Chapter 13

An Zimo wanted to get away from that lunatic as soon as possible, but completely breaking free would not be so easy.

First, he was still a child. Second, making money required identification and a bank card. Of course, if he had a computer and some capital, getting identification was not impossible. So the first step was to make money, but making money required identification...

He was trapped in a vicious cycle.

An Zimo suddenly felt that his future was bleak. He let out a mournful sigh, closed his eyes, and decided to think about it another day.

The next day.

An Xiang's milk tea shop that did not sell milk tea officially opened for business. She could not leave her son home alone, so she brought him to the shop with her.

It was the first day of business. The location was remote, and the store had not been advertised, so naturally there were no customers. In the empty milk tea shop, An Xiang sat behind the counter with a paintbrush, drawing business cards one by one. Each card featured a different chibi character.

She was not actually as useless as her mother claimed.

During the countless days and nights she had been imprisoned, An Xiang taught herself little hobbies to get through the boredom. Drawing was something she learned back then. She had no foundation, so she could not be called professional, but she was not terrible either. People online said her work was cute, and gradually she even began receiving commercial commissions.

After drawing several dozen cards, An Xiang started to feel tired. She put down her pen, straightened up, and shook her aching wrists back and forth. Her gaze fell on An Zimo.

He was watching television—the financial news channel.

An Xiang was silent for a moment. She suddenly wondered whether it would be too boring for her son to stay here with her every day. Once the milk tea shop gradually picked up, she would probably become busy. When that happened, she would not be able to look after him every second.

So... should she send her son to kindergarten?

An Xiang had that thought, but she was also afraid that her expressionless, slow-witted son might get bullied.

The foolish mother worried for ages before taking a sheet of paper and sitting down beside him on the sofa. "Son."

An Zimo glanced at her from the corner of his eye, rather coldly.

"Do you want Mommy to teach you how to read?" She picked up a pen and carefully wrote the character for "An" on the paper, stroke by stroke. "Look, this is An. It's both our surname."

"Zi is very simple, but Mo is a little complicated. Mo is written like this..." An Xiang had just written the character for black when she suddenly got stuck. The pen tip hovered over the paper for a long time, yet she could not remember the remaining components.

"Pfft." An Zimo crossed his arms and mocked her without giving her any face.

An Xiang's face instantly turned bright red. "I-I know how to write it!" She stiffened her neck as she spoke. "I just haven't written by hand in a long time, so I forgot for the moment. I really do know how!!"

She really did know, but her son's eyes clearly did not believe her.

Just then, the doorbell rang.

An Xiang looked over. Could it be a customer?!!

At that thought, An Xiang shot up from the sofa and hurriedly opened the door.

"Hello, welcome!"

Two teenage boys of fifteen or sixteen stood outside in school uniforms. The one in front was very tall, probably around six feet. He was handsome too, with fair skin, refined features, and the particular youthful innocence of his age in his eyes.

One hand gripped his backpack strap as though he had frozen in place. His phoenix eyes stared unblinkingly at An Xiang.

"Hello, we wanted to ask about Momo Cat..."

Before the boy beside him could finish, the taller boy shoved him behind himself. He stepped forward twice and lowered his head to stare at An Xiang's face. The tips of his ears strangely flushed red.

"D-Does this place sell milk tea?"

An Xiang honestly shook her head. "We don't sell milk tea."

"But your sign says..."

"Milk tea is too troublesome, so I switched to selling juice." An Xiang pointed at the ground outside. "Leave this apartment building and turn left. There's a place selling milk tea there."

"Hey, Pei Chen, we agreed to go to the cat café..."

His companion urged him again. The boy named Pei Chen frowned, his expression turning impatient. He turned back and glared fiercely. "Cat café my ass." After snapping at his companion, he looked at An Xiang again. His earlier irritability vanished, replaced by gentleness and shyness. "Then... then what do you sell here?"

An Xiang thought this kid was very strange. After a brief pause, she said, "Juice."

"Fine, then we'll have juice." As he spoke, he walked past An Xiang and entered the shop. "Do we need to change shoes?"

