Chapter 36: The killer whale is coming to eat her
A fragrant coffee aroma permeated the café, mixed with the smokiness of wood charcoal and the sweet and sour smell of citrus, making one feel inexplicably relaxed.
Except for Cheng Su.
Sitting in front of the French windows facing the street, he could clearly see the guests coming in and out of the shop. As soon as he looked up, he noticed a familiar figure pushing the door and instinctively tensed. Qiao Dai stood at the entrance and looked around, before heading straight to the bar on the first floor.
“Hello, where is table B16?”
Qiao Dai asked the waitress politely, who jumped and tried to lower her voice when she saw her, trying to stay calm despite the joy in her tone: “Please go up the stairs on the right, turn left and go to the end. Do you need me to show you the way?” The waitress asked and smiled timidly before asking: “Are you Qiao Dai? Can I ask for your autograph?”
Qiao Dai was a little surprised, she had not expected to meet so many people who knew her wherever she went these days. Obviously, she still wasn’t aware of the popularity of <Pick Eleven> nor of the fact she had become the most topical player of the show.
Qiao Dai quickly signed her name and turned around to walk towards the second floor.
Cheng Su sat in his seat and saw Qiao Dai head upstairs. He shook the bell beside him and signaled to the waiter to come over to settle the bill.
The café was decorated in a classical style and each table had a different colored bell. Customers only needed to gently shake theirs, just like noblemen from the Middle Ages waiting for their meal. The only drawback was if the customer was anxious, the picture looked a little weird.
When the waitress came over, she saw a handsome man holding a berry-colored bell in his hand and shaking it expressionlessly. What was this time-wasting design and which boring person had come up with it? This was the 21st century, didn’t they know how to save time?
The waitress immediately blushed and quickly averted her gaze.
Cheng Su looked a little impatient and put down his bell. He pushed it away with his hand and said as indifferently as always: “Check.”
As he said that, he glanced in the direction of the second floor and urged, “Quickly.”
“Right away, sir.”
The waitress happened to be Qiao Dai’s little fan who had just asked her for an autograph. She secretly looked at the man in front of her, thinking she had noticed him glancing at them earlier and he had rung the bell as soon as Qiao Dai had gone to the second floor. It seemed that he wanted to ask for her signature too, didn’t it?
<Pick Eleven>’s girls had lots of male fans but not many of them could follow them to the front line. Yet fans like Cheng Su were rare; even dressed very low-key, no one could ignore him. At a glance, he looked very wealthy.
It was not that Cheng Su had not guessed the waitress’ thoughts but he couldn’t feel offended for such a trivial matter. He got up quickly and silently and walked to the second floor after paying. After a few steps, Cheng Su slowly stopped and his eyes fell on the empty B16 table.
It was still early and there were not many customers in the café. Only a few people were scattered on the second floor and he could see everyone at a glance.
Where was she?
Cheng Su looked around for a while and after confirming Qiao Dai was indeed not there, he walked a bit more and pressed his palm on the half-opened seat. She had been there and he felt it was even stranger.
Upon seeing this, Cheng Su held his breath and listened for a while; the noisy voices receded like tides in his mind and another one gradually became clearer. He lifted his leg and headed in a certain direction.
The voice came from a waiter’s passage.
In addition to the first and second floors of the cafe and the stairs for guests, there were two for the waiters on both sides of each floor. The doors were usually closed to prevent guests from entering by mistake.
Cheng Su stopped in front of this passage, paused for a while, and opened the door.
“!”
The dim stairwell instantly brightened under the light coming from the coffee shop. Cheng Su walked in and a little shadow on the ground moved, stunned by the sudden appearance. Cheng Su stopped in his tracks and stared at the little thing curled up in front of him silently.
A small sea otter was sitting in a pile of scattered clothes, her back against the door of the employee’s passage. Two paws were holding a cell phone that kept ringing and when she felt someone push the door open, her eyes filled with horror.
A man and a little sea otter looked at each other quietly and the atmosphere at the scene was instantly stagnant.
Cheng Su frowned slightly and turned his head to confirm no one was around. He then closed the door and concealed the passage once more and the stairwell was plunged into darkness.
