V2: Chapter 27: An Elderly Mother Taking Care of a Child, Just Trying to Keep Her Child Alive

Knock knock knock~

Knock knock knock!

Liang Lin wasn't just knocking; she was literally banging on the door.

Liang Di was organizing shop documents when she heard the knocking and immediately guessed it was Liang Lin. For a moment, she felt happiness had come too suddenly.

Click~

The door opened.

Liang Lin looked more resentful than a ghost, her face full of grudges. Holding Carol, who was still pulling her hair, she looked at Liang Di with a complicated expression.

"Sister Liang Lin~, what's wrong?"

Upon seeing Liang Lin, Liang Di naturally transformed into a clingy little puppy, her voice deliberately high-pitched, sweet and innocent, her face beaming with pure love.

"....."

Liang Lin opened her mouth, feeling a little embarrassed to speak. She had previously so strongly objected to Liang Di holding the child, and now, she was about to ask her to take responsibility for the child—how could she possibly say it!  

"Hmm?"

Seeing the other person remain silent, Liang Di looked at her with a puzzled expression.

Liang Lin opened her mouth again.

Ugh... why couldn't she just say she wanted to watch the child? How could she not say it! So annoying.

"I, I..."

"You?"

"You, you..."

"...Me??"

Liang Di was even more confused. She scratched her head, trying hard to decipher the subtext from Liang Lin's confused pronunciation, but after listening for a long time, her head was still spinning, and she couldn't guess what the other person meant.

Liang Di: Request failed, please reload.png

"Ouch~"

At this moment, Carol pulled Liang Lin's hair again. Liang Lin winced in pain, but finally made up her mind.

"Hey, you watch Carol for a while. I'm always the only one watching the child, I'll get tired. You're just shirking your responsibilities, it's so annoying to watch." Liang Lin pushed past Liang Di and went into her room.

She didn't want Liang Di to see her embarrassed face, so she turned her back to Liang Di.

Liang Di's brain processed for a moment.

"...Eh?!"

She exclaimed in surprise.

Is happiness really knocking on my door?! I can see my child for a long time now?!

"Really? Really Sister Liang Lin?!" Liang Di's tail wagged practically in the air.

Liang Lin said impatiently, "Really, really, really, why would I lie to you?"

With that, she handed Carol, the baby in her arms, to Liang Di.

"Here you go, hold her carefully."

"Huh?" Liang Di's hands trembled with excitement. She couldn't believe it, pointing to her chest. "You, you really want me to hold her? Can I hold Carol?"

"Yes," Liang Lin rolled her eyes. "I said yes, so you'd better take her, but be careful not to drop her."

Carol, in her arms, smelled the familiar scent and beamed. She raised her arms, her little hands outstretched, grabbing at the air a few times, babbling indistinctly, "Mama, Mama... Hug... Hug!"

Ahhh...!

Although the child looked a lot like a younger version of Liang Lin, those big, watery eyes and those bright blue pupils with an extra ring around the whites made Liang Di want to scream.

My daughter was just too adorable!

Liang Di slowly reached out and carefully took Carol from Liang Lin's arms.

The moment she held Carol, her body stiffened, unable to move. She stood there stiffly, motionless, like a statue holding a child, not even daring to raise her head, just tilting it back. But to see her daughter in her arms, Liang Di tried hard to move her eyes downwards.

Liang Lin: "....."

This girl is usually quite smart, so why does she look like she's been seriously ill and her brain has been damaged by a fever?

"Isn't it possible that you can walk around holding her, and your arms can move? And it's your arms holding the child, not your neck, not your head, so you can look around..."

Liang Lin facepalmed.

Oh, right!

Liang Di finally breathed a sigh of relief.

They say pregnancy makes you stupid for three years, so why isn't it Liang Lin who's become stupid, but instead, she seems to have become stupid? Could it be that spending too much time with the already dim-witted Liang Lin has infected her with a drop in IQ?

Child transaction, successful transfer!

Liang Lin felt a huge weight lifted off her shoulders.

However, she still felt somewhat uneasy about Liang Di.

It wasn't that she worried she might mistreat the child, but rather that this person, whose thinking was different from normal people, might do something dangerous to the child without thinking.

Liang Lin wanted to sleep, but she didn't dare go back to her room. She wanted to stay here, keeping an eye on Liang Di and Carol's every move.

This worried old mother was tired and sleepy, yet still couldn't put her mind at ease.

She needed to find a way to have the best of both worlds.

Liang Lin's gaze fell on the bed beside her, covered with a soft cotton quilt. It looked very fluffy and comfortable to lie on.

She would stay here and sleep. If Carol encountered danger or was in pain, she would cry out. She wasn't a particularly heavy sleeper, and Carol's cry would surely wake her.

Yes, that's a happy decision!  

"Liang Di, I'm going to sleep on your bed for a while. You look after Carol for a bit."

So sleepy her eyelids were practically drooping, Liang Lin pulled a few small bags from her pocket, filled with Carol's favorite fruit juice, and placed them on Liang Di's desk. 

