Chapter 229.2

“You’ve never dated before, right, Mom?”

Tang Qianqiu fell silent, unsure why Jun Zishu would ask such a question. Then, she asked, “Why do you think that?”

“Because your character gives me the feeling that if a man comes up to confess his love for you, you’ll probably just treat him like air and ignore him.”

“That is indeed the case,” Tang Qianqiu said. At the same time, she thought to herself, But if you were the one who confessed to me, I might just say yes immediately.

After drying her hair, Tang Qianqiu sat on the bed, picked up her laptop, and resumed her work.

“You feel so busy, Mom.”

Tang Qianqiu shuddered when Jun Zishu’s voice suddenly appeared right next to her ear. Before she knew it, Jun Zishu had snuck up to her back and poked her head past her shoulder.

Tang Qianqiu could feel Jun Zishu leaning against her back, the girl’s warmth permeating through the two layers of clothing separating them. She could also feel the two bundles of softness pressing against her back, and she realized that her daughter-in-law seemed to be packing quite the weapons.

Tang Qianqiu silently recalled the sight she had accidentally seen previously, recalling that Jun Zishu indeed had quite large breasts. Visually, she estimated that the girl was at least a C and possibly a D.

Upon realizing her inappropriate thoughts, Tang Qianqiu faked a few coughs and tried to focus her attention on the report displayed on her laptop.

“There are indeed many things I need to deal with.”

Tang Qianqiu had to manage the massive Tang Enterprise. Although she had trustworthy subordinates to share her lead, she still needed to read through many summarized reports every day. Tang Qianqiu was also a cautious person, so she would always read through these reports meticulously.

“Continue with your work, then, Mom. I wanted to chat with you, but I think I shouldn’t be disturbing your work.”

Rather than chatter, what Jun Zishu wanted to do was tease Tang Qianqiu instead.

“No, it’s nothing particularly important. What did you want to talk about?”

“You look so serious, Mom. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think that I was reporting to you about my work. Anyway, it’s nothing important. Also, you have very wonderful skin, Mom. Even when I look at you up close, I can’t see any wrinkles on you.”

They were very close to each other right now, so close that Jun Zishu’s lips were only a few centimeters away from Tang Qianqiu’s face. When Jun Zishu spoke, the air she exhaled brushed past Tang Qianqiu’s face, causing Tang Qianqiu’s body to stiffen subconsciously.

This situation made Tang Qianqiu recall the time Jun Zishu had suddenly kissed her in the hospital ward. Although the kiss was light and brief, it had lingered in her mind till this very day.

However, what made Tang Qianqiu stiffen even more was the content of Jun Zishu’s words.

Wrinkles?

Tang Qianqiu did not pay special attention to maintaining herself, but the beauty products she did use were incredibly expensive and of high quality. She had always felt that it was best to let nature take its course. If she grew old and got wrinkles, so be it. But now…

Wrinkles???

Thank goodness she didn’t have any!

However, that didn’t mean she wouldn’t get any in the future. She was already 36 this year, so it wouldn’t be too long before she started getting wrinkles.

Yet, while she was 36, Jun Zishu was only 26.

There was a non-negligible age difference between them. Everything might seem okay now, but when Jun Zishu was 36, Tang Qianqiu would be 46.

Women aged very quickly. Jun Zishu might remain noble and elegant when she reached 36, but when Tang Qianqiu reached 46…

When Jun Zishu saw Tang Qianqiu pursuing her lips and making a serious expression, she realized she must’ve said something to upset Tang Qianqiu. Meanwhile, that something should be…Tang Qianqiu’s age.

“Although you are ten years older than me, and there is also this nominal relationship between us, after interacting with you for the past few days, I really can’t bring myself to treat you as a mother-in-law at all, Mom. To me, you feel like a very capable peer,” Jun Zishu said, desperately trying to salvage the situation. After all, no woman liked being told they were old. “Mom, did you know? You are the envy of many women in our social circle.”

“Envy?”

“Yes. You are so strong that you can dictate your own destiny. You can do whatever you want without restriction. You don’t have to listen to your parents, husband, or in-laws. Basically, you get the freedom to decide what to do with your emotions. I, too, think that you are very amazing, Mom. You are my favorite kind of person.”

Fa-Favorite?

When Tang Qianqiu listened to Jun Zishu’s words while feeling Jun Zishu’s warmth and smelling Jun Zishu’s scent, her heart fluttered in joy. However, she still did her best to hold back her smile and look serious.

If Jun Zishu could remove the words “kind of” from her sentence, Tang Qianqiu would be even happier.

“A glance is all it takes to meet, yet a step is not enough to reach. All that separates love is but a mountain and an ocean, yet this mountain and ocean can never be crossed.”[1]

“Hm?”

