I carefully and cautiously led Xiao Mao over the wall, and guided him towards Xiang Qing's room. Along the way, we resisted the temptations of One Hundred And Thiry-Seventh Senior Brothers dried fish flakes as well as Aunty Shang's roasted chicken, finally arriving at our destination.
Spring had long passed, and the leaves of the apricot tree above us had already begun withering and falling. As I was about to pounce into Xiang Qing's room, a very beautiful girl had slyly entered holding something suspicious in her hands.
Not good, someone wants to steal! An alarm sounded within my mind, and I immediately wanted to hurry over and fight the evil force, wanting to rescue Xiang Qing in my arms. This kind of performance would surely win his heart.
I didn't expect Xiao Mao to suddenly clutch my neck and stop me from entering, he excitedly whispered, "Maybe Father will be caught red-handed, we should wait a while and see."
Getting caught red-handed? What's that? I didn't understand the meaning of his words, and saw that he had jumped into Xiang Qing's room through the window sills. Helpless, I could only follow in his footsteps and entered.
That girl appeared around eighteen years old, had a pale oval face, a pair of beautiful almond eyes and arched brows, and was dressed very simply and neatly. Her hair was pulled up into two buns with a silver hairpin inserted within them. It didn't seem like anything too fancy, however, Xiao Mao explained that the jade piece on her waist was similar to the ones in Yin Zi treasury so it ought to be pretty expensive. The clothing on her body was also similar to the clothing I wear, I'm afraid she may be from a wealthy family.
But, why would this wealthy woman want to enter Xiang Qing's room? To talk? Or is it to sell stuff?
Xiang Qing's back was facing us, his head was lowered, and in his hands was what seemed to be pen and paper. He appeared to be writing something. Xiao Mao was full of excitement, "Could it be that he's writing a marriage termination contract?"
I suddenly tensed up, "We're not even married yet, so how would he be able to terminate the marriage?"
"I'm just joking."
That wealthy woman carefully brought out the package in her arms and handed it to Xiang Qing. Her face was flushed red and seemed to contain a hint of embarrassment.
Xiang Qing sighed and pushed the package back, "Junior Sister Yun Lan, why do you bother?"
So it was actually that bastard Mu Yun Lan who Yin Zi said was my love rival. I immediately increased my vigilance, and watched the actions of this suspect. My heart silently pondered, if I bit her to death in the middle of the night, would anyone notice?
Mu Yun Lan once again pushed the package towards Xiang Qing. She pleaded, "Sixth Senior Brother, you clearly know my intentions."
"Yes, I know your intentions, but why do you not speak them aloud." Xiang Qing put down the pen in his hands.
"This kind of thing, how can they be said in words?" Mu Yun Lan's voice was full of eagerness.
After a moment of thought, Xiang Qing received the package and placed it by his bedside. And then towards Mu Yun Lan, he said, "You can leave now."
Mu Yun Lan swiftly nodded. She headed out the doors, but turned around and walked back, and said, "Sixth Senior Brother, about that matter, can I help with anything."
"No need." Xiang Qing politely declined her help on that matter.
Ignoring the calls of Xiao Mao, I jumped off the window sill and headed towards his bed. I hesitated for a moment, but then proceeded to open the package.
Contained inside the package was a red colored true love knot* and a letter. This was a cursed object! In the past, Ao Yun brought me down to the Mortal Realm to play and bought me one of those. But when I came home with it, Yin Zi ruthlessly scolded and burned the knot in flames.
*[TN]: A true love knot is an interlacing knot originating from Ancient China, and because of its unique characteristic of being two knots joined together, it has been associated with the symbol of love and affection. The true love knot was given by someone to the person he or she loved.
What a cursed object was, Yin Zi didn't explain. Jian Nan had informed me that those kinds of things held a bad omen! But right now, why would Mu Yun Lan give Xiang Qing a true love knot, and why would he receive it? Then.....could Mu Yun Lan be a rotten egg? She wants to curse Shifu and harm him!
I panicked, but Xiang Qing had already came over and picked me up into his arms and affectionately said, "Ah Hua, you've returned. Don't casually bite things, I won't know how to explain to others if it's broken."
Xiao Mao had also ran inside and squat in a corner watching us. Upon seeing Xiao Mao, Xiang Qing was very happy. He asked if Xiao Mao was my child, and then proceeded to boast about how adorable he is and how beautiful his shiny coat of fur was. He even gave Xiao Mao the name Xiao Hei.
I firmly implanted the name he chose in my heart, preparing to change Xiao Mao's name when we return. Xiao Mao however, was angry at this and rolled around on the ground to reject this new name.
Xiang placed me onto his thighs, touched my fur several times, and then picked up the pen again. He seemed to want to write something, but he became annoyed and crumpled the sheet of paper, throwing it outside.
"Ouch, what a troublesome guy." The sound of Fourth Senior Brother's unrefined voice came from the outside. In his hand was a fan as he walked into the room, "What are you worrying about? Have you not earned enough wife funds?"
"On such a cold day like this, what are you waving your fan around for? You have an illness or what?" Xiang wasn't in a good mood, his words were crude.
"This isn't an ordinary fan!" Fourth Senior Brother immediately opened up his fan and joyfully explained to Xiang Qing, "On this fan are the portraits of my wife and child painted by a master artist. Look, isn't it pretty, my child's already a year old....."
His mouth continued blabbering for over half an hour. Xiang Qing has finally had enough and impatiently brought Fourth Senior Brother's enthusiasm to a halt, "Yes it's beautiful, but do you really have to say that much?"
"Jealous, this is plain jealousy." Fourth Senior Brother put away his fan, "You're jealous of my wife's beauty, and my child's intelligence."
"Bunch of gibberish."
"When are you going to propose marriage to the girl you like?" Fourth Senior Brother's expression turned serene.
Xiang Qing simply replied, "Some stuff has happened."
The two of them then discussed about the events today such as how I was a widow and that I had a child. In response, Fourth Senior Brother could only bitterly ask, "Since Miss Miao Miao is a widow, you're not planning on marrying her, right?"
After a long silence, he said, "I'm just angry at the fact that she didn't tell me from the start."
"Maybe because she's afraid." Fourth Senior Brother presumed.
I desperately shook my head, my heart loudly shouting, "It's not like that, I thought men would be happy knowing they had a child....."
Of course, cats can not speak. I could only watch as Xiang Qing sighs, "Right now I'm very troubled."
"If it's so troublesome, then forget it. There are many other great girls in this word, and being a step father is not so good either." Fourth Senior Brother consoled.
"No, I'm not troubled over that," Xiang Qing shook his head dejectedly and responded, "I'm troubled over the fact that this seven or eight year old child will soon need to attend school. The cost of this along with feeding and clothing him is quite concerning. I must earn even more money before proposing marriage.....how can I allow that child to live miserable days?"