Chapter 38

The two children tinkered around in the room for over an hour before finally coming out when An Xiang called for them.

She had prepared hot pot for dinner—easy and convenient.

An Xiang arranged the bowls and chopsticks, then looked at Pei Chen. "Is Mr. Pei here yet?"

"I don't know. He should be here soon." As he spoke, Pei Chen sent Pei Yizhou a text.

[Pei Yizhou: Almost there.]

"He said he'll be here soon."

An Xiang nodded, turned on the heat, and put the ingredients that took longer to cook into the pot first.

Not long after, the doorbell rang twice.

An Xiang went to answer the door. The man standing outside was tall and straight, like a snow-covered pine. His suit jacket was draped over his arm, his tie loosened, his features reserved, and an elegant languor seemed to seep from his very bones.

She stepped aside to let him in, took his jacket and hung it on the coat rack beside them, then bent down to place a pair of slippers by Pei Yizhou's feet.

Looking at the girl, who had not even had time to take off her apron, Pei Yizhou's lips curved slightly. For some reason, his mood brightened.

It felt like a wife welcoming her husband home from work.

Warm and sweet.

"Seventh Great-Grandpa!" Pei Chen had already started eating. He raised his chopsticks and waved at him.

Pei Yizhou washed his hands first, then naturally sat down across from An Xiang.

An Xiang placed a bowl before him and pointed to the two dipping sauces. "The one on the left is spicy, and the one on the right isn't. Pick whichever you like." She did not know Pei Yizhou's preferences, so she had deliberately bought two flavors of seasoning.

Pei Chen pursed his lips. "Sister An Xiang, you don't need to worry about my Seventh Great-Grandpa. He has no sense of taste, so everything tastes the same to him."

The moment the words left his mouth, Pei Yizhou's hand froze around his chopsticks.

An Xiang had clearly not expected that and looked at him in slight surprise.

The man remained calm, as if he had long grown accustomed to such comments. He picked up a piece of meat, swished it in the pot, and put it into his mouth to chew slowly. Then his brows furrowed, and a thin sheen of sweat appeared on his forehead.

"It's a little intense."

Pei Chen's expression changed drastically. "Y-you can taste it?" Everyone in the Pei Family knew that Pei Yizhou had lost both his sense of taste and smell. They had consulted countless doctors without finding a solution. Pei Yizhou was too composed by nature; after several treatment attempts had failed, he stopped insisting on one.

"Not exactly." Pei Yizhou suddenly looked at An Xiang, his voice mild. "It seems I can only taste Miss An Xiang's flavor."

That sentence carried an inexplicable ambiguity.

To An Xiang, his gaze felt even hotter than the steam rising from the hot pot. Her expression changed, and she lowered her head. Her lips moved for a long time before she managed to say, "...Maybe it's a coincidence."

"Perhaps." Pei Yizhou calmly looked away. His taste buds were trying such stimulating food for the first time. After two bites, he could no longer take it and set down his chopsticks, taking small sips of water.

"By the way, is Zimo starting school?"

"Mm. He'll be going to the same school as Pei Nuo and the others."

Pei Chen's eyes lit up. He gave An Zimo a hard slap on the back. "That works out perfectly. That brat Pei Yan has a bad temper. If he bullies you at kindergarten, tell your big brother. I've got your back."

"Cough..."

That "big brother" was too lethal. Pei Yizhou's breathing hitched, and a mouthful of water caught in his throat, making him cough uncontrollably.

It took him a long while to stop. With a frosty expression, he said, "Pei Chen."

His voice was low, and anyone could tell he was angry.

"You are not allowed to make An Zimo call you big brother."

"Huh?" Pei Chen looked baffled. "Why?"

"There are no whys. You're not allowed, period."

Pei Yizhou looked utterly unreasonable. Pei Chen was already used to his temper, so he scratched his head and said nothing more.

"Zimo, remember to wear this when you go to school tomorrow."

Pei Yizhou handed An Zimo a children's GPS watch. It could also answer calls and send voice distress signals. To prevent any accidents, Pei Yizhou had prepared one for each of them, so An Zimo naturally could not be an exception.

He did not take it and simply kept his head down as he ate.

Pei Yizhou did not find it awkward. He directly placed the watch in front of An Xiang.

After dinner, the grandfather and grandson said goodbye.

