Chapter 7

What should she do if her son was hungry?

What did children this age even eat?

An Xiang was completely at a loss. After all, she had handed him over to someone else to care for from the moment he was born. She could be said to have absolutely no childcare experience.

An Xiang scratched her head in distress, took out her phone, opened Baidu, and skillfully typed on the keyboard with her fingertips—[What do toddlers eat.]

Just as she was about to search, An Xiang frowned and deleted it word by word.

No, her son had half Vampire genes in him. So what did a child who was a Mixed-Blood of human and Vampire eat...

Blood tofu?

Duck blood vermicelli soup?

Sob, she was hungry too.

An Xiang touched her flat, empty stomach, having gone the entire day without food or water. Listless, she slumped over the small table beside her.

Raising a son was so hard.

She let out a long sigh, forced herself to sit up, and prepared to keep searching.

"Mm..."

A faint groan came from beside her. An Xiang sprang over with a jolt and gazed eagerly at An Zimo, who had been asleep for several hours. Pouting with a hint of grievance, she said, "Momo, you're awake. Mommy was so worried about you."

An Zimo had no strength left in his body. He gave An Xiang a fleeting glance before quickly looking away.

Grrr.

His stomach growled even more fiercely than before.

An Zimo was so hungry that he did not even have the strength to glare fiercely at his enemy.

"Momo, are you very hungry?" An Xiang bit her lip. "But I don't know what you eat..."

An Zimo said nothing.

After weighing it for a long time, An Xiang finally made up her mind. She scooted over to him, undid two buttons at her collar, and offered him her neck. "Baby, do you want to take a couple sips?"

"...?"

"...??"

A couple sips?

An Zimo's eyes widened, and his little face instantly flushed bright red.

He was already this old. How could he still drink breast milk? It was simply an insult to his dignity!!!

"Get away from me!! This isn't appropriate!" An Zimo protested fiercely at An Xiang. Unfortunately, his babyish voice was soft and sweet, and with his cold acting up, he did not sound threatening at all. He sounded more like a little baby acting cute with his mommy.

Faced with that adorable, earnest little face, An Xiang's heart instantly melted into a puddle.

Forget a little blood—she wanted to give her son her life!

"I'm your mommy. There's nothing inappropriate about it." An Xiang tugged her collar wider. "Come on, come on, hurry up and drink. Don't be polite."

An Zimo was about to explode.

"Get away! Get away from me!"

"No means no! Don't come near me!"

An Zimo reacted violently, and the tips of his ears turned so red they looked ready to bleed.

Forget nearly four years old—even if he were one year old, one month old, he would never let this hateful woman nurse him!

An Xiang tilted her head, unable to understand why her son was so resistant.

[Could it be that a Vampire Mixed-Blood doesn't like drinking blood?]

[Or does my son think my blood smells bad?]

[I get it. Maybe my son doesn't want to drink blood from a major artery.]

An Xiang's thoughts churned endlessly, every word flowing straight into An Zimo's ears.

His expression became even more horrified than before. His little face went red, then pale, then red again, until all that remained was confusion.

What nonsense was this woman thinking now?

What Vampire? What major artery? Was she insane?

An Zimo was not surprised that his mother had a mental illness. That woman had been paranoid and violent, muttering to herself all the time.

He could not stay by her side. Absolutely not.

An Zimo gradually calmed down and said expressionlessly, "I want food."

"Food?" An Xiang tilted her head again, revealing a sweet, harmless smile. "That's fine. You can treat Mommy as your food."

The overhead light was dim. In that cramped room, An Zimo did not find the smile in front of him healing in the slightest. Instead, the flickering light made it seem strangely ghostly.

An Zimo inexplicably felt a chill run down his spine. Bracing himself, he said, "Just get me something people eat." There was none of his earlier ferocity or arrogance left in his aggrieved tone.

An Zimo was truly afraid—not of death, but of torment.

The room was old and cramped. Outside the window was pitch-black darkness without even a spark of starlight. He did not know where he was or what he would have to face next.

Perhaps this mentally unstable mommy had sold him to organ traffickers.

An Zimo was not pessimistic. He was simply used to preparing for the worst.

"Okay." An Xiang nodded. "Then I'll go buy some now." She did not like forcing children. Since he did not want to drink blood, then he would not drink blood. More importantly, she was hungry too.

An Xiang buttoned her collar back up, then, under An Zimo's astonished gaze, pulled a folding knife from her backpack and tucked it into her jeans.

Noticing her son's gaze, An Xiang took the opportunity to teach him, "When you're out, you have to protect yourself. There are lots of bad people."

"..."

You were the worst person of all, damn it!!

An Zimo suddenly felt exhausted. He lay facedown on the bed, too lazy to even open his eyes.

Fully prepared, An Xiang was about to leave. Still, she felt uneasy, so she turned back to An Zimo and said, "Mommy will only be gone for a little while. You absolutely mustn't run outside, okay?"

"Mm." An Zimo answered perfunctorily.

"It really isn't safe outside. It's dark, and there are big bad wolves. You have to be good."

"Got it."

He agreed readily, but An Xiang still could not put her mind at ease.

"I'm hungry. Go already."

An Zimo began urging her. An Xiang gave him one final look before opening the door and leaving.

Her footsteps gradually faded away. Once they had completely disappeared outside, An Zimo swiftly jumped off the bed. Only then did he realize he was wearing An Xiang's T-shirt, with nothing covering his bottom, which felt especially uncomfortable.

