Chapter 60 Mirror, because I like it.

Zhou Jinqin sat on the counter, with a rectangular mirror for washing behind her and a mirrored bathroom door in front of her. Every move she made was under the "surveillance" of herself or others.

Although Zhou Jinqin had been harassed by Liang Minghe in the bathroom once before, it was only in a relatively enclosed and cramped shower room, and she had never been blatantly naked like she was today.

She would sometimes close her eyes and refuse to look, and sometimes bury her head tightly in Liang Minghe's neck. Although it seemed like she was burying her head in the sand, at least she could calm down a bit when she couldn't see him.

But Liang Minghe wouldn't let her off easy. He looked up and kissed her trembling eyes, forcing her to lift her eyelids to look at the ambiguous scene reflected in the mirror.

At that moment, Zhou Jinqin no longer cared about the situation in the mirror behind her. All she felt was that the direct gaze she was being given was like a scrutiny, making her feel ashamed and uneasy.

Fortunately, the rising steam created a thick fog that covered the mirror surface with several layers of dense fog, temporarily depriving it of its ability to reflect light.

Slowly, a fine mist rose in the entire bathroom, as if one had walked into a dense foggy forest in the early morning before dawn, with only the sound of a tense and uneasy heartbeat and the sight of a man tightly embracing her so close at hand.

Zhou Jinqin raised her hand to wipe away the mist that had settled on Liang Minghe's long eyelashes. The man blinked, and the slightly prickly ends of his eyelashes playfully teased her fingertips. Perhaps because the ten fingers are connected to the heart, her heart also felt a light, tingling sensation that she couldn't quite grasp.

She wrinkled her nose slightly, her face burning as she sighed helplessly, "You're so mean."

“Baby, it might be a little early for you to say that now.” Liang Minghe pressed his nose against hers, his breath, full of laughter, spraying her face.

Zhou Jinqin stared at him in surprise. She had no doubt that Liang Minghe would do something shameful; he was too good at teasing her during intimate moments…

Liang Minghe smiled frankly. He released his hands from her slender waist and then took the initiative to untie her legs from around his waist.

Under Zhou Jinqin's bewildered gaze, he lifted his foot and walked towards the bathroom door, wiping away the water vapor that had accumulated on the mirror with a large hand, restoring it to its proper function.

Zhou Jinqin had never faced herself so openly before. She only glanced at her briefly before lowering her eyes in embarrassment.

She angrily accused the man who had approached her again: "Why did you wipe the mirror behind you if you wanted to see it? I didn't say I wanted to see it..."

Her voice grew softer and softer as she spoke, until the words she uttered were almost washed away by the sound of the shower water.

"Who said I don't want to watch?" Liang Minghe raised an eyebrow and lightly touched her lips.

Before Zhou Jinqin could see his expression clearly, he distanced himself from her, bowed slightly, and carefully wiped the mirror behind her.

Now, Zhou Jinqin saw the wicked smile on the man's face through the mirror door in front of her, and her reflection in the mirror was also fully visible in the man's fiery eyes.

Considering that Zhou Jinqin had to work the next day, the two didn't argue for too long, but they were deeply engrossed in each other during the limited time they had.

Zhou Jinqin curled up weakly on the bed. Liang Minghe pulled her into his arms and whispered in her ear, "You didn't eat much for dinner. Are you hungry?"

Zhou Jinqin shook her head, lowered her crimson eyes, and murmured shyly, "I've already eaten..."

Liang Minghe touched her belly, hugged her tighter, and shook his head against her forehead, his voice a little hoarse: "Don't do that next time."

"Why?" Zhou Jinqin raised her eyes to peek at him. "You're always like this, so why can't I be the same?"

Liang Minghe cupped her face in his hands, looking into her beautiful, watery eyes, which were misty with shyness. He said earnestly, "Because I like it."

Zhou Jinqin pursed her lips and remained silent, but her face, which had just cooled down, secretly warmed up again, revealing her shyness even in silence.

After a long while, to avoid that burning gaze, she lifted the blanket and buried her head completely under it. Because of the barrier, her voice was muffled: "How do you know I don't like it?"

Liang Minghe was stunned for a moment, then a faint smile appeared in his eyes. He bent down and hugged the small bundle of blankets tightly again.

Men often say sweet nothings at times like this, calling each other "my love of my life" and "my forever darling." Many deceptive vows of eternal love originate from this, and sincere promises also begin to sprout here. How to judge is entirely up to the individual.

Actually, the answer doesn't matter; the enjoyment gained in the moment is the most precious. But Zhou Jinqin, who is nearly thirty, still naively categorizes Liang Minghe as the second type.

As dawn broke, Zhou Jinqin got out of bed a second before the alarm clock rang. Apart from the occasional aches and pains in her body, she felt unusually refreshed.

Liang Ming kissed the back of her hand and offered to drive her to and from get off work.

Zhou Jinqin declined as usual and did not plan to drive herself, since there was no more convenient commuting option than the subway during the morning rush hour.

She stood on tiptoe and kissed him on the lips, saying, "Don't worry, I can manage on my own. But if you're going to pick up Jiahe this afternoon, could you pick me up on the way home?"

Liang Minghe tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear and asked, "Why do you think I would go to pick him up?"

Zhou Jinqin smiled at him with her eyes crinkling: "I know you never do anything meaningless."

