Chapter 160: Why Aren’t You Like Me?

After a brief moment of quiet, the Su family residence returned to its usual bustle.

“Zhizhi, who did that dog yesterday belong to?”

I was currently planting vegetables in my small garden, one of the few things I did these days to cultivate my spirit. Truth be told, like most things, I couldn’t really muster much interest in doing it personally. I simply didn’t want to see the soil in the courtyard next to the palace go to waste. So, I grabbed a few maids, picked up some tools, and stepped into the muddy little garden myself.

“It was a stray dog raised by a little maid.”

“The maid belongs to Aunt Su Luo. Zhizhi remembers Mom saying Aunt Su Luo is a good person. I haven’t forgotten!” Si Zhizuo raised her small hand, seeking praise.

Today, she was once again a baby waiting for a compliment.

I blinked and planted a few cabbage seeds. I didn’t offer any praise; doing it too often was exhausting.

Si Zhizuo secretly clenched her small fists.

‘Darn it, I didn’t get today’s little red flower again.’

‘It must be because I didn’t do well enough.’

I looked at the soil beneath my feet. It was still winter. Reasonably, cabbages should be planted before winter so they are ready to eat by the time the heavy snow falls. Since the heavy snow hadn’t officially arrived yet, I just naturally sowed a few seeds, thinking they should produce plenty of seedlings.

Many maids stood before the vegetable garden, feeling helpless. The Great Elder’s wife was farming in person. If the Great Elder found out they hadn’t stopped her, they had no idea how severely they would be punished.

In the center of the garden where soil was being overturned, a young woman with bright eyes and white teeth was bending over, continuously scattering seeds into the gaps in the dirt. The girl was graceful and had a beautiful figure. Her face was like a spring landscape; even without a smile, she gave off a feeling as refreshing as a spring breeze.

“Madam, how can you do the work of servants?” Chunqiao said after hearing reports from the other maids. The others didn’t dare interfere in the master’s business, so only she, being closer to Si Xinyan, dared to step forward and advise.

“Go be busy with something else. No need to interfere,” I waved my hand dismissively. Just as I was about to wipe the sweat from my forehead with my sleeve, I saw a cute little ball in a fluttering dress appear at my feet. She was looking up, handing me a white handkerchief.

“Mom, wipe your sweat.” Si Zhizuo’s voice was soft and sweet. Listening to her well-behaved tone, my heart felt like it was melting. As expected of my daughter—she was just too cute.

“Thank you, baby.”

“Zhizhi also wants to farm.” Si Zhizuo was hiding her own little motive.

It wasn’t easy for Mom to take the initiative to do something, so she certainly wouldn’t be a wet blanket like the other maids and stop her. Instead, she was eager to participate.

Farming. It was something she had never tried. As long as she tried it with Mom, it would be meaningful.

“Alright. You hold the seeds, and I’ll hoe the ground. When the soil is turned, you drop a seed in.”

Si Zhizuo had originally been floating in the air. But seeing that her mom was standing directly in the field, she simply landed on her small leather shoes.

I lowered my gaze slightly. “Forget it. Go stand over to the side. You’ll get your shoes dirty in a moment.”

“No, I want to be with Mommy,” Si Zhizuo said firmly. How could a mere pair of shoes be more important than Mommy?

Seeing her determination, I didn’t try to persuade her further. Whatever my daughter wanted to do, I generally let nature take its course and rarely gave forceful orders.

30 minutes passed, and I had planted cabbage seeds across roughly half an acre of the garden. Having contributed again, Si Zhizuo pulled on my arm and acted spoiled, wanting a reward other than praise. “Mom, Mom, change my shoes.” Mom was going to personally help her put on shoes. She was definitely looking forward to this.

Si Zhizuo thought about how Si Xinyan had often brushed her off lately, using the excuse that she was already grown up. In the mornings, she was made to put on her own shoes and clothes, losing the treatment she used to have. She felt strangely resentful in her heart, which made her look forward to this even more.

I couldn’t help but find it funny and a little helpless, my eyes as doting as ever.

‘Now she remembers to be clean, knowing her little shoes are dirty and need changing.’

‘Why didn’t she think of that when she stepped into the field?’

“Okay, Mom will help you.”

Little Zhizhi was wearing light pink floral socks. The pattern and shape of the socks were very cute, a style perfect for a child. They complemented the delicate princess shoes perfectly.

