Chapter 012

"Momo, I'm back!"

An Xiang ran up to An Zimo, panting, and only then noticed the unfamiliar man standing nearby.

Remembering what had happened at KFC last time, An Xiang instantly grew wary and pulled An Zimo behind her.

"Are you this child's mother?"

An Xiang nodded without saying anything more.

The assistant smiled good-naturedly. "This child was in danger just now. Luckily, he ran into us. As his parent, you really mustn't let him wander around outside alone again. He might not be so lucky next time." With that, the assistant hurried after Pei Yizhou.

An Xiang stared blankly after him for a long moment before realizing what he had just said.

Human traffickers?

An Xiang couldn't help looking at her silent son.

An Zimo held his hands behind his back and turned his eyes away from An Xiang's gaze. His dark eyes rested nowhere in particular, and his young face was full of indifference.

An Xiang crouched in front of him and held his thin little shoulders, her eyes serious. "Was what that man said true?"

He said nothing and looked as though he was angry.

An Xiang pressed her lips together and scratched her cheek in distress. This time, it had been her own mistake. She had thought the mall would be safer with security guards around, and besides, she had only left for a little while. She hadn't expected...

"Momo, I won't leave you behind again." An Xiang forced herself to rally and smile. "I promise."

Promises were what An Zimo trusted least. He couldn't even be bothered to spare her a glance, turning and walking straight outside.

An Xiang hastily stood and chased after him, tightly taking his little hand, only for him to shake her off the next second. Undeterred, she caught his hand again. After this happened over and over, he finally gave up resisting and let her lead him to their milk tea shop.

The milk tea shop customer service had provided as compensation was on the third floor of an old apartment building opposite the shopping mall. In such a bustling neighborhood, they had somehow chosen such an inconspicuous location.

Following the address, she reached the far end of the third floor and immediately spotted the sign on the door.

[A Milk Tea Shop.]

Mm. The utterly commonplace was elegance itself. Not bad.

An Xiang entered the password and pushed open the door, nervous and excited.

Customer service had already arranged all the documents needed to open the shop, and the ingredients and equipment were fully stocked as well. The apartment was only fifty square meters, with four tables in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows. An open kitchen stood just inside the entrance, adjoining the checkout counter. It was very convenient.

She was fairly satisfied with the surroundings, but a milk tea shop in a place like this probably wouldn't get many customers.

She went around into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator first. A small card fell out.

[Hello, host. The fresh ingredients needed to make milk tea are automatically replenished daily, so you do not need to purchase any ingredients yourself. The premises are a personal gift from the Spacetime Administration. We will cover all operating expenses, and all earnings will belong to you.]

Below that, the card also read: [Once again, we apologize for the inconvenience caused.]

Things had already come to this, and she had even given birth to her son. What good was an apology?

Still, they had been very thoughtful.

An Xiang looked around. Renting a place here probably cost quite a bit each month, and she wouldn't have to pay for ingredients, property management, water, or electricity either. With no investment, there was naturally no question of losing money. Even if the location wasn't good, there was no harm in trying.

An Xiang stroked the brand-new equipment, and an idea flashed through her mind.

"Son, son, come here." An Xiang's eyes shone as she held her fingers together and repeatedly waved to An Zimo, who was standing at the entrance.

"What?" An Zimo frowned without moving.

"Let Mommy smell you." As she spoke, she unconsciously swallowed.

The two creases between An Zimo's brows deepened. "No."

"Don't be shy. Let Mommy have a sniff."

Without the slightest effort, An Xiang caught hold of her son, who was incapable of resisting, leaned into his neck, and took a deep sniff.

Her sudden approach instantly made every pore on An Zimo's body open. Disgust covered his face as his small hands shoved hard against her.

Milk, mango, and seemingly a little mint, too.

The combination of these scents was wonderful. An Xiang couldn't resist taking another couple of sniffs, and the sweet fragrance once again made her mouth water.

She let go of her son, ran back to the kitchen, and tied on an apron. She gathered all the ingredients according to the scent and started making juice.

It was An Xiang's first time using this equipment, and she was still a little clumsy. After several failed attempts, she finally produced a finished drink. She carefully poured the juice into a cup, added a little mint, stirred it evenly, inserted a straw, and took a gentle sip.

The rich fragrance of mango bloomed on her tongue, mingled with the aroma of milk. The refreshing mint was the finishing touch to this cold drink.

After tasting it, An Xiang's eyes instantly lit up. Yes! This was her son's flavor!!!

She carried the juice over to An Zimo, who was sitting idly on a chair, staring into space, and held the carefully mixed drink to his mouth. "Try it. This is Mommy's first time making it." She was so excited that even the end of her sentence trembled.

After running around with An Xiang all day, An Zimo's throat had long since gone dry. Looking at the brightly colored juice, he unconsciously licked his dry lips, lowered his head, and took a small sip.

Gulp.

The drink went down, cold, refreshing, and unexpectedly delicious.

An Zimo held the cup and began drinking through the straw in big gulps.

Seeing him enjoy it so much gave An Xiang an immense sense of accomplishment.

"Is it good?"

This time, An Zimo obliged her with a nod.

An Xiang looked proud. "Of course it is. It's my son's flavor, after all."

"...???" An Zimo stopped sucking.

An Xiang didn't notice anything unusual about his expression. She puffed out her chest and continued, "This drink will be called Son!! Priced at 88!!"

