Mother

"Daughter?!" Fa Qing exclaimed with a jolt in her posture, she cast her astonished gaze onto the little girl who was shyly peering at her with her doe eyes.

Ren Ye had already predicted his mother's reaction and thought of many ways to explain this to her. He planned to convince her that Jia'er was his long-lost daughter that he had forgotten about and left aside.

Before he could express himself, Fa Qing recovered her shocked expression and her expression was replaced with overwhelming excitement as she glanced at her 'granddaughter' with joy.

"Why didn't you tell me you had a daughter before? She looks so much like you!" Fa Qing clasped her hands and spoke with a warm smile, "Who is the mother of this child?"

Ren Ye replied with a blank face, "She isn't here. I'll try my best to bring her home."

Fa Qing nodded her head couldn't restrain her urge to give her granddaughter a kiss on the cheek, much to the stunned look of Ren Ye. Fa Qing extended her arms and took Jia'er from his arms, Jia'er seemed to have recognized her as her grandmother.

"You should bring her home, it's not a good thing to have a child with you without their mother?"

Ren Ye nodded his head dismissively, this daughter of his didn't disclose who the mother was but it would take a lot of trust before she could tell him and enables him to find her.

She gave Jia'er a big fat kiss on her plump bulging cheeks, Jia'er giggled softly as she hugged her grandmother back.

"…"

'That went way too smooth,' Ren Ye was taken aback by the sudden closeness of the two, 'I didn't even have to explain myself. Has she met Jia'er before?'

His mother rarely left the house so it was naturally normal for Ren Ye to be astonished by the sudden delight she had with Jia'er, a stranger. Ren Ye had many thoughts running inside his head; in the end, he curled his lips and didn't speak.

'Does she resemble me in any way? Yes, but a stranger wouldn't be able to tell straight away…'

Jia'er glanced at her dad with happiness and wanted to go back into his arms, extending both of her arms for him to hug her.

"Such a clingy girl," Fa Qing commented with amusement, "Have you two eaten yet?"

Ren Ye shook his head and replied frankly, "We haven't."

Jia'er shook her head in unison with her dad as well, her stomach silently rumbled. Fa Qing sighed with disappointment and gloom, reprimanding her son.

"Don't starve this late next time," Fa Qing opened the door widely, "It's not good for her body as kids need lots of nutrition at this age…"

Ren Ye apologized and nodded his head, remarking inwardly.

'I had completely forgotten about our meals…perhaps it was because my rationality had gone numb from spending much of my money on ice cream.'

Fa Qing had waited for him to return for a very long time, refusing to sleep until he returns. She had prepared meals for him and they had gone cold from being untouched.

"Stay here, I'll reheat the meals," Fa Qing took the cold food on the table and went back to the kitchen to heat it.

Ren Ye nodded his head with gratitude and went to the fridge to get some cold water; he came back with a glass of cold water. He gestured to Jia'er and lowered his stance to her height, offering the glass of water.

He helped her hold the glass as she gulped down the cold water, leaving behind an empty and wet glass. Ren Ye's eyebrows furrowed slightly from seeing all of the liquid had gone into her small belly.

'She must have been thirsty all day…'

She licked her lips and gave Ren Ye a darling smile, her mouth was stained with water drops.

"Thank you, Papa!"

Ren Ye nodded indifferently and took a towel, wiping her face with it and wiping her hands as well. He went back to get another glass of water for himself.

Fa Qing came back with scorching stir-fried chicken and two bowls of rice, placing each bowl in front of the two.

"Mom, have you taken your meds?" Ren Ye grabbed his chopsticks and began putting the food on his bowl of rice.

Fa Qing had been very sick since his father had left home, therefore, making her appear rather sickly and frail. Ren Ye often helped her with going out and buying needed things, taking care of her.

"Oh! I almost forgot!" Fa Qing cried out in realization.

"…"

She also had a short memory span, he had to remind her most of the time. He couldn't help but wonder if she had taken medicines at all while he was in the hospital.

"Mom, don't tell me you forgot to take them these few days I was gone!" Ren Ye winced as he grabbed some chicken pieces and placed them onto Jia'er bowl of rice.

"I didn't! I had only forgotten today," She let out an awkward laugh as she got up to get her medicines.

Ren Ye shook his head in disbelief as Jia'er suddenly grabbed his sleeves and pulled them, Jia'er pointed to her bowl of rice that hasn't been touched yet.

"Jia'er wants Papa to feed Jia'er…"

She stared at him with glistening and optimistic eyes, pressing anyone who stares at them to submit to her wishes. Ren Ye squirmed a bit as his eyes grew rather complicated.

'This kid…'

He sighed inwardly and grabbed her bowl of rice, picking bits of rice and gently putting them into her mouth; he made sure she ate them thoroughly before feeding her more.

"Papa! Water…" She swallowed with difficulty, her eyes on the glass of water in front of him. Ren Ye clutched the glass and held it to her mouth, letting her slip slowly and adjust her throat.

'I wonder what Old Yi is doing? He disappeared all of a sudden.'

While feeding Jia'er, he felt unusual for not having another voice inside his head.

'I don't plan on carrying out any more missions tonight, I still have to get more information from Old Yi about the Energy Activating Pill…'

After they were done with their meals, Ren Ye took Jia'er to his bedroom as his mother gave him some spare pillows and blankets for her granddaughter.

