Mrs. Di’s words made Ye Tianxin uneasy. “Mother Di, what do you mean?” she asked.
“I mean that I hope my son will not hang out with improper female classmates…like you,” Mrs. Di emphasized. “Do you understand what I mean?”
There was a crashing sound in Ye Tianxin’s head. She felt as if something had exploded in her mind.
“Mother Di, I think you might be mistaken!”
“I am not mistaken,” Mrs. Di said firmly. “Ye Tianxin, my son, is an innocent and honest boy. He does not know how to say no to others and does not know how to reject a girl. I hope that you will not use studying as an excuse to get close to my son in the future and stop talking with my husband about developing Jiameng into a tourist destination. Stay far away from my family. Also, don’t call me Mother Di. I am not your mother. I have a name. My name is Wu Cailan.”
Ye Tianxin bit her lips. What had she done to make Di Shanshi’s mother hate her?
Thoughts came rushing through Ye Tianxin’s head. What to say? What to do?
She stood up. Her face was red. “I’m sorry to have bothered you.”
Wu Cailan called out to Ye Tianxin. “Ye Tianxin, you still have not promised me!”
“I…” Ye Tianxin inhaled deeply and then continued, “All right, Madam Wu. I will not initiate any conversations with your son, Di Shanshi. I will also not look for him. You can trust my word. Will that do?”
“Yes. You can go now!”
Wu Cailan sat on the sofa after Ye Tianxin left. She looked at the buns on the table and threw them, including the basket, into the bin.
Then, Wu Cailan went to the washroom to wash her face.
A door opened. Di Shanshi walked out of his bedroom. He looked at the basket and the buns in the bin and picked them up carefully.
He did not mind that the buns were already in the trash and took a bite from one.
The red bean filling was soft, sweet, and fragrant. Di Shanshi’s eyes were filled with tears.
He was truly a weak man.
When his mother, Wu Cailan, had treated the girl he liked badly, he did not dare to defend her. He just stood there, doing nothing. He didn’t have the guts to tell his mother how much he liked her…
That he liked talking to her.
That he liked how she looked when she smiled.
That he liked how she looked when she was happy.
That he liked everything about her.
He dared not to.
He truly was a weak and ugly man.
He truly was a coward.
He could only hide in his room and listen as his mother humiliated the girl he liked.
Wu Cailan returned to the living room when she was done with her skincare routine. She saw that the buns in the bin had disappeared and pushed open Di Shanshi’s bedroom doors. She saw her son eating the buns she had thrown into the bin like a hungry pet.
“Shi, what are you doing?”
Wu Cailan snatched the bun from Di Shanshi’s hand.
“I threw these into the bin. Don’t you mind that they are dirty?”
Di Shanshi’s smile reached his eyes. He gladly replied, “I don’t!”
“All right, Shi. Since you have heard everything, then let me tell you. Don’t hang out with improper girls like Ye Tianxin in the future.”
Di Shanshi looked at his mother. She felt so foreign to him.
“Mom, must you use such harsh words on a girl in her prime?”
Wu Cailan was filled with anger and said, “There are harsher things I have yet to say to her!”