Parasitic Child: Chapter 15

Chapter 15: Madam Yan An Yuan

Madam Yan, An Yuan, had always been the envy of everyone—a true winner in life. She had a successful CEO husband, a pair of lively and adorable children, and a life filled with wealth and comfort. To others, she seemed to have nothing to worry about.

However, in reality, An Yuan had quite a few bothersome things on her mind, though they were mostly trivial matters.

For example, she was currently trying to prove to a cat and a chicken that she was the true head of the household.

An Yuan had once owned pets. The most recent one was a dog her husband, Yan An, had picked up many years ago. The dog’s death left her in mourning for a long time, and she took a long time to recover. She was a person with delicate and rich emotions, and losing that dog hurt her as much as losing a family member.

Because of this, An Yuan had not taken in any pets since then. She couldn’t bear the thought of experiencing the loss of another short-lived pet. But she never expected that her son, Xiao Zhen, would suddenly adopt a chicken, and then a cat. The frequency of these new pets left An Yuan somewhat at a loss.

“Chicken? Why do you want to keep a chicken?” An Yuan was the first to voice her doubts. The expression on her son’s face made her feel like she had missed some common sense. Why was her son raising a chicken?? She thought her husband would be equally shocked, but Yan An surprisingly didn’t oppose their son’s decision to keep a chicken. After a few days of frustration, Xiao Zhen brought home a cat. Compared to the chicken, the cat seemed much more normal, and An Yuan consoled herself into accepting the situation.

Her husband, Yan An, accepted the situation well and quickly set three rules with Xiao Zhen: first, he must take care of the pets’ diet; second, he must not bully or abuse the animals; and third, he must keep the house clean and tidy. An Yuan thought Xiao Zhen would seek her help in a few days. Then she would step in as the all-knowing, all-powerful mother, taking ownership of the two pets and receiving her son’s adoration.

But days passed, and surprisingly, Xiao Zhen was managing both pets quite well. This made An Yuan, the head of the household, feel lonely.

Especially since the chicken and the cat often ignored her.

In An Yuan’s experience, as the mother of the family, she undoubtedly held the most important position. Dogs would naturally worship the highest authority in the household. The dog she had previously raised was particularly clingy to her. She missed that feeling of being needed. So, when Xiao Zhen brought home two pets in succession, An Yuan believed she would quickly bring them under her wing.

But now, she felt completely, absolutely, and utterly ignored.

First, there was that cat, which Xiao Zhen called Mr. Mao. What kind of cat has such a strange name? An Yuan immediately dismissed that name in her mind and decided to call it Ah Mi instead. This cat was very cute, with a good coat, not too fat or too thin, a nimble figure, round eyes, and a fluffy belly.

An Yuan admitted that the moment she saw the cat, she wanted to rub its belly. But to maintain her dignity as a mother, she didn’t express her affection for the cat right away. Instead, she took on a parental tone and lectured the cat about hygiene issues in the future. The result was that the cat now avoided her altogether.

Why didn’t she show her fondness for the cat back then? This left An Yuan lamenting now that she couldn’t pet it. Her daughter, Zhu Zhu, also liked to play with the cat. At first, An Yuan could still catch the cat, but now she couldn’t touch it at all!

An Yuan even suspected that the only reason she could catch the cat in the beginning was that it had made concessions to join the family, and now that it had settled in, it simply refused to give her any face.

Then there was that silly chicken. Xiao Zhen called it Captain Ban. Forget about the ridiculous name—who keeps a chicken at home? Who raises a chicken and a cat together? An Yuan had originally thought she would witness a tragic scene of the cat eating the chicken, and she could swoop in like a superhero to lock the chicken in a cage before that could happen.

But nothing ever happened. In fact, even her greatest worry about the chicken making a mess didn’t occur. Aunt Li said that this chicken never pooped in the house. 

When Aunt Li said this, she had a strange smile on her face, and An Yuan noticed that Aunt Li often stared at the chicken. Perhaps this chicken was already on Aunt Li’s menu, just too light to be caught yet.

As someone who initially disliked the chicken and waited for Xiao Zhen to give up, planning to throw the chicken into the pot that day, An Yuan naturally found such developments amusing.

At that time, she never expected that one day she would find this chicken quite pleasing to the eye.

