Chapter 14

Jiang City glowed with intoxicating lights after nightfall, its towering buildings bathed in shimmering color.

An Xiang had not expected it to get so late today. There would certainly be no time to cook dinner after going home. Afraid of leaving her child hungry, she picked a restaurant at random and took An Zimo inside.

The restaurant was quiet and tastefully decorated, but the prices on the menu made her inwardly gasp. In the past, An Xiang would have gotten up and left without another word, but now...

She looked up at An Zimo and ordered several dishes despite the painful expense, then returned the menu to the waiter and lifted her cup, slowly sipping the fragrant flower tea.

Perhaps because it was dinnertime, more and more diners arrived.

A family of three sat nearby. Their child, about the same age as An Zimo, was nestled in his mother's arms, smiling sweetly and acting cute. It was a lovely, harmonious sight.

An Xiang could not help feeling envious. She and An Zimo never had anything to say to each other. Most of the time, she talked to herself. Her son disliked talking and hated her, his mother. Perhaps she would never live to see him act cute with her.

"Momo, would you like to go to kindergarten?" An Xiang put aside her disappointment and looked gently at An Zimo across the table.

He propped his face in his two little hands. The light danced and rippled in his dark pupils, lending his eyes a little warmth. His expression remained cold, however, and he stared blankly at the reflection in the window without speaking.

"There will be lots of children at kindergarten, so you won't be lonely. If you'd like, Mommy can..."

Before she finished, the waiter bringing their dishes interrupted her.

An Xiang sighed and could only put the conversation on hold.

"Eat first, Momo." An Xiang placed the little spoon beside his hand. Only after he began eating did she slowly pick up her chopsticks.

The two ate quietly as several sets of footsteps approached from nearby.

"Mr. An, this way, please."

An?

An Xiang's fingers tightened, and she could not help looking up.

Just a short distance away, those features were familiar enough to be engraved on her soul.

His expression was gentle, and he was as gracious and courteous as she remembered.

An Yanze.

Her older cousin.

The noisy voices around her instantly vanished. An Xiang's breath caught as she watched that figure walk away, her expression suddenly turning dazed.

This was the first time An Xiang had seen a member of her clan in the four years since entering this body. They clearly lived in the same world, in the same city, yet had never had any contact. Today was the first time.

She had never imagined she would see them again.

The figure had not noticed her yet. He followed the waiter and slowly disappeared down the corridor.

An Xiang withdrew her gaze. Looking at the lavish dinner before her, she had no appetite at all.

She put down her chopsticks, leaned against the back of her chair, and looked out the window. The face reflected in the glass was pale and lifeless. Memories long sealed away awoke in an instant.

The An Family was a family of purebloods. An Xiang had five older male cousins, four of whom delighted in tormenting her. An Yanze was the only one who treated her well.

He never caught snakes to frighten her, insulted her, or threw mud at her.

Whenever An Xiang was locked up during a banquet, An Yanze secretly brought her food.

There had never been warmth in An Xiang's life. Sunlight went in the opposite direction from her, and she was destined to live only by feeding on the night.

She felt no regret over her death, nor had she ever regretted abandoning her identity as a member of the Vampire Clan to become an insignificant human. Only occasionally, very occasionally, she wondered whether anyone remembered her. When they saw that tower, had they ever felt sorry for her?

An Xiang kept leaving her chopsticks untouched. Her unprecedented gloom caught An Zimo's attention.

"Hey." He could not help calling out to her.

An Xiang came back to herself, and An Zimo's face grew blurry. She lowered her head and rubbed her face haphazardly, wiping away a handful of tears.

An Zimo frowned. "Are you crying?"

"I'm not. I'm not crying anymore." An Xiang covered her eyes tightly, not wanting her son to see her disheveled state, but she could not keep the tears out of her voice. "...I'm just a little sad."

Sad?

What was there to be sad about?

To An Zimo, who did not understand sorrow or joy, any loud crying or laughter was simply inexplicable noise.