"Good night, mom," Ren Ye gave her a nod.

Inside the bedroom, there was only one bed and a couple of drawers on the side; it wasn't spacious but it had enough space to room two people at once.

Ren Ye kept his room exceptionally spotless due to his minor obsessive-compulsive habits; he was used to the room he had as a kid when they both resided in a house with maids.

He took the spare blanket and pillows, laid them on the bed, and prepared a special spot for Jia'er. Jia'er rubbed her eyes as Ren Ye placed her on the bed and put her to sleep.

"It's late now," Ren Ye spoke softly, "Tomorrow, take a shower and we'll do something fun together…"

The little girl nodded her head repeatedly in her drowsy state, she pulled his sleeves.

"Papa…Jia'er wants to hear a story…"

She mumbled quietly, pouting her tiny lips.

"What story?" Ren Ye wasn't sure what stories she wanted to hear; fairytales? Cinderella? Sleeping Beauty?

"Anything…"

"Cinderella?"

"No…"

"Sleeping Beauty?

"…"

The little girl shook her head repeatedly, yawning.

"Jia'er want to hear something new, Jia'er had already seen those stories…"

Ren Ye rubbed his chin casually before coming up with a story, he flicked her forehead gently,

"I have a story; it is a pretty good one."

Jia'er gazed at him with her doe expressive eyes, reflecting her Papa's figure and wanting to hear about the story.

"Hmm, it is a story I have remembered and it started with the tragedy of Northodam…"

Ren Ye decided to narrate a popular story for the little girl to listen to; he sucked at finding good stories and this story was the only one he had found interesting. He was narrating the tragedy of Northodam, a popular legend back in his past world.

The protagonist's sister died in a fire and motivated the protagonist to find justice for her with the guidance of ghosts…

'I don't know if she's going to like it or not…But she appears to enjoy it.'

Jia'er trembled slightly and suddenly shrank inside the blanket, Ren Ye glanced over to see she was fast asleep and tugged her blanket with rare gentleness on his face. He was slightly content that she liked the story he liked; it was rare to find someone whose tastes is the same as yours.

"Goodnight…"

He caressed her temple with his fingers gently and moved to his side; he made sure he gave the little girl enough space to move around as well and not accidentally crush her while he was asleep.

He laid on his side and looked up to the white ceiling above him, with his thoughts running all over the place and his eyes grew complicated.

'Tonight is the first night I'll be residing in this world. This feels surreal, to say the least. I don't know how to feel about this world yet as my past still resides in that horrible place…'

He dropped his deep set of eyes, his thought went back to the past,

'I wonder what happened after I was killed…'

======

5: 30 AM

Ren Ye woke to the noises of sniffling and quiet sobs; he gradually opened his eyes with slight discontent as he hadn't fully gotten his night's sleep. With the sound of fabric rubbing against each other, Ren Ye sat up on the bed to discover tears on her cheeks.

Jia'er was quietly sobbing in her sleep, her hands clenched tightly as her face was clouded with a depressed glow.

His eyes shrunk as he immediately sobered up and he pressed his lips tightly into a straight line, his heart ached intensely.

"Mama…"

The little girl sniffled and muttered inaudibly; her face streaked in glistening tears.

'She is having a nightmare about her mother…'

Ren Ye shifted to her side carefully and cast his obscure eyes onto the little girl; he lifted his hand and gently placed them on top of her head, massaging her hair.

"It's alright…"

He whispered calmly as the expression on his face became deep and profound; not knowing how to comfort the little girl.

The little girl breathed heavily and sniffled as her tiny body seemed to have relaxed but her small hands remained clenched firmly; his voice had an effect on her.

Ren Ye didn't speak or move for a very long time, sitting cross-legged and watching her fall back to sleep again; he was worried she was going to wake up in tears again.

He didn't know why but his heart ached immensely as he felt unable to breathe the moment, he saw her sad tears.

Instead of going back to sleep, he chose to meditate and calm his emotions down. Even if he attempted to go back to sleep, he wouldn't still be able to sleep well.

'Old Yi! Are you awake?'

He called out inwardly, but he received no response.

'Did he suddenly ghost me? I haven't got the answers you said you would tell me!'

His features twitched slightly with a bit of annoyance.

Immediately, he heard a buzzing sound in each of his ears as they were filled with digital typing sound effects; sounding similar to sci-fi technology.

[System Reactivating!]

A text in blue glow materialized in front of his eyes; the light reflected inside his eyes.

The blue screen boots up as [Loading] appeared on the screen, and the screen came back on with the original bars in place.

'I'm back from my nap,' A familiar hoarse voice resounded with clearance and satisfaction in his tone, 'How is it going?'

Ren Ye curled his lips upwards, 'As a system, you need sleep?'

In the novels he had read in the past, he hadn't heard of a system that had to go to sleep and recharge itself; this was a new phenomenon for him.

'You humans need sleep, what is wrong with me needing sleep?' He tsked with slight irritation, 'Believe it or not, my system is similar to a phone.'

'We need to recharge after a long day of working like everyone else!'

'Hmm, what if I'm in danger and your system suddenly went into hibernation?' Ren Ye remarked with interest.

Old Yi winced faintly, 'We don't go to sleep whenever there's trouble coming, we have consciousness and aren't that stupid…'

'Although we do shut down if we get too tired of you…'

"…"