Yang Haoran was certainly no fool. Even without Aunt Shen’s warning, he wouldn’t have carelessly revealed anything. He maintained a calm tone and said, “Oh, Shiwen, go ahead. I’m in my room right now; no one else is here.”
“It’s like this, Haoran. Didn’t you say before that you liked my mom?”
“Ah? That was a joke. You don’t need to take it seriously.”
Yang Haoran feigned a light-hearted tone as he spoke, though the hand holding his phone trembled slightly.
“Noβ¦ listen to me. My mom talked to me yesterday. She said she found a boyfriend and even arranged for me to meet him at noon today. I met him, Haoran. The boyfriend my mom found is our age. His name is Mu Haipeng.”
Hearing Yang Haoran’s response, Zhou Shiwen clearly grew anxious, and a stream of words rushed out.
“Ah, is that true? Aunt Shen really found a boyfriend? And he’s our age?”
Yang Haoran feigned surprise and astonishment, deliberately adopting an urgent tone to convey that he was extremely anxious and concerned deep down.
He couldn’t help but admire his own acting skills. Thankfully, under his mother’s “tutelage,” he had long since mastered the art of being a dramatic expert.
“Yes. Not only did my mom have me meet him at noon today, but the key thing is, tonight, without me knowing when, my mom brought him to our house. He even had dinner here. From what my mom implied, the two of them are going to sleep together tonight.”
Zhou Shiwen spoke with a frantic urgency.
Hearing this, Yang Haoran finally breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed Shiwen hadn’t discovered anything. His own nervousness and unease also subsided. He urgently said, “Is that true? Isn’t that absurd? How could Aunt Shen be so irresponsible?”
Shen Qing, listening in at that moment, felt like kicking him. What kind of nonsense was he spouting? Did he even have the right to say such things?
“My mom suddenly pulling this stunt was something I never expected. That guy’s looks are just average, and he seems shifty-eyed and untrustworthy. My mom must have been tricked by him. The reason I’m calling you is to ask you to come over quickly and stop my mom from doing something foolish.”
To motivate Haoran, Zhou Shiwen had no choice but to smear the other guy against his own conscience. The guy’s appearance could actually be considered handsome; it wasn’t average at all, let alone shifty-eyed and untrustworthy.
Shen Qing also knew that if she found an ugly actor, her son definitely wouldn’t believe it easily. That’s why she found a handsome one. But there are plenty of handsome people out there; she chose Mu Haipeng specifically because of his special circumstances.
After listening, Yang Haoran finally understood the purpose of Shiwen’s call. But how could he possibly come and stop himself? Stage his own intervention against himself?
He pretended to fall silent for a moment. Zhou Shiwen, on the other end, grew anxious and urgently said, “That guy is a fraud. My mom just won’t believe me. My mom likes you a lot. If you speak up, she’ll definitely be willing to listen to you.”
Feeling the timing was about right, Yang Haoran spoke up: “Shiwen, Aunt Shen isn’t that kind of shallow woman. She doesn’t just judge people by their looks. Besides, someone like Aunt Shen doesn’t seem like the type to be easily deceived. I’d be more inclined to believe she’s the one deceiving others. Since Aunt Shen has chosen that person, it means he must have unique qualities, strengths and shining points you haven’t noticed. Even though I also don’t want Aunt Shen to have a boyfriend, still⦔
He trailed off here, deliberately leaving a meaningful silence, but his meaning was clear. He believed Shiwen would understand.
He was at Shiwen’s house. He was that person. How could he possibly agree?
“Noβ¦ didn’t you say you had those kinds of feelings for my mom? How can you just stand by and watch her throw herself into someone else’s arms?”
Zhou Shiwen grew desperate. If Haoran didn’t come, all his plans would be like flowers in a mirror, the moon reflected in waterβutterly unreal.
Seeing that Shiwen wouldn’t be so easily dismissed, Yang Haoran had no choice but to say helplessly, “What good would it do if I came? To be blunt, even if I drove that guy away, Aunt Shen could just find another one. It wouldn’t address the root of the problem. Besides, I deeply respect Aunt Shen’s personal choices. Shiwen, try to be more open-minded. If the sky wants to rain, or a mother wants to remarry, there’s no stopping it. As Aunt Shen’s son, you should trust her judgment.”
After these words, a long silence fell on the other end. Yang Haoran thought he had finally managed to brush him off and was about to hang up when Shiwen’s voice came through again.
“Are youβ¦ are you trying to get me to support you in pursuing my mom?”
Yang Haoran was stunned. Where did that come from?
Had he ever said anything like that?
But then he realized that his previous words must have been misinterpreted by Shiwen, who thought the reason he didn’t want to come was because there was no benefit for him, that he wanted Shiwen’s support in pursuing his mother but couldn’t say it outright, so he hinted at it indirectly.
Yang Haoran found it both funny and frustrating. What a mess. But no matter what Shiwen said, he definitely couldn’t agree. However, he certainly couldn’t say it that directly, or he’d give himself away.
Yang Haoran pondered. It would be best to just go along with his line of thinking; it was less likely to arouse suspicion. So he said in a low, somber tone, “I never said that. But if you choose to think that, there’s nothing I can do about it.”
The subtext of this statement was essentially an admission, but it was more tactful than stating it outright.
Zhou Shiwen was silent for a moment, then said, “Haoran, I can support you in pursuing my mom. As long as you come to my house and help me drive that guy away.”
Hearing this, Yang Haoran was shocked. What was going on?
Completely unexpectedly, Shiwen was actually willing to support him pursuing his mother?
Shen Qing, who was listening in, was also somewhat surprised. Her son’s attitude before had clearly indicated he would never accept her being with Xiao Haoran. Now that she’d found an actor, he was actually willing to agree?
“Shiwen, you don’t need to lie to me. Please respect Aunt Shen’s personal choices. Since she has taken a liking to him, there must be a reason for it. We don’t need to call the guy a fraud based on groundless suspicions. Aunt Shen is your mother and my elder. She has more experience and a broader perspective in judging people than either of us.”
“Also, to say something that might hurt our friendship: even if I went and drove that guy away, how can I believe you would truly support me in something as absurd as pursuing your mother? We’ve grown up together; we know each other inside and out. You can’t fool me.”
Yang Haoran was at his wit’s end. He played his trump card, even resorting to saying some harsh things, just wanting to end this phone call as quickly as possible.
He thought he would properly apologize to Shiwen tomorrow.
With Yang Haoran speaking so frankly, making it clear he didn’t want to come, Zhou Shiwen never expected things to turn out like this. He wasη¦ζ₯ηεηι δΈηθθ (anxious like an ant on a hot pan)βextremely anxious, hisε εΏε§ηζ£ζη (heart struggling violently). After a brief moment, truly out of options, he made a decision. Anyway, things couldn’t get much worse. So what if Haoran found out? If he ended up with Mom, revealing this kind of thing to him would happen sooner or later anyway.
“Haoran, there are some things I originally didn’t want to say because it would be extremely embarrassing for me. But to make you believe me, I can tell you. You have to swear not to leak it. You’ll understand once you hear it. I will definitely support you.”
Zhou Shiwen’s voice sounded somewhat trembling, but his words were fluent, indicating his resolve.