Chapter 150: Does Her Opinion Not Matter?

The night was deep and still. With top-tier bedding and sleep-inducing incense filling the room, the environment was perfect for rest, yet Xiaoxiao stared at the ceiling for a long time, unable to summon even the slightest desire to sleep. She dared not even turn over, fearing she might wake Lin Shuo.

Lin Shuo shifted, pulling her closer and draping an arm over her shoulders. He nudged his cheek against hers and whispered, "Can't sleep?"

"My mother said she wants to meet you," she asked suddenly.

She had never intended to tell her mother, but on the day Bai Yunchuan was scouring the city for Yu Xin, her phone had happened to run out of battery. Her mother, left with no other choice, had called the landlady and learned that Xiaoxiao had been living away from home. Her mother, having lived through enough to know better, immediately guessed the reason. Eventually, Xiaoxiao was forced to admit she was with Lin Shuo. Her mother knew a bit about their history and assumed it was just a rekindling of an old flame with an ex-boyfriend. But thinking of the hardships her daughter had endured over the years, and how she had long since given up on the idea of dragging anyone else into her life, her mother felt that since Xiaoxiao finally had someone she wanted to stay with, she absolutely had to meet him.

"Of course. We should pick a day for a formal visit. But I'm not familiar with the traditional customs—should I pay a visit to your home, should we invite her here, or should we choose a nice restaurant to host her? What do you think?" Lin Shuo’s response clearly wasn't off-the-cuff; he had evidently been considering this for some time.

Xiaoxiao turned toward him. In the darkness, Lin Shuo’s eyes were bright, filled with deep affection. In truth, there was a question she had wanted to ask for a long time: "It seems I’ve never met your family."

"Is that so?" Lin Shuo’s tone rose in mock protest. "Didn't I take you to see my father last time?"

Xiaoxiao felt a surge of inexplicable frustration. She didn't know how to phrase it, but if they were going to get married, didn't they need their parents' blessing? Her own mother would likely not object, but what good was approval from only one side? Although Lin Shuo had lost his father, his mother was still alive. Was her opinion not important?

Perhaps sensing her thoughts, Lin Shuo let her rest her head on his arm, drawing them closer together. "It’s not that I don't want you to meet her," he said. "It's that I don't know how to face her myself."

Xiaoxiao couldn't help but feel puzzled. Since the divorce, Lin Shuo’s mother had raised him entirely on her own, and the hardships involved went without saying. It stood to reason that the bond between mother and son would be unbreakable, yet the reality seemed far from that. Lin Shuo not only never spoke of his mother but deliberately avoided the topic whenever Xiaoxiao brought it up. Every piece of it defied common sense.

"But she is your mother."

Lin Shuo sighed. "It’s precisely because she is my mother that many things feel like a headache just to think about."