Mom's eyes were wide open, glistening even in the darkness, tears welling up.
Her eyes were filled with panic and fear, her flustered expression pitiful and vulnerable.
At that moment, what Mom feared most wasn't Daguo taking advantage of her, but the possibility of being discovered by me or Teacher An. If that happened, her reputation would be ruined, and the consequences would be unbearable for her.
After a while, however, the panic in Mom's eyes lessened, and she seemed to gradually calm down.
Thinking carefully, the likelihood of being discovered seemed slim.
"Smack..." After a long kiss, their lips parted. Mom's red lips were now glossy, and she gasped for air, though Daguo's body still pressed against hers.
"My mom sleeps deeply after drinking and definitely won't wake up. Even if she does, she'll just think you went to the bathroom and go back to sleep. As for Xiao Yang... unless he sneaks into our bedroom and finds us missing, do you think he'd suspect anything?" Daguo said breathlessly, his chest pressing against Mom's breasts, as if trying to reassure her.
"Ha... ha... ha..." Mom dared not make a sound, only opening her red lips to gasp for air. Whenever she tried to struggle, Daguo's body pressed even tighter against hers.
"No..." As Daguo's hands reached for Mom's shoulders and began to pull down her nightgown, she suddenly wrapped her arms around her chest, preventing the gown from slipping further.
The nightgown Teacher An had given Mom was quite loose, with a wide neckline that already revealed large patches of her snow-white chest.
"No... don't..." Mom closed her eyes at this moment, continuously murmuring these words while a single tear squeezed from between her tightly shut eyelids, glistening with a crystalline light in the darkness.
Seeing Mom cry, Daguo now seemed somewhat hesitant.
"One week later..." After closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, Mom reopened them and uttered four seemingly random words.
Hearing these words, not only was Daguo confused, but even I was baffled.
"What? I... I don't understand..." Daguo tentatively asked after hearing Mom's words. Perhaps her tears had once again left him at a loss—a woman's tears are always most effective against a man.
"One week later... I can give myself to you..." Mom closed her eyes again, holding her chest as she spoke. When she said this, she seemed to have completely relaxed, as if she had regained her composure.
"No... you're lying to me again. You've been ignoring me all this time, not even replying to my messages..." Upon hearing Mom's words, Daguo froze once more, then reached for her breasts, kneading them as he spoke, his voice filled with sorrow and pain.
"This time... this time I won't lie to you..." Mom opened her eyes, the tears seemingly gone. She looked directly at Daguo, and since he was taller than her, she had to tilt her head up to meet his gaze. It was rare for Mom to look Daguo in the eye like this.
"Then at that time... you... I..." Hearing Mom's words and seeing her beautiful eyes so close, Daguo seemed to truly believe her, though he asked hesitantly. Mom's direct gaze actually made him nervous.
"At that time... you can do whatever you want..." As Mom said this, she closed her eyes again.
Hearing these words, Daguo's breathing suddenly became rapid, as if he had received a powerful shock.
"Okay... it's a deal... if by then..." Daguo took a deep breath and continued, but before he could finish, Mom pushed him away.
Mom took a deep breath, then pulled her nightgown back up and straightened her hair.
"Hurry back now, before someone finds out... I'm leaving..." After tidying herself up, Mom said this to Daguo, then walked around him and headed for the exit.
This time, Daguo didn't stop her. In those final moments, Mom had been surprisingly calm, and the look in her eyes held such unwavering determination that even I found it utterly convincing, let alone Daguo.
I didn't have time to think too much. I quickly jumped down from the woodpile and, using the cover of the wind outside, hurried toward the back door.
There was enough time for me to make it while Mom walked to the warehouse door. As I rushed through the back door, I couldn't help but peer through the crack, only to see that Mom hadn't emerged yet.
"Huh?" Mom didn't come out—had Daguo changed his mind?
Had he pulled her back again?
At that moment, I was truly caught in a dilemma—should I go back?
Just as I was about to open the door and head back, the iron door of the storeroom creaked open. Mom stepped out, startling me so much that I quickly retreated into the bedroom. After closing the door, I leaned against it, my back pressed firmly against the wood.
A short while later, I heard the sound of the back door opening, followed by footsteps that seemed to pause briefly outside my bedroom door. Then, soft footsteps began to fade into the distance.
Soon after, I heard the sound of a bedroom door opening.
Not long after that, another set of footsteps echoed—similar to the earlier ones—pausing briefly outside my door before fading away. The sound of a door closing followed, and everything fell into silence.
"Whew..." After waiting for what felt like an eternity, I finally let out a heavy sigh of relief. Everything had finally quieted down.
Mom and Daguo were both back. Although nothing ultimately happened between them, the whole ordeal had left me feeling breathless with tension.
Daguo's audacity was truly astonishing. How could he carry Mom out of the house while both An Laoshi and I were present? He almost... If it were me, I would never have had the nerve.
"One week later..." I murmured softly to myself, staring into the darkness of the bedroom.
Was Mom just buying time?
Judging from their conversation, it seemed Mom had stood Daguo up several times before. In fact, she hadn't even replied to his messages on WeChat recently, leaving him out in the cold.
Perhaps it was this prolonged neglect that drove Daguo to such frustration, prompting him to carry Mom into the storeroom and nearly force himself on her.
I have to admit, I admire Mom. Even under the influence of red wine, she still resisted Daguo. They say alcohol lowers inhibitions, but at least Mom managed to maintain her composure. It speaks volumes about her strong self-control—maybe that's why Daguo has never been able to win her over.
Quietly, I made my way back to the bed and lay down. Tonight would undoubtedly be a sleepless one for Daguo, Mom, and me.
The day after tomorrow is when Mom and I are supposed to go on a trip. One week later... Could it be when we return?
Is Mom deceiving Daguo, or did she genuinely agree to his request?
Recalling the look in Mom's eyes at that moment—teary and vulnerable—I found myself believing her.
Did she agree to Daguo's demands because she felt pressured by the situation?
Or... had she already made this decision long ago, just never found the right moment to say it?
Over such a long time, Mom must have struggled, weighed her options countless times, and wrestled with her thoughts over and over.
Was this a decision she had already made, or was it a spur-of-the-moment choice forced upon her by Daguo?
I truly have no way of knowing.
I'm not sure how much time passed before I finally drifted into a fitful sleep. The next morning, I was awakened by a soft knock on the door.
Was it Mom?
Was she knocking to wake me up?
Still half-asleep, I got up, dressed, and stepped out of the bedroom. But instead of Mom, I saw An Laoshi and a yawning Daguo. Mom was nowhere in sight.
According to Teacher An, Mom had gotten up and gone home two hours ago without even having breakfast. She said there were some accumulated orders from overnight that needed to be handled urgently, so she told me to finish breakfast before heading home.
As I sat at the table eating the breakfast Teacher An had prepared, I wondered—did Mom really have orders to deal with?
Or was she just avoiding Daguo?
If that were the case, then what Mom said last night… might not have been entirely true.
Mom isn't someone who lies easily, unless… she was forced into a corner.
When I got home, Mom seemed her usual self, except she was wearing heavy makeup.
I smiled, but the weariness in my eyes was impossible to hide.
For the rest of the day, Mom buried herself in the storeroom, busily working as if trying to finish all the orders before we left.
Another day passed, and Mom and I shouldered our bags, stepped out of the house, locked all the doors securely, and boarded a bus heading toward the city we had long yearned to visit.
From the moment we left home, Mom held onto something in her hand—a photograph of Dad...
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