Lau Mei was awakened by a loud voice shouting outside her room, as if someone were deliberately trying to wake her up. Annoyed by the noise, she reluctantly got out of bed and opened the door.
"My lady, breakfast is ready downstairs. Madam is waiting for you to..."
Lau Mei raised her hand, signaling the maid to stop. She then glanced around her surroundings.
Standing before her was a middle-aged maid dressed in a formal black maid uniform. Behind her were three younger women wearing the same attire.
Lau Mei turned her attention to her room. She saw a king-sized bed that looked fit for royalty, as though it belonged in Buckingham Palace. The tall windows stretched all the way to the ceiling, adorned with elegant curtains that added to the room's luxurious atmosphere. There was also a fireplace with an antique-looking clock mounted above it, giving the impression that generations of the family had occupied this very room.
She was brought back to reality when the maid called out to her.
"Lady Lau?"
Memories suddenly flashed through her mind.
One showed her wearing a red, backless dress while dancing on the dance floor, surrounded by drunk men. Another showed her making out with a random guy who had a medium-sized tattoo of a cross with a red rose in the center.
The memories that followed were too blurry to make out.
She tried to remember more, but everything remained hazy. Perhaps it was because of the alcohol that she couldn't recall anything else. What bothered her even more was that she couldn't remember why she had been wearing a red, backless dress in the first place.
Just thinking about herself wearing such an outfit gave her the creeps.
Now, she was standing in an elegantly furnished room, completely unaware of what had happened the previous night. It felt as though time had moved too quickly, leaving her struggling to catch up with everything that had happened.
The maid was about to call her again, but Lau Mei stopped her.
"Okay... Tell Mom that I'll be downstairs in a few minutes."
It was only then that she noticed she was wearing a pink nightgown.
Frustrated by everything happening around her, she suddenly shouted at the top of her lungs.
"MOM!!!"
Meanwhile, Lau Mingxia, Lau Mei's mother, was sipping her coffee in the dining hall while reading the newspaper.
A maid standing beside her was about to inform her about the young lady's arrival when a loud scream echoed throughout the mansion.
"Stop. I know she's awake now. I'll just wait for her," Lau Mingxia calmly said.
A few moments later, the sound of heavy footsteps echoed down the stairs.
Lau Mei approached her mother wearing a black, fitted sweatshirt and pants with two side pockets and zippers around the knees, giving the impression that they could be converted into shorts. She also wore combat boots, as though she were preparing for battle.
Her hair was braided tightly enough that her scalp could be seen along the sides of the braids. A university bag hung from her right shoulder.
All in all, she looked like a man trapped inside a woman's body.
Her appearance immediately annoyed her mother, causing the edges of the newspaper she was holding to wrinkle slightly. One of Lau Mingxia's eyebrows rose high, as though silently mocking her daughter's attire.
"My lady, what are you wearing?" Lau Mingxia asked.
"Clothes," Lau Mei casually answered, with a hint of mockery in her voice.
"Didn't you see the clothes I laid out in front of your dresser?"
"No. Besides, these are the kinds of clothes I'm comfortable wearing, and you know I hate those flowery outfits. Those high heels aren't my taste either. I'm not wearing any of those clothes."
Her mother was at a loss for words.
She let out a long sigh and massaged both temples, exasperated by her boyish daughter. She honestly had no idea how to handle Lau Mei whenever she acted like this.
"Can I sit down now, Mom?"
"Fine... Sit," her mother replied with another sigh, as though she had finally given up arguing with her daughter.
After a while, Lau Mingxia brought up another topic. She asked where Lau Mei had been the previous night, but because her memories were still blurry, Lau Mei struggled to come up with an answer.
"The maids said that Xiao Jie brought you home last night. Is that right?" her mother asked.
"Ah... Yes, yes! She brought me home last night!"
Little did Lau Mei know that her mother was deliberately lying to her. She was simply using her friend Xiao Jie's name to find out whether Lau Mei knew how she had actually returned home.
