“Little Hao-hao!
Little Hao-hao!”
“Hmm?”
“I want to eat honey pancakes!
Just like the ones you made last time—soft and sweet!”
In the kitchen early in the morning, Huo Yuhao was masterfully beating eggs.
Tianmeng, dressed in a small-sized set of pajamas, clung to his back like a koala, endlessly ordering food in her crisp, clear voice.
Huo Yuhao expressionlessly shook the pan.
“We’re out of honey.”
“Out of honey?”
Tianmeng slid off his back, her movements far too agile for someone who had only recently taken human form.
“Then I’ll go buy some!”
Before her voice could even fade, she transformed into a streak of white light with a *whoosh*, passing straight through the wall and disappearing.
Huo Yuhao’s eye twitched.
He had gradually grown accustomed to her unconventional way of coming and going.
A cool, aloof voice drifted over from the dining table.
“Ignore her.”
Gu Yuena sat upright in her chair, her long silver hair cascading down like a waterfall.
She looked at Huo Yuhao with a trace of imperceptible expectation in her eyes, though she still maintained her calm, queenly posture on the surface.
“Where is my roasted fish?”
“…Who eats roasted fish first thing in the morning?” Huo Yuhao complained helplessly.
Gu Yuena’s reply was concise and brooked no argument.
“I do.”
Huo Yuhao sighed and resignedly set down the beaten eggs.
Turning around, he scooped a lively, splashing fish out of the water tank, lit the stove, scraped the scales, and gutted it.
He now seriously suspected that Gu Yuena’s primary motive in “picking him up” from the White Tiger Duke Mansion in the first place was simply to find her own personal chef who could roast fish.
Before long, the rich aroma of roasted fish wafted through the kitchen.
Tianmeng also happened to fly back from outside, holding a jar of honey that was larger than her own head.
“Little Hao-hao, I’m back!
Look!
Premium honey!”
She set the honey jar down on the table with a loud thud, then sniffed the air deeply.
“Wow!
That roasted fish smells amazing!
I want to eat it too!”
As she spoke, she reached out to grab the one Huo Yuhao had just finished roasting and was preparing to serve to Gu Yuena.
*Smack.*
A silver chopstick struck the back of her hand with pinpoint accuracy.
Gu Yuena had stood up and moved to Huo Yuhao’s side at some unknown point.
She picked up the plate of roasted fish, shot Tianmeng a cold glance, and then elegantly walked back to her seat carrying the plate.
Tianmeng clutched her reddened hand, looking at Huo Yuhao aggrievedly.
“Little Hao-hao, she’s bullying me!”
Huo Yuhao placed another roasted fish in front of her and said crossly, “If you don’t go buy pancake mix, you really will only have roasted fish to eat.”
“Oh, oh, right!” Tianmeng’s attention was instantly diverted, and she busily ran off to rummage through the cupboards.
Watching this, Huo Yuhao deeply felt that this home of his was less like a home and more like a zoo with a bizarre atmosphere.
***
In the afternoon, the weather was sunny and pleasant.
The doorbell of the small villa rang.
“I’ll get it!” Tang Ya put down the book in her hand and ran over.
Standing outside was a shy girl—it was none other than Jiang Nannan.
She was carrying a food basket.
When she saw Tang Ya open the door, she paused for a moment before politely asking, “Excuse me, is my benefactor…
is Huo Yuhao here?”
“He is, please come in.” Tang Ya stepped aside to let her enter.
Hearing the commotion, Huo Yuhao walked out of the living room.
The moment Jiang Nannan saw him, her eyes lit up, and a lovely blush rose to her cheeks.
She jogged forward and handed him the food basket.
“Benefactor!
This is osmanthus cake made by my mother.
She insisted that I bring it for you to try!”
Huo Yuhao took it and opened the lid.
A sweet, refreshing scent of osmanthus immediately wafted toward him.
“Thank you.
How is your mother’s health lately?”
“Much better!
Jiang Nannan’s voice was full of gratitude.
