Siheyuan: Relieve stress and relieve worries

Chapter 89 Big Cat Gives Birth
The Waking of Insects on March 5, 1964

After February, the big cat moved into Yan Jiekuang's bedroom. For this purpose, Yan Jiekuang added a coal stove near the window. The big cat was very quiet, and Yan Jiekuang never left. He prepared the big cat's nutritious meals himself, and the big cat gladly accepted them.

Until this evening, Yan Jiekuang heard the big cat's "meow" sound, reminding him not to sleep. Yan Jiekuang understood, so he made a cup of tea and sat on a recliner not far away to read a book.

Just after noon, the big cat started to move a little unusually. Yan Jiekuang was a little nervous because this was his first time delivering a baby, and it was for a big cat.

After a while, the big cat screamed. Yan Jiekuang wanted to go over. The big cat looked at him. Yan Jiekuang understood that the big cat had looked at him too many times. It was a warning. Yan Jiekuang did not move.

The big cat quickly licked the first kitten and bit off its umbilical cord. Yan Jiekuang saw that it was a pure white kitten. Soon, the second one came, and then everything went smoothly. Yan Jiekuang spent his time in tension and excitement, but he never passed away because he did not forget the big cat's warning.

Yan Jiekuang counted them and there were six in total, colorful. Well, there weren’t so many colors. The eldest was white, the second was patterned, just like his mother, the third was black and white, the fourth was also patterned, the fifth was black, and the sixth was white.

Yan Jiekuang once suspected that their unreliable father was white. Yan Jiekuang was not in a hurry. He prepared goat milk and quickly heated it up. When it was ready, he served it to the big cat first, and the big cat "meowed" in gratitude.

Looking at the kittens in the cattery, Yan Jiekuang was excited. However, he did not disturb the big cat. He just stood by and gave it goat milk at most. He stayed like this for a whole day.

Kittens change very quickly. Once they get through the initial dangerous period, they are easy to take care of. Yan Jiekuang has already learned to help feed the adult cat goat milk. Listening to the kitten's milk sounds, his heart melts.

On the third day, there was a knock on the door, and the entire Yan family came out in full force.

Yan Jie Di took the lead, rushed over, greeted the big cat first, and watched the kitten from the side. Yan Jie Kuang said, "It's best to wait for half a month. The kitten can't leave its mother." Yan Jie Di nodded and asked him if he had named it.

"No." Instantly, the room became a naming conference. Everyone was chattering about all sorts of things. "Meow~~" the big cat let out a long howl, and then everyone went to the front yard to discuss.

The room was quiet. Yan Jiekuang squinted his eyes and said to himself: "No matter what, the biggest one is called Dabai and the smallest one is called Xiaobai." The big cat called out to him with contempt.

The big cat recovered quickly and went out to have fun at the end of March, leaving Dabai, Erhei and Xiaobai in the house. Xiaobai was the clingiest and would crawl into clothes at any time. Yan Jiekuang was at a loss as to what to do.

The others were sent away. The second oldest went to the eldest brother's house, the third oldest went to Siheyuan, and the fourth oldest went to Jia's house.

From then on, Yan Jiekuang had a job besides studying and sleeping, which was to take care of cats, and he felt both pain and happiness.

When Yan Jiekuang was doing math problems very late, the three little ones would lie on the table to keep him company; when he got up in the morning, the three little ones would be in bed, and they would wake up when he woke up and move when he moved; when Yan Jiekuang was in a daze in the yard, the three little ones would squat side by side beside him to keep him company. When Yan Jiekuang turned his head to look at them, they would tilt their heads at the same time and look at Yan Jiekuang, and Yan Jiekuang would laugh.

Suddenly, Yan Jiekuang understood that companionship is the truest form of affection.

In April, Yan Jiekuang was a little nervous. It was his first time taking the college entrance exam in his two lifetimes. If he failed, wouldn’t it be embarrassing?
He kept doing exercises and starting over again. Except for Yang Ruiping, basically no one in the Yan family disturbed him.

Apart from looking after the children for a while, the big cat would stroll around everywhere. However, the big cat no longer disturbed Yan Jiekuang. In fact, the yard remained quiet at night. Yan Jiekuang knew that it was all thanks to the big cat.

