If you want to survive after transmigrating, become the male protagonist's new mother.

Pei Yuening did not notice Ollie's unease.

He glanced up at the clock; class was about to start.

So he told Lin Huaijin and the others that he had sent He Shuming's copy to her office.

She wasn't there, so Pei Yuening left after putting her down.

The next class is potion-making practice, so I have to go to the potion-making room.

Pei Yuening returned to the classroom, where Ryan was putting his book into his coat.

He leaned closer to Ollie, and as he stood up, he took Ollie's hand in his.

"...Let's go," Ryan said.

Ollie hummed in agreement and gently squeezed back.

Pei Yuening saw this and could only feel immense satisfaction.

He picked up his textbooks, and Lin Huaijin was right next to him. The two of them left the classroom one after the other.

Students walked in twos and threes down the corridor toward the east side. Pei Yuening followed the young couple whispering in each other's ears, wishing she could grab a handful of sunflower seeds.

Lin Huaijin's attention was clearly not on this.

"When was the potion room filled?" he asked.

Pei Yuening exclaimed "Ah!" and shook her head, saying, "I don't know, it seems to have been changed from a noble privilege area."

"Alright then." Lin Huaijin nodded. "You're such a good cook, you must be good at making potions too, right?"

"..."

Brother Huaijin, stop fooling around~

Pei Yuening remained silent, only offering a forced smile: "I really can't guarantee that... Did the egg tarts we just tried count as replenishing our energy before class?"

Lin Huaijin turned her head and glanced at him: "Just how much did you actually do?"

"Not many, just one batch."

"How much is one furnace?"

"A dozen or twenty, I guess."

"sharp."

Lin Huaijin looked away.

The other two were walking a few steps away.

They stood very close, exchanging a few words occasionally, but mostly just silently holding hands.

Ryan looked much better, his cheeks were rosy, and he looked even more pleasing to the eye.

Pei Yuening couldn't help but sigh, "Sigh, love really does nourish people."

"...What's wrong?" Lin Huaijin asked from the side.

"It's nothing," Pei Yuening clicked her tongue twice, "I just think it's really nice to be in love."

Lin Huaijin followed his gaze backward, then looked away again.

I don't understand Pei Yuening.

Anyway, he doesn't look at it, afraid of getting a sty.

A moment later, outside the alchemy room.

Lin Huaijin pushed open the door and stepped aside to let Pei Yuening go in first.

As soon as you step inside, the aroma of dried herbs and mineral powder hits you.

Pei Yuening's gaze swept around.

The stone floor was wiped very clean, and a small magic furnace was embedded in each long table.

A copper crucible rested on the stove, and long-handled spoons were neatly arranged beside it.

Dozens of labeled bottles and jars were stacked on the shelf against the wall, containing specimens of magical herbs from all corners of the continent, from moonstone powder to swamp moss.

Pei Yuening can only be described as awesome.

As expected of the Holy Academy.

There was a faint smell of sulfur in the air, probably because the ventilation system had just been activated.

"...This place is so proper," Pei Yuening couldn't help but say.

"Um."

Lin Huaijin took a look.

Ryan and Ollie had already reserved a four-person table and were beckoning them over.

"Let's go," he suggested, "over there."

Pei Yuening snapped out of her daze: "Oh, okay."

He responded and sat down opposite Ryan, with Lin Huaijin next to him.

Ollie sat next to Ryan, the two of them very close, and even secretly held hands under the table until the first bell rang.

"Professor He hasn't arrived yet?" Ryan asked.

"I went to her office to deliver egg tarts, but she wasn't there." Pei Yuening opened her textbook. "But she's never late, so she should be here soon."

"Too."

No sooner had he finished speaking than the door to the alchemy room was pushed open.

He Shuming walked in, stood in front of the podium, and habitually cleared his throat.

"Cough cough."

Pei Yuening looked up.

He remained expressionless, and even the wrinkles on the hem of his clothes were exactly the same as yesterday.

