Chapter 13 Meow
With a few more people eating lunch, Su Yunzhi was a bit overwhelmed and unwilling to ask Shen Wuqiu for help, so she deliberately ordered Shen Wujun around in front of Shen Wuqiu.
This was her usual tactic of "insulting one thing while meaning another," which disgusted Shen Wuqiu, but in front of outsiders, she still gave her some face, rolled up her sleeves and went into the kitchen. Without needing Su Yunzhi's instructions, she went straight to deal with the ducks in the pool.
Su Yunzhi said in a feignedly polite manner, "The kitchen is smoky, let Junjun help out."
Shen Wuqiu was too lazy to waste words with her. She quickly cleaned the duck and placed it on the cutting board. As she cut the duck, she asked, "Should we steam or boil the duck?"
"Boil, make beer-braised duck..."
Before Su Yunzhi could finish speaking, Shen Wuqiu picked up a knife and started chopping, his practiced movements leaving no room for Su Yunzhi to instruct him.
Shen Wuqiu may look like a pampered young lady who never lifts a finger, but in reality, she has been making fried rice for herself since she was four years old, standing on a stool. Over the years, she has always cooked for herself while living alone, and ordinary home-cooked dishes are no challenge for her.
Su Yunzhi originally wanted her to help out, but in the end, it all turned out that she was the one helping Shen Wuqiu.
On the other side, the white cat was quite sensible. Knowing that Shen Wuqiu was busy in the kitchen, she didn't join in the fun. Instead, she lay in the middle of the living room sofa watching TV like a king. Only after Shen Wuqiu finished did she sneak in at the kitchen doorway, meowing.
Shen Wuqiu didn't even glance at her, continuing to wipe the grease off the counter with a rag.
Meow~
The pitiful cries easily evoked people's compassion. Su Yunzhi was originally going to kick her out, but upon hearing her cries, she couldn't help but ask Shen Wuqiu, "In case she gets greedy and wastes food again, should we prepare some food for her?"
"Hmm." It was rare for her stepmother, who usually disliked Maoqiu, to show such kindness. Shen Wuqiu stopped what she was doing and turned to look at her. "Are there any fish left at home?"
Su Yunzhi was silent for a few seconds before saying, "There are frozen sturgeon on the freezer shelf."
Shen Wuqiu pretended not to hear the reluctance in her tone, washed her hands, and went to the refrigerator to get three pieces of sturgeon.
Su Yunzhi kept glancing at Shen Wuqiu, and when she saw her pick out three pieces without hesitation, her brows furrowed tightly. She pointed at the white cat and said sarcastically, "You stray cat really know how to pick your owner. Ordinary people can't even afford to feed cats this kind of fish, let alone people."
"Meow~" Perhaps annoyed by her noise, the white cat bared its teeth and meowed at her.
The red mouth and white teeth were quite frightening. Su Yunzhi was afraid of these furry things, so she immediately withdrew her hand and took the food out.
As soon as she spoke, the white cat immediately reverted to its gentle and adorable demeanor, and began rubbing against Shen Wuqiu's legs again.
Shen Wuqiu still didn't give her a second glance, focusing only on the cat food in her hand.
Meow~
No matter how much the white cat begged and pleaded, Shen Wuqiu ignored it, focusing only on making the sturgeon paste. Once it was done, she put it on a plate and went to eat in the yard.
Since the weather was nice, Su Yunzhi asked Shen Wujun to move the large, foldable round table from the house to the yard, where they ate lunch.
When villagers gather together, the rule of "not talking while eating" no longer applies.
"Old Le, I haven't come to see you for the past few days. You look much better today."
Uncle Zheng and Mr. Shen got along well. Before Uncle Zheng came to help Mr. Shen, the two often got together to drink and chat. When he heard about Mr. Shen's illness, he was secretly saddened for a long time.
Upon hearing this, Su Yunzhi immediately chimed in, "He's probably been happy to see Wuqiu back these past two days, and his spirits have improved considerably. He's even been willing to get out of bed these past two days."
