"A-Zhi~" A female voice sang.
Huang Zhen who was sitting on the couch located in the living room immediately turned his head and his eyes seemed to be sparkling with delight as he called out to the woman, "Mom!"
Huang Zhi Juan smiled brightly as she heard her son, "A-Zhen, where's your brother."
Huang Zhen stood up and engulfed his mother in a hug as he answered, "He's upstairs."
Huang Zhi Juan hugged the boy back and called out to Zhihao loudly when she separated from the hug, "A-Zhi!~ Come down and see the gifts your mom brought for my baby!~"
"You brought gifts for me?" Huang Zhen beamed as he looked at the shopping bags carried by Huang Zhi Juan.
Huang Zhi Juan chuckled as she rubbed the boy's head, "Don't be silly. I'm talking about my other baby~"
Huang Zhen pursed his lips and looked to be dejected as he went back to the couch and sat down comfortably.
"Eh? Why isn't your brother coming down?" Huang Zhi Juan asked and the boy simply shrugged his shoulders as a response..
"Try calling him again. He might be sleeping. His sleeping schedule is messed up because of his gaming."
Huang Zhi Juan frowned as she heard this, "Sleeping?"
Huang Zhen nodded his head as he turned on his smartphone and started chatting with Li Ying.
"A-Zhi, honey, come down!~" Huang Zhi Juan shouted once again and this time, she could hear the sound of a door on the floor upstairs opening and closing, indicating that Zhihao had heard her.
Zhihao rubbed his eyes as he made his way downstairs.
"Aiya~ Still sleeping?" Huang Zhi Juan smiled warmly as she looked at her son.
"Mom?" Zhihao's voice sounded hoarse as he muttered, "What are you doing here?"
"What else do you think? I brought so many things for my baby~" Huang Zhi Juan beamed as she held up the shopping bags clutched tightly in her hands.
"For me?" Zhihao frowned as he wondered what had taken over his mother.
It wasn't like Huang Zhi Juan to just pop up at his apartment with hands filled with gifts.
Huang Zhi Juan shook her head as she responded, "I brought them for my new baby~"
"Mom!" Both Huang Zhen and Zhihao snapped at her in shock, "Are you pregnant again?"
"Huh? Of course, not!" Huang Zhi Juan broke out laughing as if she had heard something ridiculous.
"Oh, thank God!" Huang Zhen exclaimed as he sunk back onto the soft couch.
"Then which baby are you talking about?" Zhihao scratched his head as he questioned.
"Yours, honey."
"I'm pregnant?!" Zhihao's eyes widened as he looked down at his stomach.
"..."
"Big bro, you're a boy. Who the hell can get you pregnant?" Huang Zhen asked as his face cringed at the sight of his brother looking down at his stomach.
"A-Zhi, you're so funny~" Huang Zhi Juan chuckled as she put all the shopping bags down on the table, "I'm talking about your other baby~"
"Mom, if somebody came to you and said I got someone pregnant, they are lying! I definitely did not!" Zhihao defended himself as he made his way to the living room and got seated beside Huang Zhen on the couch.
"That's not it," Huang Zhi Juan shook her head and sighed as she wondered how her son could be such a big idiot, "Are you sure I gave birth to you?"
Zhihao shrugged his shoulders as he replied, "You should be the one who knows the answer to that."
Huang Zhi Juan chuckled as she took a seat in front of him on the opposite couch, "Honey, I'm talking about your boyfriend. I brought so many gifts for him, where is he?"
"Oh, you were talking about Li Ling," Zhihao sighed and it took a whole minute for him to suddenly realize it, "Mom! How do you know that?!"
Huang Zhi Juan giggled as she heard this question, "I'm your mother. The whole world knows. You think I won't? There's nothing you can hide from me, boy."
"No that's...!" Zhihao's eyes widened as he suddenly looked to be tongue-tied.
"So where is my new baby?" Huang Zhi Juan seemed to be dancing in her seat as she asked happily.
"Brother Li Ling doesn't live here," Huang Zhen answered without even bothering to look up from his phone.
"A-Zhi, what's the use of moving into your own apartment if you're not even gonna sneak your boyfriend in here?!" Huang Zhi Juan frowned.