"Really...?" Lau Mingxia asked, her expression carrying a hint of curiosity as she studied her daughter's reaction.
"YES! Anything else?" Lau Mei replied, trying to reassure her mother that there was nothing to worry about.
"All right, then. I have something to tell you, Lau Mei. Next month, you'll be having your engagement party with the only son of the Chin Group of Companies. And your wedding will take place whether you like it or not."
Lau Mingxia casually delivered the news while her daughter was eating a clubhouse sandwich.
The announcement shocked Lau Mei so much that she nearly choked. Fortunately, she managed to grab her glass of water in time.
"Wait! Did I hear that correctly, or am I just imagining things?"
"Lady Lau, you heard correctly. What you just heard was not part of your imagination," the maid respectfully assured her.
Hearing those words left Lau Mei with mixed emotions. She didn't know whether she should laugh or cry over what her mother had just announced.
After all, she was only twenty-four years old. She didn't want to get married just yet. She still had plenty of journeys she wanted to take with her Adam, and she wanted to experience all of them together.
"Mom... I can't get married! I still want to go on more journeys with Adam. Besides, I'm still too young to get married. I want to travel around the world with him!"
"Your Adam is with you every day! In fact, because of that Adam, you're always going out and hardly ever stay at home!" Lau Mingxia complained, as though she hadn't seen her daughter in years. Her eyes even began to well up with tears.
Lau Mei touched the space between her eyebrows, wondering whether she should give in or stand her ground.
"You have no heart for your mother!" Lau Mingxia exclaimed, her eyes filled with tears as she took out a small handkerchief to wipe them away.
Seeing her mother cry made Lau Mei's heart ache. She felt guilty and found herself unable to refuse her.
"Okay, okay! I'll go! But I have two conditions. First, I'll only meet the guy. Second, PLEASE, no engagement!" Lau Mei agreed, trying to comfort her mother while emphasizing her second condition.
The moment Lau Mingxia heard those words, she immediately grabbed both of her daughter's hands and clasped them together.
"Really? You'll do this for me? My daughter, you have no idea how happy your mother is!" she exclaimed joyfully.
However, Lau Mei couldn't shake the feeling that her mother had just successfully trapped her with those tearful words.
Clap! Clap!
A maid suddenly appeared from somewhere, holding a red cushion with a phone resting on top of it.
Lau Mingxia picked up the phone and immediately dialed a number.
"Amiga! My daughter agreed to meet your son! So, let's arrange the place and date for their meeting. Besides..."
As her mother launched into what seemed to be a lengthy conversation, Lau Mei decided to turn around and head outside.
"Oh! Wait, Xiao Mei! I'll text you when and where you'll meet him, okay? Don't disappoint your mother! Love you!" Lau Mingxia happily called out, still holding the phone in her hand.
Lau Mei gave her mother an okay sign before heading outside, where she spotted her Adam.
She smiled.
"Let's go, Adam! We have more work to do at the car shop!"
Meanwhile, Lau Mei was already making plans in her head about how to ruin the date with the strange man.
She had only agreed to meet him because she wanted her mother to stop nagging her about going on dates with other men.
Meanwhile, a man picked up his phone from the bedside table. He glanced at the caller ID and saw that it was his mother calling.
"Mom... It's so early. Can you call me later or tomorrow? I have a hangover, and I'm still trying to get some sleep," he mumbled, sounding sleepy and slightly annoyed.
"Zhang Wei! Are you blind? What part of the Earth are you sleeping on?! It's already 11:00 a.m., and you call that early?!"
His mother's authoritative voice immediately rang through the phone.
"Oh... By the way, don't hang up! I've already arranged a date for you. Meet her the day after tomorrow at the King's Hotel, exactly at 6:00 p.m.! You'd better not be late, or I'll tell your father what you really are!"
Zhang Wei was at a loss for words.
His mother's authoritative tone was already enough to make him nervous, but her final sentence felt like someone had suddenly splashed ice-cold water all over him.
He froze, unsure of what to say next.