"I was just saying it casually, why are you being so mean?" Su Yunzhi closed the gift list and tossed it to him. "Otherwise, who would make such a solemn and festive gesture when giving a gift?"
"That's just their way of being particular. Besides, Old Gu told me that he gave us this gift list so that we would have a general idea of what to give. One box of gifts is full of small pieces of jewelry."
Perhaps it's because women are more sensitive and perceptive, but Su Yunzhi still felt that the gifts from the Gu family were a bit odd. Thinking of something, she asked, "Old Gu and his family have been quite thoughtful with their gifts this time. I heard from Aunt Wuqiu that they prepared extra gifts for them as well. Daiying also prepared one for me, and they even set aside an extra one for Junjun. You should have prepared one for yourself too, right?"
"Old Gu gave me a box, but I haven't opened it yet." Mr. Shen said, getting up to take the gift box, and remarking, "Rich people like them are so particular."
Su Yunzhi opened the box for him, and frowned when she saw what was inside. "This thing looks exactly like the one Wangcai gave you."
Upon hearing this, Mr. Shen immediately leaned closer to take a look, then pulled out the small piece of blood jade from the pillow. After examining it carefully, he also felt that the two items were of the same kind. "Where did Wangcai get this?"
"How would I know?" After a pause, Su Yunzhi probed again, "Could it be that Wangcai stole it?"
“How could my daughter be such a cat?” Mr. Shen was not happy to hear such words at all.
"Then tell me, where did Wangcai get this thing?"
Mr. Shen remained silent for a moment, then angrily emphasized, "Anyway, my daughter was definitely not stolen."
Su Yunzhi pouted, knowing he was stubborn, so she didn't argue with him. She went around to the other side of the bed and got on. "Okay, okay, it wasn't stolen, it's an heirloom."
It's obvious they're just being perfunctory.
Mr. Shen lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling, feeling frustrated. After a long while, he emphasized again, "Wangcai won't steal anything; at most, he'll pick up other people's things."
Su Yunzhi yawned lazily, "Alright, go to sleep."
In the darkness, Mr. Shen couldn't sleep. He fiddled with the ring in his left hand and weighed the blood jade in his right. The more he thought about it, the more suspicious he felt about his daughter Wangcai and the Gu family. For example, the Gu couple had coaxed his daughter Wangcai away for two days, and Lingyu had also disappeared for two days.
Mr. Shen lay in bed tossing and turning for a long time before finally falling asleep in a daze.
at the same time.
Upstairs in Shen Wuqiu's room, Daiying also prepared a special gift for Shen Wuqiu—a felt kitten the size of a thumb.
The kitten was so small that its appearance was barely visible at first glance, but Shen Wuqiu knew at first glance that the kitten resembled a certain cat. "Is it Lingyu?"
Daiying nodded, stroking the kitten in her hands reluctantly. After looking at it for several more seconds, she handed it to Shen Wuqiu. "This is made from the fur that Ayu shed when she was a kitten. Wuqiu, I'm entrusting her to you. You must treat her well."
Shen Wuqiu looked at the kitten in her palm without saying a word, a sense of satisfaction welling up inside her.
Daiying: "Ayu has been entrusted with important responsibilities since birth. Precisely because of her noble status, I, as her mother, dare not indulge her and have always been strict with her. However, she is really a very simple and kind child."
As Daiying spoke, she stroked the kitten in her hand. "Over the years, she has never disobeyed me, except when it came to choosing a partner. She was incredibly audacious and ran away from her wedding."
At this point, Daiying couldn't help but smile and touched her face, "It turns out that fate had already arranged it, and you two have met again."
Shen Wuqiu listened to this with some confusion, "Again?"
Daiying raised her hand and tapped her forehead.
Shen Wuqiu's eyelids slowly closed, and a memory instantly flooded her mind:
A little girl in a white dress was rolling around in a field full of dandelions when she rolled to the feet of another little girl in a pink nightgown.
When their eyes met, they were both stunned, and asked in unison, "Who are you?"
