Chapter 32: Mom, why are you here?

"Mom, why are you here?" Yi Yunxue's face was filled with embarrassment.

"Can't I come to see you?" Li Fangru replied, sounding annoyed.

...

In the kitchen, Yi Yunxue stood before the stove, simmering pig trotters. Although her eyes were fixed on the meat in the pot, her ears were pricked up, trying to eavesdrop on what her mother was discussing with Chen Jiang. Unfortunately, the humming of the range hood perfectly drowned out the conversation from the living room.

In the living room, Chen Jiang sat on the sofa with his legs together and his posture upright, looking somewhat awkward.

"Xiao Chen, don't be nervous. Your aunt isn't some man-eating monster," Li Fangru said with a smile. "So, you and our Xiaoxue are neighbors, and you're both shareholders in the same studio now?"

"That song 'Meeting' that Xiaoxue released recently—you wrote it, right? You're quite talented, young man!"

"Where is your hometown?"

Chen Jiang answered truthfully.

"That's not far, still within Guangdong Province." Li Fangru nodded with satisfaction and asked again, "What do your parents do for a living?"

Chen Jiang twitched his lips; why did it feel like his aunt was interrogating a future son-in-law? "My father used to work in the district government back home, but he's retired now. My mother is a middle school teacher; she retired a couple of years ago."

"Did your parents have you late in life?" Li Fangru asked with a beaming smile. "Are you an only child? No brothers or sisters?"

"No," Chen Jiang answered honestly.

*The young man has good credentials,* Li Fangru thought. Not only is he talented, but his parents are intellectuals as well.

At that moment, Yi Yunxue poked her head out of the kitchen and shouted, "Mom, don't misunderstand! We are completely innocent! We're just ordinary friends!"

"Auntie, have some tea," Chen Jiang offered.

Li Fangru took a sip and praised, "Is this from your hometown? It tastes better than what we buy in Shenzhen."

"Yes, I brought it from home."

After finishing her work in the kitchen, Yi Yunxue returned to the living room. Sitting on the sofa, she tried once again to explain to her mother, "We are just plain 'meal buddies'—we just share meals. Chen Jiang and I are innocent; please don't grill him with all these questions..."

"I see, so that means you two eat together every day now?" Li Fangru immediately seized on the key point.

"It's inconvenient for me to cook at home alone, and he pays me for the meals," Yi Yunxue defended herself.

...

"Alright, your father is calling me back for dinner, so I won't bother you two anymore." Li Fangru checked a message on her phone and then turned to Chen Jiang. "Xiao Chen, feel free to come over to our place and hang out. I'll have Xiaoxue's father cook for you himself. He once learned from a master chef who prepared state banquets; his cooking is delicious."

"Alright, take care, Auntie."

After seeing her mother off, Yi Yunxue asked Chen Jiang, a bit distressed, "How did you end up coming back with my mom?"

"We ran into each other at the supermarket... At first, I didn't even know she was your mom; I thought she was just some random auntie." Chen Jiang recounted the encounter.

"Oh, I give up. I guess she was out shopping with her friends and just happened to pass by on her way home," Yi Yunxue said with a sigh.

"Your mom seems to have misunderstood us," Chen Jiang thought back to the scene earlier, unable to help but feel a mix of amusement and frustration.

"I'll explain it to her properly when I go home next time!" Yi Yunxue puffed out her cheeks.

"It smells so good. Did you cook pig trotters?" Chen Jiang sniffed the air.

"Yes, come on, let's eat. It won't taste good if it gets cold."

...

Outside the apartment complex, Li Fangru walked toward the supermarket parking lot, muttering to herself, "Young people these days are so strange."

"If you're dating, just date. What's the point of being so coy about it? Why pretend to be 'meal buddies'..."

"Back in our day, we were much more direct than this!" she mused. Young people these days were so wishy-washy about their feelings!

After arriving home, she told her husband, Yi Jianjun, about the matter over dinner.

Upon hearing this, Yi Jianjun's eyes widened. "What did you say? Our daughter is eating at home with a man?"

"She kept telling me they were innocent and just sharing meals, but I don't think it's that simple," Li Fangru shared her suspicions.

"Wife, I think you're overthinking it. Maybe they really are just sharing meals," Yi Jianjun said, his face clearly skeptical.

"From the time she was a child until now, have you ever seen her this close to any boy?" Li Fangru reminded him.

"Impossible. Didn't Xiaoxue say it's just inconvenient for her to cook alone, and since the young man lives downstairs, it's normal for them to eat together?" Yi Jianjun denied.

"Did you know that young man wrote a song for Xiaoxue?"

"Yes, that new song she sang a while ago was written by him."

*The young man is quite talented,* Yi Jianjun thought to himself, *and his family background is decent, though still a bit lacking compared to ours.*

"I think you just don't want to see your daughter get married. I believe that even if there's nothing special between them now, there will be in the future!" Li Fangru analyzed. "Whether two young people are up to something, I can tell at a glance. I suspect there will be news between them sooner or later!"

"I think you just have too much time on your hands and are imagining things!" Yi Jianjun retorted urgently.

"What did you say?" Li Fangru glared at him. "I think *you* have too much time on your hands! If our daughter can't get married later, I'm going to hold you responsible!"

"If she doesn't get married, she doesn't get married! It's not like I can't afford to support her!"

"You're sleeping in the guest room tonight!"

"Don't do that, honey." Yi Jianjun panicked and immediately admitted his mistake.

...

In the blink of an eye, it was the end of the month. February 27th. Only two days left until March.

[Looking at the Night Sky]: Author, you'd better post a single chapter to rally for votes. You're only slightly ahead of *Heaven Breaking the Firmament* on the monthly charts.

[Looking at the Night Sky]: It's better to play it safe for these last two days.

[Jiang He]: How many votes do I have now?

[Looking at the Night Sky]: 210,000. Hongshu is at just over 200,000. It's very close; if he puts in the effort, he could easily catch up.

Chen Jiang took the advice and posted a chapter requesting monthly votes. Although he didn't care much for the politics of the novel industry, since he had chosen to write this book, he intended to compete. It was a sign of respect for the original author, the editor, and the readers.

Recently, while browsing forums out of boredom, he had seen many heated arguments between his own fans and those of *Heaven Breaking the Firmament*, all debating which book was the best on Yue Dian. He couldn't let his readers down!

After a period of effort, Chen Jiang had more than 700,000 words in his backlog—more than he had before the New Year. In the special chapter, he set a rule: for every 1,000 additional monthly votes, he would release an extra chapter.

When the readers saw the content of the chapter, they were instantly energized. Many readers didn't have the money to provide massive tips, but they all had the monthly votes earned simply by reading. Many had the habit of hoarding them, and upon seeing Chen Jiang's rule, the fans of *Mysteries* threw their votes into the pool.

In no time, the gap between *Mysteries* and *Heaven Breaking* on the charts began to widen.