Starting Off By Confessing To My Classmate's Mother

Liu Yan, already fifty, regarded Li Zhiyan with nothing but admiration. A young man at only 18 who was skilled in computing—it was rare.

"President Liu, what's going on?"

"Why would a big boss like you need help from an 18-year-old?" Rao Shiyun asked, her mind full of questions.

She couldn't reconcile the idea of this young Li Zhiyan—likely filled with fantasies about "little horses pulling big carts"—solving problems for Liu Yan's company.

Everyone's gaze shifted to Li Zhiyan.

Under their scrutiny, he felt a bit awkward; after all, he was usually the overlooked one, blending into the background.

Other than his bold confession to Yu Sisi, which made him a laughingstock for years, he had lived a largely unremarkable life.

Thankfully, he had the system. Though it was a lazy system, it had given him the ability to turn things around.

And, it had opened up the possibility of connecting with these graceful older women.

Maybe "little horse pulling big cart" wasn't so unrealistic after all.

...

Gu Wanzhou was momentarily stunned. It seemed she might have misjudged Li Zhiyan.

Liu Yan was a straightforward, no-nonsense man and wouldn't joke about something like this.

So, what Li Zhiyan had said about working on a project… it was true.

Yet she had assumed he'd somehow figured out her whereabouts and pretended they were "fated."

She remembered his look of disappointment earlier.

It must have been because of her cold attitude toward him. And she had thought he was merely putting on an act.

Thinking of Li Zhiyan, from his single-parent household and misunderstood by her, Gu Wanzhou felt a pang of guilt in her heart, an inexplicable sadness welling up.

What had she done? This boy was sincere and pitifully earnest.

But she had dismissed him as scheming, thinking he was just trying to fulfill some fantasy.

She felt genuinely sorry.

...

Liu Yan spoke up, his admiration evident. "As unbelievable as it may sound, it's true."

"My company's internal system holds a significant amount of data."

"It's essential for employees' daily work, but recently it was plagued with bugs and became unusable. When I contacted the original developer, he said he'd lost the code and couldn't fix it."

"We consulted multiple specialists, but no one could resolve the issues."

"If this kept up, my company would have faced serious setbacks."

"But fortunately, I ran into this young man."

"In just three days, he managed to fix the problem that many other professionals couldn't solve!"

"Now, tell me, isn't that amazing? This fifty thousand is his well-earned reward."

"I'd be lucky to have such an outstanding son."

"He truly is remarkable! With skills like these, he's bound to land a high-paying job."

Everyone's attention turned to Li Zhiyan.

Zhang Hongbin's expression grew uneasy. Solving a problem that baffled experts and earning fifty thousand at 18? This kid was a genius.

Could he actually win over Gu Wanzhou someday?

Though her standards were high, the kid had youth on his side—and now, talent, too. It wasn't impossible.

"Young man, Auntie didn't expect you to be such a computer whiz!" Rao Shiyun, who had previously been teasing him, now looked at Li Zhiyan with newfound respect.

He really was impressive! At 18, he had earned fifty thousand yuan. Her son, Liu Zifeng, on the other hand…

With the family's wealth, he spent most of his time looking for pocket money to splurge in nightclubs and karaoke bars.

As for computers? All he could do was game, barely able to use Excel.

Helping someone with their company's technical issues? Forget it.

The difference between the two was staggering. If only she had a son like Li Zhiyan.

Sitting beside him, Li Zhiyan felt the softened look in Gu Wanzhou's eyes.

Yu Sisi clenched her hands, a hint of regret surfacing in her heart.

Though he looked ordinary in height and appearance, he was clearly talented.

At 18, he was already skilled in advanced programming. Who knew how far he could go in the future?

But now, any chance of amending things with him had already dissolved. There was no fixing their strained relationship.

...

At that moment, Rao Shiyun moved to sit directly across from Li Zhiyan and took his hand warmly.

Her soft touch surprised him. Remembering that this was Liu Zifeng's mother, he felt a strange sense of satisfaction.

"Young man, tell Auntie," she asked, "how did you learn these computer skills? Did you pay for any classes?"

Watching his mother cozy up to Li Zhiyan filled Liu Zifeng with irritation.

It felt as though his mother's affection was being stolen, and by his rival no less—the very guy he'd once fought with.

But, intimidated by his mother, he dared not speak up. Turning away, he refused to watch his mom get any closer to Li Zhiyan.

Seeing Rao Shiyun holding his hand stirred something unpleasant in Gu Wanzhou's heart.

Didn't that woman know about proper boundaries? Acting so forwardly—did she not know how much older she was?

Even if there was a 24-year age gap, there was always the "little horse pulling big cart" scenario.

The thought made her cheeks warm slightly.

Ever since they had discussed the Oedipus complex, and he'd coined "little horse pulling big cart," just seeing him now brought certain images to mind.

Still, she felt she owed it to him to treat him warmly.

Growing up in a single-parent home, he had suffered enough neglect, and her recent coldness had likely hurt him.

"No, our family couldn't afford classes, Aunt Rao. I taught myself computer programming because it interested me."

"And, by chance, I saw that President Liu's company was facing an issue online. I gave it a shot, and luckily, it worked out."

Hearing his explanation, everyone in the room was once again taken aback.

Computer programming wasn't something that just anyone could master, even with classes in college.

But Li Zhiyan had self-studied and then solved an issue that even professionals couldn't fix.

A true prodigy!

"Xiaoyan, you're truly amazing."

Rao Shiyun placed her other hand on his, wrapping his hand in both of hers.

Watching her, with her alluring figure, Li Zhiyan couldn't help but think—it had been many years since he'd been weaned.

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