Bo Hua’s expression remained rather neutral when she saw Luo Wei. Other than Luo Zhi Qiu, Luo Ze, and Qi Zi, everyone in the estate thought that Luo Wei had gone to the Rare Stones Exhibit in Ping Nan. Luo Wei looked as if he couldn’t detect the coldness from his mother, and very dutifully paid respects to her, asked her if she was well, acting the perfect child with the perfect manners in front of her.

“Have you eaten yet?” Bo Hua asked Luo Wei.

“Not yet,” Luo Wei answered.

“You should head back and eat,” Bo Hua quickly responded.

This was her cue for Luo Wei to exit.

“Mother!” Luo Ze called out. He just didn’t get it. The youngest child was the most beloved in every other family, but why was his mother so cold to Luo Wei?

“Your son shall take his leave,” As if he didn’t realize her intention, Luo Wei smiled. This time around, he was intent on being the perfect son to his mother and didn’t expect to receive any love or care in return. He didn’t deserve it after what he did.

“Xiao Wei,” Luo Ze followed him out, “I’ll stay and chat with mother a little, go back and get some rest first, you can come by my place tomorrow.”

Luo Wei answered, “Sounds good. Big brother, say something good about me in front of mother, looks like she’s mad at me again.”

“I know, I will.” Seeing that Luo Wei didn’t seem particularly bothered, Luo Ze finally calmed down.

Wei Lan was still laying on the bed in order to rest and heal. His body didn’t hurt anymore, but he just couldn’t find the energy to move. Qi Zi had gotten this room ready for him. It wasn’t big, but it was very tidy, with a desk, chair, wardrobe, bookcase… All of the trappings of a room that a real person should have.

By the time that Luo Wei arrived, Wei Lan had almost fallen asleep, but upon hearing the familiar footsteps, his eyes opened in an instant, “Young master.”

“Did I wake you?” Luo Wei sat on the edge of the bed, smiling as he asked Wei Lan.

“I wasn’t asleep yet,” Wei Lan answered, then quickly checked Luo Wei up and down as per usual. This had become a habit of his lately, checking to make sure that Luo Wei was whole and unhurt whenever he came back.

“Are you that worried about me?” Luo Wei chuckled, “Lan, I’ve been around the streets. I don’t know any martial arts like you do, but I’ve got other skills up my sleeves!”

Wei Lan asked before he caught himself, “Like what?”

Luo Wei winked, “I can take a beating.”

Wei Lan paused, then burst out laughing.

Luo Wei added, “I’m being honest! You don’t know this but two whole generals beat me up once, and I had to be in bed for days! But now look at me, fit as a fiddle, absolutely fine.”

“When did this happen?” Wei Lan’s smile disappeared. Did this really happen to his young master?

“It’s all in the past,” Luo Wei told him, “I’d been harassing women on the streets.”

Wei Lan stated firmly, “I don’t believe you.”

“It’s true,” Qi Zi came in with some tea, and Xiao Xiao was following behind with a box of dim sum(1). Qi Zi tossed a non-too-kind look at Luo Wei, “Wei Lan, did you think our young master here was an innocent lamb? He’s done his fair share of bad stuff before.”

Xiao Xiao tried not to smile, but couldn’t hold it in.

Luo Wei argued back at Qi Zi, “Who hasn’t had wild days in their youth?!”

Qi Zi rolled his eyes at Luo Wei, “Of course, of course… You know, after getting pummeled that time, our young master learned to behave.”

Luo Wei ignored Qi Zi and turned to Wei Lan instead, “Lan, did you want to go to sleep right now or should we keep learning letters tonight?”

Naturally, Wei Lan wanted Luo Wei to teach him how to read and write. Wei Lan was personable, but having lived the life of a shadow guard for so many years, he wasn’t the most talkative, and wasn’t able to communicate with people normally. Without Ten and the rest of the guards here, and aside from Luo Wei, Qi Zi was the only one he knew in this entire estate. Wei Lan hadn’t even said a single word to anyone the whole day.

FOOTNOTES:

Title – The original title in the text was “predestined to have a shallow relationship between mother and son”. The idea is built on the fact that people who have relationships are predestined to do so because of fate and karma. Those who have a good relationship are said to have a “deep fate” and those who do not have a “shallow fate”.

1. dim sum – A style of food that’s bite-sized portions. Not necessarily always dessert even though the word is also used for dessert. The word is not always referring to actual dim-sum served in restaurants, rather, anything that is outside of meal-style food.

TRANSLATOR’S NOTES:

I forgot to mention this in the last notes section, but I want to thank novelupdates so much because their admins / help desk is so nice. I was stressing about having to remember the published dates in order to fix the links on the site, but couldn’t find a place where I could do it. I emailed them and got a response super fast, and the person who helped me did it all for me!! I don’t know if anyone who comes to read is from the site, but I really am so grateful to them for exposing this translation to more people, and for being such a helpful site in general! ^^