Atlas Studios

  Atlas Studios

  Despite his mother’s best effort, her sweet nothings fell on deaf ears.

  The boy wonder sat lazily on the couch and refused to move.

  At one side, Gong Jie goaded coolly, “Sis, were you pulling my leg when you said that he’s an excellent cook?”


  Before she could reply, her son snorted aloud. “Please! Instigation isn’t gonna work on me.” The boy would not take the bait.

  the man cursed inwardly,

  The woman was thoroughly amused by the quirky exchange of this uncle-nephew pair.

  The truth was, both had known each other for some time; in fact, there was a period where they were at loggerheads.

  Before they met each other, they were constantly at each other’s throat. Even after they finally met up, their offensiveness remained.

  The woman continued to beg earnestly, “Can you cook a meal for your uncle tonight? Mommy has promised him dinner, but my skills are below par. I’m afraid of your uncle suffering from food poisoning if he tries my cooking. As you know, he is single and piteous without anyone to cook for him. Can you be so kind as to cook for him, please?”


  Her brother’s lips twitched violently when he heard that.

  Meanwhile, the young boy was all smiles when he heard it. Throwing his uncle a meaningful glance, he retorted arrogantly, “Well, I guess I must concede to mommy’s request because of his pitiful state.”


  “Mu Yichen!”


  The boy suddenly stood up and called his brother’s name as if he were summoning his personal aide.

  The older twin shuddered and had a bad premonition. Sensing that something unpleasant was about to come his way, he looked up warily at his younger brother.

  “What?”


  “Accompany me to the market now.”


  “I’m not going!”


  Somehow, he would be involved whenever an errand was required. On the contrary, his name would never be called when it was something good! This brother of his was heartless toward him!

  “Let’s go!”


  His younger twin could not be bothered with his protest as he tugged on his arm and dragged him out of the door.

  Their mother watched them depart from the room with a look of bemusement. When she faced her brother once more, the man had already stood up and was now making his way to the backyard garden.

  The man stared at the shrubs of moonflowers all around him with wide eyes.

  “Moonflowers?”


  “Yes!”


  He muttered under his breath, “Did you plant these personally?”


  “Yup.” She walked up to him and followed the direction of his gaze with a gentle look in her eyes. “I’m the one looking after these plants. What do you think? Aren’t they beautiful?”


  In a split second, his eyes turned misty and soft, too.

  “Yes. Our mother loved this plant when she was alive. I could still remember the little garden plot in our backyard where she planted these flowers. She would tend to the flowers whenever she was free.”


  He slowly strolled toward the plants, squatted down, and touched a stalk of moonflower absentmindedly. His face was overcome with sadness.

  “When I was young, my dream was to have a garden of mine, where I could plant lots of moonflowers. I don’t know if my affinity for this plant is hereditary, but I still prefer moonflowers despite trying other flowers like roses and orchids. In the end, I decided to grow only moonflowers here. Unfortunately, my gardening skills are no match for our mother’s, so the moonflowers that I grow can’t compare to hers.”


  “Nope. I think they’re beautiful.” Her brother shook his head.

  He was brought back to their childhood days when he saw these flowers. In his mind, he could see that beautiful figure standing amid the flowery shrubs again. This was his memory of their mother when he returned home from school each day.