“Qiao Dai?” Cheng Su was the first to break the silence. He had quickly recovered from the initial surprise and he squatted down to look at the furry little animal in front of him.
Qiao was still in a state of horror but her expression changed when she heard the stranger call out her name -not that Cheng Su was able to tell. Her bright black eyes lit up and she carefully asked: “Do you… Do you know me?”
Qiao Dai’s voice was timid and a little shaky. Her appearance fell in Cheng Su’s eyes and he felt he had been gently scratched.
Cheng Su hummed slightly and glanced at her phone. The time showed it was not long before Qiao Dai’s appointment with the producer.
Qiao Dai was very anxious and didn’t know what was happening. As soon as she had reached the second floor, she had suddenly felt a strong sense of discomfort and had opened a door to hide. As expected, she had changed back inexplicably and returned to her chubby little sea otter appearance. No matter how she concentrated, she couldn’t turn back.
What should she do? She couldn’t go back! What would happen if someone saw her like this? Would she become a pet?
All kinds of weird thoughts had flashed through her mind and she had hidden here in shock and fear until Cheng Su had appeared.
When the closed door had been opened, bright light had poured from the gap and the picture in front of her had been like a slow-motion sequence from a movie. The warm light had spilled on the floor and lit up the stairwell like an unrealistic sense of fantasy, and Cheng Su had come in enveloped by a golden halo.
Qiao Dai didn’t think she would ever forget this feeling. She opened her eyes wide and as if time and space had been frozen in an instant, everything around her had become blurry and only Cheng Su’s figure had been exceptionally clear.
After a moment of confusion, she suddenly realized the man’s voice sounded familiar as if she had heard it not too long ago.
“You are the killer whale from yesterday!”
The beautiful picture in her mind instantly shattered and her body instantly tensed. She quickly moved back, looking even more scared than before.
It was over, the killer whale had come to eat her!
Qiao Dai’s mood is like a stormy sea, one wave had not yet subsided, another had already risen. She had not yet gotten over the shock of not being able to change back to human, the killer whale had come and pushed her into the deep ocean.
In a trance, Qiao Dai seemed to have seen a little sea otter dangling from the mouth of a ferocious orca as he dragged her into the depths of the sea. Qiao Dai was rooted in place, looking like her soul was trying to escape her body.
Cheng Su: “…”
Seeing Qiao Dai shake like a leaf and try to hide from him, he was speechless for a while. After a minute, he stood up slowly and took a deep breath before saying stiffly: “I am not going to eat you.”
“Really, really?”
Qiao Dai looked at Cheng Su from her wall, as if she did not quite believe him.
Cheng Su hummed softly and as he saw her eyes full of vigilance, he couldn’t help but let out a small laugh. He adjusted his posture and said: “Not that you could do anything about it.”
Qiao Dai had slightly relaxed but when she heard his words, she immediately became nervous again. But the man didn’t seem to want to continue teasing her and his voice returned to normal: “Stay here, wait for me.”
“But I have to meet with people.”
Qiao Dai’s brain was in a mess and she didn’t know what to do. Why had she turned back to a sea otter at that time? If Teacher Meng couldn’t find her, what could she do? Questions came one after another and tears filled her eyes. But because she was in her little sea otter form, the tears that fell on her face instantly disappeared.
“I know.”
Just as Qiao Dai was out of her wits, a slightly tough voice sounded in the stairwell. Cheng Su looked at Qiao Dai calmly and as if to comfort her, he repeated: “I know.”
His words were like an invisible hand that pulled her from her chaotic thoughts and back to reality. Cheng Su paused for a while and continued speaking when Qiao Dai finally calmed down.
“Hide here and don’t be discovered by anyone.”
Although she knew very little about the man in front of her, Qiao Dai had no choice but to believe him. They were both members of the Ocean family, perhaps this was enough for her to trust him. Thinking about this, Qiao Dai replied in a timid voice: “Okay.”
After that, she shrank back into a ball and hid in the corner of the stairwell. Cheng Su slowly retracted his gaze, turned around, and walked outside.
“Wait for me.”
