Shen Wuqiu originally assumed that a pet hospital in a small county like theirs wouldn’t have so many rules and that giving a cat a full physical examination wouldn’t take much time.
Who would have thought that their county’s pet hospital was in such high demand? Because she hadn’t booked an appointment in advance, she had no choice but to wait in line on-site for the checkup. To top it all off, a certain feline was extremely uncooperative, making a huge fuss the moment they stepped into the hospital.
Shen Wuqiu had no choice but to follow the hospital’s arrangements and placed her in a temporary carrier box.
“Meow.” Once placed inside the carrier, the white cat’s reaction became even more intense, and its cries could well be described as shrill and desperate.
“Sister, it looks like she doesn’t like being locked up.” Hearing her miserable, pitiful wails, Shen Wuqiu’s younger brother, Shen Wenjun, softened first. “How about I hold her instead?”
Unfortunately, the white cat didn’t appreciate it at all. When he opened the cage to pick her up, all the fur on the white cat’s body stood on end, and she cried out even more fiercely. “Meow.”
Shen Wenjun refused to believe the cat simply disliked him. “Sister, could she be traumatized?”
“Meow.”
Shen Wuqiu crossed her arms, watched coldly from the sidelines, and casually dropped a sentence. “She probably just doesn’t want you to hold her.”
Shen Wenjun’s ego took a hit. “I don’t believe it. Then you try holding her?”
Shen Wuqiu beckoned toward the opening of the carrier box. “Be a good girl, and I won’t lock you inside anymore.”
“Meow.” The white cat’s cry was still filled with dissatisfaction, but she quickly walked over to Shen Wuqiu anyway, incidentally extending the tip of her tongue to lick Shen Wuqiu’s hand.
Shen Wuqiu picked her up and stroked her head. “I won’t hurt you. I’m just taking you for a checkup. Wouldn’t you be even happier if your body is healthy and sound?”
It was a classic case of giving a sweet date after a slap, but the white cat seemed to take quite well to this routine, and her cries immediately became much more docile. “Meow.”
Shen Wenjun found the scene a bit magical. “Is she acting coquettishly toward you?”
Shen Wuqiu glanced at him sideways. “What do you think?”
Shen Wenjun was genuinely taken aback. He looked at the white cat. “How can you treat people so differently?”
The white cat turned her head away, refusing to even look him in the eye.
“Damn it, has this cat turned into a spirit? Sister, let’s have her tested for IQ later.”
Shen Wuqiu lowered her gaze. That was something worth considering.
Therefore, once the examination was over, Shen Wuqiu had the doctor arrange an intelligence test as well.
The first item in the intelligence test was the classic sock-placement test. Unfortunately, the white cat was thoroughly uncooperative, and even gave the doctor, who was attempting to place a sock over her head, a scratch, while viciously scolding him with a “Meow.”
Consequently, the first test had to be abandoned, and the doctor didn’t dare make any reckless assertions about the cat’s IQ.
The second item involved testing through toys. The assistant brought over a wide array of toys, towards which the white cat displayed utter contempt. However, during the test phase, she still spared a bit of face by managing to fish out a small bell hidden behind a piece of brown kraft paper.
For this test item, the doctor awarded a score of seven.
The third test had to be conducted by Shen Wuqiu herself back at home: the litter box test.
After the testing concluded, the doctor summarized. “Judging by her reactions, you don’t need to worry about her intelligence. Even though the first test couldn’t be carried out, it’s evident that this is a proud, aloof, and clever little girl. With proper training during the later stages of raising her, she will definitely become an outstanding elite among cats.”
“Thank you.” Shen Wuqiu wasn’t worried that she had a stupid cat. On the contrary, her unease stemmed from feeling that this cat was a bit too smart to be a normal cat.
When they emerged from the pet hospital, it was already past four o’clock. Spring weather is fickle; while the morning had clearly been brightly sunny, the sky had turned overcast by now.
Shen Wuqiu rejected Shen Wenjun’s suggestion to drive her around for a tour, heading straight to the shopping mall instead. After purchasing the items she needed, she headed home.
When the two of them arrived home, they walked right into dinner time. At the dining table, aside from Su Yunzhi and Father Shen, there were also Su Yunzhi’s two elder brothers and their wives.
“Wuqiu, you guys came back at just the right time. Go wash your hands quickly and let’s eat.” In front of others, Su Yunzhi was as warm toward Shen Wuqiu as ever.
As soon as Su Yunzhi spoke, her two sisters-in-law immediately looked over at Shen Wuqiu with beaming smiles:
“Oh, so this is Wuqiu! I almost didn’t recognize her just now, and thought she was Junjun’s girlfriend.”
“Haven’t seen you in all these years, and you’ve gotten prettier and prettier.”
You don’t hit a smiling face, so Shen Wuqiu also smiled back politely. “Uncle and Aunties are here.”
Saying this, she looked toward Father Shen. “Dad, go ahead and eat. I’ll head back to my room first.”
“How can we do that? Now that you’re back, we’ll eat together,” Su Yunzhi’s eldest sister-in-law, Duan Xiaoe, hurriedly chimed in.
“No need to wait.”
After exchanging greetings, Shen Wuqiu carried the white cat upstairs. Fearing that everyone might misunderstand, she placed the white cat inside her room and prepared to head back down.
“Meow.” The white cat wanted to follow her step for step.
