Chapter 57 [VIP]

Not long after Su Yueqiu left, she returned to the room where she was sleeping.

The door wasn't closed, and Su Yueqiu looked inside. She saw Chen Mian and Lin Langli sitting close together, their heads touching, looking at a tablet in their hands, their posture intimate.

Her heart ached. Her gaze fell on Lin Langli's hand around Shen Mian's waist. She took a deep breath, knocked twice on the door, and forced a smile: "Xiao Li, Dad wants to see you. Go and see him."

After Lin Langli was sent away, Su Yueqiu watched her son brush past her, then looked away, locked the door, and sat down next to Chenmian.

"Mom," a sense of foreboding crept in, "what's wrong?"

Su Yueqiu reached out and pinched her son's cheek. She saw that Shenmian looked a little aggrieved because of the pain, just like the little baby who wanted her to hold him years ago.

But now the little baby has grown up and is being coveted and schemed against by others.

Su Yueqiu tried her best to hold back her tears of heartache and said softly, "Mianmian, you've been getting along so well with Xiaoli lately. Have you been sacrificing your own happiness to make your parents happier?"

Chenmian bit her lip and hesitated for two seconds, not understanding why Su Yueqiu would say that. She shook her head and said, "There's nothing wronged about it. He's a good person and treats me well. After I realized my mistake, we put aside our prejudices and got along well."

Su Yueqiu listened casually, but her thoughts gradually drifted, wondering about the exact time the two had been together.

When was it, during the period before the Lunar New Year when Lin Langli brought Chenmian back to the Lin family to pay respects to their ancestors?

After returning from his slumber, he nestled in her arms and said he was wrong and apologized to Lin Langli.

At that time, she still believed that Chen Mian was truly repentant, and was even somewhat relieved. But if she looked at it from another perspective—

What if Mianmian was bullied by Lin Langli and subjected to the kind of mental control often mentioned online?

Mianmian's family knows her personality all too well.

He's been mischievous since childhood and a bit stubborn. When criticized by Shen Mianjun, he always argues back and shouts at his father.

After spending half a year with Lin Langli, did he suddenly realize his mistake and understand that he was wrong?

Su Yueqiu felt genuinely regretful.

She regretted not disciplining Shen Mian properly since he was a child, which led to his association with Lin Langli on campus and the resulting friction; she also regretted discussing with Shen Mianjun and insisting on having the two of them live together, and deliberately separating Shen Ci, who had always protected Shen Mian.

She felt a deep sense of dread, fearing that their relationship might have started during the school term.

After a thousand thoughts raced through her mind, Su Yueqiu took a deep breath and forced a smile: "Mianmian, Mom came here this time because an aunt saw you and Xiaoli behaving a little strangely?"

She deliberately spoke vaguely, carefully observing the sleeper's reaction.

Sure enough, Chenmian's face turned pale, her whole body stiffened, and she lowered her eyes guiltily, looking at the carpet.

"Mianmian, are you making friends with Lin Langli?" Su Yueqiu continued to ask.

Remembering Lin Langli and his promise, Chenmian finally mustered up her courage and slowly opened her mouth: "Mom, I'm dating Lin Langli."

"Oh, dating." Su Yueqiu didn't seem angry at all; instead, her smile softened. "When did it start? Why didn't you tell your mother?"

"Yes, it was when we went back to the Lin family before the New Year that we confirmed our relationship." Chen Mian stammered, glancing guiltily at her mother, and then added a little later in the date.

Su Yueqiu closed her eyes tightly, recalling what Shen Jinshan had told her: she received the photos before Shen Mian went on vacation.

There was a difference of more than ten days.

Did they confirm their relationship at the Lin family home? What was their relationship like before?

Su Yueqiu didn't want to think of Lin Langli as the worst person, but the irrefutable evidence was right in front of her.

Shenmian readily admitted to the length of their relationship. So, had they already had that kind of relationship before that?

Was her sleepless night forced upon her?

What kind of healthy, morally sound relationship in the world begins with sex?

One question after another echoed in Su Yueqiu's heart, and she felt a bitter taste in her throat.

How does he treat you?

"fine……"

Su Yueqiu hesitated for a moment before saying, "But it's not appropriate for you two to be together, Mianmian. Mom doesn't approve of your relationship."

"Huh?" Chenmian suddenly became somewhat frightened, looking at his mother's gentle yet firm eyes. "Is it...is it because of us?"

“No,” Su Yueqiu denied gently. “It’s because Mom thinks Mianmian deserves someone better. Lin Langli might not be a good match for Mianmian. What happened between you two is a big problem.”

Chen Mian breathed a sigh of relief. Since it wasn't because he and Lin Langli were nominal sons of the Shen family, then he could try to win them over.

"Mom, Lin Langli is very good to me. He told me that he has forgiven me and wants to get along well with me."

