July 25th.
Troubled by the woes of my period, I can feel it’s almost over these past two days.
The bleeding is nowhere near as much as before, and along with that, my mood has lifted.
Living room.
Si Zhiruo glanced at the bedroom, making sure she wasn’t being watched, and then stomped her bare foot right onto Su Liumeng’s.
Honestly speaking, that really hurt.
It felt like being hit head-on by a fortune bus in the middle of a zebra crossing.
If someone can survive getting hit like that by a Half-Step Ghost Emperor, then there can’t be many such people in this world.
Su Liumeng looked at her still-intact body, silently staring at her own palm.
Who am I.
Where am I?
And just what did I do to make this little ancestor unhappy?
Si Zhiruo put her hands on her hips, giving Su Liumeng a look exactly like Si Xinyan’s, staring at her dumbfounded expression, “Why are you looking at yourself? No other reason, I just felt like stepping on you.”
Got it.
She just doesn’t like her.
That personality…
Su Liumeng secretly laughed.
How is she so much like her when she was little?
Both are the same—arrogant, with a bit of a princess temper.
Back then, whenever she didn’t like someone, she didn’t need a reason, she’d just walk up and kick their heel.
Si Zhiruo expresses it differently.
She doesn’t like kicking people’s heels, but she really likes stepping on the tops of people’s feet.
Su Liumeng wasn’t angry.
Having a princess temper is perfectly normal.
In fact, it’s a good thing.
It means she and Si Xinyan raised her well.
Xiaoyan’s daughter should be born a precious child of heaven—having a bit of a temper is only natural.
Su Liumeng slowly crouched down, keeping her eyes level with Si Zhiruo, “Did the medicinal bath your mother prepared for you improve your talent?”
The fresh scent of a young girl filled the air, making Si Zhiruo awkwardly turn her head, “It worked, so what?”
Suddenly she remembered, all the herbs for these medicinal baths had been found by Su Liumeng herself. The words that were about to leave her mouth lost a bit of their edge, “Don’t think that just because you’re nice to me, I won’t dislike you.”
“So annoying.”
“Who asked you to help anyway?”
Hearing Su Liumeng’s obviously coaxing and gentle tone, Si Zhiruo felt inexplicably irritated.
She hurried away, her voice still stiff, “I’m not someone who can’t tell right from wrong. At most, I just won’t be mean to you these days.”
Su Liumeng smiled with the corners of her mouth, and seeing the little one stomp off in a huff made her even happier.
The student surpasses the master, indeed.
She’s just one step away from writing “tsundere” all over her face.
Si Xinyan is also a die-hard tsundere, but her trait is mostly in the “dere” part—when she acts spoiled, no one can outdo her.
As her own daughter,
Si Zhiruo reflects more of the former—full of pride and arrogance.
“Put on the financial news channel for me,” Si Zhiruo sat on the sofa, her little legs dangling in the air, issuing orders to the maid at her side.
“Yes, Miss.”
Chunqiao had gone out to buy groceries.
So only Chunlan was at home.
The living room was a huge space, even with a crossroads in the middle. For someone unfamiliar with the place, it’d take a while to figure out where the balcony was.
After all, the house spanned several hundred square meters, not your usual few hundred, but close to a thousand.
So the living room was divided into a small one and a large one.
Si Zhiruo was now in the small living room.
A circular sofa—she sat on the long one facing the TV, and upon hearing her order, Chunlan respectfully turned on the TV and switched to the human world’s financial news channel.
Little Zhizhi listened with great interest.
The content on the financial channel was so much more intriguing, all topics she’d never heard before. The more she studied, the more she wanted to explore.
Things like entry points for stock T trades, fluctuations in exchange rates caused by global unrest, and bloodless yet even more ruthless business wars—all filled her eyes with a thirst for knowledge.
“Don’t ever put cartoons on for me again, got it?”
Si Zhiruo tilted her head back.
Her expression should have been one of pure arrogance, but Chunlan looked at her with stars in her eyes.
Si Zhiruo added, “Only little kids like watching cartoons.”
“Yes, I understand. Little Miss is already a big baby,” Chunlan answered respectfully.
Si Zhiruo was finally satisfied, withdrawing her gaze and swinging her little feet.
She didn’t like wearing shoes either.
She preferred the feeling of freedom.
Besides, she used to be a powerful ghost—how could she ever get used to shoes?
I walked out of the bedroom, still feeling a bit weak, and happened to overhear the conversation between the two.
“What’s this? Planning to make your debut in the business world?”
Hearing my voice, Si Zhiruo’s eyes lit up instantly.
I walked over to the small living room and picked up the little dumpling, placing her on my lap.
One moment, she was a Ghost Emperor pointing out the rise and fall of empires.
The next, because she was still just a few months old, she was scooped up by her worried mom and sat snug in her arms.
That abrupt switch made Si Zhiruo’s little face flush red.
A Ghost Emperor is still a Ghost Emperor.
What’s wrong with being a bit of a mama’s girl?!
She just wanted to be held by her mom.
No one can say otherwise!!!
Si Zhiruo was still struggling with her powerful Ghost Emperor pride when she heard her mother’s gentle voice in her ear, “Are you hungry again? Mommy will warm up some milk for you.”
Si Zhiruo’s face grew even redder.
How was she still just a baby who hadn’t been weaned yet?
The little dumpling lowered her head, curling up in her mother’s arms, and whispered, “I’m not hungry yet.”
There’s a kind of hunger that’s determined by your mom, not by you.
Whether you’re hungry or not doesn’t matter at all.
“That can’t be, right?” I tilted my head, subconsciously holding my daughter’s tiny hand—the warm, damp skin of a baby was so comfortable to hold.
I muttered to myself, “I remember you used to eat so many times a day. Could it be that you’re getting picky already?”
Who, who’s getting picky!!
Si Zhiruo’s eyes widened, “Mommy, Zhizhi’s not picky!”
“Mm-hmm,” I replied offhandedly, clearly distracted.
“If you’re not picky, then eat a bit more.”
Si Zhiruo wanted to cry but had no tears. She really wanted to say she wasn’t hungry, but then saw Mommy already setting her down, heading to the kitchen to warm up some milk.
Fine.
She’d eat more, then.
She really didn’t want to see her mom’s disappointed look.
At that moment, Su Liumeng walked over and sat on the sofa opposite Si Zhiruo.
In this familiar space, there was suddenly another person.
Although Si Zhiruo no longer felt much animosity towards her, her body still shifted awkwardly.
“Are you planning to move into the business world?”
Si Zhiruo hadn’t planned to reply, but after a moment, she snorted, “So what if I am? I’m just interested. It’s not like I have to do it myself.”
After becoming invincible, for the first time, Si Zhiruo felt the loneliness of standing too high, and the isolation of seeking defeat.
She hardly needed to cultivate anymore to sense changes in the rules.
That last half-step wasn’t something you could break through just by cultivating.
She needed to look for a fateful opportunity.
Given that, it was only natural for her to take an interest in new things.
“If you want to try for yourself, I have a few companies you can practice with.”
Si Zhiruo was about to refuse.
“Sweetie, just accept it. Half the shares are mine too.”
Oh, Mom has shares in it.
If it’s something Mom is giving her baby, then this Ghost Emperor would reluctantly accept it.
Si Zhiruo lifted her little chin, refusing to even glance at Su Liumeng.
Su Liumeng let out a soft laugh.
It seemed this kind of life wasn’t so bad after all.
She could finally see hope for truly repairing their relationship.
As long as there was no more stubborn rejection, this was the first step in breaking the deadlock.