Just as the girls thought that the LiHua cat was in for more manhandling, the cafe staff unexpectedly lowered him to the ground.
The cat pranced forward, a spring in each of his small steps. He stopped before Coco and purred demurely. He looked up at her with an innocent expression, raising his white paws as if to show off.
"Heh heh," Matcha chuckled to himself, "With my round face, snow-white paws and large eyes, these girls don"t stand a chance!"
Unfortunately for Matcha, that was far from the reception he received.
"Oh my G.o.d, Leigh. This cat is trying way too hard," Coco laughed.
She tightened her arms around Mango. "My kitty is still the cutest."
Matcha froze. He glared at Coco, thinking, "Tasteless peasant."
Leigh, who had been staring at the screen on her phone, looked up at Coco. She had been reading about Russian Blues after Baiquan told her that it was the breed Mango belonged to.
"Interesting," she said, "Turns out Russian Blues are, like, grey."
Matcha now turned his efforts towards her. She was his new target. He put on his most irresistibly innocent face and stared at her, trying to catch her attention.
Leigh was not interested. To her, every one of these cats had a price tag floating above each of their heads. The tag above the beautiful Elizabeth was RMB 30,000. The one above Mango was RMB 3,000.
As for Matcha, Leigh deemed him to be a mere RMB 10.
She returned Matcha"s hopeful look coolly.
"What an unexceptional cat," she stated.
"Hey, Coco," she continued, stretching her arms towards her, "Let me hold your cat. Apparently, it"s worth a few thousand dollars."
Matcha could only stare, dumbfounded, as the girls ignored him and started taking selfies with Mango.
He was in complete disbelief. "How is this possible? Why would they prefer that imbecile over me?"
Half an hour later, the girls" attention had s.h.i.+fted from Mango to another cat.
No, the cat was not Matcha. It was Elizabeth, who was being fussed over by all three girls. They were either hugging her or petting her or taking photos with her.
Elizabeth was undoubtedly the star of the cafe.
Mango did not mind at all. It was playing in the corner, happy to entertain itself.
Matcha, on the other hand, was grumpily sprawled across a platform on one of the kitty towers. He was staring daggers at Elizabeth.
The afternoon brought it new customers. Some left when they saw that the play area was filled with ordinary tabby cats. Only one couple and three high school girls stepped into the pen. There, they were relaxed by the Celestial Beats, which prompted them to stay.
Almost every girl crowded around Elizabeth, taking turns to run their hands down her back, tummy, and head.
Matcha, who had been watching glumly from a distance, grew increasingly jealous.
Despite Elizabeth"s popularity, the cafe still only had eight customers at the end of the first day.
What they lacked in numbers, they made up for with duration. All the customers stayed throughout the afternoon and into the evening thanks to the Celestial Beats" soothing effects.
The high school girls only left when their parents started nagging them to come home. Coco Sun left for dinner but returned for a latte after that. She stayed until the cafe"s closing hour.
"Hey, don"t you think you guys close too early? It"s only 6 pm," she told Baiquan, who was busy cleaning up.
"Well, you can always come back tomorrow," he smiled.
"I can"t," she lamented, "Your prices are too high! I"ll have to spend at least RMB 100 each time I"m here."
Coco planted a sad kiss on Elizabeth, "Guess I"ll see you in a few days."
"I"ve had enough of this woman," the cat complained to Zhao Yao telepathically, "My entire body is covered in her sweat and saliva."
"Suck it up, Elizabeth," he responded, "Patience and tolerance are essential for good customer service."
"You keep telling me that! Why don"t we switch places? Let"s see how long you can stand this nonsense."
"Me?" Zhao Yao started, but was interrupted by a cackling Dust Ball.
"Even if he wants to switch places, I doubt anyone would want to hug him," she giggled.
The moment Coco left the cafe, Elizabeth let out a long sigh of relief. She started to carefully groom herself, starting with generous licks across her body. She absolutely had to get rid of the stench from the girls.
Baiquan approached Zhao Yao, ready to report the day"s activities.
"Master Zhao," he started.
"Hang on a second. Don"t call me Master Zhao. From now, I"m your boss," Zhao Yao cut in.
"Yes, boss," Baiquan said obediently, "Many of our customers said they would like to buy cat food to feed the cats, but we don"t offer that."
"That"s taken care of," Zhao Yao said confidently, "I"ve order canned food and snacks online. We"ll sell them the moment they arrive."
"Some guests want fruit juice or tea instead of coffee," s.h.i.+ Yu chimed in, "Perhaps we can do that too?"
"That"s done too. I"ve ordered instant powder."
"Instant powder again..?" s.h.i.+ Yu thought with disapproval.
Despite serving only instant drinks, the cafe"s business climbed steadily as the days went by.
The Celestial Beats" power was proven to be irresistible. Anyone who entered its reach was overcome with a wave of relaxation and joy. It could ease all kinds of aches, ranging from pain in the back to tension in the neck. It could alleviate the worst of migraines.
In fact, it felt like it was even strengthening your body from the inside out, starting with your bones and reaching your muscles.
Put simply, it was invigorating.
Naturally, those who experienced it once kept coming back for more.
Coco and Leigh came from relatively affluent backgrounds, so they could afford to drop by daily.
Coco visited because she adored both Mango and Elizabeth. Plus, the atmosphere in the cafe never failed to put her at ease. She found that even the stiff neck she earned from playing excessive computer games went away when she was there.
As for Leigh, her dedication to the cafe was purely motivated by reasons related to health and beauty. She found that spending a day there guaranteed a restful night of sleep later on. This was a G.o.dsend for her insomnia.
Now that she had enough sleep, she could focus better in school. The dark circles under her eyes were gone. Even her pesky laugh lines were gradually fading.
This was why the two of them would lug their laptops, iPads, and chargers to the cafe and stay there the entire day.
Five days after the Cat Haven Coffee House opened, the owner of Cosy Coffee Cafe dropped by.
She had deliberately made a pit stop there to see how well, or rather, how badly, it was doing.
Ms. Mayer was certain that the cafe would be a ghost town devoid of customers. For starters, it offered nothing more than tabby cats that looked like strays. The outrageous prices on the menu were also nothing short of shocking.
Imagine her surprise when she looked through the gla.s.s windows of the cafe.
The cafe was far from empty. About 20 people were seated in the modest, 150 square meters s.p.a.ce.
This was considered a decently sized crowd for a cafe.
However, for a cafe that had only been in business for five days, this was quite a feat.
Ms. Mayer was unable to make sense of this.
"Are you kidding me? Are these people fools?" she thought to herself.
As she craned her neck to observe the customers, she noticed a group of girls crowded around a remarkably large cat with long fur.
The cat was beautiful.
Ms. Mayer wanted to run her hands through her s.h.i.+ny coat of hair.
"I"m pretty sure that"s a ragdoll. It is adorable, but even then, it can"t possibly be why so many people are in there," she furrowed her eyebrows.
As a cat owner, she knew about the different breeds and could appreciate how special ragdolls were. However, she could not wrap her head around how this lousy little place could be so popular.