Kids really can’t toss and turn too much.
At this moment, Si Zhiruo just wanted to sleep.
Because she was next to her mom, she instinctively let go of all her senses. In a sleepy haze, she vaguely felt herself being hugged, with the faint voices of two people talking nearby.
“Did you two just have a fight?”
The corner of the blanket was gently tucked in.
Si Zhiruo didn’t hear what the other voice said.
She didn’t really care what was being said, anyway.
The next moment, a warm body hugged her.
A reassuring scent filled her nose, and Si Zhiruo’s little body, which had been curled up, finally stretched out completely, a happy smile blossoming on her tiny face.
I let out a sigh of relief.
I was so afraid Zhi Zhi would be unhappy.
“You really… Why are you arguing with Zhi Zhi?”
“Whatever she says, just let her have her way.”
“I didn’t argue with her, it was her being fierce with me the whole time. I didn’t talk back even once.”
“Because… she hasn’t accepted you yet, right?”
The bits and pieces of conversation were like little electric signals in the air.
Si Zhiruo didn’t hear it clearly, but she remembered her mom’s last words: “She’s also a baby starved for love.”
“She doesn’t have anyone else now, and only I can love her a little more.”
“Mm, I understand.”
July 17th.
My period came again.
My body was already weak, and now, with the pain of menstrual cramps, painkillers went down one after another, but there was no relief at all. My face was pale as I lay on the bed, not wanting to move an inch, let alone eat or do anything else.
These sick days were really not much different from my confinement period a while back.
I’d gotten used to it long ago.
Just… these cramps, can’t they hurry up and go away!!!
I’m usually so gentle, but even I couldn’t help cursing this time—it really broke my defenses.
“Mommy, don’t hurt, don’t hurt.”
“Baby will blow on it for you.” Si Zhiruo crawled over, her little palm pressing on my stomach through the blanket. As a strange energy flowed around my lower abdomen, the cramps that had plagued me for so long disappeared by more than half in an instant. With my daughter’s words, it really felt like some magical power— the pain actually vanished.
A flash of surprise crossed my eyes.
Si Zhiruo’s little face was full of pride. “Hmph, isn’t Zhi Zhi amazing? Raising a daughter is way more useful than raising a partner, right?”
The rivalry never stopped.
Lately, Si Zhiruo had been overt and covert about competing—most of it involving sneaky comparisons to Su Liumeng.
Like at bedtime: Little Zhi Zhi insisted on cuddling with me, hugging my arm to fall asleep, while Su Liumeng, though she shared the bed, could only lie on one side. My soft, fragrant little wife could only sneak a cuddle after my daughter fell asleep for a moment’s taste.
What Si Zhiruo once said had really come true.
She’d declared before that as soon as she was born, she’d steal all of Su Liumeng’s affection.
Who knew it would turn out like this.
“Mommy’s dress is so pretty.”
At the dining table, Si Zhiruo was holding her bottle, drinking happily with smiling eyes.
Out of nowhere, she blurted a line targeting Su Liumeng, just shy of openly saying, “This dress is made by Mommy for me. Has your wife ever made one for you?”
What kind of messy family relationship is this?
I couldn’t help but hold my forehead.
I really didn’t know how to mediate between them.
If I take Zhi Zhi’s side, what would Su Liumeng think?
If I side with Su Liumeng, my daughter would have the same thoughts.
So, I can’t be biased in any way.
I can only leave the future to the two of them, and see when they’ll finally make peace.
They can’t go on fighting like this forever.
For now, my daughter is still young, and she definitely can’t do without me.
No matter how supreme her cultivation, her body is still that of a baby around half a year old—of course, she can’t withstand much.
Only by keeping her by my side can I truly be at ease.
Si Zhiruo has her own room, too.
At the very least, she’ll have to wait until she’s two or three before she can sleep alone at night.
As a half-step Supreme Ghost Emperor, if Si Zhiruo knew that her mother was thinking this way—deliberately not weaning her early or letting her sleep alone—she’d probably sit bolt upright, half speechless at being treated like a baby, and half secretly silly with happiness basking in motherly love.
She—Si Tongyu.
She’s determined to be the world’s number one mama’s girl.
Who says a decisive half-step Ghost Emperor can’t spend every day shouting for Mommy to hug her?
“Mommy, hug Zhi Zhi.”
Seeing Su Liumeng ignoring her, Si Zhiruo quietly raised her little chin, stretching her arms to her mother, her soft, sticky voice acting spoiled—it was truly lethal.
“Didn’t get enough to eat?” I picked my daughter up onto my lap, using my chopsticks to pick up a shred of potato for myself, while Zhi Zhi nestled in my arms, sipping her bottle.
“I’m almost full.” Si Zhiruo answered me, but her gaze landed on Su Liumeng.
See that?
Your wife is ignoring you now.
Nyeh-nyeh-nyeh.
Si Zhiruo mocked in her heart, clearly having forgotten that her way of referring to Su Liumeng had already, little by little, become “Mommy’s partner”.
