“You…” Huo Rui found it simply unbelievable. Ever since he could remember, he had known his father was dazzlingly brilliant—wherever he went, some gaudily dressed women would cling to him. Even when his father gave them cold stares, it never dampened their enthusiasm.
Sometimes, those women even tried to win his father’s favor by currying favor with him, which annoyed him to no end. He had no choice but to use every trick in the book to drive those women away.
But the woman before him now left him puzzled. Her expression was open and unguarded, not at all fake. She didn’t even know his father’s name—could it be that she truly had no desire to become the mistress of Huo Manor?
Suddenly, he felt a pang of displeasure, though he didn’t know why. Wait—she had just said she didn’t want to become his stepmother, not that she didn’t want to marry his father. Was she looking down on him?
Flushing with anger, he yelled at her, “How dare you look down on me, young master?”
Luo Chaoyan’s lips twitched. This brat’s train of thought was baffling; his mood shifted faster than flipping a page. She thought it best to make a quick escape, afraid that if the brat couldn’t win the argument, he might resort to a physical fight. Though she felt the kid truly deserved a good spanking, fighting with a child felt like an unfair victory.
With that in mind, she slowly backed away, forcing a smile as she said, “I wouldn’t dare! I wouldn’t dare! Young master, you are as handsome as Pan An, full of vigor and charm, so captivating that even flowers wither in your presence. Let us part ways forever.”
As soon as she finished speaking, she turned to flee, but just as she did, a small, unidentified object latched tightly onto her leg.
“Mo…ther, mother!”
Luo Chaoyan saw a little toddler who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere, calling her “mother.” Not content with just hugging her, the chubby-cheeked child nuzzled against her.
In modern times, she had seen scams where people demanded money, but never one where someone claimed her as their mother.
She sighed helplessly, looking up at the sky. Whose child was this? Could someone please come and claim him? What kind of “luck” was she having today?
She struggled to pry the toddler off and took a step back, licking her dry lips. “Um, little one, I’m not your mother.” She was still an unmarried maiden, for goodness’ sake.
“Mother!”
Seeing that she didn’t welcome his affection, the toddler pouted, his eyes welling up with tears as he pitifully leaned toward her again.
Two nursemaids came running over, panting heavily, calling out, “Young Master An!”
Luo Chaoyan held off the chubby child trying to throw himself at her. Hearing the newcomers, she breathed a sigh of relief and asked the two women, “Is this your child?”
They nodded but made no move to take the child away. What was the meaning of this? Were they toying with her? Her patience was wearing thin.
“What are you standing there for? Take him away!”
The little toddler seemed to understand her meaning and, in a milky voice, commanded the two nursemaids, “Don’t…come over.”
The two nursemaids exchanged glances, looking somewhat helplessly at Luo Chaoyan.
She glared at them. Left with no other choice, she had to take matters into her own hands. She put on a gentle smile and softly said to the toddler, “Li…little one, I have some candy here. If you don’t come closer, I’ll give it to you, okay?”
Children love candy, and the toddler was no exception. He nodded, straightened up, and waited for her to give him the candy.
Reluctantly, Luo Chaoyan took out her treasured milk candies from her sleeve and handed them to him.
The toddler lifted his chubby little hand, grabbed one, and popped it into his mouth. Instantly, he was so delighted that his eyes crinkled into happy slits.
“Scented… candy! Yummy!” As he spoke, he took both the handkerchief and the candy from Luo Chaoyan’s hand. Seeming to realize this wasn’t quite proper, he retrieved one piece and placed it in her palm.
Beaming, he said: “Mother, eat!”
She shot him an exasperated glare and popped the last remaining candy into her mouth, her heart aching with regret. This was milk candy—a rarity in the Dayong Dynasty, with likely very little in stock.
The reason was simple: the milk used for this candy came from a cow her uncle had incidentally acquired during his trade expeditions beyond the frontier. People in the Dayong Dynasty had never even seen such a creature; it was she who had informed her uncle of the cow’s uses.
Unfortunately, the cow didn’t produce offspring, and its daily milk yield was limited, making the production of pastries and milk candy equally scarce.
“An’an, come here!”
Huo Rui was baffled by his younger brother’s series of actions. Except for doting relatives, his brother usually ignored everyone, yet he had suddenly called this unfamiliar woman “Mother.” Could this woman be practicing some kind of sorcery?
“Bro… brother… Mother, sweet.”
The little toddler glanced reluctantly at Huo Rui, then back at Luo Chaoyan, his round face etched with conflict.
Huo Rui approached, his gaze dark and intense as he studied her for a long moment before saying, “An’an likes you.”
