The beautiful woman at the doorway, tall and slender with lovely features that qualified her as a peerless beauty, looked only twenty-seven or twenty-eight. She was none other than Zuo Xiaoduo's mother.
His biological mother!
When most people first saw Zuo Xiaoduo's mother, they could hardly help feeling admiration and letting their imaginations run wild. The beauty before them looked so gentle and virtuous; surely she was one of those legendary good-tempered, outstanding beauties who made an exemplary wife and mother.
But only Zuo Xiaoduo himself knew just how frightening and terrifying this woman, such a gentle, virtuous wife and mother in outsiders' eyes, could be when dealing with her own biological son.
Zuo Xiaoduo had lived in the shadow of Her Ladyship, his mother, for seventeen long years. By now, he had reached the point where the mere sound of his mother's roar made him stand at attention by reflex.
The moment that gentle, virtuous, beautiful face turned stern, Zuo Xiaoduo felt waves of throbbing pain in his backside-because what followed was guaranteed to be a delicious serving of bamboo shoots stir-fried with meat.
She never showed the slightest mercy.
Most families had a strict father and an indulgent mother; in Zuo Xiaoduo's family, it was precisely the reverse: a strict mother and an indulgent father.
An indulgent father... actually, he was not all that indulgent. Indifferent and heedless might have been more appropriate descriptions. But a strict mother-she really was strict!
There was something Zuo Xiaoduo could not quite understand. After so many years, time had not left the slightest trace on his venerable mother's face.
She was still so youthful and lovely.
Of course, the same went for his old man. He looked twenty-six, twenty-seven, twenty-eight, or twenty-nine-certainly no older than thirty. Like a jade tree in the breeze, refined and scholarly, he inspired goodwill at first glance, making people think he was some learned man of letters.
But in reality...
Heh heh.
"You're going to help me work?" Her Ladyship's face was full of suspicion. "Puppy, since when have you been so filial?"
Zuo Xiaoduo sprang up like a lackey and eagerly kneaded his mother's shoulders. "Oh, Mom, you work so hard every day. Your son can't bear to watch. Let me give you a massage..."
Wu Yuting narrowed her eyes, enjoying her son's massage, and said comfortably, "Want money? There isn't any! I'm telling you, Zuo Xiaoduo, you've already taken this month's allowance in advance and spent it all. If you're scheming to get anything out of me, give up that idea right now."
Zuo Xiaoduo immediately stopped, his voice tinged with tears. "You really are my biological mother... That's too ruthless. I haven't even opened my mouth yet..."
Wu Yuting rolled her eyes, somehow looking like a young girl, and curled her lip. "You came out of my belly. How could I not know what you're thinking?"
Zuo Xiaoduo hung his head dejectedly.
"And don't think about asking your dad!"
Zuo Xiaoduo looked as though he had lost both his parents.
"Much less your big sister Xiao Nian! I'll warn them both. Anyone who dares give you money can just try it! Three hundred Star Origin Coins in spending money every month-that would last an entire household a month in another family. But you? You took this month's allowance in advance last month. Zuo Xiaoduo, tell me yourself: how much has our family spent on that strange dream of yours? How many times have we gone through all that fuss with you? And you still want to keep it up?"
Every last hope Zuo Xiaoduo had turned to ashes. In an instant, he felt he had nothing left to live for. He pleaded:
"Mom! I have something important to do! I really do!!"
Wu Yuting scoffed. "Someone who's seventeen and still floundering around as a Martial Disciple—and a beginner Martial Disciple at that; someone who's been floundering around as a beginner Martial Disciple for five years... and someone who can sleep fourteen hours a day while floundering around as a beginner Martial Disciple for five years... what important business could you possibly have?"
Tears welled in Zuo Xiaoduo's eyes as he clutched his heart. "Mom, I feel like you've stabbed me right in the heart..."
"You even have a heart?"
Wu Yuting snorted coldly and turned away. "Hurry up and help me trim the vegetables. Your dad and your big sister Xiao Nian will be back soon... Your dad needs a nap after lunch, and your big sister Xiao Nian needs to meditate and cultivate after eating, to prepare to break through to the Yin-Yang Boundary... She can't go without proper rest at this juncture... Get moving. Keep dawdling and I'll break your mangy legs!"
Her Ladyship gave a heavy snort. "Both of them!!"
Zuo Xiaoduo fell as silent as a cicada in the cold... and hurried after her with his tail between his legs.
"Mom, leave everything to me. I'll do it. I'll take care of it all!"
As he trimmed the vegetables, Zuo Xiaoduo heaved long sighs, his eyes darting about.
What could I do to trick Mom out of a little... er, no, coax a little money out of her? I don't need much, just three thousand. No, two thousand would do. If all else fails, fifteen hundred... would work too!
To really test whether this strange dream of mine was real, whether that world truly existed?
Was this really a dream?
Had I really spent all those years in that world as a wandering swindler... er, a physiognomist?
"Money... you'll forever be the grievance in my heart..."
Three hundred a month really was not enough.
Noon.
The aroma of food filled the living room.
The door creaked, and a voice said, "Smells wonderful! Looks like I'll have to have a little drink today." Then a middle-aged man of thirty or so walked in.
He was tall and slender, with sword-like brows, starry eyes, handsome, dashing features, and hair as black as ink. His well-fitted clothes made his figure look all the more like a jade tree in the breeze. His leather shoes gleamed black, and his face was composed and gentle.
He was none other than Zuo Xiaoduo's father, Zuo Changlu.
Zuo Changlu, who claimed there was a long, long road beneath his feet.
"Xiao Nian isn't back yet?"
Zuo Changlu asked the routine question, though he knew perfectly well that his daughter came home about a quarter of an hour later than he did every day. Everyone had an exceptionally precise sense of time; there were practically never any mistakes. If they missed that time, they generally would not be coming home to eat.
As he spoke, he sat down at the dining table and said with a smile, "Ting'er, I found that thing for Xiao Nian."
Wu Yuting came out, wiping her hands, and said in delighted surprise, "You found it? How much did it cost?"
"Hardly anything." Zuo Changlu smiled. "Don't worry about it."
Zuo Xiaoduo's eyes instantly lit up like light bulbs. Money?!
"Oh." Wu Yuting smiled gently. "All right, then. When Xiao Nian gets back, who knows how happy she'll be."