Once, when she was napping, the chicken suddenly rushed in, squawking loudly. An Yuan got up and saw that it was pouring rain outside. The chicken’s warning made her go out and gather the dried fruits she had left outside.

That chicken was pretty clever, An Yuan thought at the time.

After that, whenever the chicken appeared behind Xiao Zhen’s feet or peeked out from the corner with its little head, An Yuan found it amusing and couldn’t help but want to reach out and pet it.

But just like the cat, the chicken was also full of caution towards her.

She often wandered into Xiao Zhen’s room, and every time the cat would sit on Xiao Zhen’s desk while the chicken squatted on the chair. An Yuan would smile and approach Xiao Zhen, holding fruits or snacks, but before she could even make a move to touch the pets, the chicken and cat would scatter away.

She couldn’t catch the cat, nor could she touch the chicken. This left An Yuan feeling utterly frustrated.

What gives? They’re just two pets!

But the head of the household’s ambition wouldn’t be dampened by this. An Yuan decided to tackle the situation through diet. She searched the internet for a bunch of cat food recommendations and ordered several highly-rated cat food packages. She carefully researched the chicken’s diet and planned a corn and pea meal for it.

To win someone’s heart, one must start with their stomach. Although she wasn’t a skilled cook, An Yuan firmly believed that cats and little chickens were much easier to deal with than people. She bought a cat bowl with a cute cat face on it and a bird feeder with a lovely chicken design, pouring her carefully selected cat food and chicken feed into them and placing them in a prominent spot in the house, waiting to earn the affection of the cat and the chicken.

A day passed, and her cat bowl and bird feeder were completely ignored. The cat walked out of Xiao Zhen’s room, striding past the cat bowl without even glancing at it. As for the chicken, it didn’t even come close to the feeder.

The next day, An Yuan switched to a new formula of cat canned food and chicken feed. This cat food claimed that no cat could resist its aroma. The cat emerged from Xiao Zhen’s room again. An Yuan felt that if her eyes weren’t deceiving her, it seemed the cat intentionally made a wide arc to avoid the cute cat bowl filled with fragrant canned food. The chicken, however, didn’t show up at all.

On the third day, An Yuan upgraded the enticing food once more. In the end, she didn’t see a trace of either the cat or the chicken.

An Yuan confirmed once again that the cat and chicken were definitely avoiding her.

Feeling disheartened, An Yuan slumped on the sofa. Her phone beeped a few times with new messages. She opened her phone and saw that the class parent group for Xiao Zhen had over 99 new messages. She scrolled up and found a message from the homeroom teacher, Ms. Feng, announcing that the summer vacation was coming to an end and that there would be a test after school started, urging everyone to remind their children to prepare. The parents were chattering away in the group.

“Surely Liu Xingquan will rank first again.”

“If only my kid were as smart and studious as Liu Xingquan; all he does is play games all day.”

“Yeah, mine is also too playful.”

An Yuan clicked into the parent list and noticed that Luo Qingxi’s avatar was gray. She typed a few words in the message bar but then deleted them. Bored, she stared at Luo Qingxi’s avatar for a while before tossing her phone aside.

How was Liu Xingquan raised to be such an excellent child? An Yuan pondered. She knew Liu Xingquan’s father, Driver Liu, very well; he was a plain-spoken and honest man who had nothing to do with books. His greatest joys were drinking a bit and playing mahjong. Liu Xingquan was the complete opposite of his father—hardworking, studious, and clever; perhaps he inherited his mother’s traits.

She then thought of her son’s grades and couldn’t help but silently pray that Xiao Zhen would step up a bit and not embarrass her in the group once school started. An Yuan firmly believed that her son was exceptionally bright, just not focused on his studies. Her husband, Yan An, had ranked among the top three in his class every year, and she had also gotten into a prestigious university through her own efforts. 

How could the child they had together possibly be dull?

Yan An never set strict academic expectations for their child, nor did An Yuan. As long as their child’s grades didn’t drop to the bottom, it was within her tolerance range. However, the visible academic competition in the class parent group always left her feeling unsettled.

After all, who wouldn’t envy having a worry-free and excellent child like Liu Xingquan as a fellow parent?