Chapter 36: The killer whale is coming to eat her
A fragrant coffee aroma permeated the café, mixed with the smokiness of wood charcoal and the sweet and sour smell of citrus, making one feel inexplicably relaxed.
Except for Cheng Su.
Sitting in front of the French windows facing the street, he could clearly see the guests coming in and out of the shop. As soon as he looked up, he noticed a familiar figure pushing the door and instinctively tensed. Qiao Dai stood at the entrance and looked around, before heading straight to the bar on the first floor.
“Hello, where is table B16?”
Qiao Dai asked the waitress politely, who jumped and tried to lower her voice when she saw her, trying to stay calm despite the joy in her tone: “Please go up the stairs on the right, turn left and go to the end. Do you need me to show you the way?” The waitress asked and smiled timidly before asking: “Are you Qiao Dai? Can I ask for your autograph?”
Qiao Dai was a little surprised, she had not expected to meet so many people who knew her wherever she went these days. Obviously, she still wasn’t aware of the popularity of <Pick Eleven> nor of the fact she had become the most topical player of the show.
Qiao Dai quickly signed her name and turned around to walk towards the second floor.
Cheng Su sat in his seat and saw Qiao Dai head upstairs. He shook the bell beside him and signaled to the waiter to come over to settle the bill.
The café was decorated in a classical style and each table had a different colored bell. Customers only needed to gently shake theirs, just like noblemen from the Middle Ages waiting for their meal. The only drawback was if the customer was anxious, the picture looked a little weird.
When the waitress came over, she saw a handsome man holding a berry-colored bell in his hand and shaking it expressionlessly. What was this time-wasting design and which boring person had come up with it? This was the 21st century, didn’t they know how to save time?
The waitress immediately blushed and quickly averted her gaze.
Cheng Su looked a little impatient and put down his bell. He pushed it away with his hand and said as indifferently as always: “Check.”
As he said that, he glanced in the direction of the second floor and urged, “Quickly.”
“Right away, sir.”
The waitress happened to be Qiao Dai’s little fan who had just asked her for an autograph. She secretly looked at the man in front of her, thinking she had noticed him glancing at them earlier and he had rung the bell as soon as Qiao Dai had gone to the second floor. It seemed that he wanted to ask for her signature too, didn’t it?
<Pick Eleven>’s girls had lots of male fans but not many of them could follow them to the front line. Yet fans like Cheng Su were rare; even dressed very low-key, no one could ignore him. At a glance, he looked very wealthy.
It was not that Cheng Su had not guessed the waitress’ thoughts but he couldn’t feel offended for such a trivial matter. He got up quickly and silently and walked to the second floor after paying. After a few steps, Cheng Su slowly stopped and his eyes fell on the empty B16 table.
It was still early and there were not many customers in the café. Only a few people were scattered on the second floor and he could see everyone at a glance.
Where was she?
Cheng Su looked around for a while and after confirming Qiao Dai was indeed not there, he walked a bit more and pressed his palm on the half-opened seat. She had been there and he felt it was even stranger.
Upon seeing this, Cheng Su held his breath and listened for a while; the noisy voices receded like tides in his mind and another one gradually became clearer. He lifted his leg and headed in a certain direction.
The voice came from a waiter’s passage.
In addition to the first and second floors of the cafe and the stairs for guests, there were two for the waiters on both sides of each floor. The doors were usually closed to prevent guests from entering by mistake.
Cheng Su stopped in front of this passage, paused for a while, and opened the door.
“!”
The dim stairwell instantly brightened under the light coming from the coffee shop. Cheng Su walked in and a little shadow on the ground moved, stunned by the sudden appearance. Cheng Su stopped in his tracks and stared at the little thing curled up in front of him silently.
A small sea otter was sitting in a pile of scattered clothes, her back against the door of the employee’s passage. Two paws were holding a cell phone that kept ringing and when she felt someone push the door open, her eyes filled with horror.
A man and a little sea otter looked at each other quietly and the atmosphere at the scene was instantly stagnant.
Cheng Su frowned slightly and turned his head to confirm no one was around. He then closed the door and concealed the passage once more and the stairwell was plunged into darkness.
