MSTP Chapter 8

Previous | Table of Contents | Next

Translator: Cheese

She had once suffered for him, so he also should not blame Empress Mother for temporarily forgetting him.

---

Supposing that these words explained this unimaginably strange premise, then they proved that Rong Ting’s words were true. From another perspective, so long as there was proof that she had given birth to Rong Ting, then everything else would be true–that she had transmigrated to ancient times, and that she was the empress.

There were two types of transmigration: physical transmigration and soul transmigration¹.

Considering the changes that had occurred to her body after waking up, she was leaning more towards physical transmigration.

Modern science was so advanced that determining parentage couldn’t be any easier.

Thinking that this child might be her son, Song Yuan had a little more patience with him. Although they had lived together for only one night and one day, she had a general idea of his character. He was very sensitive and quick to anger, a disagreeable tsundere. Something like a maternity test required the consent of both parties, even if one of the parties was only a few years old.

Song Yuan brooded for a while, then asked: “Gugu, maybe I really don’t recognize you, and perhaps I truly lost this bit of memory, but before my memory comes back, do you mind if I use a few means to confirm whether you and I have a blood relationship?”

Rong Ting’s eyes were still fixed on the Yakult on the table. “Empress Mother speaks of the blood drop test? Gu doesn’t mind.”

Well, calling it a blood drop test wasn’t wrong.

“Then I’ll let you know. I’m guessing the quickest we can take the maternity test will be in the next two days.” Song Yuan had a big heart and was naturally optimistic. “We can put off other matters until the results come out. Don’t fret over these things for the next few days.”

Rong Ting finally withdrew his gaze and looked towards Song Yuan. He looked extremely displeased by her statement. “Does gu cause Empress Mother to fret?”

Seeing the Yakult still on the dining table, Song Yuan handed a bottle to Rong Ting. “Anyone would fall apart if they had an extra child, maybe even scream or cry if they’re not mentally strong enough. The fact that I’m only fretting is already a sign that my mental fortitude is very good.”

“By the way, do you like drinking this?” Song Yuan also opened a bottle of Yakult to drink. “It’s a tasty drink, but I read on the Internet that it’s basically sugar water, and children who drink too much of it will become picky eaters.”

She also loved to drink Yakult. She was able to drink an entire pack in one sitting.

If not for the sake of cutting down on sugar, just where, in these two packs, would Gugu’s share be?

Rong Ting had wanted to put down the Yakult, but his body was very honest. He sucked in a cold breath and said coldly: “Gu was merely thirsty. Gu does not like it.”

Emperor Father once said that the crown prince must not reveal his preferences to others.

En!

This child! He clearly took a sip of Yakult with his eyes narrowed in satisfaction, yet he still said he didn’t like it.

Children from ancient times are too difficult ba! If he truly was her son…then he, he must take more after that old cucumber. Don’t even mention how frank and honest she was. Her father once found her a new auntie and asked her if she was happy or not. She then very frankly answered that she was not, because the perfume on the new auntie’s body was too strong and overwhelmed her nose.

Song Yuan didn’t respond to him. This disagreeable child could not be spoiled. She got up, gathered the rice bowls, and placed all the pots and pans² in the dishwasher. Finishing this, she stretched her waist, thanking modern society for freeing up her hands.

She took an afternoon rest almost every day at the office. Now that she was on vacation at home, she wanted to immediately lay in bed and play on her cell phone after eating, but there was still a child in the house. He needed to be settled down first before she could go surf the Internet. She didn’t know if it was her imagination or not, but she felt as though her Internet addiction had gotten worse during this time. If she really had transmigrated into ancient times, then it was forgivable and understandable. Losing her phone and computer, then regaining them–not being on the Internet for 24 hours a day was already restraining herself.

“Gugu, do you want to take a nap?”

“In Empress Mother’s heart, is gu really that lazy?”

Song Yuan: “…”

Taking a nap was being lazy? The old cucumber’s method for raising a child was too strict. Giving a poor review!

“Come with me to relax for a bit. Are you sleepy?”

As a matter of fact, Rong Ting hadn’t slept well last night. When he was about to respond, he let out a yawn.

Song Yuan held back a smile, then pretended to look serious. “A guest must do as his host does³, and here, all children have an afternoon nap. You have not yet reached elementary school age. Kindergarten children must take a nap. Enough talking, go to your room to sleep.”

