Chapter 3 Love You, Mom
Wunnuan, having collided with Ji Feng, hurriedly pushed him away with her hands, her voice as soft as a mosquito's buzz:
"I'm sorry."
Good grief, she still felt like it was her fault?
This girl was really... somewhat different from her usual iceberg-like demeanor.
Ji Feng blinked a few times in succession, savoring the lingering impact of the collision while cursing furiously at the dump truck driving away:
"It's not your fault, what are you apologizing for?
I have no idea how this moron of a driver is driving. In such a rush to get reincarnated? Son of a bitch..."
Listening to Ji Feng curse, Wunnuan simply lowered her head in silence.
No comment, no agreement.
Setting off again, whether because of the earlier episode or not, Wunnuan's resistance toward Ji Feng seemed to have diminished somewhat.
Every time he braked at a red light, she would proactively push against Ji Feng's waist with her hand to keep from pressing flat against him.
This could be considered the only physical contact during their ride.
Ji Feng didn't deliberately ride fast to manufacture contact, nor did he ride slowly to drag out the time.
Arriving at the urban village where Wunnuan lived at a normal speed, the time had already reached 11:10.
At this hour, it was indeed very late.
So late that her mother, Wang Yaqin, was already standing at the alley entrance waiting for her return.
And then, under her mother's slightly astonished gaze, Wunnuan got off Ji Feng's scooter.
"Mom, I'm back." Wunnuan lowered her head and said in a small voice.
Wunnuan's mother, Wang Yaqin, looked somewhat haggard, though her bone structure still retained traces of her past beauty.
Yet the ravages of illness, the passage of time, and the trivialities of daily life had stripped away her former radiance.
Now, she was just an ordinary middle-aged woman bearing a five-tenths resemblance to Wunnuan.
At that moment, Wang Yaqin's gaze flickered slightly, her eyes lingering back and forth between Ji Feng and Wunnuan for a long time:
"How is it that you're coming back so late?"
Not knowing how to explain it to her mother, Wunnuan could only lower her head and tug at the straps of her backpack.
Usually an iceberg at school, in front of her mother Wunnuan was like a timid little chick.
Trembling slightly, not daring to utter a sound.
Ji Feng, standing to the side, knew that if an old hand like him didn't say something right now, Wunnuan's mother probably wouldn't let the matter go.
His daughter had been taken away by a punk riding a ghost-fire scooter—what might have happened?
It was all too easy for people to let their imaginations run wild.
The incident started because of him, so it naturally ought to end with him; he had to step up like a man.
So Ji Feng scratched the back of his head, putting on an honest, naive expression:
"Auntie, my name is Ji Feng. Here's the thing: we're about to sprint toward the college entrance exams, aren't we?
Lately, the teachers set up a one-on-one study-aid program where top students help students who are falling behind with tutoring.
While reviewing our own material, we can also help raise our classmates' grades, and I'm the one receiving the help, haha.
I'm really sorry for delaying classmate Wunnuan for so long. I was worried you might fret, so I took it upon myself to bring classmate Wunnuan back and explain things to you along the way."
Hearing Ji Feng's explanation, the suspicion in Wang Yaqin's eyes diminished by a fraction.
The look she directed at Wunnuan was filled with a mother's tenderness:
"Wunnuan, is it as this classmate Ji says?"
"Mm, yes, I'm tutoring Ji Feng."
Lying to her mother brought a wave of guilt to Wunnuan; her palms were already slick with sweat, and her head dropped even lower.
Wang Yaqin stared at her daughter in thought for a moment, then shifted her gaze back to Ji Feng.
After looking him over, a bit more warmth crept into Wang Yaqin's brow, and she said with a smile:
"Helping classmates is how it should be, but it shouldn't go on this late.
If Ji needs tutoring, the time can be arranged for the weekend; that makes a lot more sense.
Don't do this next time, Mom will worry."
Though her words were addressed to Wunnuan, Wang Yaqin's eyes remained fixed on Ji Feng.
Ji Feng didn't show any flaws, maintaining a respectful distance from Wunnuan—he still possessed the self-discipline of an actor.
