11

 Happiness Community is an ordinary old community in the center of City B.

Lu Bei is an office worker, and he lives here only because it's close to his company, with a commute of no more than twenty minutes each day. This is also why he tolerates the poor environment of the old community.

But recently, a new reason has been added, stemming from the new resident who moved in next door.

At the time, Lu Bei was on leave. He wasn't the type to go out and play, so he sat on the sofa reading some poetry. But there were always loud banging noises coming from next door, which annoyed him.

The noise from next door wasn't the kind that would disappear all at once, but rather it would appear intermittently, seriously disturbing Lu Bei's rare peace and quiet. After enduring it all afternoon, Lu Bei angrily knocked on the door next door.

He was still thinking about how to organize his thoughts, but when the door opened slightly a crack, revealing a smooth, beautiful, yet somewhat innocent face, Lu Bei's brain froze on the spot.

The handsome young man had a light pink blush on his face, fine beads of sweat on his forehead, and a speck of dust on his cute chin, as if he had been doing some tiring work at home.

His green eyes looked at Lu Bei with a bewildered

expression, as if asking why he had knocked. Lu Bei stammered, "I've been hearing noises coming from your house, and I was wondering if you needed any help?"

He then added, "I didn't mean to eavesdrop, the soundproofing in this old neighborhood isn't good..."

What he said was completely different from what he had originally intended, but Lu Bei had long forgotten why he had knocked on the door in the first place.

The young man, however, thought he had disturbed Lu Bei and said apologetically, "I just moved in and have been organizing the furniture. Am I bothering you?"

"No, no, it's nothing," Lu Bei said righteously. "Good neighbors should help each other. I'll help you organize; I'm strong."

Unable to resist Lu Bei's insistence, the young man, without any suspicion, let him into the house.

The previous tenant had left behind little furniture; the room was filled with cardboard boxes of various sizes, and the floors and furniture were covered in a thin layer of dust from being unoccupied for so long. A basin of water and a rag sat in the middle of the living room.

It was clear the young man had tried his best to clean, but after an afternoon, the house was still a mess.

Lu Bei didn't think much of it; some people are just naturally bad at housework, especially someone like the young man who looked like he'd been pampered.

Perhaps the heaviest task he'd ever done at home was dressing himself.

Lu Bei rolled up his sleeves and silently began cleaning the room. He was much more skilled, and finished the living room in an hour. Just as he was getting the young man's name out, Jiang Nian,

the closed bedroom door opened, and a young child emerged. The child was quite handsome, but expressionless, he ran towards Jiang Nian without even glancing at Lu Bei. Just as Lu Bei was wondering what was wrong, the child hugged Jiang Nian's leg and called out, "Mommy."

Jiang Nian then expertly picked up the child and asked, "What's wrong?"

The child shook his head and buried his face in Jiang Nian's collarbone.

Lu Bei was heartbroken. He hadn't expected that the woman he fell in love with at first sight was already married and had a child! Although he didn't understand why she called him "Mom" instead of "Dad,"

Lu Bei gripped the rag in his hand tightly and asked calmly, "You're married? And the child's mother?"

Jiang Nian knew he was curious about Jiang Kehong, so she replied, "...I gave birth to the child."

"Huh?!" Lu Bei was shocked again. This time, he couldn't even ask a question. His handsome face flushed red, and his eyes instinctively glanced at Jiang Nian's stomach.

...A young mother.

Help! He loved her even more.

Lu Bei coughed a few times and asked again, "...And the child's father?"

Jiang Nian stroked Jiang Kehong's head and said, "He passed away."

Watching Jiang Nian's long eyelashes slowly droop, Lu Bei's heart ached. He comforted Jiang Nian while working even faster.

In less than a few hours, the newly bought furniture was all set up, and the dust inside and out was cleaned. Lu Bei even taught Jiang Nian how to set the purchase address and the locations of nearby supermarkets, subway stations, and courier points.

Jiang Nian smiled faintly and said softly, "Thank you, Lu Bei."

Lu Bei immediately felt it was all worthwhile.

Jiang Nian invited Lu Bei to stay for dinner, and Lu Bei, already harboring some other thoughts, didn't refuse. However, the young, widowed mother was flustered in the kitchen, clearly inexperienced in cooking.

In the end, Lu Bei brought more ingredients from his own home and cooked several dishes himself. As Lu

Bei ate the bitter vegetables, he looked at Jiang Nian across the table. Jiang Nian was turning her head to tell Jiang Kehong to eat properly. Seeing Lu Bei looking over, she smiled again, her lips pursed.

Lu Bei suddenly felt that even the vegetables were sweet.

He even felt a sweet sensation, like coming home from work and sitting down to eat with his wife and son.

This illusion didn't dissipate at all after he returned home with the fruit Jiang Nian had insisted on giving him; instead, he felt somewhat dissatisfied with the quiet and cold house.

Not long after Lu Bei left, Jiang Qiunian returned home with the hotel groceries he had specially bought. He had gone to take care of some things, and as a cleanup, he had repeatedly told his mother not to touch anything before leaving, as he would clean up when he got home.

However, upon opening the door, he saw a clean and tidy house, with his mother and Jiang Kehong each holding bowls and chopsticks, seemingly about to wash the dishes.

Jiang Qiunian paused for a moment, put down the bag, and took the bowls and chopsticks from Jiang Nian's hands. As for Jiang Kehong, he didn't intend to interfere.

Besides, Jiang Kehong had his own principles and didn't like being disturbed by anyone other than Jiang Nian.

While washing the dishes, Jiang Qiunian asked Jiang Nian, "Mom, did you clean this yourself?"

