"Aunt Gu, I have liked you for a very long time. Would you be my girlfriend?"
With that single sentence, the entire gathering of classmates fell into absolute silence.
Lian Zhiyan had announced he was going to confess his feelings to his goddess.
Yet it turned out not to be Yu Sisi, but Yu Sisi's own mother, Gu Wanzhou!
The world had truly gone mad!
Liu Zifeng, who had already readied his phone to record and mock Li Zhiyan afterward, froze right in his tracks.
Had this kid lost his mind? How dare he confess to Gu Wanzhou!
She was his mother's close friend, an elder!
Could it be that Li Zhiyan's supposed crush on Yu Sisi had all been a lie?
Was his real objective all along to get close to Gu Wanzhou?
Yu Sisi's face burned hot. She had already prepared herself to reject Li Zhiyan in dramatic fashion.
Never had she imagined that she was the one who had been reading too much into things all along!
She wished a crack would open up in the ground so she could crawl into it.
Meanwhile, Gu Wanzhou's mind went completely blank.
The person Li Zhiyan wanted to confess to wasn't her daughter at all—it was *her*.
"Guai guai, stop joking around."
*Guai guai* was the pet name Gu Wanzhou used for her daughter, but because she held a favorable impression of Li Zhiyan, she often called him that as well.
Having been divorced for many years, she was suddenly being confessed to by a boy twenty-three years her junior.
Gu Wanzhou found herself completely at a loss for how to react.
***
"Aunt Gu, I'm not joking."
"I've liked you ever since the day you came to the parent-teacher conference."
"That's why I used the pretext of wanting to pursue Yu Sisi just to get closer to you."
"Please, give me a chance."
Li Zhiyan's voice was utterly earnest. Having lived through two lifetimes, he had long since outgrown the capacity for embarrassment.
As long as he wasn't embarrassed, everyone else would just have to be embarrassed for him!
Compared to fifty thousand yuan, what was a little embarrassment? If getting a free fifty thousand yuan meant kneeling, he'd do it in a heartbeat.
His best friend, Li Shiyu, felt a sudden, powerful urge to kneel before Li Zhiyan.
Li Zhiyan had completely lost his mind!
Confessing to the school belle's mother at a class reunion—and doubling down even after she gave him an out? Absolute idol behavior!
Li Zhiyan's words made Yu Sisi feel more and more mortified. Every word she had spoken earlier felt like a boomerang flying back to strike her dead center.
After Li Zhiyan reiterated his confession directly to her, Gu Wanzhou knew this situation wouldn't be easy to wrap up.
"Guai guai, come with Auntie. Let's go have a proper chat."
With that, Gu Wanzhou took Li Zhiyan by the hand and led him toward her Mercedes-Benz.
All of this was entirely within Li Zhiyan's expectations. Naturally, a forty-one-year-old woman like Gu Wanzhou couldn't reject him publicly the way Yu Sisi might, leaving him unable to save face and turning him into a laughingstock for years to come.
Mature women generally possessed deep life experience, knew how to take care of others, considered the feelings of those around them, and weren't prone to petty contention.
These were qualities young girls simply lacked. Having been reborn, Li Zhiyan found himself growing increasingly fond of mature women.
"Guai guai, get in the car."
"Auntie will take you out for some tea."
Looking at the hood-ornamented Mercedes-Benz E-Class released just last year, his memories from the past grew clearer and clearer. Aunt Gu was genuinely wealthy; she ran her own company in Wancheng and usually held a high-ranking position, giving her an assertive aura that inexplicably made Li Zhiyan feel a sense of security.
Why hadn't he pursued Gu Wanzhou in his past life?
Perhaps back then, he simply hadn't noticed the charm of mature women, nor had he possessed the courage.
If not for experiencing a rebirth and realizing that money mattered far more than a bruised ego, he would never have had the courage to confess to Gu Wanzhou face-to-face.
After the car drove away, the classmates immediately broke into a flurry of discussion about Li Zhiyan.
Yu Sisi's expression was unsightly in the extreme. Thinking of the unfinished remarks she had made earlier only made her feel worse. Meeting the peculiar glances of the surrounding classmates, she stomped her foot and bolted from the scene—she couldn't bear to stay at this class reunion a moment longer.
Liu Yaolong's face looked grim as well; he had fully expected to watch this hateful fellow make a fool of himself.
As for Liu Zifeng, he felt as though he had swallowed a fly, all his prepared taunts choked back down into his stomach.
