It was Spring Festival, and the streets and alleys of Jiang City were naturally very lively.

Xu Wenyin was tightly holding Xu Youyou’s small hand at first, fearing that she would get lost in the crowd. Later, she felt that it wasn’t safe, so she simply hugged the child in her arms, so that she could feel at ease.

How come there were so many people?

Xu Wenyin, who seldom goes out and mostly does it on weekdays to reduce the time spent on the road, encountered such a huge crowd of people for the first time.

Her frail human body was practically adrift.

That said, the human race’s ability to reproduce and survive was really amazing. No wonder they have become one of the top ten races in all the universes.

“Mom, there are so many people~”

It was also Xu Youyou’s first time seeing this many people and she couldn’t help but feel a little surprised. She stuck her little head out of her mother’s arms and looked around.

Most of these groups of people were families, with big hands holding small hands. It was parents taking care of their children, and they looked happy and cozy.

For some reason, Xu Wenyin suddenly lowered her head and glanced at Xu Youyou in her arms. Although the little girl’s eyes swept over those families, there was no pause or any expression of yearning and envy.

Such a reaction made Xu Wenyin couldn’t help but ask, “Youyou, it seems you’ve never asked me about your father?”

Xu Wenyin had read in a book that human children have a natural yearning for their parents, and she also watched some dramas online, in which the children would ask questions if they didn’t have a father or a mother.

Why weren’t Xu Youyou asking?

Xu Wenyin didn’t pay attention to this point before because as a system, she had no parents, so she couldn’t empathize with a child’s longing.

In addition, Xu Youyou never asked, so Xu Wenyin ignored it as a matter of course.

But now, Xu Wenyin remembered this again.

Did Youyou really not care or did she just choose not to ask?

At this time, Xu Wenyin didn’t realize that she was increasingly able to understand the complex emotions of human beings. Otherwise, if she was still the same as when she first arrived, she would never have thought of the difference between the two.

Upon hearing that question, Xu Youyou gave a confused “Ah?”, and then followed up with, “But isn’t Dad dead? Youyou know what death is.”

To be brutally honest, several children in the orphanage die almost every year from illnesses, thus Xu Youyou could understand what death was from the moment she could remember.

To die means never to be seen again, unable to speak or move.

——Then since Dad is dead, what else does Youyou need to ask?

This sentence was written on Xu Youyou’s face, and Xu Wenyin accepted it completely.

Ah? Xu Wenyin paused for a moment, and then asked, “You don’t want to know what kind of person your Dad is, why he died, or why he’s separated from Mom?”

Xu Youyou shook her head. “No, having Mom is enough for Youyou. Youyou will listen carefully to whatever Mom says~”

Xu Wenyin: “……”

Wasn’t her baby a bit too mature?

Would a normal three-year-old human say these words?!

Only then did Xu Wenyin realize this problem.

Probably because there’s always a little adult-like Lu Chenjun next to Xu Youyou for comparison, Xu Wenyin didn’t feel anything was wrong with her.

But now it seemed that Xu Youyou was too sensible.

So the reason why her task went so smoothly wasn’t because she was great, but because the target was great?

Xu Wenyin couldn’t help but begin to doubt her system life.

Xu Youyou didn’t notice her mother’s entanglement. After realizing that Xu Wenyin was no longer asking questions, her eyes were quickly drawn back to her surroundings. In her heart, the father who had never appeared and had already passed away was indeed unimportant.

Since it’s not important, why ask?

The two of them came out this time with no clear goal to buy anything except the doll Xu Youyou wanted. They just strolled around freely and bought whatever they wanted when they saw it. Anyway, they had enough money.

And probably because it was the Spring Festival, many mobile vendors have popped up in places where stalls weren’t allowed to be set up on the street. At this time, no one came to drive them away. In addition, many of the things sold gave off a festive feeling, and business was good at almost every location.

“Youyou, do you want to eat candied fruit?”

“Yes!”

Xu Wenyin quickly forgot about her previous entanglement after seeing all kinds of rare delicacies.

After all, the system wasn’t a human being and didn’t have so many complex thoughts.

