I was approached by a cat-eared girl.

"An eco-technology engineer who combines high temperatures with nutrients, organic or inorganic matter."

Chen Shuo added, and continued, "We study the surface morphology of various crops around the world, and then use high temperatures to carry out a series of complex and interlocking processes to provide the most basic survival guarantee for mankind."

"Yes, yes, that's it. Isn't this from the Academy of Agricultural Sciences?"

"It's not some agricultural research institute." Chen Shuo rolled his eyes, then pointed to the kitchen. "Simply put, it's a place for cooking."

"So you're working from home?"

"Open an online store and sell jewelry and necklaces online."

“…”

Chen Jianwen frowned again, not because of anything else, but mainly because he felt embarrassed. He was a university professor, after all, and this brat had fooled him so much that he had imagined cooking as being done at an agricultural research institute.

He opened the book "Fun with Math" and saw that several pages were covered with drawings and doodles, which broadened his horizons.

Especially the illustrations of Xiaoming, which are basically all drawn with pencil, with random scribbles on his face, and some are even drawn as pig heads.

Just by looking at him, you can tell he's a complete school-averse child; his hatred for math practically leaps out of the book.

"cough.."

Chen Shuo coughed lightly, picked up the book and closed it, explaining, "Well, she does quite well in her other subjects, but she just hates math."

"Just like when you were a child?"

"No, I didn't hate math when I was a kid, I just didn't really like learning it."

"..."

Chen Jianwen didn't respond to that, and instead flipped through the five-year middle school entrance exam simulation book again. It was full of serious but crooked handwriting, clearly the kind of handwriting that comes from someone who has just started learning.

He had no family, was an orphan, and had little education. Thinking back to our first meeting, he even had cat ears on his head...

Without a doubt, this role-playing was instigated by that bastard. It's not easy for an orphan to even survive; he has no time for such things.

In short, they abducted a homeless and naive young girl, took her to their home, and did whatever they wanted to her...

Just thinking about it makes me feel like it's illegal.

Noticing the strange look in his father's eyes, Chen Shuo scratched his head. "Dad, why are you looking at me like that?"

"you..."

Chen Jianwen pointed at him with his finger and sighed, "Take care of yourself."

If it weren't for the fact that this guy is planning to marry someone, I would have beaten him to death.

Chapter 157 Are You in My Way?

Around 4 p.m., Chen Shuo saw the old man out and had just sat down on the sofa when, a few minutes later, there was another knock on the door.

"Dad, why are you back again..."

As Chen Shuo opened the door, he abruptly stopped himself from speaking. Standing in the doorway was not Chen Jianwen, but Bai Xiaoqi. She was wearing a large sun hat, carrying a bag on her back, and was turning her head to look at the stairwell.

"Come in quickly, what are you looking at?"

"I just ran into your uncle downstairs."

She looked away, went inside, and closed the door. "Uncle, what brings you here?"

"You ran into him just now, didn't you ask him?"

"I just greeted him. I said hello, Uncle, and he said hello, hello, I have something to do at home, and then he left."

"Next time you run into him, just call him 'Dad' and see how he reacts."

Upon hearing this, Bai Xiaoqi imagined the scene, murmured twice but didn't respond. Pretending not to hear, she took off her sun hat, hung it on the clothes rack, and then bent down to change into slippers.

"You went out shopping but didn't buy anything?" Chen Shuo looked at her empty hands.

"No, things are expensive in physical stores. We just look around, and if we see something we want to buy, we take a picture with our phone, take it home, find the same thing online, and buy it. It's much cheaper that way."

"Did you learn this from that Ya Ya?"

"Mm." Bai Xiaoqi nodded, then remembered something, took off her backpack, and pulled out a plastic bag of zongzi (sticky rice dumplings). "These are from Ya Ya. She made them herself."

“My dad also sent us some zongzi (sticky rice dumplings), and they’re in the refrigerator.”

"Did Uncle come here today just to bring us zongzi?"

"You should call him Dad."

“b...”

Bai Xiaoqi opened her mouth, but found she couldn't bring herself to say it. After all, they weren't married yet. If they were married, she would definitely...

Oh, I don't think I can pronounce it either.

I felt a little embarrassed.

"I heard that these kinds of things are only changed when it's time to address the uncles and aunts at the wedding," she said casually as she put her white shoes into the shoe cabinet and squatted down.

"You want to earn that 'change of address fee'?"

"I don't!"

“I think you can have it. Why not take it? You can use your ‘change of address’ fee to treat me to a trip or a fancy meal, as a way of repaying me for raising you for so long.”

"I feel like I've been supporting you all along."

"is it?"

