An hour later...
As Sophia and Mary finished their homework on the dining table, their belly was starting to rumble loudly.
However, Katherine and Meiya still haven't arrived back home despite the time already being seven o'clock.
"Where is Mom? How are they still not back yet?" Sophia complained as the two of them leaned back down on the sofa.
"I don't know."
As Alex continued reading his book silently with no signs of hunger, Sophia and Mary were too hungry to do anything else.
"Sophia, you go cook," Mary demanded, with barely energy on her face.
"No, you go cook," Sophia demanded back.
With neither side willing to back down, they both turned their attention over to Alex.
"Alex, cook dinner for us... Please, you wouldn't be cruel enough to watch them go hungry, would you?"
Despite them trying to shake him out of the book by grabbing his arms, he quickly shoved them away.
"Go cook yourself. You got hands and legs."
Seeing Alex reject their demand, they both leaned back down again, not wanting to lift a single finger.
"I'll go cook dinner."
"Thank you——"
"Wait, let me go help you."
Alex quickly closed his book, following Luqing to the kitchen as Sophia and Mary sat in the living room.
"Now he's going to cook... Hey Sophia, what do you think made him change his mind?"
"He's doing it because he didn't want to let us starve——"
"Come on, Sophia, do you trust the word you just said out loud?"
Mary's question made Sophia turn silent for a second, but she wasn't done asking more questions.
"Hey Sophia, do you think he's into Luqing?"
"Mary! Don't say that kind of stuff... Luqing is old enough to be our mom... And she's our teacher."
"So? Who's to say Alex can't prefer older women——"
"You're really missing a few loose screws, aren't you, Mary?"
Sophia quickly trapped Mary into a chokehold with her arms before knocking the back of Mary's head with her knuckles.
"Ouch——Let me go! I was just asking——"
"You still don't understand what you did wrong?" Sophia asked as she knocked on the back of her head even harder.
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. I won't ask that ever again. I shouldn't be gossiping about other people."
After Mary's promise, Sophia slowly lets go of her before thinking back to her original idea.
She was already thinking of what Mary had just said out loud, but she just didn't want to say it like her.
From all the analytical evidence she had so far, she could feel Alex staying within a distance with all of the girls in the class.
It was almost as if he didn't want to risk becoming romantically involved with any of them or just having basic friendships with them.
If it wasn't for her always bringing him to her four friends, she could already imagine him being alone in the class.
"Sophia, are you jealous that Luqing is getting all the attention from Alex——"
"You're really testing my limit today, Mary."
After putting the jacket aside, Katherine tried her best to lift Sophia gently. However, the movement instantly awakened Sophia.
"Hm? Mom?" Sophia asked as she slowly opened her eyes.
"Sophia... You don't have to wait for me next time, okay? You can just head back to sleep like Alex and Mary."
As Katherine lifted Sophia in her arms, Sophia quickly shook her head as she became much more awake.
"I know... But the last time, you left late at night without saying a word."
Katherine's heart melted, knowing exactly what Sophia was talking about as she carried her all to the hallway.
"Sorry for making you worried... I just had something to do today."
After Katherine opened Sophia's room, Mary was already sleeping on one side of the bed.
Gently putting Sophia into bed, Katherine gently kissed both of their foreheads before leaving the room.
"Goodnight, Sophia."
"Goodnight, Mom."
---
Entering back into the hallway, Katherine headed straight to Alex's room to check on him.
Seeing him peacefully sleeping on the bed, she didn't bother waking him up as she headed back into the hallway again.
With all three of the kids asleep, Katherine headed back to her room before taking off her clothes.
As she looked in the body mirror, there were hundreds of red marks all over her chest and legs.
"Ouch..."
Katherine immediately stopped trying to touch it as a burning sensation almost made her collapse onto the floor.
But after murmuring something in her breath, a green light appeared before her body.
The burning sensation and the red marks disappeared, leaving her with only a bunch of sweat on her skin and her clothes as she put them back on.
"I need to go take a shower... They wouldn't mind it, would they?"
Putting her idea to the test, Katherine headed over to the bathroom before knocking on the door.
"Meiya, Luqing, can I come in? My clothes are drenched in sweat."
"Sure."
After walking in, she quickly took off her clothes again before walking inside.
Meiya was sitting on a small chair, with Luqing behind, holding a sponge with a bar of soap.
"Are you taking a shower, too?" Meiya asked as she noticed Katherine walking in naked.
"Yeah... You guys don't mind, right?"
"We don't mind it at all."
.net
As Katherine entered the shower area, she quickly noticed Meiya staring at her for a second before looking away.
She didn't think much of it as she quickly rinsed her hair with water before applying hair shampoo.
With her hair rinsed clean, Katherine began grabbing a bar of soap before scrubbing it around her body.
Meanwhile, Luqing had just finished cleaning, rinsing Meiya's body one last time.
"Thank you, Luqing... Wait, let me scrub your body. I haven't done that for you yet."
Despite wanting to refuse, Meiya had already had the bar of soap and sponge in hand.