An Xiang was washing dishes in the kitchen while An Zimo watched television and gnawed on a bone. As he chewed, there was a crunch. A tiny tooth fell from his gums onto the floor, and his mouth instantly filled with the taste of rust.

An Zimo's expression changed at once. He threw down the bone and rushed to the bathroom.

His hurried manner was impossible to miss. An Xiang could not be bothered with the housework anymore. She washed her hands and followed him in.

An Zimo had his back to her, clutching a cup as he frantically rinsed his mouth.

"Did your tooth fall out?"

An Zimo opened his mouth. "One fell out." The matching tooth was still firmly in place, but judging by how loose it was, it would probably fall out in a few days too.

An Xiang frowned tightly in conflict and said nothing as her son continued rinsing his mouth.

She had said she would tell him the truth once his teeth fell out, but now that the time had come, she did not know how to begin. After all, not every child could handle this kind of thing.

What kind of thing??

Hearing her thoughts, An Zimo abruptly turned around and immediately saw the complicated, pained expression on An Xiang's face.

He sensed something was wrong and awkwardly asked, "Hey, are you hiding something from me?"

An Xiang jolted upright. Finally gathering her courage, she took a deep breath, walked over, patted his shoulder, and said solemnly, "Momo, to tell you the truth, you're not human." To make sure he knew she was serious, her expression was particularly stern.

An Zimo: "...???"

"What? Say that again?"

Staring into his eyes, An Xiang repeated, "You're not human."

"You're the one who's not human!!" An Zimo instantly bristled. Forgetting all manners, he widened his round eyes. "Why are you suddenly insulting me? That makes no sense." He was only losing his baby teeth at three. Why was she suddenly calling him inhuman? Children had dignity too, okay?

He roughly wiped the water from his mouth, jumped down from the chair in a sulk, and walked around An Xiang toward his room.

An Xiang panicked and hurried after him to explain. "Momo, listen to Mommy. You're actually a vampire. You'll know once your fangs grow in."

A vampire?

An Zimo turned back and sneered at her. "You've watched too many movies and gotten too immersed. First of all, whether a race so contrary to humanity could exist in this age of technology is questionable. Even if it did, in our country they'd be called zombies. Vampires are a foreign thing. Second, vampires are afraid of sunlight and live in coffins..."

An Xiang's eyelashes fluttered, and she nodded. "Ah, yes. We do live in a coffin."

Vampires slept in coffins. Was there a problem with that?

At that thought, An Xiang blinked twice again.

"..."

An Zimo was speechless.

Damn it.

They really did live in a coffin!

An Zimo immediately fell silent, then added, "Vampires drink blood, too. I don't remember having that kind of habit. Anyway, even though I'm three years old, I'm not that easy to fool. Don't think you can brush me off."

"...But I'm not lying to you."

An Xiang looked aggrieved.

The one thing she had always been worst at was lying. Her son really was a vampire; she was telling the truth. How could that be lying?

Her thoughts made An Zimo roll his eyes again.

She was hopeless.

This mommy was stupid. She could even say something so ridiculous out loud.

She was stupid, but he was not.

If a race as overpowered as the ones in movies truly existed in reality, then this world would not be far from destruction.

An Zimo helplessly shook his head and returned to his room alone to sleep, too lazy to pay any more attention to her.

An Xiang stood there helplessly for a long time before finally remembering to text Pei Yizhou.

[Mommy Is a Devil: I told Zimo, but he didn't believe me and even scolded me.]

[Pei Yizhou: How did you tell him?]

[Mommy Is a Devil: I said you're not human.]

[Pei Yizhou: ...]

[Pei Yizhou: Silly girl.]

[Mommy Is a Devil: ...You scolded me too.]

[Pei Yizhou: .]

Sob, he even used a period to scold her.

An Xiang was deeply dejected, instantly feeling like the world could not get any worse.

People got scolded for telling the truth!

An Xiang: QAQ Sob sob sob, sob sob sob, sob sob sob sob sob sob.

**

By my calculations, her son was about to cause trouble.

This chapter counted for the thirtieth. There would still be two updates tomorrow.

My recent insomnia has been making me dizzy and giving me heart palpitations, so I'm going to sleep first. This chapter is a little short. (:з"∠) See you tomorrow, love you all.

Two hundred red packets.