“Meow, meow.”
Half-asleep, Shen Wuqiu seemed to hear cats in heat crying out again, annoyingly loud. She wanted to tell the white cat to stop, but she was far too sleepy and couldn’t open her eyes, only murmuring groggily, “Stop calling.”
After her complaint, it genuinely grew quiet by her ear. In her slumber, her lingering consciousness even made her mumble, “Such a good girl.”
In an instant, she seemed to fall into a soft, sweet dream, so comfortable that she couldn’t help humming softly.
She was having that kind of unspeakable dream again.
When she woke up, Shen Wuqiu stared blankly with her eyes open for a long time. She still refused to accept the fact that she could actually have such dreams. Just how deprived must she be to have this kind of dream two nights in a row!
What she found even more baffling was that the object of her desire in this unspeakable dream turned out to be a woman!
She had intentionally blurred the memory of the previous day’s dream, which was why she had managed to overlook this detail, but in last night’s dream, although the other person’s face was not clear, her plump, alluring figure was displayed without reserve right in front of her, making it impossible for her to pretend she hadn’t seen it anymore.
It wasn’t that she was homophobic; it was mainly that she had genuinely never thought about such things, let alone thought about doing them with a woman.
Damn it, she actually thought the feeling wasn’t bad!
Realizing what she was thinking, Shen Wuqiu pulled the quilt over her head in self-loathing while reaching down to check herself.
Why were her pajamas missing? Terrified, she flipped back the quilt. Last night before bed, she had plenty of time, so unlike the previous day when she casually threw on a summer camisole nightgown for convenience, she had worn a full-length, button-down autumn-winter cotton pajama set. But now, both her pajama top and bottoms had vanished without a trace, leaving only her little panties hanging crookedly in place.
Shen Wuqiu stared at her bare body for a long time before reaching out to straighten her panties.
Her fingers pinched the edge of her panties and lingered for a moment, and then, closing her eyes and biting her lip, she carefully moved her fingers downward.
Through a single layer of thin cotton fabric, she could still feel that a certain area was damp and muddy.
Struck as if by a bolt of lightning, Shen Wuqiu lay paralyzed on the bed, utterly unable to accept that she could get this deeply into a dream.
Right at that moment, Shen Wenjun banged loudly on her door, “Sis, are you awake?”
Shen Wuqiu pulled the quilt back over her head; she didn’t want to deal with anyone right now.
Shen Wenjun continued knocking, “Sis, get up quickly. Your cat has made trouble.”
Hearing this, Shen Wuqiu’s eyeballs twitched. After several seconds, as if remembering something, she sat up. There was no sign of the white cat at the foot of the bed, and scanning her entire room, she still couldn’t see a trace of the white cat.
Now Shen Wuqiu grew anxious. She scrambled up, found her pajama pants from the bedding, picked her pajama top off the floor, and quickly put them on. Too rushed to put on slippers, she opened the door barefoot, “Where is the cat?”
Shen Wenjun peeked into her room, “Isn’t it in your room?”
“No.” Shen Wuqiu was puzzled herself. The screen window was tightly shut, and the bedroom door had remained bolted from the inside. She was just as mystified as to how this ancestor had slipped out.
“Then you definitely didn’t close the doors and windows properly, and she ran out by herself.”
Shen Wuqiu looked at him, “The door was still bolted from the inside, and the window was closed too. How do you suppose she got out?”
Shen Wenjun thought she was being sarcastic, but seeing her serious expression, he couldn’t help peering into her room again and guessed casually, “Could she have opened the window herself and gone out?”
Shen Wuqiu rubbed her temples, “I don’t know either.”
“I saw online that many pets can open and close doors themselves after training. Maybe she knows how.” Shen Wenjun didn’t take it too much to heart, and lowering his voice, added, “Mom’s river fish that she baked last winter is missing a big chunk this morning.”
“My cat ate it?”
“Probably.” Shen Wenjun nodded uncertainly twice, “Anyway, that is what Mom thinks. Now that the cat is not in your room, I reckon it is nine to ten out of ten that she ran out to steal a snack.”
So this little ancestor didn’t care for cat food or canned food, but preferred dried river fish instead?
Shen Wuqiu felt like her head was about to split open, “Did you see the cat downstairs?”
“No, I thought she was in your room.”
“I don’t even know where to look now.”
“This cat won’t run off and never come back, will she?”
“She won’t.”
Shen Wuqiu couldn’t quite explain why she had this intuition, but she just felt that this cat would definitely return.
Shen Wenjun scoffed, “How do you know? My roommate kept a cat for a year, and the moment it went into heat, it ran away and never came back.”
