Both of them understood that the lingering resentment that had accumulated over the long years had been let go with this smile.
Su Yunzhi took a new rag from the cabinet and gave it to her, saying, "Don't blame me if your hands get rough later."
"Don't make it sound like I'm someone who never lifts a finger." Zhao Jiujiu scrubbed the rag in the bucket and then quickly got to work. "By the way, where are Daiying and her husband? Why didn't they come with us? Aren't they going to take care of their eldest granddaughter?"
"They were coming, but they said they had some things to take care of in their clan and would come a couple of days later."
"Oh. I thought they were just past the novelty and wanted to leave the kids with us."
“I can tell you’re very willing to take this job.”
Zhao Jiujiu snorted, then caught a glimpse of Shen Wuqiu and the others coming downstairs. She immediately put down the rag she was half-wringing. "Perfect timing. I made some goat milk and left a bowl for both of them to keep warm."
"Waaah~" After being scolded by his mother, Er Mao became more well-behaved and was being a chubby baby in Gu Miaomiao's arms. As soon as he heard Zhao Jiujiu's words, he immediately waved his little hands out of the blanket.
Zhao Jiujiu was in a hurry to hug her and was too lazy to wash her hands. She wiped her hands haphazardly on her coat. "I didn't think much of it when I raised my own children, but now that I see these adorable grandchildren, I really feel that children grow up so fast. Look, it's only been a few days since I last saw them, and they seem to have changed a bit."
Gu Miaomiao was too lazy to hold him, so she shoved Er Mao into her arms, saying, "I don't see any changes."
"That's because you, as a mother, don't care," Zhao Jiujiu said, teasing Er Mao, making Er Mao giggle.
"She has absolutely no patience," Shen Wuqiu chimed in, carrying the bewildered Sanmao to the rocking horse. She put her in, rocked her a couple of times, and seeing that Sanmao wasn't crying, she continued talking to Zhao Jiujiu, "Auntie, what were you saying to Mom just now?"
"He didn't say anything." Zhao Jiujiu carried Er Mao to the rocking horse. Seeing San Mao looking around with his big, bright eyes, she felt happy. But then she thought of the neighbors who weren't very polite, and she got a little annoyed. "Speaking of which, we have to keep a good eye on our little darlings. Look how cute and adorable they are. Just now, a neighbor came over and took a liking to Da Mao and Simao, saying he wanted to help us raise one of them."
"Hmm?" Shen Wuqiu paused. "Did the neighbors see what Da Mao and Simao looked like?"
"Don't worry, it's nothing." Zhao Jiujiu seemed to know what she was thinking.
"Your second sister-in-law Chen and the others came uninvited, and we weren't prepared at all. Da Mao was playing alone on the sofa at the time..." Su Yunzhi was a little embarrassed, mainly because the people who came were all women who were on good terms with her.
Shen Wuqiu: "They didn't say anything, did they?"
Zhao Jiujiu: "What can I say? I can only praise how precious and well-cared-for our cat is."
Su Yunzhi also said, "When I asked you about it, I said that you and Lingyu were taking the children upstairs to take a bath, so I probably didn't think much of it."
Shen Wuqiu nodded, but she was a little worried. The house in Huashan would take about another month to renovate, and she wouldn't be able to move in until at least the end of the year.
Looking at her own children, she realized that ever since she decided to wean them, they had basically been like little kittens jumping around. She wondered what their mother had done to them in the bathroom today to make them behave like little babies.
"What are you thinking about?" Seeing that she didn't respond for a long time, Zhao Jiujiu glanced at her. "I don't think you need to worry. I think as long as our kids don't transform in public anymore, it won't scare people. Anyway, you don't like to go out. After you were discharged from the hospital, you've mostly been upstairs with the kids. If anyone asks, we can just say the kids are upstairs."
Shen Wuqiu nodded. That made sense, but she was still a little uneasy. This was probably the psychology of a mother. No matter what, she always had endless worries about her child.
After the kids finished their milk, they all started to get sleepy, especially Simao, who fell asleep on the sofa while washing his face, covering his face with his little feet.
After Er Mao and San Mao finished their milk, they danced and swayed in the rocking car to cooperate with the adults' teasing, and then slowly fell asleep. However, they didn't sleep for long before the two chubby babies turned into two balls of fluff.
In the end, only Da Mao was left, yawning and wandering around.
Shen Wuqiu was helping Su Yunzhi tidy up the house when she saw that Da Mao was a tiny little bundle of dirt in her way, so she simply picked her up and asked, "Baby, aren't you going to sleep?"
Meow~
As soon as she finished meowing, she yawned.
Shen Wuqiu couldn't help but chuckle, and tapped her nose. "Still putting on a brave face? Tell Mom, is something on your mind?"
