Chapter 85 Momo
For a moment, the atmosphere in the hall became rather somber. Everyone in this room genuinely loved Shen Wuqiu, and no one could bear to hear these idle gossips.
After a few minutes of silence, Gu Lingyu, feeling frustrated, suddenly stood up.
Zhao Jiujiu was afraid that Sanmao might say something impulsive in the heat of the moment, so she quickly walked up to her and deliberately diverted her attention: "Sanmao was so good today, she finished such a big bottle of milk."
As she spoke, she seemed to suddenly remember something, "Oh right, Lingyu, hurry up and bring Qiuqiu's lunch upstairs, I'll hold the baby."
Gu Lingyu looked at her.
Zhao Jiujiu secretly winked at her.
Gu Lingyu hesitated for a few seconds, but still obediently carried the braised pig's trotters upstairs to Shen Wuqiu.
Shen Wuqiu was still sulking about how a certain cat complained that she had too much breast milk, and she didn't like her much. When she saw Shen Wuqiu carrying things in, she just glanced at her and went back to playing with Da Mao and Er Mao.
After eating and drinking their fill, Da Mao and Er Mao were very happy by their mother's side, and she would often make them giggle.
Gu Lingyu placed the small tray on the bedside table and sat down on the edge of the bed. "I'll watch over them. You eat first."
Hearing her speak, Shen Wuqiu paused, then turned to look at her. Noticing that her expression was a little off, she hesitated for a moment, but couldn't help herself, and asked casually, "Are you giving me the cold shoulder?"
"No, that's not it." Gu Lingyu hooked Er Mao's little finger around hers. The baby's skin was so soft and tender that she couldn't help but pinch it.
Upon seeing this, Shen Wuqiu immediately slapped her hand away, saying, "Don't be so clumsy. What if you hurt the baby?"
Gu Lingyu snorted angrily, but Shen Wuqiu ignored her.
After a short while, she suddenly hugged Shen Wuqiu tightly again and nuzzled her head against her chest.
"..." Shen Wuqiu had just picked up his chopsticks when he casually tapped her head with them: "What are you doing?"
Gu Lingyu said in a muffled voice, "I feel so useless. I can't protect you properly and I let you suffer."
Shen Wuqiu was focused on her two daughters in the room and hadn't paid any attention to the commotion downstairs. Hearing her words, she was puzzled and nudged her, "What's gotten into you this time?"
Gu Lingyu clung to her, refusing to let go, and looked up at her, asking, "When are you going to tell Daddy that the child is mine?"
Speaking of this, Shen Wuqiu felt a little uncomfortable. She hadn't realized it before, but now that she was a mother, she realized how cruel it was to sever ties with her child.
"Qiuqiu, don't misunderstand." Gu Lingyu reached out and cupped her face. "I'm not in a hurry for you to give me a title or anything. I just don't want you to suffer."
Shen Wuqiu looked at her: "What grievance have I suffered?"
Gu Lingyu didn't want to tell her the unpleasant gossip she had heard, so she buried her head in her arms again. "Anyway, I just feel that it's not good for you to be a single mother."
Shen Wuqiu lowered her eyes: "Hmm? Aren't we a family with two mothers?"
Gu Lingyu looked up at her with her small face tilted back, and said sullenly, "But other people don't know?"
Shen Wuqiu put down her chopsticks and pinched her ear. "So what did you hear?"
Gu Lingyu then belatedly realized that she had been tricked into saying something, and said, "I didn't hear anything."
Shen Wuqiu blew a breath into her twitching ear tips: "Little kitten Mianmian, you're not being honest."
Gu Lingyu shuddered and quickly covered her ears.
Shen Wuqiu didn't press her for an answer. Instead, she said, "Let me guess, are there any rumors that our baby is an illegitimate child that I had with some rich guy outside?"
Gu Lingyu's eyes widened suddenly. "How did you know?"
