The Egg Custard Trick

“Mom, how’s everything here?” Li Huowang swallowed the soft, slippery egg custard and spoke to Sun Xiaoqin, who was sitting by his bed.

“Everything’s fine. As long as you’re okay, I’m fine with everything.” Sun Xiaoqin forced a smile onto her face as she spoke to Li Huowang.

Even though she said that, Li Huowang could still detect an oddness in the small details of her expression.

His mother’s smile was fake. She was saying it so he wouldn’t worry.

“Mom, don’t worry. The electrotherapy at this psychiatric hospital is working on me. It’ll just take some time to recover. Give me a little more time.”

“Oh, Mom’s not worried. I’m really not worried at all. My son is definitely going to get better.” Sun Xiaoqin smiled, shaking her head repeatedly in denial.

Li Huowang sighed inwardly. Cultivation was far harder than he had imagined. If he wanted to escape this difficult situation here, it would take a lot of time.

He had already been waiting this long. He wasn’t afraid of waiting. But during this long stretch of time, his mother would probably be tormented by constant anxiety and uncertainty.

Should I set aside more time to keep her company? Pretend my condition is improving? Li Huowang ran these thoughts through his head briefly, then immediately discarded them.

Doing that would be a complete waste of time. Instead, it would only push his actual goal further and further out of reach. It was far more worthwhile to use that time on cultivation.

Seeing Sun Xiaoqin’s forced cheerfulness, Li Huowang thought for a moment, then spoke. “Mom, when I get out, I want to play games. I want to play computer games for a whole year. Is that okay?”

Hearing this, Sun Xiaoqin’s eyes lit up. “Sure! Sure! When the time comes, I’ll peel fruit for you on the side! You can play as long as you want!”

“If it’s not fun enough playing alone, I’ll have your father play with you! He’ll stay up all night with you!”

A small smile tugged at the corner of Li Huowang’s mouth. He nodded approvingly, then continued, “After I get better, let’s travel around the world. Go bungee jumping, skydiving—do all the things we never did before.”

“Oh my, oh my, I’d never dare to bungee jump. When the time comes, you and your dad can go. Just watching other people’s videos of jumping on Douyin makes my heart race.”

As Li Huowang steered the topic toward visions of life after discharge, Sun Xiaoqin’s attention was quickly diverted. The two chatted more and more happily, and a natural smile finally settled on her face.

Seeing his mother genuinely happy at last, Li Huowang sighed softly to himself.

There’s not much I can do right now. The only thing I can do is use those small Zuowandao tricks to cheer her up a bit.

“Son, do you want to play some games? How about I go get that little handheld game console of yours?”

“No need, Mom. Besides, I can’t even play right now.”

“Oh, right. What about cartoons? You used to love watching cartoons, didn’t you? I heard there’s a really interesting new one. I’ll use my phone to put it on for you.”

Watching Sun Xiaoqin open her bag and search for her phone, a wry smile rose in Li Huowang’s heart. I’m long past being that high school kid Li Huowang. When would I ever be interested in new anime again?

Thinking this, Li Huowang paused slightly. He was only eighteen this year, wasn’t he? Why did he feel so old and jaded?

Compared to this young body, he seemed to fit the older body on the other side better.

Actually, come to think of it—is it because the other side has two fewer hours in a day than this side, so that body is older than this one?

Wait… does this mean that both sides could actually be real?

Li Huowang frowned deeply, mulling over the question. But a guess without other evidence would ultimately just be rootless driftwood.

Forget it. Since I’ve already decided to use cultivation to make this side completely real, why bother thinking about all this?

Seeing that Sun Xiaoqin was holding an old phone with a cracked screen and starting to activate a VIP subscription for some software, Li Huowang quickly stopped her.

“Mom, don’t bother. It’s a waste of money. I’ll be going back soon.”

At these words, the smile on Sun Xiaoqin’s face gradually faded. “So soon? Just one meal and you’re leaving again? Son, can you really control when you wake up now? Is this a sign you’re recovering?”

“You could say that, Mom. I’ll come have dinner with you again in three days.”

Sun Xiaoqin reluctantly put her phone back into her bag. “Alright then. I’ll be waiting. Don’t you forget.”

“Absolutely won’t. Oh, and Mom, one last thing. Have you heard anything about Nana? Is she feeling any better?” The image of that cute girl smiling slyly at him floated into Li Huowang’s mind.

“Nana’s fine. I heard she didn’t get hospitalized. The doctor just prescribed her some medicine and told her to take it back to school.”

“Ah, honestly, if it weren’t for your illness holding things up… having Nana as my daughter-in-law would make me, this future mother-in-law, more than happy. I’ve loved that child since she was little.”

“Mom, don’t worry. Once I’m better, I’ll definitely win Nana back and make her your daughter-in-law!”

“Oh my, when did my son learn to talk so sweetly? Fine! Your mother is waiting to drink her son’s wedding wine!” The worry that had just been on Sun Xiaoqin’s face turned back to happiness.

When the world around Li Huowang gradually coalesced, he returned to that pitch-black world. Even though he had been blind for some time now, he still couldn’t fully get used to it.

“Li Sui?” Li Huowang reached his hand out in front of him.

Soon, his hand touched a strange, sticky hand with prominent joints and sharp fingernails. “Dad, I’m here.”

“Let’s go. Take me back to the village.”

“Dad, you just picked something up from the ground—“

“I just ate egg custard!” Li Huowang directly cut off Li Sui’s words and repeated himself. “I just ate egg custard.”

Li Sui thought for a moment, then asked again, “Is that so? Where is it? I want some too.”

“Okay, let’s go back to the village first. Once we’re there, we’ll have Yang Xiaohai make you some. Mom, stop looking over here. I’m busy right now and can’t stay awake. I’ll definitely come for dinner in three days.”

Under Li Sui’s guidance, Li Huowang followed the rugged mountain path back to the Bai family compound.

After returning to his room, Li Huowang sat down on a stool and called out to Li Sui, who was heading to the kitchen. “Take the gauze off my face. Let me see how my eyes are healing.”

When Li Sui carefully removed the gauze, a beam of light shot into the darkness, making Li Huowang squint immediately. It was too bright.

When he slowly opened his eyes again, he found that his world had returned to normal. His blind eyes had recovered.

He glanced at the black-tiled roof outside the window, then focused his attention on Li Sui.

She took off her bamboo hat and untied her straw rain cape. Li Huowang took in the full view of Li Sui’s new appearance.