71: Mom - 1

Stepping out the side door of the Marriott Hotel, the cold afternoon wind hit him, and Jiang Ye instinctively tightened the delivery uniform he was wearing.

He pulled out his phone, tapped open the pinned WeChat chat window, and quickly typed on the screen, entering the amount: 100,000.00.

After a slight hesitation, he typed four more words in the transfer note: "Mom, spend it however you want!"

Tap, confirm, enter the password.

[Payment Successful!]

Looking at the notification that popped up on the screen, Jiang Ye let out a long sigh of relief, as if he had finally accomplished something he had been planning for a long time.

He wasn't in a hurry to ride away. Instead, he straddled the little electric scooter, his gaze fixed on the phone screen, quietly waiting.

At this time, his mom, Xu Man, should be busy with cleaning work at the Conrad Hotel.

Her phone might be on silent, or maybe it's in her employee locker.

Jiang Ye wasn't sure if Mom would see it right away, but he was one hundred percent certain that the woman who loved him most in this world would immediately bombard him with a phone call as soon as she saw this transfer message.

He stared at the WeChat interface, and an image of his mom involuntarily surfaced in his mind.

Jiang Ye's father had passed away from illness when he was just starting middle school. It was his mom, Xu Man, who single-handedly raised him, playing both father and mother roles.

In his memory, Mom always seemed to have endless energy, her face always wearing a hearty smile, as if she could use the sky as a blanket if it fell.

But only Jiang Ye knew how many late nights he had gotten up to use the bathroom and seen the faint light seeping through the crack under Mom's door, and how she would quickly wipe away her tears after silently crying over Dad's photo, only to transform back into that optimistic and strong mother the next day.

After he left home for college, Mom took a full-time cleaning job at the Conrad Hotel to have a more stable income and future security.

Every time he called, Mom would always cheerfully say, "Don't worry, son. Mom's job is great—it keeps me active and helps me lose weight. The colleagues are nice too, and they provide the five social insurances and one housing fund. I won't be a burden to you when I'm old."

Thinking of this, Jiang Ye felt a mix of bitterness and warmth in his heart.

He looked down at his outfit, then touched the string of numbers in his WeChat balance, and a sense of accomplishment—"finally able to be Mom's support"—welled up inside him.

Time ticked by. Just as Jiang Ye thought Mom was busy and decided to head home and talk later, the phone screen suddenly lit up—a voice call invitation from "Northeast Woman Wears Bikini, Gets Uterine Cold, Freezes Husband to Death."

Yes, Comrade Xu Man's WeChat name was exactly that!

Just from this wild and unrestrained WeChat name, one could glimpse her optimistic, cheerful, and even somewhat playful and quirky personality.

It was precisely this personality that had supported her through the heavy pressures of life, keeping her optimistic and positive.

The ringtone persisted. Jiang Ye felt a bit dazed for a moment, his heart filled with mixed emotions—relief, bitterness, and an urgent impulse to share his joy.

He took a deep breath, answered the call, and called out with deep emotion:

"Mom..."

But his carefully built-up emotions, just getting started, were ruthlessly interrupted by Comrade Xu Man's rapid-fire series of questions, spoken in a hushed but machine-gun-like tone:

"Xiao Ye! Where did you get so much money?! A hundred thousand?! Tell me the truth! Did you max out a credit card? Or did you get some online loan?"

"Wait, no, with your credit, you couldn't get a card with that high a limit, could you? Unless..."

On the other end of the line, Xu Man seemed to gasp, her voice tinged with a hint of panic: "Unless... you went into the sex trade?!"

"..." Jiang Ye almost choked.

Before he could refute it, Xu Man dismissed it herself: "But that doesn't make sense either! With your looks, no rich woman would want you in the sex trade... You're a money-loser!"

Jiang Ye's forehead broke out in a sweat.

Immediately, an even more horrifying thought formed in Xu Man's mind, and her voice suddenly rose: "Unless... you didn't sell to women, you... you sold to men?!"

"Jiang Ye! Are you trying to kill me? I worked so hard, feeding you with my own hands, just so you could sell your butt?!"

"If your dad's spirit in heaven finds out, aren't you afraid he'll climb up in the middle of the night and beat your butt until it's raw?!"

"Yes! I'll go home and burn paper money to tell your dad! Let your dad beat your butt raw! So you have nothing left to sell!"

Listening to Mom on the other end of the line getting more and more outrageous and worked up, Jiang Ye's mouth twitched uncontrollably, and he was completely dumbfounded.

He interjected, both amused and exasperated: "Mom! Could you please not..."

"Not what?!"

Comrade Xu Man was clearly at the peak of her emotions: "You want me to understand you? Fine! I work as a cleaner in a hotel, and I've seen all sorts of messy stuff between men and women! But let me tell you, when it's other people, I treat it as gossip. When it's my son, I can't understand it! I can't accept it!"

Her voice carried the anger of disappointment: "I know your dad left early, and our family's situation has never been good, which must have affected your upbringing... But in my mind, I've imagined eight hundred ways you might go astray. I never imagined you'd take the 'bent' path! Jiang Ye! You're really going to kill me!"

Xu Man seemed to remember something, her tone even more anguished:

"I remember, ever since you started high school, you always kept a box of tissues by your bed. How many times have I cleaned up those damn wads of paper for you?! You were clearly straight! How did you become bent in college...?"

"Mom!!!"

Jiang Ye couldn't take it anymore. His blood pressure was rising, so he quickly raised his voice to interrupt Mom's endless speculation.

He sighed helplessly, rubbing his forehead: "I've told you before, with your imagination and eloquence, it's a waste not to do live streaming! If you became a streamer, you'd have all those old men mesmerized, and they'd spend their entire pensions on you!"

On the other end of the line, Xu Man, interrupted by her son, retorted angrily: "You little brat, you damn..."

Jiang Ye quickly reminded her: "Mom! Watch your language! If you curse at me, you're the one who'll get scolded!"

Xu Man: "..."