Su Yueqiu couldn't help but force a smile, feeling a touch of bewilderment at Shen Mian's naiveté.

“Mianmian,” she said, “he is not as magnanimous as you think. Lin Langli was orphaned at a young age. Your upbringing is different. You can’t believe him based on your imagination.”

Chen Mian frowned, twisting her fingers impatiently: "Did Shen Jinshan tell you? He deliberately spoke ill of Lin Langli. You can't believe him, Mom."

“…It wasn’t him.” Su Yueqiu defended her eldest son. “Actually, I had noticed the strangeness between you and Lin Langli before, but I didn’t expect it.”

She paused, then looked at Chenmian and asked:

"Mianmian, tell Mommy, did Lin Langli force you to be with him?"

The atmosphere in the room took a sharp turn for the worse.

There was a long silence.

Chenmian finally snapped out of her daze. The boy's long eyelashes trembled, and he shook his head: "Mom, why would you think that?"

This behavior made Su Yueqiu's heart sink. She held Chenmian's hand, her voice even softer, and cautiously asked, "Mianmian, did he really not force you or make you do anything you didn't want to do?"

“No!” Chenmian retorted almost immediately. He raised his head, his eyes filled with an offended displeasure and stubbornness. “Mom, why would you think that? He’s very good to me. We…we’re together willingly.”

"So how did you two get together? Was there a confession? Flowers? A ceremony?" Su Yueqiu pressed. "Before you got together, who made the first move? And how did they pursue each other?"

Chenmian knew her mother had suspicions.

But he could no longer recount that chaotic beginning, which started out of spite and was unclear and confusing.

He couldn't even bring himself to talk about the days he spent returning to the Lin family to pay his respects, or the details of how Lin Langli, with an almost predatory force, completely possessed him after his self-sacrifice.

Only after that did their relationship officially become a couple.

Sleep can only cling to the superficial appearance that "he is very good to me now".

Looking at her son's shifty eyes and eager denial, Su Yueqiu's doubts grew.

She knew Chenmian; the child was spoiled, sometimes arrogant and willful, but in some ways naive to the point of being foolish, and especially bad at lying.

His defense at this moment seemed to her more like a stubborn delusion born of being misled.

"Okay, Mom understands." Su Yueqiu finally just patted the back of his hand gently. "However, the matter of you being with Lin Langli still needs to be discussed by our whole family."

"Why?" Chenmian asked urgently, "This...this is just between the two of us!"

Su Yueqiu paused for a moment as she walked away, turning back to look at him in surprise: "Mianmian, are you just playing around? There's no real feeling in it?"

Seeing Chenmian stiffly shake her head, Su Yueqiu suddenly smiled: "Mianmian, if you really want to be with Lin Langli, you should also consider the future, shouldn't you?"

On the other hand, the atmosphere in Shen Mianjun's study was much more somber.

Shen Mianjun didn't beat around the bush, staring directly at Lin Langli sitting opposite him with piercing eyes: "Little Li, I heard that your relationship with Mianmian seems to have crossed the line of brotherhood?"

Lin Langli sat upright, his expression calm, even with a touch of just the right amount of respect: "Dad, Mianmian and I truly like each other."

"Like it?" Shen Mianjun's voice was authoritative. "Xiao Li, before you came back, Mianmian did do some wrong things. Dad knows you have resentment, which is normal. But if you have any complaints, you can say them directly. We are family, we can resolve things. Instead of using this..."

He paused, seemingly finding it difficult to speak, "Mianmian is simple-minded. If you want to deal with him, there's no need to deceive him with your feelings."

Lin Langli's lips tightened almost imperceptibly, then relaxed.

The young man met Shen Mianjun's gaze and said calmly, "Dad, you're overthinking it. What's past is past. I can distinguish between displaced anger and genuine feelings. I have a clear conscience towards Shen Mian."

He denied it decisively, and his attitude was neither humble nor arrogant, which left Shen Mianjun speechless for a moment.

But it was this response that made Shen Mianjun even more convinced of Shen Jinshan's previous judgment—this son was cunning and far more complex than he appeared on the surface.

The conversation ended unhappily.

Su Yueqiu and Shen Mianjun exchanged messages in the bedroom, and their hearts sank.

The stammering and defensiveness of the sleeping man, Lin Langli's airtight denial and subtle resistance, all pointed to a conclusion they least wanted to believe—Lin Langli was retaliating.

He used the most ruthless and humiliating method to retaliate against Chen Mian, and also against the entire Shen family!

"This can't go on!" Shen Mianjun slammed his hand on the bed, his expression one of utter anguish. "We have to separate them! We have to expose Lin Langli's true colors in front of everyone! Otherwise, Mianmian's life will be ruined!"

A note from the author: