Chapter 49 "When she's being good, she's truly good."...
The chair in front of them was spacious enough to comfortably seat two people. Jiang Huaisu, wrapped up like a mummy in the Hun Tian Ling (a magical ribbon), walked with difficulty and stiff movements to sit down next to Nezha. "Then let's wait outside for a while."
Nezha moved slightly to the left, giving her more space.
Jiang Huaisu smiled at him: "Thank you, you can continue sleeping. I won't disturb you."
She had only said a few words when she was already out of breath, because the Hun Tian Ling was too tight, making it difficult for her to breathe.
Fortunately, the Hun Tian Ling had just been disciplined by its master and was very perceptive at the moment. It immediately released its restraints on her, leaving only one half to drape over her for warmth, while the other end floated onto Nezha, continuing to serve as its master's thoughtful little blanket.
Jiang Huaisu stroked the smooth satin surface and murmured to herself, "She's really good when she's being obedient."
Are you talking to me?
"No, no, I meant the Hun Tian Ling (a magical ribbon)."
"oh."
Nezha closed his eyes again, slowly turning his head so that the back of his head faced Jiang Huaisu, revealing a thin layer of red on his earlobes. Fortunately, she didn't notice this detail, only assuming that he had turned to his side to concentrate on his afternoon nap.
After admiring the scenery for a while, Jiang Huaisu felt a bit bored sitting there and decided to go to her room to get some books to read. Unexpectedly, just as she stood up, Nezha, who seemed to be asleep, suddenly turned around and grabbed her sleeve: "Where are you going?"
“…” Jiang Huaisu said truthfully, “Go get a book.”
Nezha nodded and let go.
Jiang Huaisu picked out a book and walked back to his side. Nezha's gaze followed her the whole time until she sat down, at which point he looked away, making her quite uncomfortable.
How come I never noticed before? Sometimes he seems... quite clingy. That doesn't seem quite right, but she couldn't find a suitable adjective in her mind.
She suddenly remembered the past. When her younger brother was in kindergarten, there was a classmate who couldn't be left alone. Even during class, he needed his parents to be within his sight to feel at ease; otherwise, he wouldn't eat, sleep, or talk to anyone. In this situation, his parents had to take turns accompanying him to school.
Later, Jiang Huaisu learned that this was called separation anxiety, which often occurs in school-aged children.
Her younger brother was very envious of the treatment Jiang Huaisu received while accompanying him to school. He made a scene at home, wanting Jiang Huaisu to accompany him to class as well. Surprisingly, their father did not object to his brother's wild idea; instead, he thought it was a feasible idea.
Of course, the younger brother ultimately failed, because Jiang Huaisu's refusal was firm. She had to go to school herself; how could she possibly spend all her time chasing after this little brat?
Nezha's voice suddenly rang out, interrupting her reverie: "What are you thinking about?"
She had said she wanted to read, but he noticed her eyes were vacant, and her attention was clearly not on the pages of the book in front of her.
"I thought of my younger brother."
"What about your brother?"
Rarely do people talk about their family members, and Jiang Huaisu couldn't suppress her urge to confide. Very few people knew about her origins; Nezha was one of them. She could be more honest with him.
Although the two worlds are very different, there are some things in common, such as taking care of young children, which is a problem no matter where you are.
After listening to Jiang Huaisu's account, Nezha didn't connect the term "separation anxiety" to himself at all, since he wasn't a school-age child.
Jiang Huaisu did not expand on this topic, since the focus of the narrative was on her younger brother, and she only briefly mentioned the child.
Nezha frowned and expressed his dissatisfaction to her family: "Your father shouldn't always bother you with your brother's affairs, even having to accompany him to school. This is inappropriate."
There was no other way; she had to work to earn money. It wasn't easy for Jiang Huaisu to earn a living from her father. If it weren't for the fact that her schedule was so tight, she wouldn't mind accompanying her child to kindergarten.
“I also have a half-sister, who is basically raised by my mother alone. My mother rarely asks me to do anything, but she also rarely gives me living expenses. I guess this is what they mean by 'you can't have everything',” Jiang Huaisu concluded.
"It's a pity you didn't know me back then, otherwise..."
"Wrong, I've known you for a long time." Jiang Huaisu chuckled. "You're quite famous, little hero."
“That doesn’t count.” Nezha didn’t laugh along with her, but said seriously, “If we had met back then, I would have given you a lot of money. You could have thrown gold ingots in their faces.”
Any money-grubber would be tempted by those words. Jiang Huaisu stared at him blankly, seeing her own reflection in his clear eyes.
How pathetic of her, she actually began to yearn for that scene and couldn't help but let her imagination run wild in the direction he suggested.
