Chapter 42: Crisis…
The two got into the car and quickly set off for the old mansion.
As soon as they arrived, before the car had even come to a complete stop, they saw Fang Hanyun standing at the entrance.
Her beautiful face was cold, hands on her hips, staring at the gate. It looked like she had been waiting right there for Yu Tingzhou and Shen Zhouyue to arrive.
The moment their car stopped, Fang Hanyun marched over furiously. “Get out!”
Yu Tingzhou realized the situation was serious.
He got out of the car with a helpless smile. Looking at the angry Fang Hanyun, he asked, “Mom, why are you so angry so early in the morning?”
“Did Dad upset you?”
Fang Hanyun forced a barely gentle smile at Shen Zhouyue, then grabbed Yu Tingzhou and pulled him to a corner. “Tell me the truth. What exactly is going on between you and Zhouyue?”
“Did you really find someone to enter a contract marriage just to deal with me?”
Hearing Fang Hanyun’s words, a look of surprise appeared on Yu Tingzhou’s face.
However, he quickly concealed his true emotions and asked with a headache, “Mom, did someone say something to you?”
“How could I possibly do something like finding someone for a contract marriage just to handle you? Stop letting your imagination run wild.”
Fang Hanyun scoffed. “It’s precisely because I know you that I know you’re capable of doing such a thing.”
“You deny it now, but if I find evidence, you’re finished!”
Fang Hanyun rolled her eyes at her son, then walked over to Shen Zhouyue, who was standing by the car.
Shen Zhouyue was already groggy from lack of sleep and hadn’t quite reacted to the situation. Even as Fang Hanyun approached, his expression remained somewhat blank.
“Zhouyue, tell Mom honestly. Is the relationship between you and Tingzhou real or fake?”
Hearing this question, Shen Zhouyue reflexively looked toward Yu Tingzhou nearby, his eyes filled with helplessness.
Fang Hanyun noticed Shen Zhouyue’s gaze and said directly, “Don’t look at him. Just answer Mom’s question honestly.”
Shen Zhouyue withdrew his gaze and looked at Fang Hanyun with a resigned expression. “Mom, how about we go inside and talk slowly?”
Fang Hanyun was determined to get to the bottom of her doubts immediately and naturally didn’t want to give up now.
But just as she was about to urge Shen Zhouyue to answer, Yu Tingzhou walked over. “Are you planning to drive us away if you don’t get a satisfactory answer?”
Fang Hanyun’s upbringing wouldn’t allow her to do such a thing. She could only roll her eyes at Yu Tingzhou. “Let’s go inside first!”
“I hope you two answer my questions honestly once we’re inside, otherwise… hmph!”
Saying that, Fang Hanyun led the way into the house.
Shen Zhouyue deliberately slowed down, waiting for Yu Tingzhou.
Before entering the house, he couldn’t help but whisper, “Why is your mom suddenly asking about this? Did someone say something to her?”
“Shouldn’t you ask your dad what happened first?”
They didn’t know the situation at all. If they went in blindly and said something wrong, Fang Hanyun wouldn’t let it go today!
Just thinking about it made Shen Zhouyue look distressed.
Yu Tingzhou beside him looked even more helpless.
“Do you think my dad will stand on our side or my mom’s?”
“In my family, what my mom says goes. My dad usually doesn’t express opinions on these matters. So, as long as my mom tells my dad not to tell me what’s happening at home, he won’t say a word.”
Fang Hanyun was already sitting on the sofa in the living room. After waiting a while and not seeing the two enter, she shouted toward the outside in a fit of anger, “Are you two discussing how to lie to me out there?”
The two exchanged a helpless glance and had no choice but to go in!
They sat down on the sofa, one to the left and one to the right. Fang Hanyun immediately questioned them with a cold face, “Speak. What exactly is going on between you two?”
Shen Zhouyue put on a smile, acting affectionate as he held Fang Hanyun’s arm. “Mom, everything is fine. Why do you think things are fake between Tingzhou and me?”
When facing Shen Zhouyue, Fang Hanyun’s attitude was visibly much better.
She was just about to say something when she spotted a red mark on Shen Zhouyue’s neck.
Afraid she hadn’t seen it clearly, she leaned in a bit closer.
That red mark clearly didn’t look like a mosquito bite. It looked more like…
Fang Hanyun awkwardly withdrew her gaze and glared at her son.
Then, under Yu Tingzhou’s confused gaze, she said with a hint of a smile, “I knew the atmosphere between you two didn’t feel fake. If Qiusheng hadn’t spoken so convincingly, and hearing from Xuanting’s mother that something might be off between you two, I wouldn’t have thought too much about it…”
Yu Tingzhou hadn’t expected that his own friend had played a part in his mother doubting his relationship with Shen Zhouyue.