"These are for her when she's hungry or craving something sweet. Whenever she whines, just feed her. Don't give her too much at once, at most one and a half bags, understand?"

"Mmm!"

Liang Di nodded vigorously.

"Sister Liang Lin, are you sleepy?"

Liang Lin looked like a resentful ghost wanting to gnaw everyone out. She was exhausted, pointing to her face, "Just look at my face, look at my dark circles. Don't pretend you don't know."

"Then, Sister, you should rest. I'll take care of Carol."

That suited Liang Lin perfectly.

"Then you're not allowed to leave this room, and you're not allowed to take Carol out. If I wake up and see that you two aren't in the room, I'll...! I'll..." Liang Lin couldn't finish her sentence, stammering for a long time before finally managing to say, "Then I'll get angry, and if I get angry, the consequences will be severe!"

Liang Di nodded obediently, "Mmm, Sister, don't worry, I'll stay in this room and play with Carol. I definitely won't go out."

What a good little puppy.

Liang Lin climbed into bed, snuggled into the warm blankets, and lay down comfortably.  

Ah… the long-lost happiness, the long-lost peace… how come I never realized before that a good night's sleep was such a luxury?

Goodnight, damn it.

Liang Lin lay flat on the bed with a smile.

Liang Di tried her best to be quiet, afraid of disturbing Liang Lin's sleep. But Carol in her arms kept making "Aba," "Aba" sounds, which greatly annoyed her.

What to do? How could I stop her from making a sound? Could I cover her mouth? Wouldn't that suffocate the baby?

With all this noise, Liang Lin must not be able to sleep, right? Sigh, I really feel sorry for Liang Lin…

Liang Di looked at her own bed with heartache, wanting to see her sister's tired face.

She turned her head.

"…"

Asleep?!

It's not even a minute yet! That's in seconds! 

Liang Di was shocked.

Yes, exhausted, Liang Lin fell asleep the moment her head hit the pillow, sleeping soundly like a little pig. The only difference was that Liang Lin never snores in her sleep; her breathing was steady, and she had a smile on her face. Well, she never smiled in her sleep before; this was a complete exception, because it was her long-awaited peaceful sleep.

"Mommy, Mama..."

In Liang Di's arms, Carol started fussing again.

"Shh~"

Liang Di made a shushing gesture, rubbed her daughter's little head, and lowered her voice, saying to Carol in a very, very soft voice, "Your other mommy is asleep. Don't talk, be quiet. We'll play quietly, okay?"

Facing an adorable human cub, one's voice unconsciously becomes husky, sounding somewhat childish.

Liang Lin slept incredibly soundly. When she opened her eyes again, she found it was already dark outside; she didn't know what time it was.

Eh!

Liang Lin rolled over and sat bolt upright. Although her eyes still held the shrewdness of someone just woken up, she was clearly much more energetic than she had been a few hours earlier. She glanced at the wall clock; it was already 8 PM.

Wow, I slept for over five hours!

Huh? Where were those two troublemakers?

Liang Lin's heart tightened, and she quickly turned her head to look in the other direction.

"......"

No.

"...What are you two doing?"

Liang Lin was stunned.

She saw a corner of the room covered in tentacles. One tentacle was wrapped around Carol's waist, performing weightlifting movements, occasionally tossing her high into the air and catching her.

What kind of playing is this?!

Liang Lin's mind went blank.

My god, my precious daughter! She's practically throwing her at the ceiling!

Liang Lin's heart tightened. Just as she was about to say something, she heard Carol's happy, giggling laughter.

Looking at Liang Di, she saw her gazing at Carol with loving eyes.

"..."

This mother and daughter's way of entertaining themselves was truly unconventional.

They say that when dads are taking care of kids, just keeping them alive is good enough. Now it seems that sometimes, when moms are taking care of kids, just keeping them alive is good enough too.

Liang Lin was afraid that Liang Di might use too much force and throw Carol against the ceiling, turning her into a tiny baby, or onto the ground, smashing her into pieces.

"You... your way of passing the time is really hard to understand." Liang Lin rolled over, got out of bed, and silently walked behind the two of them.

Liang Di turned around, stopping her "throwing" motion, her face flushed. "Sister Liang Lin, you're awake? How did you sleep? Were you comfortable?"

"Pretty good."

But after waking up and seeing the way you two were entertaining yourself, I instantly felt terrible.

 "...I'm really curious, how did you come up with this way of soothing the child?" Liang Lin covered her face.

Liang Di pondered for a moment.

Just now, Liang Lin slept soundly. Okay, that's a euphemism; actually, she slept like a log, not even Carol's loud noise could wake her.

As for why Liang Lin slept so soundly, it was probably because she felt safe, knowing that staying here meant she wouldn't be harmed by anyone except Liang Di (just kidding). With less harm, she slept much more peacefully.

Liang Di was initially doing fine, holding her child and continuing to organize her documents. But then, Carol, probably bored, started acting up, nearly spilling the ink on Liang Di's desk. The documents almost scattered like a shower of petals, startling Liang Di so much that she jumped up.

