"..." Zhou Xingxing was a little embarrassed. Considering how openly the other person had shared their bedroom secrets with her, she secretly added the person to her list of best friends. "Actually, you're a pretty good person. You and Shen Xiaoqiu are still very..."
“My cat form is also quite good. In fact, Qiuqiu fell in love with my cat form at first.”
"..." Without love, communication cannot transcend race. Zhou Xingxing gave up. "It seems very late. Do you want to go and rest?"
Gu Miaomiao quickly suppressed the yawn that was about to come out. If this foolish human knew that he had been kicked out by his partner and could not go back to his room, wouldn't that damage his reputation? "I'm not sleepy anymore. I'll take a walk around a bit more. Oh, right, there are still a few pots to wash after dinner. I'll wash them and then go to sleep. If you're sleepy, you can go to sleep."
Zhou Xingxing nodded. He hadn't wanted to expose her, but he couldn't resist his curiosity. "What made you get kicked out tonight?"
“…Oh, don’t misunderstand, it’s not that we were in a rush…” Seeing Zhou Xingxing’s piercing gaze, Gu Miaomiao stopped pretending, “It’s just those little brats.”
Zhou Xingxing nodded her chin in understanding. After all, it wasn't the first time. She was a night owl and had seen this cat being kicked out of rooms quite a few times.
Gu Miaomiao thought she couldn't be embarrassed by herself, so she glanced at Zhou Xingxing's belly, first sighed in a pretentious manner, and then said in an old-fashioned way, "Anyway, you'll understand later how annoying babies are, especially since they have such a big impact on the nightlife of couples."
At this point, Stephen Chow sighed softly, "That's why I never intended to have children so early."
“Hmm.” Gu Miaomiao nodded in agreement. “I also regret my past actions. If I had known, I would have waited another three to five hundred years before letting these little brats come out.”
"..." Zhou Xingxing couldn't get a word in edgewise. After a while, he continued to ask curiously, "What are the main ways in which a baby affects a couple's... well, their nightlife?"
"They do parkour in bed in the middle of the night, insist on squeezing between their partners, or even just burst into tears... In short, there's nothing they won't do."
"Oh." Zhou Xingxing nodded. "So what did they do tonight?"
"Qiuqiu was singing, and Sanmao opened his eyes and started imitating Qiuqiu's singing."
“…Ah…hahahaha…” Zhou Xingxing really wanted to hold it in, but he couldn’t. “No…I just…hahahaha…okay, just thinking about this scene makes me laugh…Isn’t Shen Xiaoqiu ashamed and furious to death?”
"That's why they kicked me out," Gu Miaomiao said, her head drooping. "I really want to stuff them back into the Pregnancy Fruit."
After laughing enough, Stephen Chow turned to her and offered a fake consolation: "Oh, although they're a little naughty sometimes, aren't the kids adorable? Besides, they'll be fine when they're older."
"That's all we can do. We can't really put them back." Gu Miaomiao sighed and rolled up her sleeves to wash the pot.
Seeing that she was serious, Stephen Chow didn't disturb her washing the pot. "Then you wash the pot, I'm going upstairs to sleep."
"Go."
As Zhou Xingxing walked to the door, he couldn't help but turn back and say, "Um... I have something to ask you..."
"Um?"
"Does it really mean that you can't... um, do that during pregnancy?"
"It's not entirely impossible, but you'd have to be very restrained, because it's not very enjoyable..."
Stephen Chow's expression fell.
"..." Gu Miaomiao realized, "You don't not want your baby because of this, do you...?"
There was a reason, "Oh dear, I was just with someone... and then... and then..."
Gu Miaomiao, having been through it herself, understood perfectly. "Don't explain anymore, I get it. But you're not pregnant yet, are you?"
Stephen Chow's expression lit up instantly, "That's right..."
Then, happily, he went upstairs to make a phone call.
The next morning, Stephen Chow packed lots of bags, hugged this child and kissed that child, saying, "My darlings, Auntie Ai will come to see you again after the New Year."
Shen Wuqiu: "Didn't you say the day before yesterday that you were going to wait a few more days? It's almost the Little New Year, why did you suddenly decide to leave today?"
Stephen Chow: "Oh dear, plans can't always keep up with changes... Don't be too sad, I'll be back right after the New Year."