A vague dissatisfaction rose in his heart, but he didn’t show it in front of Fang Hanyun.
“So, you called us here early in the morning just for this?”
Yu Tingzhou deliberately put on a helpless look. “Mom, I told you I wouldn’t lie to you about something like this!”
Being spoken to in a blaming tone by her son, Fang Hanyun felt a bit embarrassed. She said impatiently, “I’m your mother. Do I not even have the right to ask about your affairs?”
“Since you’re here, rest for a while and have a meal with us!”
Shen Zhouyue looked blankly at Fang Hanyun and Yu Tingzhou, not quite understanding why Fang Hanyun had suddenly changed her mind.
Just a moment ago, they hadn’t said anything yet…
It wasn’t until he got up to go to the bathroom and saw the mark on his neck in the mirror that he suddenly realized what had happened!
Damn it… I was so groggy this morning I forgot to check my neck for marks…
Mom must have misunderstood…
The more Shen Zhouyue thought about it, the more frantic he felt. If there were a time machine, he would go back and cover all these marks.
But he couldn’t leave immediately; he had to wait until after the meal.
Thinking about having to finish a meal under Fang Hanyun’s ambiguous gaze before he could escape gave Shen Zhouyue the creeps.
After finally finishing the meal and being allowed to leave, Shen Zhouyue let out a sigh of relief.
Immediately after, he looked irritably at Yu Tingzhou beside him. “Didn’t I tell you not to do unnecessary things?”
Yu Tingzhou felt an inexplicable exhaustion after finally dispelling his mother’s suspicions. Before he could relax, he heard Shen Zhouyue’s accusation.
He frowned, looking at Shen Zhouyue in confusion. “What unnecessary things did I do?”
Shen Zhouyue didn’t speak. He simply unbuttoned the top two buttons of his shirt and pointed to the marks where his neck met his collarbone. “If you didn’t do anything unnecessary, then what is this?”
Seeing the mark, Yu Tingzhou didn’t feel regret; instead, he felt strangely fortunate.
He smiled and said, “If not for this mark, we wouldn’t have passed the test so easily today.”
“It seems the request you made back then was quite reasonable. Otherwise, we would have been exposed today, and I’d have to start going on blind dates again!”
Shen Zhouyue rolled his eyes at Yu Tingzhou. “So, since you aren’t the one embarrassed, it doesn’t matter, right?”
“But if not for that accident just now, we would have been interrogated for a long time. Would you have preferred to be interrogated?”
Shen Zhouyue naturally wouldn’t have, but that didn’t mean he enjoyed being that awkward.
“In the end, this is still your problem. If your friend hadn’t talked nonsense in front of your mom, this wouldn’t have happened, would it?”
Yu Tingzhou had almost forgotten about that. If Shen Zhouyue hadn’t mentioned it, he might have put it aside.
“True enough. I’ll handle this matter.”
At the very least, he wouldn’t let this situation happen again within the year.
“You don’t need to tell me everything. After all, this affects you, not me.”
Just then, Shen Zhouyue’s phone suddenly chimed.
He took it out and saw it was a video call from An’an.
Sitting in Yu Tingzhou’s car, he didn’t dare answer the video call. If he were discovered, it would be a disaster.
He quickly pressed hang up, then his fingers flew across the keyboard.
[Daddy can’t answer the phone right now. Have An’an and Uncle arrived?]
When An’an saw the message, he looked a bit disappointed, but he dutifully spoke to the phone, “Mn, when is Daddy coming to pick An’an up…”
An’an’s tone held a hint of excitement.
Shen Zhouyue glanced at Yu Tingzhou and asked, “Do you have things to do later?”
“I plan to go back to the office to check on things. There’s a relatively important meeting today!”
Shen Zhouyue breathed a sigh of relief hearing this. “Then go get busy. Just drop me off here!”
“I’ll drive you straight back. It’s hard to get a taxi here!”
“Just drop me at the nearest bus stop. I need to go to the airport; Yunxing is returning to the country today!”
Hearing that name which hadn’t been mentioned in his presence for a long time, Yu Tingzhou looked dazed for a moment, but he quickly snapped out of it.
After all, any possibility between him and Yunxing was long gone. Appearing in front of him now would only be embarrassing…
“Do you need me to drive you to the airport?”
“No need, I’ll go by myself!”
Shen Zhouyue said with some difficulty, “Yunxing is coming back with Yangzhou. You know how every time he sees you, he acts like he’s seeing a natural predator. It’ll just cause a scene. It’s better if I go alone!”
Yu Tingzhou didn’t really want to see Huo Yangzhou’s smug face either, nor did he want to hear his boasting. So, hearing Shen Zhouyue’s words, he decisively dropped him off at a nearby bus stop.
“Then I’ll get going. Call me if you need anything.”
Leaving those words behind, Yu Tingzhou left.
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