The Reborn Sidekick Rejected The Male Lead
Chapter 132 - 130: New Friend

Chapter 132: Chapter 130: New Friend

Four people cheerfully carried their things toward the dormitory. There were three cylindrical buildings for the female dormitories, all three stories high, and they were staying in the third building.

As they went upstairs, Chen Qingru looked at the large dormitory in the middle with noisy and bustling activity, "Wow, this dormitory must house at least ten people."

Luo Xinyue snorted, "If I had to live with that many people, I’d definitely break down."

He Yu smiled and said, "That’s the Chinese Painting Department, I made a point to ask the dorm manager when I came in. Our Fine Arts Department also has quite a few people. Later, I gave the dorm manager two packs of brown sugar and asked her to assign me to a dormitory with fewer people. Turns out, I was lucky to be placed with you guys."

Chen Qingru said, "My parents are high school teachers, and one of my mom’s colleagues happens to work at this school. When I registered, I also asked for their help. Among the few buildings for female students, it’s only in the last building, at such a corner spot, there is one room per floor. It’s okay in the winter, but in the summer, we get the western sun."

Lu Jingqiu said, "It’s nice to have sunlight. Living in a dark and gloomy place isn’t comfortable."

Everyone nodded in agreement and chatted quite a bit about their own matters in the dorm, as they had just met.

Lu Jingqiu knew He Yu’s father worked at the Shanghai Tobacco Monopoly Bureau, and her mother was the director of the provincial museum. She had two older brothers and one older sister, all married. He Yu was only eighteen and a recent high school graduate.

Chen Qingru had an older sister and an older brother; her brother was in the military and her sister also a high school teacher, both married. Chen Qingru was also a sent-down youth who had spent three years in the countryside. She was twenty-one this year. Last year, due to the tension, she didn’t pass the exam, so her parents brought her back home for several months to study. She only managed to get into university this year.

For the three of them, who had several siblings, Lu Jingqiu being an only child was not common.

He Yu and Chen Qingru also found out about her and Luo Xinyue, realizing that all four of them came from pretty good family backgrounds.

He Yu, looking at the others who were older than herself, frowned, "Looking at how delicate and tender each of you is, I thought I was the oldest, but it turns out I’m the youngest."

Luo Xinyue said, "You shouldn’t say that. You’re taller than us, and with that neat short hair, you really look like the big sister. Before, I was the big sister in our area. I was thinking of being one when I got to the dorm, too."

After speaking, everyone turned to look at Lu Jingqiu.

Lu Jingqiu helplessly said, "Haha, what can I do, since none of you are as old as I am."

Chen Qingru laughed brightly, "We don’t have to sort by age."

Luo Xinyue asked, "Then what do we use?"

"Height."

When it was almost noon, they all went to the cafeteria together.

In the cafeteria, rice was two cents per serving, vegetable dishes were four cents, meat dishes ranged from six cents to one yuan and twenty cents, and rice noodles and noodles were two cents per serving.

Lu Jingqiu chose a serving of rice with a sour and spicy shredded potato dish.

He Yu, not being local, wanted to try the rice noodle dish from their region.

In their region, people mainly ate plain rice, but they also had rice noodles available.

At that time, food supplies were scarce, so people ate whatever was available.

After lunch, they walked around the campus to aid digestion, took a nap, and didn’t part ways with He Yu and Chen Qingru until after four in the afternoon, making plans to meet again the day after tomorrow.

Once out of the school gate, she and Luo Xinyue caught a bus. They were not going the same way, so they took different buses.

Lu Jingqiu had to transfer to another bus.

Back in the compound, familiar faces asked Lu Jingqiu about school as they saw her return.

Lu Jingqiu smiled and exchanged a few words with them.

The first thing she did when she got home was to call for Hua Hua, who had started looking for a nesting place a few days before but still showed no signs of labor.

However, she had a feeling that it would happen within the next couple of days.

"Hua Hua, sister is going to school now. If you don’t give birth soon, there will be no one to care for you in a few days."

"Meow-meow..." Hua Hua meowed somewhat deeply.

Lu Jingqiu played with it for a while and, seeing its bowl was empty of water, quickly went to the kitchen to boil water and knocked an egg into its food bowl, also soaking half a steamed bun in hot water for it.

Hua Hua dug in eagerly, "Hey, Hua Hua, I won’t be home to make your meals on time, what will you do?"

After seeing to Hua Hua, she began to clear the chicken, duck, and goose droppings, reaching inside the nests and finding two chicken eggs, one duck egg, and one goose egg.

She also mixed them some wheat bran.

Having finished all this, she was about to go upstairs when she discovered that Hua Hua had settled into the nest she had prepared in the corner of the living room.

With her belly contracting, Lu Jingqiu realized something was amiss.

She hurried over.

"Meow... meow..."

"Hua Hua, you’re about to give birth, aren’t you?"

Lu Jingqiu felt a bit flustered and thought for a moment before rushing out to ask Uncle Wang. His family had a cat too, but he never cared for it; they would just pour some leftovers for it, and if there wasn’t any, it would catch mice on its own.

