Chapter 27

They had originally planned to return to Changyang on the twelfth, but something had come up. So by the time the two of them stepped onto the high-speed train back to Changyang again, it was already the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.

——Yuanxiao Festival.

As the two of them, dressed in casual clothes, waited in the business class lounge, Li Zhuo, who had been fiddling with his phone, suddenly brought up this topic.

After a brief moment of searching his memory, Mo Liang’s face settled into its usual smile. “Customs vary from place to place. What would you like to eat? Do you want yuanxiao, tangyuan, or maybe dumplings and noodles…”

He rattled off a list of festive snacks from different regions like he was naming dishes from a menu—wheat cakes, date cakes, oil tea, bean flour cakes, and more.

“I was just saying it offhand.”

Li Zhuo had only mentioned it carelessly because he saw his class group chat discussing it, which made him realize today was the Yuanxiao Festival.

Seeing how serious Mo Liang was being, he thought for a moment. “But in my memory, for Yuanxiao, people usually eat tangyuan.”

“Alright, we’ll go back and have tangyuan then.” Mo Liang paused. “But we can’t have too much of this kind of food, so high in starch, fat, and stickiness—it’s hard to digest.”

“Obviously, you just eat a few to taste it. I’m not stupid; do you think I’d just stuff myself sick…”

Li Zhuo suddenly stopped mid-sentence, some past memories flashing through his mind. Just as he was about to explain a few things, the lounge’s boarding announcement broadcast rang out.

Four staff members in uniform appeared in the lounge. Two were responsible for their luggage, while the other two guided Li Zhuo and Mo Liang all the way to their seats before leaving.

This time, since the two of them were traveling together, they weren’t separated into different seats like last time. They had directly chosen a double seat, which was also much more spacious.

Li Zhuo’s interest in the extra equipment that came with the double seat lasted only about two or three minutes before he started curiously examining Mo Liang’s identification documents again.

“You’ve looked at that many times.”

Mo Liang very much enjoyed seeing his child’s curious demeanor. He seemed to find it hard to believe that an alien in his understanding could possess a complete set of ID documents, always suspecting it was fake, and repeatedly comparing it to his own.

“Is there any difference?”

Unwilling to give up, Li Zhuo meticulously compared the two ID cards again, discovering that every detail of the patterns and even the fonts were exactly the same.

He shook his head. “Nothing different. The photo is pretty good, though.”

Hearing the mission target praise him, the glow of the little orb of light nearby brightened a few degrees.

[Of course. Who do you think I am?]

Mo Liang’s expression remained unchanged, but he replied within his consciousness: [That’s a compliment for me, not for you.]

The System: [……]

Mo Liang was in an excellent mood, especially when he discovered that Li Zhuo had once secretly searched for terms like “what happens if aliens are captured.” His mood became even better.

His child was worrying about him, worrying he might get captured for research, worrying he wouldn’t get through security…

—How could he be this cute?

~

Li Zhuo was completely oblivious to this conversation within the consciousness. He gave up on verifying the authenticity of the documents and looked out the window at the mountains, trees, and houses receding continuously. His thoughts gradually flew back to the events of the past couple of days…

It was truly unbelievable. He had known before that Teacher Mo was not human, and from his spending habits and the villa he lived in, he could tell he was quite wealthy. It was only then that he learned just how mysteriously powerful his human identity was.

The current head of the Mo family, the old grandfather whom Li Huachuan had to bow and scrape to, someone who was normally very difficult to meet—he was so timid and restrained in front of Teacher Mo, just like a student who had made a mistake standing before a teacher, his attitude cautious and uneasy.

Not to mention the other young people. One by one, they shed their usual, condescending airs entirely. Among them was a teenager around his age who was actually Li Zhuo’s acquaintance.

—Back at the international school, this person was always surrounded by a throng of classmates, utterly disdainful of a “nouveau riche” like Li Zhuo. But now, he was reluctantly brought over by his family elders under the pretext of “former classmates” to foster some rapport.

There had never been any real interaction before, so what rapport could there possibly be? It was nothing more than staring at each other awkwardly.

Yet even amidst that awkward atmosphere, it was the other party racking his brains to come up with bland, non-committal topics of conversation…

Li Zhuo had always thought Mo Liang had nothing to do, but he learned during those two days that it seemed like… he was actually quite busy?

During those two days, Li Zhuo met a stream of previous acquaintances.

Among them were many classmates from the international school. Watching them, clearly not liking him at all yet forced by their elders’ demands to plaster on a smile and “foster rapport,” Li Zhuo wanted to laugh multiple times.

