She remembered it clearly. She'd put it in her jacket pocket! That way, it would be closer to her ear, and she could hear it ring even in a noisy environment.
'Oh god, don't tell me I dropped it when I fell? I just bought it a week ago!'
Xin Huohuo shot up and frantically started searching everywhere.
By now, the sky had brightened considerably, and some early-rising seniors were starting their morning exercises. If some dishonest old person picked it up, there was basically no hope of getting it back.
Thankfully, just as she was starting to panic, the light and smooth melody of a piano arrangement of Pachelbel's Canon rang out—her ringtone. She followed the sound and found her phone in the grass. A "Thank heavens" had barely left her lips before it turned into a sob.
It was just like that demonic law of toast: if it falls, it will always land jam-side down. When a phone drops, it's always screen-first! And so, her phone screen had cracked—a really bad crack. It looked like it had been struck by lightning, with two interconnected, sprawling lightning-blossoms exploding across the center of the touchscreen.
Xin Huohuo was on the verge of tears.
Replacing a phone screen was so expensive; for her model, it would be several hundred yuan. But right at that moment, the phone started ringing nonstop. Swallowing the mouthful of old blood she felt rising in her chest, she answered.
"Food... my food... give me food..." a raspy, old voice said. It was the customer.
"I'm so sorry, I had a bit of an accident. I'm afraid your delivery will be late. I'm truly sorry, but I promise I'll be there soon." She felt terribly guilty and planned to take a taxi back to the restaurant immediately to pack another order and deliver it. Even though it would be a huge loss for her, didn't you have to have some professional ethics in any job?
"No, I'm hungry! Bring it now!" the customer snapped.
'Just how hungry is he? Is he a reincarnated hungry ghost or something?' Xin Huohuo thought, but she continued to apologize profusely.
But the person on the other end of the line was like a broken record, repeating over and over, "I'm hungry... so hungry... I'm starving to death..."
"I promise I'll be as fast as I can. I'm sorry, please don't give me a bad..."
Before she could finish, the kitten and puppy in her pocket suddenly let out a simultaneous whimper. It was like they had resumed their fragile breathing, yet also like an impatient grumble. The sound was incredibly faint, so quiet it was almost an auditory hallucination, barely louder than the whisper of the wind. For some reason, however, the life-or-death nagging from the other end of the line suddenly paused.
"Sir, how about this? Your delivery will be free, and I'll give you a discount coupon. Just please, don't file a complaint, okay? Please..." Xin Huohuo made one last-ditch effort. Although this fall was a disaster for her, a complete accident, not every customer would be so understanding.
"I don't want it anymore!" the old man—well, judging by the voice, it was an old man—on the other end of the line suddenly shouted.
Then, before Xin Huohuo could reply, the call was disconnected with a CLICK.
Xin Huohuo stood there holding her phone, stunned for a good half a minute before she snapped out of it.
'Does this mean he's canceling the order? Well, it was my fault to begin with, so I have to accept whatever the customer's reaction is. But this customer was a little weird, especially his tone. A normal person doesn't talk like that...'
But she had no time to dwell on it. In a frantic hurry, she flagged down an early taxi and rushed back to the restaurant. She shamelessly borrowed a colleague's scooter to deliver the milk first. Otherwise, she'd lose her other job too. After that, she went to the supermarket to buy food suitable for kittens and puppies. Back home, she found a shoebox for tall boots and lined it with her own old clothes. Seeing that the two little things showed no signs of waking up, but were still breathing, however faintly, she wet her finger with a little water to moisten their lips. She then covered them with a clean towel before finally collapsing onto her bed, utterly exhausted.
'Today was just the worst. Not only did I have to refund the meal and cover the cost myself, but I also have to buy a new electric scooter. The taxi fare won't be reimbursed, and my phone screen is a complete mess... My heart aches. It aches so much it feels like it's bleeding. My body's too weak to even support itself...'
She clutched her chest and rolled around on the bed. She must have been utterly exhausted, because she unexpectedly fell asleep just like that.
But just as she drifted off to sleep, there was a stir from the shoebox.
The little white puppy kicked its four paws wildly, sending the towel flying and kicking the little black kitten into a huddled ball in the corner. It then arrogantly took up most of the shoebox, lying on its back with its belly in the air, and stretched languidly.
The little black kitten's eerie green eyes stared coolly at its new roommate, too disdainful to even retaliate.
"You kinda look like a piece of poop, you know? All black and everything." After a long moment, the little white puppy said provocatively. It rolled its whole body over, curling into a ball as if it were clutching its stomach in laughter.
"A dog's mouth can't spit out ivory," the little black kitten snorted coldly.
"Then why don't you spit one out for me to see? Pfft!" The little white puppy rolled over and used the little black kitten's butt as a pillow.
"Get off, you clingy pest!" the little black kitten kicked and kicked and kicked in annoyance... but alas, a small cat has little strength. It was useless.
But the little white puppy was restless and couldn't stay still for a second. It soon rolled back to the center of the box, sprawled out, and said, "We got stuck out here for no good reason. You think we'll be punished when we get back?" There wasn't a hint of worry in its tone; in fact, it sounded quite happy.
"I was working with a cripple. The pressure was immense. A mistake under those conditions can't be considered 'for no good reason.'"
"I'm not a cripple! I'm famous for my great physique, not to mention I'm gorgeous! Countless women have cried and begged to marry me! Someone like you, with your paralyzed face and semi-aphasia, is just jealous!"
"Brain-damaged is still damaged," the little black kitten replied, its voice still icy.
"It was clearly your fault we got delayed," the little white puppy retorted, unconvinced. "You were the one who sensed that deep resentful energy in that building, so we made a detour to check it out. Originally, we were already done with our duties for the night."
"Investigate any and all resentments. It is our duty."
"And that's why I obediently went with you, isn't it? I didn't argue, did I? See how wise and heroic I am, how I understand the greater good."
"So you were so bored your balls ached that you decided to play your little pass-through game?"
"Her... that chick..." The little white puppy lifted its left front paw, pointed toward the bed, and suddenly started to stutter a little. "We have to check her file when we get back tonight. There's definitely something wrong with her. When a normal human bumps into us, they should pass right through us, and then they'd feel a chill all over. What's wrong with me enjoying the sight of their hair standing on end and that baffled look on their faces? What's so despicable about a little entertainment outside of work? Haha, that expression really suits humans. I love watching it."
"And what was the result? She sent you flying," the little black kitten shot back coolly.
"She sent *us* flying. I was holding onto you at the time." The little white puppy gave a sly grin. "We're good brothers, right? Share the fortune, share the misfortune. But I guarantee you, she absolutely, positively has a problem! Let me see, people who can communicate with spirits usually have something missing from their Five Elements..."
"Your Five Elements are missing a brain."
"Brainless people are blessed with good luck." The little white puppy took it as a compliment, not an insult. "The sun was just a sliver away from breaking through the clouds. If we hadn't been knocked flying, and if the souls of these two little things in the corner hadn't just left their bodies, we wouldn't have been in time to find new flesh. Our powers would've taken a major hit."
"We missed our chance to go back because we were knocked unconscious," the little black kitten stated the truth, though it sounded a bit dejected itself.
'Them! Who were they? To think they'd let an ordinary human woman on an electric scooter knock them unconscious. This matter must be kept an absolute secret. Otherwise, if that big mouth blabbed about it, he'd never be able to show his face in public again.'
"If we had possessed dead rats or bugs, my god..." the little white puppy muttered to itself, suddenly shivering as if from lingering fear. Then it struggled to its feet and pulled itself up to peer over the edge of the shoebox.