Reborn: The Return of the Villainous Mr. Liu-Chapter 1257: Slapped sober
Alix's countenance stiffened for a moment.
"Hey, what is with this scarf? Why is it so haphazard?" Mui grabbed it from her mother's hands, pinpointing the very obvious stitching issues.
Alix used the same scarf to strangle her.
"What!? What!? What did I do? Why am I being killed in broad daylight?" 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖
Ren Cuifen frowned. "You weren't so good at it either when you had started out. Don't be mean to your sister."
Sweat formed on her forehead. "Eh? This is sis's scarf?"
"Also the very murder weapon behind your tragic death," Alix arched a brow.
"..."
Laughter rippled through the living room.
Shui, meanwhile, sat cross-legged on the carpet, her drawing book open in her lap. She flipped through the pages slowly, recognition dawning with every chaotic scribble.
"That's Bro," she pointed at a lopsided stick figure with aggressively long legs. "And that's Dad."
"And that's…wow, that's Grandpa? Why does he look like a potato?"
Han Tian, who had been observing the madness with a cup of tea, leaned over and squinted. "Potato? I was that handsome?"
Zhong Sihan grimaced. "Get your head out of the clouds. The more handsome one was me obviously."
"Hah!" He snorted. "And what did that beauty lead you to? An eternal single life?"
"So what? Even being single, I have an amazing son!"
Lin coughed, slightly embarrassed.
On the other side, Ailun picked a pair of glasses from the wooden chest. "Glasses!"
This time, Jun coughed. "Those are mine. I used to wear it when I was a kid."
Ai beamed. "Wear them again. I will take a picture!"
"No thanks."
She pouted. "Don't be a meanie. These are all fun memories. Look, Ailun is already wearing it. Don't be a spoilsport."
Helpless and defeated, Jun eventually caved in, though he didn't know it felt so awkward wearing his childhood glasses as an adult.
"Okay, this looks really stupid. You dare not take a picture."
"That's for me to decide."
When the fun and chaos of reliving childhood memories ended, Jun glanced at Nana.
"I suppose this is our treasure."
Nana smiled. "There are many things you thought were discarded and thrown away but we didn't. Because we, as parents, wanted our children to look back at these same memories one day. Some are happy, some are awkward, some are bitter - but every memory teaches us something. Make us remember our roots too. Though that time has passed, it makes us who we are today."
"Mom…"
The twins jumped to hug her, embracing her with all their might. In the end, Jinhai kicked them away. "Mom, this is the best treasure! We love you!"
"Don't choke her."
"We are not!!"
A slight mistiness brimmed Leina's eyes. "That's true. Now that I am a mother, I will never throw away Aang and Taio's stuff. They might feel it's useless but not me."
Jing raised his hand. "But the main question still remains. Who won the treasure hunt?"
Liu Hai scowled. "Of course it's us, Team Red! Shui found the treasure chest first!"
"It was Lin!"
"It was Shui, you brat!"
Nana left the father-son duo to continue fighting while she stood up. "Well, we can keep debating on that but how about we have some cake first?"
Everyone's ears perked up. "Cake?"
"Cake?"
"Mom's baked cake?"
"It's a partyyyy!!"
"Well, it's not just cake, but a whole feast. Hehe, everyone has cooked some yummy dishes," Nana grinned.
The chaotic quadruple gang narrowed their eyes. Then it became a hexagon when Zixin's brother, Yunru and Chyou's brother, Xiang joined in.
"A feast. You know what this means?"
"Our stomachs need to be in tip-top shape. There is no room for error."
"Our stomachs…must be bottomless pits to devour all the food!"
"Defeat will not be tolerated!"
Jun's brow twitched.
Oh God, it will be so noisy….
—
A grand feast later came a grander drinking party. The sky was the limit. There was no end to the beer bottles. Sadly for Chyou and Alix, they couldn't freely indulge in this party while being breastfeeding mothers. So Jin made sure that he thoroughly compensated Alix's lack of participation - which came at a heavy price.
"Alix, Alix," he poked on her shoulder with a sheepish grin. "Do you love me?"
Alix raised a brow. "Yes, I do."
"Yaayyyyy!" His eyes sparkled with pure joy, a red tint forming a blush on his cheeks.
"Wooooooo," Liu Hai gave a thumbs up while hicupping. "Atta boy. That's *hic* how my grandson should be like. Fearless!"
"Hai! What did I say about alcohol!" Liu Chunhua glared, slapping mercilessly right across his face.
"Owwww!! Chunhua dear, your violence hurts!"
"Have you forgotten your age to down so many beer bottles as if you were twenty?" she scowled.
"I mean…don't I still look as handsome as I was twenty?" he grinned.
The answer was a second slap across his face, now completely sobering him up while also flashing the past memories like a sweet siren.
"Hey, wake up! Wake up! Oh my God…you are dying!!"
"Huh…?" A twenty-five year old Liu Hai was just groggily looking at the woman before him in a daze.
"Why…are my cheeks burning as if I am in hell? Wait, have I died and am really in hell right now?"
"Oh my God…It's all my fault…"
"But a Goddess sits right in front of me so I wonder if this is heaven?"
A young Chunhua paled even further. "Now he is talking nonsense…What have I done? Have I made him go crazy? No…no, no! Please, you have to wake up!"
"I am already awake-"
A series of God knows how many slaps later did Chunhua finally believe that Hai was indeed alive.
"Thank God you are alive…" she cried tears of relief. "I thought I killed you."
"I mean, in a way…you are not wrong…" Hai could barely utter coherent words anymore with his deadly gorgeous handsome face now marred with the vicious impact of her back-to-back slaps.
"A-Are you okay?"
With my cheeks swollen and burning so glaringly red, do I look okay to you?
"So-Sorry, you fell down the stairs because of me. I was in a rush and didn't see you coming…" she wiped her reddened eyes. "I am so sorry. Are you hurt anywhere? Did you hit your head? Y-you haven't gone mental, right?"
"..."
Hai supported himself against the wall, his face aching more than the bodily injuries he sustained from the staircase fall. His physical scratches felt cuter compared to coming head-on with the palm of her hand. He wondered why her hands looked completely alright but not his face.
So he smiled as he asked, "By any chance, are you single?"
