Mom's expression gradually shifted from shock to anger.
My scalp prickled, and the hairs on my body stood on end. Trembling, I stammered, "M-Mom… how… how did you come back so early?"
A frosty chill seemed to settle over Mom's stunning face. Her chest heaved, her body trembled slightly, and she glared at me furiously, as if the air itself had frozen solid.
Lu Yiyi buried her head low, hiding behind me, not daring to look up. Mom didn't say a word. After a tense standoff that lasted a few moments, she slammed the door shut with a loud "bang."
Lu Yiyi suddenly pushed me aside, grabbed a pillow, and started hitting me with it. Between sobs, she hissed, "It's all your fault, all your fault! I hate you so much!"
Seeing her face flushed bright red, I didn't dare say anything and just let her vent. Honestly, I hadn't expected Mom to come back so early either. That scare just now nearly gave me a heart attack.
After she finished venting, Lu Yiyi frantically took off Mom's clothes and hurriedly put on her own.
I tried to comfort her. "It's okay, it's okay. You're going home anyway—I'm the one who's really in trouble."
She shot me a glare. "What do you mean, 'it's okay'? How am I supposed to face your mom from now on? This is so embarrassing! I feel like dying right now. And besides… what if your mom tells my mom?"
I placed a hand on her shoulder and gave it a gentle pat. "Don't worry, there's no way Mom would tell your mom about something like this. She… she wouldn't be able to bring herself to say it."
"Get off me! Don't touch me again!" Lu Yiyi pushed my hand away and bent down to put on her shoes. Seizing the chance, I quickly threw on a couple of random pieces of clothing and followed her out.
Just before leaving the room, Lu Yiyi grew nervous, looking at me with pitiful eyes. After I encouraged her for a while, she finally mustered the courage to open the door and step out.
Mom stood in the center of the living room like an ice sculpture, arms crossed, her face ashen. Her beautiful, captivating phoenix eyes were narrowed to slits, radiating an aura of murderous intent—like Guan Gong before he opens his eyes. She was clearly furious.
Seeing this, Lu Yiyi shrank back in fear. I gave her a gentle push on the waist, and she finally lowered her head, taking quick, small steps toward the front door.
As she passed Mom, she kept her head down and whispered, "Auntie, I'm leaving."
Mom didn't respond. Following closely behind Lu Yiyi, I imitated her posture, lowered my head, and mumbled, "Auntie, I'm leaving too. Ouch—! That hurts, it hurts!"
Mom grabbed my ear and yanked me back. Lu Yiyi didn't even try to help me—instead, she seized the opportunity, quickly opened and closed the door, and made her escape.
Mom twisted my ear and dragged me to the bedroom door, then kicked me inside.
Stumbling, I crawled to the foot of the bed, curled up into a ball, and blinked up at her with pleading eyes.
Mom looked around for a weapon but couldn't find anything suitable. Finally, unable to hold back, I pointed at the bookshelf and whispered a reminder, "The dictionary."
She glanced in the direction I pointed, then turned back to glare at me. "Who asked you?" Rolling up her sleeves, she stormed over and, with her bare hands, slapped me on the head more than ten times in a row.
In the past, when I made mistakes, I often got beaten, but it was usually on the arms or buttocks. Rarely was it as harsh as today, with heavy blows aimed at my head.
In my eyes now, my mom is like a roaring dragoness. Afraid of angering her further, I endured the pain, not daring to even let out a whimper.
After beating me for a while, Mom grabbed my ear again, panting heavily as she glared at me, gritting her teeth and asking, "What were you two doing just now?"
"N-nothing, we were just... just chatting."
"Chatting? About what? And what did you say when I pushed the door open just now? Say it again for me."
"I forgot." I'd rather die than repeat it.
"Forgot, you forgot. Fine, you forgot." Mom pressed one hand against my neck while slapping my head hard with the other, scolding, "You little brat, with no respect for your elders, you dare to joke about anything now, don't you?"
I begged for mercy repeatedly, "I was wrong, I was wrong, I really was wrong."
After beating me for a while, Mom let go, took two steps back, put her hands on her hips, glared at me, and took deep, heavy breaths.
From childhood till now, this was truly the first time I'd seen her this angry, and my fear grew even stronger. I didn't dare utter any of my usual cheeky or disrespectful words, only honestly admitting my mistake, "Mom, I was wrong, I really was wrong. I'll never do it again."