Rong Ting was somewhat doubtful. He asked in suspicion: “Is it truly alright to rest?”

In the schedule arranged by Emperor Father, there was no time for an afternoon nap.

“Yes!” The old cucumber truly was not a good father, being so harsh on his child that he asked for her permission to take a nap. Gugu was such a pitiful child.

After pushing Rong Ting back into the room to rest, Song Yuan rushed back to the master bedroom, turning on the tablet as she let out an aowu sound⁴. She truly felt too happy.

She didn’t follow dramas, but she did follow variety shows.

She also browsed Taobao, scrolled through Weibo, and shopped online⁵.

A WeChat notification popped up. It was Xie Ya, asking to go shopping for winter clothes and drink milk tea tomorrow.

If it were the past, Song Yuan would definitely say yes.

But thinking of the child at home…

What to do? She suddenly understood why her aunt wanted to be a DINK⁶. Rong Ting was no longer a baby and could take care of basic needs by himself, but she already felt that her life was very restricted and inconvenient. Mothers with young babies must feel even more so.

There was no way she could take Rong Ting with her to go shopping. After all, she hadn’t explained to Xie Ya that Rong Ting hadn’t integrated with society and felt a sense of superiority when speaking with other people, as if others should be ecstatic and grateful if he stood in the same place as them. When it came to conversations, he generally didn’t deign to respond. This stinky behavior, she didn’t know who it came from.

Song Yuan thought about it, then turned down the invitation, saying that she was temporarily preoccupied with something.

Xie Ya sent another message: [You’re raising a dog outside⁷, aren’t you!! I guessed it!! Don’t deny it!!!]

Song Yuan: “…”

Could she say, she was raising not just a dog, but also a pup?

Ei, her head hurt ah!

Why did such a strange thing happen to her? Transmigration was like winning a prize. In all her years of drinking beverages, she had never once gotten a winning bottle ah.

---

One day peacefully passed by. Rong Ting was disagreeable and arrogant, but he also had a clever and sensible side.

Song Yuan’s new home had a study room. There were very few books on the bookshelf. Her grandmother had once bought a thick stack⁸ of books at a stall for a total of 100 yuan. She had bought the Four Great Classics⁹, as well as a graphic novel of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War ¹⁰. Her grandmother had said that they were heavy enough to kill. They should be kept in the office. By now, they were probably covered in dust. Thinking that children liked to read picture books, she took out The Art of War to give to Rong Ting.

Children should read more books than watch TV in order to excel. She didn’t know if he could read the Four Great Classics, but it didn’t matter. In any case, there was a bookstore just outside the residential area. Tomorrow, she would take him there to look around. She really was too resourceful.

“I was thinking. All the childcare experts say that children should watch less TV. Therefore, I won’t teach you how to turn on the TV and watch it, so that you won’t learn bad habits.” Song Yuan felt that she was acting like a model parent. “You can read books ba, but you probably use traditional characters or some other style in your time. If there’s anything you don’t understand, you can ask me.”

Rong Ting accepted the book, his mood very complicated. He raised his head to look at her. “Empress Mother, do you really not remember anything?”

Song Yuan couldn’t bear this sort of “father doesn’t love me, mother doesn’t love me” look in a child’s eyes. “What do you feel that I should remember? Give a hint.”

Rong Ting hugged the book very tightly and whispered: “The old palace maid said that, while gu was in your belly, you made many toys and books for gu.”

Song Yuan was somewhat skeptical. “Did you perhaps remember wrong? I… don’t think I’m that dexterous or fastidious!”

In high school, there was a period of time when it was very popular to knit a scarf or do cross-stitching embroidery for a boy you liked. After pricking her fingers with a needle, she resigned herself to her fate. What handiwork? It was her natural enemy.

“Empress Mother need not be modest.” Rong Ting paused. “Gu very much likes all the toys. Gu’s favorite is the string of beads, but gu stopped playing with them after the age of three.”

The winding bead mazes¹¹ that little children played with? She made it? How could that be? It’s very difficult to make!

“Gu also likes the wooden picture puzzles¹². Empress Mother has clever hands and a good sense; gu was very pleased.”

Rong Ting seemed to be lost in his memories. Having been reunited with his Empress Mother after so long, he wanted to say the words that had never been said.