Since the ultimate goal was to complete the task, it doesn’t matter who’s better, right?

As long as the tasks get done.

One stick of hawthorn and one stick of mixed fruits were polished off by Xu Youyou and Xu Wenyin interchangeably.

“Youyou, how about cotton candy?”

“Okay~ I want the flower one!”

Walking and eating all the way, they didn’t buy much, but both Xu Wenyin and Xu Youyou’s stomachs became rounder.

It turned out that celebrating the Spring Festival was such a fun thing.

Xu Wenyin suddenly had a good impression of this festival. She was a little confused at first as to why people specifically chose such a day of the year. Not only did they have to go home, but they also had to observe various customs.

What with all the pasting of couplets and lucky characters, setting off fireworks, and so on? Just listening to them was very troublesome.

Now she could understand a little bit. This was the atmosphere of the festival, right?

People were creatures that needed a sense of atmosphere and something to express their emotions, which was why there were so many celebrations and a Spring Festival where one must go home and spend time with one’s family.

Deciding to follow the local customs, Xu Wenyin quickly bought a bunch of decorative things, and of course, she didn’t forget about Xu Youyou’s doll.

Seeing that her time was almost up, the mother and daughter began to walk back. Their car was parked far away and they had a hard time getting towards it due to the crowd.

But just after reaching the car and putting things in the trunk, Xu Wenyin keenly heard what seemed to be a scream coming from underneath the car.

“Youyou, did you hear anything?”

When Xu Wenyin was in her human body, her hearing was pretty much the same as that of ordinary humans, at most slightly better. She wondered if she misheard.

Unexpectedly, Xu Youyou tilted her head and said in an uncertain tone, “Mom, it seems like a cat?”

Cat?

Xu Wenyin walked around the car several times and finally found a kitten lying close to the rear tire.

It’s no bigger than a palm and the fur had just grown. It must be half a month or a month old, and it looked very weak.

Xu Wenyin asked Xu Youyou to take a step back and carefully took out the cat.

Fortunately, it was relatively well-behaved and didn’t move around after meowing twice.

Xu Wenyin guessed that it was probably because the weather was too cold and her car was still warm, which was why it attracted the stray kitten.

But, so what if she knows the reason?

What should she do with this cat? Throw it away?

It wouldn’t take long for it to die outside in this kind of weather.

Xu Wenyin was contemplating what to do when she somehow saw the expression on Xu Youyou’s face.

“Youyou, do you want to keep this cat?”

“N-no!”

The little girl who heard the question shook her head like a rattle drum. Of course, if her eyes weren’t glued on the kitten, she would probably be more convincing.

Xu Wenyin: “……”

Keep the cat then.

She had indeed read in a book that raising a pet would develop a child’s loving nature and allow them to be more responsible.

If Xu Wenyin’s body wasn’t limited by time, then it didn’t matter to her and she could just take care of it.

But the problem now was that she could only have a little over two hours a day. What if she took this cat in and it gets sick?

If Xu Wenyin didn’t have enough time and couldn’t take the cat to the hospital, would the child watch the cat die?

Wouldn’t that be more cruel?

Of course, this was based on the fact that the cat would get sick. Maybe this cat was very healthy and wouldn’t get sick?

Does she want to fulfill Youyou’s wish for that possibility?

Xu Wenyin felt that she really faced a lot of choices after becoming a human being. No one knew whether the current decision would be good or bad in the future, which made the system’s head ache.

If they didn’t keep it, what should they do with the cat? It’s not a good idea to send it to a pet store, right?

In fact, life was a very fragile thing for the system. Even if this kitten really dies in front of her, the system wouldn’t feel much.

All she cared about was Xu Youyou’s feelings.

Xu Wenyin was torn. At this moment, the kitten in her hand made a soft mew again and slightly raised its head to look at Xu Wenyin.

To be honest, the kitten’s eyes weren’t pretty right now. They’re covered with small clumps of eye boogers and only a little bit of the light-colored pupils could be seen.

