Volume 7: Days of Stargazing at the Inn
Spoiled
The favored are always fearless.
The moment the phone was in Lou Jingmo’s hand, she had only just said “Hello?” when Mother Shen’s voice on the other end instinctively dropped a few octaves. “Xiao Lou? Are you with Maomao?”
Lou Jingmo answered with great patience, “It’s me. Hello, Auntie. Maomao isn’t running around; she’s been with me this whole time. She’s been interning at my company recently and got so busy she nearly forgot about her graduation. I just went with her to pick up her diploma, and we’re on our way back now.”
“So Shen Maomao has been living with you recently? Isn’t that too much trouble for you? That brat is so thoughtless…”
“Not at all. I’m very happy to have Maomao here with me. She’s no trouble at all.”
Mother Shen still remembered the scene when her daughter came out, swearing she would turn the other girl gay. Her heart was filled with guilt, and she spoke in a hushed, gentle tone, as if wishing she could transform into the softest spring breeze of March.
The two of them spoke in gentle whispers for a while, making Shen Maomao, who was standing right there, feel as if they were the real mother and daughter.
When they finished, Lou Jingmo handed the phone back to her. Still in a daze, she opened WeChat and, as expected, was met with another frenzied bombardment from her mom.
【Shang Shan Ruo Shui1】: Have you won Xiao Lou over yet? You dare to live at her place before you’ve even won her over? Shen Maomao, where’s your sense of shame?
【Shang Shan Ruo Shui】: And you even went to work at her company, how could you? If I’d known your idea of ‘working’ was just to freeload and wait for death under her roof, your father and I would have locked you up at home and made you help out at the restaurant!
Shen Maomao let out a sigh of relief.
Thank god, my mom is back. She wasn’t replaced by an imposter.
Shen Maomao typed: Why wouldn’t I? I’ve already got Lou Jingmo wrapped around my finger. We’re officially girlfriends now!
Mother Shen was still unconvinced: 【Being together isn’t the same as being married. You’re already taking such advantage of her right after getting together. Who would dare marry you?】
I’ve taken way bigger advantages of her than this, Shen Maomao thought, but her fingers typed: Aiya, she wants to be clingy with me too. We just got together, of course we’re going to be inseparable. Besides, I’m planning on studying for a teacher’s certification. Once I get that, I’ll take the exam for a public school position, and then I’ll have an iron rice bowl2, won’t I! You and Dad won’t have to worry about me anymore!
Civil servant, doctor, teacher—in the eyes of Mother Shen, who wasn’t highly educated, these three professions were the noblest and most stable. The moment she heard Shen Maomao say this, she immediately stopped nagging and changed her tune: 【Then you can’t live there for free. You have to give her rent money. And when you’re there, help out more with the housework. Don’t slack off at work either, or you’ll be letting Xiao Lou down!】
Shen Maomao replied cheekily: 【She can’t bear to let me do all that, hehe.】
Her mother didn’t reply for a long time.
Shen Maomao sent another message: 【You two don’t need to worry about us. We’ll send you an invitation when we get married.】
It failed to send—her own mother had blocked her.
Truly my biological mother. Even an evil stepmother wouldn’t do something like this.
Pleased with the newfound peace, Shen Maomao leaned lazily against Lou Jingmo and grumbled, “My mom is a classic case of ‘the more a mother-in-law looks at her son-in-law, the more she likes him.’ You two will definitely have a great relationship.”
Lou Jingmo: “…” One moment it’s a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, the next it’s a mother-in-law and son-in-law. Is Shen Maomao drunk?
Besides, didn’t Mother Shen not know about them yet?
Lou Jingmo narrowed her eyes, certain she had found a blind spot. She opened her mouth to ask, “Your mom knows we’re together?”
Shen Maomao’s face flushed red. She fidgeted as she recounted what happened that night at her house after her mom had called her away, finishing with a soft, meek confession: “I told my mom you were straight, and that I wanted to turn you… At that time, I already felt that my feelings for you had changed, so I wanted to lay the groundwork early to avoid fumbling around in the end.”
Lou Jingmo’s heart melted into a puddle. She wanted to kiss her again, but it wasn’t exactly convenient in such a public place. In the end, she could only pinch Shen Maomao’s little cheek to satisfy the craving before chugging several large gulps of mineral water to quench her thirst.
After composing herself for a moment, she said, “I thought you’d be too embarrassed to tell me something like this directly…”
Shen Maomao shot back, “Am I an idiot? Why wouldn’t I tell you something that could score me so many brownie points?!”
Lou Jingmo: “…” The brownie points she had just earned instantly vanished.
The high-speed train arrived at 6:30 PM. The sky hadn’t fully darkened yet, and the train station was a surging sea of people, packed beyond belief.
The two of them went to queue for a taxi. After waiting for only a short while, Shen Maomao felt a sense of despair looking at the long line and flat-out refused to wait any longer.
Lou Jingmo had no choice but to lead her to squeeze onto a public bus.
The buses that passed by the train station were always filled to the brim. They fought their way on with great difficulty and were jostled around with every movement of the bus, barely able to keep their footing.
Lou Jingmo led her into the corner opposite the rear doors, then propped her arm up beside her, creating a barrier to prevent others from bumping into her, her girlfriend-mode on full display.
The bus was crowded, and everyone was talking with their companions in either whispers or loud voices, creating a noisy clamor. The tiny air conditioner was no match for the sweltering heat inside the bus. Sweat poured off Shen Maomao like a broken dam, and soon, several damp patches appeared on her short-sleeved shirt.
Lou Jingmo took it all in, her thoughts unreadable. Suddenly, she grabbed Shen Maomao’s hand and led her toward the door.
