Beauties in Simulation Cross over into Reality

After applying the ointment, Xiao Mo ate dinner and took a hot bath. By the time he was done, the Hour of Xu had arrived.

After a full day of martial arts practice, Xiao Mo was indeed a bit tired and wanted to go back to his room to rest.

But just then, a commotion erupted from outside the courtyard.

Zhou Ruoxi looked up to see seven or eight women, each pulling a child along, storming toward the courtyard.

Xiao Mo’s heart sank. ’This isn’t good,’ he thought. ’They’re almost certainly here to complain.’

“Good evening, ladies. Is there something I can help you with?” Zhou Ruoxi asked as she stepped forward.

“Is there something you can help us with, Zhou Ruoxi?” one of the women shot back, her chest heaving with anger. She yanked her child forward. “You just look at our Xiao Fu! Look what your Xiao Mo did to him!”

“And our Xiao Gui! Look, his eye is all swollen!”

“My Xiao Miao lost a tooth!”

“Your Xiao Mo doesn’t just hit people—is he starving or something? He even stole my son’s lunch!”

“And my son’s, too! Do you have any idea that my son only got a few vegetables and plain rice for lunch?”

“Zhou Ruoxi! You’d better give us an explanation today!”

The seven or eight women all spoke at once, like a gaggle of unreasonable shrews in the street.

Zhou Ruoxi didn’t speak right away. Instead, she looked at the children.

They were indeed bruised and swollen, and they looked terribly wronged, yet there was also a hint of guilt in their eyes.

Amid the cacophony, Zhou Ruoxi turned her gaze to her Mo’er.

Xiao Mo stood ramrod straight, feeling a little nervous himself.

Back in the orphanage, Xiao Mo had been in his fair share of fights. But regardless of who was right or wrong, the director would punish both sides with thirty strikes of a paddle.

Xiao Mo wasn’t afraid of being hit.

’What he feared most right now… was his mother getting angry.’

Zhou Ruoxi knelt, took Xiao Mo’s small hand, and said softly, “Mo’er, can you tell Mother what happened?”

“Mother, I was just eating my lunch today when Xiao Yang and a few others came over. They tried to steal the meat from my bowl, so I fought them,” Xiao Mo said, his head lowered.

“Is there more?” Zhou Ruoxi pressed.

“Also…” Xiao Mo said, looking guilty. “I stole the meat from their bowls.”

“…”

Hearing the Young Master’s description, Cuicui was stunned, wondering if she had misheard.

’If I remember correctly, Xiao Yang is five, isn’t he? Did the Young Master really fight someone two years older than him, plus a bunch of other little tykes, and *win*?’

“Mother understands.”

Zhou Ruoxi ruffled her son’s hair, then stood up and looked at Xiao Fu, who was at the front. She asked gently, “Fufu, tell Auntie, is that what happened? Was my Mo’er lying?”

Faced with this beautiful and gentle auntie, the little turnip Xiao Fu nodded and stammered timidly, “Yes… that’s what happened…”

Seeing Xiao Fu admit it, Zhou Ruoxi turned to the women. “I’m sure you ladies heard that. The children did indeed have a small disagreement, and on behalf of my Mo’er, I apologize to your children.

“However, it’s normal for children to squabble. Furthermore, my Mo’er was the one being bullied first.

“For you all to come here and raise such a ruckus to demand retribution… isn’t that a bit inappropriate?”

“That’s right, that’s right,” Cuicui chimed in, stepping forward. “Besides, several of them were bullying our Young Master, and they still ended up getting beaten by him. That’s actually kind of embarrassing, don’t you think?”

“Cuicui,” Zhou Ruoxi chided her Maid softly.

Cuicui immediately clamped her mouth shut and said no more.

“Even so, our children were just incited by Xiao Yang! What gives your Xiao Mo the right to be so heavy-handed? And to steal our children’s lunch?” one woman argued unreasonably. “Zhou Ruoxi, you must make your son apologize today! Otherwise, we’re taking this to the First Madam!”

Zhou Ruoxi just shook her head. “An apology is necessary, but it should be mutual. Whoever started it should apologize first, and then my Mo’er will apologize.”

“You… Fine! Just you wait, Zhou Ruoxi! We’ll see just how arrogant a mere concubine sent from another country can be!”

With a flick of her wide sleeves, the leading woman pulled her child along and started heading toward the First Madam’s residence.

But they had only taken a few steps when they felt several small stones hit their backs.

Turning around, they saw Xiao Mo picking up stones and throwing them.