Before Liang Jiahe got off the bus yesterday, Liang Minghe asked him about his class situation, which naturally had its purpose.

She said gently, "I also know that you are a person who has strong likes and dislikes. You may not like Liang Jiahe, but you won't hate him because of that."

Zhou Jinqin also knew that Liang Minghe, like herself, was a very empathetic person. Perhaps he was occasionally criticized as a saint, but that didn't matter, because it shouldn't be a derogatory term.

Liang Minghe escorted her to her doorstep and said, "Wait for me to pick you up tonight."

When Zhou Jinqin got into the car, Liang Jiahe in the back seat was beaming with joy. She asked Liang Minghe how he did it.

Liang Minghe said, "Children are easy to deal with. Just give them a serious talking-to. The main responsibility lies with the parents, but it's not a difficult problem. You can just use money and power to pressure them."

He spoke in a casual tone, as if he were simply saying that the weather was nice today.

Zhou Jinqin smiled helplessly: "You're quite good at using Chairman Liang's influence."

"Instead of arguing with those scoundrels, we might as well strike them dead. That's all Liang Zongqiang is good for, so we might as well use him." Liang Minghe even had the leisure to joke, "If I really got into an argument with those old ladies, you'd probably see me on the news tonight."

"So, should I praise you as a peace ambassador?" Zhou Jinqin teased him.

"I'm a pretty realistic person, and I think taking practical actions will make me happier," Liang Ming said in a good mood. He parked the car precisely in front of the Liang family's house and urged Liang Jiahe to go home, "Little brat, get out of the car."

Although Liang Jiahe was reluctant, he obediently listened to him, opened the car door, and got out of the car.

Zhou Jinqin lifted the overly heavy schoolbag of the primary school student and, instead of handing it directly to Liang Jiahe, got off the bus and handed it to the aunt who had been waiting there.

She smiled slightly, about to say goodbye and leave, when she turned her head and saw the petite woman walking out of the door.

She was dressed in a neat business suit, still with a serious and unsmiling expression: "Ms. Zhou, may I talk to you? Just ten minutes will do."

Zhou Jinqin subconsciously glanced back at the man in the driver's seat. He tilted his head and looked at her, saying, "You can make your own decision. If you don't want to, you can refuse directly."

Zhou Jinqin hesitated for a moment, then nodded in agreement and followed the woman to the small garden behind the villa.

The woman spoke first: "My name is Ruan Shulan, you can call me whatever you like."

However, given their social status and age difference, it seemed inappropriate to address her by any other name. After thinking for a moment, Zhou Jinqin finally called her Secretary Ruan.

Ruan Shulan didn't care about her form of address and nodded, saying, "Although I'm only twelve years older than Xiaoming, I have indeed watched him grow up."

Ruan Shulan became Liang Zongqiang's secretary at the age of 21 after graduating from university, and has been there for 20 years.

"You're probably wondering, since I watched him grow up, yet I brazenly took his place as his mother, did I ever feel guilty about it?" She asked herself and answered, "Frankly, no. I didn't interfere, so I don't feel guilty towards anyone."

Zhou Jinqin asked, "But your relationship has developed far too quickly. You must have heard a lot of criticism from the outside world."

“You said it yourself, it was just criticism,” Ruan Shulan said calmly. “What this society has no shortage of is gossip. People are always forgetful, and they will forget about it soon.”

“But have you ever thought that such troubles could also occur in a child’s life?” Zhou Jinqin glanced at her.

"This is a problem he should solve himself. If a person is easily swayed by the opinions of others, it is a failure in his own growth. Just like you went to the school today to support him, I don't think it was necessary. Cowardice is the biggest flaw in a person."

"You don't seem to love your child."

“His father doesn’t love him either.” Ruan Shulan said calmly. “You can think I’m selfish or whatever, I do live for myself. There are many people like you who don’t understand me. Liang Zongqiang doesn’t love me enough, or even if he doesn’t love me at all, why do I still insist on staying here? But you probably don’t understand that not being loved isn’t something unacceptable. I’ve always only been aiming for a promotion. Liang Zongqiang is many years older than me, so of course he sees this clearly. There’s nothing wrong with choosing me. I’m young, obedient, stable, and don’t overstep boundaries. For example, now he asked me to win you over, so I’m winning you over.”

She said, "It would be good if Liang Minghe didn't come back, but it's fine if he does. I don't want that much anyway. Speaking of which, you're probably concerned about Jiahe's future. I haven't thought about this before, and I probably won't spend too much time thinking about it in the future. After all, he can walk his own path in life, and I can't interfere too much."

Even if he is a child whose consciousness has not yet fully developed?

“Children are independent individuals too, aren’t they? Besides, his father has already paid for all his needs, so my existence is not as necessary as these experts.”

Zhou Jinqin frowned, feeling as if even breathing had become difficult. Her worldview seemed to have been reshaped; she suddenly realized that there really were people in this world who were completely opposite to her mother, a mother who never talked about giving.

While being enslaved in the name of love, Zhou Jinqin wholeheartedly hoped that her mother would become a complete egoist. But now that she has actually met such a person, she realizes that imagination is always too beautiful.

Was that the kind of unfamiliar relationship she really longed for? If she were in Liang Jiahe's position, a lonely and uncared-for child, perhaps she would also turn to rebellion one day when she grew up.