"Yang Yi, Xixi, I brought you a surprise!" Mo Fei stood outside the car, holding a corrugated cardboard box, her bright eyes and smile revealing a few neat, white teeth that dazzled Yang Yi into a momentary daze.
"What surprise?" Xixi blinked her big eyes, asking expectantly.
Mo Xiaojuan popped out from behind, pushing Mo Fei, and urged, "Get in the car, get in first! Sis, are you not afraid of being snapped by paparazzi standing out in the open like this?"
Mo Fei sat in the passenger seat, while Mo Xiaojuan and Xixi settled in the back.
"Look!" Mo Fei, barely seated and not yet buckled in, eagerly reached into the cardboard box and pulled out a tiny kitten that looked like it had been dipped in ink.
The kitten, with a sturdy little head, squirmed uncomfortably as Mo Fei cradled its belly with one hand and supported its bottom with the other, twisting its head and letting out a meow: "Meow!"
It was soft and adorable, utterly endearing!
"A cat?" Xixi exclaimed in surprise from the back seat, covering her mouth with her hands, her big eyes brimming with joy and disbelief.
"A cat?" But Yang Yi reacted differently, opening his mouth to ask.
It seemed the surprise didn't bring him joy—only shock...
"It's not just one!" Mo Fei transferred the kitten to her left hand, holding it against her chest, then reached her right hand back into the box to scoop out another.
Now there were two kittens meowing!
Wait! Yang Yi distinctly heard another cry...
"There are three in total!" Mo Xiaojuan said triumphantly, taking credit. "When I talked to Xiao Ai, she'd already promised to give some away, and only three were left. But since Xiao Ai and I are close, I got to pick..."
Yang Yi felt himself on the verge of a breakdown.
One kitten wasn't enough? They had to bring three at once?
Seriously, why three? Wouldn't two have been fine? Didn't they know odd numbers can't be symmetrically arranged?
"I love it, I love it! Quick, Auntie Xiaojuan, let me see!" Xixi called out anxiously, strapped into her child seat, eagerly hoping to see the kittens.
Mo Xiaojuan handed over the slightly larger kitten that Mo Fei had first rescued, and Xixi lit up with delight.
The little girl, looking at the delicate, soft kitten, was a bit nervous—worried she might accidentally hurt it, and also a little scared it might bite her (kittens nearly two months old already have their baby teeth!).
But Xixi truly loved it, and she couldn't resist reaching out a small hand to stroke the kitten's forehead. The fur was soft and fluffy, very pleasant to touch!
After being petted, the kitten squinted its eyes and lifted its head.
This startled Xixi, who quickly pulled her hand back.
"It's okay, it won't bite you. It's happy you're petting it!" Mo Xiaojuan laughed.
Xixi beamed and started playing with the kitten, which rubbed its soft little ear against her palm. The little girl was overjoyed.
"You don't like cats?" Mo Fei's excitement faded, and she keenly noticed that Yang Yi's mood wasn't as thrilled as her daughter's in the back.
Yang Yi gave an awkward smile and said, "It's not that I dislike cats... It's just that they shed fur."
He couldn't really say he liked or disliked them. For pets like cats that required emotional investment, Yang Yi had avoided them in his past life, fearing they'd bring as much trouble as women. Dogs were the same—they all shed fur and often made a mess.
"Shed fur?" Mo Fei understood. She recalled their earlier conversation about arranging vases, and her eyes crinkled like crescent moons as she laughed. "No, British Shorthairs shed very little fur!"
Still, they shed...
"Besides, shedding is totally normal!" Mo Fei chuckled. "We women have long hair, and some always ends up on the bed. But it's no big deal—the room stays clean!"
She had some nerve saying that...
Yang Yi was speechless. At Mo Fei's place, she probably had a housekeeper to clean up. After she moved to his home, wasn't he the one doing all the tidying?
Every day, Yang Yi had to clear the bathroom drain, or it would get clogged with dark clumps of hair, and then showering would flood the place.
Not to mention the bedroom—before Mo Fei arrived, Xixi's long hair often turned up in random corners. Yang Yi sometimes wondered if women weren't made of water, but of hair!
The cleanliness Mo Fei saw was all thanks to his hard work!
But there was no need to dwell on that. Yang Yi forced a faint smile, almost resignedly, and said, "It's fine, I don't really mind that much. If you and Xixi like them, then let's keep them!"
After all, having one shedding creature at home meant cleaning up anyway. With two, it was still the same. Since they already had two, what difference did three more make?
Mo Fei giggled softly. She was quite pleased with Yang Yi's tolerance, just like when she'd arranged the vases—he'd been reluctant but still generously accommodated her.
But Mo Fei wasn't the type to be willful. When Yang Yi gave in a little, she wanted to repay or give back twice as much.
"The kittens are still small now. Let's keep them for a month or two, and when they grow up, we'll put them in the coffee shop to play on their own!" Mo Fei said gently to Yang Yi. "Let me tell you, some coffee shops by the coast use cats as a theme to attract customers!"
Yang Yi knew exactly what she meant—cat-themed coffee shops, drawing in young people who loved petting cats. He'd heard of plenty in his past life, not just cat themes, but even maid cafes...
Since they were going to keep cats, the poop-scooper had to buy all the gear for the little masters.
Following directions from Mo Xiaojuan, who had done her research, Yang Yi drove to a nearby pet street.
Mo Fei, due to her special status, couldn't get out, so she stayed in the car with Xixi playing with the kittens, while Yang Yi and Mo Xiaojuan went shopping.
"We need to buy a lot. Xiao Ai gave us food bowls, but we only have a week's worth of cat food, so we need to get more! Also, a litter box, litter, and litter mats—you don't want the house to stink, right? These all need to be trained from a young age!" Mo Xiaojuan walked ahead, holding a note and muttering as she went.
She wasn't exactly a seasoned cat owner—these were all tasks Xiao Ai had reluctantly prepared for her.
"A cat cage is a must. If they misbehave, we can lock them in as punishment!" Mo Xiaojuan said gleefully. "And cat beds, cat trees, toys—oh, we need scratching boards, nail clippers, a brush..."
Yang Yi felt a headache coming on. Was keeping cats this much trouble?
He didn't know that Xiao Ai had already vaccinated the kittens—otherwise, there'd be even more hassles!
As Yang Yi and Mo Xiaojuan were making a big purchase at the pet store, Mo Xiaojuan suddenly rolled her eyes slyly, reached out to push Yang Yi, and urged him into a corner where they could talk privately.
"Brother-in-law, are you really rich?" Mo Xiaojuan looked at him expectantly.