But such a weak, pitiful, and helpless kitten somehow reminded Xu Wenyin of the scene when she first met Xu Youyou.

She was skinny and frail, with an adult-like anguish in her eyes, for food or something else.

“Youyou! Get in the car! We’re going to get some cat supplies right away!”

“Mom?”

Xu Youyou was first delighted and then immediately furrowed her brows. “No, I don’t want to raise a cat.”

She knew that raising a cat was very troublesome. Her mother was already working so hard, Xu Youyou didn’t want to make it harder for her.

Although, although the cat’s really cute!

This kind of cuteness was different from that of a doll. Cats can breathe, have warmth, and can run and jump.

But Mom……

“It’s okay, trust Mom, it’s just a kitten!”

Xu Wenyin couldn’t bear seeing Xu Youyou’s lost expression, and something had just occurred to her.

As long as she had money, there were a lot of things that she didn’t need to do personally. In case the cat gets sick, she could just have someone come to pick up the cat and take it to the vet. She could even live-stream the process in real-time.

This was the inspiration given by Qin Yiren.

It doesn’t matter if she can’t cook or do housework, just hire someone to do it.

Some people were willing to make money!

How could she do great things in the future if she couldn’t take care of such a small issue right now?

Don’t be afraid of difficulties, just work hard to solve them.

After giving herself tons and tons of motivational speeches, Xu Wenyin quickly started the car and headed straight to the nearest pet supply store according to the navigation.

There wasn’t enough time today to go to the vet to have the cat examined, and since Xu Wenyin saw that the kitten was in good condition and was meowing loudly, she would try to take care of it by herself for now.

If it doesn’t work, hire someone else. It would be no problem to go to the vet tomorrow.

It took fifteen minutes, and under the patient guidance of the salesperson, Xu Wenyin bought a bunch of things the kitten needed and then returned to their small home carrying lots of paper bags.

Under Xu Youyou’s expectant and excited gaze, Xu Wenyin laid a soft mat for the cat and prepared milk specifically for kittens.

These all take time, and Xu Youyou seems to know it, so she runs around on short legs to give Xu Wenyin a hand.

It was obvious that she really liked the kitten.

Finally, they watched the kitten regain its strength little by little and began to suck the milk from the bottle. Both mother and daughter breathed a sigh of relief.

Xu Wenyin’s body also quickly disappeared and she communicated with Xu Youyou through consciousness.

〖Youyou, the cat is still dirty, you can’t touch it yet.〗

The kitten, well-fed and in a warm environment, soon fell asleep.

Its whole body rises and falls along with its breath, and its fur trembles accordingly, making people want to stroke it.

But upon closer inspection, it could be seen that the kitten was indeed a little dirty. After all, it’s a stray cat, so it definitely wouldn’t be as clean as a domestic cat.

It was fine for Xu Wenyin as she’s an adult, but she’s worried for Xu Youyou as children have poorer resistance.

“Okay, Youyou won’t touch kitty~”

Fortunately, Xu Youyou was very obedient. It could be seen that she wanted to do it, but she still suppressed the urge.

But she didn’t leave its side either. She moved a small bench and watched the cat in front of her as if just that was a joy.

No cartoons or building blocks could compare to the kitten at this time!

A few hours later, Xu Wenyin reappeared to feed the kitten for the second time.

It was said on the Internet that kittens need to eat small meals frequently four or five times a day. Fortunately, Xu Wenyin didn’t need to sleep. She could just come out and feed it when the time comes.

However, because of the cat’s matter, Xu Wenyin didn’t have much time left today. For dinner, she could only order takeout to save time, which Xu Youyou wasn’t unhappy about.

“Juanjuan! Juanjuan, look, it’s a cat! It’s Youyou’s cat!”

After washing up in the evening, Xu Youyou held Xu Wenyin’s phone and pressed it a few times skillfully before starting a video call with Lu Chenjun.

The first thing, of course, was to share the news of her cat.

Lu Chenjun’s view moved along with the phone and he soon saw the skinny kitten.

“You got a cat?”

She’s so small, can she raise it?

