Shocking! A three-year-old brings his aloof mother to their door.

Jiang Shuya glanced at her sideways, her tone wary: "As long as you don't cripple Mom, everything is negotiable."

"I want to eat candied sweet potatoes~" He Wanning blinked, trying to imitate Tongtong's innocent and cute expression.

Jiang Shuya didn't even turn her head, shaking off her hand:

"Eat, eat, all you know is eating! Screw your mother, will she eat or not? You come back and immediately start picking chores for your mother to do."

He Wanning: "…………"

She muttered defiantly, "Why have you never refused Tongtong when she asked?"

Jiang Shuya snorted, and said matter-of-factly, "Can a dog be compared to Tongtong?"

He Wanning: "???"

She felt as if an arrow had pierced her heart.

Taking a deep breath, she changed tactics, moving even closer, her voice sickeningly sweet:

"So...Mom, could you introduce me to someone?"

Jiang Shuya paused for two seconds, then decisively turned and walked towards the kitchen, leaving behind the question: "...How much do you want to eat?"

He Wanning held up three fingers, her eyes sparkling: "Three plates!"

Jiang Shuya paused, her back visibly stiffening for a moment.

She remained silent for a long while before sighing resignedly and asking without turning her head, "...What kind do you want?"

He Wanning immediately followed, counting on her fingers:

"He needs to be handsome, young, tall, have a good personality, be rich, gentle, and never fight back or talk back..."

"Stop, stop, stop!" Jiang Shuya quickly interrupted her, turning around with a helpless expression. "I'll make it for you, I'll make it for you, okay?!"

He Wanning immediately beamed and rubbed her hands together, saying, "Mom is the best!"

As Jiang Shuya tied her apron, she muttered irritably:

"Damn it, I'm so unlucky to have given birth to such a troublesome brat. You might as well be called Qiu Gao from now on, you've made me so angry [smile]."

He Wanning chuckled, leaning against the kitchen door frame, watching her mother's busy figure. The frustration she felt from messing up the case gradually dissipated.

.........

It was already late when I got home.

Tongtong started nodding like a chick pecking at rice in the car, her little head bobbing up and down.

Without a midday nap and after a day of exciting play, the little guy's energy was completely depleted.

When He Wanqing carried her out of the car, the little girl was already drowsy, leaning against her shoulder and mumbling, "Mommy... Auntie is going to play with Tongtong tomorrow..."

He Wanqing gently patted her daughter's back and replied softly, "Okay, Auntie will come to see Tongtong tomorrow."

She carried Tongtong upstairs and gave her a warm bath.

The little one couldn't even open his eyes in the bathtub, letting his mother do whatever she wanted, only occasionally letting out a soft whimper.

After being changed into clean pajamas and placed on the bed, Tongtong turned over, hugged her little rabbit doll, and her breathing quickly became even and long—she had fallen asleep.

He Wanqing sat by her daughter's bed for a while, looking at her rosy little face as she slept.

He gently brushed aside the soft hair on her forehead and leaned down to place a light kiss on her forehead.

Goodnight, baby.

---

Downstairs, Mo Ye saw that Tongtong was asleep, so he went up to the third floor.

There is a spacious gym on the third floor, which He Wanqing specially designed during the renovation.

The equipment is complete and brand new—treadmills, elliptical trainers, bench press racks, dumbbell area...

Everything is included, some even still with the protective film on.

Mo Ye had been itching to get started for a long time.

He has loved sports since he was a child. He was a key player on his school basketball team in middle school and continued to play badminton in college.

I've been busy taking care of Tongtong and adapting to my new life lately, so I haven't had a chance to exercise properly.

He changed into sportswear—a simple white short-sleeved shirt and gray sweatpants—and warmed up for ten minutes to loosen his joints before starting to stretch.

As the muscles gradually awaken during the stretching, a long-lost sense of excitement from exercise surges up.

Mo Ye walked to the pull-up bar, jumped up and grabbed the bar.

Use your back muscles to pull your body up steadily until your chin is over the bar, then slowly lower it down.

One, two, three...

His movements were precise and powerful, with the lines of his latissimus dorsi and arm muscles rising and falling with each movement.

Sweat quickly soaked through his white short-sleeved shirt, the fabric clinging to his body and vaguely outlining the contours of his strong muscles.

After doing a few sets of pull-ups, he moved to the dumbbell area and started doing curls and presses.

Sweat trickled down his forehead and flowed down his neck into his collar.

The dopamine released from exercise made him feel good, focused, and engaged.

---

Meanwhile, in the living room on the first floor.

He Wanqing sat on the sofa, holding a glass of red wine in her hand, but did not drink it.

She was thinking about what had happened that day.

The events of today—Li Chuxue's harassment, the girls who tried to chat me up on the street, my sister's "teasing" of Mo Ye—replayed in my mind like a revolving lantern.

She went into the living room and left only a floor lamp on, without turning on the main light.

The warm yellow light spilled onto the sofa, casting a long shadow of her.

He Wanqing sat on the sofa, her hands folded on her knees, her back straight—this was her habitual posture when she was thinking.

Her little man... seems to be quite popular.

This realization stirred a sense of unfamiliarity within her.

It wasn't jealousy, it was more like... unease?

Or rather, it's an anxiety stemming from a lack of control.

In the business world, she is a master strategist, calculating every step with precision.

At the negotiating table, she can judge the other party's bottom line from subtle changes in their facial expressions;

In the conference room, she could silence the executives with just a glance.

But matters of the heart were a completely foreign territory for her.

She has never been in a relationship.

Her marriage to Mo Ye began with an accident and developed through a sense of responsibility and growing affection.

She didn't know how to be someone's "girlfriend"—although they were husband and wife, the romantic part seemed to be missing.

How can I make Mo Ye only have eyes for her?

How can I... make him like me more?

He Wanqing rubbed her temples, feeling that this problem was even more troublesome than the merger and acquisition case.

She got up and walked to the wine cabinet, taking out a bottle of red wine. The deep red liquid was poured into a crystal glass, gleaming with an amber luster under the light.

Perhaps... a little drink might help clear my mind?

With that thought in mind, she took a sip.

The liquor glides down the throat, leaving a slightly astringent aftertaste.

One cup.

Two cups.

Three cups.

The wine bottle gradually emptied.

What is Mo Ye doing now? She suddenly wanted to go and see.

........

The gym is located on the third floor.

Mo Ye had just finished a set of bench presses and was resting while wiping away sweat.

He lifted his shirt to wipe the sweat from his forehead, revealing his well-defined abs—eight-pack, neat and clear, rising and falling slightly with his breathing.

Just then, he heard a slight noise coming from the doorway.

Turning my head, I saw He Wanqing leaning against the door frame.

Her long hair was loosely draped over her shoulders, her face was flushed, and her eyes were somewhat glazed, clearly indicating that she had drunk quite a bit.

But to Mo Ye's surprise, her gaze was fixed on him.

To be precise, I was staring at his abdomen, which was exposed after he lifted his shirt.

Mo Ye had seen many kinds of looks in He Wanqing's eyes—calm, sharp, gentle, helpless... but he had never seen one like this before.

That look in his eyes... how should I put it?

It's like someone who's been starving for three days seeing a Manchu Han Imperial Feast.

Like a lecherous man staring at a beautiful woman...