He felt that Empress Mother had hurt him, but the old palace maid said that Empress Mother had nearly lost her life giving birth to him. She had once suffered for him, so he also should not blame Empress Mother for temporarily forgetting him.

“Empress Mother made a fairy tale for gu. Gu can even recite it by memory.”

“Empress Mother made clothes for gu. Gu has always had people keep them carefully stored away.”

Song Yuan had a bit of a guilty conscience. She felt that the Empress Mother that Gugu spoke of wasn’t her. That “clever hands and good sense” person definitely wasn’t her; everybody knew that her hands were clumsy. There was a period of time when she was very interested in needle felting¹³. Xie Ya did very well, but she couldn’t do it at all.

Rong Ting looked at Song Yuan. He could see traces that Empress Mother left behind all throughout his resting chambers.

The little carriage he once adored was said to have been designed by Empress Mother.

Empress Mother had also left behind a set of books. They had been hidden by Emperor Father, but he was still able to find them. Recorded in the books were circumstances during his birth, from what shichen until what shichen he slept, his work and rest; all of it, she had carefully recorded in detail. She even wrote down some recipes specifically for him.

The remarks above can be used after 6 months.

Grind rice into powder. Use hot water to boil into a paste three times a day.

After that, gradually add in fruit puree, ground meat, vegetable juice.

No salt before the age of one, no honey before the age of two.

These words and sentences were all a mother’s love for her child. He knew Empress Mother loved him. He wasn’t stupid. For Empress Mother, who had no impression of their life together, even if he thought fondly of her, he still wouldn’t go so far as to go through countless hardships, even at the risk of being found and punished by Emperor Father, just to see her.

He only thought that she must love him and miss him very much.

He only wanted to stand before her, to let her see that he had grown up well.

---

[1] Physical transmigration: one’s entire body crosses through time and space. Normally, this means that the transmigrated person has no identity, status, money, etc, before showing up. It’s like having an entire person poof into existence.

Soul transmigration: the soul crosses through time and space and occupies the body of an already existing person. In some novels, the transmigrated soul inherits the body’s memories, but it’s not always the case.

[2] 锅碗瓢盆: technically pot/pan + bowl/cup + dipper/ladle + basin/tub. I also had the great fortune of coming across some Weibo-famous Shibas who go by these names while looking up a potentially better way to phrase this in English

[3] 入乡随俗: when in Rome, do as the Romans do

[4] 嗷呜: a sound of excitement or happiness

[5] 淘宝, 微博, 海淘: Taobao is an online shopping website, and Weibo is a social media microblogging site like Twitter. Haitao refers to cross-border e-commerce (online overseas shopping). So Song Yuan isn’t just online shopping, but online shopping overseas/non-Chinese brands

[6] Dual Income, No Kids: a dual income couple (either both parties work, or one partner earns dual income) with no children, either by choice or by circumstance (kids are EXPENSIVE)

[7] To have a dog (person) outside [of the established relationship]. Xie Ya is jokingly accusing Song Yuan of cheating on her/having an affair #justgirlfriendthings

[8] 论斤卖: sounds like the books are being sold by weight? Or it might be referring to books being sold in sets rather than individually

[9] 四大名著: a collective term for Romance of the Three Kingdoms (三国演义), Water Margin (水浒传), Journey to the West (西游记), and Dream of the Red Chamber (红楼梦). They are arguably the most well-known and influential fictional narratives in Chinese literature

[10] 孙子兵法: a treatise on aspects of warfare and how they are applied to military tactics and strategies. Nearly every webnovel with a transmigrated protagonist that joins the war ends up with the protag wowing their allies and enemies alike by speaking of and applying their knowledge of The Art of War LOL

[11] 绕珠串珠: my best guess. Bead mazes are education toys for toddlers, and I assume they’d be hellish to make (just look at those loops!)

[12] 抓板拼图: I dunno what to call these in English (or any language, tbh). Wooden peg puzzles?

[13] 粘毛玩具: stick/glue + hair/wool + toy. I think this is referring to needle felting??? Lint rollers and those sticky hand toys don’t exactly fit the bill so…..

---

Cheese: omg RONG TING MY HEART BLEEDS FOR YOU

---

Previous | Table of Contents | Next