Chapter 224: Mother’s Gift
The video showed scenes from Ye Ming’s birthday banquet.
Watching Ye Ming hold the girl’s hand in the video, the Dean asked, "Does Huoshui like this female, too?"
Mr. Lu Sr. saw no need to hide anything from his wife. He nodded. "It’s rare to see the boy so smitten with a female. He nearly resigned from his post over it last time."
As if worried the Dean might disapprove of Shi Lan, he quickly added, "She’s a fine young lady. Her spiritual power is a little weak, true, but medical technology is so advanced now. Their escape from Black Star was a brush with death. Just getting a chance to survive is a miracle, so being able to choose a female he likes is truly precious."
"What are you getting at? I’ve met the young lady as well."
The Dean shot him a sidelong glance. The formidable Lu Dinfeng, a man of action out in the world, instantly fell into line under his wife’s gaze.
The Dean said, "I have no objection to the young lady. Young love is precious, and it’s already a rarity for Ming’er to find someone he likes. What does it matter how strong her spiritual power is? The person herself is what’s important."
She chuckled. "I used to worry he would remain single his whole life, or that he was interested in males, like the rumors on the Star Network said. Thankfully, he likes females."
"No matter who you are, you need emotional nourishment. If you go too long without it, you can become hollow, indifferent to everything. This is especially true for Ming’er. If he wants to become a Monarch who can truly benefit the people, he needs attachments and bonds more than anyone. That way, no matter what tribulations the future holds, there will be at least one tether to pull him back to the right path."
That was why, in the Dean’s eyes, the female’s character was far more important than the strength of her spiritual power.
Mr. Lu Sr. was a more straightforward man and couldn’t articulate such profound ideas as his wife. He just beamed, nodding in agreement. "Whatever my wife says is right."
The Dean pushed away the hand he was using to rub her shoulders, shaking her head with a smile. "Just sit. These old bones can’t handle that kind of massaging from you."
"Nonsense. My wife is as beautiful as ever..."
It had taken some real skill for Mr. Lu Sr. to successfully court the Dean. He rattled off a string of compliments that made her eyes crinkle, and she finally ignored him, turning her attention back to the video.
Watching the video made it feel as though she had been there in person for her son’s birthday banquet.
As for the parts with a certain person she found distasteful, she simply let her eyes skim past them.
...
Meanwhile, Ye Ming followed the picture map’s directions, passing a library, an academy of sciences, and a research exhibition hall before finally arriving at an amusement park.
He handed the amusement park ticket he’d acquired at the exhibition hall to the robotic night attendant and walked inside.
Ye Ming stared at the various rides in the amusement park, a bewildered look in his eyes. ’Given my teacher’s personality,’ he thought, ’I would have expected her to choose an educational venue like a planetarium. I never thought the final destination would be here.’
He unfolded another note. The drawing on it was simple—a doll with a large head. He recognized the location at a glance.
The amusement park was less crowded at night, but this was the bustling Capital Star with its huge population, so there were still some visitors inside.
Screams of joy and excitement filled the air, and self-driving robotic parade floats played cheerful music. The visitors were almost all in pairs and dressed casually. Dressed in a white suit and walking alone, Ye Ming looked utterly out of place.
He paid no mind to the looks from those around him and walked deeper inside.
Although Ye Ming was the Eldest Prince, he had often worn a black eye mask in the past and had just spent three years on Black Star, so most of the populace was unfamiliar with his appearance.
He made his way through the amusement park unimpeded, finally stopping at the entrance of a haunted house.
There were several amusement parks on Capital Star, and this particular one was a place Ye Ming had visited a few times as a child. He had a different temperament from other children; even when he was only a few years old, he was remarkably brave. While other kids went on the normal rides, he loved going into the haunted houses.
Perhaps because his vision was unimpeded even at night, he found the haunted houses not the least bit scary. On the contrary, he found the way the staff deliberately tried to frighten visitors more interesting.
This particular amusement park specialized in multi-themed haunted houses. The one he was at was called "Terror Dolls," and he had entered it once as a child.
Ye Ming never expected to be back here again, almost thirty years later.
He walked in. Inside, two security robots were performing maintenance, while a person wearing a holographic device was engrossed in a game.
Ye Ming pushed aside the curtain and entered the pitch-black attraction.
Screams echoed from somewhere inside, but his expression remained calm and composed as he passed one horrifying section after another.
The haunted house was likely the only place in the night-time amusement park that employed human workers.
The theme of this haunted house was "Terror Dolls," so the employees dressed up as various realistic-looking dolls. There was one made to look like it was thrown in a trash heap, wearing dusty clothes. When people passed by, it would cry mournfully, "Master, do you really not want me anymore? The trash can smells so awful... The new clothes you bought for me are all dirty..."
There was a doll with two buttons for eyes, which would suddenly shed two streams of bloody tears from the buttonholes, accompanied by chilling laughter.
There was another doll, patched and stitched all over, from which ghostly hands would emerge menacingly, beckoning guests as if to claim their souls, asking if they wanted to stay behind.
...
The scare actors, seeing not a hint of fear on his face, retreated in disappointment. A few, unwilling to give up, tried for a final jump scare, but in the darkness, Ye Ming’s eyes—which seemed to emit a faint green glow—were far more terrifying than their costumes.
The actors nearly scared themselves and scurried away dejectedly.
After walking for who knows how long, no longer bothered by the staff, Ye Ming finally spotted the gift box at a dark corner. It was in the center of a large tree, from which countless cloth dolls were hanging.
He was certain it was the right one because a unique symbol his teacher had taught him as a child was glowing on the gift box in the darkness.
Ye Ming took it down. Staring at the symbol, his expression grew distant.
He brought the gift back to the palace where he was staying. It was already past midnight when he finally opened his teacher’s present.
It was a mechanical model of a spaceship.
The moment Ye Ming saw the spaceship model, his memories flooded back to his childhood.
His birthday had been approaching then, too, and his mother had asked him what gift he wanted. He had pointed to a spaceship model on the Star Network.
His father believed such things were frivolous toys that would erode one’s ambition, so he forbade him from playing with them.
His mother had promised to get it for him, but they divorced not long after. He went to live with his father, and he never received the spaceship model.
He never imagined she would still remember.
As Ye Ming took out the model, it suddenly dissolved into countless blue motes of light that converged in midair, forming the schematic of a spaceship. A piloting bracelet for the ship materialized in the very center.
It turned out his teacher hadn’t just sent him a model; she had given him an actual spaceship.
Ye Ming put away the piloting bracelet and gathered all the notes he had received that evening. It seemed that every place he had gone to tonight held a trace of his childhood memories with his mother.
He had often felt that his mother didn’t love him. But thinking back on his years on Black Star, her birthday wishes had never once been missed. His father, on the other hand, had forgotten for the past two years.
A warmth spread through his chest, and it felt as though he had finally let go of so much.