Su Yunzhi stood at the door of Shen Wuqiu's room, took a deep breath, and carefully turned the doorknob.
As soon as the door opened, four furry creatures came into view on the bed.
Several fluffy balls of brown, yellow, and white fur tumbled together, and upon hearing the noise, they all turned to look at her.
Hearing is one thing.
Seeing it with your own eyes is another matter entirely.
Su Yunzhi was stunned.
Meow~~
Only after hearing that sweet, childlike cry did she go inside.
Looking at the little ones' adorable faces, and remembering that these were her own granddaughters, she couldn't help but smile. She tentatively reached out to touch Si Mao, who was lying on her back, and seeing that she didn't flinch, she touched her twice more, murmuring to herself, "How many cents are you..."
Mr. Shen, who followed, said, "Si Mao."
"..." In response to his unexpected attack, Su Yunzhi was also startled. "Why do you walk so quietly?"
Mr. Shen was slightly proud of himself, and then introduced them to her one by one: "This one that looks like a lion is Er Mao, this one is Da Mao, the white one is San Mao, and this orange is Si Mao."
Su Yunzhi: "You remember it quite clearly?"
Mr. Chen, who had been eavesdropping the whole way, said with a smug look on his face, "Of course, I am their maternal grandfather."
Chapter 92 Showing Off
Unexpected.
The acceptance from her elderly father and stepmother exceeded Shen Wuqiu's expectations. She originally thought that her family's lack of alarm at the fact that she had given birth to a litter of kittens was already the greatest tolerance she could show.
Unexpectedly, both her traditional and stubborn father and her somewhat narrow-minded stepmother were more open-minded than she had imagined.
Far from being frightened or disgusted, they showed even greater enthusiasm for the child who had turned into a kitten.
Shen Wuqiu felt relieved and deeply moved.
As Daiying said, after the kittens turned into little kittens, they became very lively and active, especially Er Mao and San Mao, who loved to roll around together and scratch and bite each other all the time.
Although they are siblings from the same mother, they are not at all like human quadruplets, which are difficult to distinguish. The four kittens are very different in appearance and personality.
Judging solely from their cat-like appearance, Er Mao is the least feminine, with her bushy brown fur making her already unruly features look even more savage. In terms of personality, she is also the most domineering and competitive, yet despite looking the fiercest, she is not as strong as San Mao.
Therefore, whenever she failed to get anything good from Sanmao, she would secretly try to provoke Simao. When Simao was in a good mood, she would cooperate with her in a fight, but most of the time Simao would simply ignore her.
However, even someone as boisterous as Er Mao, with all her boundless energy, never bothered to poke Da Mao.
Although Sanmao loves to compete and bicker with Ermao for attention, she is actually the most adorable. Her baby-like features are delicate, but when she is transformed into a kitten, she is a chubby and adorable kitten. Apart from vying for attention with Ermao, she is usually quite well-behaved.
Si Mao is genuinely lazy. Her daily routine consists of sleeping, except for eating. Unlike the other cats who are always eager to switch between human and cat, she is different. After turning into a cat, she only turns into a baby when she is hungry. After turning into a baby, she rarely turns into a cat. Only when she finds her older sisters too noisy will she turn into a kitten and sneakily find a corner to curl up in. When she is hungry, she will spontaneously come out to meow a couple of times.
As for Da Mao, the kitten was the smallest and thinnest. When it was a kitten, it often looked like a tearful girl, just like Lin Daiyu.
Fortunately, she was born into a large family where mothers doted on their children and sisters respected each other. Even the most mischievous Er Mao didn't cause much trouble in front of her. At most, he would argue with his older sister when trying to steal his mother's milk, but as soon as his older sister started to grumble, Er Mao would immediately behave.
The baby in the family has become fluffy, but instead of easing the burden on the whole family, it has increased the pressure.
For example, right now, it's clearly mealtime, but we can't find Er Mao anywhere.
Grandpa Shen was almost in tears: "I should never have let them go out to sunbathe."
To avoid gossip from the villagers, Shen Wuqiu usually kept the kittens in the upstairs room. Today was a rare sunny day, and at noon, there were usually no visitors, so Father Shen closed the big iron gate and enthusiastically took the kittens to bask in the sun in the yard.
