Mom's Back. The Villain Triplets Are in Trouble.

Chapter 2: Chapter 2: Uncompromisingly Strong

”When you two were almost six months old, the Xuan Technique Association came to me for help. I agreed, but Huo Yunjing wouldn’t have it. He felt you were still too young and that I should stay home to take care of you.”

Gu Qingyin pouted. ”We fought about it. I left without telling him, and I didn’t contact him for the entire mission. Later, while chasing my target, I entered a Different Space. When I came out, it was now.”

Huo Xingye still said nothing.

”I know it sounds unbelievable, but it’s the truth.” Gu Qingyin shrugged and suggested, ”I can do a DNA test with you.”

Huo Xingye’s eyes flickered slightly. ”Fine.”

Gu Qingyin stared at him for several seconds before suddenly speaking. ”Do you think I’m crazy?”

Huo Xingye averted his gaze, denying it vaguely. ”No.”

Gu Qingyin huffed lightly. ”Let’s go! We’ll get the test done right now!”

”No!” Huo Xingye refused instinctively. His face was swollen like a pig’s head; how could he go out? Did he not have his pride?!

As if she’d read his mind, Gu Qingyin pulled out her phone, took a photo of him with a SNAP, and grinned. ”If you dare be disrespectful to me again, I’ll post this picture online.”

Huo Xingye’s phoenix eyes looked like they were about to shoot fire, but he didn’t dare voice his anger.

Having saved her memento, Gu Qingyin slowly strolled over to Huo Xingye and lightly tapped his face a few times with her slender, pale fingers.

It was magical. The fiery, throbbing pain in Huo Xingye’s face instantly dissipated. He raised a hand to touch his face. ”Is it healed?”

Gu Qingyin pondered for two seconds, then shook her head. ”Not completely.”

Huo Xingye scrambled up from the floor and went to the bathroom to look in the mirror. Indeed, the redness and swelling were gone, but the bruises remained. Especially around his eyes—he looked like a panda spirit that hadn’t finished evolving.

Huo Xingye took a deep breath, pulled out his phone, and called the bodyguards outside the door, telling them to stop trying to break the door down and go buy him some concealer.

The bodyguards were utterly confused, but out of concern—and for the sake of their high salaries—one of them asked, ”Family Head, are you alright?”

Huo Xingye said through gritted teeth, ”I’m fine.”

Bodyguards: ??? From his tone, it really didn’t sound like he was fine.

Huo Xingye hung up the phone, walked back into the room, found a place to sit, and fell into thought.

’No wonder there isn’t a single photo of Gu Qingyin in the house. Turns out my parents didn’t have some conventional romance and marriage. They had no emotional foundation at all, so of course there wouldn’t be any pictures.’

’But I vaguely remember from childhood that Huo Yunjing was searching everywhere for someone. He must have still loved her, right? It was just that something happened before he had a chance to express those feelings.’

”How did Huo Yunjing die?” Gu Qingyin asked.

”A car accident,” Huo Xingye replied flatly. ”The Huo Family investigated for a long time and ultimately ruled it an accident. His mental state wasn’t very good around that time.”

A flicker of regret crossed Gu Qingyin’s eyes. ’Twenty years. Huo Yunjing has probably already been reincarnated. My first love ended just like that, without any resolution.’

At that thought, Gu Qingyin couldn’t help but feel a little fortunate. ’It’s a good thing my feelings for Huo Yunjing didn’t have time to deepen. Otherwise, I’d be in so much pain right now.’

’It’s all that damned mutant beast’s fault. Of all the places to run, it had to dive into a spatial rift! If I ever see it again, I’ll skin it, rip out its tendons, and deep-fry it in a wok.’

Watching Gu Qingyin’s constantly shifting expressions, Huo Xingye felt what little trust he had in her begin to waver. ’Would a mentally stable person’s emotions be this volatile?’

A short while later, there was a knock on the door.

Huo Xingye: ”Enter.”

Bodyguard: ”...The door won’t open.”

Huo Xingye suddenly understood. ’No wonder the bodyguards hadn’t come in all this time. It wasn’t that they were slacking off; they just couldn’t get in.’

