Simao stopped looking at her and buried her head in Su Yunzhi's arms.
Su Yunzhi winked at Zhao Jiujiu, who found it amusing. She got up, walked over to Su Yunzhi, and picked up Simao. "Alright, alright, your great-aunt isn't complaining about you. She's just saying our little darling is adorable."
Simao still turned his head away from her.
Tsk, it seems even a little foodie has a temper.
So Zhao Jiujiu took the initiative to make her a bowl of milk, and only then did Simao give her a proper look.
On the other side, the fight between the big cat and the little cat is a protracted battle.
They've been fighting for about twenty minutes, and they're still biting and scratching each other.
When Shen Wuqiu and Zhou Xingxing returned from outside, the three of them were rolling out from under the curtains. It was unclear whether Er Mao or San Mao had been punished, as their howling screams came from under the curtains.
You hear the cat before you see it.
"That thing is screaming?" Zhou Xingxing, rarely seeing anything like it, was startled. She looked towards the curtains in the direction of the sound, and before she could properly recognize Gu Miaomiao's true form, she was startled again. "Your wife has turned into a cat..."
Shen Wuqiu was used to this occasional situation. She glanced through the curtains and said, "Oh, I'm helping the children with their morning homework."
"..." Zhou Xingxing was stunned for a moment, then quickly realized, "When I watched Animal World, it did mention that felines train their hunting skills by playing around when they are very young."
Animal World?!
Shen Wuqiu's lips twitched, and he turned his head to look at her, "You know so much."
Stephen Chow belatedly realized his mistake and quickly explained, "Oh, that's not what I meant, it's just..."
"Actually, what you said isn't entirely wrong, but our training isn't for hunting." Gu Miaomiao, who had somehow transformed into human form, spoke indifferently.
Stephen Chow instinctively asked, "Then what was it for?"
Gu Miaomiao: "Maintain world peace."
"..." What kind of childish statement is this? Zhou Xingxing blinked a few times, clearly not believing it.
Gu Miaomiao ignored her, glanced at Shen Wuqiu, and walked away leisurely.
"..." Zhou Xingxing tugged at Chen Wuqiu, "Why do I feel like your wife is full of resentment today?"
Before Shen Wuqiu could answer, Su Yunzhi came over and said, "She looked like a wilted eggplant when she woke up this morning. It's a good thing you came back, otherwise I don't know how long she would have been fighting with the two kids today." As she spoke, she picked up Er Mao and San Mao and checked them over. "Lingyu is like a child who never grows up. She even knows whether the two kids are hurt."
“Tsk tsk…” Zhou Xingxing looked at Shen Wuqiu.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Shen Wuqiu asked, puzzled. She picked up Sanmao, whose white fur made her stand out even with a speck of dust. She brushed the dust off Sanmao and checked her over. Apart from two broken whiskers, Sanmao seemed fine, but she was still worried and asked, "Did Mother beat you too hard?"
Er Mao looked proud: "Meow~"
No, I kicked Mom in the stomach.
Sanmao also meowed.
The second sister used a lot of force, and Mother screamed terribly.
"..." Luckily, the others couldn't understand the two kittens' cat language, otherwise the cat would probably have wanted to crawl into a hole in the ground. In front of the others, she was too embarrassed to scold the two kittens, she just glared at them and said, "Don't go and provoke your mother in the future."
Er Mao was indignant, "Meow~"
It wasn't us who provoked Mother; she provoked me first.
Sanmao, unusually, colluded with this older sister: "Meow~"
I can testify that it was Mother who started it by pulling on Second Sister's tail.
Shen Wuqiu patted their heads, and after confirming that they were unharmed, she let them go play by themselves. Then she looked up and glanced casually at the hall, but not seeing a certain cat, she felt a little uneasy. "I'll go upstairs to wash my face first."
Stephen Chow grabbed her arm, glanced around with a knowing look, and asked, "Are you going upstairs to find your wife?"
"..."
