Watching Luo Jin curl himself into a tight ball in an attempt to seek a shred of safety, Wen Niao suddenly felt a wave of heartache for Luo Jin’s soul fragment in this plane.
Standing by the bed, he gently shook Luo Jin awake. Awakened from his slumber, Luo Jin still looked somewhat hazy, his eyes misty like those of a newborn beast.
“Older brother, were you having a nightmare just now?”
Luo Jin did not want Wen Niao to see his awkwardness, nor did he like having anyone stay by his side while he slept.
With a stubborn tone, he replied, “I wasn’t scared. It’s getting late, Niao Niao, go back to your own room to sleep.”
Luo Jin: His mouth is the only hard part about him from head to toe.
“Alright, fine! Let’s just say I’m the one who’s scared, okay? Then consider this as keeping me company?
If I sleep alone, I get scared when I hear thunder. Won’t Brother Jin protect me?”
Wen Niao’s face was painted with complete earnestness, as if he would refuse to leave and latch right onto him if Luo Jin didn’t agree.
The nerves startled by the thunder and the nightmare relaxed slightly for Luo Jin, leaving him with no choice but to helplessly let Wen Niao lie down beside him and share half of the blanket.
After tucking Wen Niao in, he also lay down and began to feign sleep.
“Congratulations to the host for completing the mission! Sending you a reward of eight hundred yuan.”
System 101’s cheeky voice came through, bringing news that thrilled Wen Niao.
“I thought you said you were a quick-transmigration money-making system, but that you only did quick-transmigration without actually making money. Turns out you really can earn cash! I love it, I love it.”
(づ￣ 3￣)づ
“Like this feature? Hehe, this is a perk I actively fought for on the host’s behalf!
This is just the first mission; there will be even more perks if there are large-scale missions later on.”
The system smiled brightly on the outside while screaming obscenities on the inside.
What active fight for it? Total nonsense!
It was clearly the Lord God who didn’t want his little darling rushing home, so he tossed out pocket money to tempt Niao Niao.
What a scheming boy!
In the quiet room, a soft, sleepy voice drifted over:
“Brother Jin, good night,” before trailing off entirely.
Hearing that, Luo Jin silently replied in his mind:
Good night, Niao Niao!
With someone suddenly beside him, Luo Jin had expected to find it difficult to fall asleep. Yet after Wen Niao lay down, listening to the wind, rain, and thunder outside only made him feel at ease.
It seemed that having someone accompany you to sleep was actually quite nice. Thinking along those lines, he drifted into a deep sleep.
(～ o ～)~zZ
The morning after the rain
The air was mingled with the scent of earth, the breeze carried a hint of chill, and sunlight filtered through the clouds to cast its glow upon the ground.
Inside the large bed indoors:
Stirring slightly awake, Wen Niao naturally stretched and let out a yawn. Once his wits returned to him, he immediately sensed something was wrong. Looking down, he saw:
Luo Jin, who was half a head taller than him, was currently wrapping his arms tightly around Wen Niao’s waist, burying his face deep into Wen Niao’s chest, sleeping soundly and sweetly.
Wen Niao had never imagined waking up to such a sight. If it were him curled up against Luo Jin’s chest and hugging his waist while sawing logs, he could accept it.
But if the roles were reversed, er…
This did not match Luo Jin’s tall and valiant demeanor at all!
Wen Niao’s heart was a little broken, though, of course, that was if you ignored his hand repeatedly kneading Luo Jin’s face.
On the surface, Wen Niao was cursing up a storm, but inside, his inner self was already screaming with excitement:
Ahhh, this man is so adorable, he’s melting my heart!
While Wen Niao’s hand was busy kneading the face of the person in his arms, Luo Jin slowly blinked awake at that very moment.
Once Luo Jin’s consciousness recovered, he realized he was curled up in Wen Niao’s arms with a posture as delicate as a little bird. Shocked, he kicked Wen Niao right off the bed.
Wen Niao: ??? Getting bullied by a vicious editor in his past life was one thing, but now he was getting bullied by his soul fragment too? This life was impossible to live!
