The brightly lit living room.
A woman in her thirties sat on the sofa, wearing black-rimd glasses. Her sharp, short hairstyle was neatly tucked behind her left ear, and her lightly made-up face exuded a composed deanor. She was dressed in a white blouse, the collar slightly unbuttoned, giving her a professional yet relaxed appearance.
Her slender fingers danced over the keyboard on the coffee table in front of her, typing with precision.
It was almost like playing the piano.
When she finished, she leaned back, letting her body press against the sofa as she straightened her posture and exhaled deeply.
Perhaps due to wearing high heels all day, her toes felt sore.
She stretched out her legs, raising them slightly, and flexed her red-painted toes gently.
The room fell silent except for the rhythmic ticking of the clock on the wall.
Her eyes flicked to the ti, and a hint of worry crossed her brow. She glanced at her phone, which had been ringing earlier but now displayed a missed call notification.
Suddenly, the sound of a key turning in the lock broke the quiet. She quickly adjusted her posture.
The door opened, and Zhao Xuanwen walked in.
“Why are you ho so late today?” the woman on the sofa asked.
After taking off her shoes, Zhao Xuanwen dashed into the living room and plopped down beside her.
“I was at a classmate’s house!”
She wrapped her arms around the woman’s arm, pressing her face against it affectionately.
“Mom, have you been waiting long?”
“You little rascal!”
The woman poked Zhao Xuanwen’s forehead with her finger.
This was Zhao Yalin, 36 years old, divorced, and the mother of Zhao Xuanwen.
Though there was a hint of reproach in her tone, her expression softened with worry.
“Going to a classmate’s house without letting know? You didn’t think to call?”
“My phone died!”
To prove her point, Zhao Xuanwen quickly pulled a pink flip phone out of her small bag. A little dog charm dangled from the phone’s chain.
She flipped it open and pressed a few buttons, but the screen remained dark.
“See? I wasn’t lying!”
Zhao Yalin glanced at the phone and then back at her daughter, letting out a light laugh.
“Fine, but don’t let it happen again. I need to be able to reach you at all tis.”
“Yes, ma’am! Your orders, Mother Dearest!”
Watching her daughter’s playful grin, the fatigue from Zhao Yalin’s day of work seed to dissipate. Her spirits lifted, her heart ward by her daughter’s energy.
Her daughter had a way of spreading joy to everyone around her.
As if suddenly rembering sothing, she asked, “Which classmate’s house were you at?”
“Uh…”
Caught off guard by the question, Zhao Xuanwen hesitated.
Her large eyes darted around as if trying to evade the topic.
“Mom, have you eaten yet?”
“Answer !”
Grabbing her daughter’s face with both hands, Zhao Yalin squished her slightly chubby cheeks together.
“Which classmate is this that I don’t know about?”
Her expression feigned sternness.
Zhao Yalin knew her daughter well.
Although Zhao Xuanwen was cheerful and outgoing, she hadn’t had many friends since elentary school and had never gone to a classmate’s house before—especially not until this late.
“Liu Zhiyue, my deskmate!”
“A boy or a girl?”
“A… a boy.”
Zhao Yalin’s expression turned to one of surprise. She hadn’t expected her daughter to be visiting the ho of a male classmate.
“You’re a girl! What are you doing running to a boy’s house?”
She grabbed Zhao Xuanwen’s cheeks and gave them a playful tug.
“Mom, that hurts! Stop pulling!”
“Will you do it again next ti?!”
“It hurts! It hurts!”
Though Zhao Xuanwen looked like she might cry, Zhao Yalin wasn’t fooled—she knew her daughter too well. This was just another one of her tricks to earn her pity and avoid consequences.
“This ti, I won’t fall for it. Spill!”
“I… I just went to show him my notes. He got suspended for a week…”
Reluctantly, Zhao Xuanwen confessed, avoiding her mother’s gaze.
After pausing for a mont, Zhao Yalin released her grip.
Finally free, Zhao Xuanwen rubbed her cheeks, casting a resentful glance at her mother.
“Why was he suspended for a week?”
“…”
The rubbing motion slowed as Zhao Xuanwen struggled to co up with a response. Her face grew redder, and she started to panic.
“Well, a boy in our class asked to get him so water, and then Liu Zhiyue got into a fight with him…”
She mumbled softly, her voice barely audible.
Zhao Yalin froze for a second, quickly piecing the situation together.
She placed a hand on her daughter’s head, stroking it gently.
“Then you should thank him properly.”
“Mm-hmm!”
Nodding eagerly, Zhao Xuanwen’s face lit up again.
“His dad’s cooking is really good!”
“Is that so?”
Sothing about her mother’s tone sounded off, but Zhao Xuanwen couldn’t quite put her finger on it.
“Better than your mom’s cooking?”
“Of course!”
“You!”
Raising her hand as if to knock on her daughter’s head, Zhao Yalin hesitated. Seeing her daughter quickly cover her head and curl up defensively, she sighed and lowered her hand.
Her expression shifted to one of concern.
“I’m not saying this to nag, but don’t go liking him just because of this, okay?”
Before she had even finished speaking, Zhao Xuanwen shot upright, her face instantly flushed as she frantically waved her hands in denial.
“Mom, what are you saying?! I-I-I-I-I could never like him!”
She lowered her head, mumbling under her breath as if listing grievances.
“He’s tall, but he’s also heavy. Sotis he barely responds when you talk to him. His grades are just average, and he doesn’t even finish running during PE tests. Sure, he looked a little cool that day, but… I’m not that easy to impress!”
As if to reaffirm her statent, she nodded vigorously and added, “Really!”
Unable to contain her amusent, Zhao Yalin burst into laughter.
“Hahaha, alright, alright. Mom believes you!”
Then, as if rembering sothing, she asked, “Do you have a picture of this boy? I’d like to see him.”
“A picture? Sure!”
Without hesitation, Zhao Xuanwen darted off to her room. She returned with a phone charger, plugged in her phone, and waited for it to power on.
Once it was ready, she opened her photo album and quickly found a picture of Liu Zhiyue.
It was a candid shot taken during a break between classes. In the photo, Liu Zhiyue appeared to be daydreaming, but his expression was caught mid-turn, looking surprised as he noticed Zhao Xuanwen aiming her phone at him.
“Here, this one! His reaction was so funny at the ti!”
Holding up her phone, she showed the picture to her mother.
Leaning in for a closer look, Zhao Yalin scrutinized the photo, her brow furrowing slightly.
He’s a bit chubby… but his features are quite decent. He has potential.
But as she stared at the picture, a strange sense of familiarity nagged at her.
“Next one!” Zhao Xuanwen exclaid, swiping to the next photo.
“This one’s hilarious, too! He was drinking water and got choked on it!”
As she continued scrolling, Zhao Xuanwen’s excitent grew. She curled up on the sofa, hugging her phone, her face glowing with joy as she revisited the photos in her album.
Watching her daughter’s behavior, Zhao Yalin shook her head.
She’s taken so many pictures of him…
Her daughter… had grown up.
Still, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she’d seen this boy’s face sowhere before.
That nagging sense of familiarity only deepened as she watched her daughter giggle and smile at the photos.
Suddenly, an uneasy thought crossed her mind.
It feels like my little cabbage is about to be eaten by a pig.
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