When the call connected, the face of a middle-aged woman in her forties popped up on the phone screen.
That’s right!
The middle-aged woman was none other than Gu Yizhou’s mother—Chen Dongmei.
Although Chen Dongmei’s face bore the faint marks of time, you could still see traces of her youthful beauty.
Her eyes were bright and deep, like two twinkling stars, full of wisdom and insight. Wrinkles had begun to form at the corners, but they did nothing to hide her unique, approachable warmth.
It was easy to tell her hair was meticulously styled into elegant waves. The strands at her temples were faintly streaked with silver, which took on a warm chestnut hue under the light.
"Er..."
"Mom, you’re not in bed yet? It’s so late."
Gu Yizhou smiled faintly, holding his phone up to speak to his mom on the screen.
However, his smiling face was not met with a pleasant attitude from his mother!
"Can’t sleep!"
Chen Dongmei shot him a look and snapped, "As long as you don’t find a girlfriend and bring her home to me, I won’t be able to sleep!"
Gu Yizhou: "...-_-||"
He had braced himself for his mom to start nagging him about finding a girlfriend, but he hadn’t expected her to lead with it right out of the gate!
This was so exasperating!
"Um... Mom, you rarely call me. Can we please not talk about such unpleasant things?"
Gu Yizhou asked in a weak tone, looking at his mom.
"No!"
"This is just how I am. I’m going to say it whether you like it or not!"
"If you’ve got the guts, go ahead and sew my mouth shut!"
Chen Dongmei wasn’t about to reason with him. She spoke in a calm voice.
Her placid gaze said it all, the three words "find a girlfriend" practically written in them...
"No, that’s not it!"
"Mom, look, I’m only in my early twenties. I haven’t even graduated, and I don’t have a stable job yet. My career is the most important thing right now. Do we really need to be in such a hurry to find a girlfriend?"
"Besides, finding a girlfriend is about fate, isn’t it? There’s no one suitable around me!"
"You can’t rush these things. Can we just take it slow, okay?"
Gu Yizhou gave a helpless, bitter smile, trying to use stalling tactics to placate his mom for now.
"Oh!"
Chen Dongmei said "Oh!" then continued, "If there’s no one suitable around you, then go find someone! The internet is so advanced now, there are tons of girls on dating apps. If you’re willing to look, you can definitely find someone suitable."
"Mom, finding a girlfriend isn’t like grocery shopping. You can’t just go by looks; you have to see if your personalities and values are compatible..."
Gu Yizhou looked utterly helpless. He was still trying to persuade his mom, but it was obvious Chen Dongmei wasn’t buying it.
"I don’t care, that’s your problem. Look at your cousin—his kid is already so big, and here you are, still a bachelor without even a girlfriend!"
Chen Dongmei said flatly.
Suddenly, she seemed to think of something and spoke again, "Wait a minute. You’re not ugly! That’s what I can never figure out!"
"You rascal, is there something physically wrong with you? Otherwise, how could you be about to graduate from college without ever having been in a relationship?"
"If it really comes down to it, I can accept a man. As long as it’s a person, that’s fine!"
Gu Yizhou: "..."
Hearing this, his eyes instantly went wide!
"Stop, stop!"
"Mom, what kind of nonsense are you spouting!"
"Your son is physically fine and mentally normal, okay!!!"
Gu Yizhou hurriedly cut his mom off, afraid she would say something even more outrageous!
Chen Dongmei glanced at him and pouted without a word, her expression clearly showing she wasn’t entirely convinced.
Seeing this, Gu Yizhou had no choice but to say resignedly, "Mom, I’ll find one. I’ll find a girlfriend, alright!"
Even though he knew this was just his mom’s "marriage-nagging" tactic, what could he do!
If he didn’t make some kind of promise now, who knows what even crazier things would come out of her mouth later.
Hearing Gu Yizhou say he would find a girlfriend, a sly smile flickered across Chen Dongmei’s lips before she quickly composed herself.
"Ahem... Hmm, that’s more like it!"
"Then it’s settled. You must bring my daughter-in-law home for the New Year!"
Chen Dongmei said, looking at him with a serious expression.
Gu Yizhou: "...-_-||"
What else could he say?
He was helpless!
He was completely exasperated!
’I’ve heard you can rent a girlfriend by the day online. If it comes to that, should I just rent one to get her off my back?’
He schemed inwardly.
’But the New Year is still a long way off. No need to rush this, I’ll deal with it when the time comes...’
"PFFT~"
Hearing that jerk Gu Yizhou get put in his place, Yan Luoxi was suddenly in a great mood. She couldn’t help but feel like applauding!
’That jerk!’
’I can’t believe you’re getting a taste of your own medicine!’
That’s right!
Because it was a video call, the sound was coming from the speaker.
The entire conversation between Gu Yizhou and his mom had been overheard by Yan Luoxi, who was lying under the sofa!
’It’s not like I was eavesdropping on purpose!’
’If anyone’s to blame, it’s Gu Yizhou for having the volume up so loud!’
’Hmph~’
Yan Luoxi thought to herself.
However!
Seeing Gu Yizhou get pestered about marriage, she was suddenly reminded of how her own mother nagged her about it all the time...
Sigh~
’Are all moms in the world like this?’
’Is this the "same world, same mom" phenomenon?’
...
「Just then.」
"Oh, right!"
Gu Yizhou suddenly remembered the stock investment and casually asked, as if it had just occurred to him, "Mom, I remember you guys said you set aside some money for my down payment, right?"
"That’s right!"
Hearing this, Chen Dongmei on the screen nodded instinctively.
"Hmm?"
Suddenly, it dawned on her. She frowned slightly and gave her son a scrutinizing look. "You little brat, why are you asking about that?"
"Oh, well, didn’t you want me to find a girlfriend?"
"A guy needs some financial backing to do that, right?"
"My company partnered with a real estate developer a while back, and they’re offering some benefits. Internal employees can get a discount on a house right now, so I was thinking maybe I should just buy one!"
Gu Yizhou said, the words flowing out naturally.
However, no sooner had he finished speaking,
than Yan Luoxi, huddled under the sofa, found her eyes widening in shock!
’A partnership with a real estate developer? An internal employee discount?’
’How come I don’t know anything about this!?’
’It’s obvious this jerk is lying! He’s trying to trick his family out of their money!!!’
’I can’t believe this jerk, who usually looks so presentable, is actually this kind of person!’
Yan Luoxi’s impression of Gu Yizhou plummeted instantly!
She had originally thought that even though Gu Yizhou was a bit of a jerk, he still seemed like a decent and caring person!
But now!
’To think he’d try to leech off his parents, even tricking them out of their money!’
Yan Luoxi shook her head lightly. She suddenly felt that she had completely misjudged him...