Until the next morning, he hazily heard voices arguing outside his door. His first reaction was to think that it was Huo Qijun and the breakfast deliverer, Fu Xiaoqing, quarreling again. However, the system informed him otherwise.
[I sent a message from the host’s phone telling the female lead not to come over. The person standing outside is the Huo family matriarch, who is determined to break up couples. She noticed that Fu Xiaoqing hasn’t worked her part-time job for a few days and is now suspicious that the male lead is keeping a mistress!]
[……] Lin Wei sat up and rubbed his temples: [What is Huo Qijun arguing with her about?]
The system chuckled twice: [He’s being spiteful and deliberately not saying that you’re the one sleeping in this room. He’s just waiting for you to go out and confront Old Madam Huo!]
[…… Fine.] He truly lived up to his reputation.
Lin Wei had no choice but to get up, wash up, and change his clothes. He put on the signature gentle smile of his original self and suddenly flung the door open amidst the arguing voices outside.
Dressed sharply with her hair neatly arranged, Old Madam Huo turned her fierce gaze toward him and froze at the sight.
Huo Qijun, standing behind her, bit his lip to suppress a laugh.
He swore that his mother, who was formidable for half her life, had never had such a ‘colorful’ expression on her face.
Lin Wei shot him a look of annoyance and turned back to smile at Old Madam Huo, greeting her: “Aunt, what brings you here?”
Old Madam Huo suddenly couldn’t comprehend what she was seeing: “Lin Wei, why are you here?”
Lin Wei sleeping here was indeed strange, especially since his own home was right next door, which was no secret to a mother with such a strong desire for control.
“A couple of days ago, Aqi’s stomach illness flared up again,” Lin Wei said as he naturally supported Old Madam Huo down the stairs, continuing, “I thought this was unacceptable, so I set up a health plan for him. You know how he can pretend to be okay, so I specifically moved over to keep an eye on him.”
He paused and turned back to half-jokingly, half-seriously report: “Aunt, you need to say something to him. Last night, he wanted to sneak a drink, and I caught him red-handed!”
His words, nine parts true and one part false, resolved Old Madam Huo’s initial suspicions and annoyance at being rebutted by her son.
Old Madam Huo was not someone easily pleased, almost impervious to flattery, but Lin Wei’s seemingly casual remarks hit just the right note. Eventually, Old Madam Huo’s expression softened, and she followed his lead to scold her son, who had been caught drinking in the middle of the night.
Huo Qijun let the words enter one ear and exit the other.
Aside from significant matters where he couldn’t win against his mother, he generally had the upper hand in everything else. In this back-and-forth, they were roughly evenly matched in annoying each other.
However, with Lin Wei present, Old Madam Huo would still save face for her son in front of his friends, so she didn’t pursue the matter further. After chatting for a while, she suddenly asked, “You know that girl named Fu Xiaoqing, right?”
Huo Qijun’s heart tightened at her words.
Lin Wei remained calm, smiling as he replied, “I do. She’s quite resilient, and the rare thing is she’s not vain at all. You know, Aunt, Aqi has a terrible temper. That girl practically avoids him like the plague. Aqi has probably never been so rejected in his life.”
After Lin Wei’s casual remarks, Old Madam Huo couldn’t help but twitch her lips.
The initial concerns she had about social status and wanting Lin Wei to persuade Fu Xiaoqing were now hard to bring up. After all, Lin Wei had just said that Fu Xiaoqing wasn’t interested in her son, and it would be quite self-indulgent for her to be picky about the girl after that.
However, she still didn’t believe Lin Wei completely: “You’re both young and haven’t experienced the subtle tactics of love yet!”
Huo Qijun found such comments annoying. He opened his mouth to counter but was stopped by a glance from Lin Wei.
Lin Wei understood better than him that debating this with Old Madam Huo was pointless. If she could be reasoned with, she wouldn’t have refused to accept Fu Xiaoqing as her daughter-in-law until the end in the original text.
After all, conceding verbally wouldn’t cause any real harm: “What you say is true, Aunt. One must be cautious in matters of the heart; Aqi and I understand this.”
Only then did Old Madam Huo nod in satisfaction. On most days, she was busier than Huo Qijun. Given her misjudgment this time, she didn’t hold it against him.
Once they were left alone in the house, Huo Qijun leaned back on the sofa and sighed, “A perfectly good day is ruined. Where on earth did she take her class on feudal moralities? What era is it that she still insists on her outdated notions of matching social status!”
In contrast to his blatant dissatisfaction, Lin Wei managed to offer a softer perspective: “She just wants the best for you.”
Huo Qijun sneered, “What she thinks is best is irrelevant to me. My opinions don’t matter to her at all. Sometimes I want to tell her that if she is so satisfied with her choice, she should just marry him herself. We can all choose our own partners and be happy!”
His frustration was evident.
“That’s a good suggestion. Next time, don’t hold back; just say what you feel,” Lin Wei encouraged him generously.
“……” Huo Qijun was speechless. If he were brave enough to say that, he wouldn’t have to wait until the old lady left to voice it, would he? No matter how powerful she is, she is still aging. What would happen if he made her angry?
About half an hour later, the two of them finally went next door to have breakfast. At the breakfast table, Fu Xiaoqing had a sense of surviving a disaster: “Thank goodness Brother Lin Wei reminded me in time, or I would have barged in with your breakfast!”
Huo Qijun was puzzled. Wasn’t it him who had reminded her? How could Lin Wei possibly be more timely? Unless… He asked uncertainly, “Were you in the room at the time? Had you already woken up?”
Actually, she hadn’t; it was the system’s doing, but he couldn’t very well say that.
Lin Wei paused for a second and then calmly explained, “You just wanted to see evidence of your aunt coming in fiercely to catch you for being disobedient. I saw that you were still in the middle of your performance, so I waited a little longer for you to finish your act.”
“····· Oh.” Huo Qijun felt complicated emotions roiling within him. The satisfaction of having outsmarted Old Madam Huo had diminished, but he also felt a strange satisfaction, similar to being coaxed and coddled. He couldn’t help but get goosebumps, yet his lips still involuntarily curved upward.
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