Thanks to some mental cultivation in his past life, he could control his own state extremely well.
Not a trace of the delinquent punk's swagger leaked out in front of Wang Yaqin, and his zipped-up school uniform hid the alternative clothing underneath.
You could say that apart from the ghost-fire scooter parked behind him,
Ji Feng looked entirely like a diligent, studious student; at least his temperament was beyond reproach.
"Auntie is right. If we have tutoring from now on, we'll schedule it for the weekend."
Wang Yaqin nodded slightly:
"Very well, Xiao Ji, it's getting too late today, so Auntie won't ask you to stay for a late-night snack. When you come to see Xiao Nuan next time, Auntie will treat you properly."
"You're far too polite, Auntie. You two hurry back inside, it's getting so late.
I need to head back quickly too, or if I'm any later I'm afraid my mom will slice me up."
Listening to Ji Feng's joking tone, Wang Yaqin couldn't help smiling as well:
"Off you go then, hurry back."
"Goodbye, Auntie."
"Hey, Xiao Nuan, why aren't you saying goodbye to your classmate?"
At that moment, Wunnuan stared at Ji Feng, who was already preparing to leave, her cold, pretty face taking on a rather strange expression.
Weekend? Tutoring? He couldn't possibly be planning to actually come, could he?
"Ji Feng, goodbye."
"Mm, see you tomorrow."
Watching Ji Feng leave, the smile on Wang Yaqin's face gradually faded. When she turned to look at Wunnuan, Wunnuan once again lowered her head.
"Have you eaten?"
"Not yet."
Wunnuan had originally expected Wang Yaqin to ask about what happened tonight, followed by her habitual lecture and criticism.
Her mother was always like that.
To her surprise, however, Wang Yaqin asked no such thing.
"Let's go inside first."
"Mm."
"How do you feel about this classmate named Ji Feng?"
"Him? He's all right, I guess." Wunnuan said somewhat reluctantly.
"Oh, I think he seems quite nice. He's a very well-behaved young man."
Wunnuan: ......
Well-behaved? Ji Feng?
Although she didn't have much contact with Ji Feng, she had heard plenty of rumors about this guy at school.
Punk, delinquent, and total simp.
With all the things Ji Feng had done, there was simply no way to associate him with the word "well-behaved."
***
On the other side, Ji Feng rode the ghost-fire scooter back to that long-lost home in his memory.
His mother, Dong Kaihui, and his father, Ji Guangxun.
His family had some money; his dad ran a business, and his mom held a civil service administrative position at a district pharmacy.
They owned two or three apartments, but their main residence was a spacious, ordinary flat right in the city center.
In 2012, large flats in Zhenzhu City were under 6,000 per square meter, so his family background was well-off, though not filthy rich.
Pressing the doorbell, a familiar yet unfamiliar voice floated out from inside:
"So late, who is it?"
Hearing that voice, even with all the varied experiences of his two lives, Ji Feng's nose inexplicably stung.
He immediately took a deep breath, composed his emotions, and raised his voice:
"Mom, I'm back."
"You brat, you still know how to come back? Why didn't you just die out there? You heartless thing, just like your deadbeat old man."
Beating is affection, scolding is love.
It's completely normal for your mom to run her mouth at you; it doesn't affect her love for you in the slightest.
Ji Feng could tell just from the sound of hurried slippers shuffling over from inside the apartment.
Screeech!
The door swung open, and a plump middle-aged woman stared at Ji Feng with a look of utter disgust, raising an eyebrow:
"Did you eat dinner?"
"I ate."
Gurgle!~ The moment the words left his mouth, his stomach rebelliously let out a loud rumble.
"You ate my foot. I'll go cook you a bowl of noodles."
"Hey! Wait." Ji Feng grabbed Dong Kaihui's hand.
"What is it?" Dong Kaihui glared, pulling a face.
Staring at Dong Kaihui's face, which was no longer young, Ji Feng's brows knitted together in distress. Suddenly, he pulled her into an embrace and murmured softly:
"Love you, Mom."