Chapter 16: The Rich Family's Substitute Son 16: Pudding

That night, Chen Qian was tired from work, so he just made two simple farm dishes with the available ingredients. However, Fu Yuanbo ate them with great relish. He even felt that compared with the pan-fried steak his mother made at noon, his adoptive mother's simple farm stir-fried meat and scrambled eggs with tomatoes were more delicious.

Especially when he put the juicy tomatoes into his mouth along with the rice, Fu Yuanbo felt that he would have liked to have another bowl if his adoptive mother hadn't stopped him.

"I... am not full." Fu Yuanbo put down the bowl with a troubled look on his face.

"You're full."

Fu Yuanbo: "...Really not, only 50% full at most."

In fact, he lied. He was already 80% full, but still wanted to eat.

"You've consumed a lot of energy after working today, so it's normal that you have a good appetite. However, you have a bad stomach and can't eat too much. Just be patient. I'll go fishing tomorrow." Chen Qian coaxed him.

Fu Yuanbo did not refute, his cheeks flushed slightly, and his eyes flashed with indescribable expectation.

[Hahahaha, Fu Yuanbo is so pitiful. Your mom said you were full.]

[The poor thing was so dazed and said it wasn't full. I took a screenshot. It's so good it could be used as an emoticon!]

I was a bit jealous of what Shen's mother was cooking, but then I felt sorry for Fu Yuanbo. He could only watch but not eat.

[Mother Shen is right. He has a bad stomach to begin with. No medicine can compare to a regular lifestyle.]

That day, after Fu Yuanbo washed the dishes, he went out for a walk with his adoptive mother.

It has to be said that such daily interactions may be a very normal thing for others, but for Fu Yuanbo, it is a luxury that he has not dared to think about in the past ten years.

He followed Shen Qian quietly without saying a word.

Strangely enough, he saw his biological mother this morning and after spending the whole morning with her, he felt like he couldn't stay there any longer.

She was obviously very gentle to him, but that gentleness was filled with politeness, which made him feel very uncomfortable and he wanted to leave immediately.

At this moment, the young man looked down at his own shadow overlapping with his adoptive mother's shadow in the setting sun. His deep brows relaxed, and the corners of his lips curled up a little. His angular profile, which was now stubborn and unruly, seemed a little softer under the illumination of the setting sun.

“Meow…”

There were not many people on the village path at this time, except for the mother and son who were taking a walk after dinner, and the staff of the program team.

The timid cry of the kitten instantly attracted Fu Yuanbo's attention. He immediately stopped and looked around.

Shen Qian walked a few steps and realized that Fu Yuanbo had not caught up with him, so he turned around and looked at him inquiringly.

Fu Yuanbo soon found a kitten in the grass by the roadside.

It curled up into a ball and carefully looked at the person coming through the grass with a very alert look.

Fu Yuanbo looked at his adoptive mother with some surprise and pointed at the bushes: "It's a little wild cat."

Shen Qian walked over. The kitten was probably less than two months old. It was as small as a ball of wool. Its fur was dirty and tangled. Its eyes were big and round, and its pupils were wide open. It seemed that it was a little scared by the large number of people coming.

Fu Yuanbo seemed to notice that the kitten was scared, so he took a step back.

Unexpectedly, just as he stepped back, the kitten's nose twitched slightly, and it suddenly staggered out from the bushes, staggered unsteadily, and then fell on Fu Yuanbo's shoes. Then it hugged Fu Yuanbo's shoes, put its little head on the toe of his shoes, and looked up at him.

"Ah... this, this... it's trying to scam me!" Fu Yuanbo had never raised a cat or gotten along with one. He didn't know how this little cat suddenly landed on his shoes, and he was a little panicked for a moment.

[Hahahahaha, this is so funny! I was just taking a walk and got scammed by a little kitten.]

[Oh no, I can’t explain it now. What else can I do? Take it home, hahaha!]