In the blink of an eye, besides Simao lying on his back in the soft rocking car sunbathing, Ermao and Sanmao rolled restlessly on the cement ground, while Damao was also stretching out his feet next to the rocking car, looking eager to join in.
At first, Mr. Shen didn't pay much attention. He thought the sun was shining brightly and the cement ground wasn't cold, so he let his two kids roll around on the ground.
The sunlight after the Frost's Descent was intoxicating. Mr. Shen, who was content with his grandson, dozed off for a while. When Su Yunzhi called him for dinner, he found that only three of the four kittens remained. Si Mao was lying in the rocking car sunbathing as usual, while Da Mao and San Mao had spontaneously returned to the living room and were playing with the tassels on the sofa cushions. Er Mao was nowhere to be seen.
Although they searched every nook and cranny upstairs and downstairs but couldn't find Er Mao, the three members of the Gu family still didn't seem too concerned.
Especially Gu Lingyu, the mother, was not worried at all, but also comforted her father-in-law thoughtfully: "Dad, you don't need to worry. The kitten is just old enough to roll around on the ground and is full of curiosity about the new world. It's normal for it to be a little playful and naughty. It will come out when it gets hungry."
Grandpa Shen dotes on his grandson and is very anxious. When he sees that his wife, the mother, is not worried at all, he gets angry: "So you don't care about him just because he wasn't born?"
That's a real injustice.
Gu Lingyu didn't argue with him, but instead asked her partner for help: "Qiuqiu, tell Dad how naughty the kids are. Yesterday, Si Mao couldn't find us anywhere, and maybe he was hungry, so he climbed out of the cupboard by himself."
Shen Wuqiu had originally intended to comfort her father, but upon hearing her tone, she inexplicably became angry: "How can you be so carefree? You're so grown up now, yet you were still howling and screaming when a few stray cats bullied you back then! We've searched every nook and cranny of the house today..."
Gu Lingyu looked around and saw that her parents were pretending not to hear, so it seemed that no one would speak up for her. She had no choice but to say, "I told you not to worry, but you're still so anxious. Fine, I'll go find her."
As she spoke, she walked straight to the living room window, then lifted the curtain, revealing a small lion hanging prominently at the very top.
Clearly, the little kitten was quite angry that its mother had so ruthlessly exposed its hiding place, and it meowed at her a few times.
"See, I told you not to..."
Before she could even finish feeling smug, her father scolded her with a stern face: "So you knew all along that Er Mao was hiding here, and you didn't even say a word when we were searching through all the drawers and cabinets..."
Meow~
Not having noticed this, Gu Lingyu quickly said, "I didn't know, but none of you were looking for this place just now..."
Anyway, she would never admit that she did it on purpose. It wasn't that she intentionally made her father-in-law worry; it was just that she had disliked this kid for a long time, and now that he had brought this upon himself, she would make him suffer even more.
"Meow~" Er Mao, hanging on the curtain, saw that no one was paying attention to him, and looked aggrieved as he tried to get attention.
Hearing this voice, Shen Wuqiu couldn't bear to scold her for being naughty, so she quickly came forward, "Er Mao, come down and play with Neinei..."
Meow~
Seeing her daughter hanging motionless on the curtains, her cries sounding pitiful, Shen Wuqiu became worried and asked Gu Lingyu, who was watching the scene unfold, "What's wrong with Er Mao?"
Gu Lingyu: "Oh, her claws got caught on the lace of the curtains. That idiot, she can't even retract her claws, she can't get them off... Ouch, that hurts..."
Before she could finish speaking, Shen Wuqiu grabbed her ear: "What kind of mother are you? Why don't you hurry up and think of a solution?"
"Who told her to be so rude and mischievous?" Gu Lingyu muttered under her breath, and took advantage of everyone's inattention to pull the curtains shut and hide herself.
She gave it a hard shake, and Er Mao, which was hanging at the very top, rolled down.
This startled Mr. Shen, the grandfather, who quickly reached out to catch it.
Despite being a descendant of a mythical beast, Er Mao managed to land safely in his grandfather's palm.
Gu Lingyu mocked her daughter: "A divine beast of yours, and you're so useless..."
"Gu Lingyu!" Shen Wuqiu could no longer bear it.
