Enraged, Shen Wuqiu showed no mercy as the cat, caught completely off guard, was instantly reduced to a ball of fur a second before hitting the ground.
Completely unaware of what she had said wrong, Gu Lingyu looked up at her partner with her deep blue eyes and meowed in confusion, "Meow~"
—Qiuqiu, look, I'm covered in hair.
"..." Shen Wuqiu understood her meowing, her anger rising, she got off the bed, grabbed her by the scruff of her neck and threw her out.
I'm not exaggerating at all, it really was thrown.
"..." By sheer coincidence, Shen Wujun happened to witness this scene. He abruptly stopped yawning, glanced at his older sister, and then at the cat that had been thrown away.
"Meow~" What are you looking at? Doesn't she have any dignity? The cat bared its teeth and cursed at him a few times, then ran downstairs in a flash.
"..." Shen Wujun blinked, confused. "Sister..."
Shen Wuqiu felt inexplicably awkward and forced a smile: "Still not asleep?"
"I'm going to the bathroom, I'm getting ready for bed." Upstairs, only Shen Wuqiu's large room has its own bathroom.
Shen Wuqiu nodded. "Then you should get some rest. I'm going to sleep."
Shen Wujun hummed in agreement, then suddenly remembered something, "By the way, what trouble did Wangcai get into just now? You seemed quite angry..."
Shen Wuqiu was even more embarrassed, "No... I just don't like the look of her..."
Shen Wujun glanced downstairs and said, "I heard from Mom and Dad that Wangcai was nowhere to be seen while you were in the hospital giving birth. But look, she came back today too. It seems she only recognizes you as her master."
"Really?" Shen Wuqiu touched her hair guiltily.
Shen Wujun added, "But we still need to be careful. My nieces are still young, delicate little flowers. It's good that you don't let Wangcai get close to them. By the way, sister, can you manage sleeping with so many children at the same time?"
"It's alright, the kids haven't been this noisy at night lately."
Shen Wujun nodded and urged her to go back to her room quickly, "Then you should go back to your room and rest, and don't open the window."
After the Cold Dew solar term, although the weather hasn't changed and the temperature hasn't dropped yet, the temperature difference between day and night is quite large, and it's still a bit chilly when the night wind blows.
"Yeah, you should play fewer games and go to bed early."
Speaking of games, Shen Wujun sighed, "I'm so busy with work these days that I haven't played games in ages."
Shen Wuqiu smiled, waved to him, and went back to her room.
On the other side, after Gu Ling ran downstairs, she wanted to find a secluded place to transform into a human. However, seeing that the lights in the lobby downstairs were still on, she hesitated for a moment and decided to go and tell her father, Chen.
Upon arriving at the hall, they discovered that all their elders were present, sitting upright and formally, clearly discussing something important behind their backs.
Before anyone noticed her, she quietly crouched behind the sofa.
Her commotion went unnoticed by her father and the others, but it didn't escape her parents' notice. The two older cats were just too lazy to bother with her, since their good-for-nothing was an insider in the current discussion.
Father Shen secretly urged everyone to sit here not for any other reason than for Shen Wuqiu's matter.
Today, Duan Xiao'e made such a scene at her own home, bringing all the criticism her daughter had been suffering without her even realizing it to the public eye. As the head of the family, he didn't lose his temper on the spot because he didn't want to make a fool of himself in front of others. But what father in the world would let his daughter endure such grievances?
After thinking it over, he decided to discuss a plan with the two members of the Gu family: "Old Gu, I know this can't be blamed on you, but in this rural village, neighbors are all like this. If we don't explain this matter properly to people, I think there will be no shortage of malicious words that hurt Qiuqiu behind her back."
In this matter, Gu Junshan and his wife always felt that they were in the wrong. Although they were humans who had transcended the mundane world, they had always adhered to human etiquette since they intermarried with humans.
"No, Wuqiu's suffering today is all Lingyu's fault..."
"Lingyu? What does this have to do with that girl Lingyu?" Father Shen immediately sensed something was wrong.
Gu Junshan had spoken too quickly and realized his mistake immediately. Just as he was wondering how to smooth things over, Daiying chimed in, "No matter what, this is really our fault. It's also my and Junshan's fault as parents for not disciplining Qiuqiu properly, which has led to this situation. Qiuqiu's father, just tell us what you want us to do. As long as Qiuqiu is protected from these rumors, our family will do anything."
The two families have lived together for so long, and Mr. Shen has seen how the couple treats Shen Wuqiu. Even though he had some resentment at first knowing that the other family's son had gotten his daughter pregnant, now that the child has been born, the two families have long since made peace. He never intended to make things difficult for them.
