Chapter 26 "Don't call me 'sister'." "Mom..."
She looked up.
The dodder, in its human form, was slender and tall, standing next to Leng Zhen, and was half a head taller than her.
But his bewildered and ignorant expression didn't resemble that of a grown man at all; rather, it was like that of a thirteen or fourteen-year-old boy who had never experienced the ways of the world, or even a complete idiot.
I don't know who taught him about dodder, or if no one ever taught him at all—this child must have stuffed all his waist-length hair into his hood just now, which is why his hair is now standing on end as if he'd been struck by lightning.
Leng Cuizhu didn't know if Tu Si Zi was pretending to be young or if she was really that young, but she didn't have time to think about that right now.
She quickly took Dodder's hand and explained to Leng Zhen, "This is Mother's old friend. He means no harm and must have come to rescue us."
"Friends?"
“Yes!” Cuscuta chimed in. “My surname is Rabbit, just call me Little Rabbit.”
Leng Zhen nodded: "Oh, Xiao Du, do you have any way to get us out of here?"
Leng Cuizhu looked at the dodder with anticipation.
As a system, it must possess some divine power that ordinary people do not have, right?
For example, things like passing through walls or burrowing underground...
“Sneak out, huh?” Dodder blinked and gestured. “Sister, your son and I will disguise ourselves as jailers and follow you. You know Lord Chen, so of course you can go out whenever you want.”
"If he becomes suspicious of us following behind you, just whine and act cute, and make up an excuse to get away with it."
"If we get spotted, you guys run! I'll hold them off!"
"..."
Leng Cuizhu had a slight urge to kick Tu Sizi's butt, but after glancing down at him, she decided against it.
Kicking someone's butt is not very elegant.
Just as Dodder had said, no one in the prison paid much attention to why she was followed by two men; they were all busy attending to the patients. Chen Xun had disappeared without a trace.
Leng Cuizhu moved with lightning speed, passing through layers of defenses, and was grabbed by the arm by Tu Sizi as soon as she stepped out of the prison gate.
"Run! Run!"
"Hey you—" She slipped and fell to the ground, getting dirt on her dress and twisting her ankle.
Why are you so startled...?
Dodder's eyes widened: "It's not... Sister, I just wanted you to run faster..."
He crouched down to help Leng Cuizhu up, but after hearing her say she had twisted her ankle, he hugged her in frustration and tried to lift her from the ground. He then turned his head and glimpsed the person behind him.
"...Where else are you going?"
Leng Zhen was probably asking about the dodder, but her gaze was fixed on the hand around Leng Cuizhu's waist.
This person looked to be no more than sixteen years old, so it was impossible for him to be a close friend of the mother, nor could he be her biological younger brother.
Could it be a child who has been lost for many years?
Leng Cuizhu was helped up by Tu Sizi: "Right now, we definitely can't go home or to the Yin residence. We should head to the outskirts and not return to the city."
"That way, even if the jailers find out and he escapes, he won't be easy to find if he hides in the mountains."
"Sister, you're so smart!"
She smiled and patted the dodder's head.
"……OK."
Leng Zhen walked up to her with a resentful expression and took her other arm.
She was being carried by two people, which made her feel a little uncomfortable, but escaping was the most important thing, so she didn't say much along the way.
Unfortunately, the feeling of being suspended in the air intensified, and two children beside her were pulling on her, their steps were out of sync, and her arms were being pulled back and forth.
They walked faster and faster until she was being dragged along to an abandoned hut.
Leng Zhen: "It's getting dark soon, let's rest here tonight."
Dodder: "This environment is too terrible! I can't sleep in such a dilapidated house. What if a spider falls on my face from the ceiling while I'm sleeping? What if I get a rash all over my body?"
Leng Cuizhu was exhausted from being dragged all the way: "Don't worry about anything... let's go inside quickly, it looks like it's going to rain soon."
"Xiao Du, go find some firewood, and hurry up."
She pulled her arm away from the dodder and leaned most of her body against Leng Zhen's shoulder.
The dodder seed was a little indignant: "Why should I go?"
