Translator: Dj2203
Editor: Dj2203
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Tang Tang was only using a cane, so she could actually push the cart, but the little guy wouldn’t let her push. Not wanting to disappoint the little guy’s good intentions, she could only follow behind him, like a little henchman patrolling behind his boss, which was quite amusing.
Led by the little one, Tang Tang got a good look at the supermarket. The dazzling array of goods made her dizzy, and she couldn’t help but sigh in her heart: This world is really amazing, and the people living here are so lucky.
Under the little leader’s guidance, Tang Tang first went to the vegetable section to buy the groceries they needed. She followed others’ instructions the whole time without making any mistakes. However, when it came time to weigh the vegetables, seeing a crowd gathered around the weighing station, the little one immediately grabbed Tang Tang’s trouser leg to stop her from going over. In his big-sounding baby voice, he said, “Don’t move, wait here, I’ll go!” Then he carried the vegetables and ran like the wind to the weighing station to wait in line. The little one stood calmly among a group of adults, showing no fear whatsoever.
When it was the little one’s turn, he tiptoed and placed the vegetables on the scale, saying in his sweet, childish voice, “Auntie, weigh the vegetables.”
The supermarket staff, seeing such a young child shopping for the first time, were captivated by this earnest and adorable little bean, their movements slowing as they weighed the vegetables.
People around them stared at the little guy with adoring eyes, and several girls even took out their phones to take pictures and post them on social media, exclaiming, “So cute! So cute! I want to steal him home!”
Tang Tang watched from a short distance away, her pride overflowing. Her little darling was truly clever and amazing!
When the little guy stumbled back to Tang Tang’s side carrying the groceries, Tang Tang couldn’t resist bending down and hugging him tightly, giving him a big kiss on the forehead. “Baby, you’re amazing! Mommy admires you so much.”
The little guy’s eyes widened, and after a couple of seconds of stunned silence, he covered his forehead with his chubby little hands, looking at Tang Tang with a mixture of embarrassment and annoyance. “You…you…” He stammered for a long time, unable to say anything, his face turning red. Finally, he stomped his foot, pushed the shopping cart, and ran off. “Ugh, I can’t stand you, you’re so annoying!”
Watching his chubby little body struggling to push the cart, Tang Tang’s eyes crinkled with laughter.
A young mother, about Tang Tang’s age, watched the whole thing and was immediately filled with envy. She said to Tang Tang, “Is that your son? He’s so well-behaved! He even knows to be considerate and doesn’t want you to push the cart. I saw him pushing it until his head was sweating, but he didn’t say a word. Unlike my little devil, he won’t walk an inch.”
The little boy in the young mother’s shopping cart, completely unaware of his mother’s disapproval, continued eating his ice cream, making a mess all over his face.
Tang Tang couldn’t help but laugh, her pride almost overflowing. After saying goodbye to the mother, she hurried to catch up with her own little darling.
Besides groceries, Tang Tang also bought some fruit and her son’s favorite snacks. In the end, the mother and son had a whole large bag of things, and Tang Tang could only walk with difficulty, using one hand to support herself with her cane and the other to carry the bags.
The little guy frowned upon seeing this, then ran to Tang Tang and tried his best to help lift the bag, hoping to lighten Tang Tang’s load. However, because he was so small, he couldn’t walk steadily and almost fell.
Tang Tang quickly grabbed his little hand, “Baby, Mommy can carry it, you don’t need to help. Mommy is very strong.”
The little guy didn’t believe her, so he pushed her hand away, and continued lifting the bag, sighing as he did so, “Sigh, I’m still too weak. If Daddy were here, that would be great. Daddy is so strong.”
Tang Tang quickly comforted him, “It’s okay, baby is just too small now. Eat well in the future and try to grow tall, then you’ll be very strong too.”
The little guy nodded silently, deciding that he would grow taller than his father someday.
It was already late when the mother and son arrived home. Tang Tang immediately went into the kitchen to cook, letting the little guy play by himself.