Stephen Chow held onto her tightly, refusing to let go. "Your wife is so resentful. Did you leave her sexually unsatisfied last night? Or did you exhaust her?"
Shen Wuqiu looked at her, "Aren't you bored?"
“You’re getting impatient…” Stephen Chow laughed at her, “Looks like I hit the nail on the head.”
Shen Wuqiu brushed her hand away, too lazy to pay her any attention, and went straight upstairs.
Inside the room, Gu Miaomiao was secretly lifting her clothes to check her stomach. Seeing the bruises and welts on her stomach, she cursed inwardly: "Those two bastards..."
With a click, the door opened, and Gu Miaomiao quickly put down her clothes, looking guiltily at the person walking towards her. "What were you doing with Zhou Xingxing so early in the morning?"
Shen Wuqiu ignored her and silently walked to her side, saying, "Let me see."
"What?"
Shen Wuqiu was too lazy to waste words with her, so he bent down and lifted her clothes. On her fair and tender belly, the small bluish-red mark was particularly conspicuous.
"I didn't really beat them up; I just wanted to test their reaction time..."
"Does it hurt?" Shen Wuqiu interrupted her.
Gu Miaomiao paused for a couple of seconds, then quickly shook her head, "It doesn't hurt."
“You’re lying. Sanmao said you screamed terribly.”
Gu Miaomiao was both angry and embarrassed. "I... I was just trying to scare them..."
Shen Wuqiu lowered her head, leaned close to the bluish-red spot, and blew on it. "This time, Er Mao was wrong."
"..." Gu Miaomiao was completely dumbfounded, "Qiu... Qiuqiu..."
"Hmm?" Shen Wuqiu looked up at her. "What's wrong?"
Gu Miaomiao shook her head, then asked, "What's wrong with you?"
Shen Wuqiu didn't understand at first, but after a few seconds, he touched her face and said, "You're my little friend too."
So, I feel sorry for them too.
After saying that, she quickly got up, took out the ointment from her first-aid kit, and applied a layer to Gu Miaomiao.
Gu Miaomiao stared at her the whole time, and only after she finished applying the ointment did she whisper, "Don't worry, it really doesn't hurt."
"I'm not worried, just a little heartbroken." Shen Wuqiu smiled at her, got up to put away the small medicine box, and then added, "I don't like that kind of lingering pleasure, so, how about a few more days? After we move to the new house, it'll be as you wish, okay?"
Gu Miaomiao was a little out of sync and stared blankly at her. Although she hadn't quite caught up yet, she had already obediently nodded her head.
Shen Wuqiu was very satisfied with her reaction. Before leaving, she added, "Then you mustn't wear that unsatisfied, sour face anymore."
Gu Miaomiao swallowed hard. "...Is it that obvious?"
Shen Wuqiu raised an eyebrow. "What do you think?"
After saying that, he went downstairs again, leaving Gu Miaomiao alone in the room in a daze. Her partner's increasingly tender love made her feel like she was about to lose her bearings.
So, in the days that followed, Gu Miaomiao counted down the days until the 26th of the twelfth lunar month.
It was only at this point that Stephen Chow learned that Shen Wuqiu had quietly built a super new house.
With the help of her wealthy aunt and mother-in-law, the new house was renovated before New Year's Day. Although Ms. Daiying repeatedly assured that they could move in immediately after the renovation, Shen Wuqiu still followed the crowd and waited for almost a month.
In the village, moving to a new house is commonly called "passing through fire" because there is an essential procedure when moving in: bringing a stove over to light a fire and cook a meal.
In addition, there is a custom in the village that new houses are meant to have a lively atmosphere. The bigger the house, the more people should go to the housewarming party before the official move-in, especially the respected elders of the family.
From the outside, the house isn't particularly eye-catching. It occupies over 300 square meters and has three floors. However, with the parking lot, yard, and garden, it's about 700 or 800 square meters. In the past, this would have been considered the house of a large landowner, but nowadays, it's really nothing special.
