Mother and Son Family

"Alright, alright, that's enough." His mother finally had had enough, "Look at you, you look like a fangirl of some idol. Go now. You leave. Let me talk to your brother alone." She waved the girl away with a tired and sour expression.

Cui Baozhai was afraid coming here that they would have another fight. Now that she'd seen them talking on good terms--and that she felt she'd sufficiently improved her brother's image--she accepted it. She was usually shooed off to take a walk when they started talking about money and such anyway.

Uncle Peng exchanged words through eye contact with Xiao Meilin before following her. "The perennials in the north flowerbed just started blooming, want to see?"

"Really? What kind?"

Cui Xuefeng listened to them leave and then put back up the barrier. He still had them in his mana sense in case anything happened.

"You don't remember, but we have rules in this family. No Adventurers. You go and sign up with the association to be a collector. Don't tell them about your awakening, it's none of their business. You have mana now, that's all that matters.

"I have an account with some savings. We will use that for your equipment. It doesn't matter if your income is small, just take it slow and safe. Continue going to school. I don't care if you can't remember, you can study again or retake classes.

"But don't go to the association yet. Keep it to yourself for a while." She muttered, "We need to get a doctor to sign off on your loss of memory before you awaken. Otherwise, they may connect the two. I don't know what it is, but it can't be good."

"Mom." He said calmly.

Her head snapped up. She glared at him, "Don't you start with me. School is more important than anything else. You go to school. I will even let you change to a Novus major. Don't worry about the money for now. I'll do something about it."

"Mom," He smiled and took her hand, "Thank you."

She stopped and stared at him. Then she realized something and became flustered. "Um, yes, well, I'm sure you know what to do. That-that knowledge you have, continue taking classes like normal. Don't use it unless you have to."

"Mom." He interrupted again. This time she saw he had something to say and listened. "The association scouted me."

She tensed.

"I'm trying to make a deal with them to be a teacher. Teach others the knowledge that I have."

She swallowed the knot in her throat and looked away. Her other hand patted his hands. He kept quiet, allowing her to collect herself. He didn't take out a tissue for her wet eyes on account of her pride.

"I've said that one of my requirements is for Baobao to live as she likes." He said after a long pause. He spoke slowly, his eyes slightly softening as he looked at the entwined hands. He wanted to help get her healed, too, but he didn't mention it.

The tears she was pulling back in spilled over onto her swallow cheeks. He could tell she was relieved and even touched that he mentioned his sister. Cui Xuefeng stared at their hands, but he watched this all through his mana sensing. He wondered if she was the type to want comfort or not. After a moment of hesitation, he used his mana to silently pull a tissue out and dap it to her cheeks.

Xiao Meilin stifled a sob--which turned into a strange coughing sound--and she furrowed her brows and glared at Cui Xuefeng. He looked up sheepishly. She was the type that didn't like it. Or pretended not to need it, at least.

"Humph." She tossed her chin into the air, "Foolish boy. You did this just to get out of school, didn't you? I bet even your memory loss is fake! How could you trick your sister so? She was so happy! Humph! If you disappoint her, I'll whip your ass!"

They both knew she was talking crap but he nodded seriously, "Good."

She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. "Humph! Off with you! I don't want to see your face anymore!"

He nodded seriously, "I know, my handsomeness is quite blinding, isn't it?" He put a hand to his cheek and sighed with a helpless expression.

"Pfft- Get- Go! Get out of here! Shoo!"

He let her push at him and slipped out of the curtains like a true coward, "Ow, ow, don't push. Alright, I'm going, I'm going, geez!"

They both knew they were playing, but it did raise her spirits a bit.

Cui Xuefeng stood up after he emerged from the curtain and removed the sound barrier. He nodded to the two across the room staring at him and calmly left the room. He was glad that they'd gotten a bit closer. He was worried about what it would be like to introduce himself to another adult. An adult who already had their own views on the world and stubborn beliefs.

When he left towards his sister he heard his mother quietly sobbing. She had just lost a son. Well, he was here, but he also wasn't. They'd lost all the memories they'd made together. He'd suddenly become like another person. It wasn't far-fetched to say she'd lost a son. Maybe she could also say she'd gained a new one.

He found the two squatting over a flowerbed. Cui Baozhai had a smile on and dirt under her nails. She was holding a worm in one hand. Uncle Peng was telling her how the worms' tunnels provide the roots with air and distribute and carry water.

He watched them from afar for a while. He received another message. He opened the chat log.

09:33:19 [Congratulations, Adventurer! Your Consignment of 2,438.68 kilograms of Orange Rose Obsidian has been confirmed! Deposit: 28,044.82c]

Each kilogram could make 5 warmers. Each rose warmer is sold for 3 coins, which is about 150 yuan. 2.3 of that is directly from the Orange Rose Obsidian. He'd brought back three boulders and some pieces of Orange Rose Obsidian. His were of higher quality, but they only accounted for the base price. Therefore he'd made 100k yuan with one material. Most of his items were unidentifiable for the time being, so most of them didn't have a listed price or any price at all. but they must have known his lack of monetary resources because another few messages followed it.

11:56:12 [Congratulations, Adventurer! Your Consignment of 34 Stalks of Ancient Scorched Stem has been confirmed! Deposit:...]

12:02:56 [Congratulations, Adventurer! Your Consignment of 646 Scorched leaves…]

12:47:08 [Congratulations, Adventurer! Your Consignment of 86 Kilograms of Smooth Juvenile Boninite…]

13:36:46 [Congratulations, Adventurer! Your Consignment of 4 whole Inferno Blooms…]

He looked at the names and shook his head. He slipped it back into his pocket.

It should be known that most adventurers cannot carry nearly as much as he is capable of hauling. Usually, adventurers will be dispatched to take care of the monsters. The material acquisition is done through the association. The adventurers will be paid according to the monsters they kill, and on numerous other factors to approximate the quality and amount of materials they've made available.

He opened up the next chat log and read the response.

Overseer:12:38:02 [Non-authorized procedures on humans are against the law and will be dealt with through harsh punishment.]

It seems his manager was a stickler for the rules. Had they copied that directly from a law book?

Cui Xuefeng accepted it for now. He wouldn't let his family die, but he didn't have to push it right now. He would have to wait if he wanted to treat his mother. Anyway, they were still judging him. It sounded like there was room for negotiation. He stroked the word 'non-authorized' on the screen. He may not know or trust his mother yet, but she was family--even if they ended up at one another's throats at the end, or they ended up on opposite sides of the war--he could never let go of his bloodline.

Cui Xuefeng's eyes caught sight of an interesting little creature smiling at him. He smiled back.