CH 23

The post was not only seen by Pi Xiu and Ren Jiao, but was also seen by Lil Broom at school.

The 2nd year Demons, Gods, and Ghosts, who originally disdained Lil Broom, suddenly began to show great respect to their classmate for daring to put a green hat on his own father.

‘It turns out that the Broom Spirit is actually the son of the Pixiu! But, is it even possible to cross racial barriers in a way that a household item gives birth to a Demon’s child?’

‘Of course, it’s love! It must be the most beautiful love!’

The little Demons that grew up in modern society never experienced the burning passion of their parents, nor did they have to suffer the turbulent years where they would have to struggle in order to eat their next meal. In addition, the lifespan of Demons was too long, and focusing on cultivating every day can become quite boring. Therefore, they decide to devote themselves to all kinds of entertainment and gossip to enrich their lives.

The classmate, who at first was someone average, suddenly became the son of an incredibly powerful Demon.

‘It’s almost like the typical inspirational story of a hero who has found his father then is willing to turn around and slap him in the face! Even putting a green hat on his own father!’

‘Such guts! Now that’s a real man!’

In reality, Demons weren’t as concerned with ethics as Humans were. In fact, even after experiencing the Human World and its customs for so many years, the worship of the strong hasn’t been eliminated from the bones and flesh of Demons.

In addition to this, Demons believe that beauty can only belong to the strongest.

‘Then, how beautiful will the stepmother be for our Broom Spirit classmate to dare to fight against his father?’

The little Demons began to get lost in their thoughts in the middle of class, trying to imagine how beautiful the great Pixiu’s darling could be.

‘Is she better than the big celebrities?’

‘Then she must be a great beauty!’

Compared to the excited reactions of his classmates, Lil Broom’s reaction was arguably calmer. As usual, Lil Broom groggily slept in class, swept the playground during recess with a broom, and walked slowly with the same broom in hand until it was time to leave school.

As Lil Broom walked over his shadow, he observed the little demons of grades below him being picked up by their parents. At the sight of this, Lil Broom suddenly stopped.

As his eyes fell upon the mothers and fathers of the little Demons, Lil Broom suddenly blinked, lowering his head in order to cover his face.

Almost instantly, Lil Broom raised a hand to his mouth to hide a smile quietly growing on the corners of his lips.

‘It turns out Boss is my own Dad. I have a Dad too.’

‘Will Dad come to pick me up from school today like other people’s parents do?’ Lil Broom suddenly remembered something: ‘When I was a kid, Dad used to hold me too.’

‘Back then, there weren’t so many people in the Restaurant, so Dad would have me sit on his shoulders and let me watch him cook. Although the smell of grease and smoke was quite annoying, still….’

Lil Broom rubbed his face, breathed through his nose, and thought: ‘Even though the smell of grease and smoke were really strong, it didn’t matter. I was so happy, just like today, that I could have swept an entire street without stopping!’

Overwhelmed, Lil Broom squatted on the ground for a while. Right when he was about to stand up again, a pair of shoes appeared right in front of him.

Lil Broom slowly looked up, from the shoes to the red dot between the two eyebrows, only to realize that it was Professor Nezha1. The Professor that the students were most afraid of was looking at him right now, and when Lil Broom blinked in fright, he noticed that the Professor smiled at him.

“What are you doing squatting down here?” Nezha crouched down to be on the same level as Lil Broom, observed him carefully, and asked: “The school bell has already rung, why haven’t you gone home?”

Lil Broom opened his mouth and stammered: “To, to sw-sweep th-the f-floor.”

“There are people hired to clean the school grounds. Students shouldn’t be the ones cleaning them.” Nezha scratched his chin and looked at him more closely, “You don’t want to go home?”

“N-no.” Lil Broom explained: “I’m a B-broom S-spirit. B-brooms n-need to, to s-sweep th-the f-floor.”

It’s in his nature. Just like rain falls from the sky, and women will marry2, he will sweep the floor.

Nezha smiled again and picked Lil Broom up off the floor: “It really isn’t because you don’t want to go home, do you? You’re not just using wanting to sweep the floor as an excuse, right? For example, for having such a nasty father at home?”

Lil Broom blinked, not understanding what his Teacher was talking about.

Seeing Lil Broom’s stunned expression, Nezha reached out and rubbed his hair: “If your father ever bullies you, feel free to tell your teacher. Teacher will be there to help you.”

Lil Broom tilted his head, still puzzled, and looked at Nezha sideways: “Why, why w-would m-my D-dad b-bully m-me?”

Nezha was stunned. As he thought about what he had read in that post, Nezha couldn’t help but ask: “How is your new mom treating you? I hear that he’s three months pregnant.”

‘Usually, when the new spouse has their own child, they will be cold to the spouse’s first child. Especially since it’s not their child.’

Lil Broom then remembered that Wen Xi has been drinking quite a lot of rooster soup these days, so he vaguely said: “S-so he’s with ch-child.”