Shen Xianghua said, "Wuqiu hasn't come back for so many years, brother must be happy."
Seeing this, Su Yunzhi also said, "Wuqiu is a promising child. I would be relieved if Juanjuan were half as promising as her."
Uncle Zheng held his wine glass, squinted at Shen Wujun, and after a few seconds looked at Shen Wuqiu with a nod and a nod. "This girl is resourceful and capable."
As he spoke, he raised his glass to Mr. Chen again, "Old Le, to be honest, I really like your daughter. How about we become in-laws?"
"Old Zheng, you're really good at scheming. Brother Le specially called him back to inherit this business. If you marry him, wouldn't you be getting a huge advantage?"
The younger fruit farmer, surnamed Duan and named Guodong, was always one to enjoy a good show. "Or could you send your son to Brother Le's house to be a live-in son-in-law?"
After a few drinks, Uncle Zheng was intoxicated and confused. He didn't realize that it was someone joking. He seriously thought about it for a while before slapping the table and saying to Shen Wuqiu, "Girl, if you like my son and want him to come to your house as a live-in son-in-law, I can accept it. After all, men and women are the same these days."
Uncle Zheng got more and more excited as he spoke, "Let me tell you, daughter, if it were anyone else, I wouldn't agree either. My son isn't bad either; he's tall and handsome, and he's always been a good student, completing his bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in one go. Now he's working in the provincial capital, and he owns a house and a car. For the past two years, people have been coming to our house every year to arrange marriages for him, but he hasn't liked any of them. To be honest, I think those girls are either too vulgar or too flashy, and I don't really like them. But you, daughter, are exactly my type. As long as you're willing..."
Meow~
The sudden meow interrupted him, and Uncle Zheng was momentarily at a loss for words. He stared blankly at the white cat that had jumped into Shen Wuqiu's arms for a long while before finally managing to squeeze out, "Is this your cat?"
Shen Wuqiu still didn't want to pay attention to the white cat, but in this situation, the white cat had helped her out of the predicament, so she unconsciously rubbed the cat's head and said, "Mmm."
"This cat is so beautiful, just as beautiful as the one my son has..." Speaking of his son, Uncle Zheng remembered where he was, "Perfect timing, my son also likes to keep these kinds of things, so you two have a common interest. By the way, is your cat male or female?"
"...a female cat."
“A female cat would be even better. He has a male cat. If you two get together, even the cats will be paired up.”
"..." Shen Wuqiu was so embarrassed that she didn't know what to say. The white cat in her arms was dissatisfied and started meowing at Uncle Zheng.
Shen Wuqiu was even more embarrassed. She hugged the restless white cat in her arms tightly, stood up, and said, "You guys eat slowly, I'm done eating."
After saying that, he picked up the white cat and left the dining table.
The white cat was very unhappy with her avoidance, squirming and whimpering in her arms.
Shen Wuqiu held her tightly, carried her upstairs, and only released the white cat after closing the door.
"Meow~"
As soon as she was put down, the white cat meowed at her, sounding very dissatisfied.
Shen Wuqiu was so angry she laughed. "You still have the nerve to insult me?"
The white cat argued vehemently: "Meow~~"
It was too much effort for Shen Wuqiu to keep her head down, so she simply sat down on the ground and pinched the white cat's two ears. "Don't forget who brought you back."
With its sensitive little ears held in someone else's hand, the white cat dared not move. Its little paws on its chest were itching to pounce, but it never actually touched Chen Wuqiu, only making a show of meowing.
Seeing her pitiful, weak, and helpless appearance, Shen Wuqiu released her ear, looked away, and muttered under her breath, "You heartless little thing."
The white cat's ears twitched, and it tilted its head to look at her. As if it understood something, it stuck out its little tongue to lick Chen Wuqiu's palm.
Shen Wuqiu moved her hand away and looked down at her. "It's useless."
Upon hearing this, the white cat drooped its head, and after two seconds, it used its little paws to paw at Shen Wuqiu's thigh.
