Chapter 45

Chapter 45

At night, while Chen Ye was taking a shower, Shu Yao went to Shu Meiru's room.

Shu Meiru was lowering her head to send a message again. When she saw her come in, she put away her phone feeling a little guilty.

Shu Yao closed the door and asked directly, "Mom, why didn't you tell me that you and Chen Ye's mother went to Tianju Mountain together?"

Shu Meiru was never good at lying. A hint of panic instinctively flashed across her eyes as she stumbled, "Ah? No, no."

"Okay, Shen Ye has told me everything."

"Ah? He told you everything?" Shu Meiru said, relieved. "Why didn't he tell me in advance?"

Very good, as expected, Shen Ye also knew it.

Shu Yao sneered in his heart: "Actually, he didn't tell me."

“…” Only then did Shu Meiru realize that she had been deceived.

"You kid..." She pulled Shu Yao to sit on the bed and said helplessly, "Ask whatever you want to ask, but don't tell Aye."

Shu Yao asked directly: "When did you and the Shen family start to have contact?"

Shu Meiru pondered for a long time and said, "Actually, on the afternoon you got your marriage certificate, Chen Ye came to your uncle's house to see me."

Shu Yao's heart was shaken, as if a huge rock suddenly fell into the calm lake, causing waves.

"Why did he come to see you?"

"He told me about your marriage certificate and confessed to me that you didn't marry him because you liked him."

Shu Yao was speechless for a moment.

My mind went blank for a moment.

She always thought she had kept it a secret, but it turned out that her mother already knew everything from the beginning of the story.

No wonder when she called to inform her mother about the marriage certificate, her mother was just surprised, but did not blame her for being hasty or impulsive. Now it seems that even her surprise was fake.

"He..." Shu Yao paused, feeling as if his throat was blocked by cotton. "Why am I telling you this?"

"He said that if he didn't tell me and rushed into marriage, he was afraid I would scold him and cause another conflict with him. He was also afraid that even if we were together in the future, you would feel uncomfortable about having lied to me."

Shu Yao clenched her hands. She didn't know how Chen Ye could tell that she cared about this kind of deception, but it was undeniable that she felt a sense of sudden enlightenment when she knew that her mother had known about it for a long time.

"At the same time, he said he also wanted me to see what kind of person he was and to make me believe that even if your marriage didn't start with love, he would never hurt you."

"So, he was the one who introduced you to his mother?"

"Yeah." Shu Meiru still found it incredible when she thought about this period of time. "Actually, at the beginning, I was a little nervous. She's a wealthy lady, how could she hang out with country folk like us? But as we got to know each other more, I found that Manqing was really different from those rich people with their eyes on the sky. She's not arrogant. When she comes to your uncle's house to play mahjong, she's as happy as a child when she wins."

"You guys are still playing mahjong?" A guess popped up in Shu Yao's mind, "So you've been texting with his mother these past few days?"

"Yeah." Shu Meiru said helplessly, "You see, I just gave birth to you too smart. Once you know a little bit, you will figure out everything. That's why I didn't dare to tell you. If I tell you, you will definitely know that Aye has come to see me."

"But on the day you were traveling in Tianju Mountain, I clearly heard a man's voice. Who was that man?"

"Manqing's husband, you don't know, her husband is very attached to her."

"..." It seems that calling him wife is true, but the object is wrong.

Shu Meiru felt a lot more relaxed now that she no longer had to hide the secret from her daughter.

She glanced at the door and lowered her voice, "Actually, if it weren't for Ah Ye, I really wouldn't have realized that I was putting so much pressure on you that you'd rather find someone to fake a marriage with."

"He convinced you with just a few simple words?" Shu Yao couldn't believe it.

"Of course not."

In fact, the day Chen Ye came to confess to her, Shu Meiru's first reaction was that this was a psychopath who escaped from a mental hospital.

Not to mention that he explained that they were not a real couple. Even if they were a real couple, his daughter had always been well-behaved. How could she marry a man without his permission?

However, the moment Chen Ye took out the marriage certificate and spread it out in front of her, Shu Meiru seemed to be struck by lightning and froze on the sofa.

His younger brother picked up a broom on the spot, scolded him for abducting the girl, and said he would call the police.

Chen Ye didn't hide or give way.

