I Can Talk To Cats

Chapter 14: Planning to Open a Shop (Part One)

Translated by Lime

"My family member suddenly fell sick and their treatment requires a large amount of money. I don't have any left to continue to rent the store, I'm truly sorry." Sister Yang stood in the doorway, her face full of remorse: "I recognize that I'm breaking the contract by stopping our rental agreement early. I'm causing so much trouble for you, if I had a choice, I wouldn't want to close down our shop either..."

"It's okay." Father and Mother Lin empathized with her, "Emergencies can't be prevented or predicted. Don't worry about us, Sister Yang. We can take care of the breach of contract whenever you have time to file it."

"Oh! Thank you, Brother and Sister Lin!" Sister Yang gratefully repeated, "Thank you so much, I really am embarrassed to trouble both of you!"

Anxious to leave, Sister Yang focused on finishing the conversation. Immediately after the matter with the lease was settled, she turned left and walked towards the stairway, without noticing the living and breathing human that was standing next to her.

Lin Lan didn't take offense, concerned about the conversation they were having: "Dad, Mom, Sister Yang wants to stop the rental of her store early?"

The couple saw Lin Lan standing to the side, long before Sister Yang left. Without thinking twice, Lin Youyu replied, "Correct, two months ago, her husband was diagnosed with uremia when he went in for an examination. The medical fees for one year of treatment were calculated to be around 100,000 yuan, so Sister Yang ultimately decided to close the clothing shop. The remaining rental deposit would go towards the hospital bills."

(T/N: 100,000 yuan ≈ $14,100 USD. '租金' = rent, but rental deposit makes more sense.)

"In all honesty, there's one whole year until the lease expires. Your Dad and I thought about it and we ended up agreeing, as a way of doing a good deed." With a sigh, Wang Xiuzhi faced Lin Youyu: "Oldie, pay more attention to what you eat. If you're not old, don't make me take care of you in the hospital!"

"What do you mean?" Lin Youyu felt aggrieved, "I don't go out to drink with others often, and I mostly eat at home. Why would I fall ill with a costly illness?"

"Are you saying that the ingredients that I buy are not good enough for you?" Wang Xiuzhi latched onto an obscure meaning in her husband's words, "For every meal there is meat, and I frequently make your favorite foods. Do you still want to eat outside? Look at your pot-belly, can you even go to a restaurant?"

Finally, Mother Lin shamelessly patted Father Lin's beer belly.

Lin Lan nodded along to show her approval: "Dad, I agree with Mom. In the future, you should eat less meat. Your belly is getting a little round." Saying this, she also reached out her hand to rub his belly, "Wow! It's quite firm! Dad, you really need to eat more vegetables."

Father Lin: "..."  This supposedly warm jacket was leaky.

(T/N: '小棉袄' = affectionate name for a daughter. The direct translation is a 'little cotton jacket' and keeps you feeling warm, like a daughter – warms your heart. Father Lin says this because Lin Lan is teasing him and not taking his side, hence 'leaky'.

They never mentioned that he was muscular in the past. The fat that he had lost before now came back when he started to rent out apartments. Wang Xiuzhi thought of something else.

"On the topic of Sister Yang stopping her lease, doesn't the rental contract of the bubble tea shop expire soon?"

"That's right." Father Lin was more proficient with money and business than his wife: "His lease expires in the middle of next month, so there are around thirty days left. At the latest, we need to ask him one week from now if he wants to continue."