"..." That's fucking robbery!!!!

An Zimo nearly spat out everything he had drunk.

An Xiang was very satisfied with the milk tea shop. After that day's experiment, she decided to sell juice instead of milk tea. Juice was easier to make than milk tea, and the humans filling the streets were all source material for her juice!

[The taste of blood really does bring happiness.]

[Even if I can't drink human blood, with this skill, I can remember the flavors and squeeze them into juice.]

[I'll never have to drool over my son again.]

An Xiang was beside herself with excitement.

Beside her, An Zimo stared at her strangely the entire time.

What did she mean, blast them into juice? Did "them" mean humans?

His mom wasn't a cannibal, was she?

An Zimo... began to panic.

An Xiang was very satisfied with the milk tea shop. As for when to open, she would have to consider that later.

That afternoon, they finally finished their day's itinerary and returned home. The mall had already placed her purchases in the parcel lockers. There were quite a few things, and An Xiang had to make three trips to collect them all.

Finally, only one large box remained. An Xiang carried it into An Zimo's room and casually placed it on the bed.

When An Zimo came out of the bathroom, he immediately saw the square box that had appeared in his room.

He glanced at An Xiang, who was busy in the living room, then withdrew his gaze and shut the door tightly. Hesitantly, he went over and opened the packaging.

The cool red-and-white mecha lay quietly in its plastic box. An Zimo held the box, his lashes lowered, as two white teeth slowly bit down on his lower lip.

His fingers tightened around the box, and madness gradually overtook his calm gaze. Finally unable to contain the resentment inside him, he savagely tore open the protective layer and roughly yanked the toy out.

The toy in his hands kept jarring his nerves, reminding him of every misfortune he had suffered.

Hate.

Hate.

So much hate.

An Zimo lost all reason. In a few quick motions, he dismantled the mecha, then slammed its head hard onto the floor and stamped on it again and again, venting his anger.

The poor toy was already badly damaged by this abuse. Just as he was about to continue, the door opened, and a woman's gentle voice drifted in.

"Momo, you've already started playing with your toy?"

The floor was a mess, with mecha parts scattered everywhere. Most pitiful of all was the head beneath An Zimo's foot, grimy and covered in scratches.

He neither looked up nor moved, standing there like a statue.

An Xiang came forward to gather up the cardboard box, paying no attention to the badly damaged toy on the floor. "When I went to buy this today, it had already been sold, so I had to go to another shop. That took a little extra time. I didn't tell you all day because I wanted to give you a surprise."

An Zimo wasn't even four yet and had lived in the village since birth. He was at an age that should have been innocent and carefree, yet he had nothing fun to play with and nothing good to eat. If someone gave him a present, he would surely be happy.

Fortunately, he hadn't disliked it.

"A surprise?" Hearing her words, An Zimo bent down and picked up the head from the floor. "What surprise?" His head hung very low, and beneath his lashes, his eyes were utterly indifferent.

Unable to see his expression, An Xiang earnestly explained to her son as she tidied up. "It means someone feels happy when they receive a gift they didn't know was coming. That's a surprise." Unfortunately, she had never received a gift in her entire life, nor had anyone ever given her a surprise.

"I don't understand. What's there to be happy about?" His face cold, An Zimo casually tossed the toy onto the floor, climbed into the stroller, and curled up beneath his blanket, wrapped so tightly that not a breath of air could get through.

An Xiang froze, put down what she was holding, and walked over. She forcefully pulled the blanket away, fully exposing his little face to her view.

She had to admit that An Zimo was an exceptionally delicate, beautiful child. Although living deep in the mountains for so long had left his skin a little rough, with a faint high-altitude flush on his cheeks, that did nothing to diminish his cuteness.

Yet there had never been a smile on that beautiful little face.

"Momo, are you unhappy?" She gazed deeply at him, her eyes clear, as though she wanted to see straight through him.

An Zimo pressed his lips together and avoided An Xiang's gaze, unwilling to have any further contact with her.

"Is, is it because I went to buy the toy today and almost lost you?" An Xiang cupped his face and asked uneasily, "Or, or is it... that you actually don't like living with me?"

What she received was silence, and with it, an unspoken answer.

An Xiang felt deeply deflated, though she had expected it.

After all, no son in the world would willingly accept an irresponsible mother. He might refuse to accept her until the day she died.

At that thought, An Xiang's eyes quickly reddened and stung. Sitting beside the bed, she couldn't help sobbing aloud.

Her tears came so inexplicably and without warning that An Zimo, who had been raging just moments before, looked completely stunned.

"Why... are you crying?"

Sniffling, An Xiang wiped away her tears and forcibly held back the sob in her voice. She took his hand and said with utter seriousness, "Son, even if you, even if you don't like me, you still, still have to live with me." She sniffed. "There's nothing we can do about it. You're still a baby, after all."

With that, she looked regretful and sighed deeply.

"..."

"..."

An Zimo's brow twitched hard. Was this a fucking provocation?

Fine. He would accept her challenge and show her whether a baby could get by without an adult!

Today's vampire mommy went sob, sob, sob, sob, sob, sob.

Son: She's being passive-aggressive, passive-aggressive, passive-aggressive.

Momo actually has a very serious mental illness. Next, he may have to find a way to make money himself...

*

Random red packets. See you tomorrow.