To rid herself of the anxiety-inducing class group, she switched to her friends’ group chat and asked again, “How can I win a cat’s affection?”  

The friends’ group instantly came alive.  

“Did you fail again?”  

“Oh my gosh, are you still trying to please that cat?”  

“Is that chicken still alive?”  

This friends’ group consisted of her close girlfriends who often gathered to eat and gossip.

Duo Rou Meng Meng: “How many days has it been, and you still haven’t won that cat over?”  

Tuan Tuan Cat: “You really are too weak.”  

These two IDs were the most active friends in offering advice during An Yuan’s attempts to win over the cat and chicken. Tuan Tuan Cat was a huge cat lover; she not only had her own cats but also regularly fed stray cats in the streets, being an active volunteer for a local organization protecting stray animals.

An Yuan: “I feel like they’re both avoiding me.”  

“They’re probably still in the adjustment period,” Tuan Tuan Cat calmly analyzed based on experience.  

“I see Ah Mi and Xiao Zhen playing together very well; there’s no sign of stress at all.”  

“Oh, then that means it hates you.”  

“……” An Yuan angrily typed, “As a cat expert, you’d better give me some useful advice.”  

In the end, Tuan Tuan Cat had to share her secret weapon—a foreign paste called Happy Cat. According to her description, just squeezing a little bit of this paste would send even a cat three rooms away into a frenzy, losing all rationality as it rushed over.

An Yuan quickly exited the chat and placed an order.

Hopefully, this time it would work. She got up to take the two bowls of neglected cat and chicken food outside to pour for the stray cats and dogs. Just then, she felt a twitch. There was something in the house.

The previously empty living room suddenly had something in it. Or rather, was it even something that could be called “something” in human language?

It stood about as tall as a person, like a thick mass of black mist rising in the center of the living room. The surrounding air began to twist as if under pressure, and even the living room felt like it was in motion.  

What… is this?  

The swirling black mist moved restlessly, and acrid white smoke began to rise from the floor, corroded by some acidic substance. The black mist twisted and revealed a face. If that thing could be called a face. It had a huge blood-red eyeball, with wet, sticky mucus dripping around it. Below the eyeball, a massive mouth opened, and beneath the dry, rotting lips were countless disgusting, tentacle-like tongues.

It sprayed a mouthful of slime at her.  

Huh?  

An Yuan stared down in a daze, her right hand melting like syrup in a hot pan. The thick, brown liquid dripped onto the floor.

Bones made a sizzling ¹ sound.

She didn’t feel any pain; her brain seemed to freeze in shock at the absurdity of the scene.  

An Yuan started screaming.  

Ah!

She lost consciousness.

In the moment before her awareness vanished, she vaguely saw a cat leap in front of her like lightning.

Mr. Mao stared at the alien body, flicking his tail.

The black mist spread in an instant, transforming into black limbs that charged at the cat.

If An Yuan had been conscious at that moment, she would have witnessed a marvelous sight: the cat’s agile body darting like white lines among the black mist. The human eye couldn’t capture such high-speed movement, only leaving behind lingering afterimages.  

Dozens of black legs crazily chased after the cat, which danced gracefully in the air. Cold flashes of light erupted. Bang! Bang! Bang! The black legs exploded mid-air, and acrid liquid splattered across the floor. The alien body’s massive mouth split open, its tongue thrashing wildly, spraying even more slime at the cat.

At that moment, the air twisted, and the cat appeared above the black mist.  

A faint golden light began to emerge within the cat’s body, gradually brightening.  

“Law and Order. ■■ ²”

The bright light exploded above the alien body’s head, causing the black mist to tremble violently. Stinking slime dripped down, and the black mist began to peel away like withered tree bark. In the next moment, the alien body was sucked into the light.

The alien body struggled to escape.

“You actually managed to track me down here,” Mr. Mao said softly, “You really are persistent.”  

The alien body gasped, spraying slime. Its sticky limbs waved erratically at Mr. Mao.

“Tell me, how did you find your way here?”  

The alien body trembled, its exaggerated mouth twitching as it emitted disjointed sounds.

Mr. Mao probed into its consciousness and sensed a vague shadow, incoherent screams, and a pungent, fishy smell. “Was its intelligence destroyed when it came over?” Mr. Mao murmured. “There’s hardly any residual consciousness left.”

