Living in a county town, starting as a stock market maker...

The car stopped in front of the Hilton Hotel.

"arrive."

"Thanks."

Su Qingying unbuckled her seatbelt, neither looking at Gu Ming nor mentioning the question from before.

She pushed open the car door, transformed back into the poised professional she once was, and walked into the brightly lit hotel lobby without looking back.

Gu Ming did not start driving immediately.

He sat in the car, lit a cigarette, and the smoke swirled in his lungs.

I started the car and turned around to go home.

He decided to put some problems aside for the time being.

It was past 10 p.m. when I got back to the family compound.

Gu Ming assumed his parents were already asleep, so he quietly opened the door, only to find the living room light still on.

Meng Xiaoyan and Gu Yuanshan sat upright on the sofa, still wearing the new clothes they had prepared for receiving guests.

Upon seeing him return, the two of them stood up abruptly.

"You're back?"

"Has it been delivered?"

Meng Xiaoyan bombarded her with a series of questions.

"What did Miss Su say? Are you satisfied with our company?"

Although Gu Yuanshan didn't speak, the expectation in his eyes was impossible to hide.

Tonight, he rediscovered a long-lost sense of importance, and felt very happy.

"Dad, Mom, why aren't you asleep yet?"

Gu Ming changed his shoes, somewhat helplessly.

"I can't sleep."

Gu Yuanshan waved his hand, his face full of excitement.

"Son, you really made your dad proud this time. That Miss Su is no ordinary person; she's very knowledgeable and capable. You've got good taste, kid."

He patted Gu Ming on the shoulder, his face full of pride.

"Listen to how well he talks. He knows everything from international affairs to historical anecdotes. He's much better than those so-called experts in our unit."

Gu Ming looked at his excited father, then at his mother beside him.

He noticed that his mother, Meng Xiaoyan, had a strange expression.

I wasn't as excited as my father, nor as enthusiastic as I was at the dinner table.

She walked to the water dispenser, filled a glass of water for Gu Ming, and handed it to him.

"Sit down, Mom has something to tell you."

Gu Yuanshan wanted to continue speaking, but Meng Xiaoyan stopped him with a look.

"Stop arguing and listen to me."

Meng Xiaoyan sat down on the sofa opposite Gu Ming, placing her hands on her knees.

This is her usual posture when she's preparing for a serious conversation.

Gu Ming felt the atmosphere in the living room change instantly.

He took a sip of water and looked at his mother.

"Mom, what's wrong?"

"Akiko."

Meng Xiaoyan spoke up, not looking at Gu Ming, but with her gaze fixed on the television in front of her, as if talking to herself.

"This Miss Su is truly remarkable; you could say she has no flaws whatsoever."

Gu Yuanshan nodded repeatedly from the side.

"but."

"It's precisely because she's too good, so perfect that I'm uneasy."

Gu Yuanshan interrupted, puzzled.

"Xiaoyan, what are you saying? That girl is nice, and you're not happy about it?"

Meng Xiaoyan ignored her husband and looked up at Gu Ming.

"Son, tell me the truth, do you really know this girl?"

"Hey classmate, how many years have we known each other?"

Gu Ming gave a vague answer.

"How many years have you known each other?"

Meng Xiaoyan gave a cold laugh.

"Did you see how completely bewitched your dad just now?"

"She talks about history with your dad, and about cooking with me. The gifts she gives, and every word she says, are exactly what we want to hear. That's not called being good at talking, that's called being calculating."

"This is not an ordinary scheme; it is a very sophisticated, silent scheme."

"Are the things she talks about with your dad really her interests?"

"No, that's her job. She's doing a background check on our family."

Gu Yuanshan's smile froze.

Meng Xiaoyan looked at him and continued speaking.

"Did you notice that she didn't seem uncomfortable at all the time in our house?"

"That's not because she's polite, but because she doesn't treat us as equals."

"The way she looked at each of us, at everything in the house, that look in her eyes..."

Meng Xiaoyan paused for a moment, as if searching for a precise description.

"That look in her eyes didn't seem like she was looking at her boyfriend's family. It was more like my supervisor was reviewing my lesson plans. She was mentally scoring and evaluating every single detail. Calm, objective, and without a trace of personal emotion."

After hearing these words, Gu Yuanshan opened his mouth, wanting to refute, but found that he couldn't utter a single word.

He thought back and realized that Su Qingying had indeed been a little too nice the whole time.

"son."

Meng Xiaoyan looked at Gu Ming and said, word by word.

"We can't afford a girl like that."

"She's too capable, and too ambitious. Our small town can't keep her here."

"Being with her isn't about living a real life; it's about playing a role with her. You'll exhaust yourself."

"If you go into a family like that, you'll suffer. Look at your dad, and look at me. We've been ordinary working-class people our whole lives. Do you think we can sit at the same table and eat with her parents? What would we talk about? The price of vegetables at the market, or their multi-billion dollar business?"

Meng Xiaoyan took a deep breath and said something that stunned both Gu Ming and Gu Yuanshan.

"Now that I think about it, Li Li, the girl you went on a blind date with, wasn't actually that bad."

"You're crazy."

Gu Yuanshan finally couldn't hold back any longer.

"That Li Li, what a snobbish girl. Have you forgotten how she looked down on Mingzi?"

"Snobbish, yes. Money-worshipping, yes."

Meng Xiaoyan, however, responded with unusual calmness.

"But her snobbishness and materialism are written all over her face. We know everything about her family, what her parents do. You can see right through a girl like that. She's easy to manipulate."

"But what about Su Qingying? You can't see through her at all."

"You don't know which of her words are true and which are false. You think she's nice to you, but it might just be because you're still useful to her. The day you're no longer useful, she'll kick you aside without hesitation, and you won't even know how you were kicked aside."

Gu Ming sat there, motionless.

He looked at his mother, a woman who had spent her whole life as a teacher in a small town, toiling away for the daily necessities of life.

He never knew that his mother could say such things, which shocked him and even made her seem like a stranger.

I thought that my parents would be won over by Su Qingying's charm, and that the pressure at home could be relieved as a result.

He was wrong.

He completely underestimated his mother.

Su Qingying's perfection, instead of adding points for Meng Xiaoyan, became the biggest deduction.

This perfection disrupted the balance and brought fear.

A deep-seated insecurity felt by ordinary families when faced with vast class differences.

Meng Xiaoyan didn't care about Su Qingying's talent or her background; she only cared about one thing.

My son, will you take advantage of me or make me suffer if I'm with you?