Li Xuan was, remarkably, the most normal among all the acquaintances in his attitude. He chatted like a friend, asking how he was doing lately and marveling at what a huge surprise he had been.

Li Zhuo didn’t mention that he knew Li Xuan was his half-brother, sharing the same father but a different mother. And Li Xuan, for his part, didn’t bring up the situation with Li Huachuan or Lu Fei…

He only asked, somewhat ambiguously, if he would go back.

Li Zhuo shook his head. “I’ve recently come to terms with things. The production team seeking me out in the first place was a mistake. Just because someone said they cared about me, I started building castles in the air. Now, I’ve simply woken up from that dream.”

He thoroughly understood their feelings for him. To say there was absolutely no love wasn’t true; there was some. There was a little bit, but only a very little bit.

When it didn’t involve their own core interests, when they were in a good mood with plenty of free and idle time, they might, depending on the situation, dole out a bit of half-baked familial affection. The rest of the time, he had to take a back seat.

It was under this condition—not particularly good, but not entirely bad, with a sliver of hope offered now and then—that Li Zhuo had clung to that last bit of hope, desperately seeking attention for that speck of half-raw, half-cooked regard…

But now, he suddenly didn’t want to struggle so hard to fight for it anymore. He wasn’t a dog, to be summoned at will and dismissed just as casually.

Perhaps reading something in Li Zhuo’s expression, Li Xuan fell silent. As he left, he cast a deep glance at him. “It seems you’ve truly let go.”

He didn’t probe overtly or covertly like the others, trying to ascertain the real relationship between Li Zhuo and Mo Liang—whether this young boy was Mo Liang’s chosen heir, the rumored unspeakable relationship, or what connection Mo Liang had with the Mo family…

But even if he had asked, Li Zhuo wouldn’t have told him.

These matters had already been detailed by Mo Liang on the first night after he woke up, explaining his relationship with the Mo family.

To put it bluntly, the exclusive, advanced technology that the Mo family currently prided itself on was all provided by Mo Liang.

After all, not being a person of this world, in order to reasonably enter it, the System had automatically generated an identity with fewer kinship ties.

And Mo Liang, occupying this identity, had helped the Mo family considerably, providing them with much technology that was advanced relative to this world, allowing them to amass more wealth, fame, and even status time and again.

Previously, Mo Liang had always remained behind the scenes. This time, his actions, differing from the past, indeed threw them into disarray. They feared he would meddle too much in the Mo family’s affairs, but at the same time, they worried he would truly ignore everything.

For Mo Liang, the reason he used this Mo Liang identity was simply to legally obtain an identity and currency in this small world to better raise a child.

Other trivial matters—decades-long grievances between certain individuals, the unequal distribution of benefits among others—what did those have to do with him?

But for others, it was different.

People with deeply scheming minds are best at judging others by their own standards, instinctively believing that every tiny action of another person might contain layers upon layers of profound meaning.

However, Mo Liang indeed didn’t have the patience to analyze each of their thoughts one by one the way he did for his own child.

The previous time he had invited a few classmates to Haishi for Li Zhuo’s birthday, the news had spread on the day they went. That very night, he had received quite a few birthday wishes.

There was a dorm mate from the lower bunk whom Li Zhuo had once helped with cleanup duties, and a student from another class during the summer camp who had been very interested in various wild vegetables—both sent Li Zhuo small red packets.

Li Zhuo hadn’t accepted them right away, but he still carefully replied to each and every one with sincere words of thanks.

Someone in the class group had posted a few pictures of the previous cake and Mo Liang’s villa, and a string of joking comments appeared beneath them.

Someone in the group had also @-mentioned Li Zhuo, asking when he would return to Changyang. Li Zhuo had casually replied at the time: [Going back in a couple of days. There have been an especially high number of guests visiting lately.]

In an instant, several familiar and less familiar profile pictures and names popped up below.

[@Young Master Li Zhuo, next time there’s an event like this, you have to give us a heads-up [sobbing]]

[Asking when the next encore will be?]

[LOL, just out here drooling.]

[@Li Zhuo, let us know when you’re back in Changyang. Yang Bai opened a new ice skating rink over there, they’re having a promotion, we could go check it out together sometime…]

[If you want him to treat you, just say so…]

[How could that be…]

[If worse comes to worst, I’ll treat!]

[Generous! Generous! [thumbs up]]

[I’ve drifted through half my life, regretting only that I never met a wise master. If you do not scorn me, I am willing to swear allegiance as your godfather [dog head meme]]

[……]

~

The scenery outside the window flew past at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye. Li Zhuo snapped out of his reminiscence and turned his head, only to meet Mo Liang’s gaze, watching him intently.