The scene was filled with an air of flattery.
The anger that had been building up inside Shen Wuqiu felt like a hole had been punched in it, and it deflated without her realizing it.
She hesitated for a moment, but couldn't resist picking up the white cat. "If you don't like cat food, I'll try my best to make you cat meals from now on, but you're not allowed to steal anything from the house anymore, understand?"
The white cat was indignant, meowing.
Shen Wuqiu glared at her: "Meow properly!"
The white cat turned its head away haughtily, and just when Shen Wuqiu thought that this little tyrant was going to argue with him, the white cat meowed again.
Short and weak, conveying a strong sense of reluctance.
Shen Wuqiu stroked her cat's head, and thinking of her father's red jade, she felt a pang of sadness. She couldn't help but mutter, "I've been so good to you, and I've never seen you give me anything in return..."
After muttering to herself, she felt a pang of self-loathing.
After playing with the white cat in the room for a while, Su Yunzhi called downstairs that people from the village had come and asked Shen Wuqiu to come down.
The person who came was Shen Yan, along with two other older men. Shen Wuqiu recognized them, but couldn't recall their names.
Shen Yan came over to take Shen Wuqiu to confirm the scope of the land contracted by Shen's father, because the handover and notarization would take place that evening.
Mr. Shen's father contracted a large area of land, but fortunately, the villages have been working hard to build roads in recent years, so now it is basically possible to drive there.
Even so, going through all the formalities took almost an entire afternoon.
After showing Shen Wuqiu the last forest, Shen Yan joked, "This is probably the empire your father built for you. What are your thoughts?"
With no one else around, Shen Wuqiu spoke wittily, “I have a heavy responsibility and a long way to go.”
Shen Yan was amused by her words, but then his smile faded. He looked down at the rapeseed fields below the mountains and said seriously, "You don't need to feel too much pressure. If you need any help in the future, just ask. I'll be right here."
His ambiguous feelings were even more unbearable for Shen Wuqiu. She couldn't directly reject him, nor could she give him a response.
The silence grew increasingly ambiguous.
Shen Yan took a deep breath, just as he was about to press on with his momentum, when suddenly a white figure burst into his field of vision, and then he watched as the white figure rushed towards them with lightning speed.
"...Is this the cat from yesterday?"
Shen Wuqiu was also surprised to see the white cat. She remembered that it was still at home when she came. "Yes, it's the same one from yesterday."
Shen Yan glanced at the white cat and frowned. "Why is she always following you?"
The white cat stood in front of Shen Wuqiu, staring intently at him, as if it were treating him as a heinous villain and guarding against him.
“I adopted her, and now she’s my cat.”
The white cat also meowed, looking incredibly proud.
"..." This is really weird. The more Shen Yan looked at the cat, the more eerie it seemed. "You like keeping these kinds of things?"
"She's always been with me, I guess it's fate."
Shen Yan hesitated for a moment, then decided not to dwell on the topic. "It's getting late, let's go down the mountain now."
Shen Wuqiu looked around, then picked up the white cat. "Hmm. By the way, let's invite everyone else over for dinner tonight."
"That's too much trouble?"
Shen Yan stepped aside, making a point of letting her go first. Shen Wuqiu didn't hesitate, "It's no trouble at all, it's just a matter of having two more pairs of chopsticks."
Shen Yan followed behind, and was about to agree when he looked up and met the white cat that had somehow climbed onto Shen Wuqiu's shoulder again. The white cat was staring at him with her deep blue eyes.
"..." How to describe that feeling... Shen Yan couldn't put it into words. After a long while, he replied, "Let's look at it again later."
Upon hearing his words, the white cat disdainfully looked away.
"..." This is unbelievable!
A note from the author:
The white cat isn't a bad cat. Every night after sleeping with Qiuqiu, she has to leave because she has very important things to do.
Love you all, muah!
Chapter 14 Family Property
When Shen Wuqiu returned, her courtyard was already full of people.