The dining table fell suddenly silent. After several dozen seconds, Su Yunzhi’s eldest brother, Su Weimin, finally put down his wine glass, looked at Shen Wuqiu, and asked in sheer disbelief, “Let Wuqiu arrange it?”
The moment her husband spoke, Duan Xiaoe immediately chimed in to back him up. “Wuqiu is just a young woman; how could she possibly handle these things? If you ask me, you shouldn’t spoil Junjun so much either. Matters concerning these mountain forests and farmland should be left for Junjun to learn how to manage.”
As she spoke, Duan Xiaoe repeatedly exchanged meaningful glances with Su Yunzhi. “Yunzhi, don’t you agree?”
Su Yunzhi was actually calculating things in her mind. She had already asked around about the apartment in the city; based on current housing prices, it could sell for at least five million, which, combined with their savings, came to seven million. The twenty thousand mu of mountain forest, farmland, and reservoirs was undoubtedly worth more than seven million, but the house and savings were ready cash, whereas turning the land and reservoirs into cash would take time, and with time came inevitable variables.
Comparing the two options, she still felt that having ready cash in hand was safer, so she didn’t follow Duan Xiaoe’s line of thought. “Let his father decide how to arrange it.”
Su Weimin instantly flared up. “An indulgent mother ruins her son. I think you’re just spoiling him too much. Junjun is already twenty years old and is about to graduate from college, yet we never see him go out to intern or work. Now that his uncle’s health isn’t good, are you really reluctant to let him help share the load?”
Hearing this, Su Yunzhi grew quite angry as well. “How am I the one spoiling Junjun? Old Le is unwilling to hand these matters over to Junjun to manage, and am I supposed to go out and fight or scramble for it?”
She already harbored a great deal of dissatisfaction toward this older brother of hers. Their father had passed away early, and as the saying goes, an elder brother acts as a father; ever since they were young, her eldest brother and sister-in-law had called the shots in the household. Back then, if she hadn’t stood her ground, her brother and sister-in-law would have married her off to a forty-year-old limping bachelor in the neighboring village just for a ten-thousand-yuan bride price. Now that she had her own family, her brother and sister-in-law still wanted to act like tyrants and dictate her life.
Seeing her so ungrateful, Su Weimin flew into a rage and stood up abruptly. Just as he was about to speak further, Duan Xiaoe, sitting right beside him, secretly pinched him. Catching sight of Shen’s father’s poor complexion, she pulled Su Weimin back down into his seat. Wearing a smile on her face, her words came out dripping with sarcasm:
“What are you getting so anxious for? Who told you to raise Junjun in the lap of luxury since he was little? Naturally, he can’t endure this kind of hardship, which is probably why his uncle isn’t reassured and wants to hand things over to Wuqiu instead.”
Su Weimin hadn’t even swallowed his breath when, upon hearing his wife’s remark, his anger flared right back up. “A boy needs to be raised through hardship. A twenty-year-old grown man who doesn’t know how to do anything, what is the use of just having a pretty face?”
As the subjects of this discussion, the siblings Shen Wuqiu and Shen Wujun both maintained an indifferent attitude, entirely focused on shoveling the rice into their bowls.
Treated completely like air, Shen Father, the head of the household, could no longer hold back his temper. “How my son is raised is not up for outsiders to pass judgment on.”
The word “outsiders” was enough to show what kind of mood Shen Father was in at that moment.
“Brother-in-law, that’s not what I meant.”
“We’re just worried. Junjun is your child, but he’s also our nephew. Besides, you only have one son.”
Shen Father interrupted Su Weimin unceremoniously. “What, are you still practicing son preference these days?”
Su Weimin stammered, “That is certainly not a matter of favoring sons over daughters; we are just worried.”
Shen Father looked at him, then glanced at the others around the table. “What are you worried about?”
Seeing that no one else was chiming in, Duan Xiaoe grew anxious and hurried to smooth things over. “What Weimin means is that since brother-in-law has contracted so much mountain land and property, letting a young girl manage this entire family business is a heavy burden. Besides, Wuqiu isn’t young anymore; she’s at the age for marriage, and once she marries, she’ll have a family of her own and won’t be able to spare attention for all of this. Wuqiu, don’t you think so?”
To think she was actually trying to fish for a way out through her, Shen Wuqiu didn’t give her an ounce of face, pretending to look blank. “Marriage? I haven’t even thought about it. I probably won’t get married.”
Duan Xiaoe forced a laugh. “Silly child, in this world, what woman doesn’t get married? If I remember correctly, you’re already twenty-eight this year, aren’t you? Back in our day, twenty-eight made you an old maid.”
Shen Wuqiu picked up a piece of radish and placed it in Shen Wujun’s bowl. “Taste this radish and see if it’s too salty.”
Shen Wujun replied, “I don’t.”
Shen Wuqiu shot him a single look, and Shen Wujun immediately popped the radish into his mouth. “It is indeed a bit salty.”
Struck by a flash of insight, the adolescent brain of the middle-schooler instantly caught on, and he chimed in bluntly, “Uncle, Aunt, you don’t need to worry about things that are none of your business. To put it bluntly, this is our family affair, and we don’t need you managing it.”