"You were wrong? You know you were wrong?" Mom roared, "Kneel down right there!"
I trembled and quickly knelt on the floor.
Mom pointed at the clothes on the bed and demanded, "Tell me, what's going on with this?"
"This... this..." I suddenly realized all my usual cleverness had vanished. I stammered for a long time before saying, "It's Yiyi, she... she wanted to wear them, so I gave her a couple."
"She wanted to wear them?" Mom clearly didn't fully believe my nonsense.
"Yes, yes, she... she said she really likes your clothes, Mom. She said you look especially good in them, and she wanted to try them on." Since Lu Yiyi wasn't here right now, I'd temporarily shift the blame to her.
After all, yesterday she had shifted the blame to me in front of her mom, so we were even.
"Oh, she wanted to wear them? So just because she wanted to wear them, you gave your mom's clothes to her? Did you ask for my permission?"
Mom stood with her hands on her hips, glaring down at me from above.
"Mom, don't you really like her? Whenever she comes over, you give her this and that, treating her like your own daughter, even more than Beibei."
"Still talking back!" Mom roared, scaring me into immediately shutting up.
Mom stared at me for a moment before asking again, "Tell me, were all the socks I lost before taken by you?"
"I... I..."
"Did you give them all to Lu Yiyi?"
"Yes, yes, I gave them to her. She... she liked them." I took the opportunity to shift the blame again.
Sorry, Yiyi, I really can't admit to Mom that I took her socks to masturbate with.
"You're quite generous, giving your mom's clothes to your girlfriend. Do you know how expensive those socks were, huh? Forgetting your mother once you have a girlfriend, is that it?"
"No, no, it's not like that, Mom. No one can replace your place in my heart."
"Still talking back, still talking back!" Mom smacked me twice on the head, fuming as she said, "Ling Xiaodong, let me tell you, I've spoiled you too much, spoiled you to the point where you have no respect for rules. You shameless thing. Kneel here and reflect on what you've done."
After saying that, Mom gathered the clothes from the bed and stormed out, slamming the door behind her.
My legs were already numb from kneeling, but I didn't dare get up. After a while, I faintly heard voices in the living room—it sounded like Mom was talking to someone on the phone.
My heart sank. Could she be calling Lu Yiyi's mom? If her mom found out, things would get really messy.
After kneeling for about half an hour, Mom pushed the door open, stared at me for a moment, and then sat down on the edge of the bed. The room was dead silent. I wanted to say something but didn't dare open my mouth.
After a long while, Mom finally spoke. "I just had a call with your Aunt Rong."
Before she could finish, I blurted out, "You didn't tell Aunt Rong everything, did you? Something this embarrassing, you—"
"Stay on your knees!" Mom snapped. "So you do know it's embarrassing?"
"I don't care, but Yiyi is a girl after all. If her mom finds out..."
Halfway through my sentence, I caught Mom glaring at me and quickly shut my mouth.
Suppressing her anger, Mom spoke as calmly as she could. "I went out early this morning to meet with Yiyi's mom. We, as mothers, don't object to you two dating. We were even prepared for things to progress to this point. But you're both in your final year of high school—it's a crucial time. We had planned to ask you two to take a break for a year. Once you get into college, you can date however you want. Even if you really want to get married, we won't stop you."
I quickly chimed in, "I support that. I wholeheartedly support that suggestion."
"Too late!"
"What do you mean, too late?"
"From now on, you are not allowed to see Lu Yiyi again."
"Huh?" I frowned. "Are you... trying to break us up?"
"Yes, I am. Do you have a problem with that?"
"I... no... but... why?"
"You still have the nerve to ask why?" Mom glared at me. "After what just happened, how am I supposed to face Lu Yiyi? Won't it be awkward?"
"Yes, yes, it might be a little awkward. But you and Aunt Rong are close friends. You can't avoid her daughter forever, can you?"
"Why should I avoid her? Am I the one who should be ashamed? She should be avoiding me. Besides, as long as she doesn't date you or step foot in our house, why would I feel awkward?"
"Come on, Mom. Yiyi is broad-minded. She'll get over it after a while."
"She might be broad-minded, but your mom isn't." Mom turned her head away and said, "I won't get over it."
"Mom~!" I shuffled forward on my knees, moving closer to her, wrapped my arms around her legs in sheer stockings, and pressed my face against them, pretending to be tearful as I pleaded, "Please be merciful. Have a heart and forgive her. Yiyi is the love of my life. I really can't live without her."