[Oh my, this cat is really good! If I could take it home, the food would definitely be good! I quickly hugged Fu Yuanbo's thighs and cried. I'm blackmailing him!]

[Pretend for three minutes, and you'll be rich and prosperous for a lifetime. Go, kitty!]

Fu Yuanbo squatted down, carefully stretched out his hand and touched the kitten's head. Unexpectedly, the little calico cat rubbed its head on his hand, then meowed softly, with wet eyes, looking at him with a flattering look.

Fu Yuanbo really didn't expect to meet a kitten while taking a walk. He looked up at the foster mother standing beside him and said hesitantly, "Can we... keep it? I want to take it home."

Chen Qian originally had no interest in raising small animals, but from this angle, the kitten and Fu Yuanbo both looked pitiful and pleading.

Shen Qian: “…”

Thinking of his son's tragic experience in the nightmare, Shen Qian couldn't say no. It would just be a kitten, easy to raise.

"Okay, try to pick it up and see if it's willing to go home with us. If it doesn't struggle, then you can take it home and raise it."

Fu Yuanbo looked at the kitten and said seriously, "Did you hear me? I'm going to take you home now. If you want, be a good boy. If you run away, I won't take you with me."

The kitten tilted its head and looked at him, not knowing whether it understood.

Then Fu Yuanbo reached out and gently picked up the kitten. It was so small that he could hardly feel its weight in his arms. It curled up in this strange arms and trembled, but it was very obedient and did not struggle or run away. It just lay quietly in his arms.

Fu Yuanbo's heart was beating very fast. He didn't know why, but the moment he saw the little calico cat, his heart was struck, as if he saw his past self. He wanted to take it home and make it feel warm and safe.

That was something he didn't have before.

Even though he had no worries about food and clothing and lived a comfortable life in the Fu family, he often felt like an abandoned wild cat, and his heart was lost.

Shen Qian looked at his son holding the kitten carefully, his smile helpless yet doting.

After bringing the kitten home, Shen Qian helped Fu Yuanbo wash the kitten's body with hot water, checked it for parasites, and then quickly wrapped it in a towel and blew it dry.

Afterwards, Fu Yuanbo personally found a cardboard box for the kitten, put an old piece of his own clothes in it, and made a nest for the kitten.

"Let's give it a name?" Shen Qian suggested.

"It was so soft in my arms and felt so good. I wanted to call it pudding."

[Wow, he really brought it back. It seems Fu Yuanbo really likes kittens.]

[You know what, this little crocodile looks pretty good after being washed! ]

[The calico cat is a beauty among cats, and its reputation is well-deserved.]

[Waaaaaah, Pudding! My Ragdoll cat is also called Pudding!]

【Pudding is so cute! 】

Pudding seemed to know that this small cardboard box was prepared for him. He jumped in and started to step on the milk, looking comfortable and satisfied.

Then Shen Qian went to the kitchen and made a bowl of minced meat rice for the kitten with the leftovers, and brought it over after it cooled down.

It is obvious that Pudding has been wandering outside for a while. Most of the cats in the village are free-range. After a period of time after the kittens are born, the mother cat will most likely take the kittens out and abandon them to let them learn to live independently.

Pudding's skinny little body obviously didn't help him hunt. He must have been hungry for a while. When he saw the food, he pounced on it, dove into the bowl, and started to eat it voraciously.

"Hey...eat slowly, no one is going to snatch it from you!"

"Won't you choke if you eat so fast?"

"Pudding, you're so small. If you eat too much, you won't be able to digest it."

While little pudding was eating, Fu Yuanbo kept nagging beside him.

The audience in the live broadcast room were all amused by his anxious look.

[Pfft, isn't this what his adoptive mother told him when he was eating...]

[Good guy, the same words, when said by Shen's mother, are very reasonable. Why does he feel so talkative? ]

Let it eat, let it eat. It's so hard for the little cat to have a full meal!

[Hahahahaha, Fu Yuanbo is quite funny. I am dying of laughter.]

