{She always holds the steering wheel herself. 3}

It was a beautiful villa.

Unlike the coldness of her villa in the suburbs, before she even entered the house, Shen Qiyue already felt that her mother’s home was filled with endless warmth. She shot a glance at Shen Qinian, signaling that his rare visit to their mother’s place today was all thanks to her, Shen Qiyue.

But Shen Qinian merely followed behind her, showing no sign of gratitude on his face.

This left Shen Qiyue, who felt she deserved the credit, deeply dissatisfied. As she walked to her mother’s side, she had no intention of holding back her complaints. She wanted her mother’s love, and if possible, she wanted that long-lost motherly affection focused solely on her.

What she sought was never the kind of equal treatment that Qian Xu pretended to give. She desired total, absolute favoritism.

“Mom, long time no see!”

“Dad had some last-minute matters to deal with today, so he couldn’t prepare the ceremony you deserved in time,” Shen Qiyue mustered her courage and offered this childishly self-assured explanation to her mother. “I overheard Dad scolding his staff for not doing their job properly. Mom, could you please not be upset?”

In past situations where someone had gotten upset, Qian Xu had often been at the center of it.

Shen Qiyue also remembered that Qian Xu was easy to appease. As long as she was willing to apologize appropriately, Qian Xu wouldn’t hold a grudge.

But she noticed that this approach wasn’t working with her mother, Cheng Shuangyi.

From the moment she entered, Cheng Shuangyi’s face remained dark.

Even when Shen Qiyue cautiously shook her arm, her mother stayed unmoved. This made Shen Qiyue truly anxious, and she fidgeted, saying, “Mom, I really didn’t do it on purpose. Next time, I’ll make sure everything is correct before informing you.”

However, the icy expression on Cheng Shuangyi’s face showed no signs of melting.

If she had any trace of affection for these two little brats, she wouldn’t have ignored them for so long. She had been planning to enjoy a nice beauty sleep this weekend, but these chatty children had disturbed her, and naturally, she was annoyed.

The children had confidently claimed that Shen Qi was going to throw her a party. She had even told her group of plastic friends about it.

But when the time came, it was canceled.

Wasn’t that just playing with her?

Right now, she didn’t even want to say a word to the clingy little girl in front of her. But she knew that if she wanted to get back with Shen Qi, she couldn’t completely neglect these two—

At least, not until she had her way.

So, she had no choice but to play the role of the magnanimous mother and “forgive” them: “How could Mom ever blame you?”

Of course, there were many ways she could hold them accountable.

As an adult, Cheng Shuangyi knew exactly how to handle these two children. If she didn’t make her demands now, then when?

Her tone shifted to one of subtle disappointment: “Yesterday, I really thought I’d be able to see your father… and, of course, my darling babies too.”

“Mom, it’s all because of that…” Shen Qiyue almost blurted out.

She quickly stopped herself, realizing that saying this might upset her mother further. She stammered, “It’s all because… because Dad’s work is just too busy.”

“But I don’t know when I’ll get to see you all again,” Cheng Shuangyi lamented.

Shen Qiyue, convinced of her mother’s generosity, believed that the airport incident yesterday must have just been a whim of her father’s and wouldn’t affect the repair of her parents’ relationship. She eagerly offered, without feeling she was being prompted by any adult, “Mom, the password to our house is 954628. You’re welcome to visit anytime.”

Having successfully obtained the password to Shen Qi’s house, Cheng Shuangyi, however, didn’t look particularly happy. The reason? Shen Qi had changed the password. It used to be her birthdate, but now it wasn’t.

Now that she had what she wanted, there was no need to have the kids stay for lunch.

“Mom has a bit of a headache and needs to rest,” she said.

The two children immediately got the hint. Shen Qiyue responded on the spot, “My brother and I will go right away. We won’t disturb you, Mom!”

“Goodbye.”

Cheng Shuangyi weakly raised her hand and waved at the two departing children. As soon as they left, the warm, motherly smile vanished from her face. She turned to the maid, who was still simmering soup, and snapped, “It’s been cooking this long, and it’s still not done?”

—

As Qian Xu was about to finish work, her phone unexpectedly received two strange text messages.

The first was casual: “Newcomer, work some overtime.”

Then it got even more unreasonable, insisting that because of her father’s trust in her, she had to stay and work late. This situation was growing increasingly bizarre. In her understanding, Zhao Buhui had always been indifferent to the company’s affairs and was even less likely to meddle in something as trivial as whether she worked overtime—

On the surface, it seemed like the capitalists’ heartless exploitation, but Qian Xu couldn’t figure out what reason he had to make things difficult for her.

Could it really be over today’s small unpleasant incident?