The villa's door quietly opened, and a middle-aged woman tiptoed inside.
Tina Shen and Ethan Jiang held back their laughter, both pretending not to notice, but it was terribly uncomfortable.
But...
Linda Zhou didn't disturb them. Instead, she quietly circled around to their back and hid nearby.
Tina Shen and Ethan Jiang were both caught between laughter and tears.
Should they pretend to notice her, or continue pretending to be oblivious?
It was clear that Linda Zhou wanted to see how close they were when they were together.
The two of them regretted not pretending to notice when Linda Zhou first entered. Now, what should they do?
Ethan Jiang, with a helpless expression, pulled Tina Shen into his arms, and lightly kissed the top of her head.
Tina Shen, equally helpless, reached up and gently patted Ethan Jiang's strong chest, then buried her face in his broad shoulder.
This should be close enough, right?
The two of them silently cried out: Please "show yourself" already!
But...
Linda Zhou, like a mischievous child, refused to come out, continuing to watch them with great interest.
Is this really appropriate?
Tina Shen and Ethan Jiang were about to lose it.
Fortunately, they were both quick on their feet.
"I'm hungry," Tina Shen suddenly said with a playful pout, "Brother, make me some food."
"I... don't know how to cook," Ethan Jiang pretended to be helpless and looked at Tina Shen.
He genuinely didn't know how to cook. When he was young, his mother did all the cooking. He had taken over the family business before finishing college, and there was simply no time to learn how to cook.
"I can! I'll teach you, brother," Tina Shen smiled, holding out her hand to take Ethan Jiang's.
The two walked hand-in-hand toward the kitchen, pretending not to notice Linda Zhou hiding behind them.
The kitchen was semi-open, and they thought they might be able to hide there.
But Linda Zhou snuck around to the other side of the villa's hall and continued spying.
They were about to snap!
"What do we do now?" Ethan Jiang whispered, on the verge of tears.
"How should I know?" Tina Shen also felt like she was about to crack, whispering back, "It's almost noon, Auntie must be hungry too. Let's just get on with it, I'll teach you how to cook."
Though she said she would teach, Ethan Jiang was all over the place, and Tina Shen was the one chopping vegetables and cooking.
During the process, Tina Shen really did teach him.
To make it appear more intimate, Tina Shen wrapped her arms around Ethan Jiang from behind, taking his broad hand to help him chop vegetables, correct his knife technique, and even teach him how to knead dough for scallion pancakes.
Gradually, the two of them started to play around.
Tina Shen mischievously smeared dough on Ethan Jiang's face.
Ethan Jiang pretended to be angry and picked up some dough to slap it on Tina Shen.
The scene looked just like a young couple in love, playfully teasing each other, having the time of their lives.
In the end, Tina Shen tightly embraced Ethan Jiang.
Ethan Jiang lightly bit her earlobe.
The scene froze in an instant, and both of them stood still...
"Ahem, ahem, ahem!"
A deliberate cough came from outside the kitchen.
Tina Shen and Ethan Jiang instantly separated as if shocked by electricity, their expressions awkward.
For a moment, they had been so caught up in their playful antics that they completely forgot about Linda Zhou watching them!
"Mom, why didn't you let us know you were coming?"
Ethan Jiang pretended to be surprised and looked toward Linda Zhou, who was standing in the hall.
Tina Shen also sized up Linda Zhou.
Linda Zhou was about 165 cm tall, with a well-proportioned figure. Though she was in her middle age, she still had a beautiful face and elegant demeanor.
Of course, how could she not be beautiful and give birth to a handsome son like Ethan Jiang?
"Hmph."
Linda Zhou ignored her son and stared intently at Tina Shen, a smile spreading across her face. She had the look of a mother-in-law evaluating her daughter-in-law and seemed thoroughly pleased.
It was no surprise; Tina Shen was already stunning, and after her makeover, she looked even more radiant.
"Hello, Auntie. I'm Tina Shen, very happy to meet you."
Tina Shen walked up to Linda Zhou confidently, her face beaming with a bright smile. "I've heard so much about how beautiful you are from Ethan, but I didn't expect you to have such an elegant presence. When you and Ethan stand together, you look more like siblings than mother and son!"
This charm was honed from years of coaxing her own mother, Tina Shen thought to herself. Let's see if Auntie can handle it!
"Haha, what a sweet child, you really know how to flatter!"
Linda Zhou was immediately grinning ear to ear from the compliments. She grabbed Tina Shen's hand and led her to the sofa, asking as they walked, "Come on, tell Auntie how you and Ethan met..."
Ethan Jiang rolled his eyes dramatically.
He felt like he had turned into a transparent person. Unexpectedly, his mother was so pleased with Tina Shen that it made him a little jealous. It almost felt like Tina Shen was her biological daughter and he was the adopted one.
After a while, as the conversation continued, Tina Shen stood up to say goodbye.
With mother and son seeing her off, Tina Shen left the villa and took a taxi back to the Criminal Investigation Detachment.
The task given by the system had already passed one day, and there were less than two days left.
Whether for completing the task and gaining skills, or to prevent the system from taking away her abilities, this case had to be cracked!
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。