Chapter 659: You

House No. 27.

After lunch, the guests gradually left the house.

Wei Xiaozhu, Bai Wanying, and Dai Qing went to Wujiaochang, saying they’d come back later.

Ye Ning and Sun Man quietly went to the neighboring house, and Xiao Gu Fu returned home.

The large house was now left with only Zhou Shihe, Zhou’s mother, Xiao Gu, and Xiao Yi.

After washing up, Zhou’s mother opened her daughter’s bedroom door and stepped inside, closing it behind her.

At that moment, Zhou Shihe sat elegantly on a chair reading, as if anticipating her mother would seek her out privately, and had already been waiting.

Quietly observing her daughter, Zhou’s mother saw her beauty and demeanor—peerless among women—and felt the same pride as always, yet today’s events…

Thinking of this, Zhou’s mother sat on the separate sofa beside her and asked in the calmest tone possible: “Shihe, don’t you have anything to tell your mother?”

Zhou Shihe’s gaze remained on her book, her head not lifting, as she answered quietly: “Aren’t you already guessing?”

Zhou’s mother stared at her daughter’s left cheek for a long while, then couldn’t help asking: “You and Li Heng… what exactly is your relationship with him?”

Zhou Shihe replied gently: “I don’t know.”

Zhou’s mother frowned: “You don’t know?”

Zhou Shihe gave a soft hum.

Zhou’s mother asked: “Then how do you explain your jealousy today?”

Zhou Shihe said: “I was jealous.”

Zhou’s mother frowned again, took a deep breath to calm herself, and asked: “Have you developed feelings for Li Heng?”

Zhou Shihe turned a page, her attention still fixed on the book, then answered calmly after a long pause: “I’ve fallen in love with him.”

Zhou’s mother froze, staring blankly at her daughter.

Though she had suspected, and had prepared herself mentally before entering the room, hearing these words—especially hearing the word “love” spoken by her once proud and aloof daughter—made her unable to believe it.

She still felt dazed, as if it weren’t real.

Before meeting Song Yu, she had always believed her daughter was the finest in the world, the fruit of her lifelong devotion—only to find her in love with a “married man.”

Well, Li Heng wasn’t officially married, but women kept appearing around him, one after another, dizzying in number, and her precious daughter had fallen for him—fallen for this womanizing fool.

In that moment, Zhou’s mother felt her head spinning, wishing desperately this were a dream, that she’d wake up and find it all false.

None of it had happened.

The study was eerily silent, so quiet a pin could be heard dropping.

After a long while, Zhou’s mother gradually came to her senses and pressed: “Between you two, who took the first step? Did he pursue you, and that’s why you fell?”

Zhou Shihe answered softly: “I don’t know.”

Zhou’s mother asked: “Again, you don’t know?”

Zhou Shihe spoke like flowing water: “He has great appeal to women—your daughter included. Without realizing it, I sank into him.”

There was no flaw in this answer.

Hearing her daughter’s words, Zhou’s mother involuntarily recalled the women gathered around Li Heng: Song Yu, Xiao Han, Mai Sui, and Yu Shuheng.

Which one wasn’t a rarity among thousands?

Which one wasn’t a breathtaking beauty beyond ordinary reach?

Yet all of them were entangled with Li Heng—especially Song Yu, especially Yu Laoshi, whose family wealth was explosive. Their very existence proved Li Heng’s magnetism.

Thinking of Song Yu and Yu Laoshi’s ties to Li Heng, and remembering Shen Xin had also gotten involved, Zhou’s mother suddenly felt a flicker of belief—her daughter might truly have fallen for Li Heng.

Zhou’s mother asked: “So, was it you who pursued him?”

Zhou Shihe said: “Not entirely.”

Zhou’s mother asked: “What do you mean? How is it not entirely?”

Zhou Shihe fell silent, then spoke softly: “We’ve mutually attracted each other, mutually fallen for each other.”

To some extent, it was Li Heng who pursued her fiercely—but Zhou Shihe concealed this, simply to give Li Heng a better impression in her mother’s eyes.

After all, Li Heng was a womanizer; if he pursued her despite already having so many women, her mother’s favor toward him would plummet.

Indeed, this explanation made Zhou’s mother feel somewhat relieved.

If Li Heng had pursued her daughter alone, her opinion of him would have sunk to rock bottom.

If her daughter had pursued Li Heng alone, she’d be utterly miserable.

