Chapter 45: Like Hell We’re Sleeping!

“Linlin…”

In Linlin’s fuzzy consciousness, she vaguely heard a gentle female voice calling her name. 

So sleepy. She didn’t want to wake up. 

She burrowed deeper into that warm embrace. 

Then. 

Knock knock knock. 

The door to Linlin’s room was rapped on. 

“Is Linlin sleeping? Mom’s coming in.” 

The next second, Linlin’s eyes flew open. 

Her pupils dilated instantly. 

Mom?! 

What mom?! 

Which mom?! 

Her mind felt like someone had tossed a bomb inside it, exploding with a boom and blasting away every last trace of sleepiness. 

She jerked her head up. 

Wait a minute. 

Uncle Chen had said Mom and Dad wouldn’t be back until the afternoon. How were they here early! 

Linlin turned her head and met Ruan Yuan’s equally wide-open eyes. 

The two stared at each other. 

Then Linlin looked down at herself. 

She was wearing a pink camisole nightgown. The hem was all wrinkled and bunched up around her waist, exposing her safety shorts. 

Her two bare legs were pinned beneath Ruan Yuan’s leg. 

And Ruan Yuan’s hand. 

Was still resting on her small chest. 

It even gave a few extra rubs in reaction to Linlin’s movement. 

Linlin: “???” 

What time is this and you’re still rubbing! 

Ruan Yuan was still half-asleep right now. She didn’t seem worried at all. 

Linlin’s brain spun ten thousand laps in that single second. 

It was over. 

Over over over over over. 

She had warned Ruan Yuan to behave herself yesterday, and what happened? 

The very next morning, Mom was standing right outside the door, about to push it open. 

And her daughter was being held in the arms of a strange girl, chest being rubbed while they slept! 

How the hell was she supposed to explain this! 

“Linlin? Mom’s coming in.” 

The sound of the doorknob turning. 

Linlin’s heart slammed to a stop. 

The door swung open. 

A figure appeared in the doorway. 

Pink hair. 

About 170 centimeters tall. 

Legs impossibly long. The whole person looked like a model who had stepped out of a magazine, with a head-to-body ratio of roughly eight heads. 

Her features were mature and elegant, carrying the calm confidence of someone who had seen every possible situation. 

Linlin stared at her. 

She stared back at the bed. 

Linlin seriously wondered: Is this really my mom? 

Aside from the hair color being the same, where did she and this woman even look alike? 

But now was not the time to think about that. 

Mom was clearly seeing the scene in front of her right now. 

On the bed. 

Her daughter. 

Being held by a strange black-haired girl. 

The girl’s hand was still on her daughter’s chest. 

The daughter’s nightgown was rolled up to her waist, exposing safety shorts and two bare legs. 

The blanket was a tangled mess. 

Two pillows lay side by side, one of them obviously hugged all night and covered in wrinkles. 

The air stayed silent for a full three seconds. 

Linlin’s mind was already braced for screaming, questioning, or any normal mother’s reaction. 

But Mom said nothing. 

She simply stood there, her expression a little subtle. 

Then. 

Ruan Yuan spoke. 

“Good morning, Mom.” 

Her voice was still hoarse from sleep, but her tone was as sincere as a well-behaved child. 

“I’m Linlin’s girlfriend.” 

Linlin: “…” 

Linlin’s mom: “…” 

Linlin’s brain buzzed. 

Girlfriend? 

Ruan Yuan you giant pervert what the hell are you saying! 

She whipped her head around and glared at Ruan Yuan. 

Ruan Yuan didn’t look at her. 

She simply gazed at Mom with the sincere expression of a girl meeting her girlfriend’s parents for the first time. 

Linlin’s mom was stunned too. 

She looked at Ruan Yuan, then at Linlin, then at all the messy traces on the bed. 

She stayed silent for a few seconds. 

Then she spoke. 

Her voice remained perfectly calm, as if she had gone through this exact scenario eight hundred times before. 

“Linlin’s girlfriend?” 

“Mm.” Ruan Yuan nodded. “We’ve been together for a while now.” 

Linlin had completely turned to stone. 

