands across the keys from left to right, testing the sound and feel, then began to play.
It was one of her old songs. Yang Yi recognized the intro and said, "Gentle Memories?"
Murphy turned to look at him, a smile in her eyes, and nodded.