Chapter 199: Chapter 199 Gu Family Chapter 199: Chapter 199 Gu Family Ermao was making a call inside the bedroom. Since Da Mi and Xiao Mi were born and Heimi had been taking good care of the two kittens, everything had gone smoothly. Ermao felt relieved, and his anxious state gradually disappeared, returning to his usual self. He probably had plans to go out and have fun with someone lately.

Zheng Tan entered through the slightly open main door and stood at the study door, looking toward the cat nest. Heimi was eating outside the nest and, after noticing Zheng Tan at the door, merely glanced and ignored him. Still, if Zheng Tan walked into the study, Heimi would surely growl. Therefore, Zheng Tan would only curiously look from the doorway each time and not enter.

The kittens had been born two weeks ago, and they were starting to grow teeth and becoming stronger and more coordinated. When Heimi wasn’t there, they would crawl around inside the nest, sometimes even crawling out. Ermao had someone check, and the black and white kitten with a “mole” at the corner of its mouth, just like Huasheng Tang, was male. Ermao posted boastfully on a pet forum that his “daughter” had given birth to “dragon and phoenix twins.”

A carpet was laid outside the cat nest, specially prepared by Ermao, so the kittens wouldn’t get cold from the floor as they crawled out, even during the hot days, as they were still kittens and not adult cats.

Zheng Tan had seen several weeks-old kittens when filming ads at the Pet Center. Compared, it must be Lord’s strong genes, as these two kittens were about the size of three-week-old kittens even though they were only two weeks old. Moreover, their fur was thicker compared to short-haired domestic kittens of three weeks old. They resembled their father Huasheng Tang. It was said that short-haired cats open their eyes earlier than long-haired ones; not only did these two open their eyes early and grow big, but they were often energetically crawling out of the nest to explore, although they still couldn’t stand straight, trembling on all fours as they moved.

While Zheng Tan was watching the two kittens, they woke up to find Heimi absent and started causing a fuss, yowling. Seeing no one was paying attention, they clung to the edge of the nest, looked out, and then one of them exerted itself, tumbled out of the nest, and rolled onto the carpet.

Heimi glanced over and continued eating, apparently used to their antics by now.

As the two kittens staggered away on the carpet, Zheng Tan noticed their ears were not yet fully erect, but they still moved at some noises from outside.

After watching Heimi carry the two kittens back into the nest, Zheng Tan left and went upstairs.

Tomorrow, Jiao Ma would take Little Youzi, Jiao Yuan, and Zheng Tan away from Chuhua City to her old home to spend the summer vacation. Before leaving, Zheng Tan came to check on the two kittens, and by the time they returned, the kittens would probably be creating havoc around the house, but it was uncertain if they would share their father’s temperament.

If the two kittens ended up staying in the courtyard, it might seldom be peaceful. But it was said that once kittens grow up, the mother cat drives them away. One day, while listening to Wei Leng and Ermao chatting, Zheng Tan thought about how Huasheng Tang also often patrolled this area. If it weren’t for Zheng Tan mediating, Huasheng Tang’s visits to the courtyard would probably end in a fight with the sheriff and Da Pang each time. So, as the kittens grew, would a battle erupt between father and son, father and daughter?

Cats have a strong territorial sense, and both Lord and Huasheng Tang, these two, cared greatly about “territory.” Accordingly, the kittens that inherited Lord’s lineage were likely not to be mild cats; they said the battlefield knows no father or son, and the rules of wild feline species in nature might play out here too. Perhaps then, Ermao might still end up having to send these two away.

After the summer vacation started, Little Youzi and Jiao Yuan stayed home all day to do their summer homework, hoping to finish early and go out to play. They certainly didn’t want to go out with homework left, which wouldn’t be enjoyable. As for Little Youzi, she would save the essay and diary sections of her Chinese homework for last and fill them in later. Now, they had almost completed their homework, and Jiao Ma also had nothing urgent, so she called Mr. Gu to confirm their arrival time.

Early the next day, before the sun got too intense, the Jiao family of three headed downstairs with their packed luggage. Jiao Ma had already taken the car for a check-up and refueled; she wouldn’t let a car problem risk her children’s safety.

The air conditioning was on in the car, with Zheng Tan in the passenger seat, and Little Youzi and Jiao Yuan in the back seat preparing to play a game of animal chess.

After dozing off, Zheng Tan looked out the window when he woke up and noticed they had left the highway. Surrounding them were large expanses of aquaculture ponds.

This place had a lot of aquaculture operations, with nearly four thousand fishermen, indicating the vast total area of the fisheries here. Apart from the four major types of fish like grass carp, bighead carp, black carp, and silver carp, there were also mandarin fish, eels, soft-shelled turtles, shrimp, crabs, and more. Zheng Tan wouldn’t have to worry about not getting fresh fish here.

Besides the renowned fish ponds, this area also had some experimental fields, and sometimes, new varieties of fruits about to hit the market were also available here early.

Many people in this area had become wealthy through the aquaculture industry, and now many village roads were well-paved, which is why Zheng Tan could sleep until now without being jolted awake by rough roads.

“Look, someone’s fishing!” Jiao Yuan, no longer playing chess, shouted as he pointed outside. He liked coming here because he could fish and catch shrimp, which was fun.

Zheng Tan saw a pond being fished, probably to transport somewhere, with a truck parked nearby.

“Sit properly!” Jiao Ma scolded from the front.

Jiao Yuan didn’t move around anymore, but he stayed glued to the car window looking outside. Some village kids were helping around the pond, although Jiao Yuan wasn’t familiar with what they were doing.

Little Youzi was also curious, though she didn’t speak, her interest was evident in her eyes.

