Chapter 2
Jiang Chen clutched Jiang Hua's black-and-white portrait in both hands, crumpling the edges.
Hu Zhenzhen then realized that she might have frightened him and withdrew her overly intense gaze.
Her hands moved much slower as her mind raced.
The child just rubbed the photo a few times, which gave her some affection points. These affection points must be related to the photo.
One point of affection is enough to draw a house once. If she saves up a few times, wouldn't she become a real estate tycoon?
Hu Zhenzhen became excited and secretly observed Jiang Chen out of the corner of her eye, trying to figure out why the affection value had increased.
Soon, her gaze settled on the portrait of her deceased husband, whom she had never met.
[Little Golden Egg, do you think his affection level increased because I gave him the photo?]
The system silently changed its name back to Little Golden Egg. [Little Golden Egg is unaware.]
Hu Zhenzhen speculated that this was most likely the case.
She threatened the child with the photo earlier, but the child didn't react at all. Now the child is holding the photo and crumpling it up, and the affection level between them has increased.
Wait a moment!
Kneading and kneading...
Hu Zhenzhen felt she had found the truth.
She gave the photos to Jiang Chen, giving him the opportunity to torment Jiang Hua by showing the photos, which immediately increased his affection for Jiang Hua.
Hu Zhenzhen suddenly realized why her threat to Jiang Chen with Jiang Hua's photo hadn't worked; it turned out that Jiang Chen was still stuck in the stage of disliking his father.
This situation is not uncommon.
When I was young, I thought my father left me with only shadows, but as I grew older, I began to miss the little warmth of my childhood.
In the original article, Jiang Chen revealed in an interview that he longed for fatherly love when he was a child, but he didn't mention how young he was.
Hu Zhenzhen clenched her right fist and slammed it into the palm of her left hand.
"I get it, so you hate your dad that much."
Jiang Chen: "?"
What's gotten into her this time?
Hu Zhenzhen wiped away non-existent tears from the corners of her eyes, feigning concern. "This is my first time being a stepmother, and I still don't fully understand your feelings. I suppose it's because your father did many bad things to you in the past that you resent him so much."
As she spoke, Hu Zhenzhen stood up indignantly, "We, a widow and her child, will have to rely on each other from now on. Even if you still don't want to call me 'Mom,' I will definitely stand up for you today!"
Jiang Chen: ? ?
No, where did she get the idea that he was aggrieved? How did it all come down to venting his anger?
"I didn't..."
Jiang Chen spoke his first words of the day.
Hu Zhenzhen became even more convinced of her previous judgment.
Before, no matter how she spoke to Jiang Chen, the child would ignore her, but as soon as Jiang Hua was mentioned, the child spoke up.
Hu Zhenzhen was incredibly efficient. As soon as Jiang Chen spoke, she immediately stood up and said, "I'll go dig your dad out right now and get revenge for you!"
"ah?!"
Jiang Chen's jaw nearly dropped in shock; he never expected his stepmother's next sentence to be like this.
To everyone's surprise, Hu Zhenzhen actually stood up and started walking out as she spoke.
The old man was buried for only a few hours and he's already being dug up?
Jiang Chen reacted quickly, grabbing Hu Zhenzhen's clothes to stop her from leaving.
"Don't dig, don't dig."
Even if the old man treated him badly, it didn't warrant digging him up and whipping his corpse.
Jiang Chen's small face was tense, and his fingers gripped Hu Zhenzhen's clothes so tightly that they turned white.
Most of the adults who usually dealt with him didn't even look at him properly. Jiang Chen had been criticized and beaten, but he had never learned how to deal with someone like Hu Zhenzhen who was doing it for his own good.
Although her way of being kind to him was to dig up his father's grave...
This morning she scolded him for not being filial enough and slapped him, and now she's going to dig up his father's grave. Could it be that the stepmother really has mental problems?
He struggled for a long time, and under Hu Zhenzhen's gaze, he finally managed to squeeze out a sentence.
"Don't dig, I'll call you Mom."
Anyway, he didn't have a mother to begin with. Since Hu Zhenzhen married the old man, he should call her "Mom."