If she hadn't been short of money back then, she certainly wouldn't have needed to babysit for others and would have had more time for herself, which would have been great. But she would absolutely never have given away her gold and silver treasures; she'd rather keep them for herself.
Nezha stared at her intently: "If I have the chance, I'd like to visit your world."
“Our world…” Jiang Huaisu wanted to say, it wasn’t that interesting.
But then she thought, doing some things alone can be boring, but it's different when you have friends. Even just sitting in an air-conditioned room with Nezha, idly playing games all day, would be quite enjoyable. Not to mention there are all sorts of other forms of entertainment that she wanted to take Nezha to experience. Looking at it this way, not being able to go back to the original world is indeed a regret.
Their eyes met, and Jiang Huaisu lowered her eyebrows, saying with feigned regret, "It's such a pity you haven't been here."
Nezha remained silent, continuing to gaze at her with a tender pity in his eyes.
Under such gazes, Jiang Huaisu stiffly turned her head away, coughed as if to cover up her discomfort, tidied her sideburns, and wondered: Why is Nezha looking at me like that? Is he pitying me?
Not everyone has the perfect, harmonious family like those depicted in home decor commercials. Children like her, whose parents have divorced, are actually quite common. To say she's tragically miserable isn't an exaggeration; it's just that her childhood wasn't entirely happy. In comparison, she feels Nezha is far more pitiful than herself.
Nezha, however, held the completely opposite view. In his opinion, Jiang Huaisu was neither a freak nor had she caused any trouble, so how could her parents not love her? It was simply insane.
If he could really go to Jiang Huaisu's world... he thought darkly, why not just kidnap her parents and feed them to the crocodiles? They were so cruel to Jiang Huaisu, they deserved to die.
"Didn't you want to sleep?" Jiang Huaisu reached out to cover Nezha's eyes. "We've been chatting for so long, you must be sleepy by now. Quick, close your eyes and take a nap."
“I’m not sleepy anymore, I…” Nezha struggled slightly, reaching out to place his hand on the back of hers, seemingly trying to pry her hand away. But when their skin touched, his movements froze for a moment. In the end, he didn’t pry her fingers away, but maintained the position and compromised, saying, “Okay, then I’ll sleep for a while.”
As if she had pressed the pause button, Nezha stopped all movement and obediently lay on the rattan chair without moving.
His soft eyelashes brushed gently against Jiang Huaisu's palm, sending a tingling, itchy sensation through her. Jiang Huaisu withdrew her hand and looked down at him.
"Okay." Having made up her mind, she decided not to disturb Nezha's afternoon nap any longer and said softly, "I'll stay by your side."
If Jiang Huaisu had a mirror in front of her right now, she would have found that her current posture was no different from that of a kindergarten teacher coaxing a child to sleep, and her eyes would have revealed a hint of affection when she looked at Nezha.
After a quarter of an hour, Nezha said in a muffled voice, "I can't sleep."
"How about trying a spell?"
She meant that Nezha could cast a sleep-inducing spell on himself, but he resisted, saying, "I won't sleep comfortably like that."
He's quite particular about sleep quality. Jiang Huaisu scratched his head... He clearly has a way to shut down his computer with one click, but he chooses not to use it. Does he expect her to sing him lullabies to lull him to sleep?
It's not that it's impossible, but she's afraid her singing will be too harsh.
Have you ever heard of the Fu'er Song?
"No."
"When you were little... well, it's normal that you haven't heard of it. It's just a lullaby for kids, nothing special." She pursed her lips, cleared her throat, and said, "I'll sing a few lines for you to hear. If it doesn't work, then forget it."
"Oh, okay."
With mixed feelings, Jiang Huaisu began to sing softly. Her throat was practically burning; she wasn't sure if it was melodious enough, but she had done her best.
"The sun sets, the moon rises, fireflies light up little bamboo lanterns..."
Fortunately, she had a good memory; after only singing the song once, she was able to remember most of the lyrics.
Nezha listened quietly with her eyes closed, offering no feedback. She didn't know whether she sang well or not.
But he didn't show any discomfort or pain, so Jiang Huaisu assumed he was singing well and gradually got into the zone, tapping his fingers lightly to the beat.
However, as she sang, her eyelids grew heavy. She lost count of how many times she sang the beginning of "the sun sets," her voice trembled, the words turned into a yawn, and the last few words became indistinct.
This shows that the song is quite effective as a lullaby; even though she had slept well, she was still made sleepy. It's quite remarkable that Jung-young could sing this song like an alarm clock.
Jiang Huaisu's singing grew softer and softer, her head drooped lower and lower, and sleepiness gradually rose like a tide. Finally, the dam of her will was completely breached, and she gently rested her head on the shoulder of the person next to her.
Nezha didn't move either. The two of them, leaning against each other, supported each other and drifted off to sleep together in a snuggling position.