Chen Qian stood by, wanting to say something but hesitant. In the end, he said nothing. It was rare for his son to show such love for other small animals, so he just let him do whatever he wanted.

That night, Fu Yuanbo specially moved the kitten's nest to his own room. After all, it was a kitten he had just picked up, and he had to keep an eye on it to feel at ease.

Before going to bed, Fu Yuanbo took out his mobile phone and secretly searched for the clips of his adoptive mother and Fu Zhongyan spending time together today.

There is no playback function for the live broadcast clips of "Farming with Mom", but many netizens have posted recorded clips. They are not complete, but most of them can be seen.

Fu Yuanbo would not admit it, but in his heart he was very concerned about his adoptive mother's behavior when she was alone with Fu Zhongyan this morning.

Of course, before opening it, he prepared himself mentally. Fu Zhongyan was her biological son, so it was reasonable for her to treat him more warmly and affectionately. The two of them must have a better understanding of each other than they did.

Moreover, as far as he knew, his adoptive mother had never met Fu Zhongyan alone in all these years. After not seeing him for so many years, she must have missed him so much and felt so sad...

Fu Yuanbo opened the video with a nervous and somewhat gloomy mood.

What he didn't expect was that after the two met, Fu Zhongyan was quite good at dealing with things. He kept wanting to chat with Shen Qian, and his familiar and friendly attitude made Fu Yuanbo frown.

What he didn't expect was that Shen Qian's attitude was very polite. Not only did he call him by his full name, but he also gave a perfunctory answer to the topic he initiated, and never said anything more.

Fu Yuanbo watched for a while, and his heart finally settled down. What he was worried about didn't happen at all. This was probably how his adoptive mother treated Fu Zhongyan.

After working all day, Fu Yuanbo was tired. He looked at his phone for a while and then fell asleep.

What Fu Yuanbo didn't expect was that in the middle of the night, Pudding actually grabbed a corner of the fallen quilt and climbed onto the bed to sleep next to him.

When Fu Yuanbo opened his eyes in the morning, he found that little pudding had snuggled into his arms, with its small, soft body pressed against him. He was surprised and happy, and for a moment he didn't even dare to breathe too heavily, for fear of scaring the little kitten.

He looked back at the camera, as if wanting to confirm whether the camera had captured this corner, but he didn't dare to make too much noise.

Alas, I guess it’s impossible to take a picture…

He had previously specially adjusted the angle of the camera himself so that the bed could not be captured in the picture.

He also thought that if he could take a picture, he could have something to commemorate it.

Fu Yuanbo felt as if he had been scratched by a kitten. He felt itchy and couldn't help it.

Even if he couldn't take a picture, he still wanted to share it with others.

At this time, he heard movement at the door of the next room, and his adoptive mother got up.

She usually gets up early, fetches water, boils water to make breakfast, and then does some simple farm work.

If she wasn't called quickly, she would go out.

"Mom!" Fu Yuanbo blurted out: "Can you come in for a moment?"

His voice was not loud, just enough for Shen Qian to hear.

There was a pause of footsteps outside the door.

At this moment, Shen Qian, who was standing outside the door, stood there in astonishment, as if he had heard some incredible sound.

She knew how difficult it was for Fu Yuanbo to hear the word "Mom".

Because she remembered that in the original plot, Fu Yuanbo never called the original body "Mom" again until his death, even though he eventually learned that the original body was his biological mother.

Fu Yuanbo in the room seemed to be stunned as well. He didn't expect that he would call out "Mom" so naturally.

He was a little at a loss for a moment.

"Well, then I'll come in." After a few breaths, Shen Qian's mood returned to calm and he pushed open the door of Fu Yuanbo's room.

At this moment, Shen Qian heard the system's mechanical voice:

[Congratulations! Fu Yuanbo's favorability towards you has reached 40. You can now unlock the second Super Rich privilege. This time, the system will double your investment reward.]