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‘Is that why Dad bought so many roosters to make soup? But isn’t it said that pregnant people should drink hen soup?’

“You didn’t know?” Nezha frowned.

Lil Broom shook his head, but then he nodded and thought: ‘Wen Xi is really pretty and smells nice. He also gives me candy and such whenever he can, so it’s not impossible for him to be a new Mom. It would be better if because of this he doesn’t start tutoring me and making me do my homework.’

When Nezha noticed that Lil Broom was unwilling to speak, he frowned even more. Nezha leaned over to Lil Broom, and said: “If someone is mean to you at home, you can always reach out to your teacher.”

“I, I k-know.” Lil Broom scratched his face and said: “Wen Xi i-iis very, very k-kind to me.”

‘But it’s clear that Wen Xi has only been living in the Restaurant for a month. Why is my brother in his belly already three months old? Could it be that the rooster soup made my brother grow up too fast?’

Even after sitting inside Ren Jiao’s car, Lil Broom was still thinking about that predicament. He was so deep in thought that he was even frowning: ‘Is it really possible to make up for the two months between the first month to the third month by simply drinking rooster soup?’

When Ren Jiao noticed Lil Broom frowning, Ren Jiao couldn’t help, but ask: “Why do you look so unhappy? Did you fight with your schoolmates today? Don’t tell me you used a broom to clean the bathroom and shoved it in someone’s mouth again, did you?”

Lil Broom shook his head, but the frown on his face didn’t soften at all.

Once they arrived at the Restaurant, Lil Broom ran to Pi Xiu as soon as he got out of the car. Pi Xiu, on his part, was keeping a close eye on Jia Suzhen, so that she wouldn’t dare to give another giant bowl of lotus seed soup to Wu Zu. All of a sudden, Pi Xiu was surprisingly pounced on by Lil Broom, even causing the old demon to have to take a step back so as not to fall.

“What’s wrong?” When Pi Xiu noticed that Lil Broom was hugging him tightly and refused to let go, it reminded him of an event that happened a long time ago, when the young Lil Broom came back from fighting outside after being bullied. At this, Pi Xiu unconsciously looked at Ren Jiao, who had just walked into the Restaurant with the car keys in his hand.

‘Could it be possible that this damn fish had finally stopped being a man of honor and dared to lay his hands on Lil Broom?’

“Why are you looking at me?” Ren Jiao was puzzled by Pi Xiu’s angry look. At the sight of Lil Broom hugging Pi Xiu tightly, he felt even more annoyed. So, Ren Jiao raised his arms and said: “Lil Broom, come here. Come to your Gege3.”

Pi Xiu looked at him extremely coldly and said: “You would have to add two digits to his age compared to yours to be his fucking Gege.”

Ren Jiao: “What’s wrong with you today, huh? Who are you to him? Why the hell do you care about what title he should call me?”

At that instant, Lil Broom suddenly looked up to answer Ren Jiao’s question. With a crisp and clear voice, Lil Broom shouted to Pi Xiu: “Dad!”

In an instant, the entire Restaurant became completely silent. Both the Demons and the Humans, who came to eat, stared at Pi Xiu. Until they started to congratulate Pi Xiu, one after another, after someone randomly did it first, saying things like: “Children grow up so fast!” And such.

In fact, no one knew exactly what they should congratulate Pi Xiu about, but they thought they should do it anyway: “Being a father is the best thing in the world!”

Pi Xiu: “…..”

Pi Xiu looked at Lil Broom and asked: “Who told you that I was your father?”

Lil Broom was taken aback and stammered: “Y-you’re n-not my d-dad?”

Everyone stared at Pi Xiu, and even Ren Jiao came over to stare at him. Mr. Pi looked at everyone’s fixed gazes, and then looked at Lil Broom’s eager gaze. Lil Broom’s gaze actually caused Pi Xiu’s heart to jump and made him nod his head as if in a trance: “Yes.”

Lil Broom smiled from ear to ear and rubbed his face against Pi Xiu’s chest. He was so happy that he even stammered more than usual: “I-I’m! S-so! S-so! Ha-happy!”

Ren Jiao stopped Lil Broom and said: “Alright, alright. Your father still has business to take care of. Hurry up and go do your homework.”

As Pi Xiu stood silently in the same place, he touched his face, and then touched his head. It was as if he was savoring what it was like to be a father for the first time, feeling somewhat strange and even experiencing a tingling sensation inside him. ‘Is this really what it feels like to have a young son?’

‘Can a man as inflexible as me feel such tender feelings?’

…

Seeing Lil Broom hopping up the stairs, Wu Zu couldn’t help but put aside the menu and asked Jia Suzhen: “Miss, is that boy really the son that the Owner had with the wife I saw him with? But the age doesn’t seem to make sense.”

Jia Suzhen shook her head: “He was born a long time ago.”

