"Xiao Ran, I'm sorry that my matter has involved you." Shen Zhi Qiu said with some guilt. "It's all my fault. If I hadn't gone to you back then, Gu Qing Yan wouldn't have disturbed your life."
"Zhiqiu, these are all minor matters. As long as you're safe and sound, I'm relieved. Is this your new phone number? I'll save it, but don't worry, I absolutely won't let Gu Qingyan know. Where are you now?"
"Mm," Shen Zhi Qiu replied softly. "I'm fine now. I'm at a friend's house, and someone is taking care of me. Don't worry."
"I'll hang up now. I'm afraid if I wait too long, Gu Qingyan will find out and become suspicious, which would be troublesome," Zhou Xiaoran said quietly, covering her mouth.
"Okay, Xiao Ran, thank you for your hard work!" Shen Zhi Qiu hung up the phone, rubbed her temples helplessly, and felt a headache coming on as she thought about the troubles in Nancheng.
"Sister Zhi Qiu, what's wrong?" Lu Xiaoyu's cheerful voice rang out, interrupting Shen Zhi Qiu's thoughts and making the atmosphere more relaxed.
"Sister Zhi Qiu, look at my cat, isn't it cute?" Lu Xiaoyu appeared behind Shen Zhi Qiu, holding a chubby blue cat. She playfully lifted the cat up and waved it in front of Shen Zhi Qiu, and the chubby cat opened its mouth and made "meow meow meow" sounds.
This was the first time Shen Zhi Qiu had ever seen such a fat cat. She couldn't help but laugh, reached out and gently stroked its head, and asked, "What's its name?"
“It’s called Round Ball,” Lu Xiaoyu said with a smile. “I found it at the foot of the mountain last year. At that time, it hadn’t opened its eyes yet. I guess it was the kitten of some stray cat.”
"Did you even get your cat vaccinated before letting your sister Zhi Qiu touch it?" Lu Jia's disgruntled voice rang out from not far away, and then she strode towards them.
"Of course it's been vaccinated! It has all the vaccines and deworming medication." Lu Xiaoyu muttered unhappily when she heard Lu Jia questioning her kitten.
"Seriously, I brought you back, at least you're a person, but you brought back a cat." Lu Jia pouted. "This place has really become a shelter."
"Isn't that right? That's why they took me in!" Shen Zhi Qiu joked, laughing.
"Hold the cat tight and don't let its claws scratch your sister Zhi Qiu. She's pregnant, and it would be a big problem if she got scratched," Lu Jia said seriously, protectively shielding Shen Zhi Qiu behind him with some concern.
"Ah? Sister Zhi Qiu is pregnant?" Lu Xiaoyu looked at Zhi Qiu's still flat stomach and frowned. He had originally thought that Sister Zhi Qiu could be his sister-in-law, but now it seemed that was not the case, so he was a little dejected.
"What's wrong, Xiaoyu?" Shen Zhi Qiu thought Lu Jia had talked about his cat, which made him a little unhappy.
"Sister Zhi Qiu, you're pregnant? That's such a pity. I was hoping you could be my sister-in-law," Lu Xiaoyu said, looking down and somewhat dejected.
"What? Just because you have a baby doesn't mean I can't be your sister-in-law? I don't mind, so why should you?" Lu Jia glanced at him and said indifferently.
"Get lost. You're talking nonsense all day long." Shen Zhi Qiu glared at him irritably. "Don't corrupt the children here."
"Oh dear, I'm really hurt. I didn't have a chance before, and I still don't have a chance now." Lu Jia exaggeratedly clutched her chest, putting on a pained expression.
Lu Xiaoyu was stunned. "Big brother, you're so fake! You're overdoing it!"
"You little brat, I'll beat you up, you believe me?!" Lu Jia said, stretching out his foot to kick him, but Lu Xiaoyu grabbed the cat and ran away.
Watching them run away, Shen Zhi Qiu unlocked her phone. After hesitating for a long time, she finally logged into WeChat, because she only had the WeChat account of the director of her grandmother's nursing home.
As soon as I successfully logged in, WeChat messages kept popping up and vibrating incessantly. It took quite a while for it to stop.
Shen Zhi Qiu raised her phone and glanced at the numerous messages Gu Qing Yan and Si Ming Yu had sent her. Scrolling down, she saw messages from Zhou Xiao Ran and Shen Yan Shan.
She clicked on Shen Yanshan's profile picture, which was full of voice messages. She listened to a few at random, and they were all the same old things: Shen's father angrily scolding her for getting a divorce and asking where the other person had gone.
Fortunately, her maternal grandmother wasn't mentioned, and Shen Zhi Qiu was relieved that Shen Yan Shan hadn't thought of that.
Shen Zhi Qiu found the dean's contact information in her address book and tentatively sent him a message.
"Dean Li, hello, this is Shen Zhi Qiu. Is it convenient for you to answer this voice call?"
The dean quickly called her back via voice message.
Shen Zhi Qiu quickly answered, "Dean Li, hello."
"Zhiqiu, it's been a long time. How are you?" Dean Li's voice was as kind as ever. He had always liked this filial girl.
"Thank you for your concern, Dean Li. I'm fine. I called you to ask how my grandmother is doing. I'd like to bring her to live with me because I might be away from Nancheng for a long time. I wanted to discuss this with you and see if her health condition is suitable for moving."
"Yes, your grandmother just had a check-up this week, and all her indicators are good. If you want to bring her to live with us, that would be great. Our sanatorium has always supported families bringing elderly relatives who are getting better back to care for them, because the elderly tend to feel better when they are with their loved ones."
Dean Li smiled and said, "I knew I wasn't wrong, you're a good kid. When would you like me to pick you up?"
"That's wonderful, thank you. But I'm not able to pick her up in person due to health reasons, so I'll probably ask a friend to pick her up instead."
"But there's something else I'd like to ask you. Could you please keep my plans to take my grandmother away a secret?" Shen Zhi Qiu said hesitantly. After all, Shen Yan Shan had always been the one paying, so it might be inappropriate for her to make this request.
"Is it because of President Shen?" Dean Li asked, voicing his doubts. Although President Shen hadn't defaulted on any payments over the years, he had repeatedly asked the sanatorium to stop using expensive imported medicines. Most recently, he even called to say that it was enough to just appease Shen Zhi Qiu and that there was no need to provide Shen Zhi Qiu's grandmother with much care, as he didn't want to spend more money. Therefore, when Shen Zhi Qiu asked him to keep it a secret, he instinctively felt it was because of Shen Yan Shan.
"Well, it's a long story, but please keep it a secret. I can't let my dad know that I'm taking Grandma away in secret; he'll definitely try everything to stop me," Shen Zhi Qiu pleaded.
"Okay, don't worry. Zhi Qiu, take good care of yourself while you're away from home," Dean Li said with concern. Shen Zhi Qiu's eyes welled up with tears, and she was touched.
"Okay, thank you, Dean Li. I'll have a friend go over there in the next couple of days, and I'll definitely visit you when I return to Nancheng."
"Alright, alright, I'll wait for your friend to arrive." Dean Li hung up the phone with a smile, then gave the man sitting across from him a meaningful look.
"Thank you, Dean Li. I'm sorry to have bothered you these past few days. I'm relieved to know that Zhi Qiu is alright." The man stood up and politely took his leave.
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