In June, Yan Jiekuang knew that he had reached this level and it would be difficult to break through himself, so he packed up and wanted to go alone, but when he saw the three little ones, he packed up their things. The three little ones were very excited. Yan Jiekuang packed up his things and waved his hand. With his help, the three little ones jumped into the schoolbag in Yan Jiekuang's arms and set off towards the courtyard.

In the afternoon, the courtyard was very quiet. There were some shouting, but it felt very far away. As soon as I walked to the gate of the courtyard, "Who are you? Are you from here?" Yan Jiekuang turned around and didn't recognize me. He said politely, "I am a resident here. I am going home."

The person who was speaking was about twenty-five or twenty-six years old, wearing a steel mill work uniform, and looked a bit dazed.

"You live here, so do you know the old man here?" asked the young man.

Yan Jiekuang blurted out: "Yi Zhonghai!"

The young man laughed and said, "Brother, you haven't been back for a long time. The uncle now is He Yuzhu."

Yan Jiekuang was stunned. He really didn’t know. He said, “Not long, maybe half a year.”

The young man said, "I know you are from this courtyard. Please go in. Your courtyard has changed a lot." Yan Jiekuang said thank you and went in with his things. When he walked into the front yard, he didn't see any changes.

He turned around and ran straight to the west wing, entered the room and called out, "Mom, I'm back."

As soon as I entered the room, I saw mother Yang Ruiping holding a cat, sitting in a rocking chair by the window. Next to her was a coffee table with a radio on it.

Yan Jiekuang was happy. He thought, "My mother's life is very comfortable." He shouted again, "Mom!"

Yang Ruiping woke up and saw that it was Yan Jiekuang who came back. He asked casually, "Don't you want to read books anymore?"

"Come and take a look, and change your mind. By the way, Mom, why are there guards at our door?" Yan Jiekuang replied.

Yang Ruiping had already stood up, and Black and White had gone to look for the three little ones. "What kind of guards are they? They are patrol teams set up by the steel mill. Something happened at the steel mill a few days ago."

"Is it related to Yi Zhonghai?" Yan Jiekuang asked?

Yang Ruiping was a little surprised and asked, "How did you know?"

"The patrol at the gate said that the old man was He Yuzhu, not Yi Zhonghai," said Yan Jiekuang.

"I heard your father and Aunt Jia say that there seemed to be a theft case, and it was related to Yi Zhonghai's apprentice, not Jia Dongxu, but another apprentice. The important thing is that Yi Zhonghai is an eighth-level worker, and some of the parts he made are confidential, but they were still stolen by his apprentice, so he is implicated."

Yan Bugui came from the outer room and said, "That's an implication. It's an enemy spy case. It hasn't been clarified yet."

After Yan Bugui finished speaking, he went straight towards the three little ones.

Yan Jiekuang understood that there was an enemy spy case at the steel rolling mill, implicating Yi Zhonghai. However, Yi Zhonghai stepped down before the case was solved. It seemed that the street was cooperating with the work of the steel rolling mill.

"Where is Yi Zhonghai now?" Yan Jiekuang asked.

"She's at home, taking care of the kids. She's doing fine. She's just suspended from work, awaiting the results of the investigation." Yan Bugui said as he teased Xiaobai.

"Then why does He Yuzhu act like a big shot?" Yan Jiekuang said.

Yan Bugui said: "It's temporary. In order to help the steel mill solve the case, the temporary managers of these courts are all cadres from the steel mill."

So that's how it is. This was a case solved with great fanfare by the steel rolling mill. It would be strange if it could be solved with such a grand scale, Yan Jiekuang thought to himself.

"I'm going to take a look in the yard. Dabai is leaving." Yan Jiekuang was about to go out. The three little ones who were stumbling behind him were no longer there. There were four little ones now, and the black and white ones were also following.

Yan Jiekuang went to the courtyard and opened the door. The yard was quite clean. It was probably thanks to Yan Jiedi. Yan Jiedi had been thinking about this courtyard for a long time.

The four kittens rushed over to the flower bed when they saw it. Yan Jiekuang didn't care. He pushed open the door and saw that the inside was filled with his little sister's things, mostly Yan Jiedi's toys and clothes, and in a mess.

Yan Jiekuang squatted in the flower garden, watching the four little ones playing and fighting.

"Brother, you're back. Are you coming to bring me Dabai or Xiaobai?" Yan Jiedi's voice came from behind.

The three little ones were so scared that they crawled directly into Yan Jiekuang's body, and Xiaobai went straight into his clothes.

(End of this chapter)