Rebirth Counterattack with Space

In the evening, Pei Shaohua returned home to the delightful surprise of seeing Shitou and Lu Yun.

Unfortunately, Pei Kun was away on a business trip in another city and hadn’t returned yet, otherwise the whole family would have been together. Pei Qingyuan, nonetheless, was so happy that he specially opened a bottle of fine wine for dinner. Zhang Min did not discourage him, and aside from Ding Luoluo, who was breastfeeding and couldn’t drink, everyone else, including Lu Yun, had a little.

"I finally understand why Grandma likes Luoluo so much. I feel like I’m starting to like her more and more. Her personality is so sunny and infectious, you’d feel like all your troubles disappear after talking to her just a little longer," she said.

At night, lying in Shitou’s arms, Lu Yun recounted the afternoon’s conversation, then sighed with a smile, "I’m afraid I’ll never be able to learn how to be as likable as her."

Although Ding Luoluo was older than Lu Yun, Pei Kun ranked below Shitou, so Ding Luoluo had to call Lu Yun sister-in-law, while Lu Yun only needed to call Ding Luoluo by her name.

"Why would you want to learn from her?"

Shitou’s fingers weaved through her hair, lifting a strand to sniff at his nose tip leisurely, as he casually said, "You are you, you have virtues she lacks, and why would you envy the virtues she has? Each person just needs to be themselves, blindly imitating others might cause you to lose yourself, which is an even greater loss."

"Shitou, I discovered today that you are really quite philosophical," Lu Yun said, looking at him with eyes full of little stars.

"How could you only discover this today and still not have unearthed all my virtues? It shows we still have a long way to go in our frank exchanges," Shitou said with a low chuckle.

He lowered himself, blowing in her ear, making Lu Yun ticklish and causing her to giggle and squirm away. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

After playing around for a while, a breathless Lu Yun pushed him away, "When Grandpa called you to his study tonight, what made you so happy?"

"What else could it be, but letting Grandpa know that we’ve kept a copy of those things for ourselves," Shitou smiled.

--

One month later, in N City.

In a certain residential complex.

Around four in the afternoon, Yu Xiu, carrying a basket of groceries, came back to the small single-bedroom unit she rented and saw that her daughter, Lu Jiao, was already home. She hurriedly said, "Jiao Jiao, why did you come back so early today? Wait for me, the horse will be just a moment, I specifically bought the shrimp you love today; I’ll make you some braised shrimp in oil."

As she spoke, she hurried into the kitchen, swiftly washing the rice before dropping it in the pot, and then started cleaning up the vegetables she’d bought.

"Mom, I don’t have to rush to tutor students tonight, so there’s no hurry. Take your time, it’s okay," Lu Jiao, now in her home clothes, followed Yu Xiu into the kitchen to help clean the vegetables with her.

"What happened? Why are you suddenly not going? Did they decide they weren’t happy with your tutoring?"

Yu Xiu’s hands paused, showing a worried expression.

After falling out with Lu Tianci back in her hometown, she ended up coming straight to her daughter’s place. Without a hint of disdain, her daughter immediately moved out of the school dormitory and rented this apartment to live with her.

Usually, when her daughter went to class, she found work as a kitchen helper at a nearby restaurant, pulling double shifts every day with only two days off a month. Though it was hard and tiring, it wasn’t a big deal, and she even had the occasional opportunity to secretly watch the master chef cook and steal some skills.

Also, before she headed to work every morning, she would prepare meals so that her daughter could simply warm them up when she got back, which was much better than eating cafeteria food all day long.

With the recent summer vacation, her daughter had taken on several tutoring jobs, and she would also help with cooking whenever she had spare time.

On the two days a month when she had time off, she made a point of buying extra groceries, especially her daughter’s favorite dishes, to nourish her. She felt that this life was much better than languishing at home.

"No, the parents of my student are very pleased with the tuition I’ve been providing. They’re going to a wedding banquet today, so I have the day off," Lu Jiao said with a smile.

"That’s good, that’s good." Yu Xiu was relieved. "It’s rare for you to catch a break. Why don’t you go outside and look at your books? I can manage things here by myself."

Yu Xiu knew the household was not well-off, lacking even a TV or a radio, so in her free time, her daughter liked to while away the hours by reading books borrowed from the library.

She also felt sorry for her daughter, as she and her husband were not supportive enough. They couldn’t muster the strength, and their daughter had to hustle for a living at such a young age; if only she had been a bit nicer to Shitou years ago, not so cold-hearted, considering Shitou’s temperament, her daughter wouldn’t have to struggle so much without anyone to rely on.

At the very least, her daughter could have taken a summer job at Lu Group and earned far more than by tutoring here and there. She thought of the master chef at the restaurant where she worked, who proudly boasted that his son was "interning" at Lu Group and making more than half of what he earned.

Yu Xiu bowed her head and sighed to herself. The master chef earned the highest salary in the restaurant, and what she made in a month was less than a quarter of his...

It is forgivable to commit wrongdoings unwittingly, but to suffer from one’s own deliberate actions leaves no room for complaint. Now, she dared not hold a grudge against anyone, only blaming herself for having taken things too far in the past.

"I returned the books early, and the school is on holiday too," Lu Jiao said with a smile, picking vegetables while speaking mysteriously, "Mom, do you know who I saw today when I came back?"

"Who?"

"It’s that Chen Qiuyu from our village."

"Her? You didn’t greet her, did you?" Yu Xiu frowned. "I’ve told you before, don’t bother with her if it’s unnecessary. You don’t want to be led astray by that kind of woman, tsk, in the old days, she would’ve been dunked in a pig cage. A crooked beam leads to a crooked column; considering her mother’s behavior, none of her brood turned out right."

After speaking, she sighed again. "Ah, I’m in no position to criticize others, your father and I weren’t much better. So we didn’t set a good example for you to accumulate virtues, and now in our old age, instead of supporting you, we’re becoming a burden. Thankfully, you’re inherently good-natured and didn’t go astray despite having us as bad examples."

"Mom, isn’t there a saying that to be able to correct one’s mistakes is the greatest virtue? Even Buddhism teaches that laying down the butcher’s knife can lead to instant enlightenment. Don’t blame yourself; I think I’m doing quite fine now," Lu Jiao couldn’t help but hug Yu Xiu to comfort her.

"Yes, yes, I’m content that you’re so sensible now. Oh, but don’t hug me, I won’t be able to work. You’re so grown up and yet you still cuddle with your mom like a little kid?"

Yu Xiu couldn’t help laughing, but her face showed she quite enjoyed her daughter hugging her. Lu Jiao chuckled and gave her mother’s cheek a big kiss, raising an eyebrow playfully.

"What’s wrong with hugging my mom? What’s wrong with that?"

"Nothing, nothing at all. You can give your mom as many kisses as you like, but don’t let the nasty boys outside take advantage of you. That’s all," Yu Xiu said to her daughter, quite seriously for once.