The teacher's wife looked somewhat astonished. This kid actually liked women twenty years older than him?
***
On the road, Li Zhiyan quietly tried summoning the system.
Sure enough, within his mind, he saw the interface indicating that the system task had been completed.
"Task completed."
"Arranging funding source..."
"Due to your usual habit of studying computer programming in your spare time..."
"You have achieved modest success in computer programming."
"You helped President Liu of Liuyun Company resolve an internal system crash issue, earning a reward of fifty thousand yuan."
"Please proceed to Room 999 of the Xinyuan Grand Hotel tomorrow evening at 8 PM to collect your fifty thousand yuan reward."
"Banquet setup: 12 people."
"Gu Wanzhou, Liu Zifeng, Yu Lili, Rao Shiyun, Liu Yan..."
"As business partners, twelve people will be dining here."
"Remarks: Computer programming technology study in progress."
Li Zhiyan mentally cursed the trashy system. Shouldn't the money have been transferred directly to his bank account in a way that left no trace?
Furthermore, the system interface was crude to the extreme, offering no subsequent tasks whatsoever.
Still, having a system at all left Li Zhiyan quite satisfied.
Only when the car arrived at the Qiuju Teahouse did Li Zhiyan snap back to reality.
"Guai guai, let's head upstairs and talk."
Looking at the problematic youth beside her, Gu Wanzhou resolved to help this child resolve his psychological issues!
Falling for a woman twenty-three years older than him was simply not normal.
Perhaps it stemmed from an Oedipal complex; psychologically speaking, this was unhealthy.
"A private room, a pot of green tea."
Entering the private room, Li Zhiyan recalled that teahouses of this era were immensely popular.
For no other reason than the fact that they were prime locations for... rendezvous.
Selling tea didn't make much money, but a room charge of twenty-odd yuan was very cheap and didn't require identity card registration.
Many people who didn't want to go to a hotel came straight here instead.
It wasn't until three or four years later that teahouses slowly began to decline in Wancheng, replaced by hourly rooms in proper hotels.
The two sat in silence inside the room.
Not until the green tea was served and the waitress had withdrawn from the room did Gu Wanzhou finally speak slowly.
"Guai guai, when did you start liking Auntie?"
Looking at the utterly ordinary Li Zhiyan before her, Gu Wanzhou felt that in her younger days, she wouldn't have given him a second glance. But now, having passed forty, she looked at Li Zhiyan almost as if viewing a younger member of her own family, filling her with the desire to pull him back from his misguided thoughts.
"From the very first time I saw you."
Li Zhiyan lifted his cup of green tea, speaking with absolute earnestness. As he looked at Gu Wanzhou's shapely legs encased in flesh-toned silk stockings, he grew increasingly convinced that Aunt Gu possessed far more charm than any young girl!
"Xiaoyan, this isn't right. Auntie is already forty-one years old."
"And you are only eighteen. The two of us have a full twenty-three-year age gap. With a gap like that, feelings of affection shouldn't even cross your mind."
Unfazed, Li Zhiyan replied without the slightest retreat, "But Aunt Gu."
"Don't plenty of wealthy men in this society seek out eighteen-year-old girls? Isn't their age gap a dozen or twenty years as well? If they can do it, why can't I like Aunt Gu?"
Li Zhiyan's words left Gu Wanzhou momentarily lost for words, unsure of how to respond.
Yet the rational, well-reasoned manner in which the young man before her conversed stirred a sense of latent admiration within her.
To be able to confess to her publicly at eighteen, and stand his ground without shrinking back in the face of her lecture—
This kind of composure truly set him apart from ordinary people.
For a moment, she hardly knew how to correct Li Zhiyan. Was it really a crime for him to like her?
It didn't seem to be.
She was a divorced woman, completely free in both legal and moral terms. And while Li Zhiyan was only eighteen, he was nonetheless an adult male.
There was no logical framework under which one could declare his affection for her a wrongdoing.
"Li Zhiyan, do you know what the Oedipus complex is?"
At this point, Gu Wanzhou still hoped to correct Li Zhiyan's thinking, believing he ought to be pursuing girls his own age.
***
Gu Wanzhou instinctively felt that Li Zhiyan's affection for her was wrong; young men ought to be fond of young women.
For instance, Li Zhiyan ought to be pursuing her daughter, Yu Sisi.
"Of course I know."
"The term was coined by Sigmund Freud, who borrowed the mythological plot from the ancient Greek playwright Sophocles."