Those were documents she had spent the entire morning organizing; her hard work had almost been wasted.

"Carol, you can't do this, this is..."

Meeting Carol's bewildered gaze, Liang Di knew it was useless to talk to her, and it was useless to for any teacher either; this girl wouldn't understand a thing.

"Never mind."

The remaining materials could be organized later tonight. For now, I should play with Carol for a while, cherishing this precious mother-daughter time. I don't know if I would have another chance like this. Liang Lin had finally shown me some "mercy."

However, looking around the room, there weren't any toys or anything for Carol to play with.

Just then, Liang Di had a flash of inspiration and thought of her tentacles.

That's right, her child seemed to be an ordinary human cub, without tentacles or anything like that.

Liang Di felt it was a pity that she hadn't inherited her tentacles, but she had most likely inherited the talent of a magician, which wasn't bad either.

Liang Di's tentacles emerged from under her skirt, slowly rising to wrap around Carol's little hand, nuzzling affectionately against her face.

Carol, her face full of curiosity, widened her eyes as she played with the tentacle. It felt wonderful, soft and squishy; Carol loved it, and smiled, her rosy lips parting.

Seeing her precious daughter smile, Liang Di was genuinely happy, but also felt a pang of sadness, realizing she had missed her daughter's most crucial first year.

Initially, it was a normal mother-daughter game. But then, it gradually evolved into "weightlifting," and then, it evolved into "tossing the baby high in the air"—the scene Lianglin witnessed upon waking, a sight that utterly astonished her.

"...Never mind, as long as you're happy. And Carol isn't hurt." Liang Lin held out her hand, gesturing to Liang Di that she had slept enough and was taking Carol back.

Liang Di understood the other's meaning, reluctantly retracting her tentacles and pulling Carol into her arms, preparing to return her to Liang Lin.

Just as the two were exchanging children, Carol suddenly reached out her little hand, grabbed Liang Lin's collar, and yanked her forward sharply.

Normally, Liang Lin wouldn't be pulled down, but she hadn't expected a small child to be so strong (of course she was strong, it was her child!), and she stumbled.

"Kyaa!"

Don't ask why she made that sound; it was just awkwardness.

Liang Lin and Liang Di were very close, separated only by Carol; they could feel each other's warm breath. If they were any closer, their noses would probably brush.

Carol, for the sake of her two mothers' love, had racked her brains, already trying to be a divine intervention even before she was a year old.

"....."  

The two stared at each other, but no sparks flew between them. Liang Lin quickly looked away, while Liang Di's cheeks were slightly flushed. Liang Lin quickly pulled Carol back, muttering a few complaints.

"You child, your hands are really restless."

Carol seemed dissatisfied with the outcome, waving her little hand to express her displeasure.

"Alright, you should come back with me now."

Just as Liang Lin reached the door, Liang Di called out to her.

Liang Lin turned around and saw Liang Di, acting shy and coy like a little girl. Liang Di tucked a few strands of silver-white hair behind her ear. "Sister, you haven't had dinner yet, and neither have I. Shall we go downstairs to eat?"

Without a second thought, Liang Lin immediately refused.

"I'm not hungry. When I get hungry, I'll have the maid bring me food. You go eat by yourself."  "

After saying that, she pushed open the door and left without looking back.

There was no complicated reason; she genuinely wasn't hungry.

If there had to be another reason, it was probably that she felt she had spent too much time with Liang Di today, and she was afraid of giving her the impression that she enjoyed being with her.

She couldn't give her that hope, and for the time being, she didn't want to have too much involvement with her.

Liang Di stood there dejectedly.

It seemed her road to winning Liang Di's heart was still very long.

She was very distressed. She had never pursued a girl before and didn't know how. Moreover, Liang Lin was different from other ordinary girls; her thought process was different too. She didn't know how to move her or flirt with her.

Liang Di was extremely distressed. While organizing the documents, she thought about these things, which slowed down her organization.

By the time she finally finished, it was already 11 PM. After washing up, she still couldn't sleep because of these thoughts.

Liang Di, with her eyes wide open like an owl, lay on the bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep.

"Sigh."

Half an hour later, she got out of bed.

Walking to the bookshelf, she randomly picked up a romance novel, intending to learn from its techniques. She opened the table of contents, looking for a plausible title.

"Hmm! This one!"

"Even she couldn't resist his charm."

The title sounded sophisticated.

"Page 325..."

Liang Di hurriedly flipped to the novel's page and began reading.

Ten minutes later.

"Oh~"

A look of sudden enlightenment crossed Liang Di's face. She stroked her chin and murmured, "I've learned something. I'll start preparing tomorrow. Hmm... this timing isn't easy to find. I wonder if Sister Liang Lin will fall for this."

"But how exactly is this done? It seems like something humans could hardly do!" Liang Di gasped.

Liang Lin, who was fast asleep, turned over. She had been having a sweet dream, but it suddenly turned into a nightmare, waking her up with wide, staring eyes.  She clutched her pounding chest, feeling that something bizarre and terrible was about to happen.