On the contrary, it was the other party who took the initiative to adopt such a humble attitude that made Mr. Shen feel a little embarrassed.
“Don’t be nervous…” Mr. Shen hesitated for a moment, unsure how to begin, before saying, “I didn’t mean to bring up your painful past. It’s not easy for parents to bury their children… I hadn’t thought about this before, so I didn’t tell anyone about Qiuqiu’s pregnancy, but now… people are saying these hurtful things right here at home…”
Su Yunzhi glanced at him and said on his behalf, "You may not know, but Lao Le has always been most afraid of people talking behind his back. So over the years, no matter what hardships he has suffered, he has always swallowed his pride and endured it all by himself."
Daiying looked very understanding. "Qiuqiu's father, don't worry. We treat Qiuqiu like our own daughter now, and we can't bear to see her suffer from these gossips."
“I can see that you truly love Qiuqiu. I would be at ease if Qiuqiu could marry into a family like yours.” At this point, Mr. Shen couldn’t help but sigh, increasingly regretting the untimely death of his son-in-law whom he had never met. Realizing that saying this might spoil the atmosphere, he quickly changed the subject:
"Here's what I'm thinking: when the children have their one-month celebration, all the relatives, friends, and neighbors will come back for the banquet. I'd like to trouble you two to go on stage and say a few words about the connection between Qiuqiu and your family."
In traditional thinking.
Children whose fathers die young are always considered to have a much more legitimate place in the family than illegitimate children. And for a woman's reputation, being a widow is far more respectable than being a mistress.
Mr. and Mrs. Gu Junshan naturally had no objection to such a small request, however...
Daiying glanced at a cat hiding in the corner with its ears perked up, and deliberately asked, "Qiuqiu's dad, what do you want us to say?"
"..." Mr. Shen couldn't understand her question. "Of course, we should tell the truth. It's not a good thing for a child to be without a father, but it's better than being called an illegitimate child. Besides, we can't hide the fact that the child doesn't have a father forever."
Sure enough, upon hearing this, the cat couldn't hold back any longer, jumped out, and let out a muffled meow.
As soon as she tried to get attention, her father, who hadn't seen her for days, immediately brightened up. But then, thinking of this heartless little thing, he pretended to be annoyed: "I thought you'd forgotten the way home..."
You still have to give your father-in-law some respect.
Gu Lingyu immediately moved closer to him and meowed at him in a flattering manner.
Mr. Shen's heart immediately softened, and he patted her head: "I don't know where you've been these past few days."
Zhao Jiujiu glanced at the fluffy ball of fur, unable to hold back any longer, and said, "Lao Le, don't you think this cat is strange? Look, when Qiuqiu was away from home for a few days, didn't she disappear for a few days as well?"
Mr. Shen did some mental calculations and said, "It really is true. How did you know?"
"I guessed." Seeing that he was unmoved, Zhao Jiujiu had no choice but to swallow the words that were about to come out. "I just thought this cat was pretty strange."
“Wangcai, this cat, is quite intelligent.” Mr. Shen was no longer surprised. He patted the white cat’s head and said with great satisfaction, “Look at any other cat, it’s as smart as her. In our family, big and small, look at who she lets hold her. She only recognizes Qiuqiu as her owner.”
The white cat was very proud. It raised its head, swayed its tail elegantly twice, and meowed at everyone present.
Seeing her like this, Mr. Shen's tense mood vanished, and he smiled. "But, Wangcai, now that Qiuqiu has given you four little masters, you have to be good and absolutely mustn't tease the babies..."
The cat didn't like hearing that, meowed once, and then scurried away.
Watching her go upstairs, Su Yunzhi wanted to stop her, but her father stopped her, saying, "Don't worry, Wangcai listens to Qiuqiu the most."
Su Yunzhi muttered, "She hasn't been home for so long, I don't know where she is, what if she has bacteria on her?"
Zhao Jiujiu glanced at her, leaned back on the sofa, and looked like she was watching a good show. "Exactly."
After hearing what they said, Mr. Shen also became a little worried. "Then I'll go up and check."
Zhao Jiujiu stood up and yawned lazily, "I'll go upstairs and take a look. You guys continue with your business."
With that, she gracefully went upstairs.
Having finished discussing the important matters, Mr. Shen was momentarily at a loss for how to continue the conversation after being interrupted by the cat. So he simply stopped talking and said, "Let's discuss this matter like this. You two should also discuss it, and we'll talk about it later. It's getting late, everyone has worked hard today, so please get some rest."