Li Zhiyan discovered that since his rebirth, his memory had grown vastly stronger.
Perhaps this was one of the benefits brought by rebirth.
"That myth is *Oedipus Rex*."
"In the story, Oedipus commits the grave sins of patricide and incest."
Li Zhiyan's words caused a faint blush to rise on the cheeks of Gu Wanzhou, born in 1969.
Domestic culture remained quite traditional, and as a woman of her generation, Gu Wanzhou possessed the inner core of a truly traditional female.
At the same time, a flash of surprise crossed her eyes as she looked at Li Zhiyan. Though he was extremely young, his erudition seemed vast—he could even accurately cite the origin of the Oedipus complex, its author, and the person who coined the term.
"Domestic culture leans traditional."
"The story of Oedipus is treated as practically taboo; no one dares to discuss it."
"The primary reason for this is that men who like older women..."
"Subject themselves to the discrimination of others. Even if someone harbors a fondness for mature women, they keep it buried deep in their hearts, too afraid to speak it aloud."
Li Zhiyan knew that plenty of people favored mature women; otherwise, Japanese cinema wouldn't have developed an entire category dedicated to it.
"Discrimination?"
Gu Wanzhou stared at the young man before her, increasingly finding this little fellow fascinating. He was only eighteen, yet he seemed to understand everything.
"Yes, discrimination. In fact, I believe it's entirely normal for a man to have an Oedipus complex."
"Loving a woman older than yourself is nothing to be ashamed of."
"It's just that our domestic culture has always been dominated by a patriarchal mindset, which only began to reverse itself after the reform and opening up."
"A woman's inclination to admire strength, combined with a man's competitive psychology, drives men to strive for greater economic power."
"When it comes to spouses, the metric of comparison becomes whose partner is younger and prettier."
"For a man to choose an older partner..."
"Is viewed by society and the public as a manifestation of personal inadequacy."
Gazing at the fair face of Gu Wanzhou sitting across from him, Li Zhiyan felt an increasing appreciation for that unique allure exclusive to mature women.
"People will always find ways to conceal aspects of themselves they deem unseemly."
"That is why the Oedipus complex remains a lifelong secret buried by most who favor mature women. Even if they take a girlfriend many years older than themselves..."
"They meet in clandestine secrecy, terrified of being spotted and ridiculed in public."
Li Zhiyan's words were logical and well-founded, evoking a sense of astonishment in Gu Wanzhou's heart, followed closely by the realization that it made a great deal of sense.
Wait, wasn't she supposed to be correcting his incorrect mindset?
How was she letting herself get swept along by this kid's arguments?
"Therefore, under the influence of patriarchal ideology, society looks upon the act of a young horse pulling a large carriage with discrimination."
"I don't believe there is anything inherently wrong with it."
"If even homosexuality can be respected and accepted, how much more so for a preference as normal—yet difficult to speak of—as liking mature women?"
"Aunt Gu, I know you want to say I have an Oedipus complex. But this complex isn't wrong or sinful."
"Perhaps because I've been ordinary since birth, from a single-parent family, and lacking in affection..."
"I do indeed harbor some of these tendencies."
Li Zhiyan remained utterly frank; everyone carried such tendencies to some degree.
As long as one faced them honestly, there was nothing to hide.
"However, my affection for you has nothing to do with Oedipus."
"It is simply a pure liking for you, and I don't consider it wrong or improper in the least."
Li Zhiyan's gaze burned bright as he looked at the beautiful mature woman across from him, wondering once again why he hadn't noticed how gorgeous and stunning Gu Wanzhou truly was in his past life, wasting his days instead on the gold-digging green tea Yu Sisi.
Of course, back then, given his level of life experience...
Even if he had fallen for Gu Wanzhou, he likely would have only dared to snap a stolen photo to look at under the covers at night.
As for anything else, he wouldn't even have dared to dream of it.
In this lifetime, he had discovered the manifold virtues of Aunties.
Most young girls were gold-digging green teas, selfish and self-centered, never taking anyone else's feelings into consideration.
Whereas mature women like Gu Wanzhou understood how to care for others.
That was evident from the simple fact that she hadn't outright rejected him, choosing instead to drive him to a teahouse to talk.
Moreover, she was intellectual, elegant, and possessed many virtues characteristic of the older generation of women.
How could such a woman not be countless times better than a young girl?
Looking at the young man opposite her, the eloquent Gu Wanzhou, successful in running her own company, found herself momentarily at a loss for words.
