Chapter 315

Page 124 Shallow Summer Emerges from the Cage

[21:11]

After putting down Mom and Little Qinglan, Cherry Sauce took the Spatial Jewel and left the Research Institute once again.

Although the Spatial Jewel was inconspicuous, Sister Zǐ noticed it.

“Lingmeng, where is she going?”

“Uh, let’s not worry about Cherry Sauce for now. Let’s go visit Grandma first!”

I knew exactly where she was going.

But I wanted to keep it a surprise for everyone, so I didn’t answer and urged them to go into the ward.

As the second-in-command of the Research Institute, Miss Kē Màn still had to handle the final work on the subsidence operation and left ahead of time.

Compared to the empty and cold feeling yesterday, this ward converted from the Third Laboratory was now in disarray. The root cause was my mother’s pile of useless “Gēng-style” inventions, which had taken up much of the ward’s space. Not only was her bed blocked in the corner, but there were also some large, non-combustible garbage items piled at the entrance.

Standing at the ward door, I felt nowhere to stand and complained helplessly, “Can’t you clean up some of these useless things and have Miss Kē Màn store them? This cave is so big, finding a place to dump some trash shouldn’t be a problem, right?”

Mother rejected my suggestion and defended her collection of garbage mountains, saying, “No way! Every item here is precious to me! My precious!”

Are you from Middle-earth?

Pushing aside the obstructive items, I said, “These don’t serve any purpose anyway, and they’re even affecting Grandma’s rest…”

“It’s fine if Grandma isn’t bothered. So you don’t need to worry.”

Mother calls her own mother ‘Grandma.’ Our family relationship chart must be tangled like a knot.

Recalling what Cherry Sauce had said before, I asked again, “By the way, can I have that bottle of Soul Adhesive?”

“Do you want that? It can be dangerous if used improperly.”

“A little bit should be enough to reverse it, right?”

Mother narrowed her eyes and stared at me as if trying to read something from my eyes. But Cherry Sauce would disappear after half a year, and I had never told anyone about this, including Cherry Sauce herself.

I respected her decision.

But to keep her around, I was willing to pay any price…

“Your gaze is really… Alright then.”

Mother sighed and gave up questioning me. Instead, she said, “But you can only use one drop at first. Gradually increase the dosage after getting used to it. This is an untested product, so there might be side effects. You need to be mentally prepared.”

“…From your tone, you know where I’m going to use it?”

“Come on, I’m not stupid.”

She shrugged and asked nonchalantly, “Other than Little Ying, do you need to glue any other souls together?”

…That makes sense. It’s easy to guess.

I continued, “Actually, both Lingmeng and I hope to reunite.”

I’m not good at lying, but this isn’t exactly a lie. To keep Lingmeng around, we truly desire to merge again.

“I won’t ask for reasons, but you’ve been separated for too long. Reuniting is almost impossible… Like shattered pottery, my adhesive can only hold you tightly, but no matter how well it’s repaired, it will never be the original pot again.”

“We understand. Even if we might not be ourselves anymore, we still want to try. Because we want to be whole, not just empty halves.”

Mother scratched her head, not quite buying my argument.

“Even if you say it like that, I still don’t get it. After all, I don’t want to fuse with that guy again, even if half of me is empty. Ugh, just thinking about it makes me feel sick.”

…How much does she dislike Brother Zhu?

“Take it~ Remember, you can only use one drop at first! Absolutely no more! One drop can maintain complete fusion for about half an hour. You can experience the feeling of fusion!”

Mother found the flask from beside her bed. The bottle mouth was sealed with a wooden stopper, and the inside contained a somewhat viscous, colorless liquid, looking a bit like… Cloud Sand?

Was it this slimy stuff before?

“Thank you.”

Mother threw the fragile-looking bottle over and scolded, “Stinky kid, why are you being so polite to me?”

“You should say thank you even to family members.”

Taking the flask, I looked at Grandma on another bed.

The elderly woman lay there, not asleep, though her rejection reaction wasn’t severe. According to Miss Kē Màn, this was already a relatively mild reaction.

Linhua patted her cheeks vigorously, put on a smile, and ran to Grandma’s bedside to greet her, “Grandma, we came to see you! Ah! Auntie Huayíng is here too?”

Auntie Huayíng, who had been sitting by the bedside, sighed, “You naughty girl, saying I’m here too, I haven’t gone back since last night!”

“Hehe~ Didn’t notice, that’s all!”

Linhua squatted by the bedside. Grandma stretched out her hand to touch her head gently, patting her twice lightly, lighter than a feather, yet it made Linhua’s eyes turn red. But she still kept smiling.

Looking at Linhua, my mind wandered until Auntie Huayíng gently tugged on my arm.

“Huh? Auntie?”

“Oh, Xiao Kai also calls me Auntie now?”

“Ah! Sorry!”

