You're my wife, don't doubt it!

That's true. What kind of mother cat is she if she doesn't know how to meow?

Shen Jie's happy expression reminded Xiao Yao of himself when he first received a little red flower in kindergarten, and he probably had a similar expression.

There was also the time when his parents finally made an exception and allowed him to watch an episode of "Ultraman" during his childhood.

Xiao Yao extended his hand.

The mother cat is petting the cat, and the dog is petting the mother cat.

"Meow~~~~"

We all have a bright future.

As mentioned before, the dog's little paws gently pawed at the opening of the backpack, scratching anxiously and making soft noises. Its eyes were bright and lively, shimmering with a mysterious light like two obsidian stones.

Yu Luying walked up silently.

From the moment they left the hospital, Yu Luying and Shen Jie didn't say a word. They just followed behind them, silently tapping something on their phones as they walked.

When the "dog" saw Yu Luying approaching, it slightly opened its mouth, revealing a row of small, sharp teeth, as if preparing to let out a whimper at any moment.

"Dog, be good." Shen Jie reached out and pinched the scruff of the "dog's" neck.

The dog fell silent, lowered its head, and let Yu Luying gently stroke its soft fur.

Yu Luying felt the dog's body trembling slightly, and then she heard the cat purring.

“It likes you very much,” Shen Jie said to Yu Luying with a smile.

“…Hmm.” Yu Luying was silent for a few seconds before answering softly.

The dog started by sticking out its chubby little tongue and gently licking Yu Luying's palm. Finally, it simply stuck its upper body out of the backpack and nudged Yu Luying's palm with its wet little nose until she smiled.

"So now, I'm the only 'unpopular one'," Xiao Yao said self-deprecatingly.

The two girls burst into laughter, instantly breaking the tense atmosphere between the three of them.

“I’ve always wanted to have a cat,” Shen Jie said to Xiao Yao and Yu Luying, “but Dad is allergic to cat fur…”

"He probably just doesn't like keeping pets and is saying that on purpose," Xiao Yao said.

“My mom is fine,” Yu Luying calmly told Shen Jie. “When I was in elementary school, we had a dog at home, and we called it ‘Xinxin’.”

"And then what happened?" Shen Jie pressed the "dog's" head down, stuffed it back into her schoolbag, and half-buttoned it up.

"Later," Yu Luying said, as if she were talking about someone else's family, "then one day, Xinxin suddenly disappeared; she was stolen."

"It must be lost, right? What kind of person would steal a dog around here? And what would they do with it?" Xiao Yao was dumbfounded.

"I don't know," Yu Luying replied lightly. "Maybe it was a dog dealer who stole it and sold it to a dog meat restaurant?"

“Impossible,” Xiao Yao waved his hand like Cao Cao: “Absolutely impossible!”

Xiao Yao insisted that Xin Xin had gotten lost and been picked up and adopted by someone, while Yu Luying scoffed at his naiveté.

Seeing that things were not going well, Shen Jie quickly spoke up to change the subject.

The two "sisters" chatted casually about all sorts of things, from cats to dogs, and neither of them brought up the incident from noon again. However, Xiao Yao could sense that there was an awkward politeness, coldness, formality, and estrangement between the two girls, and they were no longer as close as they had been "back then".

As Xiao Yao walked into the alley, the shopkeeper greeted him warmly: "Yao Yao, Ying Ying, you're back."

"Ah." "Ah." Xiao Yao and Yu Luying responded subconsciously.

"You brought your classmates back to play?" The old woman seemed to be in a particularly good mood today, continuing to spout nonsense.

Shen Jie's lips drooped slightly as she walked quickly into the alleyway with her head down.

"This is outrageous! I've lived in this alley for so long," Shen Jie thought.

Before they arrived home, two neighbors greeted and chatted with the three little ones.

Grandma was busy preparing dinner in the photo room when she saw the cat in Shen Jie's schoolbag. She was stunned at first, and then she was stunned again when she saw Yu Luying follow her in.

Yu Luying volunteered to take over the task of making dinner, and after confirming that the cat was Shen Jie's idea to keep and not Xiao Yao's, Grandma happily went downstairs to buy cat litter and cat food.

"This is so unfair," Xiao Yao complained, standing in the photo booth. "Am I even his biological grandson?"

"what happened?"

"When I first mentioned wanting to get a cat, she gave me a good scolding. Now that Shen Jie wants one, she's acting like this... It's such a double standard. At least put on an act." Xiao Yao deliberately made this sarcastic remark.

Yu Luying rolled her eyes slightly: "That just proves that you are my grandson."

"Huh?" Shen Jie placed a small enamel bowl that her grandmother had given her on the floor of the soap room with some unease, and poured Bright Dairy milk into the bowl. "Xiao Yao, so your grandma doesn't like cats? Why didn't you say so earlier? Oh no, did I act too presumptuously by bringing a cat back without permission? Will it make a bad impression on Grandma?"

Xiao Yao thought to himself, "So you finally realize you're talking to yourself," but said aloud, "No, Grandma doesn't actually dislike cats. She's just lazy and finds them troublesome."

