Nestled in a workshop chair, Lin Mu gazed at the photo album spread out on the table.
The photo album and records left behind by his mother contained no information about her family. Not a single piece of related information remained.
Lin Mu had always believed that his mother’s omission of family details was due to a falling out with her relatives, and thus, there was no reason for her to reconnect with them.
For over a decade, while the mother and son struggled to make ends meet, and many things required careful consideration before they could be purchased, they at least had enough to eat and clothes to wear.
With their modest living standards, there was simply no need to reach out to his grandfather’s side of the family.
His mother was accustomed to a life in the wilderness, so adapting to this ordinary life came naturally to her. Over the years, despite the hardships and exhaustion of hard work, she led a happy life.
Additionally, they never encountered any circumstances that required they reach out to his grandfather’s side.
As a result, Lin Mu had always considered himself as having no other relatives.
Nevertheless, it didn’t bother him.
Lost in thought, Lin Mu’s mobile phone on his desk vibrated softly.
He glanced at the phone’s screen and saw a message from his big boss.
Picking up his phone and unlocking it, Lin Mu realised that the big boss had ordered three pots of Cyclamens from him.
Lin Mu hesitated, tapping his fingers on the screen a few times, pondering, then deleted a chunk of text before finally responding with a simple “okay.”
Before he had a chance to set the phone down, another message from the big boss arrived.
He asked Lin Mu: You don’t have anything to ask?
Lin Mu’s fingers hovered over the screen for an extended moment as he contemplated how to respond.
He had numerous questions he wanted to ask.
But when he thought about it, he realized that the answers were already evident.
Why would someone as affluent as Uncle Zhao consistently order potted plants from him every six months?
Even if these flowers and plants were challenging to cultivate, during the flowering seasons, one could easily find a variety of blooms in the flower market or at numerous flower exhibitions.
Lin Mu himself would select his finest flowers and plants and participate in flower shows, often winning prizes and receiving prize money.
And not to mention, he had also encountered several potential buyers for his flowers.
However, these potential clients didn’t place orders a year and a half in advance, nor did they purchase two or three pots each month.
Lin Mu referred to Uncle Zhao as a big boss because he brought in a substantial amount of business.
It was to the extent that, aside from a few minor orders for select upscale establishments, nearly a quarter of the flowers Lin Mu sold in a year went directly to him.
Uncle Zhao claimed that he was ordering the flowers for friends, for himself, or to gift to his elders, providing various justifications.
In retrospect, it was essentially a form of financial support.
Lin Mu’s hesitant fingers on the screen paused, and he began typing out a message. After some contemplation, he deleted the name ‘Lin Hongsheng’ and replaced it with just ‘Uncle.’
After a brief pause, he removed ‘Uncle’ and replaced it with ‘his.’
Lin Mu then asked the big boss: “Was it his idea to buy flowers from me?”
On the other end of the phone, Lin Hongsheng, with a pained expression, looked at the response. He turned to his friend who was delightfully examining the Rhododendron that Lin Mu had sent, appearing reluctant to part with it.
“How should I respond to this?”
Uncle Zhao turned and glanced over, took the phone, and provided a very serious response: I like flowers. Besides yours, no other flowers can survive in my care for more than three rounds.
Lin Mu read the response, paused for a couple of seconds, and couldn’t help but recall the plant-related calamity he had witnessed on his first visit to the big boss’s viewing room, and chuckled.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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They contained information about his mother’s family.
Lin Mu scrolled through the messages, and his heart remained unmoved by his two uncles.
They were just ordinary people.
Reluctant to assume the risks and losses associated with completely severing ties with their family, yet still striving to lead their own lives while benefiting from available resources.
Some parents opt to spoil their children, providing them with many things and allowing them to explore life freely. Others would end up taking a stricter approach, treating their children as possessions, restricting their every move, and imposing their own life plans on them.
Lin Mu’s grandfather clearly fell into the latter category, and for the two siblings who yearned for freedom but lacked the courage to break away, the world refused to comply with their desires.
The elder uncle, in particular, was plagued by fear and hoped that his younger sister and brother could achieve success where he had faltered.
The younger uncle relied on the support of his siblings and lived in dread of encountering his grandfather.
Both uncles, one aged forty-five and the other in his forties, found themselves trapped in the shadow of their grandfather. Even minor matters, such as attending their sister’s funeral or looking after their nephew, were weighed against each other secretly. Neither of them achieved their aspirations.
His mother simply left, but seemed the most comfortable.
Lin Mu gazed at the chat history, now pushed to the end, and felt no emotional turmoil.