I instinctively apologized, but Auntie Huayíng said, “It’s okay, sooner or later I’ll be called by Linhua anyway. I don’t mind.”

Even without considering Linhua’s relationship, I should call her Auntie. Having stayed in the same ward with Mother for a whole day, they couldn’t have avoided talking, but she still hadn’t guessed Mother’s identity…

There was no helping it. After all, it was something that couldn’t be mentioned.

“So, what’s the matter?”

Auntie Huayíng replied, “Can Mom use that clone? She wants to move around and talk to you guys.”

“Of course, that’s why I came… But not right now, we need to wait a bit longer.”

Without Cherry Sauce, where could I get a clone?

But Auntie Huayíng didn’t know about my situation. She simply asked, “What are you waiting for?”

Scratching my cheek, I found it hard to speak. Yuzu saw through it and blurted out, “Xiao Kai doesn’t understand the technique. Whether it’s a clone or transformation, it all depends on Sister Ying!”

Is this animal trying to embarrass me?

She sized me up with a reproachful expression and changed her tune, “But decisions are usually made by Xiao Kai, and Sister Ying generally respects Xiao Kai’s opinion!”

Is this flattery?

“What about Xiao Xue? Is she not going home with Bā Hé Mèi?”

“She’s upstairs helping.”

Mother answered, “As my substitute teacher, she can already answer some basic questions… Back already?”

The jewel appeared with the distortion of space. Cherry Sauce brought the person back.

But she didn’t rush to let her come out. Cherry Sauce split off a black thread and wrapped it around Mother’s finger, forming a pitch-black ring.

Understanding her intention, Mother muttered, “Oh, I see.”

Cherry Sauce returned to my body, taking control.

“It’s good you understand. Then I’ll start.”

She first drew out the clone bookmark, infused divine power, connecting Grandma’s consciousness to the changing clone. When the white light faded, Grandma’s consciousness awakened within the clone, and her unfocused gaze gradually became clear.

“Sigh, even a false youth is hard to let go.”

“There’s no need to say that, Grandma, you’ll become younger and younger!”

Auntie Huayíng made room for Grandma to sit in the only chair in the ward behind the clone.

“…Next is this!”

Having handled Grandma’s side, Cherry Sauce turned to Mother. The latter understood our intentions and spread her arms with a hearty laugh.

“Come on! I’m ready!”

Cherry Sauce nodded and established a connection for exchanging consciousness between Mother and the ‘child’ in the Jewel.

Immediately afterward, Mother’s body softened and collapsed. Luckily, Mom caught her to prevent her from falling.

“What’s happening?”

Mom’s tone turned anxious. I quickly comforted her, “It’s fine, it’s just that Shallow Summer is waking up.”

No further explanation was needed, as the person she held was rubbing her eyes and sitting up.

“Sister Wei? Oh! I’m really back!”

Mom was hugged in a chokehold.

“…Huh? Shallow Summer?”

“The fake Shallow Summer” has become the “real Shallow Summer,” while Mother temporarily hid in Cangyu’s body.

Recalling what we talked about this morning, Mom understood the current situation and pinched Shallow Summer’s cheek.

“So, it’s Shallow Summer now?”

Shallow Summer nodded with a smile.

“Yeah! Shallow Summer is Shallow Summer!”

Though it sounded strange to say that with her face, the healthy smile was indeed Shallow Summer’s style.

Letting Shallow Summer remotely control her body from the dream to meet Grandma, this humane suggestion was actually proposed by Cherry Sauce when she got off school… quite unusual.

—”Hey! Am I really that heartless in your heart?”—

Not that I think so, but weren’t you claiming yourself to be an emotionless tool before?

My response caused Cherry Sauce to fall silent for a moment, followed by a long sigh, expressing her inner helplessness.

—”I’ve changed a lot too.”—

“Alright, alright, stop clinging to me. Shallow Summer, meet the elders first!”

Mom pushed Shallow Summer in front of Grandma, introducing her, “Grandma, this child is Shallow Summer. She is the daughter of Senior Sister and Brother Zhu, making her your only granddaughter.”

It’s a pity that Senior Sister and Brother Zhu aren’t here today.

Grandma understood my meaning and reached out to pull Shallow Summer closer. Shallow Summer, with her mischievous appearance, was indeed different from Mother. She looked curiously at the unfamiliar… young girl in front of her.

Linhua helped Shallow Summer turn towards the bed.

“Little Shallow Summer, the sister in front of you is actually the old lady in the bed. She is your grandmother!”

“I know, Grandma is Dad’s mother.”

Grandma’s eyes showed the love of an elder.

Linhua whispered in Shallow Summer’s ear,

“So, what should you call her now?”

“Grandma?”

Shallow Summer tentatively tried.

Perhaps it felt good, she simply threw herself into Grandma’s arms.

“Grandma! Hehe, Shallow Summer has a grandma!”

…Why does this sound so strange?