Zhihao pursed his lips and looked at his mother with an indecipherable expression as he asked, "Mom, your reaction is quite... Weird, did you know that?"
"Eh?" Huang Zhi Juan frowned as she questioned, "Then what do you want me to do? You want me to yell at you and throw money on your boyfriend's face? Asking him to leave you or something? Is that what I should do?"
Zhihao gulped as he instantly shook his head, "Please, don't do that."
Huang Zhi Juan smiled brightly as she heard this, "I wouldn't have done that even if you asked me to do something like that."
"Big bro, just be happy that she's accepting your relationship," Huang Zhen commented from the side.
Huang Zhi Juan nodded her head as she agreed, "It's quite rare to find such a loving mother like me!~ You should consider yourself lucky."
Zhihao sighed as he straightened his back and looked at his mother, "So you're okay with it? You're really okay with me not dating a girl?"
Huang Zhi Juan was silent for a minute before she smiled thinly and asked, "If I say I'm not, would you start dating a girl?"
Zhihao gulped as he shook his head.
"Then why ask such a question?"
"That's because..." Zhihao looked down at his hands and dare not continue that sentence.
"A-Zhi, I'm not a little-minded person," Huang Zhi Juan stood up and made her way over to the other couch, "There are a lot of people in this world and I believe that each one of them is different. You will like interacting with some of them and dislike interacting with some others. You'll feel more connected to a certain person while at the same time, you'll feel completely disconnected from someone else. In this huge world, filled with people, you're bound to feel lonely. You'll feel as if you're all alone, as if nobody understands you and that's not really a good feeling."
She sighed, "In this world, if you manage to find one person whom you love and connect with more than anyone else, it's a really beautiful thing. And if that love is shared between the two of you, it need not even be said how beautiful of a connection that is."
She grabbed his hand and squeezed it gently as she continued, "I want my sons to be happy. If your happiness lays with Li Ling, do you think I wouldn't support it just because of something trivial as gender?"
Zhihao didn't know why but he suddenly felt like crying as he heard this. He was happy and yet sad at the same time.
Huang Zhi Juan suddenly chuckled as she added, "You know, at one point in time, I was even ready to accept the new gaming system as my daughter-in-law."
"What?!" The tears that had started forming in Zhihao's eyes instantly vanished as he heard that last sentence.
Huang Zhi Juan continued to laugh as she patted Zhihao's head, "I'm glad you didn't get married to your console. It would have been pretty awkward to call that thing my daughter."
"Mom, have I ever told you how amazing you are?" Huang Zhen suddenly asked as he lifted his eyes from his phone, "You're an amazing mother~"
Huang Zhi Juan broke into a warm smile as she heard this, "And you just found out?"
Huang Zhen shrugged his shoulders and looked back at his phone, not bothering to give a response to his mother.
"Mom, he's right." Zhihao chuckled, "I'm lucky to have you."
"Aw~ Did I make you cry, my baby?" Huang Zhi Juan rubbed his head lovingly, "I tried my best to sound cool."
Zhihao nodded his head softly in between his chuckles.
"It's okay, honey," Huang Zhi Juan pulled him in a hug and patted his back, "But I am unhappy about one thing."
Zhihao gulped and looked worried for a second as he pulled away from the hug and met her eyes, "You're unhappy? About what?"
Huang Zhi Juan nodded her head with a frown as she pointed at the shopping bags placed on the table, "I was so excited to buy some wedding gifts for my new son-in-law, but you told me he isn't here."
"..." Zhihao didn't know if he wanted to laugh or cry as he heard this.
"All of this is nonrefundable and expensive, so you tell me, what do I do with it now?"
Zhihao chuckled as he saw the dejected expression on his mother's face, "Mom, do you want to meet him?"
Huang Zhi Juan immediately bobbed her head up and down as she beamed, "Of course!"
"Should I bring him to the main house for dinner?" Zhihao smiled.
The smile on his mother's face dropped as soon as she heard the words 'main house'.
"Aiya~ I said I was okay with it, but... Your father thinks otherwise," Huang Zhi Juan responded awkwardly.