Mu Jinyu listened to Su Zijin's words, feeling somewhat speechless.
His trip abroad had only lasted a total of five days.
Every day he had enjoyed good food and drink; it was just that his sleep hadn't been quite as peaceful, but that didn't greatly affect him. How could he have lost enough weight to be visibly thinner in just a few days?
However, he thought, mothers are probably all like that. Mu Jinyu gave a wry smile and said, "I did lose a little, make a lavish dinner for me tonight, okay? I've been craving your cooking for several days now."
"Alright, alright..."
Upon hearing Mu Jinyu's words, Su Zijin was very happy, then gestured with her hand, inviting him inside and said, "Come, it's a little while until dinner, let's have a chat just the two of us first..."
"Okay." Mu Jinyu nodded and walked towards Su Zijin's room.
He had been back at the Su Family for some time now but had never entered Su Zijin's room before.
Seeing it for the first time today, he found it surprisingly simple, nothing like what one would expect from a room belonging to someone of her status.
Mu Jinyu knew what Su Zijin wanted to ask. Without waiting for her to speak, he narrated the events of his trip succinctly, omitting certain details.
The details he omitted, of course, pertained to the more dangerous aspects of his journey.
Su Zijin listened eagerly to Mu Jinyu's account. Although Mu Jinyu's narrative was dry and lacked the embellishments of a professional storyteller, Su Zijin was still captivated, at times tense and at others relaxed...
After all, the protagonist of the story was her son.
Although she saw Mu Jinyu return unharmed and knew he should be alright, how could Su Zijin not be concerned?
And while Mu Jinyu only lightly briefed over some parts, how could Su Zijin not sense the thrilling dangers within?
"That's all there is to it." Mu Jinyu finished in one breath, shrugged his shoulders at Su Zijin, and said, "It's just a little matter, you don't have to be so worried."
"Mm, Mom understands..."
Su Zijin nodded, then asked with a sly air, "By the way, son, you've known Wen Rou, Xiyan, and Little Xue for quite some time now, and you've been together for a while. When are you going to give them an explanation?"
"What explanation?" Mu Jinyu, upon hearing Su Zijin's question, frowned slightly and gazed at her blankly.
Su Zijin rolled her eyes exasperatedly, and whispered, "About getting married, of course!"
"Oh." Mu Jinyu felt a bit embarrassed when he heard this, his face turned slightly red, as he said, "I'm only eighteen now, I still can't get married, right?"
Su Zijin retorted, "I obviously know you can't register for marriage with them now, but when you're twenty-two and ready to get married, whom do you plan to marry? Aren't you going to hurt the feelings of the other two then?"
After a pause, Su Zijin warned, "All three of them are great, and I like them all. I want each one of them as my daughter-in-law. You better not mess this up and lose them all for me."
"So, while you can't officially register with any of them now, hurry up and properly marry them all, and once the deed is done and the rice is cooked, they won't make a fuss anymore."
Mu Jinyu's head ached at the thought; he hadn't considered getting married so soon.
It's not that he didn't want to be responsible, but the idea had simply never occurred to him. He always felt that he was still just a child and that marriage was too distant a concept for him.
Now that Su Zijin had brought it up, it seemed that marriage wasn't so far off after all and would eventually need to be planned.
And when the time came for him to marry, he guessed that Wen Rou probably wouldn't fight over it, but Mei Yinxue and Gu Xiyan were likely to clash.
Having the wedding sooner and splendidly bringing them home might dilute their competition for status over time, right?
Seeing Mu Jinyu's expressions changing unpredictably, Su Zijin didn't know what he was really up to and hurriedly continued persuading, "You are now the Master of the Dragon King Hall, it's time to settle down and start a family. I know you don't like trouble, but just think, if you get married now, there probably won't be as many people coming to congratulate you as there would be when you formally take over the Dragon King Hall, right?"
"Getting married earlier would also be more relaxed. If you wait until later, by the time you are officially in charge of the Dragon King Hall, you'll definitely be very busy. You'll know more and more important people, and you'll be too busy to manage everything. You should just get married now..."
"There are so many benefits to getting married now. If you don't think about it for yourself, you should at least consider your mother, right? My biggest regret is that due to circumstances, I left you and your father. I was estranged from you and didn't get to raise you. Now, all I want is for you to hurry up and have a grandson for me to make up for it..."
"Even if you resent me, you should think about your father. There's only you left in the old Mu Family. You've become the New Dragon King and already faced such dangerous situations. It's not that I'm being pessimistic, but things can go wrong unexpectedly, so you need to hurry up and have an heir..."
Mu Jinyu listened to Su Zijin's nagging like a middle-aged woman and felt his head swell, quickly surrendering, "Alright, alright... no more, I'll marry, I'll marry!!"
"That's more like it." Su Zijin beamed when Mu Jinyu agreed.
"I know you still feel like a kid and you're not ready to be a father, but no worries, you just have the children with them early, and I'll help you raise them while you can continue to play like a child..."
Seeing Mu Jinyu agree to marry, Su Zijin got greedier and wanted Mu Jinyu to have a grandchild sooner.
Mu Jinyu quickly waved his hands and said, "Stop, stop, stop, let's not talk about that for now... Right, I've only seen you and Sister Mei since I got back. I'll go see Linglong and the others!"
Having said this, Mu Jinyu fled in a hurry.
Su Zijin watched Mu Jinyu escape and felt an instant regret; she had been so sure that she could strike while the iron was hