Li Lan, you really are disgusting.
Other people’s mothers are warm havens, capable of providing their children with protection and solace.
Yet his own mother, upon just eting, made Li Zhiyuan feel like the "human skin" on his own face was at risk of falling off.
They were both mother and son, and yet fellow patients.
From a certain perspective, they should be the closest and most understanding mother-son pair in the world.
But it is precisely because of this, when they face each other, the façades they each crafted beco utterly ineffective, yet they also deeply depended on these façades to survive.
Because they both were too clever.
Li Zhiyuan closed his eyes.
In the past six months or so, his condition was very well controlled, especially in recent months, he hadn’t had a relapse.
He could clearly feel the changes within himself; when facing others, he no longer sought to scrutinize their every word and expression to perfectly portray his role.
When facing others, he gradually couldn’t be bothered to put on an act.
And when dealing with close relations, he would often purposely not perform, taking joy in feeling every instinctive emotional reaction, even if it was just a slight one.
But these were just saplings, he firmly believed that under his ticulous care, they would grow into towering trees.
However, the higher a building is constructed, the worse the fall tends to be.
It’s rather ironic, a simple eting, and the "treatnt effect" of the past six months appeared to loosen, and what could likely follow was a landslide.
Because in front of Li Lan, all your postures, movents, and expressions would be stirred up, knowing that disguise is useless, but everyone instinctively clutches at anything that can cover them when stripped naked.
Fortunately, this wasn’t the ti when he had to endure the venomous mockery from Li Lan while pretending to be affectionate with Li Weihan, Cui Guiying, and the rest in front of Aunt Zhang’s grocery store.
He ca to the family community to ask Grandpa Zhang to help him "decode" the remaining locations, which had nothing to do with whether he was Li Lan’s son or the state of their mother-son relationship. He understood these old professors’ particular quirks very well; when the old fellows were together with a new research topic to ponder, that in itself was a delight.
So, he didn’t need to perform with Li Lan here; he didn’t have to care about the gazes of those around.
Here, it was Li Lan’s social network, not Li Zhiyuan’s.
The mother opened her arms but didn’t manage to welco her son’s embrace.
Li Zhiyuan calmly shifted his gaze away; he didn’t reach out to hold Wu Xinhao or Mr. Yan’s hands, asking them to quickly take him away from here.
This was his ho, the woman in front of him was his mother; it wouldn’t be convenient for the two elders to do so, of course, it could possibly be done with explanations, deceit, and a strong attitude, but it was a bit botherso.
Things could actually be very simple.
For instance... running.
Yet, Li Lan took the initiative one step ahead.
After all, she was a stage partner who had perford for so many years; even after such a long ti, their tacit understanding still existed.
When the thought of running arose in Li Zhiyuan, Li Lan had already acted.
It all happened in a flash; when Li Lan realized that her son wouldn’t rush into her embrace, she bent over and jogged towards her son.
The two actions were connected very quickly, swiftly enough that outsiders wouldn’t feel anything was amiss.
It wasn’t just the script of a son rushing into arms; a mother actively running to embrace her child was normal, too.
As for the child, having not seen his mother for a long ti, feeling a little shy and apprehensive, that was understandable.
Li Zhiyuan was embraced by Li Lan.
The boy wasn’t surprised; after all, a senior is a senior.
Tears were in Li Lan’s eyes; her expression was controlled just right, her right arm wrapping around the boy’s back, left hand holding the boy’s head, and she kissed his face.
Li Zhiyuan wanted to laugh a bit, she actually could bear the physical disgust to manage the kiss.
His current feeling was like being entwined by a corpse.
But what followed, the sentence Li Lan whispered in his ear after the kiss, made Li Zhiyuan rediscover that familiar feeling of being dominated and blindly obeyed.
For ordinary mother and sons, they are each other’s weakness, but for them, each beca the knife stabbing the other’s weakness.
She whispered softly:
"Do you want to know about that seabed?"
Then, she raised her voice:
"Co on, son, let’s go ho with mom, let’s have a good talk."
Li Zhiyuan displayed an innocent smile on his face, and his hands also raised, embracing the "corpse" in front.
Shortly after, Li Lan stood up and apologized to Principal Wu and Mr. Yan, saying she wanted to spend so ti with her son.
Such a gesture sowhat flattered Principal Wu and Mr. Yan, and they hastily gestured that there was no need to consult them.
Nearby a few retired professors from Jiangsu invited them for tea and a ga of chess, and Principal Wu and the others imdiately agreed.
Li Lan led Li Zhiyuan by the hand, the mother and son walked towards their ho.
Along the way, many old n and won greeted them, and the mother and son responded naturally.
No matter the nature of their questions, the answers and cooperation were all quite proper, and it didn’t delay their pace in the slightest.
Entering the courtyard and walking in, the warmth between mother and son was still apparent.
Because the yard was small and terraced, the people in the neighboring courtyard could still see here from their steps.
Opening the inner door, Li Lan walked in.
Li Zhiyuan followed and casually closed the door behind him.
The mont the "click" sound echoed, the temperature inside the room seed to drop several degrees instantly.
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