Gu Qingyin waved a hand at the door, and an invisible restriction was lifted. ”Come in.”

The bodyguard tentatively pressed the door handle. The door opened.

Under the bodyguard’s shocked and bewildered gaze, Huo Xingye took the concealer and turned to go to the bathroom.

While smearing it on his face, he called his assistant. ”Find a testing facility that can get me results today. I need a DNA test.”

Assistant Xue on the other end of the line was a bit stunned, but he agreed immediately. He got right on it, and in less than half an hour, Assistant Xue had sent the facility’s address to Huo Xingye’s phone.

”Let’s go, to the testing facility.”

When Huo Xingye came out of the bathroom, the bruises on his face were mostly covered. At a glance, you would just think he looked unwell—pale, with dark circles under his eyes.

’Like a ghost,’ Gu Qingyin commented internally, then got up to leave. ”Wait here, I’m going to change.”

When she came out again, the bodyguards had already withdrawn to outside the villa.

As Gu Qingyin descended the stairs step by step, she felt the villa’s cold emptiness with stark clarity. Though everything was clean and tidy, it was completely devoid of life. She wondered how long it had been vacant.

’To think I came back last night and didn’t notice a thing.’

Gu Qingyin sighed to herself, then went out and got in the car.

The two of them sat in the same car but didn’t exchange a word the entire way.

At the facility, they cooperated in silence, doing whatever was asked. After giving their samples, they didn’t leave. Three hours later, the results were ready.

Gu Qingyin only glanced at it, her expression saying, ”I knew it.”

Huo Xingye’s feelings were far more complicated. Who would have thought that after twenty years, his mother would come back looking so young she could pass for his little sister?

”Let’s go, son.” Gu Qingyin patted his shoulder. ”Mom’s hungry. What restaurant is good? Take Mom to try it out.”

Huo Xingye got in the driver’s seat, and Gu Qingyin took the passenger side.

”Any dietary restrictions?”

Gu Qingyin shook her head. ”Barbecue, hot pot, anything’s fine.”

”Okay.” Huo Xingye turned the car around and headed for a private barbecue restaurant.

The restaurant was opened by a rich second-generation kid from their circle. All the meat came from his family’s own farm—absolutely pure, natural, and pollution-free, of the highest quality.

A tender beef rib was placed on the grill. As the sound of sizzling fat filled the air, a tempting aroma wafted out.

Gu Qingyin took a deep breath and couldn’t help but swallow. ”Is it ready? Can we eat it yet?”

Huo Xingye, sitting across from her, was perplexed by her behavior. ”My father... he didn’t starve you, did he?”

The mention of this brought a wave of sorrow over Gu Qingyin. ”You have to watch what you eat when you’re pregnant! And when you’re breastfeeding! Right after I weaned you two, I took a job that sent me to the middle of nowhere. I never knew where my next meal was coming from. It was miserable!”

Huo Xingye’s ears turned slightly red. A little embarrassed, he kept turning the beef on the grill. Once it was cooked, he placed it on Gu Qingyin’s plate. ”Go ahead and eat.”

”Thanks, son!” Gu Qingyin’s eyes lit up. She blew on the piece of meat twice, popped the whole thing in her mouth, and let out a blissful ”Mmm.” ’Now this is what people are supposed to eat!’

Halfway through the meal, there was a knock on the private room’s door. A young man wearing gold-rimmed glasses and a silver-gray suit walked in and placed a file folder on the table.

”Family Head, what you asked for.”

Assistant Xue’s demeanor was respectful, but his eyes subtly darted toward Gu Qingyin. ’So this is the one who did the DNA test with the Family Head? She looks way too young. What’s her skincare routine?’

”If you want to look, just look openly. Why be so sneaky?” Gu Qingyin asked indistinctly, chewing on a piece of meat. ”Are you from the Xue Family?”

Assistant Xue smiled, turned to face Gu Qingyin, and replied respectfully, ”Hello. I am Xue Ning, the personal assistant to the current Head of the Huo Family.”