Brother, you smell good - 17

 

| BYSG | Worry | 17

The restaurant's call number machine suddenly went off: "A22, your table is ready. A22…"

Shen Yu glanced down at the paper in his hand, which clearly had "A22" written on it.

It wasn't yet 6 o'clock, and he wondered if his mother had arrived.

Shen Yu instinctively looked around, his gaze suddenly locking onto a face.

It was a face he couldn't exactly call familiar, but one he remembered very well.

The other person was also looking at him.

Their gazes unexpectedly met.

The nervousness that had just been suppressed crept up again.

Did his mother... recognize him?

It had been so many years since they last met.

"This crab is so big, the hermit crab today is practically a little brother compared to it. Tsk, one claw and your finger would probably snap," came Cheng Mofei's voice from the phone, pulling him back to the present.

Shen Yu steadied his nerves, hurriedly lowered his gaze, took a deep breath, and tried his best to make his voice sound normal. "Don't get pinched again. They've called my number, I’ll go eat first, we’ll talk later."

"Alright, go eat quickly," came Cheng Mofei’s reply.

After hanging up, Shen Yu quickly swallowed, shoved his phone into his pocket, and then looked up again, heading toward the woman.

It was only a distance of two or three meters, with a bit of a crowd in between. Within seconds, he arrived.

The woman’s gaze remained fixed on him.

From far to near.

Finally, he stopped. Shen Yu's lips moved as if to speak, but his voice was caught in his throat, unable to come out.

Should he call her "Mom"?

Or say, "Hello"?

Uh…

Even though he had rehearsed this moment countless times in his mind earlier today, his brain now felt as if it had been eaten by zombies—empty.

The woman was slightly shorter than him and equally nervous as she gazed at him.

The restaurant's call number machine continued to blare: "A22, your table is ready."

In a moment of panic, Shen Yu quickly raised the paper in his hand and said, "I'm A22."

...

A few minutes later, the two of them sat across from each other.

A waiter brought over the menu.

"Give it to him," Shen Yu said.

"Give it to her," came the reply from Shen Xunyan.

They spoke in unison.

The waitress froze for a moment, unsure of whom to give the menu to.

The restaurant had a heavy retro feel, and there was no option for online ordering via QR codes. The design and layout of the menu had been carefully thought out.

In the end, Shen Yu took the menu and pen, lowering his head to start making his selections.

Sitting across from him, Shen Xunyan smiled and said, "Order more of what you like, Mom will pay the bill."

Shen Yu hummed softly, drawing a crooked check mark next to a dish.

Mom...

His mother’s voice was so gentle.

It was nothing like Shen Lide, who had smoked for decades, and just talking to him felt suffocating. It was nothing like his stepmother, who always spoke with hidden barbs and subtle jabs.

He liked talking to his mother.

While Shen Yu was selecting the dishes, Shen Xunyan quickly glanced at her phone and replied to her husband's message: [Don't worry, I've seen Xiao Yu, we're ordering, everything's fine.]

Her husband replied: [I'm just grabbing something nearby. Call me when you're done, and I'll come pick you up.]

Her husband: [If anything unexpected happens, call me right away.]

Shen Xunyan smiled and quickly sent a "Okay" before turning off her phone, continuing to observe Shen Yu sitting across from her.

She had separated from Shen Yu's biological father, Shen Lide, because of domestic violence and emotional abuse. 

As a result, her husband feared that Shen Yu might be influenced by Shen Lide, become emotionally unstable, and potentially become violent toward her.

But she didn't believe that would happen.

It was a woman's intuition, or rather, a mother's intuition.

She felt that Shen Yu was a good child.

Although he wasn't particularly close to her, she hadn't fulfilled her duties as a mother over the years. She hadn’t been there to raise him, so it was natural that they weren't close.

Shen Yu was her first child, and they looked so much alike, especially their eyes. She still vividly remembered how excited she had been for Shen Yu's birth.

She felt guilty toward him for being unable to give him a complete family.

In a failed marriage, it was the children who suffered the most.

After the college entrance examination, she had been keeping track of Shen Yu’s high school progress until she saw the name of the university that accepted him.

To be honest, she was a little surprised that Shen Yu had chosen to attend university in Yancheng City, where she lived. 

But then she thought, perhaps Shen Yu was really not thinking about her, and it wasn't necessary for him to pass up such a good university just because of her presence.

At the end of August, she sent a sum of money and a letter to Shen Yu’s family to celebrate his acceptance into university.

The letter had been returned.

Many years ago, when Xiao Yu refused to answer her calls, refused to speak with her, and said some things that hurt her deeply, she had become accustomed to writing letters, hoping that perhaps, in his moments of boredom, he might casually glance at one. 

Unknowingly, she had been writing for so many years.

At the beginning of September, she had wanted to contact Shen Yu, to meet him, but she was anxious and afraid that the outcome would be the same as with the letter that had been returned.

Her husband advised her not to rush. The first year of college had just started, and the child would be busy with military training and adjusting to the new environment, which would leave him very tired. 

He suggested waiting until around National Day to try reaching out again. He even helped her find Shen Yu's current phone number.

That was how the phone call from last night came about.

"Alright."

The boy, who had been holding a pen and looking down, suddenly looked up, catching her in the act of observing him.

Shen Xunyan quickly blinked, took the menu and pen he handed her, and her fingers accidentally brushed against his.

Once upon a time, she used to love holding his chubby little hands. But now, those hands had grown slender and elegant, with defined joints.

They had not seen each other for too many years.

At first, she would secretly visit his school every year and watch him from afar. But when her daughter with her current husband was born, it became harder for her to find the time to visit.