“Have you heard of this before, Mom?”

Jun Zishu sat upright and held Tang Qianqiu’s shoulders with her hands.

Meanwhile, Tang Qianqiu shook her head in response. She seldom paid attention to anything other than subjects related to finance, so poetry did not exist in her life. However, she couldn’t help but wonder if she should strengthen her literary skills to keep up with her daughter-in-law.

“Do you know what this poem is trying to convey?”

“Mhm.”

The poem Jun Zishu recited wasn’t written in some obscure literary language, so Tang Qianqiu could understand what the poem was trying to convey just by reading it literally.

However, Tang Qianqiu couldn’t help but feel a little bitter upon realizing the poem’s meaning. Between her and Jun Zishu, their ages and identities were probably the “mountain and ocean” that prevented them from being together.

“There is a continuation to this poem, but it’s not part of the original work. It’s written by someone else, and others say that it is a wretched sequel to fine work and ruins the original poem’s mood. However, if we look solely at the continuation’s meaning, it brings the whole poem to completion,” Jun Zishu said. Then, after a slight pause, she recited:

“There are boats to cross the ocean, and roads to cross the mountains. If a mountain and an ocean are all that separates love, simply go on a boat ride and a mountain hike.”[2]

Tang Qianqiu’s heart skipped a beat. When she looked at the smile in Jun Zishu’s eyes, she felt that Jun Zishu was secretly hinting to her.

“That’s something I read off the internet just now, and I thought about sharing it with you. Anyway, you should go back to work, Mom. I’ll go back to reading my book,” Jun Zishu said as she removed her hands from Tang Qianqiu’s body and resumed reading her book, fleeing as soon as she was done teasing her ignorant beloved.

Jun Zishu was aware that if she expressed her feelings directly, Tang Qianqiu would definitely accept her confession, and they would live happily ever after. However, Jun Zishu didn’t want to do that. She felt that it was nice to involve such affectionate teasing in their relationship. Not to mention, it was incredibly fun to watch Tang Qianqiu struggle between action and inaction.

With things as they were right now, if Jun Zishu kissed Tang Qianqiu on the cheek, Tang Qianqiu would blush and let her thoughts run wild. However, if Jun Zishu were to kiss Tang Qianqiu after confessing her feelings, Tang Qianqiu would definitely respond by pushing her down and kissing her until she was satisfied.

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After thinking it over, Jun Zishu decided that she would continue teasing Tang Qianqiu for a little longer. She would wait until the tiger was about to run out of patience before letting it enjoy the feast.

Shaking her playful thoughts out of her head, Jun Zishu smiled as she continued reading her book.

In the meantime, Tang Qianqiu stared at her laptop absentmindedly, her mind hovering between “she is sending me a hint” and “she is just speaking casually.” Eventually, though, she decided to assume that Jun Zishu was secretly giving her a hint.

But what if… What if…I misunderstood her intent?

Tang Qianqiu couldn’t help but start hesitating again after sneaking a glance at Jun Zishu. Moreover, even if Jun Zishu truly was sending her hints, it was inappropriate for them to get together with their present identities as in-laws.

Tang Qianqiu was caught up in a whirlpool of love troubles once again, and she resumed working in a sullen mood.

Once Tang Qianqiu was finished with her work, though, a more important task laid in front of her—She would be sharing the same bed as Jun Zishu tonight. Moreover, it might not be one night only, but multiple nights.

With stiff movements, Tang Qianqiu laid down on the bed and covered herself with the thin quilt.

“Are you going to sleep, Mom?”

“Mhm.”

It was already nearing eleven o’clock, so it was time for bed.

“Okay.”

Jun Zishu closed her book and turned off the lights. Then, she laid down right next to Tang Qianqiu.

Unless the original owner’s character called for it, Jun Zishu would typically sleep in a disciplined manner.

Jian Qing wasn’t the type who moved around in her sleep. Jun Zishu originally wanted to continue teasing Tang Qianqiu. However, considering that Tang Qianqiu still had a lot of work to do tomorrow, she decided to spare her beloved for tonight. After all, if she touched Tang Qianqiu even once, the latter would probably spend the entire night sleepless, her mind filled with all sorts of thoughts.

Tang Qianqiu, who had closed her eyes and pretended to sleep, would never know what she had missed out on tonight. She pretended to sleep for a long time, and she couldn’t help but grow disappointed when Jun Zishu showed no signs of moving closer to her.

Sure enough, she wasn’t implying anything before…

Eventually, Tang Qianqiu also fell asleep for real.

…

TL Notes:

[1][2] These are all poems with no official translations, so I’m just coming up with random sentences that rhyme and convey the general idea of the poem.

I can’t think of any English equivalents for [1], but [2]’s English equivalent is “where there’s a will, there’s a way.”