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Translator: Cheese
Would Emperor Father never do wrong?
Rong Ting was an obstinate child. When he was being stubborn, clamoring about returning home, he was more persistent than an ox. Song Haiping thought that he was feeling unwell, so he borrowed a thermometer from the front desk. The temperature came out fine, but since he couldn’t change the child’s mind, he could only pack up their things, check out, and prepare to return home.
Rong Ting sat in the back seat with an expression of “don’t want to talk to anyone.”
Song Haiping helplessly started the car as he scolded him. “I must have owed you and your mom in my past life, and now you’re here to collect the debt. We drove two hours to come here and soak in a hot spring, and you’re making a fuss about going home. What’s wrong with you ah, what’s wrong with you. Let me hear what you have to say!”
Rong Ting had no intention of talking. He only looked out the car window, his tiny paw still clenched. He seemed to be angry with someone.
He didn’t get angry often; most of the time, he was annoyed. This was the first time his expression was so dark. Song Haiping wanted to know what was wrong with him, but the boy refused to divulge. It was a real headache.
“Forget it, I won’t talk with you. We’ll go home and have your mom sort you out.”
Rong Ting huffed and shook his head irritably, trying to get rid of the scene he saw today.
Rong Heng hadn’t noticed Rong Ting. He was half-heartedly eating his meal, but as a man, he couldn’t not give face to a young woman who had no grievances against him. The good news was that he was now acting mute and didn’t need to respond to the other. If he wanted to listen, he could listen, but if he didn’t, then he could tune it out.
Yu Yayi was also disgusted with blind dates. She grew up abroad and disagreed with her family here urging her to marry, but she followed her father over. When she saw Rong Ting, she had a slight change of heart.
Of course, she didn’t want to become boyfriend and girlfriend immediately, then get married… that was too much of a bother.
Her father constantly tried to persuade her, talking about how much of a great partner he was, and how he could be considered the number one amongst B City’s rich second generations. So long as she married him, she could bring so much benefit to the company and the family.
How boring.
Having dinner with a handsome man of this level could also be called a delightful treat for her.
As for the other things, they could be put off. She didn’t want to think so much about it.
“Mr. Xie, your hair is dyed ba? It’s very cool. I really want to dye my hair white, but my mom and dad definitely disagree. Actually, I think you would look better in black hair.”
“Mr. Xie, how tall are you ah? You should be able 1.8 meters ba? My dad is 1.8 meters, but you look taller than him. Maybe it’s because you don’t have a beer belly?”
Yu Yayi ate her meal with Rong Heng. Even though she knew that the other party couldn’t speak right now because of psychological issues, she couldn’t help but feel regret.
She didn’t like iceberg types, and she wasn’t a masochist who would continue despite losses1 in front of a man, but seeing that he was good-looking, she was willing to be patient.
It seemed that he wasn’t interested in her. No, since the moment they met until now, he hadn’t once looked at her!
She also didn’t like this blind man who couldn’t appreciate her beauty.
“Mr. Xie, do you already have a girlfriend?” Yu Yayi asked curiously.
Rong Heng lifted his head to give her a glance–his first reaction today. He nodded.
Yu Yayi exaggeratedly covered her mouth. “So you can hear me!”
“But you have a girlfriend, yet you still came out for a blind date, that’s so scummy!” Yu Yayi cupped her cheek with one hand. “Your girlfriend won’t be happy if she finds out. In any case, if it were my boyfriend who went out on a blind date with another woman, I’d probably break up with him. Don’t worry, of course, I won’t say anything.”
Yu Yayi didn’t have much interest in him in the first place, but after hearing he had a girlfriend, she had no interest whatsoever.
She didn’t have such heavy taste to have an interest in men who were taken.
“Then I’ll head out first. You don’t need to pay; the manager knows who I am and should have instructed the waiter.” Yu Yayi picked up her bag and gave him another look. “Bye bye! I’ll help keep your secret, but I’ll tell my dad that I didn’t like you. This is the payment I’m asking for. Do you mind?”
Rong Heng didn’t look at her. He lowered his head and continued to eat.
Boring. Yu Yayi happily left the restaurant in her little high heels.
The waiters in the restaurant all head meaningful looks in their eyes. Rong Heng raised a hand and beckoned, and a waiter quickly stepped forward.
Rong Heng flipped through the menu and pointed to a cake in the dessert section, signaling that he wanted it.
The waiter saw that he had finished eating, and the eldest young miss had left, so the waiter tentatively asked, “Will this be for in-house or to take away?”
“Take away.” Rong Heng didn’t like to gesture to people. It looked foolish.
He didn’t like sweets. It was just that when he was looking at the menu just now, he had inadvertently seen this shortcake. He recalled that year when she had been pregnant. Others said “if sour then a boy, if spicy then a girl2,” but she had loved sweets. One time, he hadn’t asked the eunuch to remind him, and he’d quietly approached the gates of the palace, when he heard her throwing a tantrum and complaining to the maid next to her, “Why is there no cake here, I want to eat cake ah! I’m going crazy for it!”
The maid asked her what a cake was.
