Chapter 14

Jiang City was awash in intoxicating lights at night, its towering buildings reflected beneath a dazzling stream of colors.

An Xiang had not expected it to get so late today. It would definitely be too late to make dinner by the time they got home. Afraid that her child would go hungry, she led An Zimo into a restaurant at random.

The restaurant was quiet and elegantly decorated, but the prices on the menu made her secretly click her tongue. If it had been before, An Xiang would have gotten up and left without a word, but now...

She looked up at An Zimo, suppressing the ache in her heart as she ordered several dishes. Then she returned the menu to the waiter, picked up her teacup, and slowly sipped the fragrant floral tea.

Perhaps because it was mealtime, more and more diners gradually filled the restaurant.

A family of three sat beside them. The child was about the same age as An Zimo and was nestled in Mommy's arms with a sweet smile, acting spoiled. It was a beautiful, harmonious sight.

An Xiang could not help but envy them. She and An Zimo had always had little to say to each other. Most of the time, she talked to herself. Her son did not like talking, and he hated her, his mother. Perhaps she would never live to see her son act spoiled with her.

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

He held his little face in both hands. The lights danced and rippled in his pitch-black pupils, lending those eyes a hint of warmth. Yet his expression remained cold as he stared blankly at his reflection in the window without speaking.

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

Before she could finish, the waiter bringing their food interrupted her.

An Xiang sighed and could only put the subject aside for now.

"Momo, eat first." An Xiang placed a small spoon beside his hand. Only after seeing him start to eat did she slowly pick up her chopsticks.

The two ate quietly when several sets of footsteps approached from not far away.

"Mr. An, this way, please."

An?

An Xiang's fingers curled tightly as she could not help looking up.

Separated by only a short distance, those brows and eyes were familiar enough to be carved into her soul.

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

An Yanze.

Her cousin.

The surrounding noise vanished in an instant. An Xiang's breathing froze as she stared fixedly at his retreating figure, her expression suddenly dazed.

This was the first time An Xiang had seen someone from her clan in the four years since she came to this body. They were clearly in the same world, the same city, yet they had never had any contact. Today was the first time.

She had never thought she would see them again.

For now, he had not noticed her presence and slowly disappeared down the corridor behind the waiter.

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

She put down her chopsticks and leaned back in her chair, looking out the window. The face reflected in the glass was pale and lifeless as memories that had long been sealed away suddenly awakened.

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

He never caught snakes to scare her. He never insulted her with words, nor did he throw mud at her.

Whenever An Xiang was locked up during banquets, An Yanze was the one who secretly brought her food.

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

She did not regret her own death, nor had she ever regretted abandoning her identity as a member of the Vampire Clan to become a tiny human. Yet sometimes, just sometimes, she wondered whether anyone remembered her. When they saw that high tower, had they ever felt any regret for her?

An Xiang had not moved her chopsticks, and her unprecedented gloom caught An Zimo's attention.

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

An Xiang came back to herself. An Zimo's figure had become blurry. She lowered her head and wiped her face carelessly, only to find her hand covered in tears.

An Zimo frowned. "Are you crying?"

"I'm not. I'm not crying anymore." An Xiang covered her eyes tightly, unwilling to let her son see her in such a sorry state, but she could not hide the tremble in 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 crying or laughing was nothing more than inexplicable noise.

An Zimo bit down on his spoon and silently 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 me.]

[I can't make my son worry.]

[But boohoohoohoohoo...]

Sure enough, she was so noisy.

Besides An Xiang's crying in her mind, the thoughts of everyone else within half a meter also flooded in.

Irritated, he muted Mind Reading again.

"Fine. I'll go to kindergarten."

Huh??

An Xiang's sobbing stopped abruptly. With tears still clouding her eyes, she looked at An Zimo in disbelief.

He was full and satisfied, his little legs swinging as his face showed complete indifference.

"It'll be annoying if I have to listen to you cry every day."

His tone was heavy with disdain.

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

She only cried... once in a while.

But...

"Momo, did it hurt you to see Mommy cry?"

An Zimo had not expected her to suddenly say that. The corner of his eye twitched, and his sidelong gaze fell on her.

At that moment, those gleaming peach blossom eyes were full of expectation—misty with tears and shining brightly. Without even blinking, she gazed at him eagerly.

An Zimo suddenly felt suffocated under the unwavering stare of those eyes.

Hurt him?

What kind of joke was that?

He did not have heart disease. What was there to hurt?

In his previous life, he had had a terrible relationship with his mother. His only impression of her was that she was irritable and violent. He had never seen her show weakness. The butterfly effect really was something strange, to have turned her into such an odd, indescribable person.

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

"I knew Momo just doesn't like talking. Deep down, you're still very gentle." The sadness in An Xiang's heart, brought on by her original family, was healed at that moment.

Maybe her precious Momo was not foolish. Maybe he simply did not like talking. In truth, his heart was gentler and more sensible than any other child's.