Shen Wuqiu stopped her. “I’m going to have dinner now, and I’ll come feed you later. Just be a good girl and stay in the room, okay?”
“Meow.” The white cat looked somewhat displeased, but ultimately didn’t follow her out again.
Watching her tilt her head with that sullen, sulky little expression, Shen Wuqiu couldn’t help turning back to stroke her head. “You’re the best girl.”
The white cat turned her head back around, lifting her chin to look at her. “Meow.”
For some reason, the thought that flashed through Shen Wuqiu’s mind at that exact moment was that this white cat wanted a kiss from her.
Even more bizarrely, she actually leaned down and planted a kiss on the white cat.
It was unclear whether it was a momentary lapse of reason or a compulsion she couldn’t help.
“I’m leaving.” Having kissed her, Shen Wuqiu closed the door with a tempest of turbulent waves inside her heart while maintaining a serene and calm expression on the outside. Only when she walked downstairs was there a slight, stiff robot-like synchronization of her hands and feet.
At the dining table, everyone was still waiting for Shen Wuqiu to eat together. Seeing her come down, Father Shen personally invited her to sit in the empty seat right beside him.
Shen Wuqiu took her seat openly and gracefully, joining Father Shen in inviting everyone to eat.
Su Yunzhi’s maiden family was not well off financially; otherwise, she wouldn’t have married Father Shen as a young maiden to become a stepmother back then.
After Su Yunzhi married into the family, Father Shen had always taken good care of her two elder brothers, especially later on when he contracted more and more land, keeping both of her brothers employed making a living under his supervision.
Once Father Shen’s medical diagnosis came to light regarding the distribution of his estate after his death, he had sounded out Su Yunzhi in advance.
One share consisted of their savings and a 200-square-meter house in the city, while the other share comprised the remaining operational years for all those contracted mountain forests, farmlands, and reservoirs.
When Father Shen broached the subject with Su Yunzhi, he had also deliberately kept a strategic card up his sleeve. He stated that he intended to leave the 2 million in fixed-term deposits and the house in the city to Shen Wuqiu, whereas the nearly twenty thousand mu of mountain forests, farmlands, and reservoirs would be handed over to Su Yunzhi and her son.
Su Yunzhi harbored quite a few grievances regarding this arrangement. “I know you’re biased toward her because you feel a young girl has it hard. What about us mother and son? I also know you think Junjun is no good at studying and lacks prospects, so you just want to trap him in these mountain gullies for the rest of his life.”
This was precisely the outcome Father Shen wanted. Other people didn’t realize how valuable these mountain forests, lands, and reservoirs he had contracted out actually were, but he knew the score in his own heart. Privately, he truly favored his daughter Shen Wuqiu more, and genuinely wanted to leave the best things to her.
Having been husband and wife for so many years, he had pretty much figured out the personality of his wife Su Yunzhi: she loved to compare herself to others, loved vanity, and possessed a petty, narrow mind.
Precisely because he accurately calculated this trait of his wife, knowing that no matter what arrangement he made, she would assume he was favoring his daughter, he deliberately gave Su Yunzhi this pre-arranged narrative.
What he wanted was to ensure Su Yunzhi wouldn’t cast greedy eyes upon those mountain forests and farmlands.
Su Yunzhi only focused on immediate gains, but her two elder brothers were much more forward-thinking than she was. After all, having worked under Father Shen for so many years, even though they lacked a precise valuation of these contracted lands, they still possessed a rough estimate in their hearts.
Their purpose in coming today was to sound out Su Yunzhi’s stance.
After drinking two cups of wine, Su Yunzhi’s second brother, Su Zhongmin, could no longer hold back his impatience. “Brother-in-law, this year’s rapeseed is growing in a gratifying way, even better than last year’s.”
“Mm, thanks entirely to your help.” Perhaps seeing that his daughter had returned, Father Shen’s spirits had been exceptionally good all day long, even though he had been bedridden for days without stepping out of bed.
Su Yunzhi’s eldest sister-in-law, Duan Xiaoe, smoothly picked up the thread of conversation. “Psh, you’re being too polite. If it weren’t for brother-in-law looking out for us and supporting us, how could we have the life we have today? But farming work, you see, although it relies on brute force, it also requires technique. Look at the rapeseed fields managed by our man; they get better tended year after year.”
Saying this, she shifted her gaze to Shen Wuqiu. “Wuqiu, you’ve been to university. Tell me if that makes sense.”
Shen Wuqiu earnestly swallowed the napa cabbage in her mouth before responding to her. “Mm, what you said is right. Farming is also technical work nowadays; having brute force alone really doesn’t cut it.”
“Right?” Duan Xiaoe paused, then corrected herself upon reflection. “Well, doing farm work without strength won’t work either.”
Shen Wuqiu merely smiled and continued eating her meal.
Duan Xiaoe didn’t feel awkward at all and pressed on. “Brother-in-law, right now is the peak of the busy farming season. Since your health isn’t well, should we consider having Junjun step in to help manage things?”
Upon hearing those words, Su Yunzhi’s second brother, Su Zhongmin, chimed in as well. “That’s right. A batch of trees was sold over at the West Mountain last year, and you mentioned starting an orchard this year. If we don’t plant trees right now, I’m afraid it’ll be too late.”
Father Shen maintained a calm expression, set down his chopsticks, and spoke at an unhurried pace. “There’s no rush. Once people from the township arrive to officiate the notarization, we’ll see how Wuqiu plans to arrange things.”