Among Lu Chenjun’s relatives, there were also several children of the same age as him, and they sometimes wanted to keep pets on a whim.

Generally, adults wouldn’t refuse after a couple of pouty pleas.

After all, these people have no shortage of domestic help at home, and raising pets does not require them to do it themselves.

However, according to Lu Chenjun’s observation, these children’s interest would not last more than a month, because they would find that pets weren’t as fun and cute as they imagined, they might bite people, they might find them stinky, and overall troublesome.

And what happened to those pets in the end, Lu Chenjun didn’t know.

“Yes, yes, and Juanjuan, look at the top of the cat’s head!”

As if she had discovered a new world, Xu Youyou said in a pleasantly surprised tone, “That part is curly!”

The cat’s head and body as a whole were white, but there was a tuft of black fur on its forehead, which was slightly curly and particularly conspicuous.

“How about I call it Juanjuan No. 3?”

No. 2 was already at her bedside, so this was No. 3!

Before Xu Youyou could applaud her own wit, she was met with a strong rejection from Juanjuan No. 1.

Alright.

The little girl was still very considerate of her friends’ thoughts, so she could only reluctantly give up for the time being.

“Don’t get too close to the cat, it can scratch people.”

Lu Chenjun was a little worried about Xu Youyou. He felt that although Aunt Xu looked very smart, sometimes she would suddenly be unreliable. Cats were living creatures. In case people get scratched, they would have to go get an injection.

If Xu Youyou gets an injection, she would cry, right?

“I know~” Xu Youyou lengthened her voice, “Juanjuan is just like Mom~”

She’s not a two-year-old child. Of course, she knew that cats could scratch people, and she could only pet them once she was familiar with them.

Lu Chenjun: “……”

“Oh, Youyou got a cat?” Another head came closer to the screen. It was Qin Yiren.

She had heard the conversation between the two little children.

“It’s so cute~”

“Right, right.”

As if she was the one being praised, Youyou’s face was filled with pride. “And it’s so good. It went to bed after eating. Mom said she would take kitty to the hospital for a checkup tomorrow.”

Probably every poop picker had this innate talent. When talking about their family’s ‘master’, there was no end to it. Xu Youyou talked about how they found the cat, how they brought it home, and even how much milk the cat drank.

It has to be said that she was articulate and logical. As a three-year-old child, Xu Youyou was definitely outstanding.

Then Lu Chenjun saw Qin Yiren occupy his position and chatted cheerfully with the little girl.

They went on until it was almost time for Xu Youyou to go to bed. Qin Yiren reluctantly said goodbye to the little girl.

“Juanjuan, Aunt Qin, Youyou’s going to sleep now. See you tomorrow~”

Waving her little hands, the phone screen went completely black.

Qin Yiren sighed with an unfulfilled expression. “Juanjuan, how about we also get a small pet? Do you like cats, dogs, or rabbits?”

Lu Chenjun: “……” Thank you, I don’t like any.

Having a silly little deer was already troublesome.

However, after thinking about it, Lu Chenjun still couldn’t be rest assured. The next day, he asked Qin Yiren to buy a few books on how to raise cats and some items for kittens. He added money and had them delivered by the fastest courier, which should arrive the next day.

Xu Youyou didn’t know about it yet. She and Xu Wenyin were waiting for the kitten’s test results at the pet hospital.

Even though it’s the Spring Festival, pet hospitals are still open.

The doctor spent half an hour examining and deworming the kitten. After cleaning it up a little, he happily announced that the cat was healthy and to just take good care of it.

But it’s still too young and shouldn’t be bathed. It was also best not to let children touch it too much and bring it to bed.

Xu Youyou nodded repeatedly, looking like if it wasn’t for the fact that she couldn’t write, she would probably have taken out a notebook to write all the things down.

She even chased after the doctor to ask for questions.

The little girl looking like a small adult immediately amused the doctor and nurses. They were also willing to share information and even gave Xu Wenyin some extra cat supplies.

Of course, Xu Wenyin felt that the reason was still because she had just been charged 10,000 yuan.

