My wife is a witch princess.

Damn it, thinking about it now, my mom is a "stupid woman" too. That "stupid mom" lied to him for over ten years. So, a woman's "stubbornness" is innate? My mom is a woman too, and she's stubborn too.

"Why are you cursing Auntie in your mind?" Xia Li paused, her tone becoming somewhat serious. "You've been swearing a lot lately. Swearing isn't good. I remember when you first came to the castle, I taught you manners, don't you remember?"

“I remember. But this… this isn’t swearing,” Song Che tried to explain.

"That's swearing."

Damn it, you're an idiot too!

"Look, you're still insulting me."

"..." Song Che was speechless. He admitted that he had been a bit outspoken lately. But the word "idiot" often just popped into his head unconsciously... It was all Xia Li's fault for being able to read his mind!

Just hang in there a little longer... Is her mind-reading ability time-limited? I'll secretly curse her after the time is up...

Xia Li heard it all clearly.

She's not stupid. She can't stop Song Che from swearing, but she can... write it down.

Then, tell your aunt.

Because the power of a human mother to control her son is innate—Xia Li felt she understood this very well.

...Idiot Song Che!

Xia Li cursed inwardly.

Chapter 67 Song Che's cooking is delicious! (4k)

He Lan grew to like Xia Li more and more the more she looked at her.

The sunflowers the child brought were treasured and placed in the most prominent spot on the TV cabinet.

Watching Song Che and Xia Li interact, they didn't seem like a young couple just starting out in love. Instead, they had a kind of... slow and steady understanding, like an old married couple who had been living together for a long time.

This young couple, who haven't finished university or found jobs yet, live a down-to-earth and peaceful life.

But... this is fine too, as long as they're happy.

Looking at Song Che's eyes, you can't hide his affection. Although Xia Li is always a bit slow and doesn't talk much, she listens to Song Che in everything, and there's a kind of unspoken trust between them.

Especially when that girl smiles.

It's absolutely gorgeous.

It was a clean, carefree laugh, unlike many children's smiles nowadays, where something else is mixed in early on, and they lose some of their pure innocence.

When did it start? Middle school? Or high school?

He Lan rubbed her slightly throbbing temples.

"I'm really getting old; my memory is getting worse and worse."

She murmured to herself, "But... is Xia Li's hair black?"

A vague question lingered in her mind, so she turned around and pulled a thick notebook from her cloth bag.

The paper was so worn that the edges were frayed, leaving countless creases.

Memory is like a leaky sieve, but thankfully this notebook helped her catch some fragments.

She carefully flipped through the pages, her finger pausing on the most recent ones:

"Xia Li has very beautiful silver hair."

"Song Che is almost nineteen years old this year and loves to eat pork ribs."

"Yangyang... gave me... no, it was Xia Li. Xia Li gave me a sunflower doll, it's so cute."

"Song Jianguo lent me two hundred yuan, oh dear, I forgot to pay it back again."

"Zhang Shushu reminded me to see a doctor, saying my complexion has been poor lately..."

He Lan went through the notebook again from beginning to end.

She often forgets where she puts her phone these days, but she unconsciously carries this notebook with her every day. Yet, she can't remember who first gave her the notebook. She only vaguely feels that it was someone very important.

With that lingering doubt about her hair color, she closed the notebook and slowly strolled back to her bedroom.

Two images keep flashing through my mind: one is long, silver hair that gleams coldly in the sunlight, and the other is smooth, jet-black hair.

You must have misremembered.

The notebook clearly says "silver hair," but why does it always seem like her hair is black?

……

In the kitchen, Xia Li neatly tied her silver hair into a high ponytail, wearing an apron, and was concentrating on preparing the pork rib soup in the pot.

Compared to stir-frying, which requires precise control of heat and timing, stewing soup and making porridge seem much simpler to her.

It's more like preparing a mild potion; you just need to add the ingredients in order and control the timing and amount.

She doesn't dare to try cooking easily, mainly because she has to stay next to the gas stove all the time.

There was clearly no magical fluctuation below, yet such a large flame could suddenly burst out with a bang, making her instinctively want to shrink back every time it was lit.

The pot was bubbling away, and the rich aroma of meat mixed with the sweetness of corn and carrots filled the air.

The flavor here is completely different from the pure stew of Hitler. The ingredients here have a more complex flavor profile, and even the most ordinary salt is so finely seasoned that there is not a trace of grit.

She enjoyed the process; it was quiet, orderly, and full of anticipation.

The soup was ready, and she carefully brought the pot to the table.

Tao Yao had disappeared off to who-knows-where again. Song Che washed his hands and came over, looking at the milky white soup on the table. He smelled it and said, "It smells quite good. It seems Your Highness has a real talent for making soup."

"You know..." Xia Li rarely took the initiative to ask for opinions, her eyes shining, "If I make this for Auntie, will she be happy?"