Shu Meiru finally stopped it.

It’s not that I feel sorry for him, but because he introduced his family background at the beginning. My younger brother told me that he is a wealthy family.

Shu Meiru has always been timid and feels that she cannot afford to offend anyone. If her brother really hits someone and the other party's family pursues the matter, she will be in trouble.

She finally listened to his explanation of the whole process, but she still couldn't understand. She clearly just wanted her daughter to live a stable life with someone to take care of her, and not end up like herself, in her fifties with declining health and still alone.

What did she do wrong?

She felt that Shu Yao was unaware of the blessings he had and did not understand that her starting point was all about her daughter.

Until, Shen Ye put the photo of Li Chengwei being arrested in front of her.

That was the first time Shu Meiru began to doubt herself.

She couldn't believe that the honest, filial and reliable man described by the matchmaker was actually a habitual sexual harasser.

She always thought that her decisions were all for the good of her daughter, but she didn't know that she almost pushed her daughter into the abyss.

After that day, she agreed to Chen Ye and temporarily accepted his marriage with Shu Yao, but she also put forward a condition that the two of them could not live together or have any intimate relationship for the time being.

Once she finds out, he has violated the agreement and Chen Ye needs to pay Shu Yao 50 million in compensation.

Fifty million was something she had just casually said to scare him, but she hadn't expected that not only did Shen Ye not hesitate, he even added another zero at the end.

For a period of time afterwards, Chen Ye would contact her every now and then to tell her about Shu Yao's work.

Shu Meiru always spoke coldly and ignored him, but he never got angry.

Shu Meiru couldn't understand. After all, she was a child from a wealthy family, so how could she be so embarrassed?

It wasn't until Shen Ye's mother came to visit the family that Shu Meiru figured it out.

To Shu Meiru, Qian Manqing was like a female star on TV, out of reach. She had delicate makeup and was gentle and beautiful. In comparison, she was like Granny Liu entering the Grand View Garden.

But Qian Manqing had no airs of a rich lady, and her every move was irresistible. Qian Manqing also showed her the works of Jiang An that she had photographed at the exhibition. That was the first time that Shu Meiru understood what Shu Yao had been doing after resigning. It turned out that such exquisite and beautiful things were made by her own daughter bit by bit.

The two gradually became friends from nominal relatives, and Qian Manqing began to visit her more frequently.

She often shared videos of famous mountains and rivers, and gradually, Shu Meiru, who had never thought about traveling, was also piqued by the interest.

She went on several trips with Qian Manqing.

That was the first time she walked out of the small town with the intention of "playing".

It was also the first time she realized how much the outside world had changed. The subway could take her from one end of the city to the other in just a few minutes, robots could replace human waiters, and people could order food without looking at the menu, just scanning the code...

Only then did she realize how backward her so-called "stable" life was.

Shu Meiru roughly recounted the incident and said with emotion: "After having more contact with the Chen family, I feel that it is really inappropriate to use my decades of experience living in a small county town to guide the life of a college student like you."

"mom……"

"If my experience is so useful, then what was the point of you studying so hard for more than ten years? Manqing said that you young people should have your own future. Now that I think about it, she is right." Shu Meiru smiled bitterly and her tone became more serious. "Yaoyao, in the past, Mom may have been too involved, worrying about this and that. From now on, just do what you want to do. Mom supports you."

Shu Yao felt like there was a gurgling hot spring in his heart, flowing out with a thud.

She always thought that she was a person who could control her emotions very well in real life, but at this moment, her nose felt sore unconsciously and her vision gradually became blurred.

She wiped the corners of her eyes with her fingers to wipe away the slight moisture.

“Mom, there were only three viewers during my first live broadcast. In addition to Shen Ye’s mother and grandmother, there was another account with English and numbers. Is that you?”

"Yeah, Aye sent it to me. Although my mom didn't give me any tips, she watches every live broadcast."

For the first time in years, Shu Yao hugged his mother: "Thank you, Mom."

"Why are you thanking me?" Shu Meiru touched her head. "You should thank Aye."

"I won't." Shu Yao muttered softly, "He lied to me for so long."

"How can this be called lying?" The warm atmosphere disappeared. Shu Meiru patted her arm and said, "If he wanted to tell you about your relationship at that time, and he confessed to me, you wouldn't beat him up?"

