Chapter 85
What Great Demon King? What Sakura Girl? When Qing Mom gets angry, she's more terrifying than all the bad women combined!
The little girl trembled and swore through her teary eyes:
"I will be obedient, I'll do anything, I'll grant any request."
Watching this scene, Chu Yuanqing's eyes revealed a subtle disdain. Even the cutest Green Eyed Cat would look sullen after having a runny nose. She tossed a pack of tissues at the cat's head, maintaining her indifferent tone, and said:
"Then first and foremost, suicide is forbidden."
Tang Liuli was about to speak when she was met with a disdainful gaze that completely suppressed her.
Chu Yuanqing continued:
"Don't you feel sorry for me? Then suicide won't solve the problem; it will only cause me a lot of trouble."
"Didn't you ever think about what kind of public opinion would emerge if a former child prodigy committed suicide mysteriously after Public Performance?"
"Once this scandal occurs, even if Flashdance isn't forced to shut down, its popularity will be suppressed by the government, and all 167 contestants will be affected. Capital Flashdance will become the biggest winner."
"This is just the beginning. Online viewers will scrutinize every contestant you interact with, whether you seem friendly or not, on camera. They'll suspect you've been bullied or subjected to emotional abuse."
"And that included me."
Chu Yuanqing's eyelashes drooped, and the gilded light in her eyes revealed an unfamiliar coldness as she looked down at him, as if questioning him with her gaze, which was filled with disappointment and alienation.
Tang Liuli's expression froze, as if she had entered an ice cellar.
Sigh? Would my suicide attempt hurt Xiao Qing? Am I... going to be truly hated by Xiao Qing?
No, absolutely not!
The mere thought of being disliked by Chu Yuanqing and never being able to gain his favor again caused intense fear to fester and spread throughout his entire body.
The girl's heart was plummeting, a sense of emptiness, as if she had stepped into nothingness, engulfed her entire body. She frantically shook her head in denial, trying to say something, but she felt increasingly suffocated and speechless.
Until...
I will forgive you, as long as you promise to keep your promise.
These words were like oxygen, allowing her to break free from the darkness of the sea and suddenly come back to life.
Tang Liuli immediately sat up straight like a good student, nodded repeatedly, and answered:
"Yes, yes, I will be good, I will be very good."
Upon hearing this, Chu Yuanqing's usually indifferent face softened with a hint of satisfaction. As if rewarding the Green Eyed Cat, she reached out and stroked its head. However, upon noticing that the cat was beginning to enjoy it, she quickly withdrew her gaze, sensing something was amiss.
No, this child definitely needs to be severely punished.
Chu Yuanqing pondered for a moment, then looked at Tang Liuli, who had just shown a happy expression, and said lightly:
"By the way, starting today, your bedtime stories are canceled."
Tang Liuli was momentarily bewildered. Like a cat whose food bowl had been taken away, she was filled with disbelief and sadness. Her emerald green pupils turned round and round, the smile on her lips gradually disappeared, and her whole being seemed to crack open like an abstract painting frozen in time.
The little girl's lips moved for a long time, her eyes brimming with tears, but she dared not say anything. She could only swallow her sobs and nod to show that she was being obedient.
Chu Yuanqing showed no reluctance whatsoever. While she was very indulgent when she doted on someone, she was not easily swayed when she became strict. She didn't linger on the topic but stated bluntly:
"I have to go out for a bit, you stay here and do your homework."
Tang Liuli blinked, and asked in a confused whisper:
"Operation?"
Chu Yuanqing picked up the ballpoint pen on the table, glanced at the ink inside, and uttered a devilish answer:
"Yes, it's homework. You need to reflect on the mistakes you made today, write a self-criticism, then write your recent work plans and intentions, seriously discuss your life and dreams, write down all your favorite foods and hobbies, and seriously consider your true sexual orientation..."
Chu Yuanqing earnestly made his request for another three minutes before continuing:
"Use this pen you were planning to use to commit suicide to write, until the ink runs out."
"No padding the word count, no wasting ink, and absolutely no perfunctory work."
"Put your phone up here and record the video yourself. I'll come back later to check and verify everything."
After saying that, she added a terrifying threat:
"If you don't write well, you'll have to wear headphones every time I tell Qingxuan and Xiaoxiao bedtime stories, and you won't be allowed to listen at all."
Tang Liuli was greatly shocked. She had just been comforting herself, thinking that although she didn't have the right to choose the stories, she could still eavesdrop on Qing Mom telling stories to others!
Waaaaah, how could there be such a cruel punishment in this world?
