Chapter 273

Page Eighty-Four: Actions with Mama

[November 27, Wednesday, 9:20 AM]

Early in the morning, the weak father, clutching his kidney, went to work with Little Qínglán.

Cherry Sauce also replaced me and Lingmeng and the others at school.

Therefore, only Mama and I were left at home. She looked particularly good today, with a lustrous glow on her oval face.

“Alright! Let’s get going!”

Mama, who had a tangerine on her head, closed her comic book and said, “Xiao Kai! Don’t forget to grab Xiaoxue too!”

She was going to teach magic classes at the Research Institute today.

And she would charge tuition in the form of a large amount of magical energy batteries to support the transformation of two small animals.

—“I think she has other purposes for going to the Research Institute. You should be wary of that.”—

Her important spatial jewel was still inside Cherry Sauce’s belly, so I wasn’t worried she would run away.

Stepping out, I went to the Cat House to look for the white cat that wanted to be human.

“Xiaoxue? Meow?”

Apart from a few white cats basking in the sun, there was no sign of the particularly clean and intelligent white cat.

“It doesn’t seem to be around.”

Mama glanced at the empty food can and added some more food from inside the house.

She shrugged and said, “After all, we didn’t make any plans last night. It might be lounging on some roof soaking up the sun… There’s nothing we can do; first, we’ll go to the Research Institute to get the magical energy batteries, then come back and cast the spell on it.”

“Let someone else find it.”

The tangerine on her head suddenly stood up and volunteered, “I might know where it is.”

I warned, “Be careful, don’t let any wild dogs carry it away?”

“Not a chance!”

This little animal leaped from Mama’s head onto the Cat House, climbed up to the second-floor balcony’s drainpipe, and disappeared from my sight.

“It looks weak, but it’s quite agile.”

“The tangerine is very capable!”

Mama laughed, “It’s been helping us observe covertly for a while now. Climbing buildings is nothing new to it.”

“Because it’s too conspicuous, you took it from the pet shop?”

“No, initially, it was just because the little thing was cute. Using it as a decoy came later.”

“It is indeed cute, and its personality is softer than Orange’s.”

Whether by nature or influenced by Xiao海棠, Orange sometimes shows a strong side unexpectedly.

“After all, pet ferrets are dog-like animals and don’t have the innate arrogance of cats.”

Is she referring to being ‘kawaii’?

Orange does want to be close but can’t let go of her dignity, which I find endearing.

Mama asked again, “By the way, what did they say at the Research Institute?”

“I’ve already contacted them. We can just go over directly.”

Before leaving, I called Miss Ke Man. Hearing that Mama was going to give a magic lecture, she seemed excited and said she would gather all the researchers to attend… Now, how many witches are there at the Magic Research Institute?

“Are you prepared to give a lecture in front of so many people?”

“Haha, do I look prepared?”

“Just because you’re not prepared, I’m asking!”

In my opinion, going to teach without proper preparation lacks solemnity, like seeing a chemistry teacher walk into class empty-handed, which disappoints the students.

“Teaching a group of high IQ researchers, even if you don’t have a proper lesson plan, it’s necessary to pretend with a tablet computer. Going in with nothing makes you look amateur.”

Mama muttered sideways, “You have high standards. Why don’t you let me go back and get something? My little inventions are in the spatial jewel, and I can pick some out for the lecture.”

She meant returning to the spatial jewel.

I asked suspiciously, “Won’t you escape while you’re at it?”

“Is that how little trust you have in me? Then why don’t you enter and fetch something for me?”

“That could work… But how do I enter?”

“To enter or leave the house, of course, you need the ‘key,’ a unique magical command. You might not be able to use it, but I can give it to Little Ying, who will take care of transporting people in and out… Remember?”

Mama’s finger drew a glowing symbol on my chest, which I couldn’t read.

—“I have it now. I can send you in.”—

It’s like replacing technological terms with magic, what’s the difference between this and an electronic key?

Thinking this, my vision twisted, like being flushed down a toilet, swirling downward… and landing on Mama’s bed.

But it wasn’t just this that was unusual.

“…Why am I naked?” I asked.

—“Because the spatial jewel is stored inside a notebook. I can’t send the jewel itself into the jewel, as it would cause severe space collapse, and you might be flattened into a two-dimensional object.”—

It sounded paradoxical, but Cherry Sauce just needs to keep part of the substance outside the jewel, right?

—“Get the items and come out quickly.”—

I looked at the mess next to Mama’s bed.

“It’s really messy.”