“Mo’er!” Zhou Ruoxi quickly pulled him back and shielded him behind her.

“You just wait!”

The lead woman was seething, but she couldn’t very well hit a three-year-old child. She could only leave in a huff. If word got out about this, she’d be too ashamed to even show her face outside.

Not long after, silence returned to the courtyard.

But when Zhou Ruoxi turned back to her son, her expression was conflicted and grave.

“Mother…” Xiao Mo blinked.

“Cuicui, go fetch the disciplinary ruler from my room,” Zhou Ruoxi said, her grip tightening on his small hand.

“My Lady…” Cuicui knew what her mistress intended and couldn’t bear the thought.

“Go get it,” Zhou Ruoxi repeated.

Cuicui had no choice but to go and retrieve the disciplinary ruler from the room.

Zhou Ruoxi knelt, the slender hand holding the ruler trembling slightly. “Mo’er,” she said to her child, “hold out your hand.”

Xiao Mo knew he was about to be punished, so he held out his hand.

“Mo’er, do you remember what you promised Mother before?” Zhou Ruoxi asked.

“I remember…” Xiao Mo nodded. “Mother said I’m not supposed to fight with other children. If I get bullied, I should tell Mother right away, and she would handle it for me.”

“And, Mo’er, did you do that?”

“No… I didn’t…”

“Do you admit you were wrong?”

Xiao Mo shrank back. “I was wrong…”

SMACK. Zhou Ruoxi brought the ruler down on the child’s palm with a crisp sound.

“Mother also told you that children should not lie. You were clearly in a fight, yet you lied and told Mother you fell. Mo’er, do you admit you were wrong?”

“I was wrong.”

SMACK. Zhou Ruoxi struck him a second time.

“You were just disrespectful to your elders, throwing stones at them. Mo’er, do you admit you were wrong?”

This time, however, Xiao Mo lifted his head. “I was not wrong.”

Zhou Ruoxi bit her lip lightly and struck him a third time with the ruler. “Do you admit you were wrong?”

“I was not wrong,” Xiao Mo insisted.

“Do you admit it?” Zhou Ruoxi struck him a fourth time.

“I was not wrong.”

“You…”

Just as Zhou Ruoxi was about to strike him a fifth time,

Cuicui rushed over and pulled Xiao Mo away. “My Lady, it’s late. The Young Master has been training all day and is exhausted. Please let him rest. I’m sure he’ll understand his mistake by tomorrow.”

Zhou Ruoxi pressed her lips together, glanced at her son, and finally stood up and walked back to her room.

“Go to sleep for now, Young Master. My Lady will have cooled down by tomorrow. She really is only doing this for your own good,” Cuicui said to Xiao Mo.

“I know, Aunt Cui…”

Xiao Mo nodded. He glanced at his mother’s door, knowing she was still angry, and decided he had no choice but to go back to his room and sleep.

「Deep in the night.」

In Zhou Ruoxi’s room, a candle remained lit.

She sat in a chair, staring at the disciplinary ruler on the table. She recalled the four times she had struck her child’s palm, each blow feeling as if it had landed on her own heart.

SMACK! SMACK! SMACK!

Zhou Ruoxi picked up the ruler and struck her own palm with it, again and again.

She didn’t stop until her palm was red and aching.

「Midnight.」

Zhou Ruoxi stood up, left her room, and quietly made her way to her child’s room.

Walking to his bedside, Zhou Ruoxi gently took hold of the right hand she had struck.

She took out some ointment and, while carefully applying it to the boy’s hand, let out soft, pained breaths.

Looking at the red marks on that small hand, Zhou Ruoxi felt a sharp pang in her heart.

“Mother…” Xiao Mo mumbled, his eyes fluttering open. He saw his mother by his bed. “Mother, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have made you angry. But… Mother, I still don’t think I was wrong to throw stones at them.”

“Why is that?” Zhou Ruoxi didn’t understand why her Mo’er was so stubborn.

“Because they insulted you, Mother,” Xiao Mo said earnestly. “I told you I would protect you. No one is allowed to bully you!”

Hearing her child’s words, Zhou Ruoxi froze for a moment, a thin layer of mist forming over her eyes. “Silly child…”

“I’m not silly, Mother.”

“Yes, you’re right. Mo’er isn’t silly.”

Zhou Ruoxi leaned down and gently kissed her child’s forehead. A crystalline teardrop traced a path down her fair cheek, her voice trembling slightly.

“Mo’er isn’t silly…

The silly one is…

…is Mother…”