Over the years, everyone's living standards have steadily improved. Many wealthy people in the village have built villas, often three or four-story villas. Some people, in order to make their houses more impressive, have brothers pool their money to buy land and build the land just like the high-rise buildings in the city.
With such grand houses in front of them, Shen Wuqiu's house doesn't seem particularly eye-catching.
A week before the fire, Shen's father had told Shen Wuqiu's maternal grandparents about it and personally went to pick them up. That same day, Shen's father took the two elderly people to Huashan to rest.
Everything was ready for the new house, just waiting for the family to move in. Zhou Xingxing went over to take a look at the new house and shamelessly reserved a room for himself. After Shen Wuqiu agreed, he immediately packed his luggage and moved in as well.
On the day the fire was officially lit, only Shen Wuqiu and Gu Lingyu, the young couple, hadn't moved into their new house yet.
The 26th day of the twelfth lunar month is an auspicious day suitable for all activities.
That day, just as the sky began to lighten, the whole family, having finished getting ready, carried the stove and headed from their home toward Huashan.
Huashan is a bit far from the village. It used to be a barren mountain, but after Shen Wuqiu built a house there, Gu Lingyu's older brother, Gu Lingfei, funded the repair of the old horse road. Flower trees were planted along the roadside, and streetlights were installed.
Needless to say, the houses on Huashan Mountain were brightly lit and didn't look cold at all.
After the entire family entered the new house, Shen Wujun immediately set off a string of firecrackers.
After setting off the firecrackers, the whole family gathered around the dining room for their first meal in their new house. It was a rare occasion for everyone to be together, and the atmosphere was lively and noisy, especially with four toddlers who had started babbling.
Considering that her grandparents were getting old, Shen Wuqiu had tied red strings around the children's necks these past few days to prevent them from turning into cats. Only Ah Shu remained in cat form.
Although the little ones had some complaints, they still behaved themselves as little babies. However, they were much more mischievous than the average four-month-old baby.
After waking up early in the morning, none of the four sisters were able to sleep, nor were they willing to lie in the rocking bed.
Shen Wuqiu had no choice but to arrange a food cart for each of them.
"Oh dear, they're only four months old! How can you let them sit up already? This won't do," Shen Wuqiu's grandmother said, worried. "The children are still so small, just hold them. You can't hold them all by yourself, but can't all of us hold them?"
"Grandma, don't worry, they'll be fine," Gu Miaomiao said confidently.
Shen Wuqiu's grandmother gave her a reproachful look, "You look even more immature. I'm worried for you two when I see you taking care of the baby."
The four little ones really enjoyed sitting in the food cart, babbling happily to everyone inside.
Zhao Jiujiu wanted to hug Simao, but Simao was not happy and wouldn't let her.
"Mom, look, your great-granddaughter is happy to sit in this cart." Zhao Jiujiu said as she pushed Simao's food cart in front of her. "Look how well Simao is sitting! Don't worry, our child is stronger than other children, Simao, don't you think?"
Simao waved his chubby hand at his great-grandmother, grinned, and revealed a row of newly emerging gums, looking extremely festive.
Grandma couldn't stop smiling. "Oh my, this child is so clever!"
"Of course! Don't you even know whose child this is?"
Grandma patted Simao's little hands, then touched her body all over, saying, "Children these days are well-nourished and develop so well. You see, four-month-old babies back then weren't this sensible..."
Grandma saw that Simao was really sitting still, so she stopped talking about it and let the other kids sit in the food cart.
When the meal was officially served, Si Mao, the little foodie, became even more mischievous, staring at the table with shining eyes, which amused everyone.
This meal was just a formality, since at five in the morning, no one had much of an appetite for big, meaty dishes, except for Si Mao, the foodie.
By the time we finished the meal, it was almost daylight outside.
The older generation watched TV and looked after the children, while the younger ones busied themselves tidying up and preparing to receive guests.