—“Stop complaining. Just grab a couple of things.”—

Even though Cherry Sauce said so, I wasn’t sure what to take. Everything looked like it had unknown functions, and if it was something mischievous, I’d be worried about Mama using it on me.

Considering this, I picked harmless-looking items.

Like half a jar of crystal play-doh;

A plastic air pump, the kind used for inflating balloons.

—“Have you decided? I’ll send you out now.”—

An invisible force threw me into the air, causing dizziness, and I sat dazed in the courtyard.

“Oh? After rummaging through everything, you chose these two items?” Mama chuckled, covering her mouth.

Confirming I was wearing clothes, I got up from the ground.

“Are they magical props? Can they be used for the lecture?”

“No problem. Adding spells to soft materials is a great topic for those ‘witches.'”

“What exactly are they for?”

Mama didn’t speak, took the air pump from my hand, and started pumping it against my stomach… and actually pumped air into it.

“Ahh, this…”

Scared, I backed away, holding my much larger stomach, tearfully asking, “What are you doing?!”

“Don’t worry, it will deflate soon. This is a non-harmful breast enhancement prop.”

“Breast enhancement? Why are you pushing on my stomach?!”

“The stomach deflates faster because the air goes through the intestines…”

Puuu—

I let out a loud fart.

Puu puu—

It continued.

The goddess of beautiful girls lost her status today.

As everyone knows, beautiful girls don’t fart.

“Qianxia isn’t small either. Why invent such a thing?”

“It was originally a gift for Little Lingmeng and Little Lei, but the inflated effect wasn’t ideal, so I abandoned it… If you want, you can keep it. Maybe it could improve your sex life in the future.”

Huh? What exactly is supposed to be inflated?

“Don’t joke with me… What about this jar of play-doh?”

“It’s for disguise. Applying it to the face can enhance facial features.”

“Don’t you have a cognitive impairment spell?”

“My divine power isn’t infinite, plus it’s something I used before, but it’s now obsolete.”

Obsolete again?

Then her bed was indeed surrounded by a pile of trash.

“Mew~”

A cat call came from behind.

“I’m back.”

The tangerine, smaller than a cat, was on Xiaoxue’s back, looking nervous.

She hadn’t overcome her fear of cats yet.

“Xiaoxue, come with us today! Fulfill your wish~”

Mama picked up Xiaoxue, and the tangerine climbed onto her shoulder.

“So, we can set off.”

Neither taxis nor buses allow pets, so I called a ride-hailing vehicle. The driver was a middle-aged woman with sunglasses, somewhat affluent, dressed in a way that suggested she wasn’t short on money. Occasionally, ride-hailing drivers like her experience life differently.

“Twins? Your two little ones are so pretty!”

Mama chuckled.

“Take them to the commercial area pet store for grooming~”

The woman blinked at the tangerine and Xiaoxue.

“They look obedient. I’ve never seen such a big rat.”

Big rat… It seems quite fitting.

The tangerine was furious at this comment and puffed up beside me.

“Idiot~”

I tapped her head.

We got off at the northwest corner of the commercial area and walked to the廉租公寓 (low-rent apartment). Compared to the tangerine, who preferred hiding in hats, Xiaoxue liked walking with us, occasionally meowing as if asking how much further we had to go.

“We’re almost there.”

“Mew~”

The low-rent apartment appeared cold on the surface, but there were a few people with strange expressions at the entrance… Clearly, those were the self-media journalists mentioned by AJ, trying to get some attention.

Although there were fewer than expected, I whispered cautiously, “Let’s use the back door.”

Casually passing the front of the low-rent apartment, I heard a faint shutter sound.

“Click—”

Then, the self-media journalist’s camera inexplicably caught fire, burning from the inside out like a battery short-circuit.

“Whoo~ Whoo~”

With her hands in her pockets, Mama cheerfully whistled.

Only after walking十余米 did I whisper, “Was that you?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Xiao Kai.”

She’s pretending to be clueless!

To reach the barn as the back door, we had to pass through the kitchen of a street stall. Without Boss leading the way, I wasn’t sure if those fierce chefs would let me through…

“This way, finally here?”

Familiar beige beret.

“Ah! Ba He Mei~”

In the corner of the street stall, a city girl in work attire sipping ice cola waved at us.

It seemed she was there to greet us.

“Is Little Ying and Sister Lingmeng here today?”

She looked behind us and asked, “Where’s that wandering witch master mentioned by Sister Zi?”

…Wandering witch master?

What kind of term is this?

I introduced, placing my hand on Mama’s shoulder, “If I’m not mistaken, she’s talking about the person in front of you.”