Yes, Shu Yao always felt at that time that the conflicts with his mother had been accumulated for a long time. They were caused by the differences in experience, concepts and other aspects between the two generations, and could not be solved by simple communication.

So if Chen Ye had told her at that time, she would definitely think that he was meddling in her affairs, and she might even ask him to divorce her on the spot.

She lowered her head in silence.

Seeing Shu Yao's attitude, Shu Meiru understood: "And Ah Ye didn't let me tell you because he was afraid that you would feel pressured by this kind of thing, thinking that you must like him because he has done so much. He said he didn't want to kidnap you, but I don't understand. What does this have to do with kidnapping?"

Shu Yao couldn't help but laugh: "Is this moral kidnapping?"

"Oh, yes, I don't understand these words you young people use. Anyway, he thinks too much about you."

"I see." Shu Yao nodded, then thought of another question, "That's not right. You knew we weren't real, but you were so confident in letting him sleep in my room last night? Aren't you afraid that he might do something to your precious daughter?"

Shu Meiru's crow's feet wrinkled slightly at the corners of her eyes, and she patted her hands: "Tell Mom that you really don't have any interest in Aye?"

Shu Yao opened his mouth, but found that he had no way to deny it with confidence.

Shu Meiru had an expression that said, "I knew it." "You've never been smart about this since you were little, but I can see that you have feelings for him."

Shu Yao lowered his eyes, not knowing what he was thinking.

At the end of the conversation, her mother said to her earnestly, "Yaoyao, I dare not say now that most men in the world are different from your father, but at least, I think Aye is different from your father."

Yes, Shen Ye is different from her father.

Different from all the men in the world.

He looks cold and casual, but actually thoughtful. He is a unique existence in this world.

Shu Yao came out of his mother's room and the lights in the living room were off.

Chen Ye was lying on the sofa, his two long legs slightly bent, looking a little aggrieved.

The curtains were not drawn, and the moonlight shone through the glass onto his peaceful sleeping face.

It’s only eleven o’clock. Are you going to bed so early?

Shu Yao secretly walked over and squatted beside him, staring at his face intently.

When he slept, most of his unruly and lazy energy disappeared, his short hair hung down in front of his forehead, and he even looked a little obedient.

Although he was the only one who was kept in the dark, he felt a little unhappy, but when he thought about it, he realized that his mother's transformation, which he once thought was a bit abrupt, was the result of his and even his family's silent efforts behind the scenes for half a year.

Shu Yao felt that most of the unhappiness seemed to have disappeared.

He said he didn't want her to be moved, but she wasn't really heartless, so how could she not be moved?

She didn't dare to think about how much pressure he was under to face her mother and say these words, and how difficult it was to slowly change her mother's deep-rooted ideas step by step.

She even didn't understand why she was worthy of him paying so much.

Shu Yao helped him to brush away the strands of hair that were poking at his eyelids, and her gaze slowly moved downwards, passing over the pair of delicately carved thin lips, and finally landing on the faint red mark.

Shu Yao stretched out his index finger and touched it gently.

The next second, someone suddenly grabbed my wrist.

The person in front of him raised his eyelids faintly, with a helpless attitude of a victim: "He ran away and she chased him. He can't escape even if he has wings, right?"

Shu Yao curled her fingertips: "...Aren't you asleep?"

"Who told you I was asleep? Can't I just close my eyes and rest?" Chen Ye rested his elbows on the sofa, propped up his upper body, and said half-jokingly, "If you want to touch me so much, tell me. I'm not refusing to let you."

Shu Yao, contrary to his usual behavior, blinked and said calmly, "Okay."

This time, it was Shen Ye’s turn to let go of her.

Shu Yao smiled slightly: "I really want to touch it, are you taking it off now?"

Under the cold moonlight, Shu Yao felt as if there was fire hidden in his eyes.

The fire spread invisibly, burning the surrounding area.

It was like a standoff, with no one backing down.

Suddenly, a cough was heard in the darkness.

Shu Yao was startled and turned around to see Shu Meiru standing at the door with a helpless look on her face.

Shu Yao remembered what he had just said: Aren’t you afraid of what he will do to your precious daughter?

And now, there is a line of words clearly written in the mother's eyes:

I think you want to do something to someone else's precious son?