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Luo Mingjing got up but was stopped by Shi Min. “Don’t come out yet. When my mom gets emotional, she becomes selectively blind and might lash out physically first.”
Luo Mingjing worried, “Will she wreck the shop?”
“...She’s not an unreasonable person.”
Luo Mingjing pulled out a small stool and sat down inside the room with his head bowed.
Shi Min took out her sunglasses, put them on, and opened the door.
Sure enough, a bare-faced woman wrapped in a men’s cashmere coat came in, pointing her finger at Shi Min’s nose as her high heels clicked across the floor. “Shi Min!”
Shi Min remained expressionless and respectfully called her “Mom.”
Shi Min’s mother had just gotten off the plane and immediately found out where her daughter was. She rushed straight from the airport to this place.
Due to lack of sleep, her eyes were sunken and dark, her hair was tied up casually, her lips weren’t colored, and she wore a coat taken from Shi Min’s father, looking like she’d wake up and eat someone alive.
Meanwhile, Shi Min’s father silently and stealthily slipped into the backroom like a cat, lifting the curtain.
The two men’s eyes met. Luo Mingjing stood up, feeling somewhat nervous.
In front of the studio, Shi Min’s mother began to recount her shock, pointing at Shi Min: “Your father and I never guessed this would happen. It’s fine... If you don’t like the people Mom introduced to you, it’s okay; we choose those who catch our eye. Mom understands if you want to be unconventional and focus on studying or have a strong sense of ambition. But I never expected this!”
Shi Min’s mother switched to an exaggerated theatrical mode, clutching her chest and preparing to cry loudly. “You’re dating a girlfriend?! A girlfriend?! Why didn’t you tell Mom?? Why? When I saw the report, I almost fainted...”
“Mrs. Zhang,” Shi Min’s father called out, “No need for the drama. It’s a boy.”
This father, who looked somewhat like Shi Chu and appeared very young, turned his face and softly told Luo Mingjing, “Come out, she’s calmed down.”
“... “ Luo Mingjing was momentarily speechless. He didn’t explain why he was in the backroom, but it seemed he didn’t need to. Shi Min’s father clearly understood his wife and daughter well.
Luo Mingjing quietly apologized, wobbled to his feet, feeling a bit dizzy. He held onto the wall and slowly walked out, turning on the light as he went.
As the room lit up, Shi Min’s mother stopped her act.
She regained her composure and, seeing the long-haired man coming out from the backroom, looked momentarily stunned. “A boy?”
She scrutinized Luo Mingjing from head to toe—a real boy, although with long hair, tall and handsome, unmistakably male.
Shi Min’s mother took out her phone and compared it with the screenshot for a long time, asking him, “Where are your breasts?”
Shi Min answered for Luo Mingjing, “Fake, just for fun.”
Shi Min’s mother stared at Luo Mingjing again. He gently called her “Auntie.”
Judging from her expression, Shi Min’s mother didn’t quite accept the term ‘auntie,’ but for the moment, there wasn’t a more suitable title, so she tolerated it.
She pulled over a sofa and said, “Let’s sit down and talk.”
Her imposing demeanor didn’t diminish. Shi Min’s father also leisurely walked over and sat down, as if he owned the place.
After both sat down, the family tribunal began to take shape.
In the powerful aura of this family, Shi Min asked Luo Mingjing to temporarily step aside. “I’m a bit thirsty, boil some water and make tea.”
Luo Mingjing nodded and went to the kitchen.
After a while, Shi Min’s mother cleared her throat, calmed down, elegantly took out her makeup mirror to apply lipstick, then took the sunglasses off Shi Min’s face and put them on herself. Crossing her arms, she leaned back, ready for a long talk.
Shi Min’s father seemed to wear an inscrutable mask, crossing his legs and narrowing his eyes to stare towards the kitchen, his demeanor resembling an older version of Shi Chu.
Shi Min faced the two formidable figures directly, taking the initiative: “I thought you’d be more polite, coming in the middle of the night… Hmph.”
Shi Min’s mother knew she was in the wrong and merely chuckled.
Shi Min’s father calmly said, “We happened to be passing by.”
“If there’s nothing important, go back early,” Shi Min said slowly. “It’s tiring.”
Shi Min’s mother instinctively replied, “We’re not tired.”
Shi Min naturally responded, “We are.”
Luo Mingjing brought over the tea, placed it, and sat next to Shi Min. After a moment of silence, he said to Shi Min, “... Your parents rarely come once, and it’s so cold…”
“Do you want to keep them for dinner?” Shi Min glanced at her watch, “At three in the morning?”
Perhaps due to fatigue or lack of sleep for several days, Luo Mingjing’s reactions were slower than usual, as if he had lost half his soul.
Shi Min’s mother silently drank her tea while Shi Min’s father asked, “Won’t you return home?”
“No.”
“Remember to attend tomorrow’s board meeting,” Shi Min’s father said. “I want to hear your explanation.”
“It’s not important.”
“Were there any noticeable fluctuations yesterday?”
“I didn’t check.”
After Shi Min’s mother moistened her throat and set down her teacup, preparing to ask questions, Shi Min preempted her, coldly saying, “Ask whatever tomorrow. Are you here to bully someone tonight? You’re not embarrassed, but I am. Go back and sleep.”