Gu Junshan and Dai Ying naturally followed the host's lead. After greeting everyone, they went upstairs, only to find Zhao Jiujiu waiting for them at the top of the stairs.
Daiying: "Aunt Qiuqiu, aren't you sleepy yet?"
Zhao Jiujiu was too lazy to argue with her: "I'm just asking you two, are you planning to keep this a secret forever?"
Daiying was also troubled: "Isn't this just waiting for the right opportunity?"
Zhao Jiujiu snorted coldly, turned around and went back to her room.
Dai Ying was puzzled and glanced at Gu Junshan: "Why is Aunt Qiuqiu more anxious than us? Aren't we just worried that Qiuqiu's father won't be able to accept it?"
Gu Junshan, a straight male cat, couldn't understand it even more.
To say that Zhao Jiujiu was in such a hurry was purely because she was worrying unnecessarily. She was afraid that one day she would accidentally see her four granddaughters turn into cats and crawl on the ground. She was afraid that the shock would be too great and her father would throw them all away in a fit of anger.
Just three days after Zhao Jiujiu's unfounded worries, several uninvited guests arrived at the Shen family's residence.
Chapter 87 Distinguished Guest
This day happened to be the Double Ninth Festival. The autumn sky was high and the air was crisp. The weather forecast said it would be the last sunny day before the weather changed.
The Double Ninth Festival is not as grand as festivals like the Mid-Autumn Festival or the Dragon Boat Festival. For the people in the village, the only significance of this festival is that it is a day for making distilled liquor.
It is said that wine distilled on the Double Ninth Festival will not turn sour, but will be even more fragrant and mellow.
As for where this supposedly came from, the villagers had no idea. Of course, it's not that distilled wine won't turn sour; if there's a problem with the jar used to store the wine, it will still turn sour.
However, this has been a custom for so many years, and unless there are special circumstances, the villagers will choose to distill wine on this day.
Su Yunzhi was no exception.
The weather was good recently, and the newly harvested glutinous rice and paddy rice have all been dried and peeled, so we can use the homegrown glutinous rice to make liquor.
With family members coming and going, plus the upcoming full moon banquet, sweet wine is indispensable. Su Yunzhi plans to take advantage of today's auspicious day for distilling wine and distill several vats.
So, just as dawn was breaking, she woke up her father to get up and start the fire to distill the wine.
Since a lot of liquor needed to be distilled, a single wood-fired stove was too slow, so Mr. Shen decided to temporarily build a stove out of bricks in the yard.
Distilling alcohol can be simple in some ways, but complex in others, and it certainly requires manpower.
After breakfast, two vats of wine had already been steamed. Su Yunzhi asked her father to help add yeast and stir, and her father casually handed the firewood pile to Gu Lingyu.
Gu Miaomiao, who was completely unfamiliar with the ways of the world, was no match for starting a fire. In less than ten minutes, she made things worse by knocking over the firewood that her father had just gathered, causing the blazing fire to emit thick black smoke. Her father, who was working on the yeast, was choked by the smoke, and she herself was in even worse shape, with tears streaming down her face and her fair skin covered in soot.
Several distinguished guests arrived at this time.
Because recently, relatives and neighbors have been frequently coming to deliver brown sugar to congratulate her, Su Yunzhi opened it as soon as she got up early in the morning.
So, after the distinguished guests got out of the car, they went directly into the courtyard.
At this moment, Su Yunzhi ladled some of the first batch of steamed glutinous rice into the house for everyone to taste, while a certain cat was intently working on the firewood. Naturally, the figures of the distinguished guests fell into the eyes of Father Shen, who was fiddling with the yeast.
The people who came into view all had an exceptionally refined and noble air about them. Although he didn't recognize any of them, Mr. Shen felt a strange sense of familiarity at first glance.
However, since they were guests, even though he didn't know them, Mr. Shen still went up to greet them and asked, "Who are you looking for?"
Standing at the head of the group was a young man who looked to be around thirty years old. Before he even entered, his gaze had been fixed on a cat kneeling beside the wood-fired stove, puffing out its cheeks and blowing air. Only when he heard Father Chen's voice did he look away. He first nodded to Father Chen in greeting, and then said warmly, "I apologize for being uninvited and disturbing you. May I ask if Mr. Gu Junshan and Ms. Daiying are at your residence?"
Yes, these people reminded him of the first time he saw Old Gu and his wife, no wonder they seemed familiar.
He thought these people were Qiuqiu's friends from outside. Looking at these men, they were all handsome and tall, and each one was a good candidate for a son-in-law.
After pondering for a moment, Mr. Shen nodded and asked, "And you are?"
"That's it then, you must be my sister's father-in-law. Hello, I..."