After Becoming Pregnant With The Empress Cat's Cub - Chapter 17.1

Ju Rin took a large fruit basket, half a person tall from the edge and handed it to Lan Shan. “A small token of my appreciation.”

Yao Li instinctively reached for it, but Lan Shan patted her hand away. Yao Li explained, “I was worried it was too heavy for you.” The basket looked massive.

Lan Shan looked apologetically at Ju Rin. “We really can’t accept these. They are too precious.” Even the fruit basket was filled with rare, seasonal fruits.

In the stalemate, Lan Ye snapped out of it and reached for it. “What do you mean we can’t accept them?” A truckload was a bit much, but better too much than too little. She looked at Rin, her eyes sparkling. No wonder this woman was so upset about the ear-touching earlier, she must be quite infatuated with her. Look how much weight she put into this visit.

“Accept it, Auntie. We’re family, don’t worry about the price.”

Hearing this, Lan Shan felt a wave of warmth. Ever since Lan Ye woke up, she kept saying she wasn’t the real Lan Ye. It had been painful. Now, even if her memory wasn’t back, she had accepted them as family.

Yao Li: “Right, it’s the thought that counts. But the rest isn’t necessary.”

Lan Ye insisted on taking the basket to give to Lan Shan, but Ju Rin didn’t let go.

“Heavy,” Lin warned.

Lan Ye: “I can carry it.”

Ju Rin glanced at her stomach. With that one look, Lan Shan and Yao Li exchanged a glance: This beastman is reliable. She knew Lan Ye was pregnant and couldn’t carry heavy things.

Ju Rin handed the basket directly to Yao Li. Yao Li hesitated but took it, whispering to Lan Shan, “It’s the kids’ sincerity. We’ll just give them a bigger red envelope later so they won’t lose out.”

Lan Shan agreed. But… a whole truck of stuff. How much did this cost?

The commotion had lasted long enough that neighbors were starting to peek out. Lan Shan, not liking the attention, asked Ju Rin to drive the van into the garage. Lan Ye hopped into the passenger seat under the guise of “guiding her.”

Once inside, Lan Ye asked, “Is this car yours too?”

Ju Rin: “No.” She explained it was a delivery van from a warehouse club. Because she bought so much, the owner lent it to her.

Lan Ye was stunned. Just how much did she buy for the owner to lend the truck?

Ju Rin adjusted the vehicle. Hearing the question, as she backed up, a thought occurred to her. She looked at the human beside her, remembering how much she cared about money…

After a few seconds of silence, Ju Rin spoke. “Not much, not little. Exactly 500,000.”

“How much?” Lan Ye’s voice cracked. “You said how much?”

She thought she misheard until Ju Rin repeated it clearly. “500,000.”

As for why it was such a round number, Ju Rin had set a limit with the store owner this morning. He picked the items, and any change was waived.

“Did you buy gold?!” Lan Ye couldn’t believe it. In this world, 500,000 had roughly the same purchasing power as in her old world. These were just appliances and stuff, it shouldn’t be that much.

Ju Rin nodded. “There is gold. In one of the boxes, there are two ‘Money Trees’ made of solid gold.” The beastman owner said humans liked money and gold. Everyone likes a golden Money Tree.

Lan Ye: “…” True. But wait. “Where did you get the money?”

Ju Rin parked, turned off the engine, and looked at Lan Ye. “I took it from you.”

“Huh?” Lan Ye’s eyes nearly popped out.

Ju Rin reminded her, “You said if it wasn’t enough, I should take it from your share.”

Lan Ye: !!!

Seeing the human’s speechless expression, Ju Rin felt half of her earlier irritation vanish. Normally, it would be impolite to disclose the price of gifts, but she had a plan. In truth, she hadn’t touched Lan Ye’s money. Despite no longer being a princess, her upbringing was ingrained. She didn’t have the habit of taking from others, nor of taking back gifts. That money belonged to Lan Ye.

Even when Si Qing told her that for humans, “where the money is, the love is,” she hadn’t intended to take it back to reduce the “gap” in their perceived value. She only said this because of the “ear touching” incident. She wanted this human to feel the same “blocked” feeling in her chest.