The little girl in the white dress jumped up, put her hands on her hips, and tried to stand on tiptoe. "I asked you first! This is all my territory!"
The little girl in the pink nightgown was terrified by her fierce look; her lips trembled, and tears streamed down her face.
The little girl in the white dress was stunned, her confidence instantly vanished, and she awkwardly said, "Don't cry."
The little girl in the pink nightgown was still crying, "I want my mommy."
The little girl in the white dress was at a loss because of her crying. She scratched her head for a long time, then bent down and picked a handful of dandelions from the side. "Okay, okay, stop crying. My name is Gu Lingyu. Are you lost? Tell me your name so I can ask my mother whose child you are."
“Chenwu Autumn…”
The image in her mind froze, and Shen Wuqiu suddenly opened her eyes, staring blankly at Daiying.
Daiying: "You remember now?"
Shen Wuqiu nodded. "We...met when we were little?"
"Yes and no," Daiying explained. "Do you remember when you were three years old, you had a strange illness?"
Shen Wuqiu didn't remember, but his father had told him about it before. "I heard my dad say that he had seen many doctors but his condition didn't improve. It was the water that Lady Wang sent him."
“You weren’t sick that time; rather, one of your souls was trapped in Ayu’s dream. You and Ayu have never actually met, but your dreams have become intertwined by some strange twist of fate.”
"Does she know?"
“Ayu remembers, but I made her forget. Because after she woke up from the dream, she kept talking about looking for you.” Daiying sighed softly. “I didn’t expect the bond between you two to be so deep, so I sealed her dream and then asked the Queen Mother of your village to send you a bowl of spiritual water.”
If that's the case, then everything makes sense.
"I was wondering why the Queen's water was so effective; it turns out you were secretly helping me."
Daiying smiled but didn't explain further. "I haven't told Ayu about this until now. Wuqiu, Ayu... Since ancient times, only humans have formed a pact with our race. The blood of the gods is pure and powerful, and forming a pact with our race is enough for humans to share our power. However, Ayu also chose to form a pact with you, which means she has to bear all the suffering you endure as an ordinary human."
Shen Wuqiu seemed to understand, yet also seemed not to understand, "You mean, to form a bond, all Lingyu needs to do is put her blood into my forehead, right?"
Daiying looked at her. "Yes. You don't need to put your blood into her forehead."
Shen Wuqiu understood, "I don't know..."
Daiying comforted her, "I know. I just wanted to tell you that Ayu truly cherishes you, and she is willing to share all your joys and sorrows. So, I hope that you will be more understanding and forgiving of her in the days to come."
Shen Wuqiu was touched, but also felt a heavy weight in her heart at the love the other person had given her. After a long while, she nodded firmly, "Don't worry, Aunt Dai."
Daiying smiled and said, "From now on, I'll have to call you Mother."
Shen Wuqiu's face flushed red. "I..."
Daiying knew what she was going to say and comforted her, "I know your concerns. Don't worry, your mother won't make things difficult for you. When you're willing to be honest with your family and openly confess your feelings for Ayu in front of them, it's not too late to change your mind."
Shen Wuqiu was quite frank about it, saying, "I will find a suitable opportunity to explain it to my family and make them accept Lingyu."
Daiying believed her, "We have plenty of time, so there's no need to rush anything."
Having said all that needed to be said, Daiying decided not to bother her any longer. As she was leaving, she remembered something and turned back to say, "Now that you're pregnant, don't be too rough with Ayu... Of course, if you really can't control yourselves, I suggest you sleep in separate rooms."
Shen Wuqiu's face flushed red, and she lowered her head, biting her lip. "Yes, I'll be careful."
Daiying patted her shoulder, "Don't worry, I didn't let your father hear it."
Upon hearing this, Shen Wuqiu wished she could disappear into the ground. She decided to start preparing to build the house starting tomorrow!
Seeing that she looked uncomfortable, Daiying didn't say anything more, greeted her, and left.
