Chapter 710 - 476: You Get Jealous of a Cat, Too

The rest of the meal was much more subdued.

Even though Mr. and Mrs. Chen didn’t say anything and their gazes no longer held any deliberate teasing, Jiangg Ning couldn’t help but feel incredibly awkward and mortified whenever she recalled what had just happened. She had actually fed Chen Yuan right in front of his parents.

It was the kind of thing a gentle, doting wife would do, and she had done it so naturally.

The more she thought about it, the more unbearable it became. She wished the ground would open up and swallow her whole.

’I keep saying I don’t want to marry him along with Yaoyao, but it turns out I’m enjoying this feeling of the three of us together. Am I just being a total hypocrite?’

Jiangg Ning’s thoughts were in a whirl, her mind completely off the meal.

She didn’t even notice what the others at the table were talking about.

"With the weather like this, there’s no real need to go out. Your dad and I are planning to go into the city this afternoon to buy a few things. You should spend the afternoon with Ningning and Yaoyao. Take a walk around the hospital grounds, get some fresh air," Liu He instructed.

"What are you guys going to buy? You don’t need me to go with you?" Chen Yuan asked while shoveling rice into his mouth.

"It’s fine. Your dad and I aren’t children, we don’t need you to look after us like that. We can just take the bus."

Liu He waved her hand, signaling that he didn’t need to worry about it.

Since Chen Yuan wasn’t going to work, he had already planned on spending quality time with Ningning and Yaoyao anyway. Hearing his mom’s words, he immediately nodded in agreement.

...

After lunch.

The older couple set off together a little after one o’clock.

That afternoon, Jiangg Ning said she wanted to study, but she couldn’t talk Chen Yuan out of his idea for them to take a walk and relax together. As a compromise, she had him move a table and chair down to the artificial lake.

There was no sunlight, but a gentle breeze stirred. The May air was thick with a tolerable, muggy heat and carried the raw scent of damp earth.

In this weather, she sat with a book in her hands, preparing for her upcoming exams.

Jiangg Yao was usually full of life and constantly on the move, but her injury this time severely restricted her. She couldn’t even get out of her wheelchair to take a couple of steps, so she needed Chen Yuan’s help to get anywhere.

With him around, the two sisters didn’t need to trouble the nurses.

Chen Yuan first pushed Jiangg Yao’s wheelchair to a shady spot under a tree, leaving her there for a moment while he went to help Jiangg Ning with her book and the table and chair.

It was a perfectly leisurely afternoon.

The fruitless burnout of countless days and nights, the panic of waking to face another hectic day—all of it seemed to be cast far away, banished from this quiet, secluded little world.

While she waited, the breeze rustled Jiangg Yao’s floral dress. She tilted her face up slightly, squinting as she gazed at the layers of clouds in the sky.

Jiangg Ning had helped her with her hair that morning, casually styling it into two braids that started from the back of her head and draped over Yaoyao’s shoulders.

Her skin was fair, and with her flaxen hair, her whole appearance was as pure as a naive princess stepping out of a fairytale.

Anyone who didn’t know her would just assume she was a quiet, beautiful young lady, not the quirky, mischievous little devil she actually was.

"Haaah~" Perhaps feeling a bit of a food coma from the carbs, she let out a small yawn.

Meanwhile, Chen Yuan had returned, carrying the table and chair.

"What do you say? Should I push you around for a walk?" he asked as he set down the furniture.

"Nah, I think I’ll take a nap."

"Perfect. You can sleep next to me, your sister can study, and I’ll go borrow a fishing rod from that old man at the sanatorium. This weather is perfect for fishing, no harsh sun."

"Okay~"

Jiangg Yao replied lazily.

It wasn’t long before Chen Yuan returned with the fishing rod. It seemed the old man was very generous, having given him not only the rod but also bait, a bucket, and other supplies.

And so, on that pleasant afternoon, the three of them sat together by the artificial lake.

Ningning read, Yaoyao slept, and Chen Yuan, positioned between them, cast his line and fished.

A few free-roaming cats from the sanatorium ambled over from the base of a wall. They first sniffed the bait in Chen Yuan’s box, then stopped to watch the fluorescent bobber in the lake.

They were the true masters of this place and were used to people coming to fish.

If a skilled and kind fisherman came along, these cats could look forward to a full meal.

One of them, a golden cat that looked like a loaf of pork floss bread, was particularly elegant. While its companions paced about, it found a spot under Jiangg Yao’s wheelchair, curled up, and occasionally flicked out its pink tongue.

