The weather was especially nice today. The sunlight seemed to have dispersed the harsh chill of winter.
But at this hour, even the sun appeared eager to head home for dinner, slowly sinking beneath the horizon.
The taste of winter arrived all at once.
After coming downstairs, the two of them did not hurry toward the school gates. Instead, they wandered aimlessly around the sports field.
The moment the sun disappeared, the wind began howling fiercely. The boys and girls on the field gradually headed home, leaving only those with far too much free time strolling through the cold wind.
And obviously, this was not Su Muzhe’s suggestion.
Watching the youthful teenagers overflowing with energy, Jiang Yao suddenly felt her own heart come alive as well.
It was somewhat regrettable.
What would it have been like if she had transmigrated into Jiang Yao’s student years instead?
She definitely would not have lived like the pathetic female leads in those cheesy short dramas—spending their entire lives bullied and humiliated.
No.
Her life would have begun in hell mode before ending with her slaughtering her way across the world.
Back when she founded her sect and conquered the lands in all directions, it had been difficult, but exhilarating.
Su Muzhe looked at his mother staring off into the distance in a daze, unable to understand what she was thinking.
“What’s wrong?”
“Youth really is wonderful.”
“What’s so wonderful about it?”
No money. No power. Even his fate was tightly held in his father’s hands. What was so good about that?
Jiang Yao rolled her eyes at him.
“If only time could go backward.”
“You want to go back to school?”
Su Muzhe truly could not understand why anyone would miss school life, much less want to relive high school.
That was insane.
If not for age restrictions, he would have stopped attending school long ago.
Realizing her son had seen through her thoughts, Jiang Yao stiffened awkwardly before stubbornly denying it.
“What nonsense.”
Although she said that aloud, she secretly kept the thought in mind.
His mother already looked young to begin with, but recently, who knew what miraculous elixir she had taken? She practically looked eighteen again.
His father was handsome too, but one glance and anyone could tell he was a thirty-year-old man.
Standing side by side, anyone with eyes would think his father was an old cow eating young grass.
The thought made Su Muzhe’s heart suddenly skip a beat.
Could it be that his mother had someone else outside who was helping her “regain her youth”?
Turning around, he glared at her and snorted coldly.
“You two deal with your own issues yourselves. Don’t put them in front of me.”
After saying that, he strode off arrogantly.
His words completely stunned Jiang Yao.
What did he mean?
She had only wanted to return to school and experience the kind of life she had never lived before.
What was wrong with him?
The mother and son each sank into their own thoughts, completely unaware that their brains were operating on entirely different wavelengths.
Actually, Su Muzhe was not overthinking things for no reason.
From his perspective, there had always been signs.
For years, his parents had slept in separate rooms. Their social circles had never overlapped. He had never once seen his father show concern for his mother, whether at home or elsewhere.
Of course, his mother treated his father the same way.
Just now, his mother had not even wanted to call his father personally and instead relied on him as a messenger.
Wasn’t that the classic warning sign of a middle-aged marriage falling apart?
Although the atmosphere at home had improved slightly over the past two days because of his mother’s changes, the resentment between them had already accumulated too deeply.
Spilled water could not be gathered back again.
The two of them continued wandering around the field instead of leaving immediately.
Suddenly, a ringtone interrupted Su Muzhe’s drifting thoughts.
He glanced at the caller ID and answered.
“Where are you?”
“At the sports field.”
“Come out. I’m already here.”
“He’s here already. Let’s go.”
After speaking, Su Muzhe walked ahead first.
Jiang Yao looked at his hurried back, completely puzzled.
During the parent-teacher meeting earlier, everything had still been fine.
So why had the weather in his mood suddenly changed from sunny to stormy?
She had not even said anything.
After thinking it over repeatedly, she arrived at two conclusions:
First, children were emotionally sensitive.
Second, had he just seen his little girlfriend being stolen away by another boy?
Was he heartbroken?
Jealous?
As Jiang Yao pondered this, she stretched her neck around, trying to identify the heartless girl who had shattered her precious son’s feelings.
