DFLB – Chapter 73

“Mom, you don’t have to clean up, you already work so hard usually. You should leave this sort of work to me at times like this.” Then, without another word, Lu Xun hurriedly used his body to block his mother’s way and snatched the dirty dishes out of her hands, completely blocking her view of the trash can with his height advantage.

However, just as soon as the ‘trash can crisis’ was averted, Lu Xun’s mother walked over to his room and reached out, seemingly intending to open the door.

Lu Xun hurriedly dealt with the dishes and then bounded across the room to stop her: “Mom, don’t go into my room right now.”

Lu Xun’s mother’s tone had become very suspicious: “Why? What’s the matter?”

“Recently, I’ve been working as an assistant for one of my professors. He’s been working on a big merger case and I put all the information about the target company in my room. The case has a strict confidentiality agreement and I’m not allowed to disclose those materials to anyone, not even seemingly unrelated people like family members.” Lu Xun lied without blinking, “You should know that paying attention to our professional ethics is one of the most important things in the legal field. Haven’t you always taught me to act moral and upright? And that, even if I’m alone and there is no one around to judge me, I should still always follow the highest possible moral standards and never lose sight of my principles?”

Right at this moment, not to mention Lu Xun, even Qian Wei who was inside the room had their hearts stuck in their throats. Qian Wei’s face had long turned red with nervousness and her imagination was running wild, thinking that this scene was a bit similar to the one where a cheating mistress had to hide when the wife suddenly and unexpectedly came home. In the end, the mistress would only be able to flee in tears…

However, to the two people’s great relief, Lu Xun’s mother didn’t ask any more questions after she heard that flimsy excuse. She just let go of the doorknob and then turned and strode back to the living room.

“What are you planning to do today?”

Lu Xun was caught off guard by the sudden change in topic and subconsciously replied: “Since the rain has finally lightened up I’ll be heading back to school in a bit.” His thoughts were focused on Qian Wei who was hiding in his bedroom, so his answer was a bit prefunctorary and absent-minded.

However, his mother didn’t seem to notice, she just smiled and said, “Well, I’ve already driven out here and, as it happens, the way back is in your school’s direction, so why don’t I take you back to school?”

But how could Lu Xun agree? If he left by himself, what would Qian Wei do? 

Lu Xun refused without thinking: “No.” Then he stiffly gave an excuse. “Suddenly, I feel a little sleepy and I want to take a nap for a while before I go.”

If it was a normal day and Lu Xun said this, he knew that his mother would never wait for him. Lu Xun’s mother was a lawyer and someone who firmly believed in the phrase ‘time is money’. She was so busy that her clients always had to make appointments with her weeks in advance.

However, today, she seemed to be unusually idle. She just smiled and put on a patient expression: “Well, I have nothing to do this afternoon anyway, so go ahead and take a nap. I’ll drive you back to school when you wake up.”

“…”

“I just remembered that I still have a book I need to return to the downtown library today. After I wake up I’ll have to go downtown to return the book before going back to school.”

“That’s fine. I can take you to the library and then take you to school after you return the book.”

“…” Lu Xun changed his strategy. “Mom, you should go and do your job. I’m already old enough to handle these things myself. I’ve never felt that you haven’t spent enough time with me because of your work and actually, on the contrary, your strong work ethic has always been an inspiration to me.”

“In that case I should work hard to further inspire you and show you that a person shouldn’t only work hard, they should also pay attention to their family. Parents should accompany their children when they can after all.”

“…” Lu Xun had always been thoroughly defeated by his mother when it came to these battles of words. However, he was feeling worried about Qian Wei, so he finally decided to just ignore the logic and rationality of his excuse entirely. He gritted his teeth and said, “Mom, I just really want to take the subway back to school today.”

“Hmm?”

Lu Xun began spouting nonsense: “Us young people have an obligation to drive less when we have the option. We need to respond to the country’s call for green, low-emission travel by making use of public transportation where we can.”

Lu Xun’s mother finally gave a nod. Then she sent Lu Xun a meaningful look and said: “Well, it’s good to take the subway when you can. Anyway, mom won’t wait for you, I’ll leave first.”

When Lu Xun’s mother finally left, Lu Xun and Qian Wei, who was still hiding in the room, were finally able to breathe a sigh of relief.

However, when Lu Xun went into the bedroom he didn’t see Qian Wei’s figure at all.

“Qian Wei?”

