Chapter 117 (1/2): A Properly Made-Up Confession

After receiving the order that I’d be going out shopping, I felt like these two little maidservants were even happier than I was, bouncing along the whole way, chattering non-stop.

Have you ever seen birds on tree branches in the morning?

That’s exactly how I feel right now.

I’m someone who likes peace and quiet.

Seeing how happy they were, I didn’t say anything to spoil their mood.

Chun Qiao is a little older, so she’s a bit calmer.

As for Chun Lan, she’s probably been cooped up at home for days and was clearly bursting to get out. Now that she’s finally managed a trip to the big city, she’s instantly dazzled by the hustle and bustle.

“Chun Qiao-jie, look over there, what a huge balloon! It must be at least six zhang tall!”

Chun Lan was so happy that she instinctively grabbed Chun Qiao’s hand, only to realize Chun Qiao was serving Miss right now and didn’t have time for her whirlwind of excitement.

Chun Qiao couldn’t help but laugh. “How old are you already, still getting startled over nothing? If you bump into Miss, kneeling for three days and nights still won’t be enough.”

Being able to serve the master up close is a high status among the household staff, but if you offend the master’s family, at best you’ll be beaten till your skin splits open, at worst you’ll be sold off.

In modern society, selling isn’t really a thing.

At the Su family, if a servant makes a big mistake, most are simply beaten to death.

Because there’s nowhere to sell them off to begin with.

Hearing Chun Qiao’s warning, Chun Lan instantly wilted like a frosted eggplant, or like someone suddenly slamming the brakes, going from ten to zero in a flash.

I ignored the conversation between the two maids and instead stared at one of my own fingers.

As I channeled my technique, the tip of my finger started to look a little blurry.

With such a small area turning intangible, no wonder the technique’s creator said it was practically useless—even in a fight, even if you make a vital part intangible for a moment, the area is so small that it’s basically meaningless. You might even make your skin and exoskeleton intangible, letting someone’s sword go straight to your organs and cause even more damage.

If you ask why not just make the organs intangible directly?

All I can say is, reality is harsh, no matter how good it sounds in theory.

Even if you cultivate this technique to a high level, can you really make an entire organ intangible?

Luckily.

I don’t have such high demands. With some more practice, I should reach my goal.

Making my entire cervix intangible is probably impossible.

Later, I might be able to get it up to a width of ten fingers—ten fingers placed side by side is already as wide as an organ.

I think if I keep at it for another month, I might manage a two- or three-centimeter area.

For me, that’s barely enough.

If the baby’s head gets stuck, I can temporarily make the edge intangible, letting the baby come out naturally.

“Mama.”

“Zhizhi smells ice cream.”

The little dumpling stretched under the tree, her voice still sleepy, but maybe her craving was triggered and her drowsy brain was forcibly awakened.

I smiled quietly.

This girl.

It’s always about ice cream.

I remember she never used to like it that much—maybe the more you can’t have something, the more you want it?

“When baby is born, Mama will buy it for you herself, okay?”

“But Zhizhi wants it now.” Si Zhiruo looked longingly at the people lining up outside the milk tea shop, reluctantly dragging her gaze away from the mascot holding an ice cream model by the door.

After Zhizhi is born, I probably shouldn’t eat too much cold food either.

Don’t I have uterine coldness?

That won’t be solved anytime soon.

Yin energy is one thing, coldness is another. About being a pure yin body but still having uterine coldness…

It’s kind of speechless, honestly.

“Do you two want some?”

I pulled out a black gold card and handed it to Chun Qiao. “Go buy two. You’ve got to have some treats while you’re out. Later, I’ll get you some new clothes too—it’s a reward from your Miss for looking after me.”

The black card belonged to Su Liumeng—I don’t have that much money.

It’s just, I’m forcibly using it for now.

Spending a bit of interest from my wife’s account shouldn’t be too much, right?

“Thank you, Miss.”

Buying two ice creams doesn’t need a black card, obviously.

Neither of the little maids has the latest phone, so they can’t use mobile payment—I’ll get them phones too.

Inside the mall.

I held a small cake, hesitated, and finally took a small bite along the edge.

It tasted sweet, but I didn’t eat more.

A quarter of an hour later.

In front of the mother-and-baby shop.

I looked at all the little clothes, and under the clerk’s worshipful “god of wealth” gaze, I casually bought a whole bunch of the most expensive items.