If you ignore the crumbs of pastry stuck to the corner of her mouth.

The bell rang, and He Shuming adjusted his monocle.

"Turn to page 74 of your textbook, about basic healing potions."

She paused.

"You already harvested the dragon blood vine yesterday. The method for extracting the juice is in the textbook's recipe appendix; please refer to it yourself."

After saying that, she turned around and casually wiped the corner of her mouth.

Pei Yuening looked up at the sky.

At this point, you have to pretend to be blind, otherwise his homeroom teacher will be out of character.

"...The weeping vine is under your table."

Ollie and Ryan accidentally touched each other's hands, and blushed after looking at each other.

Lin Huaijin rolled his eyes speechlessly.

Pei Yuening didn't take it seriously and reached down to grab a handful.

Under the table was a palm-sized wicker basket lined with damp moss.

Pei Yuening touched it and casually picked it up.

Then, he gasped.

"..."

What is this?

The thing in front of me was about three inches long, and the outline of facial features could be vaguely seen on its pale green skin.

Its eyes were tightly closed, and tiny roots within the moss conjured images of its limbs.

"..."

Pei Yuening stopped breathing.

He slowly, stiffly, inch by inch lowered his head, staring at the breathing grass in the basket.

……

He can now truly empathize with the Tang Monk who refused to eat the ginseng fruit.

"Fuck you, feed me..."

"Pei Yuening, are you alright?" Ryan noticed his unusual appearance. "You look a little pale."

Ollie and Lin Huaijin, who had been looking down, both turned their gazes away.

Pei Yuening: "...No."

"Don't you guys think...that thing is a little creepy?"

Ollie didn't understand: "Which one?"

"The Crying Root Grass." Pei Yuening swallowed hard. "It has a face and hands, it can open its eyes and look at you, and it can even make a sound."

Ryan blinked. "Yeah, all root grasses are like that, but it's just a medicinal herb."

"It looks like that, and you still don't think it's a big deal??"

Lin Huaijin: "Otherwise what?"

Pei Yuening shut up.

Ollie, who was standing next to him, had already brought down the knife.

A muffled sobbing sound came from inside, but he simply squeezed the juice into the crucible without changing his expression.

Not only did they not care, they didn't even glance at it.

Pei Yuening: "..."

This damn Happy Valley effect!!

But there's nothing we can do.

Pei Yuening took a deep breath and told herself to calm down.

This is a magical world, these are herbs, it just looks like a person.

It's just damn!! How disgusting!

Pei Yuening, with a mournful face, reached out and tried to grab the weeping grass.

However, the moment his fingertip touched its skin, the thing suddenly opened its eyes and stared straight at him.

Pei Yuening bounced back half a meter.

"..." Lin Huaijin's voice came from the side: "Pei Yuening, what are you doing?"

"...No, it's nothing."

The whole class was focused on their work, but I made zero progress.

Looking at the weeping vine on his table, its eyes wide open and staring at him motionless, Pei Yuening felt more helpless than he had ever been in his life.

In his past life, he didn't slaughter live poultry when cooking, and he even bought ready-made fish.

They can't even bear to see food as it was before it was alive; otherwise, they absolutely cannot eat it.

But now... now...

Ahhh, let's do it, brothers!

Pei Yuening gritted his teeth and pulled it out of the moss.

The thing twisted in his palm, and a cool, slippery sensation shot from his palm to the back of his head. He almost threw it back.

But he held back.

Place it on the cutting board, pick up the knife, and hold it in mid-air.

He closed his eyes.

"God bless us, God bless us... God bless us with mountains of gold and silver..."

With one slash, all was silenced.

Pei Yuening quietly opened one eye.

The weeping grass, which originally resembled a human face, had been completely cut down.

But miraculously, its "face" disappeared the instant it died.

It's just an ordinary rhizome plant now.

"..."

To hell with that "Nai Nai" thing, it's so tacky! Isn't this deliberately making things difficult for people?!