Lin Yuanshan looked at the three little rascals who had sorted out their future plans among themselves. He snorted indifferently, then smiled ingratiatingly under his wife's cool gaze.
Clearing his throat, he turned to Chu Chi, who was sitting to the side. Wary of her formidable fighting skills, he carefully considered his words before putting on a very friendly expression and speaking in a gentle voice.
"Miss Chu, thank you for bringing my little rascal home today. May I ask where your residence is? I'd like to bring the youngsters to pay a formal visit of gratitude with gifts someday."
His polite tone and the implication behind his words were clear enough for most people to understand. He might as well have directly said, "My child is home now, so you should hurry back to your own home!"
Unfortunately for him, the person he was dealing with was far from ordinary! If Chu Chi could understand such nuances, she wouldn't have spent so long staring around the room earlier, unable to grasp what was going on.
If it weren't for remembering You'an's instructions from yesterday, she would have slapped these people when they started jumping and yelling earlier.
So now, she heard Lin Yuanshan's words but didn't understand them. She only instinctively stood up to follow when she saw Lady Liu stand up holding Lin Wanwan and start to walk out.
Lady Liu's heart skipped a beat when the girl came close and stared at her with those intense eyes.
"Miss Chu, is there something you want to say?"
"Where are you taking my cub?"
"...Cub?"
"Wanwan, mine. Where are you taking her?"
This time Lady Liu understood, though the girl's way of speaking was rather strange. But those wolf-like eyes made her hurry to explain.
"This child is all dirty and sweaty. I think the water in the kitchen should be hot by now, so I was going to take her to have a bath and change into clean clothes."
Bath?
Chu Chi's eyes lit up. Taking a daily bath to stay clean was her favorite habit as a zombie. Even though she was human now, she couldn't give up this good living habit.
Yesterday when she tried to bathe in the river, You'an had stopped her with shrieks and jumps. Now wasn't this a chance to make up for it?
"Go!" she urged the other woman.
"What?"
Lady Liu looked bewildered.
"Bath!"
"No need to trouble yourself, Miss Chu. I can bathe the little girl myself."
"No trouble. Must stay clean every day. It's a good living habit I have to maintain."
"..."
Wait, did she mean she wanted to bathe too?
Hearing Chu Chi's excited tone, Lin You'an, with yesterday's experience in mind, quickly rushed over to grab her delicate hands that were already preparing to remove her own clothes.
"Mother! You can't!"
The boy let out another piercing cry.
Chu Chi looked down and met his eyes. One second passed, ten seconds passed, and after thirty seconds, she finally reacted.
"You'an, need bath."
Her voice sounded a bit disappointed.
"What did I tell you yesterday? You're a girl, you can only bathe in a closed room. Did you forget?"
"Didn't forget. She said, bathe in the kitchen."
She pointed at Lady Liu, enunciating the word "kitchen" particularly clearly.
Although Chu Chi didn't know what a kitchen was, her clever brain had learned to draw inferences, focusing on hearing the word "room" in "kitchen."
"That's not allowed either! Girls can only bathe in their own rooms, not anywhere else! Understand?"
"Why?"
Chu Chi blinked her eyes in dissatisfaction. Her mild obsessive-compulsive disorder was acting up a bit. Although she knew You'an was smart and always told the truth, she still wanted to take a bath.
Lin You'an stood on tiptoes to fix her disheveled collar before patiently explaining, trying to use words she could understand.
"Because for human girls, bathing is absolutely not allowed to be seen by others. If someone sees you, you'll die!
You remember what dying means, right? It's like that snake and wild chicken yesterday. They died.
After you die, you'll never see me and Wanwan again. Are you scared? Don't you want to stay with us?
Mother, you have to listen to You'an, remember?"
His weary tone made him sound less like a son and more like a long-suffering father.
Tilting her head to think for a moment, Chu Chi understood and nodded vigorously.
Dying = Head explosion!
She got it.
"Didn't forget! I'll listen to You'an."
The boy patted her hand approvingly.
"That's right."
This is not right!!!
The eyes of everyone else in the room widened in shock.
Lin Yuanshan was the first to react, taking a couple of deep breaths. Although he had just been thinking to himself that this young lady seemed a bit slow-witted, he hadn't expected her to actually be mentally impaired!
"Tell me what's going on here. Where did you trick this girl from?"
He gestured back and forth between the tall woman and the small boy. Lin You'an lowered his eyes, a thoughtful look flashing across his face, before he grabbed Chu Chi's hand and turned to reply loudly.
"This is my mother Chu Chi, my father's wife."
"Bullshit! Your father's been dead for how long now? Did his ghost come back to take a wife?"
But the little rascal stubbornly insisted.
"This is the wife my grandfather arranged for my father when he was still alive. Even if my father is gone, the betrothal still stands! My mother willingly married my father to raise me and my sister. Right, Mother?"
He finished by tugging on Chu Chi's arm, and she immediately cooperated by nodding vigorously.
"Right! What You'an says is true!"
You're helping this little rascal count the money after being sold?
Just as Lin Yuanshan was about to argue, his wife pulled him back. He looked at her in confusion.
What's wrong?
Lady Liu sighed. Judging by the expression on Lin You'an's face, the boy didn't trust them. But considering what he had been through in the past few months, his instinctive wariness was understandable.
After all, even his own mother had tried to harm him so badly. It was only natural for a smart child like him to be unable to fully trust others now.
However...
"You'an, I understand your thoughts, but I don't approve of your actions.
You've tricked this Miss Chu into coming here, turning her from a young lady into a young widow for no reason.
If she suddenly goes missing, won't her parents and relatives be worried? How can you be so selfish?"
Lady Liu's mind was as sharp as ever, and she spoke logically and reasonably. If Lin You'an hadn't personally witnessed Chu Chi being strangled to death, he might have been convinced.
But now that was absolutely impossible!
Not only did he need Chu Chi's protection, but this simple-minded Chu Chi also needed his protection in return! So what was wrong with them being each other's family?
When he grew up and became successful, he would help his mother find a good husband. With him as her son watching over her, there would be no fear of anyone bullying her.
