Chapter 32: The Cold Mother’s Abnormal Behavior
Chapter 32: The Cold Mother’s Abnormal Behavior
Checking the time and seeing it was nearly dinner, I headed into the kitchen to get busy.
Before long, my little sister drifted in, hovering around me with nothing better to do.
"What are you up to? Finished your homework?"
She waved her phone at me smugly. "With a phone to search for answers, how hard could it be?"
I let out a soft sigh. "It seems you haven't listened to a single word I've said."
"Oh, let's not talk about that." She waved her fair, smooth hand. "Is there anything I can help with?"
"Forget it!" I said, pushing her by her slender waist to herd her out of the kitchen. "I can't bear to let those precious piano-playing hands of yours do the cooking."
"Psh."
She acted like she didn't care. "Mom already sent me to that girls' high school, and my piano lessons have basically stopped by default. You don't need to baby me anymore."
At this, she looked huffy. "Last night, Mom even made me do the dishes! You know that!"
She followed this with a light huff. "Mom is so biased. She favors her 'precious son' in everything."
I helplessly gave her smooth forehead a light flick. "You know in your heart whether Mom is biased or not. I cooked last night; shouldn't you be the one scrubbing the pots and pans?"
She refused to leave, leaning against the kitchen doorframe in a stalemate. "If you ask me, we should just hire a maid. Think of how much housework that would save!"
"In your dreams." Seeing she wouldn't budge, I immediately hooked one arm around her waist and the other under her legs, scooping her into my arms.
I looked down at her and chuckled. "If we hired a maid, you’d definitely be even lazier than you are now. You might as well change your name to Lin Piggy."
She wasn't about to take that. She reached up and pinched my cheeks, tugging them back and forth. "All you do is tease me. Who would I be hiring a maid for? Isn't it just to lighten your load? How can you be so blind to your sister's good intentions?"
"Totally unnecessary!"
I carried her over, intending to toss her onto the living room sofa, but she clung to me like a vine, her flexible body wrapping tight.
I tried to shake her off a few times, but she didn't budge an inch.
Looking at her flawless, delicate face, I said helplessly, "Let go!"
She wrapped her arms tightly around my neck. "Hehe!"
She arched an eyebrow with a playful expression. "You tell me to let go and I just do it?"
My voice carried a faint hint of a threat. "You're not letting go?"
Her expression sharpened, her peach blossom eyes full of wariness. "I'm not letting go, and that's that!"
"You said it!"
Without warning, I released her slender waist and long legs. Her body dropped rapidly toward the floor.
Her face went pale, and she scrambled to hug me tight, hanging off me like a koala.
"Wow, you're so annoying."
My tone was exasperated. "You're just getting in the way of my cooking."
She wrinkled her nose and muttered, "Is this how it is? Sick of me on our very first day of dating?"
I patted her rounded bottom. Hers was a young girl's figure—not as lush and full as a mature woman's, but beautifully shaped, firm, and elastic.
"Don't twist my words."
I pinched her nose. "All you do is cause trouble."
She was over 170cm and weighed about 50kg; hanging off me like that, she was actually quite heavy. After all, we weren't currently having sex in the train bento position, so I didn't exactly have the "motivation" to keep holding her up.
Supporting her weight by her backside, I sat down lazily on the sofa. "If you don't want to get down, then don't. You little lazy pig, I can't carry you forever."
"You're the lazy pig."
She nipped at my shoulder to express her dissatisfaction. Eventually, she got bored and climbed off me of her own accord.
However, her restless nature remained. She shoved her small feet into my lap and commanded, "Give me a foot rub."
"Spoiled, aren't you?"
I pushed her little feet aside. "I still have to cook."
Her face filled with grievance, a total drama queen in action. She looked ready to burst into tears. "Who are you? Where is that deeply affectionate brother who just gave me a rose? Give him back to me right now."
I didn't bother responding. Just as I stood up, the door clicked open.
My elegant, stunning mother appeared before my eyes.
One jade foot, clad in a Christian Louboutin red-soled high heel, stepped into the house. She gave us a view of her tall, slender back as she directed someone outside.
"Master worker, right here. Be careful."
Mom's voice was cold and pleasant, like the sound of silk and bamboo instruments.
I walked forward, completely confused. "Mom, why are you back so early today?"
Logically, since she had spent so much time with me this afternoon and had so much work left unhandled, she should have been back late.
Why was she being so abnormal today? She was actually home earlier than usual.
Without turning around, she countered, "What? You're not happy I'm home early?"
I was speechless. "Mom, look at what you're saying. How would I dare?"
My sister joined me at my side. Mimicking Mom's manner, she pinched my ear, looking smug as if she were lecturing a child. "Yeah, Mom! If Brother dares to feel that way, I'll have to twist his ear right off."
Mom pushed the two of us aside and said softly, "Alright, alright, stop causing trouble. Go rest over there."
I watched curiously as several workers in overalls moved a large cardboard box into the house. I couldn't help but ask, "Mom, what did you buy?"
"You're so stupid!"
My sister slapped the back of my head. "Can't you see what's written on the box? It's a treadmill!"
"You...! A treadmill?!"
Just a moment ago, I’d wanted to pin my sister to the sofa and give her a good spanking, but her words left me stunned. "A treadmill?"
"That's right."
Mom nodded slightly. Her breath, smelling like orchids and musk, brushed past me. "Don't you like running? I bought you a treadmill."
I remained silent for a long time, looking at her with a complex gaze.
What was Mom trying to do?
Since when did her desire for control become this strong? Did she really want to keep me so firmly in the palm of her hand?
From her sudden visit to the school yesterday because of a similar voice on the phone, to her getting angry today because of my close contact with Song Yu and forbidding me from seeing her...
I felt a sense of unease and strangeness.
Since yesterday, Mom seemed to have become... abnormal.
It felt as if she were terrified that another woman would snatch me away from her side.
Mom's expression was calm, her face like polished jade.
Her red lips parted slightly. "That's right. Did you never learn the word 'treadmill,' or do you just not understand? Do you need me to explain it to you in detail?"
My sister's eyes darted back and forth. Sensing the atmosphere was off, she tactfully kept quiet.
I didn't know how to respond. Ever since that phone call yesterday, Mom had become moody and emotionally unstable.
Did Mom care about me this much because she... actually liked me?
The moment that absurd thought surfaced, I shook my head with a bitter smile.
How could Mom possibly like me that way? Her actions were likely just a mother's concern for her son. Like most women in the world, she probably just didn't want me getting entangled with other women while I was still young.
I opened my mouth and gave a wry smile. "Mom, what is this for? Is it really necessary?"
"What? Are you unhappy?"
Mom's high heels clicked sharply against the floor. As she walked, her slender fingers directed the workers on where to place the machine. Without looking back, she said, "Or were the promises you made me today all lies?"
I rubbed my nose. "How could they be lies? A real man keeps his word!"
Mom suddenly turned around, her phoenix eyes staring at me with a sharp intensity. "Since you keep your word, you are not allowed to go for morning runs in the neighborhood anymore. From now on, you will run at home."
As she finished, she seemed to realize she was being too harsh. Her voice softened a few degrees. "Of course, I can still accept you being ordinary friends with Song Yu."