The Ruan family worked efficiently; within half a day, they’d nearly finished setting up half of the new space. Though there was still more to do in the back, it didn’t stop Ruan Shu from starting her planting activities right away.
When Ruan He handed her the seeds, the cat looked through them and recognized a few types herself. There were seeds for corn, watermelon, chili peppers, and sweet potatoes among them, but she could barely recognize any.
No matter; she could just plant them all and be done with it. This was how she had handled things before.
So, the little one found a soft patch of earth, opened her small paws, and began digging a hole.
But…
It had looked so easy when her brother and Almer were digging holes, yet when she tried, it was much harder.
After her paws began to ache, she had only managed to scrape a shallow layer of soil, as if the earth itself was mocking her lack of strength.
Ruan Shu: “…”
“Why are you so clumsy?”
Just as Almer’s voice chimed in, Ruan Shu felt a light knock on her forehead.
The little one looked up at him, letting out a soft meow.
“I got it,” he said, grabbing a small hoe to help loosen the soil. He even used his other hand to hold her mud-covered paws delicately.
“This is going to be a hassle to clean up later.”
Shushu shook her paw, feeling a bit uncomfortable, but she couldn’t turn back into her human form right now.
With ease, Almer quickly loosened the soil. The little cat guided him to make the soil a bit fluffier.
As he lazily swung the hoe, he muttered complaints, “I tell you, there’s no one else in the world who’d dare boss me around like this. Little mascot, you’d better cherish this good fortune of yours, got it?”
Ruan He, busy pulling weeds not far away, grumbled, “You know, you could always give me the hoe if you don’t want to do it!”
In fact, they could’ve used robots for this, but Ruan He wanted the experience of working alongside his beloved granddaughter. However, the young one had acted quicker than him, and the hoe ended up in Almer’s hands.
“You’re getting on in years. I respect my elders and protect the young. Go take a rest.”
Ruan He rolled his eyes so hard they almost reached the sky. Respect for elders? Ha! Wouldn’t anyone laugh if they heard that coming from you?
While they bickered, the soil was finally loosened. Ruan Shu flicked her beautiful tail and ran over, instinctively using her paws to dig the holes.
This behavior was simply the nature of a cat—cats love to bury things.
Of course, Ruan Shu was an especially clean cat, so she used the toilet like a human.
After pawing out a small hole, the Ragdoll cat fetched a seed, trotted back to the hole, dropped it in, and carefully covered it with soil.
She spaced out the seeds, planting one after the other.
With Almer and Grandpa’s help, they soon finished planting all the seeds.
“Meow, meow, meow.”
‘Just water them a bit, and that’s it.’
Almer raised an eyebrow. “That’s all?”
Ruan Shu tilted her head. What else would you do?
Almer’s mouth twitched. “I thought we were supposed to spray some treatment beforehand…”
Then he remembered that everything Shushu grew had zero pollution levels. Even if they used repellent sprays, it wouldn’t necessarily result in plants with zero pollution.
“Fine, we’ll do it your way.”
Ruan Shu nudged her little head against his hand, giving her paw a quick nudge too.
Almer squinted at her, holding her tiny, muddy paw. “You did that on purpose, didn’t you?”
“Meow~”
She looked at him innocently. As if she’d ever do such a thing on purpose.
With a smile, Almer gently squeezed her mud-covered paw and picked her up to go wash her little paws.
Ruan He called out, “No need to trouble you with the rest, Your Majesty. This old man can take care of it.”
Almer replied with sincerity, “Old Ruan, don’t be so polite. I mean, with my bond with Shushu, it’s just washing her paws; it’ll be done in no time.”
Ruan He muttered to himself, “Who’s being polite? I wasn’t at all!”
“Meow, meow, meow,” Ruan Shu protested. She wanted to wash herself!
But Almer held onto her paw. “You sure you can get yourself clean?”
Why wouldn’t she be able to clean herself?
Almer fetched some warm water and began washing her paws. The water soaked her fluffy little paws, making her fur clump together.
“Look at that—mud on your chest, and even on your head,” Almer sighed, clucking his tongue. “How would you even clean yourself properly?”
Ruan Shu meowed in protest. Xiaomi could’ve done it for her too.
But the petty emperor glanced over at the clueless, silly robot and smirked. “A robot cleaning you would never be as good as me, right?”
Then, without hesitation, he lowered the whole cat into the water, rolling up his sleeves to scrub the Ragdoll’s fur.
The once-fluffy white cat instantly transformed into a soaked, scraggly mess, and Almer couldn’t resist snapping a picture.
Annoyed, Ruan Shu swiped her paw at his hand in protest.
Too much! How could he take a picture of her like this?
“Alright, alright, don’t be mad. I won’t share this photo with anyone else. I’ll just keep it for myself, okay?”
His voice was rich and warm, with a touch of charm that was hard to resist.
Ruan Shu’s little cat ears twitched. Even so, taking unflattering pictures was just unacceptable!
“Meow!”
‘No more pictures!’
“Alright, alright, I won’t take any more.”
Although he clearly had no intention of deleting the ones he’d already taken.
With the cat freshly cleaned, he set her on a soft towel, gently patting her down to dry. Almer then found a comfortable spot to sit, carefully rubbing her with the towel.
Ruan Shu obediently lay there, finding his touch much gentler than her older brother’s.
He even took the time to blow-dry her fur. Within minutes, she was back to being a perfectly clean, fluffy, white Ragdoll. She flicked her tail, trotted into the room, and returned with a small brush, dropping it into Almer’s hand with a soft, pleading meow, asking him to groom her fur.
“You sure know how to enjoy yourself.”
He took the little brush and began grooming her tail, his movements slow and soothing.
Ruan Shu, all soft and cozy, relaxed in his lap, melting into him like liquid. She closed her eyes, purring softly, occasionally flipping over to expose her fluffy white belly, nudging her head against his hand.
The sensation of her soft fur was so addictive that Almer couldn’t help but stroke her from head to tail even after he’d finished brushing. He even placed a gentle kiss on her tiny pink paw pads.
This little cat was the sweetest addiction he’d never tire of.