This was the closest pet hospital to their house. It takes fifteen minutes by car, and in case something happened to the cat, they could come quickly.

By the time the kitten’s matter was settled, it was soon the very day of the Spring Festival.

There were still two of them, Xu Youyou and Xu Wenyin— oh, no, there’s also the one-month-old kitten, Niannian.

The age was determined by the doctor, and the name was chosen by Xu Youyou. Because they found it on the way to buy Spring Festival goods, and many people were talking about the Lunar New Year, so Xu Youyou simply named the cat Niannian^[1]New Year.

It can’t be helped, Juanjuan disagreed with naming the kitten Juanjuan No. 3, and Xu Youyou was a good child who respected her friends. After all, Juanjuan bought so many things for the cat, so she still had to listen to his opinion.

“Niannian~”

“Meow!”

Niannian was a cute little female cat. Its body and head were all white, its limbs were black, its paw pads were pink and tender, there was a small patch of iconic black fur on its forehead and it had beautiful golden eyes.

Xu Youyou found it so cute and wished she could cuddle Niannian to sleep at night.

And Niannian also gave them face. After two days in the Xu family, the kitten regained its energy and could not only run and jump, but it could also crawl. It likes Xu Youyou and would follow her wherever she goes.

Whenever Xu Youyou calls its name, Niannian would respond.

On the contrary, Xu Wenyin, who was its true savior, didn’t have this treatment.

It’s not that Niannian was disobedient, but it seems a little afraid of Xu Wenyin. Whenever Xu Wenyin transformed and approached Niannian, the kitten would hide under the sofa or behind Xu Youyou.

It made Xu Wenyin wonder if her aura was so strong that it could even intimidate a cat.

Forget it, if it’s afraid of her, then it’s afraid of her.

Anyway, Xu Wenyin had no hobby of petting cats, and it was impossible for her to develop any fondness for furry things.

It was purely because Xu Youyou liked it that she was willing to keep one.

Now that she saw how happy Xu Youyou was, Xu Wenyin didn’t care whether Niannian liked her or not.

Just as she was thinking about this, a beautiful dumpling took shape in Xu Wenyin’s hands.

Because making dumplings was time-consuming, Xu Wenyin doesn’t usually make them. Even if she wanted to eat dumplings, she just ordered takeout.

But today she saw many netizens saying that it’s only meaningful to eat dumplings made by family members during the Spring Festival, so Xu Wenyin started making them.

Except for the first few that weren’t quite perfect, the rest were exactly the same as those made by the machine. Xu Wenyin looked at the neatly stacked dumplings and showed a satisfied smile.

“Youyou~ It’s time to get ready for dinner. Say goodbye to Grandma Wu.” Xu Wenyin said as she poked her head out of the kitchen. Then she began to put the dumplings into the pot.

She would have ten, Youyou would have three, and the rest goes in the fridge, perfect!

“Okay~”

Xu Youyou responded and then waved goodbye to Grandma Wu on the screen, who also smiled and waved to Xu Youyou.

Seeing the child’s lively and cheerful appearance now, Grandma Wu couldn’t be any happier.

At first, she was worried that the mother and daughter would have a hard time after going to Jiang City. Unexpectedly, Xu Youyou’s mother was very capable. Not only was she raising Xu Youyou well, she even donated money to the orphanage.

As expected of a top student who graduated from a prestigious university.

Xu Wenyin had an average impression of the other children in the orphanage, but Grandma Wu was a good person, and she was the one who raised Xu Youyou up.

So after pondering about it, Xu Wenyin donated almost 100,000 yuan to the orphanage. Anymore and Grandma Wu would have suspected that Xu Wenyin was doing something illegal.

Judging from the old lady’s level of concern, she estimated that even explaining it would be troublesome by then, and Xu Wenyin hated troublesome things the most. After all, it wasn’t like she had any feelings for Grandma Wu.

In addition, Xu Wenyin also bought some clothes and a five-year health card for Grandma Wu.

She could go to the county hospital for free physical examination twice a year.