“I’ll take these maternity pajamas too.”

Just ten thousand—cheap.

The apricot dress caught my eye the more I looked at it. Since it was rare for me to be out, I decided to buy everything I might need all at once.

Stroller, diapers, bottles, ** devices, and so on.

I bought so much, there was no way to carry it all at once.

I found a secluded spot and stuffed part of it into my spatial bracelet before going back so the maids could load the rest onto the trolley.

“I nearly forgot—we still need baby cribs.”

A newborn is too small to sleep with me, only when she’s bigger can she come up to my bed.

If I roll over and crush her, it’s all over.

In the distance, two college students were whispering, and one of them kept glancing at me. “There’s a cute girl over there, but she looks a little blank, kind of like an NPC.”

“What NPC cutie? Where?”

His girlfriend chimed in, “Is she that cute? She must have traded IQ for looks—she doesn’t look very smart.”

I froze.

NPC cutie?

Are they…talking about me?

It took me a while to realize who they meant.

I just have a habit of thinking, so maybe I look a little dazed—but how does that make me not smart?

“Hey!”

“You two want a beating?”

Chun Qiao stomped over, hands on hips, ready to teach them a lesson.

The college couple hadn’t expected the three people ahead to have such sharp ears—even at this distance, they heard every word.

The girl apologized at once, “Sorry, jiejie, my boyfriend didn’t mean anything by it. He just likes to share things with me. He saw you were cute and made a joke.”

I stopped Chun Qiao from giving them each a punch.

I wasn’t in a bad mood today, so I couldn’t be bothered to argue.

On the way down, Chun Qiao was still upset.

“Miss, you’re just letting them go like that?”

“Why bother with two kids?” My expression didn’t change.

“Kids? They both look older than you, Miss.”

Older than me?

I paused.

When did I start unconsciously seeing myself as the elder?

“Never mind, take it as accumulating virtue for my daughter.” After realizing my growing urge to kill was real, I kept restraining myself—if I let my emotions run wild, I’d never be able to control my temper again.

“Mama, I secretly gave them a bad luck buff.”

“It won’t be anything big, maybe just a trip and a fall, that’s all…” The little dumpling saw my changing expression and hurried to explain.

I was silent for a moment, then asked, “How do you know about buffs?”

Hearing I wasn’t upset, Si Zhiruo let out a sigh of relief and answered in her childish voice, “Of course I know, Ma. When you play games, it’s not like I can’t hear everything.”

“…”

See, you really shouldn’t do everything in front of your child.

She’s not even born yet and already knows about games.

“Games aren’t that fun.” After saying that, I paused, suddenly understanding why so many elders would keep telling their kids that—even if they liked games themselves.

Because life has more interesting things.

Playing games is fine, but being addicted isn’t.

And since kids generally have no self-control, they just say “games aren’t fun, don’t play games.”

“Games are actually pretty fun,” Si Zhiruo replied without thinking. “You look so happy playing, and when I’m born I can become a game master and take Mama to win all the games.”

“Then, if someone asks, whose baby is this, how can she be so amazing—I’ll just pat my chest and say, I’m Mama’s baby, of course I’m the best.”

Listening to her ramble on, the words I wanted to say caught in my throat, leaving only a wave of warmth in my heart.

If that’s how it is…

Suddenly, I’m kind of looking forward to it.

“Mama, do you remember? You once told me that if someone gossips while you’re eating, what would you do?”

I paused to recall, “Punch their teeth out?”

“Yeah, yeah, that’s it…” Si Zhiruo sounded especially excited.

Listening to her eager tone, I fell silent.

Surely no one would dare talk trash in front of Zhizhi, right?

I stood at the mall entrance, thinking about what I still needed to buy.

The daily vegetables and meat all came from the ranch, so I didn’t have to shop for them myself.

Phones bought, maids’ clothes bought, stroller bought, daughter’s room all set up—pretty much everything I could think of.

Shouldn’t be anything left out.

“Miss, I’ve already notified the driver.”

I looked at Chun Qiao and suddenly asked, “Want to eat barbecue?”

“No, thanks.”

Technically, I could eat barbecue, but I barely eat anything from outside anymore.

After all, how can you trust food if you don’t know how it’s made?

I transferred fifty thousand yuan to them. “Go buy what you want. You followed me out of the Su family—I won’t treat you badly.”

Girls of fifteen or sixteen are always craving good food—how could they not like barbecue?

