Chapter 154: No One Can Fool Me

Chapter 154: Chapter 154: No One Can Fool Me

Nan Yi groggily opened his eyes to find himself lying on a single bed in a tiny, run-down room in an urban village.

’Wait, wasn’t I...’

Huh?

’Wasn’t I... what, again?’

’Why is my mind a complete blank? I can’t remember anything.’

Nan Yi frustratedly ran his hands through his hair, his little face scrunched up in distress.

After a long while, he finally decided to let it go.

’Forget it!’

’As long as I’m with Mom, everything will be fine!’

’This is my home, a place where I feel safe!’

"Mom?"

Nan Yi’s gaze swept across the room, but it was empty.

He didn’t panic.

Guessing his mom was probably outside, Nan Yi decided to go find her. He nimbly crawled from the inner side of the small bed to the edge, then rolled off to put on his shoes.

He was halfway through putting on his shoes when the door was thrown open, slamming back against the wall with a BANG.

The familiar sound seemed to pry open a sealed-off part of Nan Yi’s past.

It was almost a muscle memory born of instinct. A primal urge for self-preservation kicked in, and Nan Yi immediately raised his hands to cover his ears.

CRASH!

The coarse pottery vase by the door—a 3-yuan reject he and his mom had bought from a roadside stall—was filled with fresh wildflowers and weeds. It looked so vibrant, and Nan Yi loved it.

But now, an expensive lambskin handbag had swept the vase, wildflowers and all, to the floor, where it shattered into pieces.

And the person who had done it was his mother.

’No!’

’That’s not right!’

’That’s not my mom!’

’That evil woman is back!’

Nan Yi was on high alert, as if facing a formidable enemy. His eyes were wide and unblinking, his face tense as he watched the drunken woman stumble into the room. He never stopped fumbling with his shoes.

Then, when she wasn’t looking, he quickly hid behind the curtain, leaving only a pair of dark, watchful eyes peeking out, warily tracking the woman’s every move.

"Nan Yi! You little bastard! Get the hell out here!"

"Nan Zhi" felt like she’d only blinked, and Nan Yi had vanished from the room.

This infuriated her. She began to scream and curse, blaming him for being a burden and ruining her life.

For Nan Yi, this was just another day in his life for the past four years.

But something was different—

Before, whenever he heard those words, no matter how much he pretended not to care, he would uncontrollably sink into a mire of negativity.

But now, his small body was filled with nothing but pure, unadulterated rage!

He absolutely couldn’t take it anymore. He burst out from behind the curtain.

"You monster! Get out of my mom’s body! You’re not my mom!"

"Nan Zhi’s" expression instantly froze.

The next second.

Her entire being, along with the world around her, shattered into pieces...

"Yiyi? Yiyi?"

Nan Yi groggily opened his eyes again.

Realizing he had woken up once more, he scrambled up and immediately saw his mom watching over him by his bedside.

A faint worry was etched in Nan Zhi’s features.

"What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

Her gentle, familiar tone instantly pulled Nan Yi back to reality.

Nan Yi’s small body, which had been tense and on guard, relaxed. He slowly snuggled into Nan Zhi’s embrace, finding a comfortable spot and pressing his cheek tightly against his soft, sweet-smelling mom.

Nan Zhi raised a hand and patted his back.

"Did you have a nightmare? I heard you whimpering in your sleep just now."

This time, Nan Yi nodded vigorously.

"Yeah! A super scary nightmare!"

Whenever he was with Nan Zhi, Nan Yi always felt an overwhelming urge to share everything.

This time was no exception.

Without hesitation, he told her everything that had happened in his dream!

When Nan Yi talked about the vase being smashed, Nan Zhi’s brow furrowed tightly.

When Nan Yi repeated the names the woman had called him, Nan Zhi’s expression quickly darkened.

And when Nan Yi said he had charged out to fight back against the woman, Nan Zhi felt both heartbroken and pained.

"...So that’s basically what happened!"

An invisible tail seemed to perk up behind Nan Yi as he waited, proud and expectant, for Nan Zhi’s praise.

Nan Zhi sighed.

"Our Yiyi is so amazing, figuring out so quickly that person wasn’t me."

"Of course! I can recognize Mom in a heartbeat! No one can fool me!"

Nan Yi beamed with smug satisfaction.

But Nan Zhi only felt a pang of heartache. ℯℯ𝑙.

"Yes, and you just have to remember that the real me will never, ever treat you like that!"

"I know, I know!"

Nan Yi nodded happily, like an eager puppy.

He didn’t see the grave expression on his mother’s face.

Because Nan Zhi felt that something wasn’t quite right about this.

’From what Nan Yi said, I can tell the person he saw was the Tactician.’

’Was it a manifestation of Nan Yi’s trauma?’

’If so, after all this time, why is he only dreaming about the Tactician now?’

’And if not...’

’Could there be another reason behind it?’

Nan Zhi felt like she was facing a tangled mess of threads. Unable to find a starting point, she could only grasp at the faint spark of intuition she felt.

’Perhaps when I can untangle this mess into a complete thread, it will lead me to the final truth!’

Meanwhile, Nan Yi was completely unaware of Nan Zhi’s worries.

He glanced at the clock on the bedside table.

"Mom! We’re running out of time! We have to go downstairs and get ready to open the restaurant!"

He scrambled out of Nan Zhi’s arms in a flurry and rushed into the bathroom to wash up.

He seemed even more eager to get to work than Nan Zhi!

The lunch break had just ended.

Because the restaurant was packed every day, even with a newly implemented queueing number system, an endless stream of customers still flocked in from all over the country, forming a massive crowd at the door, all just hoping to get a meal.

Among them were plenty of viewers and fans who had come for the reality show and its celebrities.

But most of them were true foodies!

Many had also come after seeing recommendations from Zhu Jin and Zhong Yu!

Most of them seemed to know these were the last few days of operation for Nan Family’s Small Restaurant, and no one wanted to miss their chance.

So, in order not to disappoint these diners, Nan Zhi personally made the executive decision to extend their business hours.

This also meant their breaks were forced to be shorter. The lunch break had barely ended, and they had to jump right back into preparing for the dinner service.

Nan Zhi had plenty of experience running a restaurant, and she knew that this kind of high-intensity work was when mistakes were most likely to happen.

She simply called everyone together for a short meeting.

She boosted everyone’s morale while also pointing out key areas where they needed to be careful.

This move also completely solidified her position as Boss Nan, the one in charge of the whole restaurant.

Even Xu Lin, the chief director, had to take a back seat!

[Isn’t Nan Zhi overstepping a bit here? I thought they were all partners in this restaurant?]

[Exactly, everyone’s supposed to be equal, but she’s acting like the boss and ordering everyone around!]

[Some people are just so dumb. Do you not understand the concept of a leaderless group being chaotic? For a team to work together effectively, you need a good leader! Can you name anyone else here who can command the room better than Nan Zhi?]

[It’s wild. Who would have thought that just a month ago, Nan Zhi was public enemy number one? Now even the chief director is listening to her!]

[I run a restaurant myself, and I have to say, Nan Zhi is hitting the nail on the head with a lot of these points.]

[Everyone’s listening so intently! Nan Zhi is awesome!]

...