Mr. Gu and the old lady had been waiting at the front door, smiling so much their eyes were squinting.

Zheng Tan looked over, and beside the two elderly was a tail-wagging mongrel, black on its back with some white on its chest and legs, and funnily enough, it had two white spots over its eyebrows. Zheng Tan hadn’t seen this dog when he visited during the New Year; it must have been caught after that and looked quite young, in its mid-size, lively, retreating behind Old Man Gu as the car approached, yet curiously staring this way without much fear.

Seeing Jiao Ma and Jiao Yuan, everyone was quite happy, especially Little Youzi. The moment Little Youzi got out of the car, Mr. Gu, despite his age, eagerly went up and lifted Little Youzi, “Hmm, heavier, our Little Youzi has grown taller again!”

After Zheng Tan got out of the car, the medium-sized native dog that had been behind Mr. Gu started barking fiercely at Zheng Tan “Woof woof woof,” charging towards him, but it stopped abruptly twenty centimeters away from Zheng Tan. It didn’t bite, just kept barking, its “eyebrows” trembling.

Zheng Tan looked at the medium-sized native dog in front of him and thought, This guy’s facial expressions are quite rich.

After parking the car, they were led by Mr. Gu into the house, which had all been tidied up.

“Last week, your mom had already treated the front and back of the house for pests. Summer brings lots of mosquitoes and sometimes snakes, but don’t worry, I’ve already taken precautions. Youzi isn’t scared, right?” Mr. Gu, holding Little Youzi’s hand, spoke the first half to Jiao Ma, addressing the latter half to Little Youzi.

Zheng Tan looked at Jiao Yuan. The boy didn’t mind Mr. Gu’s favoritism at all. His gaze fell on the fishing gear inside the house, his eyes lighting up. If it hadn’t been for Jiao Ma standing beside him, the boy would probably have gone over to play with it already.

Mr. Gu’s native dog was named “Er Tong.” The old lady said that when they got it, its “eyebrows” were amusing, like the mahjong tile, Er Tong, so they just called it that.

Hearing the name “Er Tong,” Zheng Tan couldn’t help but think, Isn’t it just a combination of an idiot and a rice bucket?

At this point, Er Tong wasn’t just focusing on Zheng Tan. With three strangers around, it became vigilant. After initially barking and being scolded by Mr. Gu, it stopped barking, probably realizing the three visitors were not threats and needed to be treated warmly. Then it followed them around, wagging its curled-up tail energetically.

The old lady washed some grapes that someone had brought over two days ago. The two elderly were too reluctant to eat them, so they saved them for today for Jiao Ma and the others. There were also some fruits from the experimental fields that had just come to market this year, washed and placed in a fruit basket.

Mr. Gu was once a village official, and after retiring, he still had some prestige in the village and was also well-liked. Mr. Gu often boasted that these days, what use are bank cards, sometimes it’s still about the face, right?

So, Mr. Gu valued his reputation, and in front of his daughter, he often bragged. He had only two daughters, and he couldn’t even mention what the younger daughter did in the village. The villagers only knew that Mr. Gu’s younger daughter made big money abroad and her granddaughter carried the Gu family name. So, Mr. Gu directly claimed his granddaughter and had Little Youzi call him Grandpa, making some people think he had a son-in-law who moved in with them.

After arriving, they rested for a day before Jiao Yuan couldn’t sit still any longer and wanted to go out and play.

Mr. Gu gave them two small shovels and a little plastic bucket and they went to the backyard to dig for earthworms.

Zheng Tan just sat nearby, watching them dig earthworms. Little Youzi was a little scared at first, but gradually she let go and after a few shovels, when she saw earthworms, she would grab them with her hands and throw them into the little plastic bucket.

After digging up enough earthworms, Mr. Gu gave each child a straw hat, found a few wooden poles of the right length, and dug out some unused cotton thread from home. It didn’t need to be too long, one end tied to the wooden pole, and they headed to Wild Pond.

Wild Pond wasn’t large, it used to be a fish pond, but later filled in a bit and neglected; no one knew when shrimp started proliferating there. Some village children liked to come here to fish for shrimp in summer. Trees grew next to Wild Pond, providing shade, and Mr. Gu baited their lines with earthworms. It was a common method used by village children to fish for shrimp, not very sophisticated, but effective and practically at no cost.

Jiao Yuan was experienced and didn’t need Mr. Gu to say much, grabbing a wooden pole and starting right away. Thus, Mr. Gu taught Little Youzi separately. A small scoop net was also prepared nearby.

People say shrimp are rather stupid, and Zheng Tan felt it was really the case.

Jiao Yuan’s fishing spot wasn’t deep, after all, the wooden pole was only about a meter long, and the cotton thread wasn’t long either. Zheng Tan could see the earthworm tied to the end of the string moving in the water. Then, after not too long, a shrimp approached, Zheng Tan saw it clamp onto the earthworm, and as Jiao Yuan lifted the pole, the shrimp didn’t even let go of the clamp.

Zheng Tan moved to the metal bucket to look at the shrimp Jiao Yuan had just shaken off, the shrimp defiantly brandishing its little clamps at Zheng Tan. Zheng Tan snorted dismissively, Dumb as bricks, just waiting to be eaten.

Of course, not all shrimp were like this; some were more cunning, especially some of the older ones.

Zheng Tan squatted nearby, watching them fish for shrimp for a while before he started to get bored, unable to join in personally and only able to stand by and watch.

Looking around, Zheng Tan decided to take a stroll.

“Don’t go too far,” Little Youzi instructed, pausing before adding, “and don’t cause any trouble.”

Zheng Tan, “…” Why did everyone like to say that to him? (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, you are welcome to vote for it at Qidian (qidian.com), and your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep