Su Liumeng had been keeping watch by the side. When she sensed the breakthrough in realm, a flash of surprise flickered in her eyes, but it vanished quickly, and she calmly accepted the reality.
Her wife having extraordinary talent—is that so excessive?
This—
Not at all.
Seeing that Si Xinyan had finished breaking through but still showed no sign of waking up, the confusion in Su Liumeng’s eyes deepened considerably.
What kind of cultivation technique is she practicing?
She wasn’t absorbing any yin energy from the outside, so she must be cultivating a technique.
From the baby’s crib, a tiny head had already poked out. Two little hands clung to the railings, and a pair of big eyes stared fixedly at the figure on the bed.
Su Liumeng took a step closer and made a shushing gesture.
Zhizhi’s big eyes looked a bit dazed. When she saw Su Liumeng approaching, she instinctively shrank back, then suddenly stopped herself, remaining in place as she curiously watched the girl in front of her.
“Don’t speak.”
“Your mother is cultivating. Don’t disturb her.”
“Yiya?” The little one tilted her head, still not quite understanding what cultivation meant.
“Are you hungry?” Su Liumeng was very cautious and didn’t come any closer. “Do you want to go out and eat something?”
Hearing that she could eat, Zhizhi gently nodded her head, but noticing Su Liumeng getting so close, she kept shaking her head, clearly rejecting her approach.
Su Liumeng spoke in a very soft voice, even using a technique to suppress the sound to a very small area. “Look, your mother is cultivating now, so she can’t take you to eat.”
“If you eat in the room, you might end up disturbing her cultivation.”
Little Zhizhi subconsciously bit her finger.
She was teething now, so her mouth often felt itchy. Her mother had taught her not to chew her hands for no reason, but some instinct still remained, and she often made such unconscious movements.
With a sudden movement, she pulled her hand back, and almost instinctively glanced toward her mother.
After making sure the figure on the bed had no reaction, her eyes went through a few changes before she looked at the girl by her crib again. Suddenly, she slowly reached out her little arm.
The joy in Su Liumeng’s eyes deepened. Following Zhizhi’s arm, she gently supported her bottom, picking up the tiny body in one swift motion.
It was Zhizhi’s first time lying on a stranger’s shoulder. She gripped the fabric on Su Liumeng’s shoulder tightly, feeling no sense of security at all.
Almost as soon as they reached the living room, the little one started chattering, wanting to get down herself.
Su Liumeng placed her on a small sofa and then went to the kitchen to warm up the milk from the fridge.
As Si Zhiruo watched herself being safely set down, she slowly lifted her head, once again staring at the person in front of her, confusion never fading from her eyes.
Zhizhi remembered this person.
She was the servant who often fed her milk.
Deep down, she actually disliked this person—an instinctive reaction—but she also felt she wasn’t all that bad. At least, she never bullied her, nor did she ever refuse to put her down when she wanted.
“Here you go, it’s ready to drink.”
The bottle of warm milk, wiped clean and spotless, was handed over as Zhizhi was still deep in thought. She tilted her head to receive it from the girl, then, in the cutest of poses, held it with both hands in front of her and began to gulp it down.
She really was quite hungry.
It was just that, since her mother hadn’t come over to hug her like usual, she was very sensible and didn’t disturb her.
The obedient way she drank her milk made Su Liumeng’s eyes sparkle with stars.
What a marvelous world, to have such an adorable baby.
Utterly, impossibly cute from every angle; her little cheeks were soft and white, like you could squeeze water out of them.
Feeling someone watching her, the little one hugged her bottle and immediately turned to the other side. Zhizhi didn’t want to be stared at.
As she turned, only her two little legs moved, but she kept clutching her bottle, continuing to gulp down all those nutrients.
Su Liumeng let out a chuckle, picked up the remote, and turned on the TV, which was still on the children’s channel. As the cartoon characters appeared on screen, the little one’s gaze was instantly drawn in.
Seeing her enjoying her milk, an idea popped into Su Liumeng’s mind. Her eyes flashed, and she suddenly wanted to heat up a bottle for herself too.
She wasn’t being greedy.
She was just worried that so many bottles sitting in the fridge would go bad.
After all, the baby worked so hard already.
She didn’t want to waste the fruits of all that labor.
Su Liumeng quickly convinced herself. Seeing the little one busy watching TV, she figured no one would notice what she was doing, so she sneakily cleared her throat, nearly stumbling as she walked to the fridge.
She took out a cold bottle and, while heating it up, couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was watching her from behind.
Instead of heading back to the living room, Su Liumeng chose to sit on a small stool by the kitchen door.
She was already an adult—a milk bottle, which was huge compared to a child, was just like a drink she could finish in one go. She tipped her head back and gulped it all down.
The bottles in the fridge were constantly being rotated.
Any that were about to expire would be dealt with in a harmless way.
Before, whenever Su Liumeng did this, she always made sure to hide it from Zhizhi.
But today—
As she savored the sweet aftertaste in her mouth, she failed to notice the change in her surroundings. Suddenly, when she looked up, she saw a tiny head poke out from the sofa, those bright eyes fixed on her—especially on the small bottle in her hand. The little one’s pretty eyes were filled with disbelief, slowly turning into a dazed shock.
Clatter.
The bottle fell to the floor, spilling white streaks everywhere, some splattering on Su Liumeng’s feet.
“It’s not what you think.”
“Let me explain.”
Su Liumeng frantically tried to explain, wanting to say that her mother was just worried about waste and always disposed of the soon-to-expire milk herself—but how could she phrase it properly?
Just that moment of hesitation, Zhizhi’s little mouth puckered.
“Waaah!!!”
She started crying without warning, her wails echoing thunderously through the living room.
Su Liumeng immediately panicked and rushed over, only to see the little one’s big eyes brimming with tears, pearl-like drops falling endlessly onto her arms.
“What’s wrong?”
I frowned, practically running out of my bedroom. Frowning again at the helpless Su Liumeng, I scooped up my daughter, gently patting her back, “Don’t cry, don’t cry, Zhizhi baby is the bravest.”
“Did someone upset Zhizhi? Mommy will help you beat the bad guys.” I grabbed her little hand and tapped at Su Liumeng.
The girl’s eyes were filled with helplessness.
Now, Zhizhi was crying so hard she was hiccuping—you could see how heartbroken she was.
She could only meekly take the gentle smacks.
Zhizhi clung tightly to my arm, babbling and gesturing for me to move forward.
When we got near the kitchen, she pointed her little finger at the bottle on the floor, her long lashes still wet with tears, looking utterly aggrieved.
“Mm, mommy sees it, and will explain it to you.”
“Let’s not cry anymore, okay?”
She obediently nodded, though she’d cried so hard just now that she was still sniffling.
“She didn’t steal Zhizhi’s food. Mommy allowed it.”
“There are already so many bottles. Zhizhi can’t drink them all.”
“If we let them expire, isn’t that a waste?”
“The ones she drank weren’t the freshest—they were the ones almost past their date. The freshest milk, of course, is for our little princess—Zhizhi baby alone.”
“When you think about it that way, it’s not so sad, is it?”
“That’s right, these are the ones Zhizhi doesn’t want. There’s nothing to be sad about.”
I took out a handkerchief and wiped away the tears on her little face.
Seeing my daughter cry like this, I felt miserable inside too.
I had just been cultivating my technique. When I heard Zhizhi crying, I was so startled that I stopped right away, thinking something serious must have happened to make my normally calm daughter cry so hard.
Now, Zhizhi was holding onto my shoulder, burying her head in my arms, no longer upset.
She was nodding slowly and seriously.
I let out a relieved sigh.
People who rarely cry are the hardest to comfort once they start.
Thankfully, it was just a misunderstanding. Zhizhi already understood so much—once she realized she’d misunderstood Su Liumeng and that she hadn’t meant to steal her milk, she stopped fussing about why a grown-up would compete with a newborn for food.
When everything was settled, Su Liumeng also came over and picked up the dropped bottle.
I looked at her and mouthed silently:
“You too.”
“Why didn’t you keep it from Zhizhi?”
“Children and adults think differently. She sees it as her own, so if you take it, she’ll be very upset.”
“Especially since this is the milk mommy usually feeds her.”
Su Liumeng stayed silent, not answering directly.
This really was her fault.
They’d agreed long ago that these things must always be done behind the child’s back.
Now that she’d been caught, Su Liumeng could only blame herself for being careless.
I secretly hooked my pinky around Su Liumeng’s, and when she saw the smile lingering at the corner of my mouth, she knew I wasn’t angry at all. After this silent exchange, I carried my daughter out onto the balcony.
After soothing Zhizhi for a while and watching her smile through her tears, I couldn’t help but smile too.
“Today, mommy will tell you this story.”
Teaching my daughter to speak was a daily task that always took a long time.
……
As for the dual cultivation technique, I’ve already studied it thoroughly.
The core always comes down to the principles of yin, yang, and the five elements.
And since I am the purest yin body, I can naturally comprehend it with ease.
After practicing for another three to five days, I should be able to use it myself.