They stared at each other for three seconds. On the fourth, Wen Ran blinked. Wen Pingping rolled her eyes and sat down: right, her son is gay. Two men can’t have kids. Any thoughts of twins or a dragon-and-phoenix pair were purely her own overactive imagination.
She exhaled silently, said nothing, pushed the mahjong tiles aside, then fed them back into the automatic table to collect. The machine whirred, and she glanced at Wen Ran again, quietly sighing. “Alright, enough kneeling. Get up.”
“You kneel once, my heart nearly falls out.”
“Kneel a few more times, I’ll have a heart attack.”
Seeing Wen Ran kneel silently with that handsome face, Wen Pingping finally said, “Fine, fine, get married! It’s just marriage.”
She had faced storms in life—being her own first-generation widow—this was nothing. Her son was marrying someone, not changing gender.
Wen Ran grinned, quickly stood, walked behind Wen Pingping, massaging her shoulders while grinning and cooing, “I knew you’d agree!”
“You’re the best, Mom!”
“Cut it out,” she said, secretly enjoying it. Her only son, from baby to now, acting cute—if she didn’t appreciate it, who would?
“Marriage?” Wen Pingping finally asked carefully. “Who did you sleep with? Recently?”
“Sleeping once and then marriage?”
“What’s his background?”
“What’s his name?”
“How old?”
“What does he do?”
“How did you meet?”
“So much liking that you proposed marriage immediately?”
“You’re rushing into a flash marriage, you know that?”
“He’s Luo Xiao. Luo, like ‘the sound of the wind through withered branches’ Xiao.”
Wen Ran continued, massaging her mom’s shoulders: “You remember last week I sent you your car for maintenance? That’s how I met him—at that auto shop. He works there, fixing cars.”
“Super handsome, super manly. First sight, I really liked him.”
“I chased him.”
“Age? Didn’t ask, probably 27 or 28—slightly older than me.”
“Recently I’ve been pursuing him, we hung out, and now we’re together.”
“Being together means marriage?”
“That was your idea, wasn’t it?”
Wen Pingping snorted. “I see, trying to brag. I know exactly who’s proposing marriage. You just met, and you chased him—he wouldn’t bring up marriage. That’s all on you.”
She turned to Wen Ran: “Are you out of your mind? Just met, and you want to get married…?”
Wait!
Marriage? Marriage!?
Wen Pingping immediately spun around, grabbed Wen Ran’s hand, eyes sparkling: “Marriage, huh? Fine!”
“A mechanic? Handsome? You like him?”
“No problem! Your mother approves!”
Wen Ran: “…?”
Wen Pingping happily got up, muttering, “Finally got him married,” twisting her hips as she went, phone in hand, calling someone:
“Listen, my son is getting married~!”
“Yes, finally someone’s taking care of him, so I don’t have to deal with his crazy antics every day.”
“You wouldn’t believe it—last week he dyed his hair pink, wore that earring, some screw-type thing—I nearly had a heart attack.”
“Yes, yes, he needs marriage to settle down. Once married, let him do what he wants with his partner, not me…”
Wen Ran: “……………”
Oh, right. The pink hair was gone, back to black. In front of Luo Xiao, he acted normal for a few days. Almost forgot he’s actually an “abstract artist.”
Abstract-artist Wen Ran followed his mother outside the lounge. “Mom, that detached house in the next neighborhood—give it to me.”
“And the store in the city, you give me that too.”
“Later Luo Xiao can open an auto repair shop…”
Back at Wen Ran’s villa, Luo Xiao kept himself busy, tidying the house, trying to calm himself, thinking about how to explain things later.
Half an hour after Wen Ran left, Luo Xiao pinged the family group chat, asking who had time for a group call—he had news to share.
Luo Feng: “Okay, wait, I’ll get back to the office.”
Ju Yaxin: “Son, go ahead, I’m at home in Singapore.”
Luo Zhengting: “I’m on a business trip in M country, can join.”
Soon, Luo Feng: “Ready.”
Luo Xiao called, adding Luo Zhengting and Ju Yaxin.
Once connected, Ju Yaxin spoke first: “Son, what’s the matter? Something happened?”
Luo Zhengting: “Yeah, I’m listening.”
Luo Feng chimed in too.
Luo Xiao said: “I… met a boy here in C City…”
Halfway through, Ju Yaxin squealed, excited: “Could it be a romance? From your social feed—is he the one with the candied hawthorn?”
“Yaxin,” Luo Zhengting’s deep, authoritative voice said gently, “let him finish.”
“Okay, go ahead.”
Luo Xiao continued: “His name is Wen Ran. I’m planning to marry him.”
The words marry left the three stunned:
- In A City’s CEO office, Luo Feng spat out his coffee.
- In Singapore, Ju Yaxin dropped her facial mask packaging.