“Well, I’m not going to be your stepmother.” What was this? Trying to latch onto her? No way! She had always been wary of children.
Don’t blame her for lacking compassion—she genuinely feared the chaos they brought. Her eldest cousin’s nephew was adorable when happy, but when he cried, it was an earsplitting wail that gave anyone a headache.
“You…”
“Even if you wanted to, you wouldn’t qualify!”
Huo Rui’s pride was wounded. Being rejected so disdainfully by a woman—if his followers found out, they’d never let him live it down.
“Bro… brother… ball.” Huo An pointed with a milky voice toward the Cuju ball still lying by the lotus pond.
Huo Rui’s eyes shifted, a hint of schadenfreude in his glance at Luo Chaoyan. He pointed at her and told his brother, “Have her fetch it for you.”
Luo Chaoyan ignored him outright. This brat was truly incompatible with her. She turned to the two nursemaids standing idly by and said, “Your young master wants the ball. Aren’t you going to retrieve it for him?”
Who were these nursemaids? They were shrewd individuals from prominent families, well aware that their young master intended to torment someone. Without his explicit instruction, they dared not act.
Seeing them glance at her and then lower their heads, she felt nothing but irritation. Fine, if she couldn’t handle this, she could at least avoid it.
Seemingly reading her intention to flee, Huo Rui circled behind her, blocking her escape route, and directed the two nursemaids to stand to her right, sealing off all paths.
“Either retrieve the ball for us, or let An’an hug you. Your choice!”
Seeing his smug expression, Luo Chaoyan felt the urge to punch him. So much for the idea that mischievous children were adorable angels—this one was a little devil.
“Mother! Hug…”
Watching the toddler gleefully reach out to her, she felt as if another little devil was extending a hand of torment.
“Stop!”
“I’ll fetch it, alright? I’ll fetch the ball!” Luo Chaoyan was so furious she felt her teeth might shatter. This little devil had probably noticed her fear of water and was deliberately forcing her to retrieve the ball. She spitefully wished his father would marry a cruel stepmother who’d lock him in a dark room, deprive him of sunlight and food, and see if he could still go around causing trouble.
Her gaze swept around, hoping someone would emerge to play the hero saving the beauty.
Huo Rui seized the moment when she was off guard, pretending to run over to hug her but actually pushing her toward the lotus pond.
Luo Chaoyan never expected that the little demon wasn’t actually trying to make her retrieve the ball.
“Splash!”
Luo Chaoyan fell unprepared into the lotus pond and sank. After swallowing several mouthfuls of pond water, a suffocating sensation surged over her.
She tried desperately to kick her legs, longing to surface, and only after a good while did she emerge from the pond, flapping her hands continuously against the water.
“Help!”
“I can’t swim!”
Huo Rui pretended to panic and shouted to the two nannies, “Quick, go find Father to save her!” He pointed them in a direction.
Though the two didn’t understand why the young master wanted them to fetch the lord for rescue, they didn’t dare delay and rushed off to find him.
Huo An called out uneasily toward the person in the pond, “Mother…”
Seeing his younger brother, Huo Rui felt even more resolved in his plan.
Sure enough, before long, he saw his father hurrying over in their direction.
He raised his voice and shouted loudly, “Help! Someone’s fallen into the water!”
“Hel…p! Waa…”
Little Huo An, frightened, also started crying and calling out.
“Splash!”
Arriving on the scene, Huo Jin first confirmed that his two sons were safe, then instructed Su Yi, who had followed him, to watch the children before jumping directly into the lotus pond.
Soon, others arrived upon hearing the commotion.
Clearly, Huo Jin was a strong swimmer. Once in the pond, he reached Luo Chaoyan’s side. Seeing that she had lost strength and had even fainted, on the verge of sinking, he wrapped an arm around her waist and swam with her to the shore.
After they reached the bank, seeing Huo Jin holding the unconscious girl, Su Yi took off his outer robe to cover her drenched clothes.
“Brother Huo, take her to the guest room. I’ll have someone fetch a physician.”
Huo Jin nodded, letting Su Yi lead the way. Before leaving, his sharp gaze swept over Huo Rui.
Huo Rui guiltily lowered his head; he knew that with his father’s intelligence, he must have guessed what he had done.
Huo Jin coldly uttered, “Bring your brother and follow!”
After they had gone some distance, the people on the shore began to murmur quietly.
“Whose daughter is that?”
“Is that Lord Huo?”
“Truly a hero saving a beauty!”
“Who knows if the girl is really unconscious or just pretending?”