“My mother said that as soon as she can get out of bed and walk, she will definitely come visit in person to kowtow and thank you!”
“There’s no need for kowtowing.
As long as she’s okay, that’s what matters.” Huo Yuhao smiled.
Just then, a platinum-blonde head popped out from behind Huo Yuhao.
“Huh?
Another little beauty here to see Little Hao-hao?”
Tianmeng, holding a half-eaten pancake in her hand, sized up Jiang Nannan curiously.
“Tsk tsk, Little Hao-hao, you really are quite popular with the ladies~”
Jiang Nannan’s face turned completely red at these blunt words.
She looked at this insanely beautiful silver-haired woman who had suddenly appeared, then at the intimate, natural intimacy between her and Huo Yuhao, and inexplicably felt a wave of unspeakable disappointment and bitterness.
She felt like an outsider.
And up on the second floor of the living room, behind the banister, Gu Yuena watched everything happening downstairs in silence.
She didn’t say a word, only letting her gaze linger on the food basket Jiang Nannan had brought for a moment before turning and heading back to her room.
But Huo Yuhao, whose spiritual power constantly enveloped the entire villa, could clearly feel that the temperature of the air around Gu Yuena seemed to have dropped…
by another two degrees.
***
In the courtyard, Tang Ya was practicing the movement technique Huo Yuhao had taught her.
In the span of a month, under Huo Yuhao’s guidance and with plenty of nutritional supplements, she was no longer that frail little girl who looked like she would blow away with the wind.
Her figure was still slender, but there was now a sharp, fierce edge to her movements.
Huo Yuhao sat on a stone bench, correcting her posture.
“Tang Ya, pay attention to your center of gravity.
You need to exert force from your waist the moment you strike, not just rely on your arms.”
“Like this, watch my hand.”
Huo Yuhao got up and demonstrated.
With a flick of his wrist, three pebbles shot out in a triangular formation, embedding themselves deeply and precisely into a tree trunk ten meters away.
Tang Ya watched intently, nodding repeatedly.
But more often than not, she would unconsciously drift off.
She would stare at Huo Yuhao’s serious profile in the sunlight, looking into those deep eyes that seemed to see through everything.
She would look at the slight curve of his lips as he patiently explained…
and then, she would forget what movement she was supposed to make next.
“Tang Ya?”
Huo Yuhao’s voice snapped her out of her daze.
“Try that technique again.”
“Huh?
Oh, oh!
Okay!
Sorry, sorry!”
Tang Ya’s face flushed red instantly.
She began gesturing in a flustered scramble, nearly tripping over her own feet in the process.
Not far away, Tianmeng was lying on a hammock.
Leisurely swinging her legs while cracking melon seeds, she took in the entire scene.
She let out a meaningful “Tsk, tsk.”
“It’s over, it’s over, this little girl has fallen too~ Little Hao-hao’s charm is truly deadly to both men and women, young and old alike!”
Hearing her words, Tang Ya’s face flushed even redder, looking like a ripe apple.
She stamped her foot and shouted in Tianmeng’s direction, “I…
I have not!
Stop talking nonsense!”
Her bashful look, far from being convincing, only seemed to confirm Tianmeng’s teasing.
Huo Yuhao pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling utterly exhausted.
***
If the daytime battleground of jealousy was merely an undercurrent, then the issue of “bed allocation” at night was an outright war.
And the core of this war was, naturally, Huo Yuhao’s not-so-large bed.
“Move.”
In the second-floor hallway, right outside Huo Yuhao’s bedroom door, Gu Yuena and Tianmeng faced off once again.
Gu Yuena stood with her arms crossed, radiating an icy, “do not approach” aura.
Tianmeng had her hands on her hips, her cheeks puffed out, blocking the doorway without backing down an inch.
“No!
Why do you get to sleep holding Little Hao-hao every night?
I want to too!
I’m holding him tonight!”
Gu Yuena’s violet eyes narrowed slightly as she spat out five words:
“Because I’m stronger than you.”