An Zimo struggled internally for several seconds before finally setting aside his shame for the moment. He put on his shoes, grabbed the wallet from the table, moved a small stool to the door, turned the handle, and nimbly slipped out.

An Zimo knew that leaving alone was not very safe. An ordinary child could easily be abducted.

But he was not an ordinary child. He had enough intelligence and strategy to survive. Even if an arduous and dangerous road lay ahead, he would brave it alone!

"Oh my, Momo, why did you come down?"

"..."

"...?"

"...!!!"

An Zimo, who had just reached the intersection and had not even had the chance to begin his adventure, was deeply shocked to find An Xiang standing at the bottom of the stairs.

Mother and son faced each other, one above and one below, as the atmosphere sank into awkward silence.

An Xiang lowered her eyes, her gaze locking directly onto the off-white wallet in his little hands.

An Zimo's breath caught. He unconsciously hid his hands behind his back, his grip on the wallet tightening slightly.

It was over. He had been found out so quickly.

An Xiang definitely would not let him off.

An Zimo remembered how, when he was five, he had fallen in love with a mecha cartoon and become especially fond of the toys in it. He wanted one, but his mother had harshly scolded him. That day, he stole money for the first time, just to buy something he wanted.

The result was predictable. His mother smashed the television, broke the toy, and locked him in the closet for an entire day.

An Zimo's throat tightened. He had thought that dying once meant he would no longer care, but he was still afraid—afraid of the name An Xiang, afraid of this face, afraid of his childhood, and even more afraid of his memories.

It was a curse he could not escape.

An Xiang stepped closer and tapped the little hand behind his back with her fingertip. "Is that my wallet?"

An Zimo gritted his teeth and said nothing.

She suddenly raised her hand. An Zimo's body stiffened, and he involuntarily closed his eyes.

The expected beating did not land on An Zimo. Instead, an incredibly gentle weight settled atop his head, and his hair was tousled by that soft palm.

He froze.

"Did Momo come down to bring Mommy her wallet?"

An Zimo stared at her blankly.

Her long hair framed her small, fair face. Her brows curved gently, and her peach-blossom eyes held the warmth of spring.

"That shop doesn't accept WeChat." An Xiang looked somewhat annoyed. "But I've already arranged for him to deliver it here. We can pay him later."

An Zimo was speechless.

An Xiang bent down and picked him up. "Even though I said you couldn't run out by yourself, thank you anyway."

[Sob, sob, sob, my son is really so thoughtful.]

[He's the cutest good baby in the whole world.]

[As expected of the son I gave birth to, as expected of the son I gave birth to.]

[Aaaaaah!]

[Aaaaaaaaaah!!]

An Zimo was about to be deafened by those irritating repeated screams. Could this annoying Mind Reading be turned off? If not, could the volume at least be lowered?

The moment he thought that, the inner voice actually became quieter.

An Zimo blinked. [Lower it.]

The inner voice became almost imperceptible, as though someone had pressed a volume button.

An Zimo felt like he had discovered something fun. His eyes brightened. [Louder.]

[Aaaaaah!!!!!]

"Son, what did you mean, louder?"

An Zimo immediately returned to his usual blank expression, ignoring her with a cold face.

The two returned to the room, and not long after, someone from the restaurant delivered their food.

An Zimo had long been starving. After seeing An Xiang take a bite to make sure there was nothing wrong with it, he began wolfing it down with a small spoon.

He ate with gusto, but An Xiang had little appetite.

The scent of her son's blood filled her nose. Looking at that chubby little face, An Xiang swallowed hard.

[Sob, my son smells so good.]

[I really want to eat him.]

What was going on?

Why had she suddenly become so sensitive to the scent of human blood? Could it be... could it be that reward?

An Xiang carefully recalled all the gift packs customer service had sent over. Slow to react as she was, she finally realized what was included in the extra compensation. Aside from the milk tea shop and materials, there really had been something about a keen sense of smell.

Aaaaaah!

She was such an idiot!

An Xiang viciously tugged at her hair, wishing she could immediately turn back time and beat her morning self to death.

But...

An Xiang stared at An Zimo, her eyes shining.

[If I secretly take one bite of my son tonight, he probably... won't notice, right?]

No, he would notice.

An Zimo noticed right then.

He lost all appetite for the sweet and sour pork in the lunchbox. Silently setting down his chopsticks, he wiped his greasy little mouth clean, grabbed a pillow from the bed without a word, and climbed barefoot into the closet, not forgetting to shut the door tightly behind him.

An Xiang blinked in confusion. She went over and knocked on the closet, then tugged on the door, only to discover that he had secured it from the inside with something. She could not pull it open at all.

"Momo, what's wrong?" An Xiang could not figure it out. Could it be that her son was dissatisfied with the food? But he had clearly eaten a lot.

"Momo, come out and sleep."

An Zimo replied coolly with two words, "Not coming out."

"Huh?" An Xiang was bewildered. "Why?"

An Zimo said, "I'm afraid you'll eat me." Given her fierce, cruel, and abnormal nature, it would not be strange even if she really did eat children.

An Xiang sucked in a sharp breath, instantly growing angry. "Son, don't talk nonsense! Even tigers don't eat their cubs! Do I look like that kind of person?!"

An Zimo curled his lips disdainfully. "..."

That was hard to say.

An Xiang: Am I really that heartless of a mommy!!

An Xiang: I am!

Sob, Chengcheng is hungry too.

Random red packets. See you tomorrow, and remember to praise me more~