Somehow, meeting this human made her a bit childish. Seeing the “revenge” succeed gave her a sense of satisfaction that even seemed to soothe her spiritual power. A small smile tugged at the corners of her lips.

Ju Rin got out of the car. Lan Ye sat there, dazed. She hadn’t expected half of her 1 million to vanish before it even got warm in her pocket. It wasn’t that she was stingy toward her family, but 500,000 on gifts? They could have just given cash! She wasn’t even sure if the gifts were practical.

She watched Rin walk around to open her door and offer a hand. Looking at those slender fingers, she thought: Wealth just slips through them!

From now on, she was definitely not letting this woman handle the household finances!

Lan Ye took her hand and walked inside, still in a daze. Lan Shan and Yao Li nodded in approval, what a thoughtful beastman.

Inside, Rin was invited to sit on a sofa so clean not a single stray hair could be found. Lan Ye, still reeling from the financial blow, didn’t want to sit too close to Rin. She picked up the cat, Xiaoxiao, and sat in its chair, using the cat as a stress ball.

After serving snacks, Lan Shan sat next to Lan Ye and whispered, “Why isn’t Rin wearing a hat?”

Unless visiting someone they disliked, beastmen usually wore hats. But with all those gifts, she clearly didn’t dislike them.

Lan Ye: “Auntie, just ask her yourself.”

Lan Shan: “Is that okay?”

Lan Ye didn’t see the problem. She looked at Rin. “Why aren’t you wearing a hat?”

Lin: “Hmm? What hat?”

Lan Ye: “Isn’t it the etiquette? When visiting, both sides wear these hats.” She tapped her own hat and the one on the cat. “We all put them on.”

Rin was confused. “What etiquette is that?”

Lan Ye: “Royal etiquette. It spread from the palace.”

Rin was stunned. “The palace? Royal etiquette?” Since when did the palace host guests like they were in a flamboyant theater play?

Yao Li, bringing over fruit, realized the situation and tugged at Lan Ye’s sleeve. She realized Rin might be from “the country” and didn’t know “city” rules. The three of them exchanged looks and took off their hats.

Lan Shan: “We just heard about it. We happened to have a few.”

Yao Li: “Yes, and Xiao Ye’s head was injured recently. It’s windy outside, so the hat is for protection.”

Lan Ye realized her head felt a bit chilly without it and put it back on, but she took the cat’s hat off. The tiny head shouldn’t have to carry such a heavy thing.

“Meow~” Xiaoxiao chirped sweetly, as if celebrating its freedom.

Lan Shan realized she’d served snacks but no tea. She went to the bedroom and brought out Yao Li’s prized, long-stored tea leaves instead of the new ones she bought this morning. She wanted the “country” girl to try the best stuff.

Under their expectant gazes, Rin took a sip of the “Royal Favorite” tea.

“How is it?” Yao Li asked eagerly.

It wasn’t great… it tasted stale and astringent. “Quite nice,” Ju Rin said, putting the cup down. “Thank you for the hospitality.”

Yao Li then pointed to a cake. “Try this. It’s a new release from the Palm Hotel. They say even the Queen sends people to the Central District to buy it.”

Ju Rin thought, Lies. The Queen hates cake. She took a small bite. It was so sweet it made her want to wince, but she held it back. “Quite nice.”

Yao Li’s smile widened. She looked at Lan Shan, her eyes saying she was very pleased with this elegant, well-behaved beastman, especially knowing she was an “orphan” from the “countryside.”

Lan Shan also liked Rin. She had a special aura. Looking at her and Lan Ye, one quiet, one devouring cake, they seemed like a perfect match. But she was curious about how they met. Xiao Ye had been vague, blaming her head injury.

Fortunately, there was someone here whose brain was just fine. Lan Shan looked at Rin kindly. “Rin, I have a question for you.”

Ju Rin felt relieved. She’d rather answer questions than eat more of that throat searingly sweet cake. She put down her fork.

“How did you and our Xiao Ye meet? How did you end up together?”

Lan Ye nearly choked on her cake. Crap! I forgot! I didn’t sync our stories with Rin!