Shen Wuqiu stared at him.
Shen Wenjun sheepishly shut his mouth, but before leaving, he threw in a couple more remarks, “Mom seems pretty angry. These river fish are quite precious; she originally wanted to take them as gifts for people.”
“I know.” As soon as he left, Shen Wuqiu decisively closed the door.
Leaning against the door in a daze for a few seconds, she walked into the bathroom.
Standing under the showerhead, Shen Wuqiu scrutinized her entire body in the mirror again. The red buds on the hills were full, perky, and vibrant, looking as if they had just caught the morning dew. They really were pretty, which explained why the person in her dream kept lingering around here.
“Mm, it hurts, go lighter.”
“You whine when it’s light, and complain of pain when it’s hard. You really are a handful of a spoiled darling.”
Realizing what she was thinking, Shen Wuqiu gave a start and, feeling guilty, quickly scooped up a handful of water to splash over the mirror’s surface.
Looking at the blurred mirror, she lowered her head to wash her face.
After completely shaking these messy thoughts out of her head, she quickly took a shower and changed her clothes.
Downstairs, Su Yunzhi was just as Shen Wenjun had described, furious about the missing dried fish, to the point where she didn’t even bother putting on a facade in front of Shen Wuqiu. The moment she saw her coming down, she launched into a tirade:
“I told you not to raise this beast, but you wouldn’t listen. Now look, it has only been in the house for a single day, and it’s already starting to ruin things.”
Shen Wuqiu glanced at the red plastic bag riddled with claw marks, but she didn’t defend the white cat, “It is because I didn’t discipline her well, and I truly apologize. Auntie worked hard to bake these dried fish too. If you don’t mind, I can pay you for them.”
Su Yunzhi gave a light snort, “You say that so lightly. Is this about money? House cats are hard to tame, let alone this wild thing you picked up from god knows where. Who knows what bigger trouble she will cause in the house down the road.”
“Then you don’t need to trouble yourself worrying about that, Auntie. Since I said I’m keeping her, then whatever trouble she causes in the future will naturally be my responsibility to bear.”
“You can say that now, but who knows if she will end up dragging us down with her.”
Su Yunzhi’s scolding grew louder and louder, waking Father Shen in his room. He struggled out of bed with effort and said with displeasure, “What are you arguing about early in the morning?”
Seeing Father Shen come out, Su Yunzhi didn’t rein it in at all; instead, she grew even more self-righteous, “This is all because of the good cat your precious daughter brought home. Look at this, a whole month’s worth of dried fish I worked hard to bake last year has been ruined. You said you were going to use these dried fish to maintain social favors, let’s see what you’re going to give people now.”
Hearing this, Father Shen frowned and looked at Shen Wuqiu, “Where is the cat?”
Shen Wuqiu answered honestly, “I couldn’t find her either. She was in my room last night, but she was gone when I woke up this morning.”
Su Yunzhi quickly poured oil on the fire, “Yesterday this cat stuck to you like glue, and today the moment she steals the fish, she disappears. This little beast certainly knows how to pick her timing.”
Shen Wuqiu couldn’t be bothered to engage with her and spoke directly to Father Shen, “Maybe the cat food I bought isn’t to her liking, which is why she was looking for food around the house. It’s indeed my fault for not keeping a proper eye on her. Do you know where you planned to send these dried fish as gifts, Dad? Should I look online and buy something else instead?”
Su Yunzhi chimed in, “Can those compare? These dried fish came from the king fish we raised in our reservoir for many years. Plenty of people were fighting over them, and we wouldn’t give them away.”
“That is enough, I don’t need all these complaints from you.” Father Shen interrupted Su Yunzhi with displeasure. When he turned to Shen Wuqiu, his tone softened considerably, “Eaten is eaten, it’s not a big deal. If you don’t have anything special to do today, have someone take you over to the Xishan area later so you can plan things out properly.”
Su Yunzhi stomped her foot in anger, “That is not what you told me at first. You nagged me over and over to get them baked.”
“They’re already eaten, do you expect her to spit them out?” Father Shen caught his breath, “See if you need to notify the elders on your side. People from the village are coming over for the notarization tonight.”
Mentioning official business, Su Yunzhi was slightly taken aback, “So fast?”
“Getting the notarization done early gives everyone peace of mind. Besides, a year’s plan starts in spring, and Qiuqiu can go ahead and throw herself into her work sooner.”
Su Yunzhi cast a sideways glance at Shen Wuqiu and muttered, “Who knows if it’s just going to waste.”
Father Shen genuinely didn’t hear it, and Shen Wuqiu pretended not to hear it either, nonchalantly heading into the kitchen to prepare breakfast.