An awkward atmosphere filled the room.
Strangely, Luo Mingjing seemed disconnected, quietly sitting with his head down, not making a sound.
He wouldn’t chase away guests. Shi Min got up, pulled him, and said, “Close the shop, let’s sleep.”
Luo Mingjing was dazed for a moment and asked, “Is this alright?”
“It’s non-business hours, delaying rest.” Shi Min turned around and said to her mother, “You’ve seen what you wanted to see, you should be reassured now. Don’t cause trouble in the shop. I care about my reputation and want to leave a good impression on my boyfriend. As for… what’s going on, ask your son when you get home. I have no idea.”
She said, “Be polite, hurry up and leave. Can’t you see how exhausted he is?”
Shi Min’s mother couldn’t sit still anymore; her imposing demeanor crumbled without resistance. All she could do was roll her eyes at her daughter through the sunglasses before getting up and retreating.
Shi Min added, “Stay still, give me back my sunglasses.”
These glasses were used by Shi Min’s mother to cover her bare face and enhance her presence, but Shi Min mercilessly demanded them back. Just as Shi Min’s mother was about to react, Shi Min’s father took off the sunglasses and handed them to Shi Min, quickly pushing Shi Min’s mother out.
Shi Min locked the door and pushed Luo Mingjing back into the inner room.
Luo Mingjing asked, “... They left just like that?”
“You go to sleep,” Shi Min said. “I originally planned to clarify things tonight, but it seems you can’t hold on.”
Luo Mingjing slowly climbed into bed, heavy with sleepiness, mumbling, “So tired...”
Shi Min’s parents got into the car. Shi Min’s mother said, “Embarrassing, I didn’t put on makeup.”
Shi Min’s father was silent for a moment before comforting her, “It’s fine, he didn’t look at you. That child seemed half-asleep.”
Thinking about it all, she felt stifled. They hurried back only to find Shi Min acting normally.
“That brat Shi Chu! To misreport without clarification! And Shi Min isn’t innocent either! Such a young age and already playing these tricks!” With only two children, Shi Min’s mother vented her frustration on both of them. Afterward, she patted her chest to calm down. “It’s better than I expected. I even brought medicine, fearing that stubborn girl would show me something shocking…”
The couple originally came to drag their daughter home for reflection. However, things developed too quickly, the plot suddenly changed, and Shi Min’s mother’s prepared script fell apart. Coupled with the exhausting long flight, they couldn’t maintain parental authority and were defeated and dismissed by their daughter.
After a while, Shi Min’s mother said, “Something’s not right! We haven’t learned anything, and she’s already cohabiting with someone?! Living in such a place? What does she want to do? Is she trying to kill me with anger?”
Shi Min’s father, like a puppet, showed no change in expression, flatly saying, “I’m a bit sleepy, not in the best state today, can’t think clearly. Let me think about how to talk to her tomorrow.”
Talking to their daughter required maintaining both momentum and logic; otherwise, they would inexplicably lose.
Wisely, the two parents decided to rest up and prepare for another attempt another day.
Luo Mingjing fell ill.
Shi Min discovered it when she woke up in the morning. Touching him, she found his forehead drenched in sweat. She called his name a few times, but his response was very sluggish.
Shi Min tucked him in, took out a thermometer, and found he had a fever.
Shi Min called Fiona, boiled water in the kitchen, returned to the inner room, sat by the bed thinking, and finally concluded that Luo Mingjing was frightened by her mother.
When Luo Mingjing managed to open his eyes, he turned over and found himself wrapped up like a cocoon. Struggling to lift his head, he weakly smiled at Shi Min, who was changing his cool towel. “You... you still say you don’t have peculiar preferences.”
Shi Min took two long leather belts and strapped him tightly with the blanket.
“Sounds like you’re in good spirits,” Shi Min didn’t even raise her eyelids, replying, “If you’re referring to those two belts… they’re for sweating out the fever.”
Luo Mingjing laughed, “If I weren’t running a fever… what did you plan to do with them?”
Shi Min evaded the question lightly, “Just belts.”
“There aren’t belts that long…” Luo Mingjing grinned bitterly, “Who are you trying to fool?”
Shi Min didn’t answer, smoothing his hair and asking, “Are you hungry?”
“Hungry,” Luo Mingjing said, “Are you cooking? I… feel like having some hot stewed meat soup.”
“We’ll eat later,” Shi Min smiled, “Not me cooking, I’ll have the chef make it for you.”
Curious, Luo Mingjing asked, “Do you employ a chef at home?”
Shi Min hummed in affirmation.
Not long after, Luo Mingjing heard that familiar knock on the door again.
“Shi Min! Shi Min, open the door!” Shi Min’s mother, holding a thermos box, knocked on the door. “Hurry up and open the door! Mom is freezing to death!!”
Luo Mingjing was startled again. Last night’s events were like a blackout; he couldn’t remember much, only that Shi Min’s parents came and then left.
He nervously asked, “Why is your mom here?”
“She’s here to bring you soup,” Shi Min smiled, “Mother’s special. Drink the soup, and become my son-in-law.”
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