What's the difference between this and a newlywed wife telling her husband she'll never have sex with him again, and that if he works less than 80 hours of overtime a week, she'll have two blond guys have sex with him every day?!
"I... I... I promise to complete the mission."
Tang Liuli dared not object. Her little hands trembled as she picked up the ballpoint pen on the table, filled with regret for not choosing the one with the least ink. She swallowed her bitterness and sorrow, obediently sat down, set up her phone to record a video, found a brand new notebook, opened it, and began to do her homework while crying.
After glancing at it, Chu Yuanqing suppressed her guilt, walked out of the door, went into the bathroom, washed up, used magic to disguise her eye and hair color, and sighed with a complicated expression:
"Schizophrenia, and most likely related to family trauma."
Even so, Liuli still managed to suppress her illness with [Flow State] at that time. She's such a pitiful yet strong child.
Although it is despicable to use Liuli's empathy and dependence on oneself to morally blackmail and restrain her, it is the best method at present.
But it's okay. I believe that if she makes more friends and, like Yayoi, truly falls in love with a certain industry, she will gradually overcome her psychological trauma.
Now, she has to focus her attention on her adorable Little Cotton-padded Jacket.
A few minutes later, at the coffee shop.
The swaying wind chimes, their crisp sound dispelling a few wisps of summer drowsiness.
Chu Wangshu looked at her father, who was sipping coffee, his brows showing signs of weariness and his demeanor increasingly weathered. She nervously hid the gift bag to the side, and in the silence, managed to utter her first words:
"Dad... have you been working very hard lately? You look very tired."
Chu Yuanqing sat nervously in a blind spot at the bar, where she could see her Little Cotton-padded Jacket. Her phone, having obtained a key from Tang Liuli, was also connected to the security camera footage, demonstrating her thorough preparation.
The Magic Clone is perfect in every way—its appearance is flawless, its expression is lifelike, and it can even perfectly replicate the feel, temperature, and fingerprints. However, there are two things that require extra attention.
First, it consumes a lot of magic power.
Second, the distance between them should not be too far.
Simply put, this thing requires focused concentration, and the farther away it is, the weaker the signal from the main body, the more magic power is needed to act as a link bridge.
So... I hope my Little Cotton-padded Jacket won't make any strange requests like driving around the entire Zhelong Town!
Chu Yuanqing hesitated for a moment. She didn't really want to lie to her daughter, so she decided to answer indirectly. But as she spoke, she genuinely sounded like she was pouring out her grievances.
"Work? I've been a bit tired lately. The clients' needs are completely different from what I used to have, so I have to understand a whole new sales market."
"The tasks assigned by the client are also quite strange, often resulting in outcomes contrary to expectations. The planning department has excellent intermediary skills, but unfortunately, they completely contradict the sales department's targets and policies."
"Company leaders like to make a big fuss, and they always like to boss the sales department around during meetings, which is very annoying."
Chu Wangshu was somewhat moved.
Although she couldn't understand what she was saying at all, she could sense the many hardships of the adult world from it. She realized once again how difficult it was to live in this city and raise a child to adulthood on her own.
Sigh, Dad must be working much harder than he is training. Maybe he really needs some other kind of emotional support.
The little girl hesitated for a while, then overcame her inner resistance, mustered her courage, and took the initiative to speak:
"Dad, actually... I don't object to you finding a new mom."
The words had barely left his mouth.
Chu Yuanqing was somewhat bewildered; why had the child suddenly changed the subject?
But she soon realized the answer.
Yes, Xiao Shu has never experienced maternal love, and coupled with her busy work schedule and intentional estrangement, she has been very lonely in recent years. So, when she says this, she must be hoping to find a good stepmother to form a complete family.
Chu Yuanqing felt very guilty.
Because she knew it was an impossible task. Putting aside her current situation—she couldn't use Magic Clone to fall in love—the mere fact that she didn't have much time left was enough to morally condemn everything.
However, it wouldn't be a bad thing to learn more about Xiao Shu through this topic.
Chu Yuanqing stirred the latte art with a spoon, then looked up and asked:
"If Xiao Shu had a stepmother, what kind of mother would she hope she would be?"
Chu Wangshu was overjoyed. She had initially expected her father to remain silent on the topic; his willingness to continue meant he was interested. She said enthusiastically:
"I hope she's virtuous and gentle, knows how to do housework, cooks as well as you, and is also pretty, young, and has a good figure."
"As for height, a few centimeters or more above 1.6 meters is fine. The most important thing is your temperament; you need to have that kind of smile that can heal people and shine brightly."
Chu Yuanqing seemed thoughtful; something felt off, but she didn't dwell on it and replied earnestly:
"That sounds really great; I bet a lot of people would like someone like that."
