night fades

"Hello, Mom...Mother?" Zhou Ning'an was a little surprised to see this rare missed call on his phone, and called back not so hopefully for the first time.He was a little scared, he was afraid that the news about him and Lin Ye would reach her ears.

"Ning An, why are you not at home, have you gone out?" An elegant but tired female voice came from the microphone.

"No, I...I'm outside." Zhou Ning'an was at a loss for words for a while, and motioned the driver to drive back, trying desperately to explain where he went.

"Well, come back, I'm here to see you." After finishing speaking, the phone hung up.Looking at the phone, Zhou Ning'an lost his mind for a moment. It has been many years. He should have understood that he didn't need to bother thinking of excuses or explanations, because no one would ask, and all they needed was a result.

When he got home, he realized that the atmosphere in the room was not right before he even entered the room. In the room that was already cold and lacking in popularity, it was even worse now.The servants stood cautiously at the door to greet him, not even daring to breathe. The butler, headed by him, lowered his head slightly and whispered, "Master, Madam is here."

"Well, I know." Zhou Ning'an replied a little tiredly, changed his slippers at the door, and went straight into the living room without taking off his suit. He knew that his mother would definitely be waiting for him there.

He came to see his son, but he felt more like a guest than anyone else.

"Mother." Zhou Ning'an pushed the door open and went in. His mother was standing with her back to him and facing the window. It was impossible to tell from her back that she was already a woman in her fifties.Before his father was alive or after his death, she took great care to take care of him, but she didn't do it for him to see for a day.

"Ning'an, you're back." She heard the sound, turned her head to look at him, stared at Zhou Ning'an's face for a while, then looked away at the teacup in her hand.

"Yes, mother, why are you here?" Zhou Ning'an took the tea from the housekeeper, waited for the door to close, and sat down on the sofa.

"Come and see you." Ling Zi sighed, not hiding her tiredness and boredom, "I have something to tell you."

Sure enough, Zhou Ning'an clenched her fists slightly, a little nervous about what she was about to say, but at the same time she couldn't help but feel lost. If it wasn't for something, how could she come here so easily.

"Well, tell me, what's the matter?" Zhou Ning'an wanted to get up, but she waved her hand, walked over and sat down on the sand square opposite him.

Zhou Ning'an then straightened up to do the job, and let his mother carefully look at it for a while. He tried to look natural and relaxed, but he couldn't stop beating his heart.They hadn't seen each other for a long time, and every time they met, he still wanted to look better in the eyes of his mother.It's a pity that there are some things that he can't decide. He can't control who he looks like.

"You look good," Ling Zi looked at it for a while, then said slowly, lowering her head and fiddled with the teacup in her hand, "Who have you been dating recently?"

Zhou Ning'an's heart was full of alarm bells, but he tried his best to be calm, and said with a smile: "No, I'm so busy, how can I have time to play."

Ling Zi glanced at the whitish knuckles he held, didn't say anything, just said: "It's not bad to have a relationship with someone, you are already so old, don't you like women?"

"No!" Zhou Ning'an subconsciously denied, he never considered himself gay, he just happened to fall in love with Lin Ye.

"Well, that's good." Ling Zi took a sip of tea, looked at her only son, her eyes were calm and showed no emotion, "I came here to discuss with you, it's time to prepare for your marriage."

Zhou Ning'an seemed to have been struck by lightning, his whole body froze, his tongue was a little knotted and he said, "What, what? My marriage?"

"Yeah, you're about to be thirty, don't you plan to get married?" Ling Zi raised her eyebrows and glanced at him, with a bit of scrutiny in her eyes.

"I... I'm not in a hurry, I still want to focus on my career first." Zhou Ning'an gave an excuse that has been very useful since childhood, but this time it failed.In other words, Ling Zi didn't intend to let him fool him this time.

"Your career has been successful enough, and your father should be satisfied when he sees it. The last thing he entrusted to me is to see you have a family and have children of your own. After this matter is completed, what I promised him will also be It's all done." She said lightly about her deceased husband, Zhou Ning'an looked at her expression, and couldn't help being afraid that she would say that after she finished supervising his family and childbirth, she could also step down as a mother up.

"Is this my father's last wish?" He asked in a daze.

"Yes, this is the last condition he asked me." Ling Zi didn't seem to notice Zhou Ning'an's loss, and said directly.

"Okay, I see..." Zhou Ning'an murmured, although it was difficult to accept, but he knew that his father had also tried his best to save the family, but it was a pity that it failed miserably.

"Well, it's settled. I don't want to delay too long. I will keep an eye on the candidates. If you have a suitable candidate, you can tell me together." Ling Zi said, putting down the teacup in her hand, getting up and preparing to leave.

"Mom!" Zhou Ning'an exclaimed, his lips trembling, and he asked tentatively, "What about you? Do you want me to have my own family too?"

Ling Zi's straight back stiffened a bit, she stopped, paused for a few seconds, then softened her tone, and said, "Yes, of course I also hope that you can have a complete family."

"So... what if I already have someone I like?" Zhou Ning'an asked weakly.

"That's okay, you can still get married. Just like me and your father." Her tone became calm again, and her sharp words pierced Zhou Ning'an's heart like a knife, making him unable to refute. "If she likes you, then she should be able to understand this kind of marriage. You need a woman with a suitable family background and an excellent heir. If she doesn't want to, then she probably doesn't love you that much, and you have nothing to lose. Isn't it? "

Zhou Ning'an's lips trembled and he couldn't speak. His mother gave him a meaningful look, then turned and left.

He slumped on the sofa limply, feeling a sense of suffocation from within. He held his chest and breathed hard, feeling an unbearable pain in his chest.

That kind of pain, as if someone reached in and took away the love and hope that was hidden in his heart.

Unknowingly, tears of pain came out of him. He was like a fish thrown on the shore, breathing heavily, but unable to take in any oxygen.For a moment, Zhou Ning'an thought that it would be good if he died like this.

Then he remembered that Lin Ye might still be waiting for him to have dinner.

He also wanted to travel with Lin Ye, raise an animal with Lin Ye, and do small and big things in life with Lin Ye.There were still too many things he hadn't done with Lin Ye, and he couldn't bear it.

Thinking of this, his tears flowed out uncontrollably. He grabbed his heart tightly and called Lin Ye while enduring the severe pain.