After all, who in this world hadn’t experienced their share of hardships?
But one thing at a time.
Even though he held no personal attachment to their affairs, he couldn’t disregard the favors his uncles had extended to him.
Lin Mu tapped on his phone screen, expressing gratitude for the assistance they had provided and pondered how to reciprocate the kindness he had been unable to locate for so long.
It finally dawned on him where his tendency to hold grudges originated.
He had previously noted that the father figure in his dreams appeared gentle, warm, and composed, seemingly devoid of a vengeful nature.
As it turned out, he had inherited this trait from his mother.
Reflecting upon it, he realized that his mother had asked him to call his grandfather to collect her body, possibly with the hope that the two brothers would come to take care of him afterward.
In particular, his mother had lived in A City for so many years without seeing her relatives, probably because his grandfather had meddled.
After all, A City wasn’t that big, and they had lived in the suburbs for many years. His mother had bought a house here, so how could his grandfather have been unaware?
For all these years, Lin Mu had never seen any of his mother’s relatives visit, and even phone calls from friends, acquaintances, and mentors were scarce.
The mother in his memories appeared gentle, making it challenging to discern any rebellion in her nature.
Lin Mu set his mobile phone down and closed the album. He glanced out of the window from the second floor and saw the glasshouse under construction.
Several little creatures were carefully installing the glass, applying waterproof glue and protective coatings. Occasionally, they turned to glance at his room.
The small mimosa peeked into the room, met Lin Mu’s gaze, paused for a couple of seconds, then offered a shy smile and waved the brush happily.
Unfortunately, in her excitement, she splattered glue onto the face of the little potato next to her.
Lin Mu and the little creatures were taken aback. He didn’t dwell on whether he was annoyed but leapt from the chair and rushed out of the room.
The little potato, feeling wronged, reverted to his original form and allowed Lin Mu to help wipe the glue off his body.
The little mimosa who had caused the accident anxiously apologized on the side, her eyes welled with anxiety, as if she might burst into tears any second.
The big mimosa attempted to comfort her two little friends, but when the consolation seemed ineffective, she too grew teary-eyed.
The Ginseng Baby swiftly brought out bowls of double skin milk pudding and quietly consoled his friends, offering a bowl of double skin milk to each of them.
However, his little friends remained inconsolable, and the little Ginseng’s eyes reddened as he held his bowl, looking at Lin Mu.
Lin Mu: “……”
After pondering for a while, he asked, “None of you have names, right? Would you like to give yourselves names?”
The small creatures heard this and instantly ceased their sobbing and sniffling.
Yan Xuanjing made a quick detour outside and returned with a cage of cooing pigeons. Upon his return, he spotted the little ones observing the scene by the basin, where Lin Mu was cleaning a potato.
Surrounding Lin Mu were the three little creatures, while the two mimosas scooped double skin milk from a bowl. Since Lin Mu couldn’t reach out, the Ginseng Baby fed him spoonfuls.
Looking at the small blush on the little Ginseng’s face, it seemed that he was reveling in the fact that he could feed Lin Mu.
Yan Xuanjing observed their behavior and felt that Lin Mu didn’t need to be comfort.
He walked over, glanced at the little ones, and said, “Are you having potatoes today? I brought pigeons.”
The three small creatures and Lin Mu paused, then turned to look at the great monster who was carrying pigeons
The Ginseng Baby shivered slightly as he held the double skin milk and stammered in a childlike tone, “Y-y-y-you… you… Please don’t eat Lin Potato. He’s just gained spiritual awareness not too long ago and isn’t delicious.”
Lin Potato?
For a moment, Yan Xuanjing was at a loss.
“They chose names for themselves,” Lin Mu explained, pointing to the small creatures. “Lin Ginseng, Lin Potato, Lin Big Mimosa, and Lin Little Mimosa.”
“……”
It seemed they hadn’t put much thought into the names.
Yan Xuanjing gazed at the potato in Lin Mu’s hand and then realized it wasn’t an ordinary potato but a little creature.
Ah well.
Lin Mu liked to eat potatoes, and it was dinnertime. Looking at how sincerely Lin Mu was cleaning the potato, he hadn’t noticed the difference.
“Won’t eat him,” Yan Xuanjing assured, setting the pigeons aside.
Lin Mu glanced at the pigeons and asked, “Would you like to eat them?”
Yan Xuanjing nodded.
The little Ginseng put away the bowls, tugging the two mimosas to the side. They observed Yan Xuanjing, who had just made a terrifying statement.
