Chapter 10: Where There's a Father, There's Silver

“Young Master, the Yun Clan is the greatest noble family on the Longhua Continent. How can it be measured by mere money?” Zhuyitou looked disdainfully at the fussing toddler. Commoners are just commoners; he hadn’t even heard of the illustrious Yun Clan? Hmph, how embarrassing.

How could Ling Xiaobai fail to see his contempt? A glimmer of craftiness flashed rapidly across his eyes, and he pouted in an extremely adorable manner. “Pig-head, this young master wants to eat candied haws. Go on, go buy them for me now.”

He pointed at a vendor who had just passed by the end of the street, his tone extremely bossy.

Zhuyitou gritted his teeth and glared at him fiercely. Unwillingly, he set down the goods he had just purchased and walked out of the inn at a snail’s pace. Once he had left, Ling Xiaobai hopped off the bench in a flash, scurried to the counter, and instructed the innkeeper: “Make one of every dish you have here. Also, bring ten jugs of top-quality Nuerhong wine and have them delivered to the Ling residence in the west.”

“Little Tyrant, out to fleece someone again?” The innkeeper had grown up in Sunset City; how could he not know this toddler, Ling Xiaobai? A fox-like smile appeared on his face. He wondered who had caught the eye of this eccentric little child this time.

“Hmph, don’t worry about my business. Just remember to be quick. I’m leaving now.” Ling Xiaobai looked arrogant and pampered. He turned around nimbly and left the inn, heading into the sunlight. When Zhuyitou returned with the candied haws, he was greeted by a staggering bill. Looking at the amount, he suddenly felt an urge to turn around and run for his life.

“Mother—” A crisp, melodious call came from outside the residence. Ling Ruoxi had just finished packing up the valuables in the room. Upon hearing this, she shoved the bundle under the bed; she couldn’t let the little money-grubber see these things.

“Mother! Baby has something to tell you.” Ling Xiaobai burst through the door, his face flushed red, and he threw himself into Ling Ruoxi’s arms like a gust of wind.

Ling Ruoxi tugged at the cowlick on Ling Xiaobai’s head that was swaying from side to side. She sat down, waving her sleeve, and slowly picked up the teacup beside her elbow. Her eyelids lifted slightly: “Speak. Why did you run back in such a hurry instead of staying with that sucker?”

“Mother, Baby just thought of something very important!” Ling Xiaobai held his head high and puffed out his chest, his expression uncharacteristically serious.

“Speak.” A single, icy word popped out of her mouth.

“Mother, Baby knows who we should find to be my father.”

“Pfft—” Ling Ruoxi was so startled that she sprayed a mouthful of water directly onto Ling Xiaobai’s face. “Fa… father?”

Ling Xiaobai wiped the water from his face haphazardly. He stood on tiptoe and patted her shoulder in an extremely adorable way: “Mother, please be calm. You heard me correctly.”

“Who instilled this idea in you, eh?” After a momentary lapse in composure, Ling Ruoxi slowly set down her teacup, a wicked, charming smile creeping onto her lips. She had never proactively brought up the existence of such a creature as a ‘father.’ In Ling Ruoxi’s view, Ling Xiaobai only needed a mother! That man who had contributed nothing but a sperm cell was not qualified to be called a father. And as for Ling Xiaobai? Ever since he became sensible, he had never asked about such things, as if his world consisted only of him and his mother, with no room for a third person.

And today, how could Ling Ruoxi not be surprised that he had brought up the topic himself?

“Mother, don’t treat Baby like an idiot, okay? Without a father, how could Baby have popped out of Mother’s belly?” Ling Xiaobai put on an expression that said, ‘You are insulting my intelligence,’ and stared gloomily at the woman before him.

Ling Ruoxi chuckled, reached out her arm, and pulled him onto her lap. A few strands of dark hair fell from her shoulder. “Tell me first, why did you suddenly bring up this topic?”

The smile on her face was breathtakingly beautiful, yet it carried a trace of murderous intent.

Her son did not need a father; she would use these two hands to hold up the sky for him.

“Baby just heard that the Young Master of the Yun Clan is very rich and very powerful. Mother, you must marry him when you see him. After he dies, the property will be ours,” Ling Xiaobai said with conviction. The more he spoke, the more confident he became, making the corners of Ling Ruoxi’s mouth twitch uncontrollably.

This little brat, whose genes did he inherit? He was so young, where did he get so many bizarre ideas?

“You want to sell your mother just to make money for yourself?” She smiled, her beauty devastating, but the coldness in her eyes made Ling Xiaobai’s scalp tingle. He rubbed his head against her chest ingratiatingly: “Mother, Baby isn’t that stupid. If I lose Mother, where would I find another one? Baby is thinking of your lifelong happiness! Look, the Young Master of the Yun Clan is wealthy and powerful; he’s more than a match for Mother.”

“What if he’s some old geezer?” Ling Ruoxi tugged hard on his cowlick, gritting her teeth as she asked.

“It doesn’t matter!” Ling Xiaobai made a fist and tapped it against his palm: “It’s popular to have a godfather now! If he’s really old and about to die, Mother can just make him your godfather. Didn’t Mother often say that this is an era of ‘competing fathers’? As long as this plan works, Baby will have piles and piles of silver in the future to honor Mother with.”

“…” Can she just strangle him to death right now?