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

She... she could teach him if she tried hard enough!

Mommy could teach him?

Was she serious?

An Zimo's lips curled downward, his contempt written all over his face.

Of course he did not want to go to kindergarten, but he did not want to stay with that hateful face every day either. Before he figured out how to leave this family, An Zimo would rather drift through kindergarten and wait for death.

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

"Alright." Seeing that he insisted, An Xiang did not stop him again. "Then Mommy will go home and look into it properly. I'll try to pick the best kindergarten for you."

Their home was rather remote, and there were no schools nearby. She could only search around the city center, preferably somewhere close to the milk tea shop so dropping him off and picking him up would be convenient. If there really was nowhere suitable... then they could only move.

An Xiang decided that she would search online in detail as soon as she got home. This concerned her son's future. She could not rush it; she had to be careful.

After eating and drinking their fill, An Xiang carried her bag in her left hand and her son in her right as they went to the counter to pay.

"That will be 588. Here is your receipt. Please keep it."

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

"Xiang?"

The other person's voice was filled with shock.

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

She pressed her lips together, turned around with forced composure, and met those astonished eyes without avoiding them.

An Yanze had not changed much from several years ago. He was still as outstanding, handsome, and eye-catching as ever. Her grip on An Zimo's hand tightened slightly as she looked back at him as though he were a stranger.

"Brother Ze, you've mistaken her for someone else." Two tall young men approached from behind, breaking the stalemate. One of them lowered his eyes and gave An Xiang a disdainful glance before slowly looking away. "How could she possibly be?"

"...Right. How could she possibly be?" An Yanze's Adam's apple bobbed as he murmured the words. He was dazed for several seconds before reluctantly releasing her. He stepped back slightly to put some distance between them, lowered his head, and apologized to An Xiang in a gentle voice. "Sorry. You look a little like my younger sister, so I couldn't help mistaking you for her. I thought..."

Brother Ze remembered her.

The thought flashed through her mind, stirring her heart.

Brother Ze remembered her. Perhaps Brother Ze was the only one who truly still thought of her.

Her eyes began to sting again. Unable to help herself, she lowered her lashes to hide the emotion in her eyes and silently picked up An Zimo before leaving the restaurant.

"Brother Ze, honestly. How could you mistake someone so easily?"

"But she really does look like that trash."

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

Every word of their conversation reached An Xiang's ears. Their voices grew fainter and fainter until they completely disappeared.

An Xiang's face was calm and pale. She hailed a cab and got inside, silently staring out at the scenery rushing past the window the entire way.

The system said this body's death was inevitable.

But now...

An Xiang suddenly did not want to die. Being human like this was actually quite nice. She had no ties to that family and did not want to see those faces appear before her again.

In the quiet car, small, steady breaths echoed beside her ear.

An Zimo had fallen asleep at some point. His little head rested against the car window, his brows knitted together, his expression fierce yet uneasy.

Momo.

Her Momo.

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

He smacked his lips, burying his little face in An Xiang's embrace. His sleeping face was clean and beautiful, so adorable that An Xiang could not help wanting to kiss him.

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

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

If there was a way to keep her soul in this body forever, she would be willing to pay any price.

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

Maybe he would not.

By then, they would merely be strangers with no blood relation and no connection at all.

Maybe...

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

Ah... Auntie would be fine too.

At the thought that her biological 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, some people definitely did not read it, so I'll explain it again like a broken record.

An Xiang and the original owner are both in a novel world.

So there is no possibility of An Xiang going back and being unable to see her son.

Just quietly saying this: I simply wanted to write a story where the mother dies, and the son regrets it afterward. Not really.

**

Also, the son's personality is genuinely awful right now. He lacks emotional attachment and is selfish and self-serving. To put it bluntly, he is an ungrateful wretch. Do not ask why he has not realized that the female lead changed bodies after so long. The environment of this parallel world is the same as in his previous life, and her face is the same too. Even if he knew, he still would not feel any affection for the female lead!!

Would you feel fond of the face of a woman who abused you for your entire life and caused your death?

For example, if a woman was raped, then was reborn and saw her rapist again, only to find that his personality was somewhat different—would you be so certain that he was not the same person from her previous life that you would immediately open your heart and accept him?

Suppose you were reborn and saw someone you hated, but that hateful person had become kind. Would you instantly accept them and become friends with them?

An Zimo's psychological trauma is too severe. His personality has already become twisted, and it has nothing to do with whether he is a genius or not. If he knew that Mommy had become kind, he would still take out his anger on her, perhaps even excessively.

So there has to be a process of him stepping out of the shadows and then accepting her. Stop arguing with me over this issue! Any question you can think of, I can think of too! And stop giving the female lead negative reviews because she is foolish. I put warnings in both the first chapter and the synopsis!!!! I never imagined that a foolish female lead would need a warning too.

I've been especially chatty today. Sorry for the trouble.

Random red envelopes.