Chapter 29

[I was already prepared for this.]

After hearing that, An Zimo's cold expression finally cracked a little.

"I don't know," he said.

Pei Yizhou frowned, clearly displeased.

"I'm not lying. I don't know when my birthday is." Whenever An Zimo could not be bothered to lie, he told the truth. He truly did not know when his birthday was, though he remembered his death anniversary very clearly.

In his previous life, his mother had never celebrated his birthday during those fourteen years. Even she had forgotten what day she gave birth to him. Later, when someone helped register his household, they casually filled in a date. He knew even less in this life. He had inexplicably been a fool for three years after birth, and even after his consciousness awakened, he could not be bothered with such trivial matters.

"Or I can ask An Xiang for you. Maybe she knows."

"Maybe?"

An Zimo said carelessly, "She left me in the village right after giving birth to me. She probably didn't want to raise me." Sure enough, once he said that, he saw a flicker of shock on Pei Yizhou's face.

He had done it on purpose.

He wanted to know how this "father" would face that woman after learning the truth—and how he would face him.

Pei Yizhou said nothing.

The first thought that sprouted in his heart was pity.

An Xiang had only been twenty when she got pregnant. Maybe she had still been in school. She could not have taken care of a child on her own, so leaving him with someone else was understandable.

His second thought was understanding. Any child abandoned by his mother would not easily accept her again. It was understandable that he had developed such a soul.

No matter how he looked at it, it was all his fault.

Pei Yizhou felt heavy-hearted and could not help sighing.

An Zimo wrinkled his tiny nose. This man's enlightenment was a little too high. He was practically a living saint reborn.

He did not want to keep dealing with this inexplicable man, so he asked, "Do you want me to wake An Xiang?"

"No." Pei Yizhou's legs had gone a little numb from crouching for too long. He stood up, but just as his hand was about to land on An Zimo's fluffy hair, he quickly pulled it back. "Let her sleep."

After hearing that, An Zimo made no attempt to keep him. With a bang, he slammed the door shut.

Pei Yizhou stood blankly in front of the door for several minutes before finally turning to leave.

He needed to think.

He needed to carefully consider how to acknowledge An Xiang, preferably finding a way that would not hurt her while still letting her know who he was.

But...

She had sent the child away without hesitation back then. There had to be some reluctance in it. Once she learned the whole truth, would she only feel repulsed by him?

" Momo, did someone come by just now?" An Xiang had only just woken up, her voice muffled with sleep.

"No."

"Oh." An Xiang did not suspect anything. Still bleary-eyed, she returned to her room, intending to sleep a little longer. When her gaze swept over the phone on the table, she remembered that someone seemed to have messaged her before she fell asleep.

She picked up her phone and unlocked it. The last message was from Pei Yizhou.

After thinking for a few seconds, An Xiang replied: [Hello, Mr. Pei.]

[Pei Yizhou: Awake?]

[An Xiang: I'm awake.]

Only after replying did she realize something was wrong.

How did Pei Yizhou know she had been asleep? Could it be...

An Xiang's pupils shrank as she rushed to An Zimo's room.

She shoved the door open and demanded urgently, "An Zimo, was Mr. Pei the one who came just now?!"

An Zimo lay sprawled on the bed, flipping through a picture book. He gave a quiet hum.

Without caring about anything else, she stepped forward, snatched away the book, and pulled An Zimo up as she demanded, "You didn't say anything weird to him, did you?!"

An Zimo shook off her hand and gave a mischievous smile. "I just asked him whether he has a girlfriend for you."

"You..." An Xiang's eyes widened. "How could you be so bad?!"

"Bleh." An Zimo stuck out his tongue provocatively. Afraid his butt would suffer again, he darted into the bathroom and firmly locked the door.

An Zimo stroked his chin in thought.

Come to think of it, it would not be a bad thing if An Xiang found someone.

As long as she started a family, she would not have so much energy to keep an eye on him. These so-called parents had never been very close to him anyway. As long as he tried to be a little more unruly and a little more vicious, it would be perfectly natural for them to send him back to the countryside as before and have another child. Then he would not even need to run away.