She had originally intended to lecture him, to explain that this was merely an Oedipus complex—that his feelings weren't genuine affection, but rather the hormonal urges and adolescent fantasies of youth.
Yet she never expected him to dissect the matter from so many angles, insisting that his love for her had nothing to do with Oedipus.
This truly struck her as incredible. His arguments were grounded in logic, clear-headed, and structured with impeccable precision.
For an eighteen-year-old child to achieve this level of articulation was genuinely remarkable.
And recalling Li Zhiyan's earlier phrase—*a young horse pulling a large carriage*—
Gu Wanzhou felt her face grow faintly warm.
"So, Aunt Gu, would you consider becoming my girlfriend?"
"I want to be with you."
Li Zhiyan desperately wanted to shout out a certain name to Yu Sisi:
Tian Wenjing!
Commander Ma Guocheng of Jinling!
Ever since his rebirth, he had distinctly felt his hormones surging with unprecedented vigor.
Ready to burst into action at a moment's notice.
The summer sunlight filtered through the leaves outside the window, casting mottled shadows. A gentle breeze stirred the greenery, rustling the leaves.
Bathed in patches of sunlight and leaf shadows, Li Zhiyan at that moment looked rather handsome.
Watching the earnest young man before her, his gaze burning with intensity, Gu Wanzhou inexplicably felt her heart skip a beat.
Yet her reason remained crystal clear.
Mature women relied far more frequently on their rich life experiences as a reference point when evaluating problems at hand.
"Guai guai, Auntie is already forty-one this year, twenty-three years older than you."
"I could practically be your mother."
"You must realize that this is an impossibility."
"Society would never accept our relationship either."
Li Zhiyan pressed on: "Aunt Gu, please don't reject me. At least give me a chance."
"Even though you're twenty-three years older than me, I believe age isn't an issue."
"Just like they say in *Forrest Gump*, life is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you're gonna get."
"The outcome of some things might not be good."
"But if you never take a step forward, one thing is certain: you'll stay standing in the exact same spot forever."
Gu Wanzhou felt completely dizzy from Li Zhiyan's words. She felt as though the only way to end this farce would be to bluntly state that she didn't like him, yet she couldn't bring herself to speak such hurtful words to a boy who could be her son.
Yet right now, she felt as though she were being led along by him.
Why was this kid so fiercely articulate?
For some reason, the phrase *a young horse pulling a large carriage* drifted into her mind once again.
***
Gu Wanzhou had no idea who had invented the phrase *a young horse pulling a large carriage*.
The boy kept repeating it; though traditionally conservative in her mindset, Gu Wanzhou understood the meaning behind the metaphor.
And precisely because she understood everything, certain imagery involuntarily flashed through her mind.
A young horse... a large carriage...
It felt bizarre, yet possessed a strange, distinct aesthetic beauty.
What Li Zhiyan said made a lot of sense. However, it was impossible for her to be with him.
First, the twenty-three-year age gap meant there was no future.
Second, Li Zhiyan's looks and height were utterly average—had she been young, she wouldn't have given him a second glance. Furthermore, he was merely an immature child; his confession was most likely driven by adolescent fantasies spurred by hormones.
If she agreed to be with him, it would be an act of extreme irresponsibility toward both herself and him.
Yet, kind-hearted as she was, Gu Wanzhou ultimately couldn't bear to crush Li Zhiyan's spirits.
The boy came from a single-parent family and lacked affection; the mere thought of it made Gu Wanzhou's maternal instincts overflow.
She couldn't hurt the child any further. It seemed she would have to handle this using an adult's method: the cold-treatment approach.
She would tell him to give her some time to think, drag it out, and let it slowly fade into nothingness. After all, she and this kid probably wouldn't cross paths more than a few times in their lives anyway.
"Guai guai, give Auntie some time to think this over properly, alright?"
"Auntie will give you an answer after a while."
Li Zhiyan knew the timing was just about right; pushing any further would yield diminishing returns.
As a forty-one-year-old middle-aged woman, particularly an intellectual one with abundant life experience, her thoughts naturally leaned toward rational contemplation.
There was no need to press the issue any further today.
Besides, he would see Aunt Gu again tomorrow anyway.
"Alright, Aunt Gu."
"Let's add each other on QQ."
WeChat had not yet launched, so the mainstream instant messaging software across the country was still QQ, and his classmates were still obsessively competing over QQ levels with unwavering enthusiasm.
"Alright."