Gu Miaomiao chewed on her steamed bun: "They're just making the most of the time..."
"Hahaha, Lingyu, next time I come I'll bring you some super delicious dried fish!" Under everyone's gaze, Zhou Xingxing felt that he was still quite thin-skinned.
Gu Miaomiao pouted and muttered, "How annoying, humans don't even have a seasonal mating season. But winter's here, spring's not far off..."
"..."
Chapter 165
When Zhou Xingxing was leaving, apart from a few kids who were a little reluctant to see her go, the rest of the Shen family politely tried to persuade her to stay, but in reality, they quickly packed some local specialties for her to send her off.
It wasn't that Shen Wuqiu and the others disliked her; it was just that with the end of the year approaching, it was better to persuade a runaway daughter to go home for the New Year as soon as possible.
As the saying goes, whether you have money or not, you should go home for the Chinese New Year.
The villagers have always attached great importance to the Spring Festival, often saying that all the hard work throughout the year is for a happy and harmonious family reunion during the New Year.
Therefore, as the year draws to a close, whether people are rich or poor, melon seeds, fruits, and candies are indispensable for the villagers during the New Year.
In previous years, as the year drew to a close, villagers would flock to the town or county to buy melon seeds, peanuts, and fruit in bulk. But this year, they don't need to join in the fun, because they can buy everything at the small supermarket in their village.
As for Lao Du, Shen Wuqiu used to think that with his current wealth and resources, he wouldn't be interested in anything less than several hundred thousand yuan. That's why she initially opposed her father's partnership with him in opening a small supermarket. She thought that Lao Du's sudden idea to open a temporary supermarket in the village was simply to provide services for his scenic area, and she was afraid that he, as a big boss, wouldn't take responsibility and would just push everything onto her father.
Only now did she realize that her thinking was somewhat like judging a gentleman by her own petty standards.
Old Du is a man who sees things through to the end, and he's not all talk and no action.
For example, at the end of the year, after he saw that the villagers were going to the town or county to buy melon seeds, peanuts and fruits wholesale, he waved his hand and told everyone not to rush to the market to buy these. He suggested that they come to the small supermarket around the 20th of the twelfth lunar month and buy them at the same wholesale price as they would at the county town.
At first, some people didn't believe he was being so kind, worried that he was trying to fool everyone with some leftover, inferior goods, so they went to the street to buy them themselves early on.
However, they soon regretted it.
Old Du is a man of his word. On the 20th of the twelfth lunar month, he personally brought two trucks to the village, one carrying dried fruit and pastries, and the other carrying fresh fruit. The quality was evident to everyone, and the prices were even a few cents or a dollar cheaper than the wholesale prices in the county town.
As soon as the goods arrived, even the people from town who came to buy beef and mutton bought a lot of dried fruit from him. In their words, "The goods at the end of the year are like they're free. Going to the supermarket is crowded and noisy, and the goods aren't necessarily as good as these."
The goods in those two truckloads were all looted in less than a morning.
Old Du was also a little surprised by this, and he joked with everyone: "Wow, it seems that everyone's life is really good now. I thought these two truckloads of goods could be stored in our supermarket's small warehouse for at least ten days or half a month."
"This is because Mr. Du's products are of good quality and inexpensive."
"Exactly, it's a good thing we didn't go out and buy it ourselves earlier, otherwise we would have not only wasted money, but also suffered a lot."
"That's right. I saw the sunflower seeds they bought on the street the day before yesterday. The kernels weren't plump, and they were 50 cents more expensive per pound than the ones Boss Du sells here."
"..."
The weather was nice, so we gathered at home in front of the small supermarket, chatting and eating sunflower seeds. It was quite lively.
The families who had bought in advance gathered in Sister Yun's courtyard and complained, "I think the people in our village are all so short-sighted. They act like they're all that when someone gives them a little favor."
"Exactly! They were all overjoyed, thinking they'd gotten a great deal."
"Look, if this continues, the whole village will become Grandpa Le's."
"What's the use of them becoming his? What's the use of his daughter being so capable? He has no shame at all. Two women getting together and still having the nerve to flaunt it every day. He's really disgraced our village."
"It's just that the villagers are materialistic and greedy. They see that others have money and rush to curry favor with them."
"By the way, speaking of this, she had quadruplets, and they're over a year old now. We've basically never seen those four kids since. They said their in-laws took them in to be cared for. Don't you find that strange? Who takes such young children in with their in-laws?"