An Zimo bit his spoon and quietly turned up his muted Mind Reading.

[I'm a strong adult now. I can't cry.]

[My son will laugh at me if he sees.]

[I can't make my son worry.]

[But, waaaaah...]

Sure enough, so noisy.

Along with An Xiang's inner sobbing, the thoughts of everyone else within half a meter reached him.

Irritated, he muted his Mind Reading again.

"All right, I'll go to kindergarten."

Huh??

An Xiang's sobbing abruptly stopped. Through tear-blurred eyes, she stared at An Zimo in disbelief.

He had eaten and drunk his fill. His little legs swung, and his face was full of indifference.

"Listening to you cry every day would be annoying."

His tone revealed intense disdain.

An Xiang hurriedly pulled out a tissue to wipe away her tears. Her usually soft, sweet voice had become muffled from crying. "Mommy doesn't cry every day."

She just occasionally... cried a tiny bit.

But...

"Momo, did seeing Mommy cry make your heart ache?"

An Zimo had not expected her to say that so suddenly. His brow twitched, and he glanced over from the corner of his eye.

At that moment, those sparkling, peach-blossom eyes were filled with anticipation. Misty with tears and shining brightly, they gazed at him eagerly without blinking.

Under the fixed gaze of those eyes, An Zimo suddenly felt suffocated.

His heart ached?

What a joke.

He didn't have heart disease. Why the hell would his heart ache?

In his previous life, he and his mother had not gotten along. His only impression of her was that she was irritable and violent. He had never seen her show weakness. The butterfly effect really was a magical thing, to have turned her into someone with such a strange, indescribable personality.

But no matter what she became, she was still the person An Zimo hated most. That would never change.

"I knew Momo just didn't like talking. You're still very gentle deep down." At that moment, An Xiang's heart, saddened by her family of origin, was healed.

Perhaps her precious Momo was not unintelligent, but simply disliked talking. In fact, he was gentler and more sensible inside than any other child.

"It's fine if you don't want to go to kindergarten. Mommy can teach you." An Xiang was not all that eager to send her son to kindergarten, either. Having other children to play with was nice, but it would be troublesome if he was bullied and suffered psychological trauma.

She-she could teach him if she tried hard!

Mommy could teach him?

Was she serious?

An Zimo turned down the corners of his mouth, writing his contempt all over his face.

Of course he did not want to go to kindergarten, but he did not want to spend every day with that hateful face, either. Until he figured out how to leave the family, An Zimo would rather idle away his days at kindergarten, eating and waiting to die.

"I'll go. I want to go."

"All right." Seeing his insistence, An Xiang did not stop him again. "Then Mommy will look into it carefully when we get home and try to pick the best kindergarten for you."

Their home was somewhat out of the way, with no schools nearby. She could only look around the city center, preferably somewhere near the milk tea shop, which would make drop-offs and pickups convenient. If there really was nothing suitable... they would have to move.

An Xiang decided to conduct a detailed search online after going home today. This concerned her son's future. She could not rush it; she had to be careful.

After they finished eating and drinking, An Xiang held her bag in her left hand and her son in her right, then went to the front desk to pay.

"The total is 588. Here's your receipt. Please keep it."

An Xiang took the receipt and was about to leave when a large hand clamped tightly around her forearm.

"Xiangxiang?"

His voice was filled with surprise.

An Xiang stiffened. She had never expected to run into him here by such a coincidence.

She pressed her lips together, forced herself to remain composed, and turned around, meeting those astonished eyes without evasion.

An Yanze had hardly changed from several years ago. As outstanding, handsome, and eye-catching as ever, he stood before her. Her hand tightened slightly around An Zimo's as she met his gaze, pretending he was a stranger.

"Brother Ze, you've got the wrong person." Two tall young men approached from behind, breaking the stalemate. One of them lowered his eyes and gave An Xiang a contemptuous glance before slowly looking away. "How could she be?"

