The awkwardness from the previous night carried over to the next day, to the point that Shen Wuqiu would inexplicably blush whenever she looked at the children.
The elders, unaware of the situation, noticed her unnaturally flushed face and expressed their concern.
"Qiuqiu, are you feeling unwell?"
"Are you too tired and haven't been sleeping well lately?"
"Let me get your thermometer to check if you have a fever. Look at your face, it's so red."
...
Faced with the elders' earnest concern, Shen Wuqiu felt even more embarrassed and could only pretend to be too tired.
One explanation was that she was too tired, and the elders were heartbroken. They immediately told Gu Lingyu to take her upstairs to sleep and not to worry about the child.
So, Shen Wuqiu was unusually happy to have some free time that day and spent the whole day lying in her room.
Of course, Gu Miaomiao wouldn't have such a leisurely time. The full moon banquet was coming up soon, and the return gifts for relatives and friends couldn't be sloppy. Su Yunzhi and the other women would have to help prepare these. The house in Huashan was also being renovated, and Father Shen would inevitably have to go and check it out.
With Shen Wuqiu taking a break as a mother, the task of looking after the cubs naturally fell to Gu Miaomiao.
The children are getting older and more lively every day. If they are still babies, they can be more well-behaved, but once they start to make a fuss, they turn into kittens and start running all over the house, which can be quite a headache to take care of.
However, Gu Lingyu, as the mother, did not pamper these children like her father and other elders. If she thought they were too noisy, she would not feel sorry for them having no freedom. She would simply find a room, lock all the kittens in it, and let them meow as they pleased.
As a result, when Shen's father found out, he gave her a severe scolding.
Gu Lingyu, who dared not talk back, only dared to say a few words in her own defense when her father Shen finished scolding her and took a breather:
“I was naughty when I was little, and that’s how my parents took care of me.”
Gu's parents, who had been dragged into this mess for no reason, were secretly annoyed with their simple-minded son, but on the surface, they smiled and tried to save face:
"Old Le, you don't know, the kids are at their naughty age right now, and they don't know any better. They don't know what's right or wrong. If we're not careful, they'll run all over the mountains and fields. If they run into something dangerous, we'll be worried. Isn't it more reassuring to keep them under our noses?"
Mr. Shen sneered, "I think you guys are just lazy and impatient."
Zhao Jiujiu spoke up and said something fair: "Our children are lively and active, they disappear in the blink of an eye, it's definitely better to keep them at home. Speaking of which, when I went back last time, you didn't tell me that the children had turned into these little balls of fluff. If I had known, I would have bought them some toys."
When she went back to see her future daughter-in-law, she stayed for several days. When she returned, she was stunned to see that the babies had turned into fluffy balls. Although she already knew, she was still dumbfounded for a long time.
Hearing this, Su Yunzhi chimed in, "Yes, yes, I recently saw someone online who keeps a cat. They keep the cat in their bedroom, but they have tons of toys and stuff."
Hearing them say that, Mr. Shen suddenly remembered this – right, his darling granddaughters can run around all over the place now, so it's time to buy them some toys.
That evening, Mr. Shen put on his reading glasses and called his son to ask him how to buy things online.
Mr. Shen, who had never bought anything online in his life, opened the door to a new world. He browsed online stores until late at night, finding everything he saw attractive and wanting to buy everything he saw.
The saying goes, "Placing an order is a moment of pleasure, but the bill is a nightmare."
However, that's a story for another time.
Two days before the full moon celebration, Stephen Chow arrived with bags and packages.
She originally wanted to give Shen Wuqiu a surprise, so after getting off the train in the city, she didn't inform Shen Wuqiu and took a taxi to the village by herself.
Who knew that there was no navigation in this remote mountain village? In addition, unlike the city where land is extremely valuable, the mountains are sparsely populated. Nowadays, with good national policies, even in remote mountain villages, there are basically roads leading to homes.
Therefore, if you take the wrong turn on a slightly different road, you might end up in another village or town.
