Chapter 12: Who Exactly Are You?

Before entering the house, Jiang Chen changed into the clothes. 

The loose waist and shoulders filled out the moment she pressed “transform.”

Jiang Cheng took a deep breath and rang the doorbell.

Soon, footsteps sounded inside. 

Jiang Xiaoyue opened the door.

As Jiang Cheng had expected, she had been waiting for him.

“Where did you go?” 

Jiang Xiaoyue looked her son up and down.

The slim, upright boy in front of her felt unfamiliar for the first time.

It was as if she hadn’t truly known her son in all these years.

When did the change start…

Jiang Xiaoyue felt her head ache again.

“Come in first.”

Jiang Xiaoyue stepped aside to let Jiang Cheng enter.

The mother and son came to the living room.

Jiang Xiaoyue watched her son sit down, a shopping bag placed at his feet.

“You went out to buy clothes?”

Only then did she notice the new clothes on Jiang Cheng.

“Yes.”

Jiang Cheng tightened the bag’s opening. 

Inside were the dress he had changed out of. 

He didn’t want any more slip-ups.

Fortunately, Jiang Xiaoyue didn’t pursue the topic. She just silently watched her son, saying nothing more.

“I ran into that girl today.”

Jiang Cheng’s face showed just the right amount of surprise. 

Jiang Xiaoyue wasn’t surprised by his expression.

But she still felt something was off.

“So, is there anything else you want to tell me?”

Jiang Xiaoyue had already labeled the situation: her son was indeed dating a girl and had even brought her home.

Thinking of this, her expression darkened.

Jiang Cheng didn’t answer his mother’s question.

Jiang Xiaoyue’s hands clenched. 

She stood up, looking for something to grab, when her eyes fell on her husband’s portrait in the corner.

The black-and-white man smiled faintly, his handsome face eternally young, untouched by time.

Jiang Cheng also looked up. 

Mother and son rarely talked about him, only quietly keeping the incense burning.

In their family’s timeline, the role of husband or father had been far too brief.

Jiang Cheng’s memories of his father had even become very blurry—he only remembered Dad as a gentle man, and Mom always smiling when she was with him.

At this moment, with the powder keg about to ignite, Jiang Xiaoyue was calmed by the man in the photo.

Her heart first ached, then felt powerless, and finally guilty toward her husband.

In the dead of night, she had resented him for cruelly abandoning them.

But now, looking at his portrait, she felt she hadn’t raised or educated their only child well.

Jiang Cheng saw tears welling in his mother’s eyes. 

The excuses he had prepared suddenly made him panic.

He stood up, pulled a few tissues from the table, and wanted to wipe her tears, but Jiang Xiaoyue turned away, leaving only her back to her son.

Her shoulders trembled, yet no sound escaped.

Jiang Cheng walked over, bent down, and gently wiped the tears from the corners of Mom’s eyes with the tissue.

He was already a head taller than her.

Jiang Xiaoyue looked up at her son. 

Much of the anger in her heart dissipated.

He had rarely caused her trouble growing up, hadn’t he? 

Jiang Xiaoyue thought.

She always believed her son wouldn’t do anything out of line—he would be a model student, an obedient and thoughtful good child.

But she had overlooked that teenagers this age also had emotions, and confusion about the opposite sex.

As a mother, she should guide him properly. Having sorted her emotions, Jiang Xiaoyue hugged her son and gently patted his back.

“It’s Mom who hasn’t paid enough attention to you.”

It felt like going back to childhood. 

For a moment, Jiang Cheng felt uneasy. 

But he didn’t push away Mom’s embrace. 

The warm hug, scented with laundry detergent, felt deeply nostalgic.

“Sorry… Mom. There’s something I want to tell you.”

Jiang Cheng took a deep breath, hugged his mother back, and began mentally preparing himself.

“Mom, listen.”

Seeing her son willing to open up, Jiang Xiaoyue let out a sigh of relief. 

Good, good… If she had really lost her temper earlier, who knows what would have happened.

Ready to hear about her son’s love life, Jiang Xiaoyue’s face softened with a smile. 

She looked at him, prepared to offer her advice.

A second later, her smile froze. 

Her widened eyes were filled with bewilderment.

The pink-haired girl standing before her had eyes full of anxiety. 

Her suddenly shrunken figure made Jiang Cheng’s clothes hang loosely.

“Actually, the girl you met today is me.”

The clear, pleasant voice rang out. 

Jiang Xiaoyue instantly matched her to the girl from earlier that evening.

“I’m not dating anyone, and I didn’t bring a girl home… but a few days ago, I turned into a girl.”

Jiang Xiaoyue could no longer hear what her son said next. 

She tried to stay calm, but her heartbeat quickened.

President Wang stood by the floor-to-ceiling window of the suite. 

On the side table was an empty wine bottle.

From her angle, she could see the most dazzling side of the city.

Under the ever-changing neon lights flowed endless traffic.

The city’s night had only just begun—

But President Wang only felt exhausted all over.

She looked at the neatly made bed. 

This was the bedroom Jiang Chen had slept in. 

Now, not a single trace of the girl remained.

President Wang downed the red wine in her glass in one gulp.

Her deep eyes gradually lost focus. 

She seemed to see Jiang Chen getting up from this bed.

The sweet voice still carried a girlish softness.

“Sister…”

She seemed to hear the other whispering in her ear.

President Wang pinched her brow. 

Her eyes returned to their usual calm composure.

Have I been too repressed lately? 

President Wang set the glass on the table.

She returned to her own bedroom and took a shower.

When she came out, she received a WeChat message.

【President Wang, this year’s education scholarship and donation have been transferred to the school account. The school sent a reply inviting you to visit.】

President Wang read it for a while before remembering it was a high school sponsored by the family foundation. 

To promote the new city project, many new schools had received group sponsorships.

Some schools had invited her before, and she had always declined.

President Wang was about to type a refusal when her fingers paused on the keyboard.

Her encounters with her always seemed full of unknowns.

President Wang hesitated.

She was full of curiosity about this mysterious girl, yet annoyed that the other had deceived her.

After returning to the hotel, she had more than once thought of having her secretary investigate her identity, but ultimately held back.

Interacting with the girl was relaxing, like opening a blind box. 

President Wang didn’t want to ruin this surprise.

Or… she didn’t want to lift a certain veil.

Keeping this distance between them was fine too? President Wang wasn’t sure.

She pondered for half an hour before sending a short message to her secretary.

【I will attend.】