Five minutes later.

Watching the two little maids eating lamb skewers, I had the odd feeling of raising daughters.

I felt a bit speechless.

Too much maternal love probably isn’t a good thing.

After all, these two maids are already of age—they can’t be treated as little kids forever.

Tianshan Residence, 45th floor.

This whole floor belongs to me and Su Liumeng.

I can’t do the setup myself, but I can supervise everyone as they arrange my daughter’s room.

“The main color has to be pink—like the princess rooms in those animated shows. The crib should go by the big bed, with some cute plushies at the headboard.”

“Yes, just like that—perfect.”

“Hang some wind chimes in front of the floor-to-ceiling window. And make sure there’s nothing small within reach.”

“Anything that could be put in the mouth can’t be left where a child can get to.”

Si Zhiruo commented faintly, “Mama, your daughter isn’t that dumb. I’m not going to stick random stuff in my mouth.”

I replied confidently, “Didn’t you say your true spirit would be muddled for a while to avoid the heavenly retribution after being reborn?”

Si Zhiruo replied stiffly, “That—still, I wouldn’t eat random stuff.” She sounded a bit insulted by her own mother.

“It’s just my true spirit that’s confused, not my intelligence.”

“Your daughter, after all, inherits Mama’s brains. Didn’t you tell me you could talk at just a few months old?”

“I bet I’ll speak my first words before I’m half a year old.”

Saying your first words is a key milestone—after that, no matter what strange powers show, Heaven won’t treat you as a baby who hasn’t drunk the soup of forgetfulness, but as a gifted child.

That’s the point.

It’s also when Si Zhiruo’s true spirit will be fully awakened.

“Do you like it?”

Walking through the room that belongs to my daughter, looking at the cartoon stickers on the wall, I finally stopped by the window and drew back the pale blue curtain to reveal a little play area on the balcony.

There’s a pretty good-sized slide, and a small sandbox.

One side of the balcony railing is specially reinforced—even a tall adult would have trouble climbing over.

“I like it.”

Si Zhiruo’s little head wobbled, then she curled up under the tree. “Your daughter can’t stay awake anymore, I have to sleep—Mama, jiayou…”

“Sleep, then.”

Maybe her drowsiness was contagious, I yawned too. “I’m going to nap as well.”

“Mother and daughter napping together.”

Si Zhiruo was about to doze off, but perked up at that, suddenly blurting, “Mama, does this count as temporarily releasing Su Liumeng?”

What a weird metaphor.

January 23rd, 2024.

Little New Year in the South.

“Su Liumeng, what’s for dinner?”

In the kitchen, Su Liumeng was kneading dough, much more relaxed than the past few days. I sneaked some flour and, while she was thinking about my question, smudged her face with it, giggling.

Su Liumeng: “…”

“If you’re feeling restless, I can teach you other uses for your little hands tonight.”

At that, I made a hasty escape.

“Haha.”

“It’s still bright out.”

“The maids need me—see you later.”

From washing her hands, to grabbing me back, Su Liumeng needed only a second. I hadn’t finished my sentence before she caught me, and I could only shrink into her arms, shivering.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Su Liumeng teased, watching my face turn redder.

When I’m guilty, it’s easy to start an old argument.

I pretended nothing happened, put my hands on my hips, and glared back. “Let me ask you—what have you been up to these days? Have you got a little wife outside? Hmm? You keep disappearing before dawn—is that right?”

Su Liumeng: “…”

Gaslighting and making trouble—this girl sure picks things up quickly.

She’s mastered the art of being an unreasonable girlfriend in no time.

Sometimes Su Liumeng really wondered which of us is more like a girl.

“I’m studying medicine.” Su Liumeng rubbed her brow, suddenly unsure how to explain to Si Xinyan—say too much, and this girl overthinks, say nothing, and she imagines even more.

“Silent now? Did I hit the mark?” I was definitely being cheeky, grinning in her arms, rubbing more flour on her face.

Su Liumeng was silent for a moment, then said softly:

“Baby, I’ve realized…you’re a little spoiled by me.”

“You’re not a little cheeky—you’re very cheeky.”

“You know what this gets you?”

“Gets me…what?” I blinked in confusion.

“A good hard lesson on the bed!!!” Su Liumeng spoke with extra weight, poking my forehead.

I swayed from her pokes, my excitement fading, my mood drooping. “Sorry, I’ll try to behave.”