Eating without Paying

As he watched the two figures leave, Qin Ming's eyes had gone a little unfocused.

Flender walked over to him, gently patted his shoulder, and offered some comfort.

"Don't think too much about it. That's just how this world is. Being alive already counts as being lucky."

To provoke a Titled Douluo and get away with only a broken leg was already a very good outcome in his eyes.

"By the way, do you know a place in Heaven Dou City called the Mo Lin Workshop?"

He had completed the task he had been given. It was time to go and collect the so-called reward the other party had mentioned.

"Hm? What do you want with that place?"

Dugu Yan was standing fairly close. The moment she heard them discussing this, she came over.

Seeing that it was Dugu Yan speaking, Flender was exceedingly polite. He had no choice; this girl's background was also outrageously powerful. He couldn't afford to offend her.

"Oh, that lord instructed me to go there after escorting Miss Ye safely to Heaven Dou City. He said there was something for me."

Mo Lin had only said there would be a reward, without saying what it was. Flender was very curious too.

It wasn't as though he had never visited Heaven Dou City before, but he had never heard of this shop.

That was why he had come to ask Qin Ming. If he happened to know, it would save Flender the trouble of searching.

"Then why didn't you say so earlier? The owner was standing right in front of you."

As she spoke, Dugu Yan pointed in the direction Mo Lin and Ye Lingling had left.

"What? That boy is the owner!"

"That's right. His name is Mo Lin. He named the shop after himself. Didn't you know?"

"Was I supposed to know that?"

Flender looked aggrieved. No wonder the other party had reminded him to show the owner some respect when they met.

So it was because the owner was this weak. Judging by his presence, he only had the strength of someone with three rings.

For a Soul Saint facing a Soul Elder, not immediately walking all over him was already good enough. Respect was absolutely out of the question.

"I didn't look like I was looking down on him just now, did I?"

Flender turned to Zhao Wuji beside him. He was terrified that he might have offended the owner.

After all, back in Suotuo City, Mo Lin had warned him that if he offended that owner, he might not even know how he died.

"I don't think so. I wasn't really paying attention."

Zhao Wuji scratched his head. He had been listening to the two of them talking. When would he have had time to watch Flender's expressions?

"Um... Miss Dugu Yan, is this owner easy to talk to?"

Asking Zhao Wuji was pointless. He might as well ask someone who knew the situation.

"Are you blind? Can't you look for yourself?"

Mo Lin had been so easygoing just now. Couldn't he tell?

She had dealt with him quite a few times herself, and his temper could hardly have been better.

She had bad-mouthed him so many times, yet he had never held it against her. If that didn't count as being easy to talk to, then there was no one easy to talk to on the Douluo Continent.

Still, now that she thought about it, she really did seem to have gone a little too far before.

Should I find a chance to apologize to him?

That was what Dugu Yan thought, but she simply couldn't swallow her pride, leaving her particularly irritable right now.

And as ill luck would have it, Yu Tianheng came over at that very moment.

"Dugu Yan, want to have a meal together? There's something I wanted to..."

"I'm not in the mood. Go eat by yourself. I'm going home."

Dugu Yan had no intention of paying Yu Tianheng any attention. All she wanted now was to go home and pour out her grievances to her grandfather.

Watching Dugu Yan leave without so much as looking back, Yu Tianheng looked utterly puzzled.

"Did I say something wrong?"

Meanwhile, Mo Lin and Ye Lingling had already returned to the Ye Family's little courtyard.

Ye Xingmeng glanced at her daughter, and her passive skill instantly activated.

"Well, well, look who's back."

"You were gone for so long without even sending a message. Don't tell me you found yourself some man out there."

She opened with a king bomb, leaving both Ye Lingling and Mo Lin thunderstruck.

Only a biological mother could pull that off. Even a stepmother couldn't have said something so sharp and cutting.

"Who found some man? Mom, if you keep talking nonsense, I'm going to get angry."

Ye Lingling was furious. Here it went again. As a mother, all she ever did was bully her own daughter.

"Angry? Then go ahead. I'm not the one getting angry, anyway."

Her little punching bag was back. She could keep teasing her again.

Sure enough, a child she had given birth to herself was handy to use and gave her no heartburn.

"Mo Lin, look at her! She's bullying me again."

Unable to win against Ye Xingmeng, Ye Lingling could only turn to Mo Lin for help.

Mo Lin felt helpless. Asking him was no use. He couldn't win against her either.

"Aunt Ye, let it go. Lingling only just got back. Stop teasing her."

There was no helping it. With his future wife on one side and his future mother-in-law on the other, he could only try to mediate.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. You're not even married yet, and you already know to bring a man in against your own mother. A married daughter really is water thrown out. All that raising you, wasted."

"..."

Great. She had gone straight for an area attack.

"Um... you raised me too."

He had to make that clear. He wasn't taking the blame for this.

"But I didn't give birth to you. Besides, after all these years raising you, have you ever called me Mom? You haven't, you..."

"Mom."

Ye Xingmeng had been about to continue when she heard Mo Lin decisively call her that. She froze on the spot.

"What did you call me?"

"Mom."

Mo Lin smiled, then called her that again, earnestly this time.

He should actually have started calling her that long ago. He had just been afraid she wouldn't quite be able to accept it.

"Who said you could call me that? You and Lingling aren't married yet. How bad would it look if outsiders heard? Go back to what you called me before, right now."

Ye Xingmeng was contradicting herself a little. Just a moment ago, she had complained that he never called her that and that all those years of raising him had been wasted.

Now look at her. She wouldn't let him call her that.

Ah, having a mother-in-law like this really was something.

"Then it'll be fine as long as I don't call you that in front of outsiders."

"Come on, Mom, sit down first. Let your son rub your shoulders."

As he spoke, Mo Lin stepped forward, pulled out a chair, and gestured for Ye Xingmeng to sit.

"You... oh, forget it. Call me whatever you like. It was going to happen sooner or later anyway."

Ye Xingmeng gave in. Although her words were reluctant, there was a trace of amusement in her eyes.

She had actually been waiting a long time for this day. She simply hadn't expected it to come so suddenly, leaving her a little unaccustomed to it.

Ye Xingmeng was actually very easy to placate. All it took was backing down a little.

It was just that Ye Lingling always liked to argue with her, which was why Ye Xingmeng kept wanting to tease her.

The three sat around the dining table. Ye Lingling's gaze swept over the other two before finally settling on her own mother.

"What are you staring at? Do I have food on my face?"

Sensing her daughter's resentful gaze, Ye Xingmeng teased her.

"Shouldn't you explain what's going on with that person called Mo Lin?"

"Who? Oh, you mean him."

Ye Xingmeng paused at first, then immediately caught on. She glanced at Mo Lin, who was engrossed in eating, then said with a smile.

"He's just a freeloader. He owes me quite a bit for his meals."

Pfft-!

The instant Mo Lin heard that, he choked.

What the hell did she mean, owing her for meals? That wasn't what we agreed on.

You said you'd handle this. How could you change your lines on the spot?