Chapter 2 - The Shen Family

Shen Xia watched as her grandmother got her things and left the house in a hurry. Now that Shen Xia was thinking about it, her grandmother seemed to be in quite the rush. But she had no time to dwell on this, not when she was having such a hard time herself. "Ahh! Why me!? What did grandma mean when she said that it runs in the family?"

Just thinking about her so called family made Shen Xia angered beyond belief. Ever since she was young, her family had tormented her. They had always put her down and treated her like she was trash. This was all because her mother disappeared when she was younger and gave birth to her out of wedlock. Soon after, her mother fell sick and passed away. If not for her grandmother taking her away and living with her in this run down house away from the family, there was no telling how much torment she would have had to have suffered.

She was basically an orphan and had no idea who her father even was. The Shen family was a prominent family and had a long history. It was not like Shen Xia hated all of the Shen family, her grandfather was also good to her. It was just her aunts, uncles, and their children. Mainly Shen Bai. She was the same age as Shen Xia and did everything she could to ruin Shen Xia's life.

In school, Shen Bai would spread rumors about her causing her to be ostracized by her classmates. Any boy who tried to talk to her, showing interest in her, would end up shunning her the next day and would be chasing after Shen Bai instead. For some reason, this cousin of hers saw a need to make Shen Xia into a joke. For what reason, one may ask? Even Shen Xia does not know the answer to this question.

She had only lived in the Shen household for a short period of time when she was younger when her mother was still alive. It was only four whole years, and during that time, she was called many things by her cousins. From a fatherless waste to things much worse that Shen Xia didn't even want to remember. This kind of treatment would normally cause a child to have an inferiority complex, but Shen Xia just put everything into the back of her head and concentrated on her studies. But even after moving out with her grandmother so that she could live a somewhat peaceful life, Shen Bai somehow managed to get her parents to enroll her into every school Shen Xia attended. So her only peaceful moments were when she was home in this old, run down house.

One must wonder why Shen Xia and her grandmother were living in such a run down place when her grandfather was a good man. This was mainly due in part to her grandmother's decision. She did not want the rest of the family to make an excuse to harass them more because they were using Shen family money or Shen family property. While her grandfather sent money regularly in secret, the house itself was one her grandmother owned from her dowry when she first got married. It was just a small house with two bedrooms and a combined kitchen and living room, with a small bath off the side. The biggest thing was that this house was not part of the Shen family's assets.

"I guess I should eat before this gets cold." Shen Xia's ears were still flopped over, she was very depressed. She pouted her lips as she slowly ate the rice porridge her grandmother made. It was slightly sweet and slightly salty, just the right combination to make it taste perfect. So even when she was feeling depressed, Shen Xia still ate everything.

After filling her stomach, Shen Xia woke up enough to finally take things in. She had just turned eighteen the month before. She was now considered an adult and would be sitting for her final exams in three months' time. She walked slowly towards the bathroom, her long shirt swayed with her tail, keeping it slightly propped up in the back, exposing her thin white legs.

When she got to the bathroom, she stripped down to her underwear, allowing the soft light to shine down onto her pearly white bare skin. She looked in the mirror and inspected her new ears. When she touched them, she found them soft to the touch and a bit sensitive. She then concentrated on them and began wiggling them both at the same time and then one at a time. She could even flatten them to her head, making her look as if she was wronged. This actually intrigued Shen Xia as she began to mess around. She pouted her lip and turned her eyes up as if she was being scolded. This look alone caused Shen Xia to realize one thing…. "Don't I look a little too cute like this!?"

Shen Xia was not one to really think of herself as cute. She had always been berated and told she was ugly by her family, especially Shen Bai, but when she saw herself like this in the mirror with different features than what she was used to. She could see herself in a new light. For the first time in her life, she had really found herself to look cute. "So was I always like this? Did Yan'er not lie to me when she said I was cute?"

Shen Xia blushed when she realized how conceited she sounded. She quickly looked away from her face and down to the hem of her panty line as she turned sideways to see that her new tail had pushed the backside of her panties down slightly to make room for it. She reached down and pulled her tail gently to the front and stroked the soft fur with her hand. "This feels so strange. It is like every hair feels my touch. But the whole thing is soft and fluffy."

After stroking her tail for a bit, Shen Xia pulled out the front side of her panties to make sure she didn't get a front tail as well. After confirming she only had these two new features, she let out a sigh of relief and put her shirt back on before heading to her bedroom to get a set of clean clothes. She felt that maybe after showering and wearing something fresh that she would feel a bit more relaxed.

A small coffee shop downtown City A…

Zi Shu was sitting in front of an old man with a worried look on her face: "Old Man, what should we do?"