Gu Lingyu immediately shut her mouth, feeling embarrassed at being yelled at by her partner in front of everyone. Trying to salvage her reputation, she pursed her lips and asked Daiying, who had been watching the commotion, "Mother, do you think Er Mao brought this on himself…?"
Before she could finish speaking, her father-in-law gave her a flick on the forehead: "Today, in front of your parents, I have to have a good talk with you. Look at yourself, do you have even the slightest bit of a mother's demeanor? If you didn't know better, you'd think this wasn't your daughter, but your enemy."
Dai Ying added fuel to the fire: "That's only right. This child has always been wild, but he's tough. If he doesn't listen to you, it's okay to give him a few beatings."
"..." She knew she wasn't their biological daughter.
Aside from Gu Lingyu having some reservations about the false alarm caused by Er Mao, the other elders couldn't bear to say anything harsh and were all very distressed.
Er Mao lived up to expectations and played the victim at the opportune moment.
After being caught by her maternal grandfather, she stretched out her feet, looking aggrieved, and tried to snuggle into Chen Wuqiu's arms while meowing.
Shen Wuqiu couldn't bear to see her little lion cub being so weak, and her heart ached instantly. She quickly hugged her and said, "It's okay, it's okay, Er Mao, don't be scared, Mommy will hug you."
Meow~ Meow~
As soon as Er Mao got into her arms, he kept rubbing against her chest, and before long he turned into a baby.
Shen Wuqiu understood and immediately carried Er Mao upstairs, saying, "You guys eat first, I'll go feed Er Mao."
Everyone else had no objections, but Gu Lingyu muttered to herself, "He just wants to steal my wife, shameless..."
Mr. Chen: "What are you muttering about over there? Come and eat, and help Qiuqiu watch the kids!"
Gu Lingyu: "I understand..."
Mr. Shen: "Other people are overjoyed when they become fathers, treating their daughters like treasures, but you don't seem to realize that at all..."
She would be happy to have a child if they didn't compete with her for a wife.
Of course, she only dared to say this in her heart.
As the children grew more and more lively, running and rolling around the house, Su Yunzhi began to worry about something. She asked her father, "Now you not only have to explain Qiuqiu to your relatives and friends, but you also have to be careful about the child's identity. Should we still have such a big celebration for the full moon?"
In the village, there are two types of banquets: one is to invite only relatives and friends, which is called a small banquet, and the other is a large banquet, which is to invite the whole village.
Mr. Shen retorted, "Why not have a big celebration? Who else is as lucky as me to have four granddaughters at once? We should definitely have a grand celebration."
Su Yunzhi: "What if the children suddenly turn into cats? Aren't you afraid of scaring people?"
Dad Chen pouted, "You're worrying about these things. Everyone else uses mythical beasts, I don't believe they can't even handle this. Besides, what's wrong with kittens? It's good for them to broaden their horizons and see such cute kittens..."
Su Yunzhi scoffed at him: "I think you're just trying to show off."
Mr. Shen said in a serious tone, "Yes, what can you do about it?"
Su Yunzhi: "..."
Chapter 93 Warming the Bed
With the addition of this lively little furball, the family of novice cat owners are a bit overwhelmed, but the bustling atmosphere makes the days even more exciting.
A few days before the full moon celebration, Su Yunzhi began to count the number of guests to determine the number of tables needed.
After all, Mr. Shen had been a "landlord" for so many years, and was considered a figure in the village. Excluding close relatives, about sixty people had come to congratulate him.
Just considering Mr. Shen's connections, it would take at least twenty tables to be arranged.
Judging from this, the initial estimate of forty tables might not be enough. After all, there were about forty tables for the round house banquet. When the round house banquet was held, Mr. Shen was quite low-key and didn't make such a big fuss. It was just that distant and close relatives and neighbors who heard the news came spontaneously.
Unlike hotels, village banquets cannot be rescheduled immediately if there are too few guests, so we can only budget the maximum amount.
While Mr. Shen was quite certain about his daughter's social circle, Su Yunzhi was unsure. After hesitating for a long time, she decided to ask him herself.
"Wuqiu, we need to arrange for someone to go to the city to buy ingredients in the next couple of days. The chef said they need to confirm the number of tables first so they can determine the quantities. You know all our relatives and friends, but do you have any classmates or friends you want to invite?"