Dinner was simple for everyone, with a large pot of noodles cooked, enough to fill everyone's stomachs.
The countryside night became completely quiet after darkness fell, with only occasional dog barks heard from afar.
Before bedtime, the livestream was also turned off, as the audience needed to sleep too—it wasn't a true 24-hour broadcast after all.
"Why haven't those two come back yet?" Nian Suian was referring to the sisters Xiao Yan and Xiao Zheng. She hadn't seen them since she finished washing up and returned to her room.
"No idea, maybe they just went for a walk," Qiao Peipei shrugged, feeling like she hadn't seen them since dinner, but she didn't have any other clues either.
"Do you think the sisters have a good relationship?" With no cameras or microphones around, Nian Suian felt free to speak her mind.
"It's hard to tell. They're both so quiet, you hardly ever hear them speak. But I guess their relationship probably isn't great. If their brother favors one, it's hard for the other not to have some thoughts about it."
"I feel like there's more to it than that..." Nian Suian sensed something wasn't right, but she couldn't put her finger on what exactly.
"If you can't figure it out, don't think about it. Come with me to the bathroom," The outhouse in the yard wasn't gender-separated and had no door, so going to the bathroom required someone to stand guard. Qiao Peipei was very disgusted with this bathroom, "This is the first time in my life I've had to share a bathroom with men."
"You should be thankful it's not just a pit latrine." Nian Suian got up and put on a coat. The mountains were quite cool in October.
"I wonder who's in the kitchen so late." After Qiao Peipei finished in the bathroom, Nian Suian gestured for her to look. The kitchen light was on, and they could vaguely see a figure through the window.
"Maybe someone got hungry in the middle of the night," Qiao Peipei casually remarked. Neither of them thought much of it and turned to go back to their room.
The person in the kitchen came out just then, carrying something. Upon seeing two people standing in the yard, they were startled.
"Miss Nian, Miss Qiao, it's you?"
"Yes, we came out to use the bathroom. Are you hungry?" It turned out the person in the kitchen was Pei Zhi.
Pei Zhi smiled a bit sheepishly, "Ah Sheng doesn't eat dried noodles. He didn't eat much at dinner, so he's hungry. I made him a bowl of hand-pulled noodles."
"Oh, I see. You'd better go in then, it must be tiring holding that bowl."
"Refusing to eat dried noodles and insisting on hand-pulled noodles, how spoiled... You know what, if I asked Qiao Yan to make me hand-pulled noodles at 10 PM, he'd probably dump me in Siberia overnight."
"I believe you, because normal people don't ask for hand-pulled noodles at 10 PM." Nian Suian winked: It seems this Pei Sheng is quite the "interesting" young man.
"Sister Suian, Sister Peipei, you're not asleep yet?" Xiao Yan and Xiao Zheng came in together from outside, still holding hands. Nian Suian looked towards their voices and finally saw them enter hand-in-hand!
"Yeah, we came out to use the bathroom and look at the moon," Nian Suian smiled at them. Such cute and pretty young girls, how lovely, how lovely.
"We'll head to our room then."
"Alright, go ahead."
After seeing them enter their room and close the door, Nian Suian said to Qiao Peipei: "Did you see that? They came in holding hands! I knew there was something strange going on."
Just as Qiao Peipei was about to speak, they saw another person come in through the door.
"Zhijing?"
"Shh!"
Nian Suian also saw Gu Zhijing and thought to herself that this bathroom trip was really worth it tonight.
"Where did you go so late?"
"Let's talk in my room."
...
As soon as the three entered the room, Qiao Yan sat up: "Where did you go? When I finished washing up and came back, you were gone. I called your phone and found it on the table. If you hadn't come back soon, I was about to go look for you."
"Yeah, Gu Zhijing, why weren't you just staying put so late at night? It's so dark, don't you know it's dangerous outside?"
"Wait, wait, wait, all of you stop talking and let me explain!" Gu Zhijing interrupted their barrage of questions and reached into his jacket.
"Meow~"
"!"
"Where did that come from?!"
"I found it on the back hill. When Brother Qiao Yan went to take a shower, I heard a kitten crying in the room, so I went out to look. After searching around, I finally found it at the bottom of the slope behind the house. It was all alone there, so I brought it back."
"But how can we take care of it here?" Qiao Peipei stroked the kitten's head. It was a very cute black and white spotted kitten, but there was nothing here, not even a pet store.
"It was a cat that fell into a ditch. I was afraid it would starve or freeze to death, so I brought it back. I didn't think too much about it."
"Let's boil some fish soup for it to tide it over, and we'll figure something out tomorrow." Nian Suian used to feed stray cats often. Kittens were usually fed milk powder, but they definitely couldn't buy any here, so they'd have to make do for now and think of a solution when daylight came.
"Okay, let's go to the kitchen then! I actually have something else to tell you guys, something I overheard by accident just now."
"What is it?"
There happened to be some fish in the refrigerator in the kitchen. For a cat, they didn't need to remove the fishy smell, they could just add water and stew it.
"What's the matter, hurry up and tell us?"
"Well, I heard the cat crying so I went out to look, right? I found the cat in the ditch and went down to get it. Just as I was about to climb back up, I heard Xiao Yan and Xiao Zheng talking. So I didn't move and just crouched in the ditch for a while."
"You little sneak! Quick, quick, what did you hear?" Qiao Peipei asked excitedly.
"I heard Xiao Zheng asking Xiao Yan how her school application was going. She also said that Xiao Mo has a film role next month and will be on set for a few months, so she should take this opportunity to leave quickly."
"Whoa!" That was a lot of information.
"Then Xiao Yan asked Xiao Zheng, 'What about you if I leave?' Xiao Zheng said, 'Don't worry, he feels guilty, he won't do anything to me.'"
"Damn! Qiao Yan, have you ever heard rumors about Xiao Mo being mentally unstable? This sounds so twisted!"
Qiao Yan shook his head, "Never heard anything like that before."
"So, the legendary true and false princesses are actually about sisters rescuing each other?"
"Seems like it." All four of them had complex expressions, completely unprepared for this unexpected turn of events.
"Little Mom Sis, can I take the kitten home to raise? It's really well-behaved. When I was crouching in the ditch holding it, it didn't make a sound. Otherwise, my eavesdropping would have been discovered." Gu Zhijing held the cat, looking pitifully at Nian Suian. The cat was also looking at Nian Suian.
"I agree." But then she quickly added, "Don't get too excited yet, my agreement doesn't mean much. The economic base determines the superstructure. In the Old Gu Family, I don't have the final say, your dad does. Also, tomorrow you need to ask around the village if this kitten belongs to someone's cat who gave birth outside. See if they still want it."
"Alright, I'll do that first thing in the morning." Gu Zhijing completely ignored the possibility that his father might not agree. The minority is subordinate to the majority, his father must agree.
"Oh? So in your family, Gu Junxing has the final say? Are you just giving him face in public?" Qiao Yan gossiped.
"Does he need me to give him face? You know him, with his personality, who would dare to make decisions for him?" Of course, she hadn't intended to make decisions for him either, Nian Suian silently added in her heart.
"What are you all doing?"
"Ah!!!"