From Now On, the Son Has a Mother

He walked into the kitchen and started cooking. There were leftovers from yesterday, so he decided to make egg fried rice with all of it.

Su Ze sensed something and turned around to find Uesugi Akizuki crouching outside the door like a shy cat, only half her head visible as she peeked inside.

"Come here," Su Ze beckoned to her.

The girl looked around, and after confirming there was no one else and that he was indeed calling her, she cautiously entered the kitchen.

Su Ze opened the refrigerator, took out a box of sweet milk, inserted a straw, and handed it to her.

The girl looked at the milk without saying anything. She wasn't sure if she needed instructions, but after some contemplation, she put her small, cute mouth on the straw. Watching her throat move as she drank, Su Ze praised, "Such quick comprehension."

While cooking, Su Ze turned around and was startled to find the girl holding the milk box with both hands, head down, forcefully sucking on the straw, her face somewhat pale.

Milk might have a whitening effect, but surely it couldn't work that quickly?

Su Ze was confused, but when he saw the girl's throat struggling to swallow, he couldn't help but laugh. He lightly flicked her forehead, and only then did Uesugi Akizuki release the straw, covering her head and looking at Su Ze with a mixture of resentment and bewilderment.

Soon, her complexion returned to normal.

Su Ze pointed at the flattened straw, "Do you have a grudge against the straw?"

He was baffled by the girl's confusing behavior. She had been biting down hard on the straw while trying to suck with all her might. Su Ze wondered if she might have passed out from lack of oxygen had he noticed any later.

Su Ze took the milk from her and placed it on the table, "No more drinking, wait for dinner."

Su Ze was an excellent cook, and the aromatic fried rice had Uesugi Akizuki staring in a daze even before it was done.

Gurgle~

As if on cue, the fried rice that Uesugi Akizuki had been waiting for while clutching her stomach was finally plated.

In the living room, Uesugi Akizuki curled up on the sofa as Su Ze placed a plate of fragrant fried rice on the table in front of her. The effect was immediate - the girl lifted her head, and Su Ze placed a glass of milk in front of the fried rice.

Su Ze gave her a spoon, "You can eat now. It's too late today, so this will have to do. I'll take you out for something better tomorrow."

Uesugi Akizuki nodded, but in that moment of nodding, a drop of drool fell onto the table...

Watching Uesugi Akizuki frantically devouring her food, Su Ze was quite speechless.

He hoped she was just simple-minded, not actually dim-witted.

Su Ze took out his phone, lay down on the sofa, and called his best friend Shen Qingsheng.

"Why did you hang up earlier?"

Su Ze could hear the implied criticism and said directly, "I've found you a stepmother."

"..." The other party was clearly stunned, "You... got a girlfriend?"

His voice suddenly rose: "We agreed to stay single together! But you secretly got together with someone! Which blind person was so lacking in judgment to choose a pig like..."

Su Ze removed his earpiece, letting the other party vent his anger. After a minute, he casually put the earpiece back on. Shen Qingsheng had fallen silent, and then Su Ze said:

"I found a..."

Su Ze glanced at Uesugi Akizuki, who had finished her fried rice and was now tilting her head back, chugging milk from the cup. He paused, "I found a not-so-bright... foreign shrine maiden. I've already used my ability to check her memories and initially ruled out that she's a spy..."

Su Ze explained the whole situation.

"So what are you suggesting?" Shen Qingsheng seemed to guess something.

"I don't want to hand her over to those crazy Executors." Su Ze said frankly, "Although whether she's a spy concerns national security, rather than hand her over to the Executors, it would be better to just kill her. They won't get any information out of her anyway, and they'll just make her life worse than death."

"No big deal," Shen Qingsheng chuckled on the other end. "Tomorrow when the Executors come to investigate Uesugi Akizuki, you can use your ability to confirm to them that this girl is just a simple-minded amnesiac. However, if you want to keep her, you'll have to bear any consequences that might arise."

Shen Qingsheng's father was a high-ranking official among the Executors, so he indeed had the power to handle this matter.

"I understand," Su Ze looked at Uesugi Akizuki, who had finished eating and drinking and was now staring blankly at the ceiling light. "If she shows any suspicious behavior, I'll kill her myself."

Shen Qingsheng gave a mischievous laugh, his voice teasing, "I'm worried the suspicious behavior won't come from her... but that you might have suspicious intentions towards her... hehe."

Hearing his best friend's wicked laugh, Su Ze also chuckled, "A son is just happy to have a mother."

"...Get lost."

Hearing the dial tone in his earpiece, Su Ze removed it and yawned, looking at the dazed Uesugi Akizuki, "Are you tired? Want to sleep?"

"..."

After waiting a while, Uesugi Akizuki showed no reaction, just continuing to stare blankly at the light.

"..."

Wait, something wasn't right.

Su Ze walked in front of her and, seeing her tightly closed eyes, was speechless - well, she had fallen asleep sitting up while staring at the light after eating and drinking her fill.

Su Ze hesitated for a moment, then bent down, one arm supporting her back and the other under her knees, gently lifting her up.

Perhaps due to the obvious movement, Uesugi Akizuki drowsily opened her eyes, looking at Su Ze with confused eyes, showing no resistance.

Su Ze met her gaze and felt inexplicably guilty. He actually had no inappropriate intentions, but being stared at by those innocent eyes just made him feel somehow guilty.

Reaching the bedroom, Su Ze gently placed her on the bed. This simpleton had fallen back asleep during the short journey of being carried to the room.

Su Ze couldn't imagine what would have happened to someone like her if he hadn't found her.

Perhaps she would have fallen asleep crouching by a streetlight, then been discovered in the morning by someone who, seeing her foreign attire, would have immediately called the police, and then the simpleton would have ended up in the hands of the Executors, with an unknown fate.

If someone had coveted her beauty, it would have been just as bad. This simpleton had followed him home just because he asked if she wanted to come - if some creepy old man had found her, this girl probably...

Su Ze sighed, taking the cigarette from behind his ear and putting it in his mouth. Just as he was about to go to the living room to smoke, he found his hand tightly gripped by Uesugi Akizuki.

Seemingly sensing Su Ze was about to leave, she quickly grabbed his hand, and in the dim room, her beautiful amber eyes stared at him unblinkingly.

Su Ze jerked his chin, "I'm going to smoke, you sleep, understand?"

Uesugi Akizuki, perhaps frightened by Su Ze's thuggish demeanor, quickly nodded, but still didn't let go of his hand.

"I remember you can talk, you know." Su Ze was confused. When he first met her and asked her questions, she could speak, but after coming with him, she had become like a mute.

Uesugi Akizuki struggled for a moment, then moved her pink lips, "Talking... tiring."