Hu Zhenzhen almost lost her composure and nearly choked on her own saliva.
She originally wanted to see if she could increase her family affection points a little more, but she didn't expect to have an unexpected gain.
[Reward issued! One million yuan has been deposited into your bank account!]
One million!
The system's voice sounded like heavenly music to Hu Zhenzhen's ears, and her gaze towards Jiang Chen softened even more.
Let alone Jiang Chen calling her "Mom," she would even be willing to have Hu Zhenzhen call her "Mom" now.
She hadn't even done anything yet, and the child had already given her a house and a million yuan.
Hu Zhenzhen's eyes were now truly filled with tears, moved by the moment.
She really didn't expect that she would receive so many rewards after only exchanging a few words with Jiang Chen.
"Mom is so touched, Xiao Chen, you are such a good child."
Jiang Chen, who was suddenly given a "good kid" card: ?
Does calling someone "Mom" make them a good child?
Jiang Chen looked up in confusion and found that Hu Zhenzhen was genuinely happy. Unlike the perfunctory expressions of the adults usually had, her face was flushed with joy and her lips were constantly smiling.
No one had ever shown Jiang Chen such a smile before.
No one ever patted his head and said he was a good boy.
Jiang Chen couldn't quite describe his feelings right now. He felt a pang of sadness, but he also felt that his stepmother probably really wanted a child.
Unfortunately, he was not the child anyone expected.
He loosened his grip on Hu Zhenzhen's clothes. "Now, let's not go dig up the grave."
"I'm not going, I'm not going."
Hu Zhenzhen agreed quickly and grabbed Jiang Chen's hand, which was trying to pull away.
"Come on, Mom will help you put Dad back on the platform."
Hu Zhenzhen got into character very quickly. It's just being a mother, right? Even if she's never eaten pork, she's seen pigs run, so she can still imitate them.
It's just about being a good mother, right? She can definitely do it!
Being given a new lease on life is already rarer than winning the lottery, let alone having a son who doesn't have to give birth to her and can even give her a reward.
Hmm... I definitely didn't take the chance to win a prize from a kid.
Absolutely not.
Hu Zhenzhen licked her lips to make sure she wasn't drooling, and gently squeezed Xiao Chen's soft little hand.
An eight-year-old child is neither too big nor too small; his height is around the free admission line for the zoo, and his hands are only half the size of Hu Zhenzhen's.
Hu Zhenzhen had never raised a child before; it was her first time as a young woman getting married.
Even when I actually hold a child's hand, I don't dare to squeeze it.
Children's hands are much softer than adults', but aren't her child's hands a little too thin?
Hu Zhenzhen glanced at Jiang Chen out of the corner of her eye, confirming that it wasn't her imagination.
She doesn't usually interact with children and doesn't know how tall or heavy children this age are, but looking at Jiang Chen's skin and bones, she knows he must not have much flesh on his body.
Hu Zhenzhen frowned unconsciously.
Jiang Hua, that scoundrel, was such a freeloader when he was alive, yet he didn't even know how to feed the kids a little more.
Hu Zhenzhen sided with Jiang Chen and sincerely cursed Jiang Hua in her heart.
As the head of the household, Hu Zhenzhen disliked Jiang Hua, and as a result, she didn't plan to repair the broken photo frame. She simply tore off some double-sided tape, pasted the photo on the mourning hall, and that was it.
"Alright, we've brought Dad back. Well done, Xiao Chen!"
Jiang Chen looked at the photo, which was trembling in the wind, but did not reply.
This stepmother's tone is so strange, it sounds like the idiots in TV dramas. Even in kindergarten, the teachers never talked to him like that.
Jiang Chen shifted his toes uncomfortably.
A small brazier was placed in front of the mourning hall, containing the ashes of burnt paper money.
Hu Zhenzhen saw this and deliberately pulled Jiang Chen to a more distant location.
Children don't have a strong ability to judge danger and can easily overlook it. Hu Zhenzhen had seen children get burned after sticking their fingers to the pipes of motorcycles before, and she didn't want her little darling to get hurt.
As soon as Hu Zhenzhen settled Jiang Chen into a chair, she saw his pale face.