Gu Lingyu was washing pots and pans in the kitchen wearing gloves when she heard this. She poked her head out at her and said, "She's still thinking about that little bastard."
If she hadn't mentioned it, Shen Wuqiu would have forgotten about Xiao Sanhua. As soon as she got home, she only cared about her own children.
"Dad, where's Shu?"
"I put it in the room to sleep. This little kitten is sleeping so soundly." Mr. Shen shook his coat, looked it over from left to right, but was still not satisfied. He then called out to Su Yunzhi, "Yunzhi, I think I still need to wash this coat."
Shen Wuqiu glanced at his coat and said, "This will probably have to be taken to the dry cleaners in town."
After saying that, she gently pushed open the door to the room while holding Da Mao and took a look at Xiao Sanhua. Sure enough, Xiao Sanhua was still fast asleep on the quilt.
Shen Wuqiu gently closed the door again, then, as if remembering something, whispered to Da Mao, "Baby, why do you like Ah Shu?"
Da Mao looked away, snuggled closer to her, and after a while, let out a soft meow.
We are all the same.
Shen Wuqiu didn't understand at first, but after thinking for a while, she seemed to understand—Da Mao was also born weak.
However, isn't my little girl a bit too sensitive and precocious?
Chapter 131
After the babies were completely weaned, Shen Wuqiu was finally freed from the relentless life of a stay-at-home mom.
Since opening the door to the new world of online shopping, Mr. Shen has been constantly browsing his phone. In this era of big data, various online platforms seem to know him like the back of his hand, always recommending products based on his preferences. Not to mention young people who understand the tricks, even they can't resist the temptation, and Mr. Shen, who doesn't understand the tricks, buys without hesitation.
In addition, there was also a wealthy great-aunt at home, and the two of them seemed to be competing with each other to buy toys for the children, which perfectly satisfied the children's strong curiosity and desire to explore.
The kids are always either jumping around unlocking new toys or wrestling and chewing on each other. Basically, as long as Shen Wuqiu isn't around, the kids don't bother their mother as much.
At first, Shen Wuqiu was worried that the neighbors would see through her unusual children, so every morning she would remind them not to play the transformation trick in front of others.
After a few days of anxiety, seeing her children settled down comfortably like little balls of fur, Shen Wuqiu finally felt at ease.
With her babies no longer bothering her, she figured her maternity leave was almost over and it was time to find something to do.
The weather has been nice lately, and Uncle Zheng hasn't been idle either. A couple of days ago, he applied for some funds from Shen Wuqiu, planning to use them to maintain the fruit trees on Xishan Mountain.
Although these bayberry trees have a good survival rate now, they are all large trees, and they may still die if they are not properly cared for later.
Since the end of the bayberry season, Shen Wuqiu hadn't gone to check on them. This time, she went with Uncle Zheng and the others for a walk around. She wasn't a professional fruit farmer and couldn't tell the difference between good and bad fruit, so she could only silently remember what Uncle Zheng said.
After circling the bayberry orchard, she walked up to the tangerine orchard, where Duan Guodong was leading an old man to fertilize the tangerine trees.
"Oh, young lady, you've finished your postpartum confinement and can't wait to come out for some fresh air?" Duan Guodong was a little surprised to see her.
Xishan is neither too big nor too small. Shen Wuqiu was worried that Uncle Zheng couldn't handle everything alone, so she arranged for Duan Guodong to come as well. She didn't specifically divide their tasks or designate anyone as the head of the orchard. The two of them were quite good at assigning themselves tasks. Uncle Zheng was in charge of the bayberry orchard below, while Duan Guodong voluntarily managed the tangerine orchard above. However, in addition to communicating with her, the boss, they would also take the initiative to let Uncle Zheng know how to do things, which was a way of showing that they regarded Uncle Zheng as their boss.
Shen Wuqiu smiled and asked him, "Why didn't you invite more people?"
"It's just that the weather's been nice lately, and I figured I might as well keep the good stuff in the family, right? I saw my dad had nothing to do at home, so I got him to help out. I figured the two of us could finish it in ten days or two weeks." Duan Guodong always spoke like this; whatever he said sounded like he was joking.
As he spoke, he walked further into the garden, and soon he came out again, this time with two tangerines in his hand.
"Uh..." Shen Wuqiu's eyes lit up slightly, "Ponkan trees also bear fruit?"
“When we transplanted them, I saw that some of the trees looked like they were about to bloom, but I didn’t think they would bear fruit this year.” Duan Guodong handed her the tangerines. “I counted them. Out of all these trees, only three bore fruit. One tree had eighteen tangerines, but in the end, only three were left. Another tree had five tangerines, but they all died. And the last tree only had one tangerine. Here it is.”