Ji Xiaozhuo stood silently at the kitchen doorway watching Tang Tang busy at work for a while. Suddenly remembering something, he turned and ran to his room to get his tablet. He then ran back, secretly turned on the camera, hid behind the door, and took a picture of Tang Tang working in the kitchen. Seeing that Tang Tang hadn’t noticed, he immediately ran back to his room like a thief, closed the door, and sent the photo to Ji Yan.
“Dad, Mom and I went to the supermarket to buy groceries today. Mom bought me some delicious food, and she’s cooking it for me now!” The little guy’s tone was a bit boastful.
Back in his dorm, Ji Yan took a shower and then checked his phone for the little guy’s messages. The first thing he saw was a picture of a woman wearing an apron, cooking in the kitchen. The woman in the photo was as thin as a skeleton, with a cast on her left leg and a crutch next to her. Her cooking movements looked quite professional.
Ji Yan found the woman in the photo very unfamiliar. Neither her expression nor her movements were like the Tang Tang he remembered. The Tang Tang he remembered was always a woman consumed by debauchery and hysteria, wishing him dead immediately. But the woman in the photo had a gentle demeanor, even exuding a sense of tranquility.
If it weren’t for the identical appearance and figure, Ji Yan would have almost thought it was a completely different person.
How could she have changed so much? Could she really have amnesia? If she didn’t have amnesia, she wouldn’t need to pretend like this.
Suppressing his doubts, Ji Yan sent a video request to the little one. It was answered immediately after only two rings, and the chubby little face reappeared on the screen. Upon seeing Ji Yan, the little one excitedly called out “Daddy!”
Ji Yan smiled and asked, “Did you eat well tonight?”
The little guy was quite talkative in front of his father, and immediately started chattering, holding up two chubby little fingers and saying, “I ate two bowls of rice tonight, and I also ate chicken wings, and tofu, and… and…”
The little guy’s memory was limited, and he couldn’t remember for a moment, so Ji Yan patiently waited for him to think. After a long time, the little guy finally remembered.
“Oh, and soup too, it was very delicious.”
“Really? Did Mommy make all of that?”
The little guy nodded vigorously, and then whispered to Ji Yan, “Daddy, Mommy’s cooking is so delicious, even better than Grandma Li’s! And Mommy’s cakes are so delicious too, Grandma Li can’t make them.” His kindergarten classmates were all so envious of him.
Seeing the little one’s excited expression and hearing “Mommy” constantly on his lips, Ji Yan felt a complex mix of emotions. “Xiao Zhuo, do you like your mommy now?”
The little one hesitated, then nodded awkwardly after a long pause, whispering, “Daddy, I want Mommy to stay like this forever, not like before.”
Ji Yan fell silent, suddenly unsure what to say to his child. He couldn’t figure out what Tang Tang was really up to— was she genuinely trying to be nice to Xiao Zhuo, or was she playing some kind of trick?
He was truly afraid she was just pretending to be nice to Xiao Zhuo for a few days, before reverting to her old ways, dragging the child from hope back into despair. If that happened, he would absolutely not let her get away with it.
The next day was the weekend, and Ji Xiaozhuo didn’t have to go to kindergarten. So Tang Tang wanted to take the little guy out to play because she had met some parents at kindergarten the day before, discussing where they were taking their children. Some said they wanted to go to an amusement park, others said they wanted to go to an aquarium. Tang Tang didn’t quite understand, but she knew everyone would take their children to fun places, so she thought she would take the little guy too.
However, the little guy shook his head and refused, looking at Tang Tang’s injured leg and saying, “Your leg can’t go playing, otherwise it won’t heal quickly, and then you’ll have to use crutches all the time.” People would call her a cripple.
Tang Tang’s heart melted at the sight of this little darling. How could he be so considerate of adults at such a young age? He was so well-behaved; it was impossible not to love him. Tang Tang had initially just felt that becoming his mother meant she had to be good to him— it was a responsibility. But as they spent more time together, she grew to love this little guy more and more, genuinely wanting to be good to him.
