Chapter 106

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Chapter 106: The Family Feast

A room adjacent to the living room was lit, but no one came out. A whiny voice rang out from inside: “Brother!” Well, that’s one way to give face to her stepfather; the matter was settled.

“This girl!” Lin Yuanfang shook his head and smiled apologetically at Lin Mo. “Xiao Mo! Don’t mind her; she just plays on the computer all day without studying. Who knows if she’ll even get into college?”

“Raising sons in poverty and daughters in wealth; they’ll be fine when they grow up!” Lin Mo chuckled, borrowing words he had heard from his comrades. His predecessor also had a childhood of average means, but everyone has their fate. If Lin Yuanfang had struck it rich back then, he probably wouldn’t have ended up divorced, and Lin Mo could have been like Yang Shanshan, just playing all day.

“Sit for a bit. I’ll prepare the dishes, and when Yang Lian gets back, we’ll eat!” Lin Yuanfang tied on his kitchen apron again and headed into the kitchen.

After watching some TV, Lin Mo heard Yang Shanshan shouting loudly from another room.

“Charge! Charge! Burn his house!”

“Heal, heal! I’m going to die!”

“Quick, it’s about to explode, hurry!”

“Thick-skinned ones, go and block; I can’t take too many hits!”

“Hey, hey! I’m dead! My gear! Damn it, I’m done playing!”

Maybe a game character had died, and the girl inside let out a dramatic scream. The sound of the keyboard and mouse clattering wildly followed, and with hurried footsteps, a girl in pink pajamas with shoulder-length hair stormed out, throwing Lin Mo a fierce glare as she spotted him on the sofa. She huffed disdainfully and stormed into the bathroom.

She was quite good-looking, but had a temper—Lin Mo’s first impression of Yang Shanshan left no memory of her in the mind of his predecessor.

Perhaps feeling displeased from her gaming session, Yang Shanshan lingered on the balcony after using the bathroom and muttered something softly to herself. After a bit, she returned to the other side of the sofa and plopped down, completely ignoring Lin Mo as she grabbed the TV remote and began flipping channels randomly.

Lin Mo frowned, but then his eyes widened as he noticed a small creature in her hands.

A curled-up golden ball python was flicking its tongue; thankfully, he had seen something similar in an animal encyclopedia, or he might have been startled.

Ha! Are you scared now? Yang Shanshan thought triumphantly as she rolled her eyes at Lin Mo, clearly enjoying the moment.

This girl! Lin Mo shook his head. There’s a strange hostility here. Who knows how many people have been scared away by her little tricks? I’m not afraid of a Giant Dragon; why would I be scared of a timid ball python that curls up at the slightest scare? If only she knew I keep a Giant Dragon as a pet—she’d probably hide under the covers!

Lin Mo flipped through his world’s animal encyclopedia and found no mention of any biological species of Giant Dragons; they mostly existed only in legends. Perhaps they once roamed in ancient times but were now extinct. His greatest takeaway was gaining some understanding of various species, so he wasn’t taken aback by Yang Shanshan suddenly pulling out a snake.

Yang Shanshan seemed to be competing with Lin Mo, and seeing him unbothered just fueled her mischief. She tossed the ball python toward Lin Mo’s side of the sofa, almost obstructing the remote. The program on the screen erratically switched channels, resembling a spinning lantern.

However, Lin Mo remained calm, silent and motionless, letting Yang Shanshan quietly challenge him. This strange rejection was difficult to comprehend; he didn’t remember ever offending Yang Shanshan.

“Shanshan, what are you doing? Just watch TV properly; stop messing around! It’s so annoying!” Hearing the chaos from the living room, Lin Yuanfang peeked his head out from the kitchen. He saw his daughter fussing around on the sofa, not choosing a channel to watch.

“What a lousy program!” Yang Shanshan grumbled, tossing the remote down and sulking as she plopped onto the sofa. Suddenly, she turned to Lin Mo, sizing him up and down before exclaiming, “Hey, you’re Lin Mo, right? Where do you work?”

“The Air Force!” Lin Mo responded with a friendly smile, maintaining a standard military posture.

“The Air Force?! So, do you manage the warehouse, handling transport, or are you in the cooking team or just a regular gofer?!” It seemed the term ‘Air Force’ felt very distant to Yang Shanshan; she probably only glanced at those ominous little black dots in the sky from afar.

“Pilot!” Lin Mo’s tone carried a hint of pride. In his heart, being a pilot equated to being a Dragon Knight; although he didn’t have a Giant Dragon mount, his striking power was no less than that of one.

“Pilot?! Really?” Yang Shanshan seemed to have discovered something new, examining Lin Mo with a scanning gaze. “Did you just graduate from college? What kind of plane do you fly? An F-22 or an F-16?”

