308. Family
“Mom~ I’m hungry!”
It was already afternoon, but lunch was still nowhere in sight.
The little catgirl clutched her belly, peeking through the door into the kitchen with her hands pressed against it, her ears drooping: “I’m so hungry~”
Mom was busy preparing the ingredients, cooking some meat in the pot, and the rich aroma of meat filled the kitchen.
Without looking up, she replied, “Your sister will be back soon, wait until she arrives to eat.”
“When will she be back?”
“In about an hour?”
“I’m already so hungry right now…”
With no other option, she grabbed a small bowl, lifted the pot lid, and used long chopsticks to fish out a few pieces of fatty and lean braised pork: “Then you can eat a little.”
“Okay~”
Black Bean excitedly dashed into the kitchen, holding the little bowl and ran out, shouting with glee: “Sister is coming back!”
Mom could only shake her head and smile; after some time of correction, Black Bean had gradually gotten used to calling Ning Chu “Sister.”
This little catgirl had been officially registered under the name Ning Xin, with Black Bean as her nickname.
Raising two kids was no easy feat, one had become a designer working outside, and the other had gone off to college without giving her any trouble. Just when she was starting to enjoy her retirement life, out of the blue, she suddenly had another child.
Perhaps due to her past as a stray, Black Bean, while rambunctious, was surprisingly well-behaved. She hardly needed any supervision.
She had become accustomed to her “human” identity, shedding her old cat habits. She did very well in her tutoring class; in just a few months, the little cat that had been wandering and scavenging for food in September had slowly caught up to the second-grade curriculum.
Mom planned to directly enroll Black Bean in the fourth grade next September.
With six dishes and one soup, she had been busy almost all afternoon.
Once all the food was on the table, she glanced at Black Bean, who was staring at the food, drooling. She covered everything with a food cover.
“Stop looking; go downstairs to meet your sister.”
“!!”
Black Bean instantly forgot about the delicious food on the table and hurriedly ran off to put on her shoes.
“Is sister staying when she gets back?”
“She has to return to school in a month.”
Mom put a white fleece hat on Black Bean and held her little hand as they left the room.
The residential community was built in the early millennium, mostly less than twenty stories high, with two households per elevator shaft. But with time, the area had become a bit rundown, with corridors covered in various graffiti and ads.
Originally, the walls at their doorstep were filled with Ning Chu’s childhood doodles, but now they had been added to by Black Bean’s artwork.
At the entrance of the community was a large semicircular flowerbed. Just outside the community was a small path along a creek, shaded by banyan trees that sheltered the entire road under their canopies.
Mom arrived outside the community and patiently waited by the flowerbed, while Black Bean, unable to sit still, squatted by the flowers, causing mischief among the plants.
A few minutes later, a ride-hailing car slowly rolled down the path and stopped at the community entrance.
The car door opened, and a girl with casually tousled long hair hopped out eagerly. She was wearing a white down jacket that descended past her hips and fitted black jeans that accentuated her long, slender legs.
As soon as she got out, she rushed forward.
“Mom! Black Bean!”
“You all actually came out to pick me up~”
Ning Chu got closer, affectionately ruffling Black Bean’s little head, then jokingly looking at Mom: “I’m starving; I specially didn’t eat for two days just to wait for your cooking!”
“Then why didn’t you come back after your exam the other day?”
“Isn’t there something going on?”
Ning Chu turned to look at the ride-hailing driver, Wen Yang, who had gotten out with two suitcases and was walking towards her, looking a bit nervous.
She caught a glimpse of Mom’s gentle smile and sighed in relief, giving Wen Yang a knowing glance.
“Mom, Wen Yang is here too.”
“Auntie, hello! Sorry to bother you.”
“I’m not blind.” Mom sighed as she watched Ning Chu’s little actions, “Let’s go home and eat.”
It was just too uncanny.
Every time she saw her daughter with that poor boy, Mom couldn’t help but see her younger self.
Thus, she clearly understood that with Ning Chu’s nature, if she strongly opposed, her daughter might just run away with him, just like she once did.
“Brother-in-law~”
Black Bean ran up, one hand grabbing Wen Yang’s and the other tugging at Ning Chu, swinging them back and forth like a seesaw: “Did you bring me something tasty?”
“I brought a lot of snacks; I’ll give them to you when we get back.”
“Mom won’t let me eat too many snacks…”
“Well, just eat a little.”
With Black Bean around, Wen Yang felt much less nervous about facing his future mother-in-law, curiously observing the community where Ning Chu had grown up.
The four of them walked leisurely through the community, Ning Chu holding Black Bean’s hand, smiling as she asked her mom.
“Mom, has Black Bean been good at home?”
“Pretty good. At first, she didn’t want to go to tutoring class, but now she doesn’t want to skip it if we say she can’t go.” Mom chuckled, covering her mouth, “She’s really popular with the teachers and students there.”
“Does she look a bit chubbier? Mom, you need to keep an eye on her.”
“She’s only gained a few pounds; when they’re growing, it’s fine to eat a bit more.”
As the mother-daughter duo chatted, a voice suddenly called out from not far away: “Xiao Juan! Are we playing Mahjong this afternoon?”
Ning Chu paused and looked up, noticing a familiar middle-aged woman sitting at the convenience store entrance.
It was one of Mom’s Mahjong friends.
“No, I have a little something going on this afternoon.” Mom replied with a smile.
“Who’s this girl next to you? I’ve never seen her before.”
“She’s from my family.”
“Another one added?”
Seeing her friend’s surprised expression, Mom couldn’t help but smile even wider, leaning down to quietly ask Ning Chu, “If she knew you turned into a girl, would she be shocked?”
“Mom~”
Ning Chu tugged at Mom’s sleeve, playfully protesting.
Her face reddened; although turning into a girl wasn’t her intention, she still didn’t want to bring up her previous male identity.
Thinking back to her past gender and then looking at her current self, which had increasingly transformed into a succubus form… the embarrassment always hit her like a tidal wave.
Mom sighed helplessly: “Why so shy… can you really keep this from your grandparents?”
“Well…”
“They’ve been bringing you up every day, wanting to see you for a couple of days.”
Ning Chu pressed her lips together, frowning.
Fortunately, Grandma was also a succubus, so she probably would understand why Ning Chu had transformed into a girl. They wouldn’t be the type to reject her for changing from grandson to granddaughter.
Yet just the thought of facing her grandparents as a woman made her feel increasingly anxious.
“Let’s wait a few more days?” she could only keep dragging it out.
Taking the elevator to the front door, Mom unlocked it with a key.
Black Bean was already starving, pulling Wen Yang and Ning Chu’s hands, rushing toward the dining table: “Food’s ready, food’s ready!”
“Brother-in-law! My mom’s cooking is really good!” She plopped down on a chair, eagerly gazing at the food cover.
“Let’s eat first.”
Only when Mom personally lifted the food cover did Black Bean hurriedly grab her chopsticks and quickly snag a piece of fried ribs.
“Besides being greedy, you’re certainly looking less and less like a cat.”
Ning Chu rested her chin on her hand, chuckling: “Mom, you really taught her well.”
“Of course!”