“Huh?” Shen Maomao was confused. “We’re not there yet, Lou-jie… Why are you getting off here?”
Although this area could be considered a small city center, it was a million miles away3 from Lou Jingmo’s home…
“I’m buying you an ice cream,” Lou Jingmo said. With that, she led her into a KFC4 and ordered a blueberry sundae at the counter.
Shen Maomao was shocked. “How did you know I like blueberries?!”
Lou Jingmo said, “I saw that Auntie had prepared a lot of blueberries at your house, so I guessed you must like them.”
Utterly missing the romantic mood, Shen Maomao pressed on, “But what if you had guessed wrong?”
Lou Jingmo’s face was expressionless. “Then I would have twisted your head off.”
Shen Maomao: “…” This woman is ruthless.
In the end, the two took a taxi home. Lou Jingmo only let her eat half of the sundae, then, using the excuse that she should “eat less cold stuff,” took her spoon and unceremoniously finished the other half that Shen Maomao had stirred into a melted puddle. Not a single drop was wasted.
Eating ice cream was, without a doubt, a happy experience, but Shen Maomao paid a terrible price for this happiness—that very night, Auntie5 paid a visit, and the pain made her want to roll around on the bed.
As it turns out, no matter how tough a woman is, in the face of menstrual cramps, she’s just a fragile little girl. Shen Maomao, who had been spry enough to do the splits that morning, could now only lie in bed clutching her lower abdomen, her top half covered in tears and her bottom half in blood.
There were no warm compress patches6 at home, so Lou Jingmo simply sat by her bed, repeatedly soaking her own hands in hot water, drying them, and then pressing them against Shen Maomao’s belly. She didn’t forget to scold her, either. “Don’t you keep track of your own cycle? You ate something cold when your period was about to start?”
Tears streamed down Shen Maomao’s face. “Wuuu… I’ll definitely remember from now on… Stop scolding me, I want to cry… It hurts so much, ao ao ao…”
Lou Jingmo had the strange illusion that her own kettle had started whistling.
Shen Maomao kept shrinking into Lou Jingmo’s embrace. “This is so hard… I’m having such a hard time… Lou-jie… In our next life, let’s not be sisters, let’s be brothers, wuwuwu… Why do women have to get periods, it hurts so much, waaah…”
Lou Jingmo was torn between feeling sorry for her and wanting to laugh. In the end, she just climbed into the quilt with her, using her free hand to pull her closer into her arms. “Go to sleep,” she said. “It won’t hurt when you’re asleep.”
Shen Maomao snuggled her plains against the peaks, tucked her cold feet between Lou Jingmo’s calves, and placed her hands over the one Lou Jingmo was using to warm her stomach. She smacked her lips in satisfaction and, seconds later, fell into a deep sleep.
Lou Jingmo was a little speechless. She leaned over and planted a kiss on her closed eyes, then turned off the light in the room.
Tonight, there should be a whole night of sweet dreams.
Sweet dreams or not, she didn’t know, but when Lou Jingmo was jolted awake the next morning by Shen Maomao’s howling, she absolutely, definitely felt the urge to discipline a child.
Shen Maomao clutched her abdomen and continued to wail, “It hurts… It hurts and I’m hungry… I’m gonna die of hunger and pain…” Her howls were full-throated and powerful—a clear sign that the pain was unbearable!
Lou Jingmo gave her little tummy a retaliatory pinch before getting out of bed to make her breakfast.
Shen Maomao slowly shuffled her way to the kitchen, only to find Lou Jingmo cooking millet porridge with boiled egg and brown sugar7 in it.
She fell silent, and after a long moment, said in disbelief, “Are you… taking care of me during my postpartum confinement8?”
Lou Jingmo slammed the egg-cutting knife onto the cutting board and said coldly, “Take. It. Or. Leave. It.”
Shen Maomao, cherishing her life, immediately complied. “Wifey9, I’ll definitely replenish my body! I’ll eat every last bite!!”
Lou Jingmo filled a bowl with porridge and placed it gently on the dining table. Shen Maomao followed her around like a little shadow until she was pushed into a chair. “Here. Doesn’t your stomach hurt? Drink this bowl, and the pain will go away.”
Staring at the bowl, which was bigger than her face, Shen Maomao gulped. “This… isn’t this a bit much?”
Lou Jingmo patted her head, her voice full of motherly love. “Don’t worry. Once you finish it, the pain will be gone.”
Shen Maomao understood that Lou Jingmo was determined to get some peace and quiet back. She immediately changed her strategy and started playing the emotion card. “Lou-jie, the stomachache isn’t actually that hard to bear. I used to endure the pain while taking exams, sitting on a cold stool to finish the paper, and then immediately go back and start cramming for the next subject. But in front of you, it’s especially unbearable…”
Someone once said that you only cry for those who dote on you. A child who falls will look around for an adult before deciding whether or not to cry. When she was with Lou Jingmo, she wanted to howl about her pain for her to hear, just to see the heartache on her face, to feel her affection for her more deeply.
Every person who is pampered is a little drama queen10. Rather than wailing in pain, it was more like she was being coquettish with Lou Jingmo in a different way.
Shen Maomao blinked at her, coaxing, “So, Lou-jie, I only dare to be so willful because I’m banking on your love for me!”
Lou Jingmo was clearly receptive to this. Her tone softened considerably as she gently scooped up a spoonful of porridge and brought it to her lips. “But you were wailing like a pig being slaughtered.”
Shen Maomao: “???” The hell I was!!
The author has something to say:
The daily life segment is over! Get ready for a new arc to begin! Ren Yue will be in the arc after next; we’ll be seeing an old acquaintance in the next one _(:з」∠)_ Also, we’ve hit 6,000 collection adds, so as per tradition, the first fifty commenters on this chapter!!
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