Chapter Forty-Seven

After arguing with Yu Xi for a while, Zhou Mo's expression wasn't as bad as before. Zhou Mo hugged a cushion and fell onto the sofa. "I'll make you walnuts later."

"fine."

Zhou Mo twitched the corner of her mouth. "How can you be so sensible, Yu Xi?"

Yu Xi raised an eyebrow. "Sensible? Me?"

"Or would it be me?"

Yu Xi leaned on the carpet with one hand and sat down cross-legged, bringing the two much closer together. Zhou Mo looked up at Yu Xi, and Yu Xi reached out to stroke Zhou Mo's forehead. "Of course it's you. Although I call you the head of the family, I still think you shouldn't worry too much. When you get to university, study hard and don't think about those things. Being happy is the most important thing."

Zhou Mo's smile gradually faded. She wanted to sit up, as lying down was not a good position for her to perform, but Yu Xi did not give her the chance.

He held Zhou Mo's shoulder, not giving her a chance to get up.

"Lie down, the food will be ready in a bit."

"Yu Xi, what do you mean?" Zhou Mo's eyes instantly reddened. She grabbed Yu Xi's wrist, which was trying to pull away. "What do you mean by that? Are you testing me? Do you think what I said that day wasn't sincere? I lied to you before, but if I lied to you about this, I would be a terrible person."

Yu Xi withdrew her hand without giving Zhou Mo a chance to refuse. Even though Zhou Mo tried her best to stop her, Yu Xi's strength was undeniable, and her actions seemed to be telling Zhou Mo something.

Look.

Even if you give it your all, what then?

If you can't do it, you can't do it.

"I just told you not to overthink things, thinking too much is bad for your health." Yu Xi flicked Zhou Mo's forehead with her finger, without any change in emotion throughout, with a faint smile on her lips. Even when faced with Zhou Mo's questioning, she remained gentle, as if Zhou Mo was just a spoiled child.

“Give me time.” Zhou Mo sat up, clutching Yu Xi’s sleeve again. “If you don’t trust me, I won’t go…”

"Zhou Mo!"

Zhou Mo paused, her hand gripping Yu Xi's clothes tightly trembling slightly. Yu Xi sighed, now understanding why He Ruming had still extended the invitation even knowing Zhou Mo's attitude.

That's how things are in this world. They're laid out clearly in front of you, and even if you know it, you still can't help but yearn for it.

Yu Xi turned her head away, no longer looking at Zhou Mo. "Aren't you hungry?"

"Yu Xi, you have to believe me."

"Yes, I believe you."

"Yu Xi, you have to believe me."

I believe you.

"You should trust me."

I believe you.

Every time I felt uneasy, I received a reassuring answer.

Zhou Mo's vision was blurry, but she dared not blink. She was afraid of seeing something, of seeing an expression that would make her feel terrible. "I'm sorry, Yu Xi."

Waiting is a cruel thing in itself.

Making Yu Xi wait for a journey he can't see the end of is even crueler.

Yu Xi rubbed Zhou Mo's head. "Nonsense."

Yu Xi suddenly looked into the courtyard. Zhou Mo was so absorbed in her grief that she didn't see her. Yu Xi looked at the corner of the courtyard for a long time but didn't find anything unusual.

"I'll go cook, you lie down for a bit, okay?"

Today, Yu Xi was unusually gentle. He successfully appeased Zhou Mo using the gentle second male lead techniques he seemed to have learned from some TV drama.

However, Zhou Mo never got to eat dinner.

As summer drew to a close, a turbulent autumn arrived.

Zhou Mo fell asleep on the sofa. Yu Xi noticed that they were out of salt, so she went out to buy some.

In just a short while, Qian Hao, who had been following Yu Xi and Zhou Mo, quietly climbed over the wall into the small courtyard, tiptoed to the door, and gently pushed it open.

The first thing Qian Hao saw when he entered the room was Zhou Mo, who was fast asleep. Thinking about what had just happened, he swung his fist at Zhou Mo's face.

How dare he treat his mother like that? Zhou Mo will get what's coming to her sooner or later.

Zhou Mo's luggage was already packed, and her suitcase was left open on the bedroom floor. As soon as Qian Hao pushed the door open, he saw the transparent folder in the mesh compartment of Zhou Mo's suitcase.

The admission notice is at the top of the folder.

Qian Hao's eyes darted around. "Without an acceptance letter, how will you go to university? Aren't you a good student? Don't you not need my mom to worry about you? Then you can repeat a year."

Qian Hao felt that the punishment was too lenient, but there was no better way at the moment. He carefully unzipped the compartment, took out the folder, and was about to take out the admission notice when he heard a whooshing sound.

His body's emergency response was activated at that moment, but it was only enough to make him turn his head and face the fist coming straight at him.

Qian Hao's head made intimate contact with the hard floor.

His vision blurred, and Qian Hao shook his head, using his hands to support himself on the floor as he struggled to sit up. Before he could even see who was in front of him, he was grabbed by the ankle and pulled away from the bedroom.

Zhou Mo wasn't sleeping very soundly; that 'thump' was enough to wake her up.

As Zhou Mo watched Yu Xi drag Qian Hao out of her bedroom with a menacing expression, even someone as experienced as her couldn't help but swallow hard. "What happened?"