The alien body extended a transformed limb, wrapping around the leg of the coffee table in the living room, desperately trying to escape the light.

“Since there’s no intelligence left, there’s no need to keep you alive.” 

The alien body raised its head and saw the cat coldly proclaiming, “You harmed my landlord; this crime is unforgivable.”

With a scream, the alien body was crushed into black smoke by the bright light.

In the end, only one black leg remained, struggling in vain. It thrashed and resisted, but was ultimately swallowed by the light.

The cat lightly landed on the ground.

The living room was a mess, with the floor emitting a pungent white smoke. An Yuan lay unconscious on the ground, her right hand already melted into a viscous mass of flesh and blood. Mr. Mao approached her side, observing her still intact upper limb.

This is going to be a bit of a hassle to fix, he thought. I can’t let Xiao Zhen know about this.

Captain Ban flew in through the window. It had just made some acquaintances with the nearby flock of birds and successfully established its authority, feeling quite pleased. It landed on the windowsill. 

Xiao Zhen’s living room was as tidy as usual. However, his host’s mother lay on the ground as if asleep. Mr. Mao squatted nearby, licking his fur.

“What happened to her?” 

Mr. Mao replied, “She was scared unconscious by a running mouse.”

“A mouse? Humans are really weak.”

“Just put her back in bed.”

Captain Ban’s claws began to creak as they transformed, growing five times larger and stronger. The chicken grabbed An Yuan and flew towards the bedroom. “Has she been trying to please us lately?”

“Thanks, but no thanks. I don’t want her to hand me over as tribute to Yan Zhu.”

“Same here.”

Mr. Mao turned and said, “You and I are different. I think she’s trying to please you just so she can make you into soup.”

“……”

An Yuan opened her eyes and suddenly drew her hand in front of her face. Her right hand was fair and delicate, just like usual. She stared at it in confusion for a moment. Opening and clenching her fingers into a fist, she felt no discomfort. This was her hand, not some slimy mass.

She was lying on the soft bed in her bedroom. Did I fall asleep?

She jumped off the bed and cautiously walked to the living room. The living room was bright and tidy, with golden sunlight pouring onto the polished floor, and the semi-transparent white curtains gently fluttering in the breeze. Just like any other sunny day before.

An Yuan rubbed her eyes and decided to wash her face to wake herself up; she must have slept too deeply.

The next day, the Happy Cat paste An Yuan ordered arrived.

Unscrewing the lid, the paste released a wonderful meaty aroma. Not to mention the cat, even she couldn’t help but swallow. The cat would definitely like this. She mixed the paste with cooked chicken breast and poured it into the cat bowl. After seeing Mr. Mao stroll out of Xiao Zhen’s room, she hurriedly placed it in the cat’s path.

This time, I must successfully conquer! An Yuan took a deep breath, staring at the cat.

But the cat didn’t continue to stroll; instead, it sat down and leisurely licked its fur. An Yuan didn’t lose heart and continued to focus intently on the cat. A sound came from the entrance; her husband, Yan An, had returned.

Yan An glanced at An Yuan, who was crouched in the corner, staring seriously at the cat. He decided to pretend he hadn’t seen anything.

The home was no different from usual. Yan An sat down on the sofa and looked up to see the pea sprouts on the windowsill swaying slightly. He thought he saw a mosaic-like pattern flickering on the sprouts, reminiscent of video glitches. 

Am I seeing things? Yan An got up and walked towards the pea sprouts.

The cat, which had been licking its fur in the distance, suddenly ran over and rubbed against his leg, blocking his path. Yan An was taken aback; it was the first time this cat had shown him any affection.

The cat, which usually ignored him, was now rubbing against his leg. Surprised and delighted, Yan An cautiously nudged the cat with his foot. The cat casually lay down and rolled over. The chicken also suddenly dashed over and stopped at his feet. 

This was an unprecedented occurrence.

Yan An turned to the dazed An Yuan and asked, “Does this cat and chicken want me to pet them?” 

An Yuan replied angrily, “I don’t know!!”

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Translator Notes

1. Was ■■ in the raws so I took some liberties.[↩]
2. Was like this in the raws[↩]