Chapter 48: Stepmother?
Translator: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon
Driving forward without turning her head, An Jing said, “I never take back things I give away. If you don’t want it, you can delete it and throw it away.”
Zhou Wen placed the USB disk deeper into his pocket. It wasn’t worth much, so there wasn’t any need to return to An Jing. Although he didn’t know the veracity of the Sun Strafe Art inside, it was just as An Jing said; he could just delete it.
The entire journey was silent, and soon, they had reached their destination.
Zhou Wen had found Li Xuan’s villa extremely luxurious, but when he saw his destination, he realized what luxurious meant. It was like a garden itself.
An Jing drove the car pa.s.sed an elegant and beautiful garden. There was no lack of modern style buildings, but they fused perfectly with the surrounding gardens. The contrast was perfectly balanced, clearly the work of a meticulous designer.
In front of a three-story building, An Jing stopped the car and took Zhou Wen straight into the building by the main door.
As he entered the foyer, he saw a mature, elegant woman sitting on the couch with Zhou Lingfeng.
He sized up the woman and found her resembling the photo that Zhou Lingfeng had sent him. She was likely Ouyang Lan, but she looked more beautiful with a greater disposition in real life. She looked as though she was only in her thirties.
“h.e.l.lo, Auntie,” Zhou Wen greeted. Firstly, he didn’t wish to put Zhou Lingfeng in a difficult position. Secondly, he wanted to make it clear that he didn’t treat her as his mother.
“Little Wen, you’re here. You look more handsome than your photographs. Your complexion just doesn’t seem too good. We happen to have cooked some ginseng soup. You should have some later. It helps.” Ouyang Lan stood up and pulled Zhou Wen’s hand, bringing him to the couch.
“Thank you, Auntie.” Although Zhou Wen had low EQ, he wasn’t foolish enough to reject Ouyang Lan’s well-meant intentions. He just needed to prevent making it awkward for everyone. All he wanted to do was to finish this meal before returning to game. He wanted to see if he could kill that Silver-Winged Flying Ant.
Ouyang Lan clearly was a person with very high EQ. Even though it was their first meeting, she made him very comfortable as though they had known each other for ages.
Zhou Wen originally imagined that Zhou Lingfeng was someone who had the gift of the gab, but when with Ouyang Lan, his father appeared somewhat wooden. It surprised Zhou Wen.
“These are some fresh persimmons that were delivered earlier. Little Jing, you like them the most, so try them. They’re sweet.” When Ouyang Lan seemed to realize that she had given An Jing the cold shoulder, she personally offered An Jing a succulent, enticing persimmon.
An Jing took it, peeled it open and took a bite. It was really sweet.
“Here, have another one.” Seeing An Jing finish eating it, Ouyang Lan offered her another one.
An Jing took the persimmon and deliberately shot a glance at Zhou Wen. Although she didn’t say a word, he could read her mind.
That’s what you call a real mother. An Jing seemed to say because Ouyang Lan hadn’t offered any persimmons to Zhou Wen who sat beside her.
Zhou Wen didn’t mind. Ouyang Lan was An Jing’s mother to begin with. Doting on her was only normal, so there was no reason for him to be jealous. Furthermore, he had no plans on becoming a part of the family, so there was even less reason for him to mind.
While Ouyang Lan and Zhou Wen were chatting, a butler came over and informed her, “Madam, the meal is ready.”
“We’ve waited for so long. You must be hungry. Make sure you have plenty.” Ouyang Lan pulled Zhou Wen into the dining room, making him sit beside her. An Jing could only sit somewhere farther away.
Upon seeing the table of dishes that were impeccable in smell and appearance, he realized that he had never seen some of the dishes. However, he was able to identify the huge lobster among them.
Ever since the dimensional storms, most of the sea had turned into dimensional zones. The creatures in them mutated, so seafood had become much rarer.
Lobsters were things that Zhou Wen had only read about in history books, biological textbooks, and on the Internet. He had never seen one in person before, much less eaten one. It was especially so in Guide City which was landlocked. There was almost no chance of eating seafood, not to mention such a huge lobster.
“This lobster was delivered by air this morning. I prepared it myself. Little Jing loves such lobsters the most,” Ouyang Lan said.
As there was only one lobster, Zhou Wen imagined that Ouyang Lan had said so as a hint that he shouldn’t fight An Jing for the lobster.
When An Jing heard that, she felt touched. Her icy look finally produced a smile as she looked provocatively at Zhou Wen again.
However, the next second, Ouyang Lan said with a wistful look, “However, seafood like lobster cannot be eaten with persimmons or it will cause diarrhea. In serious cases, it might even cause food poisoning. An Jing has just had persimmons, so Little Wen, you should have the lobster. Have a taste of my culinary skills.”
With that said, Ouyang Lan served the lobster to Zhou Wen.
Instantly, An Jing, who was prepared to take the lobster for herself, became petrified. Zhou Wen also wore a look of shock.
It was deliberate, definitely deliberate… Zhou Wen was convinced that Ouyang Lan had deliberately made An Jing eat persimmons. It was clearly a trap.
It was no wonder Zhou Wen found it weird. With Ouyang Lan having such high EQ and there being so many persimmons on the plate, there was no way An Jing could finish them alone, so why wouldn’t the former offer him one?
Is she really An Jing’s mother? As Zhou Wen looked at the elegant Ouyang Lan with her beautiful features, his mind filled with questions.
Regardless, Ouyang Lan treated him very well. If one didn’t know them, one would imagine that Ouyang Lan was Zhou Wen’s real mother while An Jing was the stepdaughter from her husband’s previous marriage.
An Jing’s expression fell, but it was obvious that she had been brought up well. No matter how aggrieved she was, she didn’t stomp off in a fit. She waited until the end of the meal.
However, her mood was rather terrible, leading her to have a poor appet.i.te.
Today, Zhou Wen acutely experienced what it meant to feel at home as a guest and the feeling of returning home.
Even though he was slow and distant when it came to social relations, he had to accept that it was difficult to feel irked by Ouyang Lan. He even felt willing to deepen his relations.h.i.+p with her.
“Little Wen, I heard that you’ve been admitted into Sunset College. It must have been tough, right? It’s not easy for foreign students to be admitted into Sunset College. I have nothing much I can offer you, so treat this as a meeting gift.” After the meal, when Zhou Wen was preparing to bid farewell, Ouyang Lan handed a card to Zhou Wen.
He originally imagined that it was a credit card or something similar. Just as he was about to decline it, he heard Ouyang Lan say, “This is a dormitory room card for Sunset College—the single room kind. I heard from Lingfeng that you enjoy some peace and quiet, so I got the princ.i.p.al to prepare one for you. After you matriculate, head to the dormitory according to the card number. You have to accept this tiny gift of mine. Don’t make me feel that I didn’t put too much thought into this present, alright?”
“Thank you, Auntie. I like this gift a lot.” Zhou Wen thought about it and accepted the gift. Since it was Ouyang Lan’s gesture of goodwill, he wasn’t willing to be antagonistic about it. A dormitory card wasn’t much and a single room was indeed very useful for Zhou Wen.
Ouyang Lan’s gift increased Zhou Wen’s impression and favorability of her. Even her gift left him feeling good. She was truly a thoughtful person.
“By the way, don’t call me ‘auntie’ in the future. Am I that old? Just call me Sis Lan in the future,” Ouyang Lan said with a faint smile.
Zhou Wen could sense that she had enunciated the word ‘auntie’ rather clearly, making it clear that she minded such an address.