Lin Mu entered the house to boil some water. Yan Xuanjing looked at his back for a while, leaned over to grab a pigeon from the cage, and with a crack, swiftly twisted and broke the pigeon’s neck. His hands were swift and accurate, aiming to ensure the quickest and least painful death for the pigeon before cutting its neck to let it bleed.
Several small creatures who had been watching from the shadows sniffled.
They had seen Yan Xuanjing’s formidable moves in combat with Lin Mu, but Lin Mu could continue frolicking energetically afterward.
Witnessing Yan Xuanjing kill an animal was something they had never seen before.
“How, how fierce.” The little mimosa sniffled.
“Wuwu, en, en.” The little Ginseng sobbed as he nodded.
The little potato came up to him and said, “you guys don’t call Lin Mu fierce when he kills.”
The little Ginseng paused, immediately adopting a double standard stance. “How can that be the same?”
The other three creatures nodded after contemplating for a while, shaking their heads in unison.
Not the same.
Really not the same.
Lin Mu was gentle and kind, nothing like this fearsome nine-tailed fox.
Yan Xuanjing had overheard the small discussion but didn’t bother addressing it. Instead, he turned his gaze to Lin Mu as he emerged from the house.
Lin Mu waved at him and happily exclaimed, “It’s Da Hei!”
Yan Xuanjing nodded, showing no surprise.
Lin Mu rushed over and activated the speakerphone.
Da Hei was on the line to report their safety and the progress of the mission.
In these situations, it was best for a third party to be informed, lest all records disappear if they met with a tragic end.
Da Hei explained that they had dispatched four monsters and three humans this time, only to find themselves ensnared by an array set by Di Wu.
“We were rescued by a newly arrived great monster, but Di Wu didn’t intend to harm us,” Da Hei said, looking at the resort villa. “The ingredients left in the refrigerator, instant food, drinking water, and fruits were sufficient to feed those humans for a month.”
It had indeed turned out that way.
Now, Lin Mu understood what Di Wu meant when he had called him and advised him not to worry about the situation.
Da Hei muttered, “In my view, Di Wu doesn’t seem interested in harming us. He just wants to detain us.”
“That’s good, considering you guys have no negative karma,” Lin Mu said, feeling somewhat relieved.
“Yeah, it’s good news. But after we got out, we received two pieces of bad news,” Da Hei continued, his tone reflecting a bit of distress. “First, Di Wu exterminated another Taoist Temple, just like before, annihilating them entirely, even the fish in their pond weren’t spared. This is the first one.”
“……” Lin Mu opened his mouth but closed it again. “What’s the second piece of news?”
“In that Taoist Temple, in addition to Di Wu’s aura, there was also Di Xiu’s aura,” Da Hei explained. “You know about Di Xiu, right? One of the sacred trees, about the same level as Di Wu. Their relationship was said to be very close, but I don’t have all the details……”
On the other side, Da Hei was still rambling, but Lin Mu was frozen on the spot.
Yan Xuanjing observed Lin Mu, his eyes reddened with tears.
The fox spirit was slightly startled and appeared bewildered by Lin Mu’s prolonged distress. He learned from Lin Mu’s actions and patted his head in an attempt to comfort him.
“You haven’t washed your hands,” Lin Mu said with a teary voice.
Yan Xuanjing gazed down at his pigeon-blood-stained hands. “…”
Lin Mu considered Yan Xuanjing’s identity as a nine-tailed fox and thought about Yan Xuanjing’s father, who used to be one of the great monsters guarding Di Xiu’s valley. Sniffling, Lin Mu asked, “You knew for a while, didn’t you? About Di Xiu… my father…”
Yan Xuanjing paused for two seconds, hesitated, then nodded.
Lin Mu stared at Yan Xuanjing, his eyes reddened, unable to speak for a while.
Yan Xuanjing observed Lin Mu, who appeared both angry and sad, and after some contemplation, he suddenly had a realization. He approached Lin Mu and slightly bent down to plant a kiss on Lin Mu’s forehead.
He spoke with a softened voice, like the cold mountain snow melting into a gentle stream under the sun.
“Don’t cry.”
He said.
The translator has this to add:
双皮奶 – Double Skin Milk Pudding
Classic Chinese dessert that only needs 3 ingredients! Milk, egg whites, and sugar.
Omgggg!!!! A kiss!!!! Thank you for the chapter
Yan Xuanjing, so bold! 🙀 Also also, Old man Lin, I just want to have a talk with you! 😃🔪
Omgggg YXJ so smoothhh
Thanks for the chapter!!!
Thanks for the chapter!
Mama Lin was quite the interesting soul..