- In M Country, Luo Zhengting stumbled on the street.
The three of them, speechless:
!
!!
!!!
Marriage!?
Luo Feng was the first to speak: “You just said you just started dating yesterday! Just started and already marriage!?”
Luo Zhengting: “Boss, what do you know? What’s going on?!”
Ju Yaxin, high-pitched: “Marriage!? Which ‘marry’? Is this the same marriage I understand?”
“Son!!! You finally figured it out?!”
“Our ancestors must be blessing us!?”
“Spending half a fortune rebuilding the ancestral hall… actually worked!?”
The three Luo men: “……”
Then, everyone except Luo Xiao started talking at once:
Luo Feng: “You just started dating—how are you already talking marriage?”
Luo Zhengting: “The guy’s called Wen Ran? How old?”
Ju Yaxin: “I checked your feed again—he looks pretty good-looking.”
Luo Zhengting: “What photo?”
Ju Yaxin: “Your son’s social feed.”
Luo Feng: “Let me see.”
Luo Zhengting: “Marriage isn’t a small matter. You just went to C City, how are you suddenly marrying?”
…
Luo Xiao knew this would happen—marriage is too big of a deal.
After letting the chatter die down, he said: “Wen Ran and I haven’t known each other long. He came to the repair shop I work at last week—we met there. Though short, I like him. We’re together. He proposed marriage, and I agreed.”
A brief silence in the chat… five seconds later, all three said in unison:
“He’s good-looking, right?”
“Obviously, you’re after his looks.”
“Must be handsome, huh?”
Luo Xiao, standing by the dining table, phone on the table, arms crossed: “Fine, call it attraction to good looks.”
Then he added: “I’m getting married. I’ve made my decision and told you. Thoughts?”
The three again, in unison:
“Too sudden.”
“Only known each other for a few days—isn’t it too fast?”
“Flash marriage?”
“How well do you know him?”
“Is this really necessary?”
“Shouldn’t you understand more?”
“Ultimately, as long as you’re sure.”
“No objection here.”
“Since you decided, we trust you.”
They went on…
Suddenly, Ju Yaxin’s voice rose above the others, loud and clear:
“Wonderful! Rebuilding the ancestral hall actually worked! Our ancestors are blessing us!”
“I’ll call back home to light incense for them. Thank the ancestors!”
She choked up: “Thirty years… thirty years, and finally our family can celebrate a happy event again.”
“Three men, two sons… finally, I’m not the only one in this family with a spouse.”
The three Luo men: “……”
Luo Feng reacted fastest: “Ahem… well, I have a meeting, so I’ll hang up first. Bye, Mom and Dad.”
He ended the call immediately.
Luo Zhengting said, “I have something here too, I’ll hang up first as well.”
That left only Luo Xiao.
He was about to disconnect: “Mom…”
Ju Yaxin’s tone suddenly shifted: “Try running off and see what happens.”
Then her voice softened: “The boy’s name is Wen Ran, right? What a lovely name. Just hearing it, I can tell he’s a good kid.”
“How old is Ran Ran?”
“What does he do?”
“How’s his family?”
She continued: “Marriage—no problem. A flash marriage doesn’t matter. Even if it’s quick, you’ll still spend time together, get to know each other, live life.”
“And I’ll have a plane arranged immediately to come over.”
“You’re marrying, so both sets of parents need to meet, right?”
“Don’t worry, son. With me there, I’ll make sure this marriage goes smoothly, happily.”
“If Wen Ran’s family doesn’t agree to such a fast marriage, even if it costs ten, twenty billion, I’ll make sure you bring that beautiful boy into the family.”
“Mom.”
Luo Xiao rubbed his forehead. “I’m marrying, not buying a company.”
At the top of his phone, messages from Luo Feng kept popping up:
- 【Marriage??????】
- 【What marriage????】
- 【You’ve held his hand and already want to marry????】
- 【Are you just trying to legitimize sleeping with him??】
- 【You’re moving so fast, aren’t you afraid you’ll mess it up??】
Meanwhile, at Wen Pingping’s luxury flat, she opened her safe, grabbed a stack of colorful property deeds, and generously said: “Pick whatever you like.”
“He’s just a mechanic; probably no family fortune.”
“No matter, we’ll cover the house and car.”
Elsewhere, Ju Yaxin, done with her facial mask and arranging the plane, changed clothes and headed out—she was going to A City to meet her son’s future spouse and their family. She even planned a seven-figure jewelry gift for Wen Ran’s mom to ensure her approval.
But no one moved faster than Luo Feng—he was already on a first-class flight to C City.
Seated, the young, handsome CEO’s thoughts raced: I need to see this for myself. They’ve just met, and he’s marrying? You’ve barely held the boy’s hand and now marriage?