The Assassin's Enemy Lover

Chapter 17: Jack of all trades

His heartbeat quickened as a bucket load of questions flooded his mind. He silently pointed at the coffee table like a kid who saw something interesting but was also afraid to ask where it came from. Zi Xingxi just glanced over at him before taking the empty container of the egg tart on the table and handing it to him.

“Throw this away... oh and next time you want to coax me you should make it from scratch. It would be more sincere that way,” she said stretching out her hand to hold the empty container but three seconds later Zi Han still hadn’t taken it.

His gaze was lingering on the things on the table his emotions clearly written on his face. Countless times he opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out. It took Zi Xingxi calling him for him to come back to himself.

“Han Han,” she said while shaking the container.

Zi Han was so absent-minded that he let out the most unintelligent response. “Huh?” he said shifting his gaze up to face his mother, “Oh..... why-”

He took the empty egg tart container and wanted to address the huge elephant in the room but she cut him off saying, “How about you make us some breakfast, anything will be fine.” As she did this her head was lowered examining the scope of the AP sniper rifle seriously.

“O-oh... ok-ay,” he replied as his gaze shifted back to the weapon in her hand. Because he wasn’t looking where he was going he bumped into the kitchen counter twice bringing him back to reality.

.....

He decided to focus on making breakfast first before circling back to this and getting some answers so he seriously opened the fridge checking what was available. Zi Xingxi glanced over in her son’s direction and a subtle smile appeared on her face.

He was standing there scratching his messy head of hair making him look so adorable. She wanted to rub that head of hair until it resembled a bird’s nest. Maybe she should give him a haircut again. The problem was how to convince him to get her hands on his hair.

Zi Han who had no idea his mother had malicious designs over his hair took out some eggs and tomatoes from the fridge and made some tomato egg stir fry which didn’t take him long.

As to the question of why he was pretty good in the kitchen more especially in this era that popularised to-go drinks that had all necessary nutrients. It was because of his mother. Her motto was simple, be the jack of all trades.

She taught him to adapt, adept with good reason. It was in order for him to survive if anything ever happened to her.

Coincidentally, this handbook she used to train her son was the very same handbook she used in the Bloodgarde to train assassins and undercover agents. She was low key raising her son to be just like her without knowing it.

Zi Han plated the tomato egg stir fry on top of reheated rice and made his mother a cup of black coffee while calling her over. Zi Xingxi whose stomach was already rooting against her stood up and immediately sat on a bar stool by the kitchen counter and pulled the bowl over.

“Did you add sugar?” she asked him as he placed a steaming cup of black coffee in front of her.

“No,” he replied before walking around the kitchen counter and sitting beside her. Zi Xingxi immediately began to dig in and after decimating more than half of her food she stared at him with a contented expression and said,

“You slept with the sheet mask on your face again didn’t you?” While asking this she reached out to pinch his face that looked soft and squishy like milky white tofu but the tofu ran away from her.

“Tsk, you kid, I haven’t even settled scores with you yet for delivering drugs yet you won’t even let me touch a little. Come here...,” she said reaching out to pinch and poke as much as she wanted.

Zi Han didn’t protest. That’s because when his crimes were exposed it was as though he had been struck by lightning. Of course, she knew what he did? How can she not know? A person who had been hiding the fact that she owns a sniper rifle and several other guns will obviously know what crime he committed.

“Ma... I,” he said but it instead got him smacked upside his head. Hissing in pain he rubbed the back of his head not daring to look her in the eyes.

“You even got me slapped by your grandfather. Do you see this? It was all your fault. How many times have I said don’t go to sky city? But what did you do? Tsk, you are just like your father causing trouble everywhere you go. Would it kill you to listen to me for once, huh? Answer me.”

“I do-,” he said before she angrily cut him off,

“Don’t you dare talk back to me? Damnit... I am so mad that I can’t even enjoy my breakfast,” she said harshly letting go of her chopsticks. With a clang, they hit the side of the bowl expressing her anger.

Zi Han, “???”

Didn’t she just ask him to answer her just now? Now she was telling him not to talk back. Shouldn’t he be angry as well about the huge secrets she has been keeping from him?

His gaze subconsciously shifted to the table where the magnificent weapon quietly lay as though inviting him to play. Sharp stinging pain on his waist brought him back to earth.

His hand on his waist he yelped in pain having been pinched. Of course, his yelp was exaggerated. It was because he was trying to ease the punishment. “Ma, use your words not your hands,” he said but that only reignited the raging flames.

“Use my words my ass. Uh, you made me so mad..... You even had your identification scanned. Now your grandpa wants you en route to the capital star-planet by tomorrow. You know what no, no... I can’t even look at you right now. Half squat for an hour maybe that will appease me,” she said pointing at the infamous punishment corner.

“But.....,” he murmured only for Zi Xingxi to interrupt him and say,

“Two hours keep talking and I will make it three.”

Zi Han unwillingly abandoned his breakfast and got into a half squat. He silently watched his mother finish eating then walk back to the sitting room and slump onto the couch before continuing with what she was doing before.

His mother had mentioned his grandfather before but she never really went into detail. All she said was that his grandfather was an exceptional man with an ice-cold appearance but a soft and mushy heart. She also mentioned that he couldn’t meet him as of yet due to unforeseen circumstances. He fully accepted that because his mother wasn’t one to make decisions without reason.

Her thought process when doing things was flawless and analytical that it terrified him at times. It always gave him the sense that there was more to his mother than what meets the eye. She did an excellent job at hiding it but there were signs here and there that were hard to ignore.

As he held his body in the half squat he squinted his eyes staring at the AP sniper rifle in her hands. Curious, he began to observe her series of actions. He carefully studied the way her fingers moved nimbly reassembling the AP sniper rifle and etching it into his brain.