“Teacher Mo…”

“Hmm? What is it?” Mo Liang patiently pressed. “Are you hungry, thirsty, or sleepy?”

“No, I just feel like it’s all so unreal.”

Li Zhuo tried his best to describe his thoughts. “I realize that whenever you’re by my side, it seems like all the problems in my life just disappear. No matter what aspect, everything becomes incredibly smooth.”

In the past, he always encountered all sorts of unexpected troubles. Life in his eyes was like the roads in Pingshan Village, full of potholes and traps everywhere; if he wasn’t careful, he would fall, get hurt, and be covered in mud splatters.

Unpleasant people and unpleasant things always came one after another. But ever since he met Teacher Mo, his life had suddenly become smooth all at once.

Little did he know, every classmate who came into contact with him had been screened by Mo Liang. Those unfriendly to Li Zhuo, who disliked or hated him, or those who wanted to use him, treating him like a sucker—Mo Liang fundamentally wouldn’t allow them any chance to make contact.

A chapter in the “Parenting Guide: Essential Social Lessons” clearly pointed out how to select playmates.

Introduction: At this stage, newbie caretakers might think selecting playmates isn’t an important matter? Oh no, no, no. It is extremely important!!

Malicious playmates may physically attack or harm your young one, or cause psychological harm through verbal mockery, isolation, and other means, leading to psychological issues in your young one such as low self-esteem, anxiety, or depression, which can be fatal in severe cases!!

In addition to the direct impacts mentioned above, malicious playmates may also lure your young one into participating in dangerous or harmful activities, such as smoking, drinking, fighting, etc. Caretaker intervention can keep your young one away from these harmful activities, ensuring the health and safety of their growth environment!

But if the caretaker intervenes beforehand, such harm can be prevented in time. To protect your young one’s psychological health, help your young one establish correct friendship standards and choose truly kind, mutually supportive playmates!]

……

From Li Zhuo’s perspective, everything happened naturally. Those bad people and bad things inadvertently and completely distanced themselves from him.

His luck had suddenly turned for the better. The people surrounding him, interacting with him, were all kind, friendly little companions. They all genuinely liked him.

It felt… like a dream.

“Teacher Mo, after you appeared, my life changed so much. I never dared to imagine it before…”

“It’s the same with you,” Mo Liang smiled softly. “Your appearance changed many things for me too.”

That dead, silent, and empty void in his chest had been filled with a warm, soft entity. Just looking at his child instantly sent a tingling, electric flutter through his entire being.

How could this not be a change?

How could this not be happiness?

He even had a strange premonition: it felt as if his memories were about to fully recover very soon.

“…Is that so?”

When the journey was halfway through, Li Zhuo was visibly getting sleepy. His upper and lower eyelids seemed drawn together by some magnetic force, parting and closing repeatedly, his head nodding slightly.

Watching the young man’s drowsy state, Mo Liang just found it endearing. He helped Li Zhuo adjust his seat slightly so he could lie down completely and sleep more comfortably.

Li Zhuo’s breathing gradually grew slower and more prolonged.

Mo Liang carefully reached out and gently stroked the soft eyelashes of the handsome youth. A tingling, numbing itch clearly transmitted through the skin to his true form.

—So cute.

—He likes him so much.

Mo Liang tested the air at his nose, feeling the fresh flow of his life: Breathing = Alive.

As of midnight last night, in the original plotline, Li Zhuo’s death timeline had already passed. He could also be considered to have completely altered Li Zhuo’s predetermined ending.

He was still alive.

He would stay alive from now on.

A tremendous sense of satisfaction rampaged beneath his skin, and the constantly writhing skin clearly revealed the restless emotions inside this non-human creature.

—I like him so much, I like him so much, I like him so much, I really, really like him, I really, really like him, I really, really like him…

—His child is so cute, so so cute, so so so cute, really really cute, really really cute, really really cute, really really cute…

Mo Liang could do nothing at all, just watching his child breathe for a very, very long time without ever getting tired. Feeling the airflow of his child’s breath gave him an incomparable, immense satisfaction.

[Like…]

[Hehe…]

This peace lasted for about twenty minutes. When he sensed a stranger approaching his location, his expression instantly turned icy cold.

A reporter who wanted to take sneak shots hadn’t even set foot inside the carriage when the phone in his trouser pocket, which he had set to silent earlier, began beeping incessantly.

The sharp, urgent alarm made him jump. He picked up the phone and saw that the screen had seemingly malfunctioned, descending into a garbled mess where a single sentence repeated itself over and over in crooked, distorted text:

[Warning Warning]

[Leave immediately Leave immediately]

[Leave… Leave…]

[Do not approach my child…]

[…]