There were now two paths before An Zimo.

One was to earn enough money from Pei Chen to run away from home; the other was to match An Xiang with Pei Yizhou and have them produce a second child.

An Zimo decided to pursue both at once. If the first failed, he still had the second!

Thinking that, An Zimo could not help touching his round little head. He sincerely admired himself. As expected of a brain with an IQ of 180—so smart it was ridiculous.

With a brain like his, why do anything else? Why did he have to be someone's son?

"An Zimo, get out here! I'm really going to teach you a lesson this time!!"

An Xiang kept pounding on the door and shouting furiously.

He calmly opened the door, his placid little expression forming a sharp contrast with An Xiang's exasperation.

"You..."

"Mom," An Zimo called softly.

An Xiang froze, and her raised hand slowly lowered.

She could not help slowing her breathing as she savored that rare "Mom" from her son.

"W-what is it?" An Xiang's big eyes were watery and beautiful, her voice soft and sweet. She looked foolish and adorable.

Tsk, she really was easy to coax.

Without betraying anything, he said, "The brochure says there'll be a dance tonight by the garden pool."

"I think so..."

An Xiang scratched her cheek.

But what did that have to do with her? She could not dance, was shy around strangers, and disliked crowded gatherings even more. Besides, she had a child with her and could not get away at all.

"I want to go."

"Huh?" An Xiang stared blankly. "Y-you want to go?"

"Mm." An Zimo nodded. "Will you go with me?"

"No." An Xiang refused without hesitation.

She was not stupid.

One second ago, her son had been so vicious she wanted to strangle him, and the next he had changed faces and called her Mom. Now he suddenly wanted to go to a dance. Anyone could tell something fishy was going on.

Besides, all sorts of people would be at a dance. If they ran into trouble, she could not handle it.

After thinking it over, An Xiang fully sobered up. She immediately emerged from the sugar-coated shell he had given her and fiercely poked his forehead. "An Zimo, I don't believe you anymore."

An Zimo pouted.

"Even though you apologized to Mr. Pei, you still haven't apologized to me." An Xiang would never forget the look in her son's eyes today. It was true that she spoiled and cared for him, but she was equally serious about not forgiving him so easily.

"Unless you give me a reasonable reason, you won't be leaving this door for the next few days."

An Zimo turned his head aside and muttered, "...It's tens of thousands a day."

"Even hundreds of thousands won't let you go out!" An Xiang put both hands in her pockets. "I've changed. From now on, I'm Demon Mommy. If you disobey me or hurt someone, I definitely won't let you off. Today's spanking was only the beginning, understand?"

She spoke with conviction, her words forceful.

An Zimo could not help touching his butt. Though his body still could not feel pain, that spot had definitely swollen from the beating. He could clearly feel the raised marks left by her palm.

Vicious woman.

The more An Zimo thought about it, the more unwilling he became. He ground his teeth hard, once again strengthening his resolve to leave.

"Does your butt still hurt?"

She had only just finished that fierce lecture, yet immediately began cautiously worrying about his butt.

An Zimo came back to himself and blinked blankly. Then he frowned. "Didn't you hit me because you wanted me to hurt? Why ask me now?" Or was she afraid he did not hurt enough and wanted to slap him a few more times?

Fine.

More slaps it was. A man should endure humiliation and bear heavy burdens.

Besides, he was already used to being beaten and could not feel pain anyway. Taking a few slaps was as ordinary as eating and drinking.

An Zimo pulled down his pants, turned around, and stuck out his butt. "I request that confinement be changed to corporal punishment. Hit me as you see fit, and tell me when it's enough." After a pause, he added, "Remember to take me to the dance afterward."

"..."

Momo: For that man's happiness, I've sacrificed far too much. (:з"∠).

Momo's train of thought is different from those other genius revenge babies. Just ignore him.

If today's nutrient solution reaches ten thousand, I'll post three more chapters!

Love you all.

Two hundred red envelopes this chapter.

I had something to deal with and haven't had time to fix the typos yet. I'll come back and revise it later, so make do with this for now~