Part 2
At nine o’clock the next morning, bright sunlight shone through the white window sheers into the room. The light was bright but not blinding.
Luo Wenshu woke up and slowly opened her eyes.
At the small desk by the window, Luo Xingyu had already finished writing a small booklet of calligraphy practice. The characters were clean and neat, and the finished pages were stacked tidily to the side.
He stood up and stretched a little. Catching movement on the bed from the corner of his eye, he looked over. “Mom, good morning.”
Luo Wenshu responded lazily, “Good morning.”
“I bought meat buns and three-delicacy buns, as well as a cup of millet porridge and tea eggs. They’re keeping warm in the pot. Do you want to eat now, Mom?” he asked considerately.
“I’ll have the millet porridge and tea eggs,” Luo Wenshu said. Then, after thinking for a moment, she added, “Can you buy pickled vegetable and vermicelli buns next time?”
Luo Xingyu nodded, noting her preference in his heart, while getting up to bring the warm breakfast from outside.
Sitting on the bed, Luo Wenshu took the tray Luo Xingyu handed her. On it was a cup of millet porridge with a straw inserted, at just the right temperature, and two peeled tea eggs.
The sunlight fell on her, bringing a slight warmth.
A memory from the past suddenly surfaced in her mind.
It was a certain day in the past, also with clear weather and bright sunshine. The original owner of this body had woken up late because she wasn’t feeling well. When she woke, she found little Luo Xingyu had packed his small schoolbag, dressed himself, put on his shoes, and was carefully placing two buns and a bag of soy milk on the desk in the room.
When he was about to leave, he realized she was awake and whispered to her, “Mom, you sleep a little longer. I’m going to kindergarten with Xiaobao today.”
Luo Xingyu stood against the light, the sun outlining his silhouette and gilding him with a faint golden edge.
Even though her boyfriend had left without a goodbye, vanishing without a trace, and she found out she was pregnant right after, the original owner of this body had been lost for a time.
But once she decided to keep the child, although it had always been hard work, she never regretted or complained even a little.
And at that moment, she felt even more strongly that everything was worth it.
“Mom…?” Seeing Luo Wenshu seemingly lost in thought, Luo Xingyu called out softly.
Hearing his voice, Luo Wenshu snapped back to reality and shook her head slightly. “Nothing.”
She took a sip of the millet porridge first. After swallowing, she picked up a tea egg with chopsticks, brought it to her mouth, slowly ate the egg white, and then put the yolk down.
Luo Xingyu observed quietly, noting in his mental notebook that she didn’t like egg yolks, adding a small bracketed note: ‘Observe further.’
Luo Wenshu quickly finished breakfast and went to the bathroom to wash up.
Luo Xingyu bagged the trash and washed and put away the dishes.
A while later, Luo Wenshu came out washed and dressed, her hair up. She took Luo Xingyu’s hand and headed out.
Today’s itinerary was set: spend the day shopping for various necessities, find a place to eat out in the evening, then go home to decorate the new room and prepare some things. After midnight, it would be a special day.
When the mother and son reached the main entrance on the first floor, they ran into Li Yufen returning from grocery shopping.
She told Luo Wenshu that Feng Lan had brought back the curtains she took home to wash last night.
However, seeing that the lights were off in Luo Wenshu’s home, she assumed they were asleep and didn’t want to disturb them. She went straight to Li Yufen, who was still awake, got the spare key, opened the door, and hung them back up.
After a night, they were probably mostly dry from the wind.
Luo Wenshu thanked Li Yufen and chatted briefly before the car she booked arrived downstairs.
Luo Wenshu had forcibly intervened in the affairs of the Tang and Yu families previously. With the matter temporarily coming to a close yesterday, her outing today was also to verify her conjecture about karmic backlash.
It was not yet ten in the morning. The outdoor temperature had risen a bit, but it wasn’t particularly hot.
Under these conditions, even if the air conditioning broke again, it wouldn’t be as unbearable as before.
Luo Wenshu was prepared for the worst. However, the car drove all the way to Xinghua Plaza without obstruction, not even hitting a single red light.
Not only that, when Luo Xingyu paid, the ride-hailing app had a random discount event, slashing the already low fare by half.
Luo Wenshu vaguely felt something was wrong.
After leading Luo Xingyu into the mall, they saw a row of claw machines by the elevator area. The display windows were brand new and clean, filled with various prizes like cute dolls, keychains, and robot excavators.
Seeing this, Luo Wenshu thought for a moment and looked down to ask Luo Xingyu, “Do you like them? Which one do you like?”
As everyone knows, for the vast majority of people, skill is irrelevant with claw machines. Whether you get a prize depends entirely on the owner’s conscience.
If they aren’t too shady, inserting coins worth double the prize’s value will usually get it out.
But if they are shady enough… let’s just say, for a plush toy with a wholesale price of five yuan, you could throw in fifty yuan worth of coins and still not grab it.
Some people really deserve to be hung from streetlights.
Hearing Luo Wenshu’s words, Luo Xingyu didn’t consider the issue of not being able to grab it at all. He seriously looked around at the claw machines nearby, then pointed to one of the excavators. “I want this one.”
This one cost two yuan per play.
Luo Wenshu had Luo Xingyu scan the code to buy two coins. She weighed them in her hand, then inserted them.
“Watch,” she said.
Then she maneuvered the joystick, aimed the claw at the excavator’s long arm, and pressed the button.
It grabbed firmly, then she waited for the machine to move to the exit.
Often, the mechanical claws of these machines are not only loose but shake more than the hands of the cafeteria ladies serving food.
From the moment it drops, it tugs at your heartstrings. It’s one thing if it lets go immediately, but if it wobbles all the way to the exit and looks like you’re about to get it, only to suddenly drop back down…
Luo Wenshu wasn’t nervous. She had a vague feeling that this excavator would definitely come out.
The mechanical arm moved very slowly. The claw loosened during the process, but due to the angle and a seeming malfunction where it didn’t fully open, it got stuck instead. It corrected itself near the exit.
And so, a schoolbag-sized excavator was successfully retrieved.
Luo Xingyu’s eyes lit up instantly. As he squatted down to pick up the excavator, he shouted, “Mom is so amazing!”
Next to them was a younger child, chubby and fair, wearing suspender shorts and biting a lollipop. He looked at the excavator in Luo Xingyu’s hand with longing eyes.
“You want one too?” Luo Wenshu asked.
Hearing her words, the child looked up at her and nodded hesitantly.
There were no more excavators this big in this row of machines, but there were smaller ones. Luo Wenshu had Luo Xingyu scan for two more coins, inserted them, played once more, and successfully retrieved one.
The child proactively picked up the excavator, mimicking Luo Xingyu’s shout, “Mom… so amazing!”
His own mother was nearby picking up items scattered from a torn shopping bag, keeping only a peripheral eye on her child. Just as she finished tidying up and looked up, she saw her silly child happily calling someone else “Mom.” The corner of her mouth twitched instantly.
“I’m sorry, I wasn’t paying attention…” The young mother walked over, intending to take the toy from the child’s hand to return it, but the child’s chubby little hand gripped it tightly, looking ready to sit on the ground if she tried to take it.
“How about I buy it from you…” The young mother looked a bit embarrassed.
Luo Wenshu shook her head. “It’s fine. It’s just something grabbed for two yuan. As long as the child likes it.”
The young mother thanked Luo Wenshu politely and taught her child to say thank you.
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