The Heart of a Parent

As soon as Yao Lan got into the car, Zhou Yuwen's mother struck up a warm conversation with her.

When she learned that the woman before her would be her son's homeroom teacher for his four years at university, Mrs. Zhou adopted a very deferential manner, even bordering on ingratiating.

Mrs. Zhou's personality was hard to describe. Having spent years struggling at the bottom of society while raising her son, she had a somewhat calculating streak. When she met a "benefactor" of a higher social standing, she would even play the fool when it suited her. She was a little like Granny Liu visiting the Grand View Garden.

When reading Dream of the Red Chamber as a child, one always liked to laugh at Granny Liu for being so unsophisticated and ignorant of everything.

Reading Dream of the Red Chamber again as an adult, one would realize that everyone in this society was much the same; they just had to play different roles on different occasions.

Zhou Yuwen's mother was that sort of person. She deliberately played the fool only because she hoped to secure the greatest benefits for her son.

To Yao Lan, however, it all felt somewhat disjointed.

Zhou Yuwen's mother reminded Yao Lan of a warmhearted neighborhood committee auntie. Dressed simply and instantly familiar, she had taken Yao Lan's hand as soon as they met and chatted with her as though they were sisters.

Yao Lan was something of an intellectual, so when she encountered someone like Mrs. Zhou, she was caught off guard by the warmth and did not know how to respond to her.

Above all, the contrast between mother and son struck Yao Lan as jarring.

Mrs. Zhou's clothes and speech were typical of a woman from the lower rungs of society. She did not seem to have seen much of the world, and she had put little care into her outfit, which probably cost only two or three hundred yuan in total.

Yet her son drove a Mercedes worth six hundred thousand.

Yao Lan found it hard to connect the mother and son.

"This child hasn't had it easy. When all's said and done, it's my fault for being blind when I was young and choosing the wrong man. His father and I divorced a long time ago, and I raised him on my own. It wasn't easy!"

Thanks to the traffic jam at the school gate today, Mrs. Zhou had the time to give Yao Lan the full account she had been telling for more than a decade.

After hearing all this in just over ten minutes, Yao Lan felt a little dazed.

Hadn't had it easy?

She looked at Zhou Yuwen driving in front. Unlike his mother, Zhou Yuwen was dressed neatly and respectably. He drove the car with easy skill and, as though he had been to the school more than once, slipped through the back gate without difficulty.

"Thankfully, this boy has made me proud!"

Only as she continued listening to Mrs. Zhou did Yao Lan come to understand.

Mrs. Zhou first sighed, then went on to explain that Zhou Yuwen had loved reading since he was little and was especially gifted in literature. He knew his mother had a hard time, so he took it upon himself to help with the housework and write novels online.

"Once he got to high school, I never had to worry about him."

"Teacher Yao, do you see this car? My son bought it with his writing royalties. I heard it cost more than two hundred thousand! Or was it two hundred thousand or three hundred thousand?" Whether Mrs. Zhou really could not remember or had forgotten, no one knew.

She asked Zhou Yuwen as if to check.

Two hundred thousand?

Yao Lan's gaze swept instinctively around the car. The leather trim had a soft, matte sheen, the metal accents on the center console ahead were understated and clean, and the instrument panel glowed quietly.

Yao Lan was no housewife who had never seen the world.

This was a Mercedes E-Class. Her family was fairly well-off by Jinling standards, and although both she and her husband worked, her husband had only dared buy a car costing a little over four hundred thousand to keep up appearances.

She would not even have dared dream of a Mercedes costing more than six hundred thousand.

How could it possibly be two hundred thousand?

Through the rearview mirror, Yao Lan gave Zhou Yuwen, who was driving in front, a suspicious look.

But she found that Zhou Yuwen merely gave her an awkward smile.

He answered his mother, "Two hundred thousand or three hundred thousand, it's all the same. Either way, it was pretty expensive."

"Exactly! I thought it was pretty expensive too! This boy didn't even tell me he was buying a car. If you ask me, he just got his license! Any old secondhand car would have done, but he insisted on buying one this expensive!"

"Teacher Yao, you must help me keep this boy in line from now on!"

"He's older now and won't listen to me anymore! Please make sure to keep an eye on him!"

Mrs. Zhou spoke earnestly, while Yao Lan looked thoughtful. After a long while, she asked, "Is Zhou Yuwen a very good writer?"

"Of course! He's been gifted at writing since he was little!"

"The boy showed me how much he made in royalties, and I couldn't believe it! Do you know how much he earns in a month? It's enough to cover three years of my wages!"

Speaking of her son, Mrs. Zhou could not help feeling proud.

"Should we go to the administration building first, Teacher Yao?" Zhou Yuwen asked softly.

"Oh, yes." It had to be said that Mrs. Zhou was a compelling storyteller. Yao Lan had even forgotten she was on her way to work, only remembering when Zhou Yuwen reminded her.

She saw Zhou Yuwen driving around the campus as though he were at home.

"How do you know your way around so well? Have you been here before? How come I didn't know?" Before Yao Lan could ask, Mrs. Zhou had already put the questions to him suspiciously.

Zhou Yuwen said, "I brought a classmate here for a visit during summer vacation."

"So that's it. I was wondering how you knew your way around so well. This child has been meticulous since he was little, and he even knew to get to know the school in advance." Even then, Mrs. Zhou did not forget to heap praise on him in front of his homeroom teacher.

The administration building was not far from the school's back gate. There was no need to take the plane-tree-lined avenue from the main entrance, and they could also avoid many of the new students arriving to register.

They took a small road straight through, and the black executive Mercedes pulled smoothly to a stop in front of the administration building.

When Yao Lan got out of the car, Zhou Yuwen's mother took her hand and said a little shyly, "Teacher Yao, Zhou Yuwen will be in your care from now on. I brought some local specialties from home. They're nothing valuable, so please don't turn them down."

Hearing that she wanted to give her something, Yao Lan hurriedly waved her hands and said in Mandarin with a slight southern accent, "There's no need, no need."

"I'm Zhou Yuwen's homeroom teacher. It's only right that I look after him. Sister, you really don't need to do this. Besides, Zhou Yuwen is so obedient and sensible. You really don't!"

Yao Lan kept waving her hands.

But Mrs. Zhou only said that they were nothing valuable.

Just little things from back home.

At the same time, she kept urging Zhou Yuwen to hurry and open the trunk so he could help carry the things upstairs for Teacher Yao.

By then, Zhou Yuwen had also gotten out of the car. He said, "How about I take them to Teacher Yao's home when she gets off work later?"

"If we carry them over now, we'd have to trouble Teacher Yao to carry them home herself, which would be a hassle."

At Zhou Yuwen's words, Mrs. Zhou loosened her grip on Yao Lan's hand a little, thinking that her son had a point. She still did not forget to remind him.

"Then don't you forget."

Zhou Yuwen nodded.

Yao Lan breathed a sigh of relief and thought, What would it look like if they really carried several boxes of things into my office for me?

"Teacher Yao."

As the group was still going back and forth, a girl in the distance spotted Teacher Yao and came over of her own accord.

The girl was called Shao Yun. She was from Nantong, a third-year student and Zhou Yuwen's class assistant. Tall and slender, with snow-white skin, she was responsible for helping Yao Lan handle new-student recruitment on the first day of school.