"Speaking of this, I've wanted to say this for a long time. Do you think she's doing that kind of thing outside... like having children for others, nominally their own children, but who knows if she's being paid to have children for someone else?"
“I think that’s probably the case. Otherwise, why would someone not take care of such a young child themselves and instead leave it to their in-laws?”
Hearing this, the young woman, who hadn't said much until now, frowned and couldn't help but speak up, "I can't believe it. I saw them pushing strollers and taking several children for a walk on the road near Huashan just the day before yesterday. Her in-laws seemed to treat her very well."
"Oh, what do you know?" Sister Yun rolled her eyes at her. "They're just putting on an act for you."
The young woman was from Yun's maternal family. According to the family's hierarchy, she should address her as "Auntie." She forced a smile and said, "Is that so? But I see that the children are quite close to her. Otherwise, she wouldn't let the children be so close to her."
"Children are close to their mothers, isn't that natural? It's just strange, otherwise you'd see no one in the village taking their children out to play. Anyway, I've never seen what her children look like. On the day of the full moon celebration, I only glanced at the eldest one or the one who was wrinkled and not good-looking."
“I saw them the day before yesterday. All four little girls are very pretty, especially the third one, who looks like a little fairy. There was also a five or six-year-old boy wearing a cat-ear hat, who was also very handsome.” Seeing that Sister Yun was looking at her, the young woman added, “They all look smart and good-looking, but I heard they can’t call me ‘Mom’ yet.”
"Tsk, could he be mute...?"
"Is this retribution?"
Hearing their vicious words, the young woman regretted her earlier statement. "He's definitely not mute; he's probably just a late talker. My son didn't start speaking until he was a year and a half old."
"But your son could call you 'Mommy' when he was one year old, right?"
The young woman pursed her lips, nodded, then took out her phone to look at it, stood up and said, "Oh, it's getting late, I'm going home to cook."
"Go..."
As soon as she got up and left, the gossipy women behind her started whispering around Sister Yun again: "Your niece seems to have a strong personality."
"What good is having a strong personality if your husband is having affairs? You don't dare say a word."
"Wasn't her husband known as an honest man in the village? How come he's been cheating on her?"
"Who knows..."
The gossipy women spread the word about all the village's affairs before dispersing.
The next day, when they heard that Lao Du was going to send over another batch of dried goods like wood ear mushrooms and squid, those people who had been gathering yesterday to criticize others for being greedy for small gains were now waiting eagerly at the supermarket entrance, afraid of missing out.
However, these people were quite thick-skinned; they even exchanged warm greetings when they saw each other.
"Oh, you're here too. I was just about to call you."
"Really? That's a perfect coincidence. I just came to take a look. I forgot to buy some groceries when I went to the market the other day. I heard that the weather is going to change again in a couple of days, so I'm too lazy to go to the market."
"That's what I think too..."
As for the people around them, they saw through it but didn't say anything, they just smiled.
After a few chaotic days at the end of the year, it's already Lunar New Year's Eve in the blink of an eye.
There was no taboo against setting off firecrackers in the village, so Mr. Shen, like a playful old man, drove the old pickup truck that Stephen Chow had left in the yard to town with Shen Wujun and bought a whole truckload of fireworks and firecrackers.
As evening fell, a light snow began to fall from the gloomy sky, filling the air with a festive atmosphere.
With Shen Wujun, the uncle, leading the way, the little rascals couldn't be kept in check. Even Si Mao, the lazy pig, turned into a baby and followed Shen Wujun around.
Shen Wujun bought them small sparklers, but Sanmao, being a little fairy, was too timid to use them, while the other kids had a great time playing with them.
Only after most of the firecrackers in that pickup truck had been used up did Shen Wujun carry the little ones into the house one by one.
The little ones were still not satisfied and didn't want to stay at home anymore. In particular, Er Mao, the little rascal, took advantage of everyone's inattention and stole another sparkler. He carried a small stool, stepped on it, opened the door, and took Si Mao out.
Unfortunately, the two little ones didn't have a lighter, and after waving their sparklers outside for a while, they went back inside in a huff.
Shen Wuqiu rubbed the naughty boy's face, which was red from the cold, and said, "You're getting bolder and bolder, aren't you?"