"You used to eat so much of my food, if you don't go, who will?"
She ignored the dodder and pulled Leng Zhen into the thatched hut.
Leng Zhen took off her outer robe and spread it on the couch for her to sit on, then suddenly asked, "Who is Xiao Du to you?"
"Uh... just an ordinary friend of my mother's."
"My mother has such a young friend... He's not even twenty yet, is he?"
"I don't know."
"Don't you know how old your friend is?"
“You two don’t seem that unfamiliar with each other, do you? It sounds like Xiao Du often comes to visit and have meals with your mother when I’m not home.”
"……Yeah?"
"Don't ask anymore."
She brushed the dust off her skirt, thinking to herself that Leng Zhen was having another attack.
I wonder who Leng Zhen inherited this crazy and eccentric habit from.
Leng Zhen didn't press the matter further. She closed her lips and sat alone by the door.
The dim, yellow sunlight of the evening streamed onto his face, his eyes slightly red and moist.
Dodder returned carrying a large bundle of dry firewood. As soon as she stepped across the threshold, she fell face-first to the ground, scattering all the firewood with a loud crackling sound.
"ah--"
The dodder looked up and cried, "Sister, your son tripped me on purpose!"
Leng Zhen seemed taken aback by Tu Si Zi's words, paused for a moment, then stood up and questioned, "Do you have any evidence?"
The dodder seed remained silent, then lay down on the ground and began to cry, its tears falling like a torrential downpour, soaking the floor in front of it.
"Aa ...
Unable to bear it any longer, Leng Cuizhu slowly walked up to the two children.
The dodder quickly crawled to her legs and grabbed her skirt: "Sister..."
"Don't call me 'sister'."
"Mother."
Leng Zhen's expression turned even more unpleasant.
Mother?
She is clearly his own mother... What nonsense is he spouting here?
Leng Cuizhu would never be the mother of a pig.
He wouldn't dare eat this kind of pig if it was put on the table for Chinese New Year, fearing it might have swine fever.
He was about to break down.
What if this Xiao Du, whose origins are unknown, is really the mother's child?
What should he do?
To Leng Zhen's surprise, Leng Cuizhu didn't react much to this.
"Get up quickly, don't lie here."
She glanced at the boy on the ground, bent down to pick up the firewood, and went inside to start a fire.
After the fire was lit, she looked up and saw that the dodder was still lying on the ground, while Leng Zhen was standing quietly at the door.
"Hey you two, come here. It's dark, what are you doing standing at the door?"
"Leng Zhen, does your mouth not hurt anymore?"
Leng Zhen frowned, and finally awkwardly walked over to her side, finding a slightly lower step to sit down.
His eyes reflected a blazing fire: "Mother, I'm hungry."
"Perfect timing! I brought a sesame cake with me. I was going to give it to you when I visited you in prison, but I forgot for a moment."
She pulled a palm-sized sesame cake from her wide robe sleeves and muttered softly, "Oh, it's cold. Shall I warm it up for you over a fire? And tear it into smaller pieces, since your mouth is injured."
"mother……"
"I want some too! I want some too!"
The dodder hopped over, suddenly knelt down in front of her, hugged her legs, and rubbed its head against hers: "Mommy, I want to eat too."
Leng Cuizhu always felt extremely embarrassed whenever she was with dodder, and this time was no exception.
She looked at the boy with the dog lying on the ground: "...When did I become your mother?"
"Just now, you were the one who told me not to call you 'sister'."
"In that case, I can only call you Mom, otherwise... call you Master? What a bizarre fetish, tsk tsk tsk."
"Actually, it's fine to call you Master, Master."
"Let's call her Mom."
She sighed deeply, broke off a small piece of sesame cake, and handed it to the dodder: "Here you go."
"I want a big piece."
The dodder burrowed closer to her feet, hiding half its head in her skirt: "I'm still growing."
After remaining silent for a long time, Leng Zhen shook her head abruptly: "No way!"