“It seems to be so.” Wu Zu looked at Jia Suzhen, and after a pause, asked: “Miss Suzhen, aren’t you going to sing today? A classmate of mine heard about your singing and told me that she would also like to hear you sing.”

“I won’t sing today. But I can sing tomorrow if you bring your classmates.” Actually, more than singing, Jia Suzhen wanted to chat with the reincarnation of Scholar Wu, and spend more time together.

Jia Suzhen then pointed to her throat and told a little lie: “My throat is a bit sore, so I’ll take a break today.”

“Ah?!” Wu Zu panicked. “Do you want me to buy some medicine for you? Or would you rather have me bring you some malva nuts4? Ah, but malva nut is not tasty at all. Hmm, let me, I will definitely find something for your…..”

Wu Zu continued to ramble on, even to the point of pulling out his phone to look online for what was good for the throat. However, Wu Zu failed to notice that the person next to him was smiling softly at him, warmly looking at him.

…

Wen Xi was currently lying on the sofa watching TV. Without Pi Xiu nearby, Wen Xi felt rather cold, even with the air conditioner off. Wen Xi had covered himself with a thin blanket and hugged a long pillow in order to cover himself better.

Suddenly, the bead curtain was pulled open. When Wen Xi turned to see who had entered, he found Lil Broom standing at the edge of the stairs, attentively looking at him.

“What’s up?” Wen Xi greeted Lil Broom and motioned with his hand for him to approach. “What are you standing there for? Why don’t you come over here?”

Lil Broom was still dressed in his school uniform and backpack, so when Wen Xi noticed this, he smiled: “This is the first time I’ve seen you dressed like this. Is this what they call ‘school uniform’, right?”

Lil Broom nodded his head.

After Lil Broom put his backpack aside he followed Wen Xi’s hand. Upon having settled down on the edge of the sofa, Lil Broom hesitated for a long while, but in the end he gave Wen Xi a little shout: “Mom!”

Wen Xi, who had given Lil Broom a sweet, froze at the same time as a big imaginative question mark appeared on the top of his head. Wen Xi looked around the room, as if checking whether there was no one else in the room, then reached out a hand to touch Lil Broom’s flat chest and face, wondering if the child might have a fever. Otherwise, why would he start talking such nonsense?

Lil Broom said again: “Mom.” But this time, in an even lower voice.

Wen Xi lifted the blanket and jumped off the sofa so abruptly that he almost fell to the floor. At the same time, Wen Xi shouted as loud as he could: “Pi Xiu! Pi Xiu! Lil Broom is possessed!”

Lil Broom rushed to grab Wen Xi’s hand to stop him and stuttered: “You, don’t, don’t b-be a-agitated!”

Utterly dumbfounded, Wen Xi stared at Lil Broom reaching out his hands to gently touch his swollen belly from eating too much food in the last period of time. Lil Broom blushed and whispered: “Y-you will, will s-scare my li-little bro-brother.”

‘Insane, the entire world has gone insane.’

When Lil Broom saw Wen Xi’s stunned face, Lil Broom wondered whether Wen Xi was still unaware that he was pregnant. Therefore, Lil Broom took out his phone, opened the Demon Forum, and handed it to Wen Xi: “L-look. Is-is it tr-true wh-what th-they’re sa-saying?”

What Pi Xiu had been avoiding until now had finally happened. Wen Xi had discovered the nonsense that was being said on the Demon Forum. Upon reading the posts on the phone, Wen Xi’s face changed from an irate expression, to a sneer, to finally turning into a wry smile.

Wen Xi patted Lil Broom’s head and asked: “Can I borrow your phone?”

LIl Broom nodded: “But, but d-don’t u-use my-my a-account to post-post re-replies.”

“I promise you I won’t.” Wen Xi said with a smile.

Lil Broom sniffed with his little nose and smelled Wen Xi’s pleasant scent again. Lil Broom then tugged on Wen Xi’s sleeve and said: “I-I ha-have n-nothing a-against you b-being my step-stepmom. B-but, I-I don’t-don’t w-want to do h-homework…..”

Not only did the word ‘stepmother’ pierce Wen Xi’s fragile heart like a sharp sword, but it also destroyed the smile on Taotie’s face, who was thousands of miles away.

Wen Xi’s voice was still being transmitted live through a speaker in Taotie’s hand, when all of a sudden, the Jade statue in his other hand began to tremble. Taotie rushed to hold the Jade statue into his arms to comfort it: “Don’t be mad, don’t be mad. It must be just a joke.”

Then suddenly, Lil Broom’s voice came over the speaker again, calling Wen Xi ‘Mom’ one more time. The Jade statue began to shake wildly yet again, to the point that Taotie had to hug it tighter than before: “Don’t be mad, little lady! Don’t get angry! You’ll break the Jade statue!”

The Jade statue stopped moving, but a sigh was heard coming from inside it instead.

Taotie then swore to the Heavens: “Tomorrow I’ll send someone to teach that damn Pi Xiu a lesson! I promise!”