“Qiao Dai?” Cheng Su was the first to break the silence. He had quickly recovered from the initial surprise and he squatted down to look at the furry little animal in front of him.
Qiao was still in a state of horror but her expression changed when she heard the stranger call out her name -not that Cheng Su was able to tell. Her bright black eyes lit up and she carefully asked: “Do you… Do you know me?”
Qiao Dai’s voice was timid and a little shaky. Her appearance fell in Cheng Su’s eyes and he felt he had been gently scratched.
Cheng Su hummed slightly and glanced at her phone. The time showed it was not long before Qiao Dai’s appointment with the producer.
Qiao Dai was very anxious and didn’t know what was happening. As soon as she had reached the second floor, she had suddenly felt a strong sense of discomfort and had opened a door to hide. As expected, she had changed back inexplicably and returned to her chubby little sea otter appearance. No matter how she concentrated, she couldn’t turn back.
What should she do? She couldn’t go back! What would happen if someone saw her like this? Would she become a pet?
All kinds of weird thoughts had flashed through her mind and she had hidden here in shock and fear until Cheng Su had appeared.
When the closed door had been opened, bright light had poured from the gap and the picture in front of her had been like a slow-motion sequence from a movie. The warm light had spilled on the floor and lit up the stairwell like an unrealistic sense of fantasy, and Cheng Su had come in enveloped by a golden halo.
Qiao Dai didn’t think she would ever forget this feeling. She opened her eyes wide and as if time and space had been frozen in an instant, everything around her had become blurry and only Cheng Su’s figure had been exceptionally clear.
After a moment of confusion, she suddenly realized the man’s voice sounded familiar as if she had heard it not too long ago.
“You are the killer whale from yesterday!”
The beautiful picture in her mind instantly shattered and her body instantly tensed. She quickly moved back, looking even more scared than before.
It was over, the killer whale had come to eat her!
Qiao Dai’s mood is like a stormy sea, one wave had not yet subsided, another had already risen. She had not yet gotten over the shock of not being able to change back to human, the killer whale had come and pushed her into the deep ocean.
In a trance, Qiao Dai seemed to have seen a little sea otter dangling from the mouth of a ferocious orca as he dragged her into the depths of the sea. Qiao Dai was rooted in place, looking like her soul was trying to escape her body.
Cheng Su: “…”
Seeing Qiao Dai shake like a leaf and try to hide from him, he was speechless for a while. After a minute, he stood up slowly and took a deep breath before saying stiffly: “I am not going to eat you.”
“Really, really?”
Qiao Dai looked at Cheng Su from her wall, as if she did not quite believe him.
Cheng Su hummed softly and as he saw her eyes full of vigilance, he couldn’t help but let out a small laugh. He adjusted his posture and said: “Not that you could do anything about it.”
Qiao Dai had slightly relaxed but when she heard his words, she immediately became nervous again. But the man didn’t seem to want to continue teasing her and his voice returned to normal: “Stay here, wait for me.”
“But I have to meet with people.”
Qiao Dai’s brain was in a mess and she didn’t know what to do. Why had she turned back to a sea otter at that time? If Teacher Meng couldn’t find her, what could she do? Questions came one after another and tears filled her eyes. But because she was in her little sea otter form, the tears that fell on her face instantly disappeared.
“I know.”
Just as Qiao Dai was out of her wits, a slightly tough voice sounded in the stairwell. Cheng Su looked at Qiao Dai calmly and as if to comfort her, he repeated: “I know.”
His words were like an invisible hand that pulled her from her chaotic thoughts and back to reality. Cheng Su paused for a while and continued speaking when Qiao Dai finally calmed down.
“Hide here and don’t be discovered by anyone.”
Although she knew very little about the man in front of her, Qiao Dai had no choice but to believe him. They were both members of the Ocean family, perhaps this was enough for her to trust him. Thinking about this, Qiao Dai replied in a timid voice: “Okay.”
After that, she shrank back into a ball and hid in the corner of the stairwell. Cheng Su slowly retracted his gaze, turned around, and walked outside.
“Wait for me.”
