“Eeny, meeny, miny, moe, ride a horse to the battle go; whom I choose must follow me, if you stay then a pup you’ll be.”
YaYa’s little finger pointed at each kitten one by one, finally landing on the one that was completely black, looking just like a little coal ball.
“Huh? Picked the little black one. Okay then, it’s fate. In that case, this one it is.”
“Hmm~ I need to give it a name. What’s good? So black… ‘Little White’ would be just perfect.”
Her daughter was simply too adorable. Ye Zhiqiu couldn’t help but lower her head and plant a kiss on YaYa’s little cheek.
“The mother cat wants to give her babies to us. Do you guys want to keep one?” Huo Jiusi turned to ask Tan Nan and Tan Bei.
The two siblings looked at each other. Tan Nan spoke first: “I’d like to, but I’m afraid my parents won’t allow it.”
Tan Bei nodded: “Before, when I wanted a puppy, Mom didn’t let me.”
“I can keep one. I’ll take this one.”
Huo Jiusi pointed at the little calico. YaYa’s eyes lit up.
The little demon’s taste really was as consistent as ever.
Actually, she had originally wanted that one too, because it looked so much like her cat form in her previous life.
But if the little demon kept it, it was practically the same as her keeping it.
“YaYa, how about we keep this one, okay?” Ye Zhiqiu pointed to the little coal ball and asked YaYa softly.
YaYa nodded: Wow, Mom and I are really on the same wavelength!
“I want to keep this one.”
Tan Bei pointed to the white cat with only the tip of its tail black, tugging her brother Tan Nan’s hand: “Brother, let’s sneak it home. You save a bite of your food, I save a bite of mine, and that’ll be enough to feed it.”
Tan Nan hesitated: “What if Mom and Dad find out and won’t let us keep it?”
“I’ll protect it.”
Tan Nan made up his mind: “At worst, we’ll get a beating. You’ll have to beg for mercy for me then, okay?”
Tan Bei nodded emphatically: “I know. I’ll even stop Dad from hitting you. Mom… forget it, I can’t stop her.”
Ye Zhiqiu spoke up: “If your parents really won’t let you keep it, you can bring the kitten to Auntie here. Auntie will keep it for you. Whenever you miss it, you can come visit.”
Keeping one was raising them, keeping two was also raising them—no real difference.
Besides, these kittens were truly both beautiful and adorable. Even she felt like taking the whole litter, mother cat and all, in one swoop.
Once this thought took root, it became impossible to suppress. Ye Zhiqiu simply decided to take them all home.
The happiest was undoubtedly YaYa: Oh my, so many little kittens, which one should I favor first?
Huo Jiusi, however, wasn’t so happy beside her, as he had a feeling YaYa’s attention towards him would significantly decrease.
But if YaYa liked them, then he liked them too.
Tan Nan and Tan Bei took the little white cat home. The two were giving the kitten a bath when Tan Jianping returned from the cafeteria with their dinner. As soon as he entered, he heard the sound of a cat meowing.
“Where’s the cat coming from?”
Following the sound into the bathroom, he saw the kitten in the washbasin and couldn’t help but frown.
Tan Bei immediately spread her arms wide, blocking the way: “Daddy, this is mine and Brother’s kitten. Please let us keep it, okay?”
“Stray cats aren’t clean.”
“We washed it.”
Tan Jianping didn’t really dislike cats, but Tian Man didn’t like them. He pinched the bridge of his nose: “You two, first tell me, where did this kitten come from? A kitten this small is still nursing; it can’t survive without its mother.”
“Daddy, it’s okay. The mother cat is at Auntie Ye’s place. We can take the kitten over there.”
Tan Nan added: “We didn’t steal it or take it by force. The mother cat gave it to us.”
“Oh, right, Dad, look at these.”
Tan Nan washed his hands and went over, pulling Tan Jianping to the coffee table and pointing at the work diary placed on it.
“Want me to correct your diary again?”
They often got these notebooks, but didn’t have many uses for them. Tan Nan’s school required diary entries, so Tan Jianping had given him several.
Because Tian Man was a journalist and he himself was considered a skilled writer at his workplace, Tan Nan’s Chinese teacher had high requirements for his compositions and diary entries.
Tan Nan had no choice but to have them review and correct his entries each time after he wrote them.
As he said this, Tan Jianping opened the notebook. Seeing the name “Shen Liya” on the first page, he looked up at Tan Nan, then flipped further. When he saw the contents written inside, his eyes widened instantly.
Pulling Tan Nan into his room, Tan Jianping lowered his voice: “NanNan, where did you get this?”
Tan Nan hung his head: “BeiBei and I went to the air-raid shelter and found it there.”
Tan Jianping’s first reaction: “You took BeiBei to the air-raid shelter again?”
“Dad, don’t be mad. I didn’t go alone with BeiBei. Auntie Ye, YaYa, and Jiusi were with us. If you don’t believe me, call Auntie Ye and ask.”
“We went to see the kittens together. The mother cat wanted to give us kittens. BeiBei and I took this one. Auntie Ye took the rest, along with the mother cat, home.”
“Did your Auntie Ye see this notebook?”
Tan Nan shook his head: “No.”
“I had to pee really bad, so I went to the side. Then I saw this notebook. It was too dark there; I couldn’t really see what was written. I only saw it when I got home.”
Tan Jianping asked Tan Nan again: “Besides you, who else has seen this notebook?”
Tan Nan pointed towards the bathroom: “BeiBei. She even said she wanted to use it for drawing. I thought I’d let you look at it first before deciding what to do with it.”
“NanNan, you mustn’t tell anyone about this, understand?” Tan Jianping instructed Tan Nan firmly.
Tan Nan nodded heavily.
That night, after Tan Nan and Tan Bei had gone to sleep, Tian Man finally returned home.
“Have you eaten?” Tan Jianping came out of the bedroom upon hearing her.
Tian Man shook her head: “Didn’t have time.”
“Then I’ll go warm something up for you.”
After Tian Man finished eating, the two returned to the bedroom. She got straight to the point: “Old Tan, is there something on your mind?”
“Could you tell?”
“It’s pretty obvious. How could I not notice?” Tian Man looked at Tan Jianping: “What is it?”
Tan Jianping handed her the diary Tan Nan had brought home. After reading it, Tian Man was as shocked as Tan Jianping had been: “This is Shen Liya’s notebook? And what’s written here… is about Chen Can?”
“Right. These matters were all handled by Chen Can.”
“The logistics department has a lot of grease, getting some kickbacks is almost unavoidable, but isn’t this a bit too much?”
“This already counts as embezzlement.” Tan Jianping gritted his teeth: “How dare Chen Can?”
“What do you plan to do?”
“Since I’ve seen it, I can’t pretend I haven’t. But this is a big, muddy mess! Usually, this kind of thing isn’t done by just one person.”
That was precisely what troubled Tan Jianping—not knowing how many people were involved, nor how high up the chain it might go.
He didn’t seek merit, only hoped to avoid blame. But throughout history, those who meddled in others’ affairs often didn’t end well.
If he were alone, it might be different, but he feared implicating his wife and children.
“Old Tan, when we got together, it was because we saw our true selves in each other. We’re the same kind of people. I support you.”
Tan Jianping grasped Tian Man’s hand. The two exchanged a smile, everything understood without words.