I’m just a total mug, there’s no love left, wuwuwu.
“Ouch, my butt!” Wen Niao was unceremoniously kicked out of bed by Luo Jin’s sudden kick.
Massaging his backside, Wen Niao glared at Luo Jin with a face full of bitter resentment.
Wen Niao: Hmph, can’t you see I’m mad? Come and coax me right now!
s(｀ヘ′;)ゞ
Hmph, I’m dying of anger!
Luo Jin awkwardly cleared his throat, a light blush of embarrassment creeping up his neck.
To ease the awkwardness, Luo Jin offered an apology, got up to wash up in the bathroom, and cut short the awkward development of the scene.
Puffing out his cheeks in anger, Wen Niao got up and limped back to his own room to wash up. After finishing and heading downstairs to eat some breakfast, he knocked on Tang Miao’s bedroom door.
Seeing it was her son, Tang Miao stepped aside to let Wen Niao into the room to talk.
Mother and son sat opposite each other, staring at each other with wide eyes. You look at me, I look at you, neither willing to speak first.
Actually, it was mostly because Wen Niao didn’t know how to interact with Tang Miao as a son. Every time he spent time alone with Tang Miao, Wen Niao was terrified she would figure out he wasn’t the original owner.
If the truth were exposed, I’d probably get dragged away as some kind of monster, wuwuwu, I don’t want that!
In the end, seeing that Wen Niao had something on his mind and was struggling to speak, Tang Miao broke the awkward atmosphere.
“Spit it out. Is it another matter regarding Luo Jin that you need my help with?”
Wen Niao lowered his head and asked back in a small voice, “Mom, how did you know? Is it that obvious?”
Tang Miao let out a light snort and said with a tone of exasperated affection, “You silly child. Last time you had your dad fire Director Zhang from the Anxin Orphanage and replace her with a new director—
Did you really think Mom wouldn’t know? Tell me, what is it this time?”
Wen Niao let out a dry, awkward chuckle.
“Hahaha, you even knew about that.”
So much for Dad keeping secrets?!
As expected, a wife is more important than a son. You two are truly in love, while I’m purely an accident!
Wen Niao roared inwardly with overwhelming misery.
Straightening his thoughts and organizing his words:
“Mom, I actually didn’t come to you for anything big. I just have a tiny little request that needs your help. Hehe, you’ll definitely help me, right?”
Wen Niao blinked his oversized cartoonish eyes and gazed at Tang Miao with a pitiful expression.
Tang Miao helplessly shrugged, glancing at him to signal Wen Niao to continue.
“Thanks, Mommy! Mommy, you are simply the kindest and most beautiful mom in the world. Well, it’s almost the end of December.
Brother Jin’s birthday, I remember it’s right at the end of the month… um, seems like it’s on the 24th.
I was thinking of throwing a birthday party for Brother Jin at our house. We won’t invite outsiders; just our family celebrating together.
That way we can give Brother Jin a surprise behind his back. If I carried out the plan all by myself, it’d be too easy to get caught, so I need you and Dad to cooperate.
Hehe, Dad spoils you so much, as long as you agree, Dad will agree too.”
Hearing her son’s idea, Tang Miao agreed without a second thought.
She was more than happy to throw a birthday party for Luo Jin.
After all, having adopted the child, he would half count as a member of the Wen family from now on, and the Wen family wouldn’t shortchange Luo Jin on the bare minimum.
Seeing that Tang Miao had a rather positive attitude and view toward Luo Jin, Wen Niao felt genuinely happy for him.
Regardless of what Luo Jin’s past life was like, in his future life, Wen Niao would definitely protect him well.
Wen Niao made a silent promise in his heart.
Just as he stepped out of Tang Miao’s room, he bumped right into Luo Jin, who had finished washing up.
When their gazes met, both of them involuntarily recalled the awkward incident from earlier.
Wanting to find a topic to ease the atmosphere, Wen Niao paused for a few seconds before excitedly asking Luo Jin to follow him somewhere, claiming he had a surprise to show him.