"No, the kind neighbor next door helped me clean it." Jiang Nian picked up the bowls and chopsticks from Jiang Kehong's hands, intending to rinse them with water, but Jiang Qiunian took them away.

"A man?"

"Yes."

Jiang Qiunian, with his growing age, had become increasingly mature, tall and imposing. Standing in the cramped kitchen, with barely any space, his sharply defined profile was slightly lowered as he looked at the foamy sink, his hands still moving.

Hearing Jiang Nian's words, he knew what was going on; another man captivated by his mother.

This was perfectly normal; Jiang Qiunian couldn't imagine anyone disliking his mother.

He lifted his eyelids and glanced at Jiang Nian, who was watching him wash the dishes. He felt a surge of satisfaction, a feeling of immense satisfaction.

His mother was hypocritical, pretending to dislike him, yet her actions showed she couldn't live without him.

Now it was just the two of them living; his mother could only rely on him.

That was good.

To give Jiang Nian a better life, Jiang Qiunian worked tirelessly every day. B City was far from C City; his former influence couldn't reach there. He had to find another way, supporting his family like an adult.

Jiang Nian kept urging him to go to school and that he could take care of the work, but Jiang Qiunian couldn't bear to. His mother was spoiled by You Xingwen and Zhou Gebai, so why should she have to go out to work and do housework when she was under his care?

Jiang Qiunian wouldn't allow it.

Jiang Nian always felt she was an adult. She could let a child support her now, even if it was acceptable before. But Jiang Kehong was too young. Although he was very independent and could manage everything on his own, Jiang Nian was still worried. So, carrying Jiang Kehong and carrying Jiang Qiunian on her back, she secretly went to work.

The poor young mother had to care for her young son while avoiding the overt and covert harassment from her colleagues and boss.

When Jiang Qiunian found Jiang Nian's workplace, he saw her being held in the arms of a tall, unfamiliar man, with Jiang Kehong sitting on the man's elbow, seemingly a family of three.

The man's lips were almost about to kiss Jiang Nian's soft cheek.

Jiang Qiunian said coldly, "Mom!"

Jiang Nian snapped out of her daze, took Jiang Kehong, said something to the man, and ran out of the store towards Jiang Qiunian. He was wearing a beige staff uniform, the pink apron swaying with his movements, revealing his slender waist.

She was clearly the mother, yet she was being scolded by her grown-up son, "Didn't I tell you you don't need to work?"

"But you need money for school." Jiang Nian looked so frail now, long strands of hair framing his small, pitiful face, his body thin and frail, carrying the eyesore of Jiang Kehong in his arms.

He stared longingly at his strong son.

But Jiang Qiunian remained steadfast, pulling his mother away from the scene.

The man from before caught up, trying to grab Jiang Nian's hand, only to be met with Jiang Qiunian's sudden, glaring gaze, eyes as red as if staring at a dead man.

The man released his hand.

Jiang Nian didn't notice this little incident.

Jiang Qiunian, while pulling Jiang Nian along, slowed his pace to wait for his mother to catch up, saying cryptically, "Mom, have better taste in boyfriends."

Jiang Qiunian didn't care about his mother's romantic history; the more relationships his father had, the more it proved he, her son, was unique to her.

A husband could be anyone, but a son could only be him.

However, not just anyone could be a mother's husband.

Jiang Qiunian's cold expression didn't last long. He softened as he helped his mother into the car. Driving, he told her, "You don't need to worry about my studies, or money. I have my own ways."

Normally, someone Jiang Qiunian's age might say this as boasting, but not him. As the protagonist of a business novel, his vision and intelligence were almost supernatural.

Moving to the old neighborhood was just to avoid the You brothers; he still treated Jiang Nian well in every way.

Jiang Nian received pocket money from Jiang Qiunian every day, and Jiang Kehong was enrolled in a nearby kindergarten. Jiang Nian suddenly didn't know what to do.

He could only deliberately maintain his old ways, ignoring Jiang Qiunian and being nice to Jiang Kehong.

Jiang Qiunian, however, seemed oblivious—or rather, he had become bolder. Before, someone had suppressed him, and he didn't dare treat Jiang Nian much. Now, Jiang Nian was in his territory, in his grasp. He even dared to restrain Jiang Nian's hands when she was angry and hitting him, telling her to calm down.

Afterwards, he would carefully coax her.

He enjoyed it immensely.

His mother treated him coldly, so he provoked her.

When Jiang Nian slammed the door and stormed out one day, almost five-year-old Jiang Kehong looked up at his adopted older brother. He knew his brother didn't like him, but that was okay; he didn't like his brother either. Jiang Kehong's little head only thought of his mother.

Jiang Kehong, usually expressionless to the point of being expressionless, suddenly smiled and said, "Brother, do you want Mom to love your mom?"

Jiang Qiunian looked at Jiang Kehong indifferently.

"But Mom only loves me."

"You drove him away, but Mom will still come looking for me."

Less than a minute after Jiang Kehong finished speaking, Jiang Nian opened the door, took Jiang Kehong's hand, and left, glaring at Jiang Qiunian before leaving.

Jiang Qiunian found his mother's childishness adorable, yet also secretly wished Jiang Kehong dead.

This wasn't the first time Jiang Kehong had provoked Jiang Qiunian, but he never let Jiang Nian know. He was incredibly cunning for such a young age.

Jiang Qiunian's lips twitched into a smile, but his eyes held a twisted and repressed expression.

That little bastard who only disturbs his and his mother's time together.

—He's such an eyesore. (

← Previous Chapter Next Chapter →