"You're back, Shi?" a woman's voice came from the hall.
His adoptive mother, Lin Yuxiang, wore a faint smile as her oppressive gaze discreetly swept over the two of them.
Xu Xingqi slowly lowered his eyes and instinctively moved away from Xu Shi.
Mom didn't seem to like Xu Shi.
He could guess a little of the reason. He seemed to have heard that Xu Shi was gay...
But was being gay bad?
"Xingqi, Dad's weeding in the back garden. Go help him," Lin Yuxiang instructed gently.
Beneath her faint smile, her tone carried a pressure that allowed no refusal.
Xu Xingqi had never dared to talk back to his parents since he was little. He lowered his head and nodded several times. "Oh, okay."
"..."
The living room was quiet, with only Xu Shi and Lin Yuxiang left.
Whenever he saw them send Xu Xingqi away, Xu Shi knew nothing good would follow.
He had tried asking Xu Xingqi to stay before. He had thought Xu Xingqi liked him and could at least face things alongside him.
Later, he realized he had still overestimated his own charm.
Xu Shi lowered his head and gave a bitter chuckle.
"I wanted to talk to you about a blind date." Lin Yuxiang handed Xu Shi a cup of tea.
Without so much as a preliminary inquiry about how he was doing, she went straight to business.
Xu Shi accepted the hot tea she handed him and nodded lightly. "Mm."
"Sit." Lin Yuxiang gestured.
It was rather awkward for her to bring up something like this.
After all, Xu Shi had moved his household registration out after graduating from university, so technically, he was no longer part of the Xu family.
The only thing to be thankful for was that Xu Shi had