Chapter 1687: We Are Family

Chapter 1687: We Are Family

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Reality proved that even ace students were not all fond of homework. Even a good studious girl like the goddess of creation would grumble if you were to force her to do twenty-eight sets of questions. And when the grumbling "good girl" was your mother-in-law, it was a totally different ball game...

Every time he thought about it, Hao Ren could not help but sigh at this absolute mess of a relationship...

A moment later, Hao Ren and Rheia were before the main gate of his old house in the Southern Suburbs.

"Ohh..." The short goddess of creation dragged her voice as she looked up at the rather aged house, "So you live in this place?"

"Different from what you've imagined?" Hao Ren was, however, used to such a reaction. "You're not the first to be surprised."

"It is different. I thought you would be living in a big palace or a military base of sorts." Rheia nodded. "You are a pope after all, and a commander of the droid army. I never thought you'd be living in this sort of place. Feeling hermit-y?"

"I've been living here all this while." Hao Ren shrugged. "Been here even before I signed the agreement with Raven 12345, and I didn't move after I got the job. It's just a home, a place with a roof over your head. The most important thing is where the people are. With everyone staying happily here, isn't it home?"

Rheia listened on quietly before a sad expression appeared on her face. "Yeah... it is nice, everyone living together happily..."

Hao Ren immediately wanted to punch himself in the mouth the moment he saw that. He was really stepping on a landmine despite knowing that it was there! Here was this lady before him who had just lost everything, had almost of her people all killed, and had her Star of Creation blown to smithereens, yet he was derping out and reminding her about it!

He quickly tried to shift Rheia's attention, "Ah, don't just stand there. Everyone's inside now, let's go and greet them. Let me tell you, Vivian will definitely be surprised..."

Just as he was about to put the key into the door, before he could even reach for the knob, he heard loud footsteps behind the door. Following that, the door was swung wide open as Lily's glowing and excited face appeared before him. "Oh! Mr. Landlord you're back! I heard you coming from inside. Why didn't you just teleport back instead of coming from the outside—"

Before Lily could finish, Hao Ren stepped aside slightly to reveal Rheia behind him. "Oh, I brought her over for a visit."

Lily's eyes widened immediately. "Whoa! It's Rheia!"

She then quickly pushed the door to the side, making way for them. "Come in! Come in! Say, why are you here?"

Rheia looked on in a daze at the super energetic Lily and the ajar door before she turned to Hao Ren with a confused expression. "Is it really al—"

Hao Ren nodded stiffly. "This is a daily occurrence."

Thus, the goddess of creation was let into the house in a daze, and the first thing she saw was the old demon who was sitting cross-legged on the sofa reading the newspaper. Next to him was a little demoness who was busy poking a broken radio with her screwdriver. At the same time, Nangong Wuyue in her octopus form was sprawled on the floor alongside Lil Pea as she held seven to eight pieces of rags with her tentacles, cleaning the floor while playing nanny...

The three people (and the fish) in the living room were surprised by Rheia's sudden appearance. They were probably not expecting the goddess of creation of the Plane of Dreams to pay them a sudden house visit. Everyone's eyes widened, and Y'lisabet, distracted, ran her screwdriver directly through the radio, tearing a new hole in the already dying device...

"Ah, hi, everyone." Rheia awkwardly raised her hand to greet them all. "I'm just here to have a look."

Thankfully, Hao Ren popped out from behind to dispel Rheia's awkwardness. "It's a projection. We just got back from Raven 12345's place, and her projection still has some time remaining, so I just brought her over to have a look."

The kitchen door was suddenly pushed open as Hessiana, clad in an apron, walked out of it. The little bat familiar was half-covered in flour, and Hao Ren had no idea what she had been up to earlier. The little bat only came out to have a look upon hearing the commotion outside. She soon noticed Rheia, who was the center of everyone's attention, and a curious look materialized on her face. "May I know who you are?"

The lot in the living room struggled to find a proper explanation after a good while, and they all started to talk at the simultaneously, "A friend."

"A goddess."

"A partner."

"Your grandma..."

No one knew who said the last bit, but all that commotion pretty much drowned everything out. It was not until the end when things died down that Hao Ren opened his mouth. "She's Rheia, she's Vivian's..."

Before he could finish, Hessiana had already taken a menacing stance like she had just seen her nemesis. "She's Lady Vivian's what? Let me tell you, don't you dare go around taking people in like it's nothing! I haven't even fully recognized you as my dad, don't come introducing relatives to me!"