"Uncle Wang, my cat’s about to have kittens, what should I do?"

Grandpa Wang laughed, "No need to rush. Just stay by its side and occasionally rub its belly. Once it gives birth, it’ll clean up its young on its own."

"Oh."

After asking, Lu Jingqiu ran back home with quick, light steps. Hua Hua still hadn’t given birth.

Lu Jingqiu went to the kitchen to boil some hot water, found a small soft cloth, and sat beside the cat bed, keeping Hua Hua company.

Her aunt came to check in on her after work, knowing she had school registration today, and found Lu Jingqiu crouching motionless.

"Qiuqiu, how was school?"

"Pretty good. I got a dorm room and met a few new friends. I’ll go back the day after tomorrow afternoon. Auntie, Hua Hua is going to give birth. Look."

Zhou Lanqin then noticed Hua Hua in the nest: "Oh my, it looks like it. How long has it been like this?"

"About an hour."

"Is that too long?"

"Grandpa Wang said it takes a few hours."

Zhou Lanqin found a stool to sit with Lu Jingqiu and asked her some questions about school, learning that her dorm was a four-person room. She said with a smile, "It’s better to have fewer people; less trouble that way."

"Thanks to my friend, her parents know some people, so I got to share a small room with her. It’s not too small, actually—two bunk beds and four cabinets. We pushed the cabinets together, and there’s space on the other side for shoes and basins."

"That’s good. Are you riding your bike to school the day after tomorrow, or taking the bus?"

"Cycling is too far; it would take me an hour. I’ll take the bus instead."

"Do whatever is convenient. These past few days, a colleague of mine got some cotton. I’ll have it brought over in a few days. Then I’ll make you a couple of quilts. Tomorrow, go to the department store and look for some pretty quilt covers. Buy a couple more. They should be festive."

"Okay."

As Lu Jingqiu chatted with Zhou Lanqin, Hua Hua gave birth to a kitten.

"It’s born, it’s born!"

It was a long-haired calico with an orange and white face, its ears stretching to the eyes with a mix of orange and black fur. The left front leg was white, and the right had a patch of orange. Its back was a mix of black, orange, and white, leading to a white tail linked from its rump.

It looked quite attractive.

After giving birth, Hua Hua began to lick the kitten clean of all the mucus. It then bite off the umbilical cord before lying down to rest.

Lu Jingqiu watched the little one with curiosity, not daring to touch it.

Zhou Lanqin said, "This little one is quite cute."

"Auntie, I don’t know how many Hua Hua can have. Do you want to keep one?"

Zhou Lanqin promptly shook her head: "No need, having one of you is enough. Your aunt doesn’t have that much spare time."

Lu Jingqiu felt a bit worried, wondering what to do with a whole litter of kittens.

Zhou Lanqin stayed a while longer, but seeing no more activity, she got up and went home.

After sending her aunt off, Lu Jingqiu sat awhile longer. Not seeing any signs from Hua Hua, she stood up to make dinner.

It looked like Father Lu wouldn’t be coming home for dinner again. She made herself a simple bowl of rice porridge, accompanied by some pickles, and quickly finished her meal.

When Father Lu came home, it was already past eight. On entering, he saw his daughter squatting beside the cat bed and asked, "What’s up?"

Lu Jingqiu said excitedly, "Dad, Hua Hua has given birth."

Lu Xianrun hurried over and saw that there were two little ones in the nest.

"Two have been born?"

"There’s still more in her belly. I don’t know how many."

Lu Xianrun, seeing one calico with long fur and another orange and white with long fur with four white ’mittens,’ exclaimed in delight, "They’re all long-haired?"

Lu Jingqiu nodded excitedly, "Yes, they’re all very pretty." The second one’s nose and the areas around its whiskers were supposed to be white, but there was a faint orange hue, like it had painted whiskers. Overall, it was quite attractive.

Lu Xianrun found it fascinating and stayed with his daughter for a while, watching as an orange and white long-haired kitten was born. All of its legs were white, and it had a beautiful face.

The fourth one, born around ten, turned out to be a gray and white and orange cat. At first glance, it somewhat resembled a Dutch rabbit, with a white belly and legs, except for a round gray patch on the right leg. Its back had shades of gray and yellow over the shoulders and hind, not a continuous white neck, with a neat face, albeit one side gray and the other orange—a quirky mix. Its fur wasn’t as long as the other three but was still a bit longer than Ah Fu’s.

Lu Xianrun laughed, "This little one is great. How did our Hua Hua give birth to such a one? Gorgeous. Qiuqiu, let’s keep this one."

"Okay."

After Father Lu’s novelty wore off, he went to bed. Lu Jingqiu boiled two eggs for Hua Hua. With no fresh fish at home, she simmered some dried fish in water to make a fish soup and fed her.

After waiting two more hours and seeing no movement from Hua Hua’s belly, she felt it and it seemed empty.

Four was a good number. If there were six or seven, it would be hard to find them homes. Nowadays, not many people keep cats or dogs.