I was approached by a cat-eared girl.

Chapter Sixty-One is the story of a father and son.

"Here, have an orange."

Chen Shuo pulled Bai Xiaoqi to sit on the sofa, and naturally peeled a tangerine for her and fed it to her.

This girl loves eating these. We buy them at home every day and she can't get enough of them. When she comes here, she stares longingly at the tangerines on the coffee table.

Seeing that he was being fed again, Chen Jianwen felt a little uncomfortable. He felt extremely disgusted and thought it was too outrageous.

He pretended not to see it, picked up the remote and turned on the TV, trying to alleviate his unnecessary embarrassment.

After trying several channels without finding anything I wanted to watch, I was about to turn off the TV and find an excuse to go to my study when I heard Chen Shuo say, "Dad, this is a smart TV. You can search for whatever you want to watch."

"Here, search for whatever you want to see."

"Okay." Chen Shuo took the remote control and started searching. Chen Jianwen stared at the screen for a couple of seconds, picked up his water glass and took a sip. He looked at Bai Xiaoqi and saw that her mouth was stuffed with oranges, making her mouth bulge. He then looked at Chen Shuo and asked, "Um, cough, what is Xiaoqi doing? I heard from your mother that she's working from home?"

"Yeah, I work from home."

"Specifically?"

"Specifically, it's about making money online..."

Chen Shuo felt that this was a bit too perfunctory. After thinking about it carefully, he realized that his cat-eared girl hadn't earned a single penny yet. She just cooked at home every day, so it was really not easy to find her a job.

Then he thought for a moment and said, "Of course, this is only part of her job. She also does other work, which is more professional. She is an ecological technology engineer who combines high temperature with nutrients, organic or inorganic substances."

"???"

Chen Jianwen was a little confused. After thinking for a moment, he asked, "Ecological technology engineer? What does that mainly involve?"

"It's about... well, studying the surface morphology of various crops around the world, and then using high temperatures to carry out a series of tedious and complex processes to provide the most basic survival guarantee for humankind."

"Hmm, very good, very good." Chen Jianwen clicked his tongue in amazement. Just from listening to it, he knew it was a rather complicated job. It seemed to be from the Academy of Agricultural Sciences. Hybrid rice?

Wait, didn't he not have much schooling?

Chen Jianwen couldn't help but glance at Chen Shuo twice, but didn't ask any more questions. He then turned and went into the study with his cup in his arms.

"What were you saying just now? I didn't understand a word you said," Bai Xiaoqi asked.

"The work you do."

As he spoke, Chen Shuo pointed to the kitchen, where Wu Yulan was cooking. The aroma of the food wafted out, and he explained, "Simply put, this is what my mom is doing right now: cooking."

.........

Chen Shuo stopped peeling the oranges on the coffee table after a small portion had been peeled, since her little belly couldn't hold much, and they needed to leave some room for her to eat.

The food isn't ready yet, and the TV is playing some random domestic web series or movie.

This ridiculous TV service is a total rip-off. You have to pay for every worthwhile movie, which is several times worse than the VIP early access services offered by some websites.

At least other people's advanced viewing allows them to watch things they haven't seen before, while this requires paying for movies from years or even decades ago.

Chen Shuo felt he wasn't a bad person for spending a few dollars to buy a movie that could be watched for free online.

Watching TV isn't very interesting, and I can't do anything too outrageous at my parents' house; kissing and hugging would be too much.

Chen Shuo then pulled her small hand over and kneaded it in his big hand. It was soft, small, tender, and especially beautiful, with long, slender, fair, and smooth fingers. He felt like he could never get enough of touching it.

Ancient literati referred to a girl's hands as "soft shoots," which are the tender buds of a plant. Chen Shuo felt that this was not quite accurate, because her small hands were more beautiful than any tender bud of a plant.

Bai Xiaoqi seemed engrossed in watching TV, but she would occasionally glance at the hand he was kneading, wondering why this guy liked playing with her hands so much.

After thinking about it for a while, she simply pulled Chen Shuo's hand over.

"what are you doing?"

"I want to play with your hands too."

Bai Xiaoqi held his hand to examine it. It was very big, much bigger than her own hand, very thick, and the fingers were long.

After observing for a while, she then imitated Chen Shuo, starting to knead her fingertips, knuckles, palms, and rub the backs of her hands.

After kneading for a while, she realized with a sigh that this guy's hands were hard everywhere, and not fun at all.

The only advantage is that it's very warm, making you unconsciously want to put your little hand in its big hand.

"How about it? Aren't my hands fun?" Chen Shuo looked at her and laughed.

"Not fun."

"If it's not fun, why have you been playing for so long?"

Chen Shuo turned his palm down and grasped her small hand in his. "Just hold my hand like this, big hand holding little hand, so you won't slip when you walk."

What are you singing?

"It's a nursery rhyme from an animated film I watched when I was a child," Chen Shuo replied.

Upon hearing this, Bai Xiaoqi couldn't help but look at the two holding hands. The nursery rhyme Chen Shuo had just sung, "Big hand holding little hand," floated into her mind again, and she felt it was particularly fitting. She asked, "Is this cartoon about a couple?"