"Definitely." Song Che scooped up a spoonful of soup, blew on it, and took a sip. The ribs were stewed until tender and melted in his mouth. "Hmm! This is an improvement of more than one dimension compared to the stir-fried vegetables last time. You learn so fast."

“I can learn something else.” Xia Li took a bite of the ribs in her bowl. The meat was tender and juicy. She narrowed her eyes slightly, then quickened her eating pace, her cheeks bulging. “I saw in the Magic Mirror that you have to go to school to earn decent money. If I don’t have an ID card, can I never go to school?”

"You want to go to school?" Song Che was a little surprised.

"Hmm." Xia Li nodded, swallowing the food in her mouth. "Because Song Che is also in school. If I can go to school with Song Che, we can earn money together. It seems like that gold coin is almost gone."

“There’s no rush.” Song Che put a piece of corn on her plate. “If you just want to learn about human knowledge, I can teach you at home. As for school… to be honest, my grades are terrible right now. If my grades are bad, I won’t be able to get into a good university, and my chances of making a lot of money in the future will be slim.”

"What if we make some extra money together?" Xia Li seriously considered.

"More or less," Song Che said with a wry smile.

In an era where academic qualifications are devalued, he might not even be able to obtain one, and his future seemed bleak.

"I asked the Magic Mirror a lot of questions. You can actually do a lot of things without an ID card: set up a street stall, open a small shop..."

"It might be enough to maintain basic food and clothing. But if I get sick or something else happens, that little money won't be enough."

"Then let's open ten small shops." Xia Li's logic was simple and direct.

Song Che was amused by her: "This isn't just a simple matter of adding up numbers. If we open ten stores, who will look after them? What will we sell? Purchasing, management, dealing with inspections... these are all problems."

He paused, then softened his tone, "However... the idea of ​​opening a small shop is something we can consider. If it goes well, we can open a small shop together and live a simple life; that would be quite pleasant."

Xia Li fell into deep thought.

She knew she knew almost nothing about these things, but she just wanted to do something and didn't want to be a burden to be supported.

Song Che understood what she was thinking, of course.

This thought had been lingering in her mind for more than just a day or two.

He was always thinking about washing dishes, doing housework, and even considering doing illegal work.

This girl's way of thinking is different from others; it's hard to say whether she's stupid or overly naive.

Most normal people would first assess their own "value." For example, her good looks are an asset, which might help her find a better partner. But Xia Li didn't. What she was thinking about was how to make Song Che rich, so she could give him all the money she earned and have him pay for everything when they went out. That way, she would feel very prestigious.

Song Che was taken aback, then suddenly realized that his own thinking might have been biased.

He had always subconsciously believed that human relationships were somewhat intertwined with considerations of self-interest, and that it was normal for a girl to leave and look for someone better if she felt that a boy couldn't give her what she wanted. He unconsciously projected this mindset onto Xia Li as well.

But Xia Li is quite the opposite.

She seemed never to doubt what Song Che would give her; on the contrary, she was vaguely worried that Song Che might one day find her troublesome and leave.

Song Che guessed that this silly girl had never even thought about assessing her own worth.

Just like if you ask her how many people are in the room, she will count carefully: "Song Che, Bruce, Tao Xiang, three in total."

—She forgot to include herself in the calculation.

"Pfft..." Song Che suddenly couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Xia Li didn't laugh.

She heard it clearly: Song Che was telling her in his mind that she wasn't human. Although she wasn't human in the strict sense, in a human context, it was obviously an insult.

“You’re cursing me in your heart again,” she pointed out, her tone calm.

"I'm sorry," Song Che readily admitted his mistake.

"It's okay." This time, Xia Li didn't rush to knock him on the forehead as usual. She just said quietly, "I think what you were thinking just now was wrong. I do recognize my own 'worth.' But I believe that my value is mine, and your value is yours. Why should someone look down on another person just because their value is higher than theirs?"

Song Che's expression became complicated, a mixture of heartache and a hint of helplessness.

Xia Li's ideas were too pure and too idealistic, as bright as a mirror, yet as fragile as a mirror.

"The reality is that if one person's value, usually referring to social status, wealth, etc., is higher than another person's, the one with lower value will often be looked down upon."

He tried to explain this cruel yet universal rule.

“That’s not right.” Xia Li frowned slightly.

"That's right—because that's how reality works."

"Then... do you also look down on me?" Xia Li pursed her lips and asked softly.

“No, not at all.” Song Che immediately shook his head, looking into her clear eyes, and said with great seriousness, “I think you are a very good person. It is precisely because you don’t understand the complex rules of human society that you seem so pure and precious.”

"Is this a compliment?"

“Yes, His Highness is indeed a very good person.” Song Che nodded vigorously.

A little bit of joy quietly welled up in Xia Li's heart, like drinking a sip of warm honey water.