"Who the hell are you?! Let me go! Or I'll call the police!" Qian Hao was much clearer-headed now and started struggling desperately, kicking Yu Xi's arm with his feet. Yu Xi's arm was like it was made of iron; no matter how many times Qian Hao kicked it, Yu Xi's hand didn't loosen its grip.

"Qian Hao? What are you doing here?"

“Yu Xi, he is my aunt’s son, Qian Hao.”

Yu Xi paused briefly upon hearing Zhou Mo's words. At this moment, Qian Hao finally recognized who was dragging him. "Damn it, it's you, you pretty boy?! You dare to touch me?! Zhou Mo, tell your lover to let go of me right now!"

Upon hearing Qian Hao's words, Zhou Mo's expression changed instantly.

Yu Xi: "He just tried to take your acceptance letter."

Qian Hao hadn't expected Yu Xi to see his actions, but he certainly couldn't admit it in front of Zhou Mo. "He's lying! Zhou Mo, I'm your cousin, you can't not believe me, can you!"

Zhou Mo stepped on Qian Hao's chest and then slapped him across the face.

The set of movements was so smooth and fluid that Yu Xi couldn't help but wonder, "He's never been involved with Zhou Mo before, has he? Where did Zhou Mo's boss aura come from?"

She used to be someone who would sweetly call a thug "brother" just for the sake of convenience.

This is really something else now.

Qian Hao was stunned by the beating, but his mouth remained shut. He started swearing, this time targeting Zhou Qinian, Hua Rong, and others, including Zhou Mo. Of course, he didn't forget Zhou Mo's mistress, Yu Xi, a high school senior whose name he didn't know.

Every time Qian Hao swore, Zhou Mo would slap him.

After being slapped for a while, Qian Hao couldn't even curse anymore because his mouth was numb from being slapped.

Yu Xi couldn't bear to watch any longer, so he went to the side and took out some alcohol wipes to wipe Zhou Mo's hands. Zhou Mo used all her strength with each slap, and her palms were red and hot to the touch.

"You can leave the heavy lifting to me."

"I can't vent my anger unless I do it myself. How did this idiot even get in here?"

Yu Xi obediently admitted her mistake, "I went to buy salt, and since the convenience store was not far from my house, I didn't lock the inner door. I didn't expect this kid to climb over the wall and come in."

Sure enough, the gaze he sensed was correct. He had been complacent for too long, and the danger that had already begun to emerge had simply slipped through his fingers.

He dared not imagine how guilty he would feel if he had returned even a moment later and Zhou Mo's admission letter had been torn up.

Zhou Mo sensed Yu Xi's low spirits and gently rubbed the tip of Yu Xi's nose with her fingertip. "The admission notice is fine."

Should we call the police?

Hearing these words from Yu Xi felt like the sun rising in the west.

Yu Xi dislikes the police station, probably because of what happened when she was a child. When government agencies fail to give a child the credibility they deserve, the child will naturally not have a particularly good impression of the agencies when she grows up.

"No need." Zhou Mo kicked Qian Hao. "Call your mom."

Zhou Mo looked at Yu Xi, "I can use him to exchange for my peace and quiet in the future."

Yu Xi thought to herself, Zhou Mo is really good at equivalent exchange. The first thing she thinks about when she has bargaining chips is how to exchange them for her own benefit.

That's good. This way, he won't have to worry about Zhou Mo being scammed outside. He's heard that college students are the easiest group to be scammed because they're naive, easily fooled, and innocent.

Thankfully, Zhou Mo wasn't in that group.

If Zhou Mo knew about this, she would definitely grab Yu Xi by the ear and ask him whether he was praising her or scolding her.

The two were then able to chat and laugh for a while longer.

Happiness is thus created.

But now, because of an uninvited guest, the process has been scrapped, and Yu Xi is very angry, her gaze towards Qian Hao has become even colder.

Qian Hao had no idea what had happened to his cousin over the past year. He was now behaving himself and dared not disobey. When he called Zhou Yun, his attempts to explain himself were particularly comical.

Unfortunately, no one in the room wanted to laugh at him.

They just wanted to throw him out.

Zhou Yun and Qian Zhiwei arrived quickly, along with Zhang Xing.

Zhou Mo was somewhat surprised to see Zhang Xing, but not entirely surprised either. Zhang Xing and Zhou Yun were actually in contact. No wonder Zhou Yun hadn't had any contact with her in the past year. It seemed she should thank Zhang Xing properly.

As soon as Zhou Yun entered the room, she saw Qian Hao's terrible state after being beaten. Moreover, Zhou Mo didn't let Qian Hao sit on the sofa, but instead made him lie on the floor.

When Qian Hao saw Zhou Yun arrive, he immediately started howling.

Zhou Mo was too lazy to listen, so she kicked Zhou Yun directly and, under Zhou Yun's murderous glare, told her what had just happened, "Your son tried to steal my college admission notice so I couldn't register. Aunt, is that your purpose for coming here?"

Before Zhou Yun could even catch her breath, she was stunned by Zhou Mo's words. In the eyes of these parents, the college entrance examination was the ladder to heaven. As long as their children could get into university, they would have hope for their future.

Although the value of a college degree is decreasing, in the eyes of Zhou Yun's generation, a college degree is still highly sought after.

Qian Zhiwei was also stunned.

Zhou Yun and Qian Zhiwei knew their son's character all too well, so their first reaction upon hearing this was not to refute him, but to feel guilty.

Qian Hao: "Mom!"