"No, it's a story about a father and son."

"???"

This guy can be really infuriating sometimes, and Bai Xiaoqi felt she needed to reconsider whether she should hold hands with him again.

.....

As night fell, lights came on in every house, and laughter filled the air. Chen Shuo and his girlfriend successfully got another free meal at a house. After finishing their meal, they wiped their mouths, helped clean up the dishes, and prepared to head home.

"Dad, you two should get some rest. We're heading back now."

"Okay, be careful on the road."

Chen Jianwen pushed up his glasses and added casually, "Your mother has been talking about it to me all day."

"Okay, we'll be careful."

Chen Shuo pretended not to understand and helped Bai Xiaoqi put on a down jacket, then put a scarf and a small cotton hat on her. It was cold outside, and this girl's relatives were about to visit, so he had to protect her.

"You two should come over to the house more often when you have time. Let me know in advance before you come back so I can make preparations."

Wu Yulan leaned out of the kitchen and gave instructions, saying that the two of them had come to a surprise visit today, and in the evening at that, the market was closed, so she couldn't go grocery shopping.

“No need to prepare in advance, just a simple home-cooked meal will do. You’re not a picky eater, right?” Chen Shuo poked Bai Xiaoqi’s waist with his finger, signaling her to answer.

"Yes, I'm not a picky eater, and all the dishes Auntie makes are delicious."

"If you like it, come to my house often, and I'll cook for you."

With just a simple sentence, Wu Yulan smiled and became even more satisfied. She waved her hand and said, "Alright, it's getting dark. You should head back early. Remember to take a taxi on the way, otherwise it's not safe."

"Okay, we're leaving."

Chen Shuo agreed and then took Bai Xiaoqi out.

Wu Yulan watched the two leave, and after the door closed, she said to Chen Jianwen, "This child is so well-behaved and has such a sweet tongue. It's such a pity that he's an orphan. He doesn't have any parents. I don't know how he's managed all these years."

"How am I supposed to know the answer to that question?"

Chen Jianwen picked up his teacup, took two sips, and said, "Besides, you said last time that orphans also have their advantages."

"I'm saying this because of that person, you know, Old Liu's son. He married a wife, and she's a pretty good person, but his mother-in-law... I'm telling you, you have no idea..."

Seeing Wu Yulan start nagging again, Chen Jianwen sighed and began again.

He picked up his teacup and went into the kitchen, leaning against the doorframe to listen intently to her rambling.

To avoid her worrying about not being able to hear clearly while sitting in the living room, she would speak loudly and strain her voice.

Chapter Sixty-Two: I Will Bend Over

The cold wind howled outside, and the icy wind kept drilling into her neck. Bai Xiaoqi hunched her neck and walked slowly with him holding her hand, humming something softly under her breath.

Chen Shuo exhaled a long puff of cold mist, turned to look at her and laughed, "What song are you humming, 'Big Hand Holding Little Hand'?"

"Ah."

"You only know this one line of the nursery rhyme. It's boring to repeat it over and over again. I want to hear you sing the other one."

Which one is that?

"The one you hear on the street every day."

You hear that on the street every day?

Bai Xiaoqi thought for a moment. There was indeed a song she heard every day on the street, and she was getting tired of it. She pursed her lips and began to sing: "Listen to me, thank you, because of you..."

"Not this one." Chen Shuo shook his head, then remembered that the song was played everywhere a few years ago. Now, all you hear is "Listen to Me Say Thank You," which is just ridiculous.

He then took out his phone from his pocket, opened the music app, and said, "Listen, this is what I'm talking about."

Let's learn to meow together, meow meow meow meow, and act all cute in front of you...

The song came from the phone, but after only two lines, Chen Shuo paused it. "This song, you can sing it, I think it suits you very well."

"Why do humans have to meow like cats?" Bai Xiaoqi asked, puzzled. Isn't it better to be human?

"I don't know the answer to that question either. That's just how the song goes. I guess it's because cats are cute."

"Cats are cute?" Bai Xiaoqi looked up at him, her beautiful eyes flickering slightly, as if conveying the message—"What about me? What about me?"

Unfortunately, Chen Shuo was looking around for a taxi and didn't receive her signal. He simply asked, "You should ask yourself that question. Didn't you used to be a cat?"

"And what about now?"

"You're a human now, not a cat, you..."

At this point, Chen Shuo saw her expression and immediately understood, "Yes, she's even cuter now."

The two stood at the intersection waiting for a bus in the cold night. Bai Xiaoqi looked up at the streetlights overhead, thinking about the song she had just heard, and hummed softly, "Let's meow together, meow meow meow meow, to be cute in front of you, oh meow meow..."

Chen Shuo paused slightly, then looked at the cat girl humming a song softly beside him.

Her soft, cute voice sounded lovely, but the song abruptly stopped after just two lines.

"You only played these two lines. Did I sing them well?"

"It's a beautiful song, the best song I've ever heard." Chen Shuo smiled, looked around to make sure no one was watching, and then suddenly leaned over and kissed her on the cheek.

"Why did you kiss my eyes?" Bai Xiaoqi rubbed her eyes.