Jing Yi’s face turned crimson, even the tips of his ears flushing. This guy! Hadn’t he told him not to do this kind of thing when they went to visit his mother?! He really wanted to go and scold him but even though he didn’t know him too well yet, the few conversations they had had so far showed that Qiu Ling would probably just be surprised and tell him that he had complied with his wishes and neither called him any awful pet names nor called his mother his mother-in-law. He might even pretend to be pitiful again for being so misunderstood.

Madam Zhong looked at her blushing son and chuckled.

Jing Yi only grew more flustered. He searched for anything he could say but found nothing, feeling even angrier at Qiu Ling. Seriously, he wondered what was wrong with that guy’s head. Who kissed their junior martial brother on the lips when saying their goodbyes for a few minutes?! This was ridiculous! "Mother, that … I … I also don’t know why … I … I mean he —"

"It’s alright." Madam Zhong patted his hand. "It’s obvious that he’s very much in love with you." And it was even more clear that her son wasn’t his opponent when haggling over things. Well, with how that man had behaved up until now, her Jing’er would have many years to slowly figure out how to deal with him.

Jing Yi lowered his head. He had wanted to approach the subject slowly but now that irresponsible man had kissed him right in front of his mother! Hadn’t he taken extra care and begged him to behave himself? How was this behaving himself?! Would he really have needed to forbid him from all kinds of things one by one?!

Madam Zhong smiled. It seemed her son wasn’t ready to tell her about it. Well, he wouldn’t get around it now. "So don’t you want to tell your mother what happened? That senior martial brother Qiu of yours, you met him five years ago?"

Jing Yi shook his head. "No. We only met some days ago. It’s …" He squirmed on the chair. "It’s a little complicated."

"How so?"

"He …" Jing Yi pursed his lips. He didn’t want to say it! He had just gotten home. He shouldn’t talk about this with his mother. Not yet. Shouldn’t they first talk about themselves? How she had been doing in the teahouse all on her own, how he had managed to get by in the Yun Zou Sect, how the people they had both known were doing, that kind of thing?

"Jing Yi." Madam Zhong’s tone of voice was as rebuking as it was indulgent.

Jing Yi calmed down when hearing it. Was he thinking too much? Anyway, she had already seen …

"Tell me. Aren’t I your mother? Who will you talk about it with if not me? And shouldn’t your mother know what is going on? Or could it be that you aren’t my sweet child anymore and are now going to start throwing tantrums? Aren’t you too old for that?"

Jing Yi blushed again but this embarrassment was even worse than the one from being kissed in front of his mother. "Mother …" In the end, Jing Yi could only sigh. "Qiu Ling is … He’s a little strange. Actually, when we met for the first time he asked me if I … if I wanted to marry him." He turned away, unable to look his mother in the eye. "Then he said he’d give me seven days to consider. I couldn’t even get a sound out. But in the next days he …" He shook his head. "He always followed me around, trying to hold my hands and calling me …" Jing Yi interrupted himself. He definitely wouldn’t recount Qiu Ling’s shameless behavior in any more detail. If he did … he wouldn’t be able to face his mother anymore. It was too embarrassing. Especially considering that he had taken back his harsh rejection and softened his attitude.

"Haish, what a big child!"

"Ah?" Jing Yi looked up, his eyes wide with confusion. "You really think I’m throwing a tantrum?" But it wasn’t like that at all! He had tried to be mature about this. He had tried to get advice and he had tried to be firm. Who could have known … There was only Xiao Dong to ask who wouldn’t be able to help him all that much and then Qiu Ling was so persistent that he couldn’t keep up with rejecting him. His heart also hurt when seeing his pitiful look. What else could he have done?

And right now, Qiu Ling had indeed been wrong! He had clearly asked him to behave but he hadn’t done so despite his promise. If anything, he was the child!

Madam Zhong laughed, seeing her son’s disappointed expression. "I wasn’t talking about you. I was talking about him. Did he really expect you to fall in love with him like that? What else would I call that if not childish?"

Jing Yi looked at her and bit his lip. Indeed, what else would one call that? Hadn’t he just thought so himself? Qiu Ling really was like a child sometimes, basing his decisions purely on his emotions at a specific moment, not considering the consequences of his actions, not letting 'no' count as an answer, and expecting everything to go like he wanted it to go.

Yes, he was like a child. Even worse, he was like a spoiled brat. In his childhood, he would have made sure not to get involved with that type of person so how come he was now bringing him to visit his mother, asking her for advice on how to proceed with their … relationship or whatever it was this thing should be called.