Seeing that Jiangg Yao hadn’t moved for a long time and seemed to be fast asleep, the cat grew bold, climbing up the wheelchair and sprawling right on top of her, finding an extremely comfortable position.

With so many "spectators" present, Chen Yuan, who had originally just been fishing for fun, started to feel the pressure. After all, all the cats were waiting. He went from being casual to gradually sitting up straighter, and the frequency of his casts increased significantly.

Because after more than half an hour, he hadn’t caught a single fish.

Chen Yuan kept telling himself to stay calm and patient. The first half-hour was about frequency, about spreading the bait evenly in one spot to attract the fish. Once a school gathered, he could start fishing in earnest.

He was still quite confident in his fishing skills. It was one of Mr. Chen’s few hobbies, and he had often taken him along as a child. Plus, growing up in a small county town, there weren’t many other forms of entertainment, so he and his friends often went fishing together.

During the long wait.

Aside from the occasional WHOOSH of his line cutting through the air, the only other sound was Jiangg Ning turning the pages of her book.

Finally.

The bobber in the lake twitched sensitively, then shot downwards.

With sharp eyes and quick hands, Chen Yuan seized the opportunity. He gripped the handle tightly, and the rod instantly drew a perfect arc in the sky. A small, silvery crucian carp was dragged from the water, leaping into the air as a chain of water droplets scattered from it.

The cats all stood up in unison.

Beaming, Chen Yuan unhooked the fish with his bare hands and first showed it off to Jiangg Ning.

Hearing the commotion, Ningning lifted her head. When she saw Chen Yuan’s triumphant smile, the corners of her own mouth curved up in response.

"Not bad," she praised.

Then, Chen Yuan turned his head to look over at Jiangg Yao.

But it turned out Jiangg Yao was already asleep.

Chen Yuan’s gaze shifted from Jiangg Yao’s face to the sizable golden cat. At some point, it had ended up sprawled across the reclining Jiangg Yao’s chest in an extremely lazy posture, looking as if it were about to fall asleep itself.

Chen Yuan frowned and casually tossed the fish onto the ground.

The cats immediately scrambled for it.

...

「An unknown amount of time passed.」

As Jiangg Yao stretched lazily, gradually waking from her nap, she discovered the adorable, plump-looking cat sleeping on her chest.

Yaoyao let out a cry of pleasant surprise.

"Ooh, and where did this cute little baby come from?"

She immediately placed her hand on it, gently rubbing the cat’s belly. The cat remained perfectly still, letting her pet it all over and even starting to rumble like an engine, PURRR PURRR.

"Slept well?"

"Yep. Did you catch any fish?"

"Of course. I’ve fed this whole gang of cats until they’re stuffed."

"Young Master is so amazing."

"Hmph."

Chen Yuan didn’t reply, just glanced at Jiangg Yao before focusing back on his fishing rod.

After a while.

He finally said quietly, "This cat’s really taken a liking to you. It’s not shy at all, just climbed right on top of you."

"I don’t know. Maybe it’s just a friendly cat. Why are you so fat, little kitty..."

A little after four in the afternoon, Chen Yuan’s parents returned from the city, carrying bags of all sizes. It looked like they had bought quite a lot.

As he walked, Mr. Chen was chatting with the sanatorium’s guard.

"So it seems this place of yours covers a pretty large area, huh?"

"It’s decent. This is just a branch. The main sanatorium is over at East Mountain," the guard, a man over fifty, replied.

"I thought your accent sounded familiar. Turns out you’re from back home, too."

Seeing his parents return, Chen Yuan reeled in his fishing rod.

"You’re back?"

"Ah, I’m so tired my old back is aching. I can’t do it anymore. Getting old, these bones just can’t keep up," Mr. Chen said, wiping away a bead of sweat.

Chen Yuan chuckled and turned his gaze to the old guard.

He asked curiously, "Sir, is that cat from around here? It’s so friendly."

"Yep. That one’s called Xiao Song. She’s the leader of this furry little gang."

"Is it male or female?"

"Female. She just had a litter last year. The sanatorium had quite a few of them adopted out."

"A female, huh," Chen Yuan said, breathing a sigh of relief upon hearing this.

Though he himself didn’t know why he was so relieved.

Nearby, Jiangg Yao, who was busy petting "Xiao Song," looked up at Chen Yuan with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"What, are you even jealous of a little animal?"