Being his mother was truly her blessing. Was it because God saw how pitiful she had been in her past life, and this was compensation for her in this one?
Through watching television and experiencing the outside world, Tang Tang has learned that this was not her original world, nor was it some overseas dynasty. The dynasty she once lived in no longer existed; it all happened thousands of years ago, and everything had become history.
Tang Tang didn’t know why she inexplicably arrived in a world thousands of years in the future, but she felt that such an unbelievable event befalling her was a compensation from heaven. Her current life was a blessing, and she truly loved it. She thought she would grow old alone, but here she had the child and husband she’s always dreamed of, and she had a new home. She was willing to give everything to protect this home; it was everything to her.
Since the little one didn’t want to go out to play, Tang Tang took him to the square downstairs in the community after dinner. She couldn’t let him stay cooped up at home all day.
The square downstairs was large and had some recreational facilities. Many adults were playing there with their children, making it very lively.
Ji Xiaozhuo had an electric toy car, identical to a real car except for its size— a veritable luxury vehicle. He was currently sitting inside, cruising around the square, looking incredibly proud, attracting envious glances from many children. Tang Tang, who had difficulty walking, sat on a bench nearby watching him play.
A young mother sat next to them, constantly taking pictures of her child playing in the square with her phone. Tang Tang knew from television that what she was holding was called a mobile phone— a magical device that could talk to people, watch TV, and take pictures. The little one mentioned that the original owner of this body also had a mobile phone, but she had searched the room for a long time without finding it; it was probably lost.
Originally, Tang Tang didn’t particularly want a mobile phone, but seeing this mother taking pictures of her child made her envious. If she had one, she could take pictures of her little one right now as well.
The young mother, noticing Tang Tang staring at her, smiled and asked, “Is your child in the square too?”
Tang Tang nodded and pointed to where Ji Xiaozhuo was. “That one with the little car is my child.”
“Oh, that’s your child! He’s so handsome! He looks like his father, right?” The young mother realized her mistake immediately and quickly apologized, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it that way.”
Tang Tang waved her hand dismissively, “It’s nothing, I’m really not good-looking.” She wasn’t just not good-looking; she was extremely ugly. She rarely dared to look in the mirror. The little guy’s good looks must be because he looked like his father, and thankfully, he did, otherwise, it would have been a disaster.
Seeing that Tang Tang genuinely didn’t mind, the young mother thought she had a good personality and casually struck up a conversation. The topic eventually turned to work, and she asked, “I work at a bank. What do you do?”
Tang Tang knew this world was different from her previous dynasty. In this world, women went out to work and earn money just like men. Women generally had jobs, and the better the job, the more enviable they were. It seemed that staying at home all day taking care of children and doing housework was looked down upon. Such people were called housewives.
She was a housewife.
Tang Tang shook her head and answered truthfully, “I don’t work.”
The young mother understood. So she was a stay-at-home mom. It was quite rare to see someone so young being a stay-at-home mom, and it seemed like she lacked ambition.
The two chatted casually for a few more minutes, but when Tang Tang turned to look at her little one again, she found that the little one was gone!
Tang Tang was startled and quickly leaned on her cane to go to where the little one had been playing. She searched the entire square but couldn’t find her. Tang Tang panicked and asked the people around her in a trembling voice if they had seen the little one, but everyone said they hadn’t noticed.
“Baby…” Tang Tang’s limbs went weak and her eyes reddened, unwilling to believe her little one was gone. She struggled to support herself with her cane as she searched, calling out to her child repeatedly. Several times she stumbled and fell, but she didn’t care, getting up and continuing her search.
Some older women, seeing her so anxious, couldn’t bear it and comforted her while helping her search.
Meanwhile, Ji Xiaozhuo, being searched for by everyone, was behind a rockery not far from the square. Squatting before him was an elderly man with gray hair but a sprightly air, exuding the authority of a superior, yet very kind towards the child.
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