“I’m here.” Qian Wei’s soft and beautiful voice drifted out from inside Lu Xun’s wardrobe. Just now, she had been really afraid that Lu Xun’s mother would enter the room so she had taken advantage of the cover provided by all the ruckus outside to hide herself inside the wardrobe. She had drilled herself deep inside amidst a bunch of winter coats and a big furry scarf. The heat of being buried in a bunch of winter clothes, coupled with her nervousness, caused her face to flush red and her eyes to turn watery. 

That was the scene Lu Xun saw when he finally pulled the doors to the wardrobe open. It seemed that she had been very nervous because, on top of her red face, it also looked like she had been chewing on her lips.

Qian Wei tried to move but found that her legs were trapped by the clothes she had buried herself in, so she held out her hand and said: “Lu Xun, please help me.”

However, Lu Xun didn’t help her at all. Not only did he not help her, he actually pushed aside the coats that were hanging from the top of the wardrobe and leaned forward. Before Qian Wei even realized what was going on, he was already holding her in his arms and kissing her.

Before now, a large furry scarf hanging from the top of the wardrobe had been blocking Qian Wei’s sight and, as soon as that obstruction was removed, she found her line of sight blocked again as she was held in Lu Xun’s arms inside the narrow wardrobe. Lu Xun was in front of her and his clothes were all around her, and she found that she seemed to be completely buried in his scent while she was trapped in this lingering and deep kiss. Smelling this scent, which had been so close to her countless times the night before, Qian Wei felt her heartbeat accelerating rapidly until it seemed that it might just leap out of her chest. Because her vision was blocked, it was as if the rest of her senses had become that much clearer to compensate, and Qian Wei was lost in the feeling of his lips on her own, his hot body pressed to hers, and his strong arms wrapped around her.

As the kiss dragged out, the situation slowly began to get out of control again. At the same time, Qian Wei felt another twinge of pain from her lower body so, during a moment when their lips separated, she pushed Lu Xun away and complained in an aggrieved voice: “Lu Xun, didn’t you say you would exercise restraint?”

Lu Xun’s face flushed and he apologized awkwardly: “Sorry, it seems that my self-control has been a little lacking lately.”

Then, with a final tiny gasp, the kiss ended and they separated. Lu Xun turned around and took a moment to calm down before turning back and helping Qian Wei out of the wardrobe.

After this thrilling scene, the two of them spent a few minutes calming down before Lu Xun began to clean up the house. Qian Wei watched from the side as he skillfully moved around like he was a professional at destroying this kind of evidence. He deftly handled the trash in the trash can, stripped the bed and threw the bedding into the washer, washed all the dishes, and, seeing it, Qian Wei’s heart somehow felt a bit complicated.

“Lu Xun, is this really the first time you’ve done this?” Qian Wei blushed and lowered her head. “Why do I feel that you seem very skilled at this kind of follow-up? Is this really your first time?”

“Of course.” Lu Xun looked Qian Wei in the eye. “If you hadn’t skipped so many classes last semester, you could be as skilled as I am now.”

“…”

Just as Lu Xun finally finished dealing with the ‘crime scene’ and was feeling glad in his heart that his mother wouldn’t have the opportunity to find anything that would give the situation away, his cell phone suddenly rang.

He took out the phone, looked at the screen, and saw that it was a call from his mother.

“Hello?”

“Lu Xun, I left my scarf at your apartment just now. I think it may be on the coffee table in front of the TV. When you leave, could you take it with you and then bring it home to me this weekend?”

Lu Xun looked around and, sure enough, he saw there was a scarf on the coffee table: “Alright, I will, was there anything else?”

“That was all. But are you sure that you don’t have anything to tell me?”

“No.” Lu Xun’s brows furrowed. Somehow he felt that his mother’s tone was very meaningful.

“Forget it. I shouldn’t have expected you to take the initiative to say it out.” Lu Xun’s mother didn’t press the topic, she just continued lightly, “But, in the future, you shouldn’t try to hide away your little girlfriend anymore. You should understand what I mean in your heart.”

Lu Xun was shocked. His tone as he replied was a bit muddled: “What?”

“Don’t you have a girlfriend?”

Lu Xun tried to pretend to be calm as he denied: “No, why would you randomly guess that?”

