V2: Chapter 55: The Child-Raising Journey of Two Clumsy Servants
“Carol!” Laura cried out, “Gladys! Come here! Take her away from me!”
At that moment, Gladys, in the dim candlelight, saw Laura's disheveled state.
“Hahahahahaha~”
A loud burst of laughter echoed throughout the room. Gladys, clutching her stomach with one hand and pointing at Laura with the other, was doubled over with laughter, tears streaming down her face.
“I told you so, I warned you, look at the mess you're in now! Hahahaha, serves you right for not listening to me!” Gladys laughed gleefully.
“Stop laughing there, come here right now!” Laura was completely overwhelmed.
Gladys finally managed to pull Carol off, but Laura immediately darted out, keeping a safe distance from them, her hand still gripping the doorknob, looking like she was about to burst out the door at any moment.
"Hey?! I said, how can you repay kindness with enmity? I was the one who just ripped Carol off you! And you're turning your back on me like this? Let me tell you, this is immoral!" Gladys yelled.
Laura's face was filled with terror.
"Anyway? I absolutely will not go there again, absolutely, absolutely! Never!"
The burning pain on her cheek told Laura not to approach that little devil. If she did, the child would grab her hair, pinch her cheeks, and give her a good beating.
"But what am I supposed to do if you run away? This isn't just my problem!" Gladys cried out in despair. If it were any other child, she would have thrown the child out the window long ago.
But the child in her arms was more precious than her own life. If she dared to hurt even a finger of the child, that cold-blooded creature could use its tentacles to tighten its grip on her neck and strangle her to death. She still had so many flavors of fresh blood to drink; she couldn't just die like that.
So, with a sob in her voice, she pleaded with Laura, "Please come help me, please, you don't want to see me in so much pain, do you?"
Yes, Gladys was in terrible pain. Usually at this time, she would be fast asleep in bed, fast asleep. But now, she was being tormented by the little rascal, unable to get any sleep.
Looking at Gladys's suffering, Laura ultimately couldn't bring herself to completely ignore her and become a deserter. Resolutely, like a member of a suicide squad, she rushed back into the room.
Hope shone again in Gladys's eyes, and tears welled up in her eyes.
"Laura, indeed, you're the best to us in this world."
Laura pulled Carol off Gladys, then, like a hot potato, threw Carol back onto the bed. The child, whoever she took after, was so strong; pulling her scalp hurt terribly.
"What should we do now?"
The two women looked at the human infant on the bed, both filled with worry.
Carol looked left and right, seemingly getting bored, then suddenly opened her mouth wide and began to cry. The crying was heart-wrenching, especially in the middle of the night, like a vengeful ghost.
"No, no, we can't let her cry! If she cries, how am I supposed to explain to Liang Di and Liang Lin?"
Gladys was like an ant on a hot plate. Just thinking about the two women's crazed state made her panic, fearing she would be beaten again.
Ever since being disciplined by those two women, she hadn't dared to be even slightly reckless.
"What to do? What to do? Think of something quickly, think of something quickly!"
If the child's crying alerted Liang Lin and Liang Di, and Liang Lin stormed over angrily, demanding an explanation, she would be speechless.
"What do little kids like? Tell me, Laura! What do little kids like?" Gladys's mouth chattered on and on, like an engine that never stopped.
Laura, standing nearby, was clutching her head, rubbing her temples, feeling like her brain was about to explode. Carol's crying was already annoying, and with Gladys's incessant chatter, Laura felt like her world was a giant mosquito's wing.
"Stop!" Laura grabbed Gladys's arm. "Don't keep pacing around in the room. If you keep going, I'm going to faint! Don't worry, I've got an idea to soothe the child."
Gladys's eyes lit up with hope again. She was overjoyed.
"Laura, I knew you were the smartest, the wisest, and the most considerate! What's the idea? Tell me quickly, I'll do anything you want!"
Laura pointed to the door.
"Children like toys, right? We don't have any in our room, so we can go get some from Miss Liang Lin's room."
"But... but if we go to her room without her permission, we might not be able to get in..."
"Ouch! Laura, why did you hit me on the head?!"
Laura gave Gladys a hard tap on the head. "Were you even listening to the ladies? Oh, I know, you fell asleep standing up again, didn't you? I knew it, your eyelids were closed."
"Huh?"
Gladys guiltily looked away.
