Chapter 2: Villain Traits

On the other side, Su Sanxian had already started chatting with The Three Cubs about their hobbies and interests.

“Mom, I’m really good at drawing! The teacher always praises me!” Sanzai boasted proudly, lifting his brow with a little scar.

Seeing his smug little face, Su Sanxian couldn’t help but laugh. “That’s amazing! Can you show Mom your drawings when you have time?”

“I can! I even drew Mom! I drew so, so many—Mom sleeping, Mom eating, Mom wearing a pretty dress… there are so many more!”

Su Sanxian was genuinely surprised this time. She hadn’t expected Sanzai to have drawn her—well, to be precise, the Original Owner—and not just once, but many times.

Erzai couldn’t stand all of “Mom’s” attention being on his younger brother, so he suddenly stood up and said: “Mom, I know 500 kinds of herbs, and I can recite all their medicinal properties!”

Wow! That was incredible. Truly worthy of being the future, renowned Doctor Lin.

The most composed of them, Dazai, watched his two younger brothers show off and couldn’t help but speak too. “Mom, I… I’m really good at math, and I can even play Sudoku!”

A big shot was already a big shot from a young age.

Su Sanxian, who still had to pause to figure out 8+5, couldn’t help wiping nonexistent sweat from her forehead.

Afraid he would fall behind his two older brothers, Sanzai quickly added: “I can fight too, Mom! No one in kindergarten can beat me!”

“Fight?!” Su Sanxian’s voice rose sharply, almost cracking.

Could it be that villains had villainous traits from childhood? Undefeated in kindergarten brawls?

Seeing Su Sanxian’s expression turn sour, Sanzai deflated.

This silly little brother… Dazai and Erzai both sighed.

“Little kids shouldn’t fight.” Su Sanxian said gently, watching the three children suddenly lose their energy. “Fighting is what bad kids do. If someone bullies you, you should tell the teacher, understand, babies?”

“Yes, Mom.” The Three Cubs stretched out their voices and nodded obediently.

The bright sunlight fell over The Three Cubs, and before they knew it, it was already noon. The sunlight was so strong that sweat dotted their foreheads.

Not wanting her little ones to get overheated, Su Sanxian reluctantly ended their chat.

“The sun’s too hot. Hurry and go inside to rest.”

The three children all felt reluctant to leave Su Sanxian.

Today, Mom was exactly as Dad had described: gentle and beautiful, willing to chat with them, and smiling happily. Like peach soda in summer—sweet and refreshing with just one sip. If only Mom could be like this every day. The Three Cubs thought separately.

“Mom, will you talk with us again tomorrow?” Erzai couldn’t help but ask.

Su Sanxian nodded. “Tomorrow Mom will talk to you, and the day after too. From now on, Mom will chat with you every day.”

Bathed in sunlight, Su Sanxian stood above them, a warm glow surrounding her white nightgown as she smiled down at them.

Warm and beautiful.

This image struck The Three Cubs’ hearts with a resounding “thump.” then sank deep into their chests, wrapped by their hearts, and stayed there for a lifetime.

⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━━━⊱༒︎ • ༒︎⊰━━━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆

That night, after washing up, The Three Cubs huddled together, whispering.

“Today was so much fun. I wish tomorrow would come quickly so I can talk to Mom again.” Erzai said, sitting on the bed with his chin resting on his arms wrapped around his knees, his voice full of longing.

“Me too.” Sanzai murmured, staring down at the drawing he’d made of Mom, deep in thought.

Dazai nodded along silently.

If their father, Lin Shen, had been here, he would have known instantly—these kids were about to get mischievous.

Sanzai, as if he had made a decision, hugged his drawings tightly, stood up, and looked at his older brothers.

“Let’s secretly go find Mom, okay? I want to show her my drawings.”

Seeing his younger brother’s eager eyes practically shouting let’s go, let’s go, Dazai, the one with decision-making power, gave a firm nod!

“Let’s go! We’ll go see Mom.”

Those 6 short words somehow carried the momentum of soldiers heading to the battlefield.

The Three Cubs, full of spirit, stealthily marched toward the second floor, to Su Sanxian’s room.

⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━━━⊱༒︎ • ༒︎⊰━━━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆

Perhaps because the day had been so bright and sunny, the night sky was especially clear and beautiful.

Su Sanxian, after many long nights of streaming, was now struggling against her messed-up biological clock.

One hundred and thirty-two sheep, one hundred and thirty-three sheep, one hundred and thirty-four sheep…

“Mom, Mom, are you asleep? It’s me, Sanzai!”

Ding! Your little bundle of cuteness had arrived.

Through the fist-wide gap in the door, Su Sanxian saw her three adorable little ones.

Because the door couldn’t be locked from the inside, the butler had fastened a chain lock on the outside, which only allowed the door to open wide enough for an adult’s fist.

And in that narrow space, the three little cuties lined up, peeking in one by one, sweetly calling for their Mom.

Su Sanxian quickly got out of bed and walked to the door, crouching down to look at her little ones outside.

They were so cute. Every time she saw them, she felt like she was melting.

“Did you come to see Mom?” Su Sanxian asked.

“We came to show you drawings, Mom.” Dazai replied, signaling for his younger brother to pass the drawings in his hand to Mom.

So it was about the drawings. Their inability to wait even one night, choosing instead to deliver the pictures in the middle of the night, melted Su Sanxian’s heart once again.

They were too cute—three little dumplings filled with sweetness and warmth.

“There are so many pictures of me! Sanzai, you drew Mom so beautifully.”

Su Sanxian flipped through the papers in her hands, looking at each drawing. The strokes ranged from abstract to ones where her expressions and features were clearly captured.

There she was eating, sleeping, wearing pretty dresses, with flowers in her hair…

As she studied the images, scenes began to surface in her mind.

She remembered waking up from sleep because she felt hot, catching a glimpse of a tiny shadow darting away from the crack in the door.

Being coaxed to eat while The Three Cubs played with building blocks, sneaking glances at her as she ate.

Spotting sunflowers in the garden, plucking one to wear on her head, and laughing joyfully at the person beside her.

“…”

Was that me?

Su Sanxian felt puzzled.

The images in her mind were vivid yet hazy, as though she had experienced them herself, but they also felt like memories of the Original Owner.

When she suddenly fell silent, Sanzai grew uneasy.

“Mom…”

Hmm?

Su Sanxian lifted her head and saw The Three Cubs fidgeting—one twisting his fingers, another lowering his head, and one nervously clutching at his pants.

“How are you all so cute?” Su Sanxian couldn’t help but laugh, deeply feeling that becoming a mother without pain was an incredible blessing.

They were praised by Mom!

The Three Cubs all looked up at once, their big watery eyes lighting up like spotlights with a pew~

She couldn’t resist reaching a hand through the door crack to ruffle their heads one by one.

The Three Cubs loved being patted on the head. They even leaned closer to press into her hand.

Mom’s hands were soft and warm; it felt so nice to be touched by them. I like Mom’s hands. Dazai thought.

“Mom, you’re so nice like this. I like this version of Mom.” Erzai said as he leaned closer, smiling sweetly at her.

“Oh? Little sweetheart, was Mom not nice before?” Su Sanxian pinched the soft, fair cheek that had leaned toward her, smiling as she spoke.

Erzai pressed his face against her hand, rubbing against it affectionately.

“Mom was nice before too. But now you’re even better. Back then, Mom didn’t know me or my brothers…” He seemed a little embarrassed to continue, and paused.