Shen Wuqiu shrugged, looking indifferent: "Because what I did after returning to the village was like that of a nouveau riche."
Gu Lingyu carefully examined her expression: "Aren't you sad?"
Shen Wuqiu countered, "What's there to be sad about?"
Gu Lingyu: "They use unfounded rumors to speculate about you and insult you. Don't you feel sad?"
Shen Wuqiu shook his head: "In this life, who doesn't talk about others behind their backs, and who isn't talked about behind their backs? Especially in this mountainous area, people's social interactions and entertainment are limited. They either gossip about this family or talk about that family's gossip."
As he spoke, Shen Wuqiu poked her forehead: "You're supposed to be a god, but even I, an ordinary mortal, understand one thing—praise or slander in this world is nothing but illusion. So, you don't need to feel wronged on my behalf."
Gu Lingyu stared at her blankly.
Shen Wuqiu asked her again, "Why are you looking at me like that?"
Gu Lingyu grabbed her hand and placed it on her heart. "What should I do? Qiuqiu, I think I'm liking you more and more..."
"..." Shen Wuqiu pretended to be calm: "I was trying to be serious with you, but you changed the subject again."
Gu Lingyu: "I'm being serious with you."
Shen Wuqiu pulled her hand away and changed the subject, "Alright, I'm hungry, I want to eat something."
Gu Lingyu quickly let go of her, "Then you should eat quickly."
Shen Wuqiu ignored her and picked up the small bowl of soup as usual, ready to drink it. But just as she put it to her lips, she saw a certain cat looking at her expectantly. "You want some?"
Gu Lingyu shook her head, then nodded a second later.
Shen Wuqiu then brought the bowl to her lips again, and Gu Lingyu took a sip.
The focus of postpartum meals is on quality, not taste. The crucian carp soup, with hardly any seasoning or salt, was very bland. Gu Lingyu frowned after tasting a little, "Too bland..."
Shen Wuqiu smiled at her: "Want some more?"
Gu Lingyu originally intended to return the soup to her, but then, remembering something, she picked it up again and gulped it down in one go.
"..." Shen Wuqiu was stunned for a moment, "Didn't you say it didn't taste good?"
Gu Lingyu said matter-of-factly, "I know this crucian carp soup is for promoting lactation. If I give it to you, you won't have as much milk."
"..." Shen Wuqiu was speechless. "So...you want to produce breast milk?"
Gu Lingyu: "..."
As Shen Wuqiu spoke, she suddenly remembered something, "Oh right, I remember counting for you before. When you were a cat, you had eight nipples hidden under your belly. Once you started producing milk, you could feed all the kittens at once..."
"..." What kind of outrageous words are these?
Gu Lingyu stared in disbelief. After a long while, she blinked and then silently left the room with Da Mao and Er Mao in her arms.
Shen Wuqiu sat on the bed, and as soon as she left, she laughed so hard she bent over.
****
It wasn't until evening that Shen Wuqiu heard from Shen Wujun about the argument between Su Yunzhi and Duan Xiao'e.
To be honest, Shen Wuqiu felt very complicated when she heard Su Yunzhi, her stepmother, arguing so fiercely with her sister-in-law from her own family in order to protect her.
Since returning home, thanks to Shen Wujun, the nominal mother and daughter have gotten along better than before, but she doesn't consider themselves that close.
Therefore, after dinner, Shen Wuqiu specifically sought out Su Yunzhi, who was busy in the kitchen, intending to thank her for protecting her. However, in front of others, she didn't know how to start the conversation. After hesitating for a long time, she finally managed to squeeze out, "Thank you for your hard work lately."
Su Yunzhi stood by the sink washing dishes without looking up. "You're a lucky person. Your aunt loves you. Although you and the Gu family are somewhat destined to be apart, the elders of the Gu family truly care about you. I haven't been of much help, just cooked you a few meals."