She described it like so: “A cake is very sweet, with a layer of cream on it. It’s very soft. Also, that’s a little bit of red jam on top of the cream that’s super delicious. I really want to eat it ah, it’s so sweet and tasty. I don’t know all the things the cake is made out of. I only know there’s eggs and flour…”
Later, he had the cooks in the imperial kitchen make the cake she had spoken of. Perhaps it was because it wasn’t successful, but she wasn’t very happy.
At this moment he looked at the image on the menu that seemed to resemble her description. He originally wanted to pack up one, but remembering that Rong Ting was still at home, he said, “Pack two.”
“Yes.”
Song Yuan was still playing a game when she heard the door open. She came out of the room and saw that Rong Ting and Song Haiping had returned. Surprised, she asked, “Weren’t you staying overnight at the resort? Why are you back again? Did you come back after soaking?”
Song Haiping grew angry at the mention of this topic. He helplessly pointed at Rong Ting and said, “Your son ah, is no ordinary torment. He inexplicably wanted to come back. I had a good talk with him, but he refused to listen. You look and see if he’s not feeling well. At least he has no cough or fever.”
Song Yuan crouched down and checked his forehead with her hand. “There really isn’t a fever ah. Is it because it’s your first time at a hot spring and you’re not used to it?”
“Who knows,” Song Haiping said. “I asked an acquaintance of mine who’s a doctor on the way here, and they said there’s no issue, and he can just rest. But we’ll have to keep watch tonight, in case he has a fever.”
“Little children definitely don’t seem to do well with hot springs ba.” Song Yuan still felt distressed over Rong Ting and pulled him over to the sofa. “Are you thirsty? Do you want to drink some water?”
Rong Ting shook his head. “Empress Mother, I am not thirsty.”
His tone didn’t sound right, and he wasn’t as bright as usual.
“Ei, I have something that came up, and I need to make a trip over. I might not make it back home by evening. Remember to lock the doors and windows.” Song Haiping hadn’t changed into his slippers, so he was ready to leave. Just before leaving, he didn’t forget to tell Rong Ting, “You’re so tight-lipped. Things you aren’t willing to tell me, always be willing to tell your mom ba. You’re turning six this year. Don’t let your mom worry, understand?”
“Mn,” Rong Ting replied dully.
When Song Haiping left, Song Yuan couldn’t rest assured, so she took out a thermometer and took his temperature. He really didn’t have a fever.
“Gugu, what’s wrong? Do you feel uncomfortable somewhere?”
Rong Ting shook his head, then nodded. “Empress Mother, there is something I do not understand. I will tell you when I figure it out.”
He would not hide this matter from Empress Mother. If he did, Empress Mother would be too pitiful. He’d said, he’d promised, that even if he lied to all the people under heaven, he would not lie to Empress Mother. It was just that he wanted to understand, and he needed some time.
Song Yuan was amused after seeing his grave and earnest look. She nodded, laughing, “Okay, Mom will always be your most faithful listener.”
Rong Ting was in a truly bad mood. He hung his head. “Empress Mother, I want to practice my calligraphy for a while.”
“Aren’t you unwell? Why don’t you take a day off today and practice again tomorrow?”
“I want to practice today.”
Song Yuan could only give in. “Alright then ba, but only for a little bit.”
Her son was so self-disciplined. Sometimes, she felt like he wasn’t a child. If she had been so conscientious and diligent when she was young, she probably would have been a study tyrant.
Though she wasn’t a study tyrant, her son was. Rounding it up, she was a study tyrant too.
Rong Ting came up to the desk, where there were brushes, ink, and paper on the desk. He picked up a brush–
His mind was currently in a mess. He didn’t know what was right and what was wrong.
Was everything Emperor Father did necessarily right?
Would Emperor Father never do wrong?
Why would Empress Mother marry Emperor Father? Why would Empress Mother leave?
There were too many things he couldn’t figure out. He couldn’t pretend to be naive.
He suddenly recalled Helen laoshi’s pained and choked sobs, as well as the wedding band she had taken off.
He closed his eyes and told himself in his heart, Rong Ting, you can make the correct judgement, and you can distinguish right from wrong, so long as you are willing.
Rong Ting took a deep breath and wrote two large characters on the xuan paper before him–
Tranquility!
Contemplate!
The author has something to say:
only two updates today oh~ because of my mama’s birthday, i’m busy with so much stuff = =
there are three protagonists in this story. there’s yuanyuan, rong heng, and gugu. everyone will grow and reflect on themselves.
[1] 倒贴: to lose money instead of being paid
[2] 酸儿辣女: if a woman likes to eat sour foods during pregnancy, she will have a boy; if she likes to eat spicy foods, then she will have a girl
Cheese: apologies for the delay! if you didn’t see discord, my apartment building’s internet went kaput and my hotspot was abysmally slow, so i just lazed around until things got fixed enough for me to update. if you get here early you might get to see me make edits in real time LMAO
yu yayi sounds like a chill gal. if only rong heng could be a little less of an asshole about not showing interest tsk tsk
also i dont include all the author’s notes. mostly because i didn’t bother to until like a few chapters ago lol. but also a lot of the time the author is just thanking readers for sending her fertilizer and torpedoes and stuff. so will only include a/n’s with some relevance to the plot from now on
Piper's Pickups 
Thank you for the update!!!
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What if it’s a sour and spicy food? Like Tom Yum!
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