“You…” Finding them all a hopeless wall that couldn’t be plastered, Su Weimin was so enraged he nearly choked. Taking a couple of fierce gulps of wine, he said, “Fine, it turns out we were just meddling where we didn’t belong.”
The meal ended on a sour note.
Had this happened back when Shen Father was still in robust health, Su Weimin would never have dared to be so presumptuous. Now, seeing him look like a setting sun and noticing that the Shen family lacked another man capable of taking charge, he had dared to act so audacious.
After the meal, Su Yunzhi’s two brothers and sisters-in-law made no move to leave.
Since they were family after all, it wasn’t good to make things too ugly, so Su Yunzhi still invited them to sit in the living room.
Shen Wuqiu helped Shen Father back to his room to rest, taking the opportunity to stay and chat with him for a while.
“I promised you that as long as you’re willing to come back and manage these lands, you can arrange things however you like. The same goes for the managers; change them whenever you want.”
Shen Wuqiu only concentrated on peeling the tangerine in her hand and didn’t respond.
Shen Father sighed. “I just never expected that before I’ve even died, the Su family would already start scheming so blatantly.”
Shen Wuqiu didn’t find it surprising at all. She broke off half a tangerine and handed it to him. “Why did you want to leave all of this to me?”
“Your younger brother is still young, and your aunt isn’t one who likes managing farm affairs, so I simply can’t trust them. Everything here represents my life’s blood and effort.”
With that, Shen Father closed his eyes wearily. “I once promised your mother I would become a true landowner, having vast fields to grow flowers, vegetables, fruits, and trees, and expansive forests to raise chickens, ducks, and fish. Now, it’s finally realized, and I can go report back to her.”
Shen Wuqiu kept her head down. “Aren’t you afraid I’ll let you and Mom down?”
Receiving no response for a long time, Shen Wuqiu finally raised her gaze to the bed, only to notice that the person on it had both eyes closed, completely silent without a sound.
At that moment, a wave of panic struck her. Staring at him for a good long while, she tremblingly reached out to check for a breath. The warm air drifted against her fingers, bringing immense relief.
Only then did Shen Wuqiu’s heart settle. She sat by the bedside keeping watch for quite a while before carefully tucking Shen Father’s hand, which had been resting outside the quilt, back in, whispering softly, “I’ll work hard so I don’t let you and Mom down.”
When she emerged from the room, the people sitting on the living room sofa immediately cut off their conversation. Shen Wuqiu acted as though she hadn’t seen them, muttered a casual greeting, and headed back up to her upstairs bedroom.
The white cat was lying obediently on the bed, and upon seeing her enter, let out a lazy meow.
Shen Wuqiu brought out the newly purchased cat bowl, tore open a bag of kibble, and poured a small portion into it. “Come and eat.”
Lying on the bed and looking at the small black pellets in the bowl, the white cat showed zero interest. “Meow.”
Shen Wuqiu carried the bowl over to her. “You haven’t eaten all day. Hurry up and have some.”
The white cat turned her head away. “Meow.”
Did she not like eating kibble?
Shen Wuqiu opened a can of wet food instead, but the white cat rejected that too.
“You won’t eat kibble or canned food? Then what do you want to eat?”
“Meow.” The white cat meowed at her twice, then stretched out the tip of her tongue to lick the palm of her hand.
Why did it feel like this little creature was saying I want to eat you?
She must be overthinking things.
Eat if you want, starve if you don’t.
Shen Wuqiu gave her head a slight shake, placed both the cat bowl and the can by the doorway, and then went into the bathroom to wash up, getting ready to scroll through her phone and go to sleep.
Whether due to some pregnancy effect or not, she had never noticed so much cat-related content on the internet before. Today, no matter how she scrolled, everything seemed to be about pets, and they were actually quite cute.
Just as she was engrossed in watching, a paw pressed down right onto her phone screen.
“What are you doing?” Shen Wuqiu looked down at the white cat, which had squeezed out from under her armpit and climbed onto her chest to make trouble. She didn’t feel angry; she just found it amusing.
“Meow.” The white cat’s meow held a hint of dissatisfaction.
Looking at the tabby cat on the phone screen that the white cat’s paw was pinning down, a flash of insight hit Shen Wuqiu. “Are you actually jealous?”
The white cat stopped meowing and simply stared at her with those mesmerizing blue eyes.
Kiss me!
That damned illusion came over her again.
Shen Wuqiu hurriedly looked away. “I’ll stop looking, okay? Stop looking at me like that.”
Satisfied at last, the white cat removed her paw from the phone and began pacing back and forth, kneading rhythmically against her chest.
After browsing through those videos earlier, Shen Wuqiu understood that this was called making biscuits or kneading.
Such a suggestive word, yet devoid of any actual provocative meaning; it was purely an instinctive behavior cats exhibited toward their mothers or when they felt completely comfortable.
Even so, Shen Wuqiu still felt a faint, inexplicable sense of shame, gently pushing the white cat’s little paws away. “I’m going to sleep now. Old rules, no entering under the covers.”
The white cat was clearly dissatisfied, but she honestly submitted as Shen Wuqiu picked her up and placed her at the foot of the bed.
Ah, whatever. She wouldn’t transform into human form until after midnight anyway; she might as well use the time to rest up and build her strength.