As always, she spoke in a cold and aloof tone. In the past, Shen Wuqiu would have thought that her warm greeting had been met with indifference, but now, she understood the awkward affection behind her tone.
Putting aside those prejudices, I don't find this stepmother particularly annoying.
"I heard about what happened at noon." Shen Wuqiu walked to her side. She felt a little uncomfortable with Shen Wuqiu standing there so awkwardly, and subconsciously wanted to help her rinse the dishes that she had just washed with water.
As a result, she snatched the bowl away from Su Yunzhi as soon as she picked it up, saying, "I don't need your help. Postpartum care is very important for a woman; she can't even touch a drop of cold water."
While scolding her, Su Yunzhi took her hand and wiped it on her apron.
Her hands were rough, and the roughness reminded her of her mother's hands in her memory.
Shen Wuqiu stared at her blankly.
After drying her hands, Su Yunzhi released her and looked at her, saying, "Don't overthink it. I had a falling out with Junjun's aunt, and you were partly the trigger, but the root cause wasn't you. I won't lie to you, before I married your father, my sister-in-law wanted to marry me off to a forty-year-old cripple for a dowry of ten thousand yuan. I already had some resentment towards her..."
Shen Wuqiu pursed her lips. "Yes, thank you, Mom."
"I already said it wasn't about... What did you just call me?"
Looking at her trembling lips, Shen Wuqiu was surprised to realize that this woman was also looking forward to her calling her "Mom".
"mom."
Su Yunzhi's eyes instantly reddened. She was at a loss for a moment, and after a long while, she solemnly replied, "Yes."
Shen Wuqiu smiled at her: "I don't care about those gossips, so you don't need to be angry about them."
Su Yunzhi turned her head and wiped her eyes. "You're an innocent girl, how can you let people talk about you behind your back and ruin your reputation? Don't worry, with your dad and me here, no one can bully you."
Shen Wuqiu thought about it for a moment, and since it was, after all, a kind gesture from an elder, she didn't say anything more, but simply nodded, "Mm."
After exchanging a few more words, Shen Wuqiu left. She was somewhat aloof and not used to such close relationships. In a moment of impulse, she changed her address to Su Yunzhi as "Mom," which caused the other party's attitude towards her to undergo a complete 180-degree change, making her feel a little awkward.
When she was trying to sleep at night, she couldn't fall asleep because her little sister's fur was itchy and prickly, so she casually mentioned it to a cat.
During delivery, the doctor did a simple trim on her little sister. Recently, the hair on her little sister has been growing slowly and not growing long. As the saying goes, "time flies." Wearing pants, she felt a little uncomfortable with the slightest movement.
Gu Lingyu was quite easygoing and didn't take it to heart: "Although she can be quite sharp-tongued at times, she's been pretty good to you. After all, she's been with Dad for so many years, so you can call her Mom."
Shen Wuqiu absentmindedly hummed in agreement. Taking advantage of her inattention, she secretly reached out and grabbed her panties, but unexpectedly startled a certain cat's hand that was hooked around her waist.
"Qiuqiu, is it itchy? Let me scratch it for you..."
Shen Wuqiu felt a little embarrassed and quickly shook her head, "No."
There's a certain slyness in people's hearts; the more unsatisfied they are, the more restless and anxious they become.
Just like now, the more she didn't want to be formal, the more she felt the pubic hair on her vulva was like a thorn in her back, like a fishbone stuck in her throat... she felt uncomfortable everywhere.
She couldn't hold it in for more than a minute. She lay down in a position of utter despair, covering her eyes with her hand. "There... I have some hair there, it's a little itchy..."
Gu Lingyu was taken aback. "Where is the hair growing?"
Shen Wuqiu was so embarrassed and angry that she took her hand away and said fiercely, "Where else could the hair grow?"
Gu Lingyu was stunned by her fierce words: "I'm covered in hair..."
The next second, she was kicked off the bed by her humiliated and furious partner.
Chapter 86 Discussion