"No, no. Just order over here."

An Xiang hurried behind the counter. Since the opening had been so sudden, many things were not ready. She had also hastily made the menu out of cardstock, and it only had two items—

Son: 18.

Purified Water: 2.

Pei Chen glanced at the menu and said without changing expression, "I'll have a Son, less sugar and more ice." Then he looked beside him. "What do you want, Yin Dongyu?"

Yin Dongyu's conflicted expression looked like he was constipated. In the end, he weakly said, "...I want to go to the cat café."

"Cat café my ass." Pei Chen cursed under his breath, smacking the back of his head before turning to An Xiang. "Get him a Son too."

These two boys were strange, but it was lucky enough to get business.

An Xiang had them sit down and focused on making juice.

They put down their backpacks. Pei Chen casually stretched out one long leg, propped his elbow on the table, and let his eyes drift toward An Xiang from time to time.

The girl busy behind the counter could absolutely be described as lovely.

The lazy, gentle sunlight danced through her soft hair. Her skin was fair, her face beautiful, her brows and eyes tranquil. She was innocent and adorable in exactly the right way.

More importantly, she smelled so good.

Pei Chen had been drawn in by the scent the moment he entered. It was not the vulgar smell of perfume, but a sweet fragrance that seemed to seep from her blood.

Damn!

His fangs were about to show.

Pei Chen hurriedly looked away, covering his mouth tightly as he muttered, "Go back... go back..."

"Pei Chen, what are you doing?"

"Nothing." Pei Chen gave a light cough and lowered his hand. He casually looked around the shop, then noticed An Zimo sitting nearby.

The little guy sat ramrod straight, staring motionlessly at the television like a puppet.

Pei Chen's attention settled on his face. His thick brows and big eyes were very cute, except...

"What is it?"

"Nothing." Pei Chen withdrew his gaze and unconsciously covered his chest. It felt a little tight there.

Yin Dongyu suddenly understood. "Your boobs hurt?"

"Get lost! Your boobs hurt!"

The two started messing around across the round table.

"Hello, here are your two Sons. Enjoy." An Xiang placed the finished juices before them. Just as she was about to leave with the tray, Pei Chen called out to her.

"Is this shop newly opened?"

An Xiang nodded. "Today is our first day of business. You're my first customers." She had thought that nobody would visit for the next month, but she had gotten an order so quickly.

At that thought, a smile appeared on her face.

Her smile was sweet, and she had a little dimple. Pei Chen was nearly charmed senseless, his ears turning even redder than when he first entered.

"Enjoy your drinks. Call me if you need anything." An Xiang returned to the counter and began tidying the tabletop.

Pei Chen took a sip of juice and said dreamily, "She was giving me flirtatious looks. Does she like me?"

Before Yin Dongyu could answer, a small, indistinct mockery sounded out. "Idiot."

Pei Chen listened carefully and confirmed that he had not heard wrong.

That kid had called him an idiot!

He was about to lose his temper when he met An Zimo's calm, gloomy gaze. Those eyes merged with someone in his memories, making a chill run up from the soles of his feet. He slowly pulled in his neck and lowered his head, quietly sipping his juice.

"Yin Dongyu, why aren't you drinking?"

Yin Dongyu took out his homework and started doing problems without even looking up. "I can't drink Son."

The juice's name was too cursed. No normal person would want to drink it.

Pei Chen curled his lip, then suddenly had an idea when he saw the workbook on the table.

He set his juice aside, opened his backpack, and took out a completely blank exercise book. His eyes followed An Xiang wherever she went.

The boy had every scheme written all over his face. An Zimo boredly switched channels and said in a voice only the three of them could hear, "Forget it. She can't do it."

"Huh?"

An Zimo leisurely leaned against the soft sofa back, his dangling little legs swaying from side to side. His childish voice was slow and unhurried. "She can't do advanced mathematics."

Pei Chen: "..." His plan had failed before it even began.

Still unwilling to give up, Pei Chen took out a Chinese test paper.

An Zimo sneered again. "If she knows Three Hundred Tang Poems, maybe she can teach you a couple lines of classical poetry."

Fuck!

Pei Chen slammed the table hard, so frustrated that he beat his chest and stomped his feet. This little brat's mouth was fucking vicious!!

He was exactly like Pei Chen's great-grandfather!

Even after finishing their juices, the two showed no intention of leaving. They quietly lay on the table doing homework.

Before they knew it, the clock on the wall pointed to seven. An Xiang was anxious and conflicted. Her home was too far away, and with Zimo to consider, she had planned to close at five thirty and go home. But they had only just gotten customers, and it would not be very nice to chase them out.

After struggling over it for a while, An Xiang finally walked over. She bent slightly toward Pei Chen, deliberately lowering her voice into a gentle tone. "Student, we're getting ready to close."

Pei Chen's ears twitched. He hurriedly shut the exercise book covered in doodles and kicked Yin Dongyu. "Dongzi, get up. We're going home." He picked up his backpack and tried to look calm in front of An Xiang, but the shy flush creeping up his neck betrayed him.

Looking into her eyes, he stammered, "Y-Your Son is really delicious."

An Zimo, who had been acting like air the whole time, looked up, then lowered his head again and pretended not to hear.

"Do you have a business card, miss? I can introduce my friends to your shop."

"Yes." An Xiang quickly handed him a business card. "If you like it, you can come again next time."

Pei Chen lowered his head. The hand-drawn rabbit on the card was adorably clumsy, with a cute expression. Beside it were two graceful handwritten characters—An Xiang.

"Is that your name?"

"Mm."

"Y-Your name sounds nice..." Pei Chen's face reddened. He suddenly became bashful. "W-When the weekend comes, I'll bring friends over."

An Xiang paused, then smiled. "Okay."

Pei Chen slung his backpack on, carefully tucked the card into his pocket, and reluctantly left the apartment building with his companion.

The two parted ways at the intersection. Pei Chen leaned against a wall and quietly waited for his ride.

His phone vibrated just then. The message was from Pei Yizhou, who did not want him calling him Great-Grandpa.

[Where are you?]

Pei Chen replied: [Across from your company.]

No further message came, which suited his personality perfectly.

Pei Chen had just stuffed his phone back into his backpack when a black Maybach slowly pulled over from the roadside and stopped beside him.

The window rolled down, revealing half of the man's face. Judging from his eyes, he was not in a good mood.

"Get in."

Pei Chen was a little intimidated and shrank his neck as he got in.

Pei Yizhou crossed his long legs, his face stern. His icy presence alone was enough to keep Pei Chen from speaking.

"Your school called me today."

"D-Don't talk about school yet." Pei Chen recklessly interrupted him, craning his neck to ask, "Seventh Great-Grandpa, do you believe in love at first sight?"

"..."

The atmosphere inside the car became strange.

Pei Yizhou's eyes were deep as he stared at him for several seconds, then smiled. "Do you believe you'll die today?"

Pei Chen said nothing. With a miserable expression, he drooped his head.

As the car drove away, two figures, one large and one small, emerged from the apartment building. They missed each other perfectly by the narrowest margin.

Pei Chen: I fell in love at first sight!

Pei Yizhou: That's your great-grandmother.

An Zimo: I'm your grandfather.

Pei Chen: ???

That Son with less sugar and more ice that you requested in yesterday's comments has arrived for you today. 🐶

Vampires had long lives and could reproduce, so their family trees were rather messy. Strange generations were not unusual, so this is not a bug. Pei Yizhou's seniority was relatively high. He and Pei Chen's biological great-grandfather were brothers, and Pei Yizhou was one of the youngest among the six brothers.

C-Can you understand that?

It's fine if you don't. I don't really understand it either. Just remember that he's the old ancestor!!

My own seniority is actually pretty high too. One of my two nieces is seven years older than me, and the other is five years older. They call me Little Aunt, and now that they have children, those children have to call me Great-Aunt.

Lastly, don't laugh at Xiangxiang for being unable to write the character for Mo. I don't write by hand often these days either, and... there are lots of characters I can't write, QAQ. But I really do know how!!