Shocking! The entire court was drooling with envy because of me.

"You all go to the capital first, I'm going home for a bit," Shen Qing said succinctly.

At this moment, her excitement had reached its peak.

Returning to Ping'an County, Zhou Wentong was filled with a myriad of emotions.

Upon hearing Shen Qing's words, he quickly added, "I also want to go home to see my parents. They must be heartbroken that I left without saying goodbye. Now that I'm in Ping'an County, how can I not go home?"

"I'll go with Madam Shen!!" Zheng Quan shouted at the top of his lungs.

Song Leye chimed in, "I'll follow Madam Shen too."

Along the way, Shen Qing would occasionally cook some delicious food, and everyone's palates became quite discerning after eating all that way.

The thought of being separated from Shen Qing made them extremely sad.

Song Chengwu glanced at her and finally couldn't help but say, "Madam Shen, why don't we rest in Ping'an County for the night and then head to the capital together tomorrow?"

"Even so, you should rest in Ping'an County and try some delicious food at Zhiwei Restaurant."

At this hour, it's still early, so if we go to Zhiwei Restaurant, we should still be able to get a table.

She's been away these past few days, so she doesn't know how Zhiwei Restaurant is doing.

Upon hearing this, Song Chengwu's eyes lit up instantly: "Great, great! We'll go try the food at Zhiwei Restaurant. Madam Shen, you can go home without worry!"

Shen Qing: "..."

What is she worried about? Is she worried that they won't have enough to eat?

Outrageous.

So Song Chengwu took a small group of men to Zhiwei Restaurant, while the majority of the army was stationed in the suburbs. After all, it would be frightening for 100,000 troops to rush into Ping'an County.

As for Shen Qing and Zhou Wentong, they each went back to their own homes.

Standing at the door of the familiar house, Shen Qing calmed his excited heart and knocked on the door.

With a creak.

The door opened, and the person who opened it was Old Chen, the doorman.

Upon seeing Shen Qing, Old Chen's eyes instantly lit up with overwhelming joy: "Master, you're back!!!"

"I'll send someone to inform the old lady right away!!"

Old Chen was overjoyed.

"Did my mother go to Shen's Restaurant?" Shen Qing asked.

"Yes, the old lady goes to the restaurant to run it every day. She misses you so much, Master. She runs the restaurant during the day and talks about you when she comes back at night. She would be so happy if she knew you were back."

"No need to go, let's surprise her tonight."

Shen Qing stepped through the gate. She had nothing else on her mind right now; all she wanted to do was find the dumpling as soon as possible.

"Where's the dumpling?"

Old Chen laughed and said, "Little Tuanzi is sleeping in your yard. Don't worry, she eats well every day, and Qiu Kui and Chun Xiang often groom her."

"Now she's plump and round, with smooth fur, and she looks quite pleasing."

Hearing this, Shen Qing couldn't help but smile.

A round, chubby, and adorable little dumpling~

"I'll go check on Tuanzi. You go and do whatever you need to do."

"Okay, okay." Old Chen smiled and left.

Shen Qing strode into his courtyard.

The courtyard remained the same; it was the height of summer when she left, but now it was already autumn.

The yard was as clean and tidy as ever, clearly indicating that someone cleaned it every day.

Shen Qing walked straight to Tuanzi's cat bed.

"Mimi~"

"Dumplings?"

Okay, upon closer inspection, Tuanzi wasn't there; I wonder where she went to play.

Next to the cat's bed were clean water and food, and the little guy seemed to be eating well.

Shen Qing had no other thoughts at the moment; he just wanted to talk to Tuanzi.

If it's not in its cat bed, then where could it be?

She kept searching, searching and searching, looking everywhere.

Okay, there's no sign of the cat.

"Never mind, I'll lie down for a bit, I'm a little tired."

"Let's just wait for the dumpling to show up on its own..."

Reluctantly accepting reality, Shen Qing walked towards her bed.

In this huge house, her favorite place was her bed.

It's big and soft; once you lie down on it, you don't want to get up. It's comfortable and pleasurable.

She can stay with her bed forever.

The quilt on the bed had already been folded up. Shen Qing liked to lean against the quilt, so she lay down on the bed and leaned her upper body against the folded quilt.

"Meow—" A cat's meow rang out.

Something suddenly popped out.

[I'm crushing the cat! I'm crushing the cat!]

A cute and adorable voice rang in Shen Qing's mind.

Shen Qing's eyes lit up.

"Dumplings?"

【Huh? They're back? The human is back?】

Shen Qing hugged Tuanzi tightly. "Yes, I'm back. How have you been? Have you been happy lately?"

Tuanzi turned her head, her eyes filled with confusion and shock.

Dumpling: "Meow? Meow meow? Meow? Meow meow meow!"

What's going on? The cat's human can understand what the cat is saying? How is that possible? There must be a mistake, a mistake!

Shen Qing laughed even more happily: "No mistake, I can understand it."

Dumpling: "??"

I was so shocked I forgot to meow.

After the initial shock, she still found it outrageous.

Humans shouldn't be able to understand what cats are saying!

No, she wants to test it out.

"Meow? Meow meow? Meow meow."

[Human? You can really understand what a cat is saying? If so, nod three times.]

Shen Qing patted the cat's head, and under Tuanzi's shocked gaze, she nodded three times gently.

"It's true! I'll be able to understand you from now on. How about that? Isn't that amazing!"

Dumpling: "Meow! Meow meow!!"

[Seriously! Humans can actually understand what cats are saying!!]

"Meow meow meow meow meow meow meow!!"

Shen Qing: "..."

They made demands right from the start.

"The pink cat bed is so cute, and you're cute too, you're all cute."

No, no, no, no!

"You're being unreasonable and arrogant because you're spoiled."

[Change it for the cat!]

Tuanzi stood there confidently, her little head held high, looking quite arrogant.

She's still very cute.

Shen Qing: "Okay, I'll change it for you, to orange, the same color as you."

[Humans and cats really like dried fish, so tell them to make a lot more, lots and lots of dried fish!]

Shen Qing: "Okay, I'll give you lots and lots of dried fish, more dried fish than you can eat."

Upon hearing this, Tuanzi couldn't help but shake his head, visibly happy.

What could a kitten possibly be thinking? A kitten only cares about its nest and its dried fish.

【besides......】

After nestled in Shen Qing's arms for a long time, Tuanzi spoke again.

[From now on, you're not allowed to leave the cat at home. You have to take the cat with you when you go out.]

Otherwise, the cat would have to worry about people.

Tuanzi licked its paws as it spoke, seemingly nonchalant, but Shen Qing could tell from its tone.

Little Dumpling must miss her after being away from home for so long.

"Okay, I'll take you with me wherever I go from now on."