Even after they exited the school gates, Jiang Yao was still craning her neck around looking.
“What are you looking at?”
Su Jingyang stood beside the car. From afar, he had already noticed Jiang Yao approaching in a rather strange posture, and he could not help laughing.
Jiang Yao immediately acted mysterious, deliberately avoiding Su Muzhe before leaning close to Su Jingyang’s ear.
Her warm breath brushed against his ear, making his already red ears turn even redder.
In that brief moment, he caught the unique fragrance lingering on her body.
Before he could recover from the scent, her next sentence struck him like thunder.
“Your son seems to have been cheated on.”
That could not be true, right?
But seeing Jiang Yao’s absolutely certain expression, Su Jingyang’s initial skepticism gradually turned into suspicion, before finally transforming into complete belief.
See?
That was exactly how rumors were born.
Su Muzhe silently opened the backseat door himself, deliberately leaving the front passenger seat for his mother.
And Su Jingyang did not disappoint him. He opened the passenger-side door and let Jiang Yao get in.
“What did the teacher talk about today?”
One of Su Jingyang’s long, well-defined hands rested casually on the steering wheel as he watched the road ahead and asked.
“Nothing much. Just that the second-year students are being divided into different classes, so parents should pay more attention to their children’s studies and emotional development.”
After all, this was an elite private school whose philosophy emphasized happy growth.
Any child who could attend this school already had parents capable of securing their future.
Su Jingyang gave a quiet acknowledgment.
When it came to raising his son, he had not participated much. Since childhood, he had left the boy in his parents’ care.
Fortunately, the elderly couple’s indulgence had not spoiled him crooked. The boy had still grown up upright and righteous.
Thinking back to the incident from several days ago, although Su Muzhe had acted somewhat recklessly, the passion and sense of justice within him were still commendable.
The only flaw was that he had been too weak and ended up getting beaten into the ground.
That was a little embarrassing.
The bubbling spicy hotpot rolled furiously, driving away the winter cold.
The square table was filled with dishes Jiang Yao loved.
Immersed in the hotpot feast, Su Muzhe occasionally looked up at his parents, almost unable to believe these scenes were actually happening to him.
Especially when he looked at Jiang Yao burying her head in food, everything felt surreal.
In his memories, his mother had practically seemed ready to survive on dew and fresh air alone.
Steam from the hotpot rose continuously while the spicy oil churned richly in the broth.
Jiang Yao picked up a slice of fatty beef and rolled it through the dipping sauce, just about to put it into her mouth when she noticed two gazes directed toward her.
One came from Su Muzhe, carrying the awkward curiosity unique to teenage boys.
The other naturally came from her bargain-bin husband, Su Jingyang, filled with quiet scrutiny.
“What are you staring at?”
Jiang Yao raised an eyebrow.
“Is there meat on my face?”
Su Muzhe looked away and poked at the shrimp paste in his bowl with his chopsticks.
“Nothing. You just feel different from before.”
“How am I different?”
“Everything’s different.”
The boy lifted his head and looked directly at her.
“The old you wouldn’t have come to my parent-teacher meeting, wouldn’t have fought people in an alley, and wouldn’t…”
He paused briefly.
“Wouldn’t eat hotpot.”
Jiang Yao burst out laughing at the last sentence.
“What? Did I survive on dew in the past?”
Su Muzhe did not reply and lowered his head to continue eating.
But Jiang Yao still noticed the slight curve at the corner of his lips. That awkward little smile simply could not be hidden.
Su Jingyang poured Jiang Yao a glass of sour plum juice, his movements so natural it was as though he had done it thousands of times before.
“Eat slower. It’s spicy.”
Jiang Yao accepted the cup, her fingertips brushing accidentally against the back of his hand.
Warm and dry.
She lifted her eyes and met his deep gaze.
Both of them paused momentarily before quickly looking away again.
Su Muzhe watched the entire exchange carefully, and the little calculations in his heart began spinning again.
The atmosphere between his parents did not actually seem that terrible.
At that exact moment, Jiang Yao’s phone vibrated.