"...Right. How could she be?" An Yanze's Adam's apple bobbed as he murmured. He was dazed for several seconds before releasing her hand with apparent reluctance. He took two small steps back, reducing the distance, then lowered his head and apologized gently to An Xiang. "I'm sorry. You look a little like my younger cousin. I couldn't help mistaking you for her. I thought..."

Brother Ze remembered her.

The thought flashed through An Xiang's mind, stirring her heart.

Brother Ze remembered her. Perhaps only Brother Ze really still thought of her.

Her eyes began to sting again. She could not help lowering her eyelids to hide the look in them, then silently picked up An Zimo and walked out of the restaurant.

"Honestly, Brother Ze, how could you mistake someone so easily?"

"But she really does look like that useless thing."

"Speaking of which, that useless thing is still lying in a hospital bed. Why doesn't she just die..."

Every word of their conversation reached An Xiang's ears, their voices growing fainter until they disappeared completely.

An Xiang's face was calm and pale. She hailed a car and got in, silently staring at the scenery rushing past the window throughout the ride.

The system had said this body's death was inevitable.

But now...

An Xiang suddenly did not want to die. Becoming human like this was actually quite nice, with no ties to her family. She did not want to see those faces appear before her again.

Soft, even breathing echoed beside her in the quiet car.

At some point, An Zimo had fallen asleep. His little head rested against the window, his brow furrowed, his expression fierce and uneasy.

Momo.

Her Momo.

An Xiang slowly moved closer and carefully gathered An Zimo into her arms.

He smacked his lips and buried his face in An Xiang's embrace. His sleeping face was so clean and lovely, so adorable that An Xiang could not resist wanting to kiss him.

She lowered her head, her lips gently touching the boy's eyelashes.

"Momo..." An Xiang stroked his cheek and murmured, "Mommy only has you now."

If there was a way for her soul to remain in this body for a long time, she would be willing to pay any price;

If her body died and she returned to the An Family, would An Zimo still recognize her when they met again?

Perhaps he would not.

Then they would merely be strangers, with no blood relationship and no connection.

Maybe...

Maybe, if she tried hard, her son would call her Auntie.

A-Auntie wasn't bad, either.

At the thought that her own son might call her Auntie, An Xiang's eyes reddened, and she could not help wanting to cry again.

Although I wrote this in the first chapter and mentioned it in the author's note, there are bound to be people who didn't read it, so I'll be a broken record and explain it again.

An Xiang and the original owner of the body both exist in the novel's world.

So there is no scenario where An Xiang goes back and can't see her son.

Muttering quietly: I just want to write about the mom dying and the son desperately trying to win her back afterward. (Not really.)

**

Also, the son's personality really is bad right now. He's a "filial" son, emotionally deficient and selfish-in plain terms, an ungrateful brat. Don't ask why he still hasn't realized after so long that the female lead has changed bodies. The environment in this parallel timeline is the same as in his previous life, and so is her face. Even if he knew, he still wouldn't feel any affection for the female lead!! Would you feel affection for the face of a woman who abused you all your life and caused your death?

It's like a woman being raped, then being reborn and seeing the rapist. His personality is a little different, so would you be that certain this criminal isn't the person from your previous life, then open your heart and accept him right away?

Suppose you were reborn and saw someone you hated. If that jerk became kind, would you instantly accept them and become friends?

An Zimo's psychological trauma is too severe. His personality has already become warped, and that has nothing to do with whether he's a genius. If he knew his mom had become kind, he would still take his anger out on her, even to a very excessive degree.

So there has to be a process of emerging from that darkness and then accepting her. Please stop arguing with me over this! I can think of every issue you can think of! Also, don't leave negative ratings because the female lead is unintelligent. I gave warnings in both the first chapter and the synopsis!!!! I never, ever imagined that an unintelligent female lead would need a warning, too.

I was chatty today. Please forgive me.

Random red envelopes.