Chu Wangshu felt inexplicably proud upon hearing this. He thought to himself, "Xiao Qing is a treasure girl who used millions of likes to snatch the main Center position from among all the popular contestants. She shines on the Public Performance stage and now has nearly six million followers on Weibo. She is bound to become famous all over the country in the future."
This kind of template-based standard for stepmothers is so perfect that it's practically impossible for them not to be popular!
Unfortunately, even though Xiao Qing is attracted to older men and likes handsome older men like her Dad, due to the idol's standards, the show's contract, and even online bullying, the two of them had little chance of getting together.
So, as a second-best option, she could accept her stepmother as long as she and Xiao Qing were 30% similar.
Dad, you have to find me a stepmother like that!
Chu Wangshu secretly clenched her fist, somewhat impatient to enjoy Qing Bao's meal replacement. "Hurry up and bring it up!"
Chu Yuanqing was completely unaware, and was unusually engrossed in chatting with his Little Cotton-padded Jacket about everyday trivialities.
Time passed both slowly and quickly.
The incessant chirping of cicadas in summer, along with a few swaying spots of sunlight, streamed through the French windows.
The soft, delicate sound of the spoon hitting the cup's side, occasionally mingled with the clatter of the wind chimes, was exceptionally crisp.
An elderly man in a silver-haired suit was wiping the bar counter. A piano piece called "River Flows In You" was playing. On this pleasant afternoon, it was like the gentle and soothing waves of the sea, and the melodious tone gave the scattered light spots a unique texture.
To outsiders, the father and daughter's conversation seemed ordinary and mundane: what songs they liked to listen to, the books they'd been reading lately, whether their clothes were a bit old-fashioned, whether they preferred Classical or Romantic piano styles, Camus or Schopenhauer, how cute the orange cat in the neighborhood was, and whether they'd been happy lately.
These trivialities, pieced together bit by bit over the past 17 years, have settled in the container called life, waiting to be awakened and revived at some moment, rising and falling in the daylight.
Chu Yuanqing thought that she probably wouldn't have the chance to talk to her daughter about all of these things anymore.
Whether it's one's past, the experiences of the past 17 years, or many deliberately buried, unspeakable secrets, a portion of them are destined to be buried with the deceased.
However, at least in this brief afternoon, during nearly two hours of conversation, she saw her daughter's smile, experienced precious happiness, and also figured out things she hadn't been able to understand for the past ten years.
Regardless of whether her relationship with Xiao Shu was strained before her death, she was still Xiao Shu's only support and family in this world. As long as this fact remained unchanged, given Xiao Shu's personality, she would still experience just as much heartbreak and sorrow.
As Chu Yuanqing himself, he was unable to realize this problem.
The curse of the Sea of Truth alone, along with the trivial matters of work, had already exhausted him.
The constant torment erased any space for thought, gradually numbing the personality and turning it closer to a walking corpse. This outcome was almost inevitable.
Chu Yuanqing began to feel fortunate that he had made the choice to change his Life Form.
That's just how some things are; you'll never get the right answer unless you change your perspective and mindset.
And that's why her conversation with her daughter this time was spontaneous and free, no longer silent and cold.
This vibrant life force made the Magic Clone seem to be slowly growing flesh and blood, allowing Chu Wangshu to clearly perceive her father's sincere response, and the corners of her lips turned up more and more often.
Chu Yuanqing was in a good mood and silently thanked Little Liuli, who was still struggling to do her homework upstairs.
If it weren't for the two unexpected Magic Replenishment activated by the other party, she wouldn't have had the opportunity to spend so much time with her daughter; she would have had to find an excuse to leave after chatting for at most an hour.
As for now...
Chu Yuanqing lowered her eyes and clutched the pendant on her chest, silently arriving at her answer and making a plan in her heart.
Chu Wangshu looked at her Dad, who had put down his coffee cup and glanced at his watch. She pursed her lips with a hint of disappointment, knowing this was a sign that her Dad was preparing to leave.
Although the meeting was an unexpectedly great success, with both sides naturally reconciling and exchanging more words than in the past few years combined, it was precisely because of this that she felt even more reluctant to leave and wanted to spend more time with her Dad.
However, being too sensible, she didn't intend to say anything to persuade him to stay; she was only thinking about giving him the gift she hadn't yet given him.
Surprisingly, her Dad got up and came closer. He half-squatted down and reached out to carefully and earnestly stroke her hair and cheeks. His usually calm and weathered face, devoid of much emotion, was now tinged with guilt and sadness. They remained silent for a long time.
Chu Yuanqing spoke softly, as if apologizing or atoneing for something: