◎ Brother Has a System Uncle (Part 2) ◎
Huh? Wait, didn’t Le Qing used to speak Chinese?
Jiang Hechang’s mind finally caught up as he took another look at the person before him. Though that fleeting sense of familiarity had struck him, upon closer inspection, their features weren’t identical—yet the resemblance was uncanny.
Mostly, their demeanor and mannerisms were strikingly similar, even their tone of voice.
He tentatively called out, “Le Qing?”
Annie shook her head. “No, I’m Annie.”
Jiang Hechang: “Huh?”
Why did those two little ones suddenly call her “Mom”?
Annie hadn’t expected the children to address her that way either, leaving her frozen in place, unable to react.
She had worried that, with no memories of the children, she wouldn’t be able to offer them a mother’s warmth. But the moment that word left their lips, her mind buzzed, and her eyes instantly welled up.
Her hand reached out, brushing against the child’s shoulder before moving upward, tracing the soft contours of their face—so different from the photos yet achingly real.
All those vague, fragmented feelings suddenly crystallized into clarity.
These children she had never met had grown so big, so beautiful, in a world she hadn’t been part of.
A tear slipped unnoticed from Annie’s eye.
“Mom?” Little Le Jia, seeing the pretty auntie suddenly crying, quickly pulled a tissue from his little bag to wipe her face. “Why are you… huh?”
Her eyes… they looked just like his sister’s.
Little Le Jia glanced between the auntie and his still-dazed sister, his confusion deepening.
His talking pen had said that a mom was a child’s closest family, someone who carried them in her belly for a long, long time before they were born.
His sister never lied—so did this mom’s belly really hold him and his sister?
He couldn’t help but peek at “Mom’s” stomach.
Flat. How could it have fit two whole kids?
The word “Mom” had just taken on a tangible meaning, though the children clearly didn’t yet grasp its full significance. They simply stared at her with curiosity.
Little Le Jia carefully wiped away her tears and whispered, “Eyes like sister’s.”
Annie only understood the word “sister.”
Right now, she deeply regretted not learning Chinese properly with Ivy.
Meanwhile, Jiang Hechang, prompted by his grandson, also took a closer look at the crouching woman’s eyes. They were identical to An'an’s—just lacking a certain spark.
And why had she started crying out of nowhere?!
Already flustered, Jiang Hechang grew even more panicked. Whether or not this woman was the children’s mother, any further misunderstandings would only make things worse.
Fortunately, Le Qing emerged just then, drawn by the commotion outside.
“Jiajia? An'an?” And the person practically plastered against the wall… “Uncle Jiang?”
“Le—” Jiang Hechang felt like he’d grabbed a lifeline, but the name died on his lips. What if there were two Le Qings now?
Switching to the term the old man used, he awkwardly said, “Sweetheart, Jiang Suizhi said you were back in the country, so he asked me to bring the kids over.”
So it was Jiang Suizhi’s doing.
But Le Qing guessed he must have wanted the children to meet Annie. “Come in first,” she said.
Jiang Hechang hesitated. “Is it… appropriate for me to come in?”
Le Qing: “…”
Suddenly recalling their past tensions and realizing Annie might need more time alone with the kids, Le Qing decided to be impolite just this once.
“Uncle Jiang, we just got back, and the house isn’t tidy yet. Why don’t you head back first? We’ll return the kids in a couple of days.”
So it was true.
Jiang Hechang’s heart sank.
He was still being excluded.
But why “return” the kids?
Though he’d love for them to stay with the Jiang family, hadn’t they agreed it was just for a short visit?
“Did you discuss this with Jiang—” He paused, frowning. “That brat hasn’t been giving you trouble, has he?”
Le Qing’s ears instantly turned red. “N-no, he hasn’t.”
“I won’t meddle in you youngsters’ affairs, but he can’t just do as he pleases.” The mention of his son made Jiang Hechang’s tone stiffen. “We’ll talk about the kids when he gets back.”
He glanced at Annie again, his voice strained. “Let’s have a meal together sometime. Today isn’t the best moment for a talk.”
Le Qing wholeheartedly agreed.
Jiang Hechang: “Someone will bring the kids’ things over later. I’ll take my leave now.”
“Alright, Uncle Jiang. Take care.” Le Qing patted the children’s heads. “Say goodbye to Grandpa.”
“Bye-bye, Grandpa~”
“Mm.” Jiang Hechang turned to leave but then steeled himself and looked back at Annie. “You too. Let’s eat together sometime.”
Annie, unable to see, had no idea he was addressing her and didn’t react.
This only deepened Jiang Hechang’s despair.
The woman hadn’t spared him a single glance the entire time.
She really must be their mother.
“Uncle Jiang,” Le Qing quickly explained, “Annie can’t see.”
Jiang Hechang froze, studying Annie’s eyes again. Indeed, her gaze was unfocused, empty.
A crushing wave of guilt engulfed him.
She must have survived some terrible ordeal back then, leaving her with this condition.
At this moment, Jiang Hechang felt like a criminal, his face etched with sorrow. “My fault. All my fault.”
With the old man distraught, the little ones confused, and the grown woman crying, Le Qing was at her wit’s end. “It’s… complicated. We’ll explain another time over dinner.”
Jiang Hechang waved a hand, his posture slumped as if bearing a great weight. “I’ll personally come to invite you.”
Le Qing: “?”
“No need to see me out.”
Baffled, Le Qing watched the old man trudge away like he’d suffered a devastating blow. She figured she’d call Jiang Suizhi later to sort things out—until she heard Little Le'an, holding Annie’s hand as they went inside, say comfortingly, “Mommy don’t cry. We’re home now. An'an has candy in her backpack!”
At that word, Le Qing’s hand stilled on the door. She turned sharply. “An'an, what did you call her?”
An'an blinked up at her. “Mommy. Isn’t she Mommy?”
Le Qing hadn’t been there for the earlier exchange and had no idea what had happened. “Annie, did you tell them?”
But how could they have communicated when they didn’t even speak the same language?
Only now did Annie snap out of her daze, rationality returning.
Right—why had the children called her “Mom” the moment they saw her?
She shook her head slightly.
Puzzled, Le Qing crouched to An'an’s level. “An'an, why did you call this auntie ‘Mommy’?”
Realizing she’d slipped up, Little Le'an clapped her hands over her mouth and frantically looked to her brother for help.
Equally lost, Little Le Jia could only turn to his trusted advisor: “System Uncle, emergency! Help save sister!”
But this time, he called out for a long while before hearing the slightly hoarse voice of "Uncle System": "I don't know."
Oh no.
Even such a smart Uncle System didn’t know how to save Little Sister now!
"Le Jia, come closer," the system said. "Let Uncle take a look at her."
"At Mom?"
Several seconds passed before Little Le Jia heard a soft, low "Mm."
Though he didn’t understand, this was the first time Uncle System had ever asked him so directly to do something for him. So Little Le Jia walked up to this unfamiliar mother and tilted his head slightly upward. "Can Uncle see now?"
"Yes." The system suppressed the trembling in his voice, his entire data system in chaos, every part of it sending frantic warnings.
He asked, "She... can’t see, can she?"
Little Le Jia nodded sadly. "Auntie said so."
Hearing this, the system chuckled softly, a hint of bitterness in his voice. "No wonder... no wonder."
From the moment he saw the fates of the children and Jiang Suizhi and willingly became a system to protect them, he had stopped thinking of himself as human.
As long as he could watch the children grow up healthy and happy, as long as he could rewrite their tragic endings, he was content to remain a system forever.
He wanted everyone he loved to have a peaceful ending.
So even when he sensed that the children no longer needed him, he could accept his gradual disappearance with calm resignation. He didn’t intrude into their lives again and again, hoping only that one day they would forget him and return to their normal lives.
But he had never imagined—she was still alive.
Though her appearance had changed somewhat, her eyes, her figure, her very being—even if she transformed a thousand times, he would recognize her at a glance. She was the one he had vowed to walk through life with.
At first, he thought Little Sister’s mind-reading ability was just a coincidence. But now, it seemed this was no accident either.
She, too, was protecting the children in her own way.
"Uncle?" Little Le Jia waited for a response, but none came. Seeing his sister’s eyes twitching anxiously, he pressed, "What do we do about Little Sister?"
"Tell the truth."
"What?" Little Le Jia was shocked. "But Uncle said this was a secret! No one else can know!"
"They’re not 'others.'"
"Then who are they?"
After a brief pause, Little Le Jia heard Uncle System’s voice, softer and gentler than ever before. "They’re your mothers. No one could love you more than they do."
"But Uncle said the same thing about Uncle Jiang."
"..." After a long silence, he let out a warm, amused sigh. "Yes. Now, there are many people who love you."
An'an was waiting anxiously, but instead of answering, her brother had started staring at Mom in a daze. She tugged at his sleeve impatiently. "Brother!"
"Don’t call him 'brother,'" Le Qing interrupted, suddenly recalling all the times Little Sister had displayed surprising cleverness. "That day at Grandpa’s house—how did you know Uncle Jiang hit Auntie?"
Little Sister pressed her lips together, looking as if she might burst into tears any second.
Without Uncle System’s guidance, she didn’t know how to lie.
Luckily, Little Le Jia finally snapped out of his conversation with Uncle System and stepped in front of his sister. "Because Little Sister is a superhero."
"What kind of superhero?"
"Little Sister can see with her eyes." Little Le Jia chose to trust Uncle System—though, truthfully, he also trusted Auntie and this new mother deeply, which was why he agreed so readily.
He pointed at Auntie’s eyes. "She can see things in people’s eyes."
Le Qing: "?"
Was this even Chinese anymore?
Little Le'an stared at her brother in disbelief—he had just spectacularly betrayed her!
Fortunately, having already experienced transmigration and rebirth, Le Qing’s ability to accept the unbelievable had greatly improved. She quickly pieced it together. "You mean... Little Sister can read minds?"
Little Le Jia nodded solemnly.
This was a skill only a true hero could possess. A noble ability.
Le Qing: "..."
So that’s it! No wonder these two silly kids seemed like geniuses—they were cheating!
"What about you?" she asked.
Little Le Jia tactfully avoided the question.
But Little Sister, already sold out, wasn’t about to let her brother off the hook. She stepped forward and declared loudly, "Brother has a talking uncle in his head!"
A talking uncle?
Le Qing immediately turned her gaze to her brother’s little skull.
Little Le Jia: "!!!"
Uncle System: "!!!"
Annie had been unable to get a word in the entire time, catching only fragments of the conversation—something about brothers, sisters, and uncles. When the topic shifted to her son, she leaned in. "What are you talking about?"
Curious, Le Qing pointed at Little Le Jia’s head. "Little Sister says Brother has a 'System Uncle' in his head."
The information was overwhelming.
Even though Annie couldn’t see, she wanted to know what was inside her son’s head. Following the sound of his voice, she reached out and touched his head.
Little Le Jia immediately ducked, shielding his skull with his hands, terrified that Uncle System would be exposed by Auntie and New Mom.
"Don’t worry, Uncle," he said with all the bravado of a little man. "I’ll protect you."
But the next moment, he heard Uncle System’s stern voice, tinged with urgency. "Move your hands. Look up."
"Huh?"
"You’re blocking my view of your mother."
Brother: Just a tool.