“Lu Xun, as a person majoring in law, you should know that ‘randomly guessing’ is something seriously taboo to people in our profession. All assertions should be made after rationally analyzing the situation.” Lu Xun’s mother cleared her throat. “First point, you suddenly didn’t answer more than a dozen phone calls since last night, which is something very out of the ordinary considering your usual behavior; second point, usually, you don’t speak so sweetly and say things like ‘how I already work so hard’ as an excuse to take care of the garbage yourself; third point, at what point did you learn to cook? And in what world would you ever take the initiative to make yourself a table of food for yourself at home? Ever since you were a child you’ve always believed that time is money and, if it were a usual day, I’m afraid that you would definitely just order takeout. Fourth point, you don’t usually live in that apartment but, when I looked in the refrigerator just now, why did I see a full spread of vegetables and other ingredients inside? Fifth point, if you were really working on a case that involved confidential materials that you couldn’t show to anyone, you wouldn’t ever bring it home from school. In truth, you just didn’t want me to go into your room – probably because someone else was inside. As for the sixth point, it was because there was someone else in your room that you were so set against me driving you to school, correct?” Lu Xun’s mother said all this, paused, and then continued, “Lu Xun, is there anything you want to refute?”

“…” Lu Xun finally came back to his senses. It seemed that his mother’s repeated offers to drive him to school had actually just been her testing him to see his reaction. 

“I guess your little girlfriend should have been there just now, but she was too embarrassed to see me.” Lu Xun’s mother’s voice had a smile in it, “It seems I was really negligent today, I shouldn’t have come over without getting ahold of you first and, as a result, my timing was really bad and I ended up embarrassing your little girlfriend to the point that she went and hid in your room. It’s all my fault, so next time when you have a chance, remember to bring her back to have a meal with us.”

“…”

Lu Xun’s mother gave an exaggerated sigh: “Ah, you are so reticent even with your own mother, I really wonder how you ever found someone. You really need to cherish that little girlfriend who dared to fall in love with you, okay?”

“…” Lu Xun really wanted to say: ‘Mom, how much of a misunderstanding do you have about your own son?’

“In short, you should be gentle with girls. Also, if you ever have a quarrel don’t try to talk to her like you’re prosecuting a case, you should know that men who are always strict and rational but don’t know how to coax girls always end up single.” It seemed that Lu Xun’s mother really felt that Lu Xun wasn’t feeling embarrassed enough so she solemnly gave him some ‘good advice’ before finally hanging up the phone.

“…”

Lu Xun hung up the phone and, looking a little defeated, he asked Qian Wei: “Are you free next weekend?”

Qian Wei was very guarded: “I’m busy, I won’t go on another date like this.” She swept a glance at Lu Xun’s lower body before saying. “There will be no next time!”

“…” Lu Xun frowned. “What are you talking about? What I meant was, are you free to come to my place for dinner next weekend?”

“Won’t go.” Qian Wei snorted. It was enough that she had come to his place once wasn’t it? Was she fool enough to do it again?

“I don’t mean here. I mean my house, where my parents live.”

Now Qian Wei was even more frightened: “Meet your parents? I-I’m not ready…”

“My mother would love to meet you. I’m sure she’ll like you.”

Qian Wei was very nervous. “In theory, you and I are not strictly boyfriend and girlfriend yet, isn’t it too early for me to meet your parents?”

“Hmm?” Lu Xun’s tone turned a little dangerous, “Not. strictly. boyfriend. and. girlfriend?”

“I thought we agreed that there would be a two-month probationary period and it hasn’t been two months yet… Besides, most people who introduce each other to their parents are couples who are talking about getting married soon. Isn’t it too early for us?”

“Qian Wei, we’ve already come to this point, but I’m still in the probationary period? You won’t take responsibility?”

“Huh?”

Lu Xun pressed his lips into a thin line and said, “You’ve already slept with me but now you don’t want to admit our relationship?”

Qian Wei felt that this situation, when described from Lu Xun’s mouth, seemed to change dramatically… It was as if she was a big scum who quickly threw him away after sleeping with him one, while Lu Xun was the poor victim who had been toyed with and discarded and now had no place to vent his grievances…

Qian Wei subconsciously defended herself: “I-I only slept with you once… it’s not as if I just want to abandon you here…”

“Three times.” Lu Xun corrected her sternly, “If you can’t remember the other two times, would you like me to go over the details with you?”

Qian Wei’s thin face really couldn’t stand this, she covered her ears with her hands and shouted, “Stop talking! I remember, okay? I’ll go with you this weekend.”

And, like that, the two of them slowly made their way back to school in the slightly hazy and shy atmosphere created by two fluttering hearts.

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