I reached out and grabbed her little foot. “Don’t move around.”

Si Zhizuo immediately became well-behaved.

She actually hated wearing shoes. She probably inherited that trait from Si Xinyan; she didn’t like being restricted by things and loved wandering around barefoot. However, ever since she had this daughter, Si Xinyan realized she had to set an example. It had been a long time since she ran around the house barefoot like she did when she was a young girl. This left Zhizhi with absolutely no reason to argue against her mother’s demands.

I put on the shoes and buckled them. The little girl was developing well, looking about the same as a 1 or 2-year-old baby. Her feet were also chubby. Looking at them, they didn’t really look like mine.

That was because my feet weren’t “fleshy” in the traditional sense. My slender insteps weren’t wide at all, and the length of my feet was more petite than many people of the same height. Normally, I could wear shoes in size 33 or 34. It mostly depended on the type of shoe. If they were sneakers, I preferred a slightly larger size.

“Mom, what are you looking at?” Si Zhizuo tilted her head. Mom was staring at her in a daze. Was she thinking about something?

I shook my head. Zhizhi had inherited almost all of her genes from me. In a sense, she was like a miniature version of me.

But what was the result? Her facial features were at most 50% or 60% similar to mine, and her body was only about half as similar. She was still young, so it was hard to tell her future appearance, but some clues could be guessed. The saying “You can see the man in the 3-year-old” had always existed among the people.

The type of legs and feet Si Zhizuo had was completely different from mine. For example, my legs weren’t particularly long. Su Liumeng was a typical long-legged beauty with a rare golden ratio. As for me, while my proportions weren’t ugly, they definitely weren’t the golden ratio. My overall image was purely in the “cute” category, with an incredibly petite frame.

“Mom.”

Si Zhizuo called out again. She squeezed her small hands. Since she hadn’t received an answer for a long time, she felt inexplicably nervous.

‘Mom couldn’t be thinking about when to throw me into the trash can, could she?’

Si Zhizuo also liked to let her imagination run wild when she had nothing to do. I suddenly snapped out of it and simply picked up my daughter. Si Zhizuo rose into the air. Noticing where she was, her nervous mood was greatly relieved.

“The parts of you that don’t look like me… who exactly do they look like?” This was a very serious question.

Si Zhizuo’s little face suddenly turned pale. She stammered in response, “It should… it should be like myself.”

I reminisced for a second. When Si Zhizuo first met me, she already had her own form. It was a bit different from how she looked after being born. If that was the case, then she really did inherit my ghostly physique genes, while most of the remaining parts were inherited from my physical self.

I secretly breathed a sigh of relief. I have a psychological cleanliness habit. The reason I thought about this question was that I didn’t want to suddenly encounter some melodramatic plot. If that happened, it would disgust me for a lifetime. Fortunately, it was completely different from the novels I had read.

Si Zhizuo pinched the fabric of my lapel with her small hand, still feeling a bit nervous. She asked tentatively, “If Zhizhi didn’t inherit all of Mom’s genes, will I be thrown into the trash can?” The little one was carefully testing to see if I was angry now.

“Why would I throw you in the trash?” I said crossly. “Don’t learn my bad habits and spend all day thinking about things that don’t exist.”

“My temperament is a result of my growing environment, which can’t be completely changed now. You’ve had a happy and perfect family since you were little, so don’t always reference my personality as you grow up.”

“It’s not like I’ll only be satisfied if you’re exactly like me.”

“If you really looked identical to me, it would be quite strange, wouldn’t it?”

I wanted my daughter to inherit my looks, but that wasn’t the same as wanting her to be a carbon copy of me. That would be too eerie. Just thinking about it made me shiver a little.

Si Zhizuo loosened her grip slightly, and her mood returned to the color of sunshine.

Hehe. ‘I told you so.’

‘How could I be thrown into the trash?’

At this moment, Si Zhizuo’s little feet dangled in the air, swaying just like her mood. She couldn’t help but hum an unknown tune, finally having the time to seriously plot over yesterday’s problem: when she could find a chance to sneak in and quietly conspire with Su Liumeng on a plan to change Si Xinyan—and she definitely couldn’t let Mommy herself find out.

Meanwhile, my thoughts drifted elsewhere. The weirdness about my daughter lately hadn’t reached a certain conclusion yet.

I hope I’m just overthinking it…