“Oh…” Shen Jie said, “Then I will take good care of it, so you don’t need to trouble Grandma.”

“Yes,” Xiao Yao said, “Grandma’s objection to me keeping a cat was that you can’t even take care of yourself, let alone keep a cat.”

“Grandma is right,” Yu Luying replied.

“Besides, how can I tell you this?” Xiao Yao continued, “You’ve already picked it up, and the way you look at it melts my heart. How can I tell you that Grandma doesn’t like it? How can I let you throw it away? I’ve already thought it through. If Grandma doesn’t let you keep it, I’ll fight her to the death.”

"You're talking nonsense again," Yu Luying said, tossing the spoon around.

"Doggy, I knew you were good to me." Shen Jie acknowledged.

“You two, one is called Dog and the other is called Doggy, don’t you get confused?” Yu Luying said.

"Oh, by the way, is the dog male or female?" the cat mother asked, turning the tabby cat's belly over as it struggled and protested.

“There’s a little penis,” Xiao Yao squinted and observed for a moment. “It’s a male cat—no wonder it kisses you two but not me.”

“Really!” Yu Luying said, “I had always thought it was a female cat.”

"Castrate him!" Xiao Yao said, feigning ferocity.

"You think everyone's like you? You little pervert!" Shen Jie bared her teeth at him.

“No,” Xiao Yao explained to Shen Jie, “You have to neuter a male cat, otherwise you’ll be in for a world of trouble in the spring.”

"Of course I know." Shen Jie sullenly patted the tabby cat's belly. The cat was lying on the beautiful girl's body, baring its teeth and squinting its eyes, looking quite content, completely unaware of the disaster that was about to befall it.

“Oh, it’s so pitiful to be a cat,” Yu Luying said with sympathy. “It was living a carefree life at school, showered with love and affection, but one day it was suddenly tied up here and locked up by you, and now it has to be castrated.”

“If a male cat really doesn’t want to be neutered, it’s not a big problem. We can just find him a girlfriend,” Xiao Yao said, stroking his chin. “But if we really raise a female cat, she’ll come home with a belly full of kittens in a couple of years, or even run off with a stray cat. How heartbreaking would that be?”

After he said that, both girls gave him strange looks.

Xiao Yao was puzzled, wondering what was going on?

Then I realized that this is a case of the speaker not meaning it, but the listener taking it to heart.

"What are you thinking?" Xiao Yao shouted, "I really meant a cat!"

Shen Jie revealed a half-smile, and Xiao Yao knew that he was only making things worse by trying to explain.

"Oh no, my fish!" Yu Luying exclaimed.

Xiao Yao and Shen Jie looked up at the stove and saw that "Dog" had somehow climbed onto the stove and was licking the head of the braised fish with its little tongue.

The boy pounced on it, picked up the "dog" and slammed it to the ground.

"Meow~~~"

"Why did that dog throw that other dog?" Shen Jie protested, feeling sorry for him.

"I didn't fall, I just..." Xiao Yao argued.

"Have some, have some," Shen Jie said, as she took out a tissue, wrapped it around the head of the braised bream, twisted the whole head off, and placed it next to the small bowl of milk.

Xiao Yao looked down helplessly at the tabby cat devouring its food: "Just keep spoiling it."

Grandma came back with five pounds of cat food and a big bag of cat litter. The three little ones (mainly Shen Jie and Yu Luying) helped Grandma prepare the cat litter and other things. Grandma then used the leftover small fish and fish soup from lunch to make rice porridge for the "dogs".

At dinner time, after the three children finished their pre-dinner prayers, Yu Luying formally applied to Xiao Yao's grandmother for temporary accommodation.

Grandma was shocked—absolutely horrified.

"This, this," she said, looking troubled. She glanced at Xiao Yao, then at Shen Jie, then back at Xiao Yao, and then at Yu Luying. "This isn't very convenient... You see, our place here is quite small, and, and..."

Chapter 356 How good is my daughter's technique?

2023-10-20

The three children chattered amongst themselves, describing Yu Luying's current situation.

Yu Luying has always adhered to the principle of "family scandals should not be aired in public," but now that things have come to this point, it seems that she has little choice but to tell the truth.

Grandma listened with a furrowed brow, expressing just the right amount of surprise and sympathy for the tragic plight of the Yu mother and daughter, while carefully avoiding any positive comments about Yu Luying's biological father, in accordance with her consistent principle of "an upright official does not meddle in family matters".

After all, if you express your opinions here, whether it's criticizing someone's father or husband or advising them to be magnanimous, and things take a different turn later, you'll be caught in the middle.

After listening to the three children's full explanation, Grandma fell into a brief moment of deep thought.

First, she expressed genuine sympathy, concern, and understanding for Yu Luying's situation and feelings.

But she still insisted that Yu Luying should not live in her home for extended periods.

Grandma's considerations were very practical. First of all, it is a big taboo for adults to take in runaway minors, and it is not legally justifiable.

Although she was an invincible old lady...

Shen Jie's situation is a special case; her grandmother was already making an extraordinary exception. Yu Luying and her grandson clearly don't have that kind of relationship.