Su Rou interrupted her with an extremely intense reaction, her voice even carrying a hint of terror.
“Absolutely not! Ruanruan, what are you saying!”
“Why not?” Su Ruanruan was puzzled. “Auntie Gu has money and looks, she’s nice to you, and she seems to really like you…”
“Because CEO Gu… she has a family!”
Su Rou lowered her voice as if she were afraid of eavesdroppers, her tone full of moral condemnation and self-deprecation.
“A person as excellent as CEO Gu must have married long ago. Although she never mentions her partner, I heard people in the company say she has a daughter named Gu Qingleng who is the same age as you.”
“Since she has a daughter, she must have another mother, right?”
Su Ruanruan was stunned.
‘Eh? Wait… there doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with that logic, right?’
In this world, having children required the genetic combination of two women. Gu Qingleng’s existence, in the eyes of an ordinary person, indeed proved that Gu Hanyan once had a partner.
“And…” Su Rou’s voice dropped as if sinking into the ocean, filled with deep inferiority. “Even if she didn’t… I’m not worthy of her.”
“She is a high-and-mighty CEO. And me? I’m just an orphan who hasn’t even had much schooling.”
At this point, Su Rou’s body trembled as if she were remembering that unpleasant past, and her voice carried a sob.
“Ruanruan… Mommy’s body is already dirty… How can someone like me, from the mud, go and defile the moon?”
“If I had improper thoughts about my benefactor… then I would be too shameless. That would be biting the hand that feeds me, being a homewrecker who destroys someone else’s family…”
In the darkness, Su Ruanruan fell silent.
She didn’t expect that her mother, who usually seemed silly and did nothing but cook and laugh, harbored such deep inferiority and moral chains in her heart.
She was both moved and terrified by Gu Hanyan’s kindness. She had actually vaguely sensed that affection, but because she mistakenly thought the other woman had a “wife,” she treated that love as her own sin and desperately tried to escape it by playing dumb.
Su Ruanruan sighed, her heart filled with mixed emotions.
“Mom, don’t think about it so much.”
Su Ruanruan reached out and pulled Su Rou into her arms like a little adult, gently patting her head just as her mother used to soothe her as a child.
“Mom is the best; you are the best mother in the world. If Auntie Gu really likes you… that just means she has good taste.”
“As for her family… maybe you’ve misunderstood? I think she’s quite pitiful living alone. Maybe that ‘wife’ is already gone.”
“A misunderstanding?” Su Rou looked up, her eyes misty with tears. “But she’s never said anything… and she was just smiling so happily at her phone earlier. She must have been messaging her person at home, right?”
“Alright, alright, let’s sleep.” Su Ruanruan helplessly covered her mother’s eyes. “You have work tomorrow. Don’t turn yourself into a panda over that… drunkard.”
“Mmm… Goodnight, Ruanruan.”
Su Rou snuggled into her daughter’s arms. She seemed much more relaxed after speaking her mind, and that oppressive sense of inferiority dissipated slightly. Before long, her breathing became steady and long, signaling that she had gone to meet the God of Dreams.
However, for Su Ruanruan, the real “torture” had only just begun.
She had originally thought that after the warm mother-daughter late-night chat, it would be a peaceful sleep. But Su Ruanruan had clearly underestimated the destructive power of this “Dorky Lolita Mom’s” sleeping position.
“Whew…”
A few minutes later, Su Rou, who had been obediently curled up in her arms, seemed to feel hot and kicked off the blanket. Immediately after, in search of a new “support,” her body moved instinctively.
Smack.
A slender but unexpectedly strong arm swung over and directly choked Su Ruanruan’s neck — a standard “sleeper hold” position.
Thump.
A smooth leg was heroically thrown over, pinning Su Ruanruan’s thigh down. Not only that, but her sockless little foot hooked onto Su Ruanruan’s calf, hanging on tightly like a hook.
The entire set of movements was smooth and seamless.
In the blink of an eye, Su Rou was like a clingy octopus, or a koala hanging from a tree, treating Su Ruanruan entirely like a warm, soft, oversized human pillow.
“Mmm… comfortable…”
Su Rou murmured contentedly in her sleep, her cheek rubbing forcefully against Su Ruanruan’s chest as she found the most comfortable angle and fell into a deep, guilt-free sleep.
Su Ruanruan: “…”
She stared with dead-fish eyes, feeling the heavy weight on her body. Moving even an inch had become a luxury.
‘Mom… were you raised on lead weights?’
This 1.2-meter small bed was already cramped. Now, being “bound” by Su Rou with no dead ends, Su Ruanruan felt like a trussed-up zongzi. Even breathing became difficult.
But the most lethal part wasn’t the weight or the restraint.
It was the scent.
As Su Rou’s body pressed tightly against her, the fragrance that grew more intense with the rising body temperature began to penetrate Su Ruanruan’s nose from every possible angle.
It wasn’t the scent of perfume or high-end skincare products.
It was a scent mixed with Su Rou’s natural body fragrance, the sweetness of cheap milk body wash, and the warmth trapped under the covers.
It was sweet, soft, and carried a milky aroma that made one want to take a bite.
“Hah…”
Su Rou’s warm breath brushed against Su Ruanruan’s collarbone, making the milky scent even stronger.
Su Ruanruan sniffed, feeling somewhat helpless and a little flushed.
‘Help… it’s so hot…’
‘And… Mom, can you stop putting your hand there? That’s my waist! I’m very ticklish!’
Su Ruanruan tried to move Su Rou’s arm away, but as soon as she moved, Su Rou’s “pillow” radar went off. She immediately held on tighter and even let out a dissatisfied hum in her sleep.
“Mmm… Bearie… don’t run away…”
“…”
‘Fine, I’m Bearie.’
Su Ruanruan gave up her resistance and stared at the ceiling in resignation.