Clearing Up Mom's Misunderstanding
"Mom! What are you saying?" Cui Baizhai gasped in horror. "It's Gege! He's different now because he's an awakener now!" After saying so, she began to get very excited and jumped up. She spoke at a fast pace telling her mother everything that had happened. The creature's cheeks flushed in excitement as she told her about their trip to the mall, their new outfits, how fast her Gege reads books, about how she can't move him an inch with all her weight, the promises they made and how he held her hand all night, how he made her lunch. She gushed and gushed until the cows came home.
Cui Xuefeng had already told her about his adventure last night. He also said she can't talk about it publicly, so she avoided those topics. He also had a sound perception blur up. People would have some vague understanding of what they talked about, but it would be difficult to hear or remember specifics. If people noticed that it sounds strange, it would just seem as if it were covered, as if they were speaking through a mask or a wall.
At first, the woman was suspicious and in disbelief. She wouldn't take her eyes off of the 'man who stole her son's body', then her expression leveled out and she watched how happy her daughter talked.
"Meilin, you never told me your son was such a catch!" A friendly man from another bed drew the curtains and joined the conversation in the middle. He joined Cui Baozhai in her gushing and excitement.
Cui Xuefeng slipped out to buy a few hot teas. When he returned, the little creature had finished her story and they were chatting about it all now.
When he came in his mother spoke up, "Baobao, how about you and Uncle Peng go wet your throats? I don't need any panting hyenas in my room!" She waved them off.
Cui Baozhai really did have a dry throat. She flushed and left obediently with Uncle Peng. Cui Xuefeng covered the drinks he'd brought with his body as they passed him. He knew his mother and the friendly Uncle Peng were giving them space to talk.
They watched them go and waited for the door to slide shut. He calmly took a seat at her side. His expression was calm.
The woman waited another moment before she looked him right in the eyes, "What really happened?" She leaned in and whispered, "Are you one of those? From that facility?"
He'd signed a confidentiality agreement at the association about inheritances and he certainly didn't want to tell the whole room about such details of himself. He put some mana around their ears and covered their mouth and necks. This way, others wouldn't be able to hear them. But it wasn't as intrusive as speaking to one's mind. That was dangerous. He made sure to make it visible so she understood what was happening.
"I'm not a Ghillie if that's what you are asking. I wasn't aware the general public knew of them right now."
She tried to take off the mana, but she wouldn't touch it. Her hands went right through, "What is this? What did you do to me? Get it off." her guard was high, but she tried to keep calm.
He didn't know she would be so frightened with a bit of mana. He removed them.
She held her neck and took some deep breaths. Before she could decide whether to fight or flee, he spoke softly. It allows us to talk privately. It's not harmful. I didn't mean to frighten you." He soothed.
They already had awakeners in the world, what was a little magic spell? He'd sensed others using magic here and there for daily things. Was it because she was suspecting his identity? He put it up around his face again and made it semi-transparent, "See? You can't hear me." He took it down again. He waved his hand and put up a blue barrier between the curtains so it covered them like the walls of a room, "Is this better?" This would be better for the association, anyway. Their monster could hear the conversation this way. It just took more mana.
She clutched her hands, but had calmed down, "What's all the secrecy about?"
"I'm currently in negotiations with the Novus Association. A lot of the information you want to know cannot be made public."
She stared at him and then said, "Enough about that. I just want to know… to know what happened…"
"Worried about your son?"
She gulped. She didn't dare take her eyes off him. It was obvious she was frightened. He wished she wasn't. This meeting had gone all wrong.
"I'm still Cui Xuefeng. Only during my awakening, my memories were replaced with knowledge of magic and other realms." He calmly watched her expression.
They were quiet for a while before she slowly opened her mouth to speak, "It's like you became another person. You've always ignored your sister and rebelled against me. You would have left the house a long time ago if I hadn't…" She choked, "If I hadn't forced you to stay."
"Leave? What would I do?" He gave one tea to each of them and threw the other one away.
"You- you wanted to start a business."
Cui Xuefeng thought about it. He couldn't remember anything like that.
"You wanted to help the explorers spread to other realms. You wanted to find a way to live there."
When he was younger he'd wanted to colonize a different realm? With the noxious flux he'd be bringing with him, that would get him killed fast. He thought again. What was he like when he was younger? "I do seem to recall… some kind of… 'searching for greener meadows' desire." He remembered the guilt over leaving his home. He remembered wanting to fight for it, but not being able to. Maybe he fled early on in the catastrophe without looking back. Then regretted it later. "How foolish." He muttered. He looked back at the woman. She was carefully watching him. She looked like she wanted to say something again but he said, "They are coming back."
She bit back her words. She nodded.
He took her cup and tossed it along with his. He put down the sound barrier. "What kind of diet do they have you on? I can cook you something next time." He offered. He didn't have to ask, actually. He already knew what nutrients her body needed through his earlier check.
She was surprised. She said she didn't know, so he took a look at her records.at least they didn't have her illness wrong, but they obviously didn't know how to heal it.
Cui Baozhai glanced over the curtain to make sure she didn't interrupt anything. Cui Xuefeng hung the folder back on the end of the bed and smiled at her.
The woman looked at his expression then turned to the girl, "Looks like I'll get a chance to taste this famous cooking, after all. Your brother offered to make me something when you two visit again." She gave the girl her cover story for what they did while she was gone.
Cui Baozhai's face lit up. She hurried to her and restarted her gushing about his food.
Uncle Peng didn't enter, staying just behind Cui Xuefeng. Cui Xuefeng didn't outwardly acknowledge him, but he kept his mana sensing on him. He turned to his phone to send a message. Uncle Peng and his mother exchanged glances over the excited girl's head. She nodded and smiled at the man. He nodded back and stepped over to join in on the fun.
Cui Xuefeng decided to give him some protection as well. He'd already added them to his family members the moment he laid eyes on them. He may as well check his illness while he was at it. Maybe this man will be part of the family in the future.