Chapter 378 - 340: Call Me Mom and I’ll Tell You
Chapter 378: Chapter 340: Call Me Mom and I’ll Tell You
Alex and the others were all taken aback.
Gu Ning’s mouth fell slightly open. After a long moment, a single sound escaped her. "...Huh?"
’What did she call me?’
She instinctively reached for her earpiece, but she could understand the female’s pronunciation of "mama" even without the translator. ’Unless "mama" means something else in this world?’
Gu Ning had a feeling... it meant exactly what she thought it did.
Because the female placed a hand on her head and said, "What, after running off to have your fun, you won’t even acknowledge your own mother?"
Gu Ning was a little dumbfounded. She looked toward Alex and the others.
’How could a mother just suddenly appear out of nowhere? Had Alex and the others found one for her?’
Alex seemed to understand something. He gave Windsor a thoughtful look.
Barto’s face remained tense. His gaze shifted between Gu Ning and the female before he lowered his eyes, deep in thought.
"So you are Miss Ningning’s mother." Lanuo’s expression was one of sudden realization. He placed a hand over his chest and bowed slightly. "How rude of me."
’He’d known Ningning’s identity couldn’t be simple. Just look at these two females—one was more imposing than the other.’
"Alex." Seeing Alex just standing there silently, Lanuo called to him in a low voice and clapped him on the back, giving him a look that said: *Hurry up and say something nice. The Beast Mother herself has come looking. Be careful she doesn’t hold you accountable.*
Alex remained silent, his gaze reassuring the little female who was looking to him for help.
’This female’s arrival was too sudden. He needed to get the full story from her and Windsor, but there was no room for them to interrupt right now. He decided to go ask Andrew first; this definitely had something to do with him.’
"All of you, out," Menela spoke, her tone leaving no room for argument as she addressed the males.
.
The three males left the hospital room, leaving Gu Ning alone to face the female before her.
Gu Ning didn’t understand the situation at all, so she could only wait and see how things unfolded. She glanced at Windsor from time to time, hoping for some kind of explanation.
Windsor stood by the table and heaved a large, bulging backpack onto it. She unzipped it and started pulling things out. "Little Mei heard you like food, so she brought you some things to eat."
In no time, the table was piled high with all sorts of food. Most of it was hot food packed in food containers, along with plenty of fresh fruit.
Even with the table full, the backpack was still bulging.
Windsor took a bag of strawberries to wash, then brought them over to Gu Ning.
Seeing the fresh, large, ruby-red strawberries, Gu Ning’s eyes widened.
In all the time since she’d crossed over into this world, she hadn’t just not eaten strawberries—she hadn’t even seen them.
The only fruits she had eaten were things like apples and oranges. ’Strawberries must be difficult to transport, or maybe they aren’t in season, which is why Zone 19 doesn’t have them,’ she thought.
Gu Ning picked up a strawberry nearly half the size of her palm and took a bite. The flavor was sweet with a hint of tartness, and it was incredibly juicy. Both the texture and taste were absolutely amazing.
"Is it good?" Windsor watched her with a loving expression.
Gu Ning nodded vigorously. "Delicious!"
Marshal Mei, who had been observing the layout of the hospital room, glanced over. "Is it really that good?"
’Looks like she didn’t have a good life over there.’
Hearing the female’s cool tone, Gu Ning cleared her throat and said, "It really is. Very delicious. Thank you."
Marshal Mei didn’t respond to her. She pulled back the curtain next to Gu Ning’s bed and saw the half-dead Philinos lying there, then turned to look at Windsor.
Just as Windsor was about to speak, Marshal Mei closed the curtain. "Amoghan’s handiwork."
’It was obvious this was something he would do.’
Windsor smiled and changed the subject, smoothing the stray hairs at Gu Ning’s forehead. "None of us knew your tastes, so Little Mei’s mother brought some extra things for you. Next time, if there’s anything you want to eat, just tell Little Mei’s mother directly."
’Mother...’
Gu Ning just couldn’t bring herself to say it. There had been no warning or preparation at all; they had just suddenly shoved a mother on her.
She put down the strawberry, wiped the moisture from her hands on her clothes, and pulled out a pen and paper from under her pillow. She wrote: *Teacher Windsor, can you please tell me what’s going on with this ’mother’?*
Menela reached out, took the note from her, and after reading it, sat down beside her. She removed her hood and mask. "Call me ’Mother,’ and I’ll tell you."
A face with sharp, defined features—mature and coldly beautiful—assaulted Gu Ning’s vision without warning.
Gu Ning stared, stunned.
Although she had seen plenty of beautiful Beastman females on PawPad, the impact of seeing one in person was on a completely different level.
Now, it was even harder for Gu Ning to say the word.
’The beautiful female in front of her didn’t look much older than her—twenty-seven or twenty-eight at most. Calling her ’big sister’ would be more believable. How could she possibly call her ’Mother’?’
’If anything, Windsor looked more like she was old enough to be her mother.’
"What’s wrong?" Menela said, seeing the little one just staring at her without a word. "You don’t approve of me?"
Gu Ning snapped back to her senses and waved her hands. "No, no."
Menela: "Then what is it?"
Gu Ning: "You’re so... young. You seem to be around my... age. I... I can’t say it."
"And you speak the universal tongue so well," Menela said dryly. "How old are you?"
Gu Ning held up her hand and raised two fingers.
Menela gave a faint smile. "And do you know how old I am?"
Gu Ning glanced at Windsor. ’Surely she can’t be almost two hundred like Windsor, right?’ she thought. ’There’s still a visible age difference between them.’
She shook her head.
Menela: "Take a guess."
Gu Ning’s gaze swept over Menela’s face, then she examined her hair. It was a neat, lustrous mane of brown hair, not withered-looking like Windsor’s.
She looked down, thought for a moment, and boldly held up one index finger.
’Based on the information she’d gathered so far, it seemed Beastmen had longer lifespans than humans. Windsor was the best example.’
’Although I don’t really believe this ’Little Mei’s mother’ is actually a hundred years old—forty, I could almost believe.’
The smile in Menela’s eyes deepened. "Close enough. I just had my one hundred and first birthday."
Gu Ning: "..." ’Unbelievable. Beastmen really do live long lives.’
’At that age, she wasn’t just old enough to be her mother; she was old enough to be her great-grandmother.’
Menela: "Can you call me ’Mother’ now?"
Gu Ning was silent for a moment, then scratched her cheek. "I’m sorry, I... I can’t." She still didn’t understand what was going on. There had to be a reason why Windsor brought this female called Little Mei to see her.
"Fine." Menela sighed and flicked her on the forehead. "I guess a little food isn’t enough to win you over."
Windsor spoke in a gentle voice, "There’s no rush. Take it slow. Ningning is a very good girl."
Menela: "I, for one, don’t like good kids. Especially not the quiet ones."
Gu Ning pursed her lips. ’It wasn’t that she didn’t want to talk; her grasp of the universal tongue was just terrible.’
"Let’s deal with that thing on you first." Menela pulled a silver bracelet from her pocket. It was similar in style to the one Windsor had before, but it was smaller and its luster was brighter.
"Put it on." Menela handed the bracelet to Gu Ning. "I’ve already calibrated it."
Gu Ning didn’t quite understand, but she took it and put it on her right wrist.
Menela lowered her gaze and activated her terminal. "Take off your clothes."