The words Hao Ren had planned to say immediately ran back down his throat. With his local TV-drama experience, he could not determine what sort of imagination had already taken root in Hessiana's mind, and what the brat said really made him depressed. Such grumpy back and forth between a step-father and his rebellious step-daughter was based on whose goddamned script? She had only been staying there for two days and was already giving him attitude?

However, considering Rheia's youthful appearance, it was not difficult to think of the worst-case scenario that was going through Hessiana's mind...

At that same time, Vivian had also noticed the commotion in the living room, and she followed Hessiana out. "What's going on? Hao Ren's back?"

As she arrived, she saw Rheia standing at the center of the hall, looking all confused. She yelped in surprise. "Ah! Why are you here?"

"It's a projection," Hao Ren repeated what he said earlier. "I just brought her over to have a look, but Hessiana has misunderstood..."

The little bat noticed that Vivian and Rheia seemed to be well acquainted, and her caution level immediately shot through the roof. She was on red alert, pointing and glaring at Rheia. "Lady Vivian, do you really know this person?"

"Of course she knows her." Hao Ren chuckled. "She's Vivian's creator."

"No one asked you!" Hessiana forked her arms over her waist.

Vivian massaged her temples to nurse a headache. "What he says is true. Logically, she's my mother."

By then, Hao Ren had already started to think about how he should go about tying things up, but the moment Vivian's voice faded, he noticed that Hessiana had already darted across the entire living room to Rheia's side. She then proceeded to go on all fours and hug Rheia's leg with all the reverence she could muster. "Grandma!"

*Riiiippp!* The paper in Y'zaks hand was torn into two.

Even considering the standard of Hao Ren's troupe, this was a commotion never seen before...

If Hao Ren and his crew had never seen it before, forget Rheia. The goddess of creation was pretty much in a confused stupor, looking down at the little bat familiar who was hugging her leg for a good half a minute. She was not able to verbalize anything, and she looked up at Vivian. Her gaze seemed to say, "Is this child mentally challenged? Who is she?"

Vivian shrugged helplessly in reply. "That's Hessiana whom I told you about. She's something like a 'daughter' to me. She had a bad shock when she was young..."

Thus, their eye signals ended.

Given that Rheia was someone who had been through a lot, she soon recovered from her daze. But she found the title of "grandma", which Hessiana had assigned to her, pretty out of place. She was just a primary school student back in the realm of gods. Aside from that, her chest was not even fully grown yet. If she got called "grandma" now and her current form stuck, what would she do if her growth was forever stunted?

Therefore, Rheia puffed up her chest as she pulled her leg away with all her might before she sternly educated the little bat, "No calling me 'grandma'! Call me Rheia... or Big Sis Rheia at the most!"

Hao Ren had had enough by then, and he threw the goddess of creation a sideways glare." Ahem, that's taking it a little too far. Vivian calling you Rheia is all fine and dandy. Now her daughter's calling you 'Big Sis'? You going about flaunting your youth is all good, but what about us?"

Rheia thought that made some sense and lowered her head to ponder their relationship. "Maybe... call me 'Auntie' instead?"

...

A few seconds later, everyone circled the living room amid a very happy atmosphere. The target of the warm reception was, of course, Rheia.

Seeing that it was the first time Rheia had visited the Surface World, Hao Ren called everyone he could in the vicinity to come over. Even the Nangongs closed their shop early that day to join in on the fun. In their own words, seeing a bona fide goddess was not easy, and the old couple would be spending most of their time munching on peanuts anyway with their restaurant looking more like a retiree's activity center more than anything. Might as well close early to meet a goddess.

However, Hao Ren felt like they were just there to join in on the fun⁠—what was so difficult about seeing a real goddess? Every time he packed a carton of instant noodles, Hao Ren could simply make an offering with the excuse of meeting Raven 12345. That goddess was bored to death most of the time anyway...

With all that said, having so many people in the gathering was something Hao Ren had badly wanted because he knew that Rheia needed such liveliness.

And she needed to unwind very, very much.

Remembering what the goddess of creation had just gone through, although she managed to bear through it with her divine willpower, if there was a way for her to relax, anything, anything at all would be better than nothing.

Seeing how Hessiana was stuck to Rheia, asking a boatload of questions, Hao Ren who by then had retreated to the side, breathed a sigh of relief. While the little bat may have been a trouble magnet, the troubles she caused that day were welcomed.

Nangong Sanba had also stepped back to Hao Ren's side, seemingly enjoying the moment. He then whispered to Hao Ren, "Say, shouldn't we tell her what 'auntie' means over here?"

"There's nothing wrong with the word!" Hao Ren raised an eyebrow. "Do you wanna go tell her yourself?"

"...Perhaps not."