It was a long while before she heard the woman’s voice again, tinged with a distinct sob.
"Can I see you again?"
This time, Hua Manman didn’t refuse. "Yes."
The woman, as if afraid she would go back on her word, said hastily.
"Are you free tomorrow? I’ll come pick you up from school."
Hua Manman said, "I have to move my luggage tomorrow. How about another day..."
The woman hurriedly cut her off.
"I have a car. I can help you move your luggage."
"Don’t trouble yourself. I can get a taxi on my own."
The woman’s voice was almost pleading.
"Just let Mom do something for you, please."
Hua Manman bit her lip. In the end, she couldn’t bring herself to refuse. She said softly,
"Do you know where my school is?"
The woman replied quickly, "Yes, I do. I’ll drive to the school to find you tomorrow morning."
Her voice was filled with obvious happiness.
Hua Manman told her the dorm room number and then hung up the phone.
When she returned to her dorm room, she happened to hear her roommates discussing how to move their luggage the next day.
One of them said to Hua Manman,
"We’re planning to pack up our luggage and ship it home. Do you want to ship yours with us? We can get a discount if we do it together."
Hua Manman shook her head. "No, thanks. Someone’s coming to pick me up tomorrow."
Curiosity piqued, her roommates started asking questions, eager for gossip.
"Who’s picking you up? Don’t tell me it’s your boyfriend?"
Hua Manman smiled and retorted, "Do I look like someone who has a boyfriend?"
’I don’t have a boyfriend,’ she thought, ’but I do have a husband.’
’It’s just a shame he’s too far away for me to order him around.’
The mention of boyfriends instantly shifted the roommates’ conversation from moving luggage to relationship gossip.
Hua Manman lay back on her bed and turned on her phone.
The phone’s wallpaper was a hand-drawn portrait.
The portrait was of none other than Li Ji. He was dressed in magnificent crimson robes, his jet-black hair secured by a golden crown. His long, narrow eyes gazed out at a slant, as if he were a high and mighty Demon God who held everything in this world in contempt—arrogant and utterly unrestrained.
Hua Manman had drawn it herself.
Whenever a bout of lovesickness hit, she would look at this drawing.
’I wonder how Li Ji is doing now,’ she thought. ’Is he taking good care of our child?’
Hugging her phone, Hua Manman drifted off to sleep.
Early the next morning, Hua Manman received a call.
The woman’s voice came through the phone.
"Manman, Mom is downstairs. Can I come up now?"
Hua Manman sat up, running a hand through her messy hair. "Yeah, you can come up."
She tossed her phone aside and went to the bathroom to wash up.
Just as she finished washing her face, she heard a roommate call out.
"Manman, your mom’s here!"
Hua Manman walked out of the bathroom and saw the woman standing at the dorm room entrance.
The woman looked more mature than Hua Manman remembered. She wore a white silk blouse and black dress pants, which made her seem quite tall. Her long, curly hair cascaded down her back, and her face was adorned with delicate, light makeup.
Hua Manman was dazed for a moment.
Her mother’s name was Song Yixian.
In her memory, her mother was a very traditional woman. Ever since marrying her father, she had stayed at home as a full-time housewife.
Even later, when her father went bankrupt and spent his days drinking and beating people, her mother didn’t dare to fight back, only enduring it in silence.
Finally, when she couldn’t take it anymore, she secretly ran away.
The woman now standing before Hua Manman had the same features, but her entire aura had changed dramatically.
She seemed much more confident than before.
When Song Yixian saw Manman, a gentle smile immediately appeared on her face.
"Manman, you all probably haven’t had breakfast yet, have you? I brought some for you."
The roommates thanked Song Yixian in unison, then cheerfully called Manman over to eat.
"Manman, she brought your favorite soup dumplings!"
Hua Manman walked over, took the chopsticks from her roommate, and started eating with them.
While they ate, Song Yixian sat quietly to the side, watching.
After they had eaten and drunk their fill, everyone got busy again.
Hua Manman started putting her clothes into a suitcase.
Song Yixian quickly said, "Let me do it. I’m great at packing."
"No, thanks. I can manage."
Rejected, Song Yixian felt a pang of disappointment, but she didn’t let it show. Instead, she turned and opened another box.
"How about I help you pack these books?"
Hua Manman glanced at her and, this time, finally didn’t refuse.
Song Yixian was instantly overjoyed.
She wiped each of the books on the table clean and placed them neatly into the box. Even the scrap paper tucked between the books was carefully packed away by her as if it were a treasure.
Hua Manman didn’t have many things.
Working together, the mother and daughter quickly finished packing everything.
Song Yixian wanted to carry the boxes downstairs, but unfortunately, she wasn’t strong enough and was wearing high heels. She tried several times but couldn’t even lift one.
In the end, it was Hua Manman who carried a suitcase in each hand and walked steadily down the stairs.
This scene stunned Song Yixian.
’When did Manman get so strong?’
Of course, she didn’t know it was because Hua Manman had learned martial arts from Li Ji.
Even though Hua Manman was in a different body, she still remembered the martial arts techniques and cultivation methods Li Ji had taught her perfectly. She practiced them in her spare time, so naturally, she was much stronger than an ordinary person.
Song Yixian drove Hua Manman back to her rented apartment.
Looking at the cramped, old apartment, Song Yixian felt a knot in her stomach.
"Manman, I just took a look around. This place doesn’t even have a security guard. It’s not safe for a girl to live here alone. Why don’t you move in with me? I have a spare room in my apartment."
Without looking up from unpacking her luggage, Hua Manman rejected the offer.
"Thanks, but no thanks. I’m fine living here."
Song Yixian persisted, "If you don’t want to live with me, that’s fine too. I can find you another place to live."
Hua Manman really didn’t want to move.
’I won’t be staying in this world for long anyway. Who knows? Maybe I’ll travel back to the ancient times in a couple of days.’
’I can’t be bothered to move all over the place. It’s such a hassle!’
Hua Manman said, "Is there anything else? If not, you can leave now."
Song Yixian didn’t want to leave.
She had only just managed to see her daughter; she wanted to spend a little more time with her.
"It’s almost noon. Let’s go have lunch together?"
"No, thanks. I plan on cooking for myself."
Song Yixian said quickly, "Then I’ll go to the supermarket to buy groceries. I’ll cook for you. I remember you love shrimp. How about I make you some braised shrimp?"
Hua Manman looked up at her and saw her eyes filled with anticipation.
Hua Manman sighed. "You don’t have to be like this. I don’t blame you anymore."
When she was little, she had indeed resented her mother. She hated her for abandoning her.
Later, when she grew up and had experienced more of life, she could actually understand her mother’s actions.
Back then, her mother could barely protect herself, so how could she have possibly taken care of a burden like her?