But if both had quietly fallen for each other, it became far more acceptable.

After all, both Li Heng and her daughter were exceptional among mortals.

Zhou’s mother asked: “When did it start?”

Zhou Shihe said: “We’d had feelings for each other for a long time; only this year did they become uncontrollable.”

Hearing “uncontrollable,” Zhou’s mother’s heart jolted, and she pressed: “How far has it gone?”

Zhou Shihe finished a page before speaking softly: “Mother, some things are better left unknown—otherwise, you won’t sleep tonight.”

Zhou’s mother said: “I won’t sleep tonight anyway, nor tomorrow night, nor the day after. If you don’t tell me, I’ll probably sleep poorly for half a year.”

Zhou Shihe smiled faintly, silent and still.

Waiting a long while without a response, Zhou’s mother asked: “Can you still turn back?”

Zhou Shihe said: “We’ve kissed.”

Zhou’s mother’s mouth gaped open, then closed, then opened again uncontrollably.

Catching her mother’s stunned expression, Zhou Shihe paused, set down the book, leaned back in her chair, and slowly closed her eyes.

Zhou’s mother’s gaze swept over her daughter, finally settling on her cherry lips.

The thought of Li Heng kissing those irresistibly alluring lips stirred a complex, indescribable emotion within her.

Her cherished pearl, guarded for twenty years, had been stolen without notice.

How could Zhou’s mother not feel bitter?

At this point, she finally understood—why her daughter had clashed with Song Yu today. Their bond had reached this depth.

She understood the unspoken meaning: since they had kissed, there was no turning back—at least not in the short term.

Zhou’s mother asked: “When did it happen?”

Zhou Shihe replied weakly: “I can’t quite remember—probably in Singapore and the Netherlands, and also at school.”

How could she not remember?

She remembered every moment Li Heng kissed her—those sensations unforgettable for life.

She said this to make her mother give up completely.

And also to prevent her mother from interfering.

“Singapore, the Netherlands, and school—all of them?” Zhou’s mother asked, her mind in turmoil.

At this point, everything had shattered Zhou’s mother’s imagination—she had thought her daughter merely reciprocated Li Heng’s feelings, never imagining it had spiraled to this uncontrollable level.

In that instant, Zhou’s mother felt profound pain.

Zhou Shihe slowly opened her eyes and met her mother’s gaze: “Mother, can I handle my own feelings?”

Zhou’s mother took another deep breath and asked: “Don’t you know he has so many women around him?”

Zhou Shihe’s red lips moved lightly: “I know.”

Before her mother could reply, she continued softly: “But knowing changes nothing. Love comes swiftly, suddenly, without reason. If I could have resisted, I wouldn’t have fallen for him so easily.”

From these words, Zhou’s mother heard her daughter’s struggle, her helplessness—she had fought, but fate prevailed.

The mother and daughter stared at each other in silence.

Zhou’s mother couldn’t bring herself to blame her daughter.

Zhou Shihe didn’t want her mother to worry excessively, so she revealed everything today—though she subtly concealed certain truths.

After a moment of mutual gaze, Zhou’s mother said: “Even if you truly care for Li Heng, your behavior today still feels unfamiliar to me.”

What behavior?

Naturally, the events at the birthday party and the cake-cutting.

Zhou Shihe said: “Half was provoked, half because I truly care for him.”

As she spoke, Zhou Shihe half-lowered her eyes: “I only realized this care today. I’m sorry, Mother.”

Zhou’s mother felt uneasy, yet suddenly understood—understood why her daughter had acted this way today.

Zhou’s mother knew: no other woman could have stirred her daughter’s competitive spirit—but Song Yu truly had the status and the power to do so.

Zhou’s mother asked seriously: “What are your plans for the future?”

Zhou Shihe paused for a long time, then spoke softly: “Either he marries me and takes me home—or I vanish from his world. There is no third path.”

These were two extremes.

But Zhou’s mother exhaled deeply, relieved—her daughter had returned to the person she knew.

Zhou’s mother reminded: “Yu Laoshi has resigned.”

Zhou Shihe said: “It’s too late. It doesn’t matter.”

Zhou’s mother pondered: “Because of Song Yu?”

Zhou Shihe glanced at her mother, picked up the book again, and began reading.

Zhou’s mother fell silent, realizing she had said something her daughter didn’t want to hear.

Zhou’s mother left. After exiting her daughter’s bedroom, she packed her things and departed from Lushan Village.