"Yes, if I didn't cook for you, you would definitely..." As she spoke, Bai Xiaoqi suddenly realized what he meant and glared at him angrily, "You're taking advantage of me again!"

"How am I taking advantage of you?"

"The kindness of raising and nurturing."

"The kindness of raising and educating is what I mean by nurturing and educating, not raising and giving birth."

"Do you think I'd still be fooled by you? The feeling of nurturing refers to the kindness and gratitude parents have for their children."

“That’s too narrow-minded. Your interpretation of the idiom is wrong. You need to broaden your perspective. Don’t always think that I want to be your father; I just want to be your husband.” With that, Chen Shuo opened his arms. “Come on, let your husband give you a hug.”

Bai Xiaoqi headbutted him in the chest, then turned and went into the kitchen, ignoring the annoying guy.

"Making dinner so early?"

Chen Shuo rubbed his chest as he followed her in. It was definitely painful, but not as painful as before. It might be because his physical fitness had improved from exercising every day, or it might be because the girl hadn't exerted much effort.

"No, I'm going to steam rice dumplings. You don't have any."

Bai Xiaoqi poured water into the pot, placed the steamer rack on it, then took out three of the rice dumplings Anya had given her, and opened the refrigerator, taking out three more, making a total of six dumplings.

"What kind of filling did she make for the zongzi?" Chen Shuo fiddled with the plastic bag with his finger. It was wrapped quite well, but it was a size smaller than the ones his mother made.

"There's no filling for you."

"If there's none for me, why did you steam so much? Can you even finish it all?"

"If you can't finish it, feed it to the dog."

"oh.."

Chen Shuo understood; he could eat the leftovers himself.

.......

When Chen Jianwen returned home, Wu Yulan had just finished preparing dinner. The meal they made was simple: two stir-fried dishes and zongzi (sticky rice dumplings) as the main course.

I had just put the dishes on the table and was about to make another call to urge them when I saw them come back. "I asked you to deliver some rice dumplings, why did you take so long?"

“I sat with him for a while.”

"Hurry up and wash your hands and eat."

Chen Jianwen went into the bathroom to wash his hands, came out, picked up his chopsticks, took a bite of food, then reached for a zongzi (sticky rice dumpling), took a bite, and said, "When I went there today, that kid said they were planning to buy a house for their wedding."

"Are you asking me for money?"

"No."

Wu Yulan looked up at him for a moment, paused, and then continued, "So you're planning to give it to me willingly?"

"At most, we can only give you a down payment. A house would cost over a million yuan to pay in full, and we can't afford that even if we wanted to."

Chen Jianwen stuffed the last half of the zongzi into his mouth. "But I didn't see him mention it. I guess he and his girlfriend are planning to save up to buy it themselves. From that perspective, this kid is quite ambitious, just a little..."

He paused abruptly, thinking it best not to say anything more.

Wu Yulan waited patiently for a moment, then her brows furrowed. "It's just that something's wrong?"

"Well... don't you think that kid's looks are a bit off?"

"What's wrong with how it's grown? Its eyebrows, eyes, nose, and mouth are all growing differently..."

"That's not what I meant," Chen Jianwen said, waving his hand while holding his chopsticks. "I meant that kid... he's always been a very honest and sensible child. We don't need to worry about him much; he takes care of himself..."

"What exactly are you trying to say?" Wu Yulan felt increasingly uneasy as she listened.

"Here's the thing, when I went over today, I saw stacks of books under the coffee table, all of them were elementary school textbooks, workbooks and other miscellaneous things."

"These two already have such a big child?!"

Wu Yulan was shocked, and with a clatter, the chopsticks in her hand fell onto the table.

When Chen Shuo was in first grade, he was six years old. Let's say he was six. Goodness, he had a child at seventeen. That girl is nineteen or thirteen this year!

I heard that if someone is under 14, it's considered a crime. Does that mean they should be executed?

"What are you talking about? Let me finish."

"You tell me, you tell me."

“Those elementary school textbooks and workbooks belong to that girl. She didn’t have much schooling, and our son said he wants to give her tutoring for the nine years of compulsory education.”

"Oh, I thought it was something serious." Wu Yulan picked up her chopsticks and breathed a sigh of relief. Her son had almost ended up in jail; it was terrifying.

“Look, she’s a homeless orphan who hasn’t had much schooling. When I first met her, she was wearing one of those cat ear toys on her head.”

Mentioning this, Wu Yulan remembered it; she had seen many similar photos on Chen Shuo's phone before. After recalling for a moment, she asked uncertainly, "Stingy, isn't it tiring to be so stingy?"

"You know about this?"