As soon as she left, the cat immediately climbed through the window and slipped in. Seeing its partner's flushed face, it assumed that its mother had said something unpleasant. "Qiuqiu, what did your mother say to you?"
“She didn’t say anything…” Shen Wuqiu rubbed her face. She had originally intended to take her anger out on her, but when she thought of what Daiying had just said, her anger disappeared. “Mother said you like me very much and told me to treat you well.”
Gu Lingyu snuggled up to her with a smile, "The first time I saw you, I felt like I recognized you, and I wanted you to be my partner."
Shen Wuqiu recalled the bossy and fierce little girl in her dream, and then looked at the shameless person at this moment, and couldn't help but feel sour, "You were so fierce to me the first time we met."
"No way..." Gu Lingyu didn't think she was being fierce at all.
Shen Wuqiu knew she had forgotten, so she didn't bring up the past. She showed the felt-fur kitten in her palm and said, "Weren't you just this small when you were little?"
Gu Lingyu looked at the little gadget with some embarrassment and avoided looking at it, saying, "It's definitely bigger and prettier than this."
Shen Wuqiu loved seeing her awkward and uncomfortable. Her puffed-up cheeks were so cute that he couldn't help but lean in and kiss her cheek. "You look good no matter what."
Gu Lingyu then brought her other cheek closer, saying, "I want this side too."
"What else do you want?"
"Give it a kiss."
Her exaggerated pout was so cute that Shen Wuqiu gave her a quick kiss on the lips. "Can I kiss you here?"
Gu Lingyu licked her lips, "But I still want to get a kiss on my right cheek."
Shen Wuqiu just won't kiss.
Gu Lingyu didn't wait any longer, so she sullenly jumped onto the bed and rolled around, grumbling and expressing her dissatisfaction.
Shen Wuqiu couldn't help but laugh at her shameless behavior. Remembering what Dai Ying had said before leaving, she wanted to embarrass her as well: "Do you know what Aunt Dai just said to me?"
"say what?"
They told us to sleep in separate rooms.
"Why?"
"Isn't it because your singing at night disturbed everyone's sleep?"
"What midnight song..." Gu Lingyu belatedly realized, her ears turning red, "Did Mother hear it?"
"Mmm." Shen Wuqiu leaned in and licked her neck. Hearing a muffled groan from the cat, he silenced her with a kiss and whispered, "So, little Mianmian, please bear with it a little longer."
Gu Lingyu bit her lip and stared at her with her big eyes.
"Don't worry, I won't make you wait too long. I'll definitely get the best soundproofing in the new house so you can sing to your heart's content, okay?"
Gu Lingyu: "..."
Chapter 74 Production
Nowadays, building houses in rural areas is not as easy as it used to be; the approval process for building foundations is quite complicated.
Fortunately, the Huashan area was previously an unmanaged area.
Don't be fooled by how lush and verdant this mountain looks from afar. In reality, most of it consists of low shrubs and brambles. There used to be some tall fir trees, but when nearby villagers built houses, they were reluctant to cut down trees on their own land to make roof beams, so they cut down the few decent trees on this mountain.
Because it wasn't of much value, the village didn't specifically allocate it to any households. During the era when land reclamation was popular, a lot of land was reclaimed from this unclaimed mountain. The hundreds of acres of land that Mr. Shen contracted were reclaimed wasteland.
As for the two households halfway up the mountain, they have been there for quite some time. The older villagers don't know when they moved there; they only know that after the wildfire, the two households moved away.
Shen Wuqiu planned to use the land of these two households to build houses, but he needed to get approval from the village first.
Although her father disagreed with her building the house alone on the hillside, he couldn't persuade his daughter otherwise. Instead, he secretly helped her get the land approved.
With her wealthy aunt and mother-in-law around, she didn't need to make any careful plans for building the house. As soon as the foundation was laid, Zhao Jiujiu and Daiying took care of everything for her.
Time flies when you have something to do.
It's already the end of September.
The new house, which had been under construction for more than two months, was finally completed. According to the village custom, a banquet was held to celebrate the completion of the house, known as the "Round House Banquet".