Unfortunately, Zhou Xingxing herself is terrible with directions, and on top of that, she encountered a driver who wasn't very good at navigating either. The one-hour drive turned into a three-hour journey, and she was almost driven to the brink of collapse before she had no choice but to call Shen Wuqiu.
In the end, it was Shen Wuqiu who contacted a young man from the same village to bring her back from a village further into the mountains.
"Oh my god, I almost threw up from the car ride today." Zhou Xingxing was both exhausted and excited, as it was his first time venturing so deep into the world of the mountains. As soon as he got out of the car, he couldn't wait to complain to Shen Wuqiu.
"You've worked hard. Please come in and have a seat."
"There are many forks in the road in this mountain valley, and navigation doesn't work. Usually, only experienced drivers will go this way."
...
The entire Shen family greeted her with smiles as a distinguished guest who had come from afar.
Only one cat secretly sized her up: she wasn't as tall as her, was a bit chubby, and her face wasn't as pretty either, even uglier than in the video. She had several pimples on her forehead, and her chest wasn't full...
that's all?
I made her worry for nothing.
Although there was no real threat, the way she flirted with her partner was a bit unsettling.
Amidst the laughter and chatter, one of the cats suddenly remarked, "What's the point of showing off like this? If you can't walk, just call us and we'll come pick you up."
Caught off guard.
The lively atmosphere instantly quieted down because of this one sentence.
A cat thought: "Why are you all staring at me? Luckily, she's not lost. If she had, Qiuqiu's surprise would have turned into a shock."
Shen Wuqiu was extremely embarrassed. She secretly pinched her hard while apologizing to Zhou Xingxing, "Don't take it to heart, that's just how Lingyu talks..."
Zhou Xingxing didn't care. He stared at Gu Lingyu for a few moments and finally sighed, "Sure enough, all the beauties are taken by other beauties."
That statement is reasonably agreeable.
A cat sincerely praised her: "Although you have high standards, at least you have self-awareness."
"..." Shen Wuqiu wished he could sew her mouth shut.
The carefree Stephen Chow found it quite strange. Facing several elders, he wasn't afraid at all. "You're quite witty. Tsk, but why are you so hostile towards me? Do you see me as a rival in love? If a beautiful woman sees me as a rival, then rounding up, does that mean I'm also considered one of the beauties?"
One cat said sincerely, "If I had fewer pimples on my face and my skin was a bit whiter, I could just let it go... Ouch, Qiuqiu, why are you pinching me again? I wasn't joking."
The scene was extremely awkward.
Only Stephen Chow laughed out loud, looking at Shen Wuqiu, "Hey, where did you find your partner?"
Shen Wuqiu didn't want to continue the topic, so she invited her to eat and pointed to the bayberries on the table, "Try some, these are the ones I grew this year. They're in the freezer, so they're probably a bit cold."
Zhou Xingxing had no appetite at the moment, shook his head, and then remembered the purpose of his trip, "Right, the child, let me see..."
Before she could finish speaking, she spotted a small yellow kitten peeking out from behind a cushion on the opposite sofa and exclaimed, "Wow, you have a cat?"
Shen Wuqiu's nerves tensed instantly. Following her gaze, she looked at the sofa where her father often sat, and saw Simao, who was now awake and barking at her. She didn't know what to say for a moment.
When she received the call, the children were asking her for milk; the first three children were sleeping in their room upstairs.
I don't know what I was busy with in the middle, but I forgot about Si Mao.
Completely unaware of what was happening, Simao lazily shook itself and then spontaneously rubbed against her feet, meowing.
Shen Wuqiu didn't dare to hug her at this moment, for fear that if he held her in his arms, the kitten would suddenly turn into a baby. They were used to this and were just afraid of scaring their old classmate.
Because these children have been like this lately; when they're hungry, they turn into little babies and want to drink milk as soon as they're held in someone's arms, and when they're full, they run all over the house.
Simao nudged her, and when she didn't hug him, he tried to climb up by pulling on her trouser leg.
Unfortunately, she got so round from eating and sleeping that she rolled off when she reached her calves.
Meow~~
In Stephen Chow's eyes, this was incredibly cute.