Sweat! This girl has no idea about the Air Force and mistakes Lin Mo for an American pilot, leaving him speechless. However, it would take a lot to explain, and he had no plans to waste his breath.

“Domestic J-10!” Lin Mo stated, still quite supportive of domestic products, recalling how close he had come to getting shot down by the homegrown Pioneer-4.

“Pfft! Domestic products! Just so-so!” Yang Shanshan waved her hand dismissively, slightly uninterested. Then, as if an idea struck her, she smiled and moved closer to Lin Mo, tossing the troublesome ball python into a corner. The poor creature, thrown into the corner of the sofa by its owner, curled up in fear.

“Lin Mo, can you take me for a ride in your airplane one day?” Yang Shanshan seized the opportunity to show off in front of her friends, bragging about flying in a fighter jet instead of merely driving a private car.

“You?!” Lin Mo looked at the girl, clearly too delicate. A simple acceleration would be overwhelming for her. Normal folks black out at 6G; a maximum of 9G overload in a J-10 would likely make her lose control; just pulling some subsonic maneuvering or diving, and she’d probably soil herself, laying in bed for at least two weeks.

Lin Mo shook his finger at her and said, “It’s military confidential. If you don’t want to be taken to the police for tea, don’t mention to anyone that I’m a pilot.” He could see Yang Shanshan’s intentions; she wanted to impress her friends and was cunningly trying to latch onto his fighter jet. Fighter jets aren’t toys for just anyone to ‘play with!’

Clearly, Lin Mo was intimidating the na?ve girl!

“You’re scaring me, huh? I’m not easily frightened!” Yang Shanshan bravely defended herself, though inside, she couldn’t help but feel a mix of trepidation and excitement.

“Haha! One fighter jet could be traded for hundreds of Ferraris, and you can’t just buy one with money. Do you think they’re not significant?” Lin Mo casually compared, noticing the young girl’s face gradually pale. She lacked experience with the world; she was too easily frightened.

“Wow, are you seriously flying hundreds of Ferraris in the sky? That’s more impressive than Santa Claus!” Yang Shanshan stumbled over her words, her little-girl admiration for Lin Mo evident, her previous disdain forgotten.

“Haha!” Lin Mo laughed, realizing he needn’t keep up the act. Still, his current profession did fall under confidentiality.

Lin Yuanfang, initially worried about the two children not getting along, peeked from the kitchen and found them enjoying their conversation, feeling relieved.

Just then, the main door to the living room opened, and a middle-aged woman walked in, dressed in professional attire and holding a GUCCI bag, clearly just getting off work. Spotting a stranger on the sofa, she smiled warmly, “Is that you, Xiao Mo? I’ve heard from your dad that you were coming over this afternoon. I’m so sorry! I had some work at the company and couldn’t leave on time.”

“It’s nothing! Aunt Yang, you’ve worked hard!” Lin Mo didn’t know how to address Yang Lian, but Lin Yuanfang, who was still busy in the kitchen, half-emerged to clarify for him, “Xiao Mo, just call her ‘Xiao Ma’ (little mom). We’re all family, so no need to be formal.”

“It’s okay, it’s okay!” Yang Lian smiled sweetly, changed into her slippers, and began helping Lin Yuanfang.

The extensive meal that Lin Yuanfang had carefully prepared finally appeared after a full morning and afternoon of work, with over ten enticing dishes.

At the dinner table, Lin Mo noticed something unique about his “little mom.” Even though she didn’t nag like most middle-aged women, her few words were difficult to pin down. Unknowingly, she seemed to exclude him from Lin Yuanfang’s family.

Lin Mo looked at Yang Shanshan, happily eating with no ulterior motives, and simply smiled, understanding.

“Xiao Mo, how long will you be back?” Lin Yuanfang asked at the table, knowing his son was in a highly classified military unit, so he couldn’t inquire about his work and life situation.

“About a month of leave from higher-ups to relax,” Lin Mo said, slowly savoring the food prepared by his father, a luxury he had never dreamed of in the other world.

“Oh, well, make sure to take a good break and travel a bit. By the way, do you have a driver’s license? Here, this is my BMW key; the license plate is Zhe A××××××! Feel free to take it for a drive!” Lin Yuanfang pulled out the key and handed it over, understanding that his son’s unit was likely engaging in special operations considering the month-long leave.

Yang Shanshan eyed the keys with envy. Her stepfather’s vehicle had never been within her reach; she only had a little red compact car herself.

“I do have a license, but it’s for flying planes!” Lin Mo said awkwardly, scratching his head. Even if he had brought a plane back, he wouldn’t dare drive a J-10 around town.

“Uh! Forget it!” Lin Yuanfang awkwardly retracted the keys and suggested, “Why don’t you move in for a few days? Keep me company!”