Page 31

He was in some old-school Mary Sue harem novel. Why was he even agonizing over naming logic?

Maybe they thought a vicious cannon-fodder villain did not deserve a good name.

Even Huo Jiu had stopped dwelling on it. But Lu Manzhen still looked baffled, even shocked. She had suddenly realized that she could not remember anything about when Huo Jiu had just been born.

All her memories began after Huo Jiu was several years old. Whenever she was abused, little Huo Jiu would stand in front of her, crying and begging his father to stop hitting her. Or he would run out crying to find someone to save her.

Other than that, Lu Manzhen could not remember anything at all.

Lu Manzhen swallowed uneasily. She looked at Huo Jiu and weighed it over and over, but ultimately did not dare mention it. Huo Jiu was already dissatisfied with her. Lu Manzhen worried that if she revealed this discovery, Huo Jiu would become even more estranged from her.

"I really am not a qualified mother." Lu Manzhen sighed, feeling somewhat miserable.

She had always believed that, even though she had not been with Huo Jiu for all these years, it had been forced by circumstances. She still cared about Huo Jiu in her heart. That was why, the moment she had the chance, she had wanted to bring Huo Jiu back to the Su family.

But the gaps in her memory made Lu Manzhen clearly realize that she did not seem to care as much about Huo Jiu, her biological son, as she had imagined.

Lu Manzhen thought carefully again. Over all these years, she could count on one hand the times she had thought of Huo Jiu. It seemed that only after the doctor said Su Zhuo needed a bone marrow transplant had the floodgates of her memory suddenly opened, reminding her that she had a son named Huo Jiu.

Could it be that, just as Huo Jiu had said, she had only remembered this son because of the bone marrow transplant, only thought to bring him back to the Su family because of it?

Lu Manzhen shuddered, unable to believe that deep down, she really was such a cold-hearted woman.

Huo Jiu had no idea what Lu Manzhen had thought of that had suddenly left her so dejected. He was somewhat unused to seeing Lu Manzhen so fragile and panicked. After a moment of thought, Huo Jiu cleared his throat and said, "But you are an outstanding woman."

Lu Manzhen abruptly raised her head and stared straight at Huo Jiu.

Used to speaking harshly, Huo Jiu was not really good at comforting people. After thinking it over, he could only say honestly, "By conventional moral standards, I probably wasn't a good son either."

He truly was petty and vindictive. Even when facing Lu Manzhen, he would never accept the slightest loss. Even in a mere verbal confrontation, Huo Jiu never gave ground.

Seen that way, he really was not very likable. No wonder no one liked him.

After all, no matter how much Lu Manzhen said she was not a qualified mother, after the original Huo Jiu had been abandoned by everyone and driven out of the Su family by Su Shiyuan, Lu Manzhen had still done many things to avenge Huo Jiu.

—Though she had ultimately failed to defeat Su Shiyuan herself and ended up in a terribly sorry state, she had at least tried.

But Huo Jiu, an outsider, could never do the things a qualified son ought to do. So he felt he had no right to judge Lu Manzhen as a mother.

Thinking this, Huo Jiu added, "Before you brought Huo Jiu back to the Su family, he had always been a good son. Every day, he hoped you would live a better life. He hoped you would come back for him. Unfortunately, after learning the real reason you brought him back to the Su family, he died."

He died in that fever that lasted seven nights, and even his soul had dispersed—if he had truly had a soul.

Lu Manzhen stared at Huo Jiu in shock. She had apparently not expected him to say something so horrifying.

"If you wanted to use such absurd nonsense to make me feel guilty and afraid, then you succeeded." Lu Manzhen sneered. "If that Huo Jiu is already dead, then what exactly are you now?"

Lu Manzhen looked coldly at Huo Jiu, wanting to see what other lies this brat could come up with.

Huo Jiu pondered for a moment. "You could consider me his second personality?"

Huo Jiu could hardly tell Lu Manzhen something as absurd as the fact that he had transmigrated into a novel—even if he told her, Lu Manzhen would not believe him. Instead, she would think he was talking nonsense or had gone mad.

So Huo Jiu tried to explain his relationship with the original owner of this body in a way Lu Manzhen could understand. "I know everything about him. In my dreams, I have experienced every single thing he experienced, and I can feel all of his emotions. But I am not him."

Lu Manzhen looked at Huo Jiu strangely. She truly suspected there was something wrong with his head now.

The atmosphere was a little awkward.

Huo Jiu ignored Lu Manzhen and turned to go out for his morning exercise.

After running a lap and returning for breakfast, Su Shiyuan had gotten up as well. Seeing Huo Jiu, he asked again, unwilling to give up, "I want to invite you to be the head chef at Su Garden. Whatever requirements you have, feel free to name them."

Huo Jiu glanced at Lu Manzhen. Without changing her expression, Lu Manzhen avoided his scrutinizing gaze. Clearly, she had not told Su Shiyuan about their conversation.

Huo Jiu was in a good mood. He even had the leisure to reason things out with Su Shiyuan. "...When strangers I don't dislike ask me to cook, the labor fee for one dish is one million. When my hated biological mother and stepfather ask me to be their head chef, with all that resentment stacked together, shouldn't the labor fee for one dish be at least two million?"

"We're talking business! Why can't you be serious for once?" Lu Manzhen could not help rolling her eyes at that.

"Keep bragging! Who would be such a fool as to spend one million just to have you cook one dish?" Lu Manzhen said disdainfully. She became even more convinced that Huo Jiu was full of hot air and had not spoken a single word of truth.

Even in a business deal, no one ripped people off this badly.

Huo Jiu shrugged. No one believed him even when he told the truth. He sighed with a wistful look. "I don't blame you. Your ability limits your imagination."

Lu Manzhen: "..." How infuriating!

After bringing up one million several times that morning, Huo Jiu started getting ideas. He called Diwu Ling to ask what his patron wanted for lunch, planning to earn himself some pocket money.