Chapter 170: Couple Charms

Compared to the other areas, the insect and reptile section felt unusually quiet.

I was somewhat glad that my body could make such a rational decision—to escape to a place where I could catch my breath and calm my mind.

The overly enthusiastic welcome from the dogs was nothing but torture to me, because I couldn’t respond to them.

I had no money, no patience, and I certainly wasn’t the kind of great philanthropist who loves all creatures under heaven.

I was just a selfish, self-centered useless catgirl, nothing more.

Fortunately, this place was rather secluded.

Though the area wasn’t very large, it was just enough to avoid the gaze of the staff and the dogs, which immediately eased the pressure on me.

Inside warm-colored lampshades, unknown crustacean-like insects softly “cu-chu”ed, fluttering about behind the thin glass.

I glanced at them but had no interest in getting closer to observe.

Slowing my pace, I silently wandered around this small corner like a cat, my mood gradually stabilizing.

After adjusting myself, I walked to the room adjacent to the reptile section, where rows of cages held little cat houses.

Various kittens nestled inside, lazily eating cat food.

Some clumsy long-haired kittens, halfway through their meal, would stamp both front paws into their bowls, making themselves all dirty.

“Hmph, so dumb.”

I couldn’t help but mock them aloud.

The long-haired kittens stuck in their bowls seemed to understand my words, suddenly lifting their heads.

One white Ragdoll fixed me with an angry glare, meowing oddly, its fur slightly bristling.

The other cats who were burying their heads in food also looked up at me.

Though their reactions weren’t as intense as that Ragdoll’s, they all stopped eating simultaneously.

The shyer ones even retreated to the corners of their cages, as if afraid I might touch them.

I watched this scene expressionlessly.

Since childhood, I had been rejected by strange cats so many times that I no longer wanted to show any expression.

So far, only the adult cats at the cat café where I worked part-time wouldn’t resist my touch too much, but they also wouldn’t come to me actively to play.

Because of this, during the first few days after transmigrating as a catgirl, I often wondered why, as someone who disliked cats, I was chosen by a mysterious existence and turned into a catgirl.

Could it be that He really just wanted to help me be with Gu Fan, who loves cats?

Lost in thought, I walked to the passage connecting to another area at the end of the room.

Among the cats collectively hissing and puffing their fur, one black cat with fur similar to mine lazily yawned, showing no sign of fear.

Noticing my gaze, it elegantly licked the pads on its paws, then locked eyes with me in a human-like way for a moment before turning around and walking into the cat nest in the corner to sleep.

“…Really strange.”

Speaking of which, I had seen surprisingly few black cats until now, whether among catgirls or just ordinary cats.

There wasn’t much discussion online about the rarity of black cats—maybe it was just survivor bias on my part?

Perhaps there were more black cats in big cities.

Before I could come to a conclusion, I entered the next pet room and was immediately overwhelmed by the loud “chirping” of birds.

This was easily the noisiest area in the entire pet store.

The bird section was more spacious and elongated than the previous areas.

Various parrots bent their heads inside narrow cages, pecking at the iron bars.

Some smart ones even grabbed the locks with their beaks, trying to imitate humans to open them and escape.

It seemed parrots sold quite well.

A quick glance revealed they were mostly semi-adult parrots.

Birds that should be soaring freely in the sky were imprisoned in these lifeless cages, filling me with inexplicable melancholy and fear.

I didn’t know why, as a catgirl, I was afraid of being locked up.

More accurately, I was afraid of being lost among the crowd, becoming just another ordinary parrot.

A parrot that could only “squawk” awkwardly, speak broken human words, and spend every day struggling with others for food.

After quietly waiting a while, watching the parrots’ futile attempts to unlock their cages by biting the locks and shaking them, I grew bored and passed through the bird section.

I arrived at the innermost part of the store—the area for peripheral goods and pet supplies.

Since I didn’t have any pets at home and had no interest in feeding stray animals, buying cat food for myself was out of the question.

So I bypassed the pet supplies section and headed straight for the peripherals.

Here, iron badges painted with cute little animals hung on hooks.

There were also plenty of charms and stickers on the shelves, mostly themed around cats, dogs, or small birds.

I stopped in front of a row of parrot spring figurines and tentatively pressed one with my finger.

The red-and-green plastic parrot let out a faint “ka-ka-ka” sound.

The spring under its feet made it wobble left and right, up and down.

It was strangely amusing.

I then glanced over at the plush toy section.

The best-selling capybara pillows were nearly sold out, leaving mostly traditional cat and dog plushies.

Although I felt a small urge to buy, seeing their unreasonably high prices quickly killed my desire to spend.

Still… since I was here anyway, I wandered over to the cheapest charm section.

A couple had apparently been picking out charms here for some time.

I only noticed them when I arrived, having thought I was the only customer in the pet store.

I waited quietly by the side, not wanting to disturb them.

The couple deliberately chose a pair of cute brown bears.

Their movements complemented each other perfectly.

Hanging them on a keychain or backpack would immediately show others that they were couple charms.

After they took their charms to the checkout, I stepped forward and patiently browsed through them one by one.

If Gu Fan were here with me, what kind of animal would he choose?

What charm pairing would make us look like a loving couple?

Hehe, even though I knew these thoughts were a bit unrealistic, even too far-fetched, I couldn’t help but fantasize.

With that mindset as my baseline, I tried to put myself in Gu Fan’s shoes, searching for the animal charms that might suit his taste.

Bears? No, too bulky.

Dogs and cats were too traditional, lacking any thoughtfulness or novelty.

Choosing an ugly little fish might be worse than a chubby bear; at least the bear looked cuter than the fish.

After much hesitation, I still couldn’t decide which one to choose.