Even if she didn’t go, the money couldn’t be refunded. With Grandma Wu’s character, she would definitely go. But if she still didn’t, it’s not a problem to let Xu Youyou act coquettishly to convince the old lady.

In the original storyline, Xu Youyou was twenty years old when she met Lu Haoyu. Leaving out all the messy entanglements, the main reason why she agreed to become Lu Haoyu’s lover was Grandma Wu.

At that time, Grandma Wu was already over 70 years old and needed a lot of money for her illness. However, not to mention that most of her money was given to the orphanage, even if she saved some, it would just be a drop in the bucket for all the medical attention she needed.

However, the children in the orphanage somehow thought of Xu Youyou who left with a rich family, and miraculously got Xu Youyou’s phone number.

Although Xu Youyou left the orphanage at the age of three, she always remembered Grandma Wu. Perhaps it was the painful life in the Zhou family that made her miss her days in the orphanage even more.

In short, she was very anxious after receiving the phone call, but she couldn’t do anything with the little money she got from her part-time job.

Look for the Zhou family? There was no way Zhou Weimin would spend money on Grandma Wu who had no use for him.

It was at that point that Lu Haoyu made his high-profile entrance.

In the end, after several struggles, Xu Youyou agreed to become Lu Haoyu’s lover.

It can be said that Grandma Wu was like the lead-in that was needed in every angsty novel.

Because of this lead-in, the female protagonist could tolerate all kinds of unfair treatment in the beginning when she still wasn’t in love with the male protagonist. She would tolerate it even more once she really fell in love with the male protagonist later on, then the lead-in’s role is done and they would become irrelevant.

In this life, Xu Wenyin believed that even if Grandma Wu ended up getting sick, Xu Youyou didn’t need to ask anyone for help.

Money, that was the bottom line.

If it weren’t for her physical limitations and the fact that there would be too many variables in driving during the Spring Festival— even if everything went smoothly, it would take two hours from Jiang City to Yu County— she really wanted to take Xu Youyou back.

It was for no other reason than to let Xu Youyou stand beautifully in front of those children who once laughed, ignored, and isolated her, and let them take a good look.

The system had no heart, it only cared about the target.

The system could help Xu Youyou solve everything that makes her sad and upset.

The main priority was to ensure that Xu Youyou was happy.

But now that there were practical problems, Xu Wenyin could only reluctantly give up this idea and instead chose to make more delicious food for Xu Youyou.

“Hoo— hoo—”

Xu Youyou blew heavily on the dumpling and then swallowed it whole into her mouth. Fortunately, Xu Wenyin considered Xu Youyou’s small mouth and made the dumplings smaller, otherwise this wouldn’t have been possible.

“Delicious, so delicious~”

“Don’t speak with your mouth full!” Xu Wenyin smiled and poked Xu Youyou’s bulging cheeks, then put a slice of beef into her bowl.

Although there were only two of them, they still enjoyed the meal and didn’t feel lonely at all.

Especially Xu Youyou, she couldn’t remember what Spring Festival was like at the orphanage last year, but she certainly wasn’t as happy as she was with her mother.

In addition, there’s a cute Niannian at home. The smile on Xu Youyou’s face hadn’t faded in the past few days.

At night, the little girl wanted to imitate others and stay up late to wait for midnight. Unfortunately, before ten o’clock, she was already nodding off on the sofa.

Her eyes had long been closed and it was unknown what sweet dream she was having.

Xu Wenyin reappeared in amusement, carried her to bed, and tucked her in.

Then glancing at the living room, Xu Wenyin found that the cat had also fallen asleep obediently. Just as she was about to disappear, a bright light suddenly flashed outside the window. It turned out to be the gorgeous fireworks that appeared and disappeared quickly in the distant sky.

Because the house was well insulated, plus the fact that it wasn’t time yet, the sound inside the house wasn’t loud, but this didn’t take away from the beauty of the fireworks.

Xu Wenyin took one last look at Xu Youyou, who was sleeping soundly with the corners of her mouth raised, and quickly disappeared from the room.

Happy New Year, Baby!

Congratulations on another safe and happy year.

I hope you’ll be as happy in the future.