I guess I washed my face this morning but didn't apply anything, and the wind made it all wrinkled.
He was already thin, and with his face peeling, he looked even more pitiful.
Hu Zhenzhen had just won a chance to win a prize and was in a great mood when she saw his little face like that, and she immediately felt sorry for him.
"You sit here and wait for Mom, I'll go get some water."
Places like funeral parlors, where fires are lit, always need to have water on hand; it's not difficult to get some clean water.
Fortunately, it's summer now, so we don't have to worry about the temperature of the water when washing our face.
She brought the water back, but Jiang Chen didn't let her help him wash. He properly washed his face with the water in his hands.
After he finished washing, Hu Zhenzhen handed him a clean tissue and squeezed out a dollop of hand cream for him to apply in an emergency.
Two round blobs of white frost were placed on Jiang Chen's cheeks, like applying a white blush to his face.
Unfortunately, the little boy wasn't very familiar with the application technique and was using two fingers to draw small circles on his cheekbone.
Hu Zhenzhen burst out laughing.
"Xiao Chen, make the circles bigger, and make sure to cover your whole face."
Jiang Chen's face flushed red instantly, like a ripe cherry tomato, and he stammered, "I know, I know."
This stepmother talks way too much!
He was clearly shy, so Hu Zhenzhen kindly turned her face away from him.
But the corners of his mouth wouldn't fall down for a while.
She glanced at the golden egg, her attention diverted, and saw the words "lottery chance *1," which made her eager to try her luck.
Let's take this opportunity to enter a prize draw!
[Xiao Jin, is it possible to see the prize pool in advance for the lucky draw?]
When Little Golden Egg heard Hu Zhenzhen call it, it immediately opened its eyes, which had been narrowed to slits. [The prize pool can be viewed; a summary of the prize pool has been displayed for you.]
Before Hu Zhenzhen's eyes appeared a series of small thumbnails, all of which were buildings.
The system thoughtfully explains: "The prize pool updates based on your main storyline progress; the higher your assets, the better the rewards!"
Below the thumbnail are words that allow Hu Zhenzhen to clearly identify the purpose of the building.
"A barbershop? They have this kind of thing?" She thought they were all residential buildings.
"Um?"
Jiang Chen looked up at Hu Zhenzhen and asked, "Are you going to take me to get a haircut?"
Hu Zhenzhen then realized that she had accidentally blurted out what she had said.
She glanced down at Jiang Chen's hair that covered his eyes and said casually, "Yes, when I have some free time these next few days, Mom will take you to get a haircut, okay?"
As she spoke, Hu Zhenzhen casually pressed the lottery button.
The system popped up a huge spinning wheel in a very atmospheric way, accompanied by the sound of "ding ding ding ding~", which made Hu Zhenzhen nervous.
Before the spinning wheel had even stopped, Jiang Chen tugged at her sleeve.
Hu Zhenzhen looked over and saw his hesitant little face. "What's wrong, Xiao Chen?"
"I... I'm actually eight years old, and I'm in second grade this year."
So as long as his stepmother supports him for a few years, he will be able to earn money to repay her.
Although she seemed to have some mental issues and even slapped him, she was the best choice for Jiang Chen at the moment.
As long as she's willing to take care of him for a few years.
Jiang Chen thought to himself that he would definitely make a lot of money in the future to help his stepmother cure her mental problems.
Hu Zhenzhen didn't understand what he meant at first. "I know, Xiao Chen just started second grade this year, and he's been absent for the past few days..."
As she spoke, she suddenly realized something.
He is already eight years old, and Hu Zhenzhen's manner of speaking just now was completely imitating that of a kindergarten teacher.
To be more specific, her tone of voice, used to coax children, might work for kids under five, but eight-year-old Jiang Chen probably already found her strange.
Realizing this, Hu Zhenzhen's motherly smile cracked.
At the same moment, the spinning wheel stopped, and the system cheered: [Congratulations! You have won a luxury villa and the title: The Most Luxurious Mother in the Funeral Hall. Would you like to wear the title?]
No, Hu Zhenzhen's cracks have become even more pronounced.
Who would want to rule like a king in a funeral hall?!
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