She didn't know how much time had passed, but in her hazy state, Jiang Huaisu felt the person beside her change position, snuggling into her arms like a kitten and burying their head in the crook of her neck. Then, their arms wrapped around her waist, holding her tightly.
It was warm and comfortable. Holding her like this, Jiang Huaisu felt no discomfort whatsoever; instead, she felt as warm as if she were sinking into cotton, and could even smell the sweet fragrance of flowers. So she didn't struggle, but chose to indulge. Her consciousness drifted away, and she slipped back into sleep.
......
When she woke up, Jiang Huaisu stared at the sky for a full half minute before her eyes focused again. She had slept way too much today, but despite resting for so long, she didn't feel refreshed; instead, her head felt groggy.
She tried to stand up and move around, but couldn't. Her arms and thighs were numb from being pressed down. Looking down, she saw that Nezha was still lying in her arms, one hand around her shoulders and the other around her waist, like an octopus, making it impossible for her to move.
Her left hand was placed behind his head, while her right hand gripped above his collarbone. The posture was awkward, resembling a strangulation, almost murderous. Nezha, on the other hand, was completely unguarded, his fair neck exposed to her view, with faint blue veins visible beneath the skin.
The thought had barely crossed her mind when she was startled. She quickly shook her head to banish the ominous idea.
I've heard of a psychological phenomenon called "cuteness aggression," which refers to the aggressive impulses people experience when faced with extremely cute things. But the situation we're seeing now seems to be different.
As if under a spell, for a fleeting moment, malice rose uncontrollably from the depths of her heart. It seemed as if some thought that didn't belong to her had forcibly squeezed into her mind.
Although she had composed herself, Jiang Huaisu still felt uneasy. She took two deep breaths and looked down at Nezha again. This time, she didn't have any strange thoughts; she was simply struck by the striking beauty of him.
This unguarded sleeping posture... is definitely cuter than when she's awake.
Jiang Huaisu slowly pulled her hand out from under his head. Even though she was being careful, it was still very difficult to do so without disturbing him at all.
With great effort, she finally freed her left hand, and Nezha woke up at the right time, squinting at her with a somewhat confused look in his eyes.
After all that effort, she still managed to wake him up. Jiang Huaisu nudged him helplessly: "Since you're awake, get up and eat something."
“...I’m not hungry.” Nezha still seemed dazed. He turned his head, gently rubbed his cheek against her hand, and closed his eyes again.
Jiang Huaisu was stunned for a moment. Her first reaction was that it felt really good. The moment they touched, she could clearly feel that his skin was delicate and smooth, and a little cool.
But soon it dawned on them that Nezha's actions were a bit too intimate, almost like acting cute.
It has a kind of cute yet terrifying feel to it. Cute in the literal sense, terrifying because Nezha's behavior is too abnormal, as if he were possessed by Xiaotian.
And he doesn't seem to think there's anything wrong with doing so.
Jiang Huaisu could only attribute it to everyone sleeping too long and being still half asleep. Putting aside Nezha, her behavior just now wasn't exactly normal either; she tried to choke someone as soon as she woke up, thankfully Nezha didn't see it.
Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that the storybook she had brought from the room had fallen to the floor. She had intended to use it to pass the time, but ended up taking a solid nap in the wicker chair, rendering the book completely useless.
Nezha had already released her and turned to lie down on the other side of the rattan chair. Jiang Huaisu was now able to move freely again. She rubbed her thighs, which had gone numb from being pressed down, lifted the Hun Tian Ling covering her, and picked up the book, dusting it off.
Without giving Nezha another glance, she fled back to her room as if escaping.
Nezha opened his eyes behind her, his gaze clear, showing no sign of being half-asleep.
Watching Jiang Huaisu's hurried departure, he fell into deep thought. Did she not like what she did just now? Strange, didn't Xiaotian do the same thing to her before, rubbing his face and hands against hers, and she always gave him a silly, pleased smile? Why couldn't she do it with him?
Does she only like petting dogs?
I thought about it for a while but couldn't figure it out, so I simply stopped thinking about it. Anyway, there's plenty of time in the future, and there will be many more opportunities to cultivate feelings later.
Seemingly sensing its master's bad mood, the Hun Tian Ling (a magical ribbon) fluttered closer to him. Nezha curled the corners of his lips, grabbed the soft red ribbon, and stuffed it under his head as a pillow.
It has to be said that it's a good thing that magical artifacts possess sentience; they make everything much easier. Sometimes, you can manipulate them to do bad things and then shift the blame onto them. After all, they are magical artifacts with their own consciousness, so it's not surprising that they might play pranks.
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Author's Note: [Lucky Lotus]: [Yellow Heart]
[Pigeon]:?
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