"Your father has to work overtime all night to oversee a project, and he's worried I won't be able to sleep at night, so he's sent me here to stay with you. He'll come pick me up tomorrow. Oh, by the way, your father has been on a business trip in the city near here recently."
Jiang Wei nodded, paused, then looked up again: "Wait, mom, are you saying you're going to stay here tonight?"
Shang Wenli nodded very naturally: "Of course."
"No, mom, you should have told me you were coming ahead of time..." Jiang Wei said with a wry smile, glancing briefly towards the balcony before turning back, "I... I need to get ready."
"Oh, what do you need to get ready for? I see there's another room here, you're not sharing with someone, are you? If not, then mom will just stay here tonight..."
Shang Wenli said with a chuckle, starting to head towards Yi Ming's room, but Jiang Wei rushed over and stood in front of her mother: "There's someone in there!"
"What?"
Jiang Wei's mother's eyes widened in surprise as she exclaimed: "You have a roommate? Oh dear, why didn't you tell me? It's so late, what if we disturb them? Let me go introduce myself and apologize..."
"No need, no need, mom."
Jiang Wei gave an awkward smile, waving her hand, "That... Older Sister Zhou who lives here isn't home today, she went back to the dorms. She likes things tidy and doesn't really like people going into her room without permission..."
"Oh I see."
Jiang Wei's mother nodded understandingly, quickly pulling her daughter back: "Then we shouldn't go in. You have to respect other people's habits, especially since you're sharing this place. You need to be considerate and help each other..."
"I know, mom."
Jiang Wei sighed in relief, smiling faintly, "If you really want to stay, you can stay in my room. We can squeeze in and chat. Besides, I have a surprise to show you."
"A surprise? What surprise?"
Shang Wenli raised her eyebrows slightly, her beautiful eyes lighting up at the mention of a surprise.
Jiang Wei smiled, taking her mother's hand and leading her to her room. She opened the door.
Xiao Shi was standing there, tilting his head and gazing at the two women.
One was his beautiful, adorable owner. And the other... looked a lot like her too...
Jiang Wei's mother looked at the fluffy little creature in front of her, barely able to contain her excitement. She crouched down and gently patted Xiao Shi's head, murmuring softly: "Xiao Wei, when did you get this little angel?"
Jiang Wei's real reason for moving out of the school dorms was something her mother didn't know. Jiang Wei had only told her on the phone that it was to have a distraction-free environment for studying, so her mother had respected her daughter's wishes and didn't ask further.
Jiang Wei hadn't originally planned to tell her mother about this so soon, but now that her mother was here, she didn't want to hide it any longer.
"I found him on the street. Actually, the reason I moved here was for this little guy... Mom, you'll support me raising a dog, won't you?"
"Of course."
The always open-minded Shang Wenli beamed, gently stroking Xiao Shi's fluffy fur and chuckling softly, "Why stop at just a dog? If you wanted to keep a boyfriend here, I'd support you too..."
Jiang Wei: "..."
Jiang Wei heard this and almost stumbled, nearly falling over.