What was Ruan Yuan saying? 

When did we start dating! 

How did we suddenly become girlfriends today! 

Sure, there was a bit of ambiguity between them… 

But that was ambiguity! Not dating! 

Linlin’s mom stayed quiet for a moment. 

Then she looked at Linlin. 

“Linlin, is what she said true?” 

Linlin opened her mouth. 

She wanted to say “no.” 

They clearly weren’t in that kind of relationship. 

But… 

She looked at Ruan Yuan’s back. 

Ruan Yuan had her back to her, so Linlin couldn’t see her expression, but her shoulders were tensed straight. 

It looked like she was waiting for an answer. 

If she said “no,” would Ruan Yuan get kicked out by Mom? 

Would she… be disappointed? 

She didn’t even know why she was thinking about any of this. 

She looked at Mom again. 

Mom was watching her, her eyes complicated. 

There was surprise, confusion, and something else Linlin couldn’t read. 

It was like… she was waiting for the truth. 

But what was the truth? 

What exactly was her relationship with Ruan Yuan? 

They could be called friends, but friends didn’t sleep in each other’s arms. 

They could be called lovers, but they had never confirmed anything. 

They could be called… no, she couldn’t even think that word. 

She opened her mouth. 

“…Mm.” 

Her voice was very small. 

But in the quiet room, it was clear enough. 

Ruan Yuan’s shoulders relaxed a fraction. 

Linlin’s mom’s expression shifted too. 

Then she smiled. 

“I see.” 

She said. 

“Why didn’t Linlin tell Mom earlier?” 

Linlin lowered her head, not knowing what to say. 

Tell her earlier? 

I only just found out I have a girlfriend. 

Mom watched Linlin’s silent face and didn’t press further. 

She stepped forward in her slippers, walking slowly to the bed. 

She bent down, reached out, and gently rubbed Linlin’s cheek. 

Linlin: “…” 

After rubbing Linlin’s face, Mom nodded in satisfaction. 

“My little Linlin is still so cute.” 

Then she looked at the wrinkled nightgown on Linlin’s body and the hem that had rolled up to her waist. 

She reached out and tidied it for her. 

She pulled the hem down, covering the safety shorts. 

“Linlin still sleeps as restlessly as ever.” 

She said, her tone perfectly natural. 

“You’ve been like this since you were little. The blanket never stays on, and your nightgown always rolls all the way up.” 

Linlin: “…” 

So she had always been like this? 

Should she be grateful that at least this time it had only rolled up to her waist and not her neck? 

Linlin’s mom glanced at the bedsheet again. 

It was wrinkled beyond recognition, full of the traces from the two of them rolling around last night. 

And the pillows—two side by side, one clearly hugged all night and still covered in rumpled creases. 

Linlin’s mom looked at those traces and stayed quiet for two seconds. 

“Linlin has grown up.” 

She said. 

“You’re not just Mom’s little cotton-padded jacket anymore.” 

Linlin was stunned. 

Huh? 

What did that even mean? 

Linlin’s mom didn’t explain. 

She bent down and kissed Linlin on the forehead. 

“Are you still sleepy, Linlin? If you are, you can sleep a little longer.” 

She straightened up, her tone light. 

“If you’re awake, you can come downstairs for breakfast. Dad’s down there too. He misses you so much.” 

Then she turned and walked toward the door. 

When she reached the doorway, she paused. 

She looked back and gave Ruan Yuan a once-over. 

It looked like she was sizing her up. 

Then she smiled. 

“Little girl, come down for breakfast too.” 

With that, she closed the door. 

Her footsteps gradually faded away. 

The room fell quiet once more. 

Linlin stared at the closed door, her mind still completely blank. 

Just… like that? 

Mom just accepted it? 

Ruan Yuan’s voice came from behind her. 

“In that case, Linlin, let’s sleep a little longer.” 

Linlin turned her head. 

Ruan Yuan had already lain back down. Her hand reached out again, ready to pull her back into her arms. 

Linlin smacked the hand away. 

“Like hell we’re sleeping!” 

She sat up and pointed at Ruan Yuan. 

“Get dressed right now!”