Madam, Please Behave-Chapter 284: A Belated Gift

The moment the homeroom teacher finished speaking, most of the classmates who were busy studying turned their eyes toward Liu Zhiyue's seat.

But after just a couple of glances, everyone went back to their own business.

On the contrary, as his deskmate, Zhou Shiyan seemed a bit surprised. She turned her head and glanced at him.

Unlike the others, Zhou Shiyan knew very well what had happened in Liu Zhiyue's family. She also knew exactly who the "mom" mentioned by the teacher really was.

Originally, she thought Liu Zhiyue would show some resistance upon hearing that his mom came looking for him. But when she saw his expression, she realized she was wrong.

After hearing the teacher’s words, Liu Zhiyue just calmly looked towards the doorway, pondered for about five seconds, and then silently stood up.

He walked past Zhou Shiyan and headed towards the door.

When he got there, he instinctively glanced left and right down the hallway but didn’t spot any sign of Li Wanran.

Before he could ask, the teacher beside him said,

“She’s in the office.”

“Mm.”

With a soft reply, Liu Zhiyue said nothing more and simply followed the teacher to the office.

When he pushed the door open, he saw the familiar back of someone sitting across from the homeroom teacher.

Seeming to sense the door opening, Li Wanran slightly turned, catching a glimpse of Liu Zhiyue out of the corner of her eye, and then stood up.

Upon seeing this person whom he hadn’t seen for a long time, Liu Zhiyue didn’t show any signs of longing.

He just looked at her calmly, as if looking at a stranger.

The homeroom teacher had no idea what Liu Zhiyue was thinking. He simply hurried to greet the well-dressed, youthful-looking parent, saying,

“Your child has excellent grades, a strong candidate for a top-tier school!”

“Well, naturally, he has half of my genes.”

“…”

The homeroom teacher was momentarily speechless. Among all the parents he had met, wasn’t this usually the time for a few polite pleasantries?

Although he thought this, he didn’t show it as an adult. He just laughed awkwardly and continued discussing Liu Zhiyue’s performance.

But as he spoke, something began to feel off.

The mother sitting before him didn’t seem to react much to what he was saying.

Noticing this, he quickly stopped, thought for a moment, and then asked,

“Well, you—”

“Come out with me.”

Before he could finish, Li Wanran interrupted and spoke directly to Liu Zhiyue, who was still standing motionless, then turned and headed for the door with her bag.

Li Wanran left first, but Liu Zhiyue didn’t move right away. The homeroom teacher was about to say something when Liu Zhiyue spoke up.

“Teacher, I’ll go talk with her for a bit. I’ll be back for class soon.”

The teacher, puzzled but unable to say much, simply nodded and watched Liu Zhiyue walk out of the office.

As the door shut behind him, the homeroom teacher stood in the empty office and mumbled to himself on his way back to his seat.

“Why… don’t they seem like mother and son?”

——

After stepping out, Liu Zhiyue saw Li Wanran’s back.

Before he could speak, Li Wanran, as if she already knew he was there, said plainly without looking back, “Follow me,” and then walked toward the stairs.

Liu Zhiyue didn’t say much and just quietly followed.

It wasn’t until they both reached downstairs that he noticed his so-called biological mother was still heading toward the school gate.

At that moment, he stopped walking.

The sky had already darkened, but the lights from the classrooms on each floor of the teaching building lit up the playground, allowing them to still see each other clearly.

Liu Zhiyue didn’t want to leave school with her, so he called out to the still-walking Li Wanran.

“What do you want?”

Hearing her son’s voice, Li Wanran gradually slowed down and finally stopped.

She stood there for a moment with her back to Liu Zhiyue before slowly turning around.

Looking at the son who now looked different from the boy in her memories.

Unbidden, memories surfaced in Li Wanran’s mind…

The joy she felt when she first found out she was pregnant with Liu Zhiyue, the resolve when she learned she would become a mother, and the way he looked when he was born.

That wrinkly baby had now grown into a tall and handsome young man...

It seemed… this child was even better than she had imagined.

As she stared, lost in thought, her gaze made Liu Zhiyue more and more uncomfortable. Just as he was about to snap, he saw Li Wanran move.

Step by step, she walked toward him.

Until… she stood right in front of him.

Liu Zhiyue silently looked at his mother. Even wearing high heels, she now barely reached his height.

“Just say what you want. I’m still in evening self-study.”

“…”

Li Wanran didn’t respond immediately, instead recalling the last time she had seen him.

Back then, at the stairwell, he had told her never to come again…

At that time, his chubby face was filled with determination.

Different from now…

“Congratulations. I heard from your teacher, your grades are excellent.”

“Mm.”

He gave a flat response and then fell silent. Seeing that he had no interest in continuing the conversation, Li Wanran stopped hiding anything.

She opened her bag, took out a box, and handed it to her son.

“This is your reward. Didn’t you say back in elementary school that you wanted a pen like this?”

“…”

Every word reached Liu Zhiyue’s ears without missing a beat. His eyes shifted away from that familiar yet unfamiliar face and fell on the box in her hand. ƒгeewёbnovel.com

It was a one-hand-sized, finely packaged box with gilded English lettering on it. Slowly, memories of this matter surfaced in his mind…

Holding that position for a while, Liu Zhiyue didn’t take the pen.

Instead, a faint smile appeared on his lips as he stared at this gift—five years too late.

He chuckled softly, then looked at Li Wanran and said lightly,

“I don’t like fountain pens anymore.”