Chapter 117: A Dream at Dawn

For example, she could have eaten her favorite large strawberries every two days. But after her uncle and aunt came to visit, if her mother didn’t work hard to earn money, she would only be able to eat them once every three, four, or even five days. Actually, Yunduo didn’t mind whether she ate strawberries or not, but her mother clearly thought otherwise.

Over time, she began to like her uncle and aunt less.

However, Yunduo knew that her mother liked to see her get along well with her uncle and aunt. Living alone with her daughter, her mother’s greatest fear was that one day something might happen to her, and Yunduo would be left without anyone to take care of her.

So every time she saw her uncle and aunt, she would put on an act with them.

Not for anything else, but just to see her mother’s happy smile!

At this moment, it was the same. Yunduo could feel that although her maternal grandparents were unreliable and her uncle and aunt only added to her mother’s burden, they were, after all, the few relatives her mother had left in this world. Seeing them still made her mother happy.

Yunduo smiled brightly and said, “Mom, the little world isn’t boring at all.”

“There are little deer keeping me company, and little crocodiles and little golden plovers too. Recently, there are also many little bugs! They’re all very interesting. I play with a different one every day, and that keeps me entertained for ten days, even half a month. The only thing is, I miss you when I can’t see you.”

Yu Yan gently stroked Yunduo’s head, feeling a bit bittersweet.

Since the arrival of the dungeon world, she truly hadn’t had much time to accompany Yunduo.

But compared to the previous life, when they were separated forever by death, now seeing her daughter lively and able to spend a few days together whenever possible made Yu Yan feel satisfied. However, Yunduo had no memories of her past life.

The world had turned upside down overnight; every day was either spent fighting dungeon monsters or on the way to fight them.

Her mother no longer revolved around her constantly, paying close attention to every little thing as before. The emotional gap must have been enormous.

But Yu Yan was powerless to change this.

She could only rely on Yunduo to understand and grow on her own.

The mother and daughter chatted for a while, and since they were already in the village and didn’t want to attract attention, Yu Yan, though wanting to be closer to her daughter, didn’t choose to personally prepare cooked food for her.

She took out some pre-cooked boar meat, divided it up, and they ate their fill.

Only then did Yu Yan personally wash two pears, peeled and sliced them into a large plate.

“Here, Duoduo, have some fruit after your meal.”

Each piece of pear was cut into the shape of a heart using a mold.

Two cartoon-shaped fruit forks were stuck into the plate.

Yunduo was a little surprised; her mother hadn’t prepared fruit for her with such care in a long time. Before the dungeon world arrived, this kind of meticulous service was something she could enjoy almost daily. After the dungeon world’s arrival, it had become a thing of the past.

Not to mention peeling and cutting into heart shapes.

Just washing the fruit for her was considered a luxury; most of the time, her mother would just wipe it on her clothes and hand it to her carelessly.

Later on, even that treatment ceased.

Because her own little space was stocked with plenty of fruit. Her mother usually ate fruit by herself, and if she noticed Yunduo looking, she would ask, “Have you finished your fruit? Then I’ll send you into the plant spirit world; you can pick whatever you like yourself!”

Thinking of this, Yunduo suddenly stiffened.

Sometimes she truly wondered if her mother was possessed by something else, and that her real mother was actually gone.

Yet, some of Yu Yan’s unconscious actions and her protection at critical moments were undeniably real. In the first few days after the dungeon world’s arrival, Yu Yan was often injured while protecting her. Yunduo felt a pang of emotion, picked up her own cartoon princess-shaped fruit fork, and popped a heart-shaped pear slice into her mouth.

“Mom’s fruit is really the best!”

This spontaneous remark caused both mother and daughter to momentarily freeze.

In just over a month, it felt to Yunduo as if several lifetimes had passed.

As for Yu Yan, she had truly lived a lifetime without a daughter. After being reborn, naturally, she was very happy to see her daughter again!

Yet sometimes, she would have fleeting doubts—

Had she really been reborn?

Was her daughter really alive?

Was this all just a fleeting dream?

Until this very moment, familiar teasing words brought back long-lost memories. Combined with over a month of time together, Yu Yan finally felt a sense of reality and a tangible feeling of truly having her daughter back.

“Duoduo.”

Yu Yan called softly without thinking and pulled Yunduo into her arms.

The two savored this rare moment of parent-child closeness. After a while, Yunduo muttered softly, “Mom, that’s enough. I still need to train!”

Her enhancer rank was about to break through to mid-fourth grade, and she didn’t want to waste this precious time hugging her mother. Hmm... there would be plenty of chances to hug later; for now, the most important thing was to improve her strength.

Only by becoming powerful could she ensure that when her mother faced dangerous dungeons, she wouldn’t instinctively abandon her.

Only then could she truly help her mother!

Yu Yan: “...”

After such a rare moment of warmth following her rebirth, she was even rejected by her daughter?

Fine, train then!

She had been stuck at the peak of the fourth grade for several days anyway; she might as well see if she could break through.

Breaking through... naturally, was impossible so quickly.

Unless she forced it again, absorbing and refining spiritual items far beyond her own realm. But time passed unnoticed during cultivation; it felt like only a blink of an eye before day turned to night, and sunlight streamed through the blinds of the window, shining on Yu Yan’s face.

She stopped training. After such a long time, the twins should be well and truly fooled.

After all, in their eyes, Yu Yan’s powers were vast and unfathomable.

Just taking Yunduo into an S-rank dungeon to kill two fifth-grade monsters? Spending a few hours on that was nothing to them, and even if Yu Yan did it in half an hour, they wouldn’t find it strange.

“Duoduo, let’s go. We’re going to meet your grandparents and your uncle and aunt now.”

...

“Why haven’t they arrived yet? Didn’t you say your eldest sister was really powerful?”

A middle-aged woman with a few wrinkles at the corners of her eyes, showing signs of aging, wore a clean, bright white embroidered blouse and fashionable cropped jeans. On her feet were five-centimeter heeled sandals, worn with flesh-colored stockings.

Her eyes flickered with anxiety as she lightly tapped her son’s shoulder.

“I’m telling you, if anything happens to your eldest sister, I won’t let you off.”

“You’ve already seen your eldest sister; how could you come back alone?”

“And Xiao Wan, your brother is shy. You’re pretty capable, aren’t you? That’s an S-rank dungeon. If your eldest sister goes in again, why didn’t you stop her? If something happened to her, and she’s carrying so many treasures, wouldn’t the monsters in the dungeon profit?”

Yu Wan: “...”

She had just thought her mother was worried about her eldest sister’s safety.

But after a few words, her mother’s true thoughts were exposed. That’s her mother for you!