A vow at Wealthy Mansion and an "open-minded" hardcore mom

Chen Ziang stepped out of a taxi and slammed the door behind him.

He stood there and took a deep breath of the reasonably fresh morning air. Then he slowly raised his head, looking past the wide entrance barrier to the towering, magnificent gateway of his residential complex.

The sunlight poured generously over the four enormous characters right in the center.

Made of solid copper.

Splendid in gold.

Each character stood more than half a person's height, reflecting a dazzling glare in the morning light, as if afraid passersby might miss these four ultimate characters reeking of nouveau riche taste.

Wealthy Mansion.

Every time Chen Ziang saw those words, he felt as though his retinas had suffered some kind of physical blow.

He gritted his back teeth in irritation.

As a local rich young master, he had pursued that "expensive but understated" old-money style ever since he was little. Whether in his clothes or his everyday speech and behavior, he wanted nothing more than to package himself as the young master of a distinguished old family.

But his father, who had made his fortune in building materials, was a bumpkin to the core. When buying a house, he had insisted on believing some feng shui master's nonsense, swearing that those four characters would bring in wealth and treasure.

Chen Ziang tugged at the hem of his designer shirt, which had been ironed without a single wrinkle.

Gritting his teeth, he swore a solemn oath to himself.

Until he could afford to move out and live on his own in one of Jiangcheng's truly high-end apartments, he absolutely, absolutely could not let any of his roommates from 504 find out he lived somewhere this tacky.

Especially Lu Chuan and Zhao Yifan.

One of those two was unfathomable, and the other couldn't bear a grain of sand in his eye. If they found out he came and went every day from a place called "Wealthy Mansion," the aloof young master persona he had painstakingly cultivated would become an enormous joke.

As Chen Ziang walked into the complex, he rehearsed frantically in his head.

If his roommates ever did ask for his exact address, how could he casually make up some stylish-sounding place like "Guanlan Peninsula" or "Yujing Bay" in a tone that was nonchalant yet sophisticated?

At that moment, he was caught up in the tension of guarding his secret.

He had no idea.

Just an hour earlier, in the washroom of Jiang University's men's dormitory, Lu Chuan had not only laid his background completely bare but had even given Han Dong a full account of the bizarre reason his father had bought the house out of superstition about feng shui.

Chen Ziang tiptoed along the complex's landscaped path like a thief.

He used his fingerprint to open the underground garage door of his family's detached villa.

To avoid unnecessary questioning, he didn't even go into the living room, much less dare disturb his father, who was still asleep upstairs.

A Miami blue Porsche 718 sat quietly in the center of the spacious, brightly lit garage.

Its streamlined body gleamed with an expensive, alluring sheen beneath the garage's soft overhead lights.

Chen Ziang strode over.

He reached out and touched the cold, smooth paintwork, and the frustration he had suppressed for days finally found a perfect outlet.

He opened the car door.

Ducking inside, he settled into the snug leather driver's seat and gripped the steering wheel with both hands, his fingers gently stroking the stitching.

He pressed the start button.

"Vroom-"

The deep, seductive roar of the engine exploded through the enclosed garage. The exhaust note carried an aggressively mechanical power that made Chen Ziang's eardrums tingle.

He closed his eyes in comfort.

At that moment, there was no trace in his mind of Shen Zhiyi, the senior from the journalism department who had once stunned him for an instant, much less any complicated scheming among social circles.

All his hopes were now focused on what awaited him at Jiang University.

He could already picture Han Dong's jaw dropping and his comical figure circling the sports car over and over.

He could see the shock in the usually aloof Zhao Yifan's eyes.

And even better, he could see the satisfying sight of Lu Chuan's so-called "secondhand runabout" paling beside his brand-new Porsche 718 and being utterly crushed.

From the sunscreen incident during the military training at the start of the school year to the embarrassing predicament when he had nearly been unable to save face over the air conditioner.

He had lost far too much face in dorm 504.

Today, he had to win back everything he had lost, principal and interest alike. This was the clearest, purest competitive spirit of an eighteen-year-old second-generation rich kid.

Just as Chen Ziang was lost in his perfect fantasy of the "young master returning to the top," the corners of his mouth already starting to curl wildly upward despite himself.

Outside the car window.

A powerful female soprano suddenly rang out, carrying the piercing force of a true Jiangcheng local.

"Eldest son!"

"What are you doing up so early?"

The sudden shout was like a thunderclap out of a clear sky in the empty garage.

Chen Ziang shuddered violently in fright.

His foot slipped off the brake, and he nearly hit the accelerator and drove straight into the load-bearing wall ahead.

He turned in alarm and hurriedly lowered the window.

Outside stood a middle-aged woman with long, wavy curls, dressed in designer casual wear and carrying an enormous Hermès bag.

