LOT -Chapter 333 Childhood Arc: You’re Playing Favorites

The shopkeeper looked at how many snacks Lin Mo was carrying and tried to persuade her. “Young master, you probably won’t be able to finish so much food. If you can’t finish it, it’ll just go to waste. Why don’t you buy a bit less?”

Lin Mo shook her head firmly. “I want all of them. Don’t underestimate my appetite—this is just what I eat in one night.”

She had recently found herself a new hobby: buying storybooks and reading them.

Storybooks of this era came in all kinds—some were even more melodramatic than modern Mary Sues, some were incredibly realistic, and others were paranormal ghost tales. Whatever you could imagine, you could buy.

One had to admit, human imagination was truly boundless. Lin Mo was now completely addicted.

Sometimes she even read by candlelight late at night, eating snacks while reading. It was indescribably comfortable.

Regarding her staying up late reading, Lin Shanshu actually felt a bit comforted inside.

“These last few days, when I went to check on Mo’er, I saw her room lit up. I sneaked in and even saw her reading on her bed. Looks like she’s really grown sensible.”

Why did he suddenly feel like crying? This little troublemaker who had been causing chaos for years finally seemed to be improving. His emotions were complicated—he felt like his child had suddenly grown up.

The older two were too steady, and they became sensible far too early. Before he could even experience what fatherhood felt like, they were already refusing to be held.

But the youngest was the opposite extreme—felt like she would never grow up. But of course, never growing up wasn’t an option either.

Madam Lin, embroidering without even lifting her head, said, “Don’t get moved so quickly. According to my understanding of your daughter, you should first check what kind of book she’s actually reading.”

She had given birth to this daughter. She knew exactly what kind of “nonsense” that girl was up to with a single glance. Reading? As if. She must be dreaming.

In the study, asking her to read was like asking for her life. There was no way she’d be reading seriously at night.

Lin Shanshu: … She wouldn’t… right?

That very night, he and Madam Lin snuck into Lin Mo’s courtyard. Lin Mo was lying on her stomach on the bed, holding a storybook, with piles of snacks beside her. She looked absolutely content.

“Hahahahaha! This scholar is so stupid! Are all scholars this dumb? All they know is how to dead-read!”

“And what does this fox-spirit even see in him? She gives him money, gives him a house, and escorts him to the capital for the exam—just because he’s honest? There are so many honest people! The woodcutter on the mountain earlier was honest too!”

“Tsk tsk tsk, this plot makes no sense. There are tons of literate people in the world. Why this plain, ordinary one?”

Lin Mo liked reading and commenting at the same time—in modern terms, she was a walking human bullet screen. She had to verbally roast every plot point while eating.

The story was a classic paranormal romance: a scholar and a fox-spirit. The fox-spirit fell in love at first sight and helped him travel to the capital, where he became the top scholar.

Then the scholar was favored by the princess and betrayed the fox-spirit. Heartbroken, she went to the capital to confront him, only for a Daoist to expose her true form.

When the princess learned about it, she became jealous and teamed up with the Daoist to subdue the fox-spirit. The scholar eventually regained his conscience and helped her escape. After returning to the mountains, the fox-spirit lost all faith in love and reclaimed everything she had given him.

Not long after, misfortune befell the scholar. The princess fell for someone even more handsome and abandoned him. Without the fox-spirit secretly protecting him, he couldn’t survive the court and ended up miserable, regretting everything on his deathbed.

The plot was cliché, but admittedly addictive. Lin Mo never stopped talking as she read and ate.

The Lin couple at the doorway: “…”

Madam Lin glanced at her husband, her meaning painfully clear: See? I told you your daughter wouldn’t read serious books. Now you believe me?

Lin Shanshu pressed a hand to his forehead and sighed deeply.

As expected, expecting this little brat to “grow sensible” was too difficult. Other families’ daughters at this age were already loving beauty and going out to play with young boys. Their daughter, on the other hand, was still completely clueless.

Their eldest daughter was so popular they had to guard her from suitors. Their youngest dressed like a boy every day—no one even knew she was a girl. Two sisters, two extremes.

Lin Mo herself was very satisfied with her current life. When in the mood, she dressed in gorgeous female attire and took a walk outside. But normally, because it was troublesome, she wore men’s clothing.

And the gossip in the streets was endless. She had to admit—people’s thoughts were conservative, but their actions were shockingly open.

You had things like brothers marrying their deceased brother’s wife, father-in-law and daughter-in-law scandals, concubines eloping… There was nothing they couldn’t do.

Lin Mo had broadened her horizons these years. She used to think ancient people were conservative. Clearly, she was wrong.

If they were really conservative, they wouldn’t be having so many children. They even openly frequented brothels. In modern times, people doing such things would at least be sneaky about it—there were no brothels.

She even overheard a few wealthy young masters discussing courtesans. They looked around fifteen or sixteen—kids who should be in high school in the modern world. But here, they already had personal concubines and visited courtesans.

Tsk tsk tsk. Lin Mo always stayed far away from people like that.

She would never make friends with such people. She wouldn’t judge their choices, but she absolutely disliked it.

After Ji Qianhua left for the border, he sent a letter every two months, along with some local specialties.

Each time, one package was specially for Lin Ran, which greatly displeased Lin Mo.

“He’s obviously playing favorites! We all get one package, but you get an extra one!”

When the gifts arrived again, Lin Mo immediately began her protest.

They all grew up together—why should he treat them differently?

Lin Ran looked at her, arms akimbo and full of righteous fury, and sighed. “If he sent you a separate letter, would you even read it? With your procrastination, the next month’s letter would arrive while you still haven’t read the previous one.”

Lin Mo: “…”

Okay… fair point. But that wasn’t the issue! He just shouldn’t play favorites!

She even wrote a letter to complain to Ji Qianhua. When Ji Qianhua received the chicken-scratch letter, he stared at it half-awake and half-confused, unable to decipher it.

The King of Zhenbei came over and started studying it with him. Father and son spent ages before they finally deciphered what she was trying to say.