"What? How could you? I just forgot, of course I was listening carefully."
"I don't believe you."
"Oh! Never mind whether I was listening or not, just tell me what you need me to do." Gladys quickly changed the subject.
"Miss Liang Lin said she has things Carol can use in her room, but we don't have any dolls. Miss Liang Lin's room definitely has them, they're all Carol's toys. Before she went to take care of Miss Liang Di, she told us that if we needed anything, we could just go to her room and get it."
"Oh, oh, oh, I see..."
Gladys muttered softly, rubbing her forehead where she'd been tapped, "Just say it already, why did you hit me?"
Gladys skipped off to get the toys.
The pillows, blankets, and dolls on the bed became the targets of Carol's antics. Sometimes she tossed pillows high into the air and caught them nimbly; other times she used her dolls as horses, bouncing and leaping about joyfully. The bed creaked and groaned under her antics, as if expressing her helplessness.
Suddenly, she rolled off the bed and crawled all over the floor.
The floor was covered with a soft carpet, which Carol rolled and crawled on, letting her true nature run wild. Sometimes she imitated a knight charging into battle, sometimes she played the role of a magician waving an imaginary wand.
A variety of toys and decorations she had taken from Liang Lin's room were scattered around her—these were Carol's "props" for her antics. Sometimes she would pick up a doll, muttering something incomprehensible to others, pretending to talk to it; sometimes she would pick up a small ball and throw it far away. The toys seemed to come alive in her hands, enacting exciting adventures with her.
Gladys and Laura watched her, their heads spinning.
This child has so much energy, there's no way to control her!
But she can't stay awake forever. She won't sleep, but Gladys and Laura still need to. Those two poor souls' eyelids are already drooping.
"What do we do? Do you know how to get a child to sleep?" Gladys nudged Laura with her elbow.
Laura started trying to recall her own childhood.
"Oh right, when I couldn't sleep when I was little, my mom would read me stories from a fairy tale book."
Hearing this, Gladys immediately grabbed a fairy tale book from the bed, looking at Laura pleadingly, "Please, tell her a story now."
“Okay…”
Even if Gladys didn’t ask, Laura would still tell Carol stories to lull the child to sleep.
Laura held a brightly colored picture book in her hands. She sat on the edge of the bed, pulled Carol into her arms, and gently turned the pages, beginning to tell a story about a brave little hero. The little rascal’s eyes gradually focused on the pictures, her curiosity drawn to them. However, she was only a little over a year old and didn’t understand the story. She was quiet now simply because she had something to do.
As the story progressed, Laura’s voice grew softer and softer, like a gentle breeze caressing the heart. She sometimes imitated animal sounds, sometimes changed her tone, making the story more vivid and interesting.
Carol listened with great interest (she didn’t understand a word of the story from the animal sounds Laura imitated), occasionally letting out cheerful laughter.
Of course, it was all for naught. Carol continued to get up and playfully fuss over her own story.
Could it be that they wouldn't be able to sleep all night, forced to stay by this brat's side the whole time?
For a sleepy vampire princess, this was an utterly hopeless situation.
"No—"
Thinking that she wouldn't be able to sleep either, Gladys slid to her knees and collapsed onto the floor, letting out a long, mournful howl.
"No—no—"
At that moment, it seemed like background music was playing: fluttering, the north wind howling~
Snowflakes seemed to be gradually falling around her.
Gladys had given up all hope. She thought, "Today, I'll be the first time I've ever stayed up all night."
Haha, you can only say that you still need to hold onto a little hope. Only when you hold onto hope will you know what it means to have your wish dashed.
Gladys was right after all. She shouldn't have held onto any hope, because Carol really did keep making a ruckus until early morning before finally calming down and going to sleep.
“My God…”
Gladys clasped her hands together, like a believer, a tear sliding down her cheek. “I hope no more children will be born in this world.”
“Gladys, uh…?! What happened to your face? Why do you look so sallow?”
This was the first thing Liang Lin said upon seeing Gladys, and she almost couldn’t help but laugh.
This is too funny.
Gladys had lost all color; the world in her mind was gray and white. So, naturally, she herself should be gray and white too. She was petrified.
Heartbroken, she finally understood what it meant to be heartbroken.
Liang Lin took the child from her arms, looked up, and found Gladys still standing there, not having moved an inch.
“What are you standing here for?” Liang Lin frowned and asked.
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