Which, in essence, meant an acknowledgment of her identity.
Proof that Su Liumeng’s efforts had not been in vain.
Su Liumeng could only laugh and cry.
If she really fought over affection with a child, then all her years of experience would have been for nothing.
Seeing Su Liumeng still ignoring her, Si Zhiruo grew secretly angry and felt a bit bored.
So infuriating.
How could she just ignore me?
She wanted to see Su Liumeng flustered and helpless, but reality was the opposite.
“What are you looking at? Don’t look at me with those eyes.” Now, Si Zhiruo felt like she was the one losing her cool.
What kind of look was that, Su Liumeng?
Who let you look at a future Ghost Emperor with those indulgent, doting eyes?
If this kept up, it was starting to look like she was just being unreasonable.
Si Zhiruo bit down on the nipple of her bottle, her tiny budding teeth squeezing it into different shapes.
Very much like Si Xinyan—though her teeth weren’t fully grown, you could already see the future sharp tips of her baby canines.
If a few months passed, she suspected she’d leave bite marks on it, showing just how vexed and speechless she felt.
Why was this all so different from her plan?
Weren’t they supposed to compete equally?
But it ended up as her own one-woman show.
Su Liumeng.
She was becoming more and more annoying.
Si Zhiruo couldn’t quite figure out her own conflicted feelings for the moment. As she drank her milk, she suddenly couldn’t control herself and let out a milky burp, drawing my amused gaze.
Her little head flushed red, and she looked down, her hands clutching the hem of her dress.
Ah—
Why’d I burp like that?
And just in time for Mommy to hear.
Su Liumeng secretly laughed, but didn’t dare make a sound, afraid the little ancestor would turn her fury on her. She kept her eyes fixed on her bowl, acting as if she hadn’t noticed anything at all.
Si Zhiruo sulked for a moment. Seeing that her mother didn’t tease her, she peeked up again.
The quiet air in the room, the little maids going about their tasks, Su Liumeng not even glancing her way.
Somehow, she relaxed a little. What was this feeling?
Actually, it’s… it’s pretty normal.
Who doesn’t burp…
It’s just a normal bodily reaction.
Little Zhi Zhi quickly talked herself out of her first-time-human embarrassment, sitting on Mommy’s lap, her tiny feet in little shoes swinging back and forth.
I reached out and grabbed her ankle. “Mommy’s eating now. If you keep kicking and flailing, I won’t hold you next time.”
“Ah?”
Si Zhiruo’s head drooped visibly.
Alright.
She settled down.
After a brief moment of quiet, Si Zhiruo got restless again. Kids always seem to have boundless energy and curiosity about everything.
She put her bottle down on the table and called to Su Liumeng, “Hey, who let you drink my milk? You’re such a grown-up—aren’t you ashamed?”
Su Liumeng was speechless for a moment.
How could she forget about that!
Before her True Spirit awakened, this little ancestor had seen everything with her own eyes.
Just because her True Spirit had awakened didn’t mean she’d forgotten everything that happened before.
She could ignore the jealous remarks, but ignoring normal conversation would be a bit disrespectful.
Su Liumeng could only reply dryly, “I just didn’t want it to go to waste.”
“Alright.” I patted Si Zhiruo’s head. “It was me who told her to drink it.”
Si Zhiruo squinted her eyes in satisfaction.
So this is what it feels like to have your head patted by Mommy.
No wonder everyone else is so happy.
Hmph.
Don’t think just because this Ghost Emperor is happy now that I’ll let Su Liumeng off the hook.
I’m making a note of this in my little book.
These days, ever since Si Zhiruo’s True Spirit awakened, she’d only been drinking from the bottle.
On one hand, I wasn’t feeling well, so I rarely had the strength to nurse her.
On the other hand, the child was growing up and had her own awareness.
Nursing like a newborn again really isn’t so good anymore.
Besides, the baby’s only half a year old.
Her baby teeth aren’t even all out yet—how could I wean her so early?
I… it’s not like we lack anything.
No way am I going to make her suffer just because of a bottle of milk.
Nighttime.
Si Zhiruo quietly got up to go to the bathroom by herself.
This is just how the world is.
No matter how powerful a cultivator is, unless they’ve transcended everything, they still can’t completely escape eating and sleeping—at best, they can just go without food and drink for a long time.
She was in the public bathroom in the living room at the time.
So now she stood in the dark living room, the little cutie looking like a mini adult, doing her own thing, the sight enough to melt anyone’s heart.
She gently pushed open the door of the other master bedroom.
The princess-like, oversized room, exquisitely decorated, made her eyes light up with little starbursts.
This is… Zhi Zhi’s very own room.
And it was Mommy who decorated it herself—Su Liumeng never got this kind of treatment.
Whether it was the first or the second reason, this made the little dumpling hum a tune in delight, instinctively rolling onto the big bed, leaving a tiny mark on the soft, flat sheets.