“Mother, I am your biological son. He… at least I am your biological son who has spent more than ten years with you…”
Dodder chimed in, "Yes, Mother! I saved your son, who has been with you for over a decade, from dire straits!"
"mother……"
"Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy—Mommy, say something!"
Leng Cuizhu gave an awkward smile.
It's just a sesame cake, is it really that big of a deal...? How can little boys this age be so self-deprecating? I feel like he's the kind of person who spends his days flirting with other women to fill his emptiness and lack of love, and then tries to save face by calling himself dashing and charming.
They'd be incredibly moved if you just gave them a piece of cake, sigh.
“Zhenzhen, Xiao Du is still young and growing, so please let him have his way.”
"But……"
"Be good."
“Yes,” Dodder peeked out from under the skirt, “Brother, be good, don’t make Mom worry and be sad for you anymore.”
“…Okay, okay,” Leng Zhen said, as if she were about to grind her teeth to powder. “I’ll listen to you, I’ll listen to you.”
Dodder got its wish and received a large piece of sesame cake.
After receiving the cake, he didn't stuff it into his mouth like a starving ghost. Instead, he smiled and divided the cake in half, handing one half to Leng Cuizhu.
"Mom, have a pancake."
"Thank you." Leng Cuizhu smiled and took the sesame cake. "Little Du is such a good boy."
On one side, Leng Cuizhu and Tu Sizi were enjoying a heartwarming mother-son moment, while on the other side, Leng Zhen tightly clutched a small piece of sesame cake in her hand, her eyes so taut that the whites of her eyes turned red, and her hands, burned red by the fire, showed no reaction.
The three of them discussed it that night and decided that Leng Cuizhu would sleep on the spacious and clean couch in the room, while Tu Sizi and Leng Zhen would sleep on the floor.
The two children certainly didn't want to sleep together; they wished they were miles apart. But even if one slept on the east side and the other on the west, they would still be able to find a bed closer to Leng Cuizhu.
Dodder wiped away her tears: "I'm afraid of the dark... and it's raining outside, it might get even heavier and thunder might come."
"Are you still breastfeeding?" Leng Zhen said coldly.
"Alright, that's enough."
Leng Cuizhu quickly smoothed things over, saying, "It doesn't matter where you sleep."
"Xiao Du, sleep next to me. He's hard of hearing, so being close to me will make it easier for me to call him anytime."
Logically speaking, since Cuscuta has been a human for so long, it should have turned back into a chicken by now. That's how Eun was originally; his transformation couldn't last too long.
Sleeping closer to her makes it easier for her to cover for me.
After the two children had been fussing for a while, they finally fell asleep. Leng Cuizhu gave Tu Sizi a blanket the size of a face plate and warned him to go to sleep early and not to cause any trouble.
really.
At night, the dodder climbed onto her bed.
Leng Cuizhu was sleeping peacefully when something scalding hot pressed against her.
She was pinned down and barely able to move, forced to listen to the man's ramblings.
She opened her eyes and saw the dodder clinging to her, cheek to cheek: "...What are you doing?"
"Ugh... I'm going to melt..."
"Change into what?" She hesitated for a moment. "Oh, you want to change back, right?"
"Why is it so hot...? Are chickens really that hot?"
"No, I'm not," the dodder stammered weakly. "I'm not usually this hot... It's because I used up all my energy to help you today that my body is so hot... I'll probably turn into a chicken soon."
Leng Cuizhu still couldn't figure it out.
The dodder rambled on for so long without explaining anything clearly, only blowing hot air onto her neck.
"So you're going to turn back into a chicken, right?"
"Um……"
The boy shifted his body, buried his face in the crook of her neck, and gave a muffled reply, his chest heaving.
"Then take off all your clothes."
"Don't you have any humanity at all...?"
"What were you thinking about?" She covered her mouth and smiled, gently stroking his hair with her fingertips.
Then, she began to describe the boy's features, speaking softly, "When you turn back, these clothes will cover your body and crush you."
"Okay... I'll take it off."
When Cuscuta first stole the jailer's clothes, he dressed haphazardly, with his belt all tangled together and the buttons fastened as they were. Now he was having trouble untying them.
