Chapter 15: Twenty-Two Years of Mastery

The villa’s door opened silently as a woman quietly slipped inside.

Xiao Yu and Mu Qingwu struggled to contain their laughter while pretending to be oblivious, feeling extremely uncomfortable with the act.

However, the woman didn’t disturb them. Instead, she quietly circled around and hid not far behind them.

Xiao Yu and Mu Qingwu were both amused and frustrated.

Should they pretend to notice her or keep acting unaware?

Clearly, the woman wanted to observe their intimate interactions. So, both regretted not pretending to notice her when she first came in.

What to do now?

Mu Qingwu, seemingly helpless, gently lifted her face and softly pressed her lips against Xiao Yu’s cheek.

In response, Xiao Yu, also appearing helpless, lowered his head to kiss Mu Qingwu’s pale forehead and then buried his face in her hair.

Intimate enough, right?

Internally, they both groaned, ‘Please, just ‘appear’ already!’

But, the woman, quite playfully, didn’t come out and seemed to enjoy watching from her hiding spot.

Was this really okay for you?

Xiao Yu and Mu Qingwu were on the verge of tears.

Luckily, they were both clever.

“I’m hungry,” Xiao Yu said softly, seizing the moment. “Sister, can you make me something to eat?” 

“I…I don’t know how,” Mu Qingwu said with an angry frown at Xiao Yu.

She genuinely didn’t know how to cook. As a child, her mother did the cooking. And after taking over her father’s company before even graduating from college, she had no time to learn.

“I do, let me teach you,” Xiao Yu offered with a smile, lifting Mu Qingwu to her feet.

Hand in hand, they pretended not to notice the woman hiding nearby and headed toward the kitchen in the dining room.

The kitchen was semi-open, which would normally allow for some hiding. However, the woman sneakily moved to another side of the villa’s hall to continue her spying.

They were nearly at their wits’ end. 

“What do we do now?” Mu Qingwu asked in a low, almost tearful voice.

“How should I know?” Xiao Yu was equally frustrated, whispering, “It’s almost noon, Auntie must be getting hungry. Never mind, I’ll teach you how to cook.”

Although he said he would teach, it was mostly Mu Qingwu clumsily trying to assist while Xiao Yu did the actual cooking and chopping. 

During the process, he indeed taught her a few things. To appear more intimate, Xiao Yu wrapped his arms around Mu Qingwu from behind and gently held her delicate hands.

He taught her to chop vegetables, to wield the knife skillfully, and to make scallion pancakes from scratch.

Gradually, they began to fool around.

Xiao Yu, being mischievous, smeared flour on Mu Qingwu’s face. Mu Qingwu let out a scream, grabbed some dough, and slapped it onto Xiao Yu. The scene resembled that of a couple deeply in love joyfully playing around.

Eventually, Xiao Yu embraced Mu Qingwu. In response, she playfully bit his neck.

At that moment, the picture froze. They both seemed to lose themselves…

“Cough, cough, cough!” 

A series of deliberate coughs echoed from outside the kitchen.

Xiao Yu and Mu Qingwu instantly sprang apart as if electrified, both wearing somewhat unnatural expressions.

For a moment, they were indeed engrossed in their playful antics, completely forgetting about the woman outside. Could you believe it?

“Mom, why didn’t you let us know before coming over?” Mu Qingwu feigned surprise as she turned towards the woman standing in the hall.

Xiao Yu also scrutinized the woman.

She stood at about 1.65 meters, neither too fat nor too thin. Despite being middle-aged, she maintained a beautiful appearance with enduring grace.

It made sense. Only a woman of such elegance could have given birth to a beauty like Mu Qingwu, akin to an ice fairy.

“Hmph.” 

Zhou Xuelan, Mu Qingwu’s mother, ignored her daughter and fixed her gaze on Xiao Yu, her face breaking into a smile. 

It was as if the mother-in-law was thoroughly assessing her prospective son-in-law, and she seemed quite pleased with what she saw. Xiao Yu’s good looks, especially after a bit of deliberate grooming, were indeed quite handsome.

“Hello, Auntie, I’m Xiao Yu. It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Xiao Yu greeted Zhou Xuelan with a broad, sunny smile. “I’ve always heard Qingwu talk about how beautiful you are, but I never imagined you’d be this stunning. Standing next to Qingwu, you two could easily pass for sisters.”

Could his twenty-two years of expertise in flattering his own mother possibly fail him now?

“Ha ha, what a nice boy, such a smooth talker!” 

Zhou Xuelan’s face lit up with a broad smile, clearly flattered. She took Xiao Yu’s hand and led him toward the sofa, chatting as they walked, “Come on, tell me how you and Qingwu met…”

Meanwhile, Mu Qingwu rolled her attractive eyes. She felt like she had become invisible, inexplicably feeling a tinge of jealousy. She shot a sharp glance at Xiao Yu’s back before following them.

Xiao Yu had a talent for sweet-talking, a skill honed from years of placating his mother since he was a child. 

He had also learned a thing or two from his father. Given his and his father’s low family status, they often had to resort to such tactics. His mother’s temper was a bit fiery, and without proper coaxing, it was easy to land a scolding.

Adhering to the script rehearsed with Mu Qingwu, Xiao Yu responded eloquently to Zhou Xuelan’s relentless questioning, which felt almost like an interrogation through a household registry.

He answered everything she asked, though she seemed slightly displeased upon learning that he was a policeman. 

However, Zhou Xuelan was exceptionally impressed with everything else, especially after tasting Xiao Yu’s culinary skills during lunch. She even began to overlook his police career.

After the meal, Zhou Xuelan’s gaze towards Xiao Yu transformed. She looked at him with the affectionate eyes of a mother-in-law assessing her future son-in-law.

As for Mu Qingwu, she lost count of how many times she rolled her eyes. 

Initially worried about their ruse falling apart, she was surprised to find her mother exceedingly pleased with Xiao Yu. Her mother’s warmth towards him even sparked a bit of jealousy in her, making her feel like the adopted child and Xiao Yu the biological one.

After some more conversation, Xiao Yu excused himself. Bidding farewell to mother and daughter, he left the villa and caught a taxi back to the Criminal Investigation Brigade.

A day had already passed since the system’s deadline began, leaving him with less than two days. Determined to earn the reward skill and avoid the system retracting his abilities, Xiao Yu had to crack the case, and fast.