Simple, brutal, yet effective.
Tianmeng’s momentum instantly deflated.
She also knew she couldn’t beat this woman of mysterious origins who was terrifyingly strong.
But the temptation of holding Little Hao-hao to sleep was simply too great, and she was unwilling to give up just like that. Visit g.com for the full chapter.
“You…
you’re using twisted logic!
Bullying me with your power!”
Gu Yuena didn’t bother wasting words on her, asking directly, “Do you want to fight?”
“…”
Tianmeng instantly chickened out.
After agonizing for a long moment, she finally squeezed out, “Then…
then at least half each!
The bed is so big, we can sleep on opposite sides!”
In the end, after a round of intense (one-sided) arguing and bargaining, the two reached an agreement.
Thus, when Huo Yuhao finished washing up and returned to his room, he was greeted by a sight that made him lose all will to live.
Gu Yuena had already occupied the left half of his bed, just like usual.
Meanwhile, Tianmeng occupied the right half of his bed with a triumphant expression.
Between the two of them, only a narrow gap remained—just enough to accommodate a six-and-a-half-year-old child like him.
“Sigh…”
Huo Yuhao let out a sigh completely unbefitting his age.
Resigned to his fate, he climbed onto the bed and lay stiffly between the two girls like a wooden log.
Just then, outside the bedroom door, Huo Yun’er walked past carrying a glass of warm milk.
Peering through the crack in the door, she saw the scene in the room, and an understanding, maternal smile appeared on her face.
She shook her head gently and quietly departed with the milk.
“Ah, to be young again~”
***
“Yuhao, come over here.
Your mother has something to say to you.”
That evening, before Huo Yuhao went to sleep, Huo Yun’er called him into her room.
“What is it, Mom?”
Huo Yun’er pulled her son to sit at the edge of the bed and said with earnest gravity, “Yuhao, Mom knows you’ve grown up now and have become capable.
As for these girls, Mom thinks they’re all quite nice.
Each one is prettier and more sensible than the last…”
Hearing this opening, Huo Yuhao immediately got an ominous premonition.
“Mom, you’ve misunderstood.
There’s nothing going on between us, we’re just friends…”
Huo Yun’er immediately shot him a “Do you take me for blind or stupid?” look.
She extended her fingers and began counting them off one by one.
“Nothing going on?
Nana doesn’t return to her own room at night, insisting on crawling into your covers.
You call that nothing?
That girl named Tianmeng clings to you like sticky candy every single day, practically wishing she could grow onto your body.
You call that nothing?
And that little girl from the Jiang family—every time she comes to see you, the light in her eyes looks like it’s about to set you on fire.
And that Tang family girl—when you teach her martial arts, she spends more time staring at you than at the manual!
And you call all of this nothing?”
Huo Yuhao was left completely speechless by his mother’s rapid-fire barrage of accusations.
“…”
Looking at her son’s handsome yet helpless face, Huo Yun’er sighed and patted his shoulder, her tone softening once more.
“Son, Mom isn’t trying to oppose you.
I’m someone who’s lived through it; I can see things clearly.
I just want to tell you that you need to take responsibility.
If you like someone, you like them; if you don’t, you don’t.
You need to figure it out and make it clear early on.
You can’t lead any of these good girls on.”
Huo Yuhao didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
“Mom, I’m being serious.
I’m only six and a half years old…”
Huo Yun’er glared at him.
“What’s wrong with six and a half?
Can’t a six-and-a-half-year-old be in a relationship?
Let me tell you, that irresponsible father of yours was already using sweet talk to trick the little girls in the neighboring village out of their candy when he was six!”
Huo Yuhao was completely speechless.
“…”
What else could he say?
He couldn’t exactly tell his mother: *Mom, although my body is only six and a half years old, my soul is already a centuries-old monster.*
*I didn’t even figure out these matters of love when I was a God King in my past life, and now you want a six-and-a-half-year-old kid to understand them?*
*This is way out of my depth!*