They surrounded me right after the breakup.

"Yohohoho—"

Carrie Lam's laughter echoed in the arrival hall.

She grabbed Jiang Han's arm and pulled him away from Lin Yaoyao by half a step.

Then, he patted Jiang Han's hand, the gesture as natural as if he were pulling his own son home for dinner.

Lin Yaoyao stood there, watching her own mother walk further and further away with her boyfriend.

She looked down at the suitcase beside her, not even receiving a question about whether she was tired.

"Mom! I'm here!"

Carrie Lam turned her head symbolically: "I saw you, I saw you, you didn't lose me."

"I am your biological child."

"Nonsense, why would I come to pick you up if you weren't my biological child?"

"Are you here to pick me up?" Lin Yaoyao pointed to the hand her mother was holding onto Jiang Han's arm.

"You haven't looked at me once since I left; all your attention has been on him."

Carrie Lam waved her hand, showing no intention of letting go.

"Xiao Jiang is different. Xiao Jiang has been busy in Shanghai for several days and probably hasn't eaten properly. Look, there are coffee stains on his shirt."

"How good can the coffee on an airplane be? Mom will make you a fresh one when you get home."

As she spoke, she reached out and patted the coffee stain on Jiang Han's chest.

"Mom!" Lin Yaoyao's voice was clearly tinged with jealousy.

"You didn't treat me like this before."

"How can that be the same?" Carrie Lam said without turning her head.

"Xiao Jiang works very hard outside!"

"Wow, look at you, you've lost weight again!"

"When we get back, I'll make you some ginseng and black chicken soup. There's also some wild ginseng that Yaoyao's dad brought back from Changbai Mountain in the fridge."

Lin Yaoyao opened her mouth, then closed it again.

She felt she had no chance of winning an argument with her mother on this issue.

From the first day her mother met Jiang Han, her ranking dropped to the bottom.

Carrie Lam's gaze fell on Shen Qingning.

She maintained a similar distance throughout, neither trying to steal the spotlight nor deliberately avoiding it.

The sense of proportion is handled very well.

Carrie Lam released Jiang Han's arm and took two steps toward Shen Qingning.

"You must be Qing Ning, Yao Yao's former classmate."

"I remember you two were really close when you were in school, but then you seemed to have some kind of falling out, and I haven't heard Yaoyao mention you for many years."

Shen Qingning took off her hat and gave a slight bow: "Hello, Auntie."

Carrie Lam looked the girl up and down.

She wore a black dress and stilettos, her hair styled in an updo that revealed her smooth neck, and her features were aloof but her eyes were gentle.

She roughly knew what was going on.

She was all too familiar with this sense of distance between herself and Jiang Han, a distance that was both intimate and distant.

Lin Zhengxiujuan smiled and patted Shen Qingning's hand, saying, "So handsome."

I've seen it so many times, I'm used to it!

Yao Yao has seven stepmothers, it's no big deal!

Carrie Lam took Jiang Han's arm again and walked towards the parking lot, muttering to herself as they went.

"We've prepared some snacks for you on the bus. Have a light meal when you get home."

The Alphard van turned off the airport expressway and drove through the night in Gyeongju.

Jiang Han sat in the second row on the right, with Lin Yaoyao and Shen Qingning sitting side by side behind him.

Carrie Lam sat in the passenger seat, occasionally turning back to talk to Jiang Han.

Lin Yaoyao leaned back in her seat, looking at her mother's profile.

Suddenly I realized that today's route wasn't quite right.

To get to Yunqi Mountain Villa, you should turn right at the next overpass exit, but the driver drove straight ahead.

"Mom, where are we going?"

"Go home."

"Yunqi Mountain Villa is not in this direction."

"Who said we went back to Yunqi Villa?" Carrie Lam turned her head, a mysterious smile on her face.

"Let's go to the Jade Manor first."

"Mom, we haven't lived in the house at Bicui Manor for a long time," Lin Yaoyao said tentatively.

"After we moved out, that place was empty, and dust accumulated in layers."

"Qingning's building is the same."

"I know," Carrie Lam replied.

"You knew that, yet you still took us there?"

"It's precisely because we knew that it was a surprise!"

Lin Yaoyao and her biological mother have never been on the same wavelength since childhood.

For example, now, and back then, on the day I locked myself and Jiang Han in our boudoir.

The car drove through several main roads and finally entered a familiar tree-lined avenue.

The gates of the Jade Garden remain unchanged.

The car was parked on the road between the two villas.

From the outside, Lin Yaoyao's house looks no different from before.

As you get closer, you'll notice several new pots of flowers on the terrace and new mats on the steps.

Carrie Lam had already reached the door of Lin Yaoyao's villa, and with a click, the door opened.

She stepped aside, making room for the doorway.

"Come in."

Jiang Han stepped inside.

The floor tiles on the first floor were all replaced with light gray matte marble.

The living room sofa was replaced with a darker shade of brown leather, and the coffee table was newly purchased.

The TV wall was reupholstered, and the kitchen island was extended.

Lin Yaoyao realized as soon as she entered the door: "Mom, you renovated the house?"

"Hmm, are you surprised? Unexpected?"

"The old style was too cold and aloof; it's not suitable for starting a family."

"Get married?" Lin Yaoyao caught the key word.

Carrie Lam changed the subject, smiling as she pointed upstairs.

"Do you want to go upstairs and take a look?"

The three people went up the stairs.

The corridor lights on the second floor were newly replaced, and the soft light shone on the light gray carpet.

Shen Qingning suddenly realized that the women in the Lin family really had a knack for it.

No wonder he couldn't beat Yaoyao before...

The master bedroom door was replaced with a dark walnut wood color, and a red fabric ornament hung on the handle.

Lin Yaoyao grasped the doorknob and slowly pushed the door open.

The motion-sensor light in the entryway turned on automatically.

Warm yellow light filled the entire space, and there was newly pasted wallpaper at the foot of the bed.

The curtains were replaced with burgundy velvet, and the dressing table by the window was newly bought.

There is a pair of ceramic dolls on it, dressed in traditional Chinese wedding attire.

Dried flowers, lavender mixed with baby's breath, were placed on the bedside table, tied into a small bouquet with a red ribbon.

But what really catches your eye is the bed.

The two-meter-wide bed was covered with bright red sheets and duvet covers, the silk fabric gleaming warmly under the light.

The pillowcase is embroidered with mandarin ducks in gold thread.

A few peanuts, longans, and red dates were scattered in the center of the bed sheet.

Lin Yaoyao stared at the bed sheet, her eyes wide.

It took him a long time to squeeze out the words through gritted teeth.

"mom…"

"What's wrong?"

Carrie Lam's voice came from the stairwell, tinged with barely suppressed laughter.

"What's going on with the bed sheets?"

"What's going on? Doesn't red look good? I think it looks better than white, it's more festive!"

"What about peanuts? Longans? Red dates?"

"Oh, that's just to add a touch of joy to your occasion!"

"Oh, right! Qingning can try it too!"

……