It was his own mother, Wang Cuiping, a forthright woman who had just returned from a business trip.

"Mom?"

Still shaken, Chen Ziang patted his chest, his face somewhat pale.

"Weren't you in the neighboring province looking at a factory? Why did you appear out of nowhere in the garage so early? You scared me to death."

Wang Cuiping strode over and casually tossed the expensive bag onto the hood of a nearby Mercedes-Benz.

Hands on her hips, she looked Chen Ziang up and down as he sat in the sports car with his hair drenched in styling gel.

"I took the high-speed train back overnight. I'd barely come in when I heard all this rumbling in the garage."

Wang Cuiping launched mercilessly into full mom-roasting mode.

"You've got yourself looking like a wild pheasant showing off its tail first thing in the morning. You've sprayed so much gel on your hair it's practically bulletproof. What are you showing off at school in this lousy tin shell for?"

She narrowed her eyes, her gaze sharp.

"Are you planning to drive this car to school to pick up girls?"

The aloof persona Chen Ziang had just built up instantly developed a crack under his mother's string of blunt, down-to-earth jabs.

"Mom, what nonsense are you talking about?"

He hurriedly protested, trying to salvage his elegant image.

"It's just for getting around. What do you mean, picking up girls? Is your son that shallow?"

Wang Cuiping waved a hand, paying no attention to his excuses.

"All right, all right. I gave birth to you. How could I not know those sly little thoughts of yours?"

Leaning against the car window, she earnestly began laying out her hardcore values.

"Dating is fine. I'm not against it. But remember this: you can find yourself a partner, but don't you dare pick one of those skinny bamboo poles who'd fall over in a breeze."

Wang Cuiping raised a finger and jabbed it firmly in the air.

"Find one with a big butt, preferably someone with a sturdy frame!"

"Then when I go to the gym to lose weight, I can bring your wife along to lift weights with me! What use is a skinny little thing who can't even carry a barbell plate?"

Chen Ziang's face turned green as he listened.

He could hardly believe his ears.

He was a rich young master who pursued refinement and had sophisticated taste. How could he possibly find himself a "sturdy" female weightlifting partner?

"Mom! Can you stop worrying about things that don't concern you?"

Chen Ziang protested desperately, feeling as though he was about to break down.

"My taste is perfectly normal. There's absolutely no way I'd find a girl like that, so don't even think about it!"

Wang Cuiping looked at her son's red-faced agitation and gave it serious thought for a moment.

Then.

She raised an eyebrow and said something astonishing.

"That's fine too."

Wang Cuiping patted the edge of the car door, her open-minded tone making Chen Ziang feel suffocated.

"If you think a sturdy girl is hard to find, a man is fine too!"

The garage instantly fell into a deathly silence.

Chen Ziang turned to stone in the driver's seat, his eyes as wide as copper bells.

"I've been doing business out there for years. I've seen plenty, and I'm very open-minded."

Wang Cuiping thumped her chest and made a solemn promise.

"Man or woman, as long as your temperaments suit each other and you can get along, that's fine. As long as you don't upset your father enough to bring on heart trouble, I'll support you no matter what!"

Those words, "a man is fine too."

They struck Chen Ziang like lightning, leaving him charred on the outside and tender on the inside.

The burden of his painstakingly cultivated "aloof young master" persona shattered without a trace before his mother's boundlessly open-minded remarks.

He felt that if he stayed in this garage one second longer, his entire worldview would be reshaped.

"I'm going to be late!"

Terrified that she might say something else shocking, Chen Ziang hastily shouted.

He fumbled for the window switch.

The window rose swiftly, cutting off Wang Cuiping as she tried to speak again.

Chen Ziang slammed his foot on the accelerator.

The Porsche 718 let out a tremendous roar, its tires giving a brief screech against the smooth garage floor as it scrambled out of the underground garage.

His fleeing figure looked as bedraggled as could be.

The car sped through the gates of Wealthy Mansion and merged straight into Jiangcheng's morning rush-hour traffic.

As the sports car drove onto the broad bridge across the river.

The cool early-autumn morning air poured fiercely from the air-conditioning vents, blowing against Chen Ziang's still-warm face.

Sunlight shimmered on the river, and the distant Jiang University campus appeared faintly through the morning light.

After more than ten minutes of cold air, Chen Ziang finally drove the fear and embarrassment his mother had inflicted on him completely out of his mind.

He felt the clear feedback from the sports car's chassis and listened to the stirring engine note behind him.

He raised his eyes to the rearview mirror.

In the mirror.

His hairstyle was still perfect, not a hair out of place.

Chen Ziang's confidence swelled again like a fully inflated balloon.

His expensive ride swept away every last feeling of frustration.

He gripped the leather steering wheel tightly in both hands, his eyes shining with clear, resolute competitiveness as he stared at the straight road ahead leading to Jiang University.