Leng Cuizhu propped her chin on her hand and watched as the boy in front of her struggled to undress for a long time without making any progress.
Do you need Mom's help?
As if guided by some strange force, the dodder seed responded, "I want... Mom."
When the two were alone, they still addressed each other as mother and son, which was a bit strange, and also a bit... Dodder couldn't quite put his finger on it, but he was inexplicably looking forward to something.
"Then come closer."
"Keep your movements quiet, don't wake Leng Zhen, otherwise when he wakes up... we'll both be in trouble."
"Oh, okay." The dodder obediently crawled to her, knelt on the couch, and bent down to let her unbutton her clothes.
After unbuttoning his clothes, Leng Cuizhu made him raise his arms, and after taking off his upper garment, she made him stand up, which he did.
Once he was stripped down to only his pants, he managed to squeeze out a difficult sentence: "Um... do I have to take off my underpants too?"
"It's up to you. If you don't want to take it off, then forget it."
“It’s not that I don’t want to…” He turned his face away, “I’m a little… uh…”
"What's up?"
"Well... the human body and the body of a chicken are completely different, you must know that, right?"
She said casually, "I've seen plenty of people like that. Unless you're exceptionally outstanding or exceptionally bad, I'll forget about you in a little while."
"But I haven't shown it to anyone else... How could the feelings of the person who sees it and the person who is seen it be the same? I've never shown it to anyone else even once."
"Then, you're not willing to give me your first time?"
"But I'm so nervous..."
"Do you want Mommy to hold you?" Leng Cuizhu turned her eyes, her hair falling to her shoulders. "Or, you can take it off yourself."
The dodder seed did not reply, but its actions indicated that it had already made its decision.
He took off his underpants, remained silent for a moment, and then leaned down to snuggle into her arms.
The windows of the thatched hut were dilapidated, and moonlight streamed in, mostly falling on him, making his skin appear even more alluring.
His skin wasn't completely pale; rather, it was translucent, with a rosy glow. His forearms, often exposed to the sun, had a slight tan, and like his long hair, they had a faint scent of grass and buckwheat.
Indeed, a rooster's body is completely different from a man's body.
Dodder still pleaded with her, "Touch me, please." After being stripped naked, he became more sober, his body burning hot.
Leng Cuizhu gently sniffed his hair: "Where have you been stealing food again? Are you a weasel?"
"Oh... touch me."
"Answer my question first: where did you steal food from?" she sighed. "If you don't answer, I'll have to hit you."
The boy buried his face in her chest and mumbled, "Okay, then spank me, spank me hard, that'll make me feel better. I definitely won't fight back."
"...Could you please not be so reckless?"
“Sure,” he looked up, smiled at her, and nuzzled her cheek with his head. “So, are you going to touch me or hit me? Should I stick my butt out?”
"I don't want either."
She stroked the faint peck mark on the back of her hand: "You pecked the back of my hand last time, and the mark is still there. I dare not lay a hand on you, for fear that you will peck me again."
The dodder seed cried anxiously, "No, no... how could that be? My lips are soft right now, and my teeth are closed. Feel it, it won't peck you..."
She raised her hand and gently touched his lips. The soft touch made her smile and say, "Little Du, do you really want to peck me?"
"No, no, no, no... that's not what I meant, I just..." The boy waved his hand hurriedly and pursed his lips, "I just want to atone for my sins."
“It’s still cold now. You must be feeling cold with just a coat on, right? I’m so hot. I can help you warm up.”
"You can do this too?"
"Yes, of course. Before taking office, each system requires a long period of training, including reading all sorts of books... all kinds of books."
"About twenty years of training, during which time you can only stay in a small room and read books, and can't do anything else."
"So, I have twenty years of experience."
“Alright then,” Leng Cuizhu nodded in agreement.
She thought the dodder was going to massage her body, but to her surprise, the child silently crawled to the end of the bed and crawled between her legs.
"……what you do?"
He chuckled sheepishly, sticking out a tiny bit of his tongue, his smile radiant.
"Lick it for Mommy."
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