Shen Wuqiu examined the tangerine closely. "It looks a bit malnourished. The peel is almost yellow. Is it ripe?"
"They'll be sweeter after the first frost. But you can pick them now, though the fresh tangerines might be a bit sour. They'll taste even better if you wait until next year or the year after when they're in season and store them for a while. Would you like to try some first?"
Shen Wuqiu nodded.
The fresh tangerine peel was juicy, and after peeling half of it, her hands were covered in the yellowish-green juice, along with a strong sour smell.
She hesitated to take a bite after smelling it, saying, "It smells incredibly sour."
"This tastes like tangerine peel."
Shen Wuqiu glanced at him, then broke off half of the peeled fruit and gave it to him, "Why don't you try it first?"
Duan Guodong, looking fearless, took the tangerine and popped it into his mouth.
Shen Wuqiu looked at him, "Isn't it sour?"
Duan Guodong remained calm. "It doesn't count. It's actually quite delicious."
Upon hearing this, Shen Wuqiu also broke off a piece, but as soon as she bit into the fruit, her mouth was so sour that it almost twisted, and she quickly spat it out.
Duan Guodong laughed heartily, then his face contorted with soreness, but he still forced himself to eat the half-eaten tangerine.
After vomiting, Shen Wuqiu rinsed her mouth with water several times before feeling better. "Why does this taste so sour?"
"That's normal." Duan Guodong wasn't worried. "They might just be having trouble adjusting to the new environment. They'll settle down after a year or two."
Seeing his nonsensical tone, Shen Wuqiu's lips twitched. "Aren't you worried that we didn't choose the right fruit seedlings? Wouldn't that be a waste of our efforts?"
"No," Duan Guodong said confidently. "In recent years, the country has vigorously developed the rural economy. The fruit trees planted in the countryside are basically improved varieties. As long as they are properly cared for, there shouldn't be any major problems."
Finally, he said something reasonable.
Duan Guodong handed her another tangerine, saying, "This one is from another tree. The two I picked earlier were a bit sour, but much sweeter than the one you just had. Would you like to try some?"
Shen Wuqiu shook her head repeatedly, "You can keep it."
Duan Guodong laughed at her, "I really didn't lie to you this time. Besides, I think it should be sweeter since it grows in a sunny place."
Shen Wuqiu still didn't want it.
Duan Guodong forced the fruit into her hand, saying, "You need to have more confidence in your fruit trees."
It's hard to refuse such hospitality.
Shen Wuqiu had no choice but to take it, wipe it clean, and stuff the fruit into the pocket of her coat.
After chatting with her for a while, Duan Guodong went back to his work.
Shen Wuqiu greeted his father, then didn't linger, took a stroll, and went down the mountain to return home.
On the way back, I saw Su Zhongmin and Wu Xiulan parking their car outside the iron gate.
"Hey, Wuqiu, come back..." Wu Xiulan jumped off the tricycle and rushed over to greet her.
Shen Wuqiu forced a smile, hesitated for a few seconds, and then called out to them, "Second Uncle, Second Aunt."
Wu Xiulan stopped abruptly, her expression momentarily stunned. After several seconds, she excitedly responded several times, "Yes, yes, yes..."
This made them feel incredibly flattered.
When Shen Wuqiu was still young, she wouldn't talk to them during holidays and wouldn't accept red envelopes. Now she's not as aloof as she was when she was a child, but she still doesn't take the initiative to greet people. If she has something to say, she'll just say it directly.
Their reaction made Shen Wuqiu a little uncomfortable. She raised her hand to brush her hair aside and changed the subject, "What brings you all here today? I don't think Mom mentioned it."
She addressed them as "Second Uncle" and "Second Aunt" partly out of respect for Su Yunzhi, her stepmother, and partly because she felt the couple treated her with some genuine kindness. For instance, her second aunt had given her child a hand-knitted sweater as a one-month celebration gift. While it might not be useful, it was still a token of their appreciation.
"It's nothing," Wu Xiulan said, afraid of causing trouble for others. "We'll leave as soon as we drop off our things."
As she spoke, she gestured for Su Zhongmin to unload things from the tricycle. “The wild kiwis in our mountains are ripe recently. The weather has been nice lately, and they’re quite sweet. I’m bringing some over for you all to try.”
It was clear that neither of them were good with words. Wu Xiulan's face turned red as she spoke, and she spoke quickly and urgently, as if afraid that Shen Wuqiu would refuse. After carrying the baskets down, she hurriedly moved them into the yard.
"Wild kiwifruit?" Shen Wuqiu had never heard of it before. She picked one up from the basket at random. Apart from not having as much fuzz and being a bit smaller, it wasn't much different from the kiwifruit sold in fruit shops. "Is this really wild, or is it just a variety of kiwifruit that you grow?"