"You're trying to abandon me, aren't you?"
The boy's black eyes were incredibly bright, like two sparkling pools of water. He looked up at Su Miao with his damp gaze.
Su Miao glanced at him briefly before looking away, blowing out a smoke ring.
What kind of situation was this?
Painless motherhood?
She should have been happy to suddenly gain a grown son, but this son was destined to become a villain in the future! And not just any villain, but a ruthless, vicious antagonist.
That's right, she had transmigrated into a novel.
She had become the birth mother of the cruel villain.
Transmigration itself wasn't a big deal; it was quite common these days.
But couldn't she have arrived at a better time?
According to the novel, the first thing the ruthless villain did after growing up was to find and imprison his birth mother who had abandoned him years ago.
And she had arrived just as her predecessor had abandoned the child and was about to run away. Perhaps because it was such a despicable act, the original Su Miao had suddenly died of a heart attack as she turned to flee. That's when Su Miao from the apocalyptic world had taken over her body.
"I asked you, were you trying to abandon me?" The boy repeated his question when Su Miao didn't respond.
His expression was cold, his beautiful face devoid of warmth. His captivating eyes were dark and intense, exuding a strong sense of aggression like a small beast ready to bite.
Su Miao didn't answer. Instead, she raised her hand to take a deep drag from her cigarette. Then she stood up, flicking the butt into a nearby trash can. "I'm hungry. Let's go home and eat."
Su Yuyan frowned. He really couldn't understand this woman anymore.
Just moments ago, she had clearly intended to abandon him. He had seen her run away, but for some reason, after tripping and getting back up, she didn't run anymore. Instead, she looked at him with a strange expression.
Could it be that the fall had made her lose her mind?
The pair walked towards home, one big and one small, one in front and one behind, in complete silence.
Su Miao could feel Su Yuyan's puzzled gaze on her, but she chose to ignore it. She had to ignore it.
There was no other choice. How else could she explain?
Should she tell him, "I'm just a transmigrator who's taken over your mother's body, not your real mom?"
Who would believe that? Probably not even a three-year-old child.
Then again, this kid seemed to be about five. Maybe a five-year-old would believe it, Su Miao thought mischievously.
As she opened the door, a musty, damp smell hit her, causing her to instinctively hold her breath.
The room was tiny and cramped, everything visible at a glance. On the coffee table sat some leftover cookies that looked soft and stale, having been there for quite some time. The trash can beside it was full of instant noodle wrappers.
Good grief, was this really where the future big villain lived?
Seeing that Su Miao wasn't moving, Su Yuyan walked past her into the room. He sat down on a small stool and obediently took off his shoes.
Su Miao pursed her lips and followed him in, closing the door behind her.
In less than five minutes, Su Miao had thoroughly explored the place.
To call it a home was generous; it was more like a rented room. The place was pitifully bare, with hardly any food except for the half-pack of softened cookies on the coffee table.
Su Miao looked around the room. "Where's the money? I'll go out and buy some food."
Judging from the trash in the bin, this mother and son had been surviving on instant noodles for the past week. While an adult might be able to endure such a diet for a short while, it certainly wasn't suitable for a child.
As soon as Su Miao finished speaking, Su Yuyan looked at her as if she were an idiot.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Su Miao felt perplexed by his gaze. "I'm really going to buy food. I won't run away."
Su Miao thought Su Yuyan's look meant he suspected she was trying to escape.
"You just spent all the money we had on cigarettes." This woman really must have hit her head.
She should know better than anyone how much money they had at home, and wasn't she always the one in charge of their finances?
Most importantly, she actually smoked now? He had never known that before.
Su Miao froze. "..."
Shit!
Damn it, why didn't he say so earlier?
Remembering how she had told the shopkeeper to keep the change earlier, she now wanted to strangle herself. If she hadn't acted so generous then, they would at least have a couple of coins left now.
Wasn't the original Su Miao supposed to be from a wealthy family? Why were they so poor?
After a moment of silent eye contact, Su Miao grabbed the thin jacket hanging on the chair. "I'm going out for a bit. Stay here by yourself."
Before Su Yuyan could say anything, Su Miao had already left.
Stepping out of the cramped rental room, Su Miao stood by the roadside and took a deep breath of fresh air. "That room is really not fit for human habitation."
What was wrong with the original Su Miao? How did she end up in such dire straits?
This society should be easier to live in compared to the apocalyptic world, right?
Su Miao had thrived in the apocalypse; she had never experienced such poor conditions. If she could make it in the apocalypse, surely she could manage here.
Su Miao was confident.
But the higher one's expectations, the harder the fall.
Indeed, an hour later, Su Miao sat dejectedly by the roadside, smoking a cigarette. "There must be something wrong with this society. They won't even hire someone as beautiful as me to wash dishes. What's that about?"
"Are they discriminating against pretty women?"
As the sky grew darker, Su Miao became increasingly impatient.
If she couldn't earn any money soon, the child would go hungry.
Su Miao stared at the bar across the street, lost in thought. But before the idea could fully form in her mind, she dismissed it.
She shook her head. "No way. In the past, I was always the one choosing which male models to drink with. They would eagerly come to toast me. Now I've fallen so low that I'm considering accompanying others for drinks just to earn tips? The contrast is too stark."
Did she really have to earn money this way?
But if she couldn't earn money, wouldn't the child starve?
Looking at the not-yet-extinguished cigarette between her fingers, Su Miao felt like she had swallowed a fly – unable to spit it out or swallow it down.
Serves her right for spending their food money on cigarettes.
Su Miao stubbed out the cigarette and stood up. "It seems I really have no choice but to earn money this way."
Just as she stood up, a car covered in posters slowly passed by, blocking her path.
As she looked at the poster on the car, Su Miao's eyes lit up.
"It's true that where there's a will, there's a way. When one door closes, another opens."