Thus, completely unbeknownst to Yang Haoran, Aunt Shen had been frequently meeting with his mother these past few days.
At first, Liu Ruoxi didn’t think much of it. She assumed Shen Qing was feeling bored and just wanted to meet up to pass the time.
It wasn’t until noon on this particular day that Liu Ruoxi gradually began to sense something amiss. Thinking carefully, it seemed her close friend Shen Qing’s words over the past few days had been full of insinuations, vaguely hinting at something, as if trying toๆ็คบ (hint at) or reveal something to her.
A bad association formed in Liu Ruoxi’s mind. She pressed Shen Qing for answers, but her friend evaded the question, talking about everything else but, and outright refused to admit anything. This angered Liu Ruoxi so much that she left on the spot.
The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. At the same time, a sense of wishful thinking took hold of her heart, and she comforted herself by thinking she was overreacting. But then she suddenly recalled that night when her son came out of Yaoyao’s roomโthe door had been closed before she arrivedโand another wave of anger and frustration washed over her.
However, without any concrete evidence, she could only suppress these emotions. She also employed rational thinking, analyzing the possibility of the worst-case scenario and asking herself if she could accept it.
Every time she considered this possibility, Liu Ruoxi felt a sense of suffocation and uncontrollable rage, which would only gradually subside when she thought about the potential positive aspects.
Final exams were approaching. Even though it was just a first-year high school final exam, not the all-important college entrance exam, Liu Ruoxi still did not want to affect her son with these baseless suspicions.
She had worked hard to guide her son onto the right path academically. She had seen with her own eyes how diligent Yang Haoran had been during this period. If her son could get off to a good start this time, and with her supervision going forward, it wasn’t impossible for him to succeed spectacularly in the college entrance exam.
Simultaneously, she also made a two-pronged plan. She intended, after the final exams were over, to have Yaoyao move out to her grandmother’s house, which would also allow her mother to not be busy with official duties all day long.
Secondly, for the second year of high school when students are divided into different classes based on subjects, she planned to have her son and daughter placed in different classes to reduce their opportunities for contact.
The reason for these arrangements, Liu Ruoxi understood in her heart, was that if things had truly gone in the worst direction, what should have happened would have already happened. If it hadn’t happened, her arrangements could prevent this possibility from occurring.
Little did she know, things would unfold in a way completely beyond her expectations.
On Friday evening, while Yang Haoran was studying in his room, he suddenly received a message from Yaoyao.
“Brother, did you say something? Mom came to question me?”
Seeing this message, Yang Haoran was instantly greatly alarmed. He quickly sent messages back, pressing for details, and finally learned it was a false alarm. It turned out Mom had just told Yaoyao to keep some distance from him and not disturb his studies.
Compared to Yaoyao, Yang Haoran thought more deeply about it. Mom wouldn’t make such a move without reason. Furthermore, he and Yaoyao are biological siblings. For a mother to tell her daughter to stay away from her son was clearly abnormal, even under the pretext of avoiding disturbance to his studies.
The more Yang Haoran thought about it, the more terrified he became. Cold sweat broke out on his forehead, and all his will to study vanished. He carefully pondered, where had they slipped up?
Aunt Shen?
Yang Haoran didn’t think Aunt Shen, who hadn’t revealed anything before, would suddenly choose to do so precisely at this time. What were the odds of that?
Moreover, if Aunt Shen had really revealed everything, Mom wouldn’t just be telling Yaoyao to stay away from him nowโshe should be sending him to the hospital!
Instead, a few days ago, he had no choice but to come out of Yaoyao’s room and was seen by Mom, which aroused her suspicion. Yang Haoran felt this possibility was the greatest, the closest to the correct answer.
“Yaoyao, let’s not go this Sunday. We’ll wait until next week. Mom might suspect me now.”
Yang Haoran sent the message to Yaoyao, then immediately followed up with a second one:
“Delete all our chat records. And the one from that group, you exit it first too.”
Yang Haoran didn’t dare to act under scrutiny. Since Mom didn’t know the truth now, and it was a sensitive period, he thought delaying for another week would be better. Waiting one more week wasn’t a big deal.
Yaoyao replied quickly. From the lines of her message, Yang Haoran distinctly sensed the littleๅฆฎๅญ (girl) was secretly pleasedโit was delayed for another week.
Yang Haoran also knew that getting the nipple ring was his idea; Yaoyao had never been very willing in her heart.
Hesitating for a moment, Yang Haoran felt it was time to let Yaoyao know about some things. So he typed: “Yaoyao, there’s something Big Brother has been hiding from you. It’s about Big Brother and Mom, and it’s also related to Dad. Actually…”
Typing up to here, Yang Haoran thought about it and then deleted it, retyping: “Yaoyao, there’s something Big Brother doesn’t know if he should say or not?”
Yang Mengyao (Yaoyao) was curled up under the blankets, chatting with her close friend Shaowan with her head covered, when she suddenly received this message from her brother.
She already had a guess, but she hadn’t expected her brother to finally come clean about his relationship with Mom only now.
…
Yaoyao: “Is it about you and Mom?”
Seeing this message, Yang Haoran’s heart skipped a beat. He quickly typed back: “Yaoyao, you knew?”
Yaoyao: “I’ve known all along!”
Yang Haoran was stunned, his mind buzzing. Was he dreaming?
He pinched his arm. It really hurt!
Yang Haoran: “Yaoyao, quick, tell me, how did you know? When did you find out?”
Yaoyao: “Brother, you hid it from me before. I thought you didn’t want to talk about it, so I never asked.”
Yaoyao: “Do you remember, during those days when Dad wanted to apologize to Mom, one time you and Mom were doing it in the bathroom. I heard the noises outside.”
“And another time, right after you came back, you hugged Mom in the living room. I was on the stairs and saw it. Brother, you’re really bold, daring to make a move on Mom?”
After reading the messages, Yang Haoran felt dizzy. He had thought he was hiding it so well, but it turned out this littleๅฆฎๅญ (girl) was the one hiding the deepest. If he hadn’t tried to tell her today, he wouldn’t have known when he would have found out that she already knew.
Yang Haoran: “(Dumbfounded) (Head hurting)”
Yaoyao: “(Innocent)”
After the siblings exchanged a wave of emojis, Yang Haoran asked apprehensively: “Does Dad know?”
He now felt chilled from head to toe, extremely uneasy inside. It was like the feeling of thinking you’re perfectly hidden, only to realize you’ve been streaking naked in the street.
Yaoyao: “I don’t know about that. Dad probably doesn’t know, right? He always thought Mom was having an affair. He wouldn’t connect it to you, Brother.”
After reading the message, Yang Haoran’s tightly strung nerves relaxed slightly. That was true. If Dad knew, he wouldn’t have kept asking him to find out who Mom’s affair partner was. That would be like the thief crying “Stop thief!”, wouldn’t it?
Yang Haoran: “Yaoyao, since you already know, I won’t say more.”
Yang Haoran: “Actually, I’ve always felt guilty. Big Brother knows that you, Yaoyao, have always wanted Dad and Mom to reconcile, but now Big Brother has messed it all up.”
Yang Haoran: “I’ve wronged Dad. Yaoyao, I actually want to apologize to you too. I was too lustful. You were right before; I am a promiscuous playboy.”