Somehow, this meeting, though awkward, didn't feel particularly distant.

Shen Yu didn't order many dishes, but she added quite a few more, then handed the menu to the waiter.

As they waited for the food to arrive, the atmosphere fell silent again.

Shen Yu fidgeted with his fingers under the table, gathering the courage to speak. "Since I was little, they always said you didn't want me, that you left me with Shen Lide."

He needed to take this step and clear everything up.

"Who said that?" Shen Xunyan's breathing quickened. It was clear she was angry, but even in her anger, she still appeared gentle, as if anyone could take advantage of her.

Shen Yu replied, "Everyone. Shen Lide, Grandma, Aunt, Uncle-in-law, my other Aunt, Uncle..."

Shen Xunyan's eyes reddened, and her voice trembled slightly. "When we divorced, I fought for your custody for a long time, but at that time, I didn't have a job, and my mental state was not good. I couldn’t win against Shen Lide."

So, they had been spreading rumors about her behind her back.

No wonder Shen Yu's attitude toward her had been so cold for all these years—no one could accept being abandoned by their own mother.

She had married far away, with no relatives there. Her parents had passed away early, and she had few friends. 

She thought she had found someone to spend her life with, but after their child was born, Shen Lide gradually revealed his true nature. 

Using the child as a way to bind her to him, he began abusing her, both physically and emotionally. As a result, she developed postpartum depression.

She truly couldn’t bear to part with her child, but she knew that if things continued this way, her mental state would deteriorate even further, and her child would be deeply affected as well.

She wanted a divorce. She wanted to take her child and leave. Shen Lide agreed to the divorce, as he had already found someone else, but he refused to let her take the child. 

She fought for it, but in the end, she lost.

On the brink of mental collapse, a friend took her away from that city to Yancheng City, where she rested for several years and began to recover. It was also here that she met her current husband.

After leaving, the only thing that made her feel somewhat at ease was that her mother-in-law, Shen Yu's grandmother, had taken good care of little Shen Yu. 

From the moment Shen Yu was born, her mother-in-law had treated him extremely well.

She had thought that no one would say anything good about her back there, but she never expected they would spread such rumors behind her back—even her mother-in-law was involved.

They didn’t care about Shen Yu’s growth, or how deeply a mother's image could affect a child. All they cared about was trying to keep Shen Yu tied to them, just as they had once tried to trap her.

Shen Xunyan’s chest rose and fell rapidly, and suddenly, one hand reached out to offer her a tissue.

It was Shen Yu.

He said, "I believe you."

At that moment, Shen Xunyan lost control of her tears.

She had specifically put on a delicate makeup for this meeting. Her husband had even teased her, saying that she had prepared more for this meeting than she had when she was dating him. 

Now, with tears rolling down her face, her makeup was probably ruined.

Shen Xunyan quickly took the tissue, carefully dabbing her tears away, her lips tightly pressed as she tried to control her emotions.

With the tissue covering her sight, Shen Yu's voice clearly reached her ears: "I'm sorry... Mom, I misunderstood you for so many years."

Shen Yu told a little lie: "It was only after the college entrance exam that I realized something was wrong. Didn’t you write me letters? You also sent me money regularly. But I never received a single letter, nor any money."

He couldn't reveal the truth about his rebirth, so he had to pretend as though he had accidentally overheard a secret and discovered the truth.

Shen Xunyan's tears slowly stopped. She only cried for Shen Yu, never for anyone else. 

Shen Yu’s words ignited a spark of anger within her: "How could Shen Lide be so despicable?!"

Taking advantage of the moment, Shen Yu let everything out.

Gradually, the dishes began to arrive, one by one, filling the table. There was so much food that even four people would have trouble finishing it, let alone just the two of them.

Most of it was food that Shen Xunyan had added herself.

Shen Xunyan's emotions had calmed down a lot. Seeing the large table full of food, she felt a bit awkward and softly said, "It's fine, if we can't finish, I'll take it home and heat it up in the microwave tomorrow. That way, I won’t have to cook."

Shen Yu smiled and said, "Okay."

...

After clearing up all the misunderstandings, everything was going smoothly. Once they finished their meal, Shen Xunyan was in a good mood and wanted to take Shen Yu to buy some new clothes.

Shen Yu didn’t refuse.

For adults, one of the common ways to show they care is by buying new clothes for their children.

However, he had underestimated a woman's ability to shop.

By the time they returned to the dorm, it was almost curfew.

Shen Yu’s old phone had run out of battery long ago and was turned off. As he lugged a big bag of clothes up to the fifth floor, he noticed several people standing outside his dorm room.

There was the dormitory manager, his counselor, and two people he didn’t recognize.

Shen Yu had a vague, uneasy feeling.

His supervisor spoke first, “Shen Yu, where have you been? We were so worried!”

Shen Yu responded, “…Huh?”

After about ten minutes, Shen Yu finally managed to handle the situation with the group of people, apologized to them for worrying them, and quickly hurried into his dorm. He plugged his old phone in to charge, turning it on.

Once it powered up, he opened WeChat and found numerous messages from Cheng Mofei, as well as dozens of missed calls.

Cheng Mofei: [Did you finish eating?]

Cheng Mofei: [Are you back yet?]

Cheng Mofei: [Why aren’t you responding?]

Cheng Mofei: [I poked you.]

Cheng Mofei: [Is everything alright?]

Cheng Mofei: [Why does it show that your phone is off?]

...

Cheng Mofei: [I contacted the dorm manager and your counselor, I told them you haven't returned to the dorm.]

...

Cheng Mofei: [Why is there still no news? I'm so worried.]

Shen Yu: "……"

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