Mom scoffed, "Your mouth really... going in circles. Just now you were saying no one could replace your mom in your heart, and now Lu Yiyi is the love of your life. Which of your words is actually true?"
"Well... they can't really be compared. One is my mom, the other is my wife. Mom, wife, wife, mom—I can't do without either."
"Stop playing word games with me. Right now, you don't need a wife, you just need your mom."
"No... You, you're just being blatantly hegemonic."
Mom raised her finely shaped eyebrows. "I am hegemonic. If you have the guts, run away from home and live on your own."
I tightly wrapped my arms around Mom's stocking-clad legs, flattering her with a smile. "How could I dare? Even if you gave me a hundred times the courage, I wouldn'tt dare run away from home. Besides, I couldn't bear to leave you, Mommy."
"All you do all day is play word games."
Mom slapped the back of my head, and I yelped in pain. She looked down at me, hesitated for a moment, then reached out and rubbed the top of my head. "Did it hurt?"
I pouted, nodded, then pressed my face against the cool, smooth surface of her stockings, putting on an extremely pitiful expression and whimpering, "It hurts."
"Serves you right. You're just asking for a beating every day." Though her words were stern, her hand continued to gently massage my head.
"Mom, I was wrong. I won't make you angry again."
Mom's earlier fury had truly frightened me. Now that her anger had subsided, I gradually found myself drawn to the black-stockinged legs beneath her gray professional pencil skirt.
Ever since I learned the internet slang term "hugging thighs," every time I made a mistake, I would kneel on the floor, pretending to be a joker acting cute, and cling tightly to Mom's stocking-clad legs.
In reality, I just wanted to take advantage of the situation. Sometimes, when things got lively, I would even pretend to accidentally lift Mom's skirt, sneaking a peek at the alluring sight beneath, wrapped in her pantyhose.
I knew it was wrong, against all moral norms, but I just couldn't control the desire inside me—it was just too thrilling.
I've loved the feel of stockings since I was little. After my sexual awareness awakened, I developed a special fondness for women wearing stockings.
But I couldn't just go out on the street and grope other people's stockings. I could only target Mom at home. After all, even if she noticed something off, she wouldn't drag me to the police station as a pervert. At most, she'd give me a beating—a price I was willing to pay compared to the thrill of touching stocking-clad legs.
And I suspect that the reason I became a severe stocking fetishist is related to Mom's fondness for wearing them.
Because most of my childhood memories have been erased, except for the images of Mom wearing stockings of various colors, deeply etched in the depths of my mind.
Whether it's true or not, I often use this reasoning to comfort and justify myself.
Influenced by Mom, I know a lot about stockings. For example, the black pantyhose she's wearing today are velvet stockings. They're slightly less transparent than crystal stockings but have better elasticity, a superior feel, and are dense, delicate, soft, and smooth.
I love it most when Mom wears this kind of stocking because the surface has a slight matte finish, making it appear more elegant and noble—a perfect match for Mom's temperament.
Perhaps I was too engrossed in my actions, because Mom sensed something was off. As she was rubbing her leg, she suddenly raised her hand and gave me another smack on the head, scolding, "Get up! What kind of behavior is this all day long?"
Though I was extremely reluctant, I let go of Mom's beautiful black-stockinged legs and tried to stand up. However, I had been kneeling for too long, and my legs had gone numb. Halfway up, I lost my balance and fell back down with a thud.
Mom was taken aback for a moment, then burst into laughter. "What are you doing?" she said with a smile. "It's not New Year yet—why are you kowtowing so grandly? There's no red envelope money for you."
Since I was already on my knees, I decided to go all the way. I leaned forward, pressed my forehead to the floor, and kowtowed loudly, declaring, "Thank you, Mother, for your nurturing kindness."
"Stop being silly! Get up." Mom kicked me with her black pointed-toe high heels. It hurt quite a bit, but for some reason, I felt a strange satisfaction. Maybe I had some hidden masochistic tendencies.
"Help me up," I said, extending my hand. Mom hesitated for a moment before taking it and pulling me to my feet with a slight tug.
She sat down on the edge of the bed and patted the spot beside her. "Come here, sit down."
I could see that her expression had softened considerably, and her anger had mostly subsided. As per the usual routine, the next step would be a well-intentioned lecture.
Though I was extremely impatient, I obediently sat down next to her.