She quickly came over and picked her up. "Oh my god, she's so cute! So cuddly! Is she a month old? Did your cat give birth to her...?"
Chapter 96 My
The lively atmosphere quieted down once again.
No one in the hall dared to speak casually.
There is a big cat in the house, but these kittens are not born to the big cat.
But Shen Wuqiu couldn't bring herself to say the truth. She could only gloss over it, staring intently at Si Mao in Zhou Xingxing's arms, afraid that in the blink of an eye, the little brat would turn into a baby.
Her nervousness and anxiety were all too obvious.
Even the carefree Stephen Chow sensed it. He looked down at the little kitten in his arms, deliberately swaying it in front of Shen Wuqiu while teasing, "Look how nervous you are! I'm starting to doubt if I'm holding your kitten, not your cat. Don't worry, you won't drop it..."
"..." Shen Wuqiu looked at her, unable to tell for a moment whether she was serious or joking. After several seconds, she said in a relaxed manner, "I'm not nervous..."
"Tch..." Zhou Xingxing tugged at Si Mao's droopy little ears, then exclaimed as if he had discovered a new continent, "Wow, you're a lop-eared cat! By the way, what's your name?"
Shen Wuqiu hesitated for a moment: "Simao".
"Si Mao??? Hahahaha... Shen Qiuqiu, are you trying to make me laugh to death? How could a perfectly good cat have such a country bumpkin-like name?" Laughing, Zhou Xingxing looked down at the little orange cat in his arms, blinked, and said, "Si? One, two, three, four?"
Shen Wuqiu nodded slowly twice.
Meanwhile, Simao, who hadn't gotten any neinei yet, was a little unhappy. He flapped his wings in Chen Wuqiu's direction, "Meow~~"
Shen Wuqiu subconsciously reached out, but as soon as she touched Si Mao's fur, she quickly pulled her hand back.
Gu Lingyu understood her concerns and knew her own child's nature, so she came over and picked up Simao. As she reached out to hug him, she secretly gathered spiritual power in her hands to prevent her child from transforming.
Si Mao was particularly unhappy about being suppressed by his mother. The well-behaved little boy got angry and started baring his teeth and claws at her.
Unaware of the situation, Zhou Xingxing was overjoyed: "Looks like Shen Qiuqiu's cat doesn't like you much, it doesn't want you to hold it... Si Mao, come to Auntie..."
Gu Lingyu ignored her, dodged her hand, and carried Simao straight upstairs.
Zhou Xingxing pouted, but didn't insist. He stretched lazily and let out a long sigh: "I can't take it anymore, I'm exhausted today. You need to take a look at your kid so I can get some sleep."
Shen Wuqiu, unaware of the situation upstairs, said, "Anyway, there's no rush right now. Why don't you rest for a bit first?"
"That won't do." Zhou Xingxing refused without even thinking, and looked around the room. "Where's the kid?"
As soon as she finished speaking, Daiying, who was taking care of the baby upstairs, carried Da Mao downstairs and walked towards them with a smile. She greeted Zhou Xingxing warmly and said, "You've come all this way, thank you for your hard work."
When Stephen Chow saw her, his eyes lit up. He rarely saw a woman with such an elegant and noble demeanor. But he quickly realized what she meant and replied with a smile, "Although we took a detour, the scenery and air in the mountains were great. Consider it a vacation."
As he spoke, he turned to Chen Wuqiu, winked, and whispered, "And who is this?"
Dai Ying cut to the chase, "I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Qiuqiu's... um, mother-in-law? Or mother-in-law?"
Zhou Xingxing raised an eyebrow in surprise at her nonchalant attitude. Although she didn't think homosexuality was anything special, she found it strange that her elders could be so tolerant.
As she was thinking this, she noticed the child in the woman's arms out of the corner of her eye, and immediately stood up and came closer, "Is this Qiuqiu's child?"
Daiying nodded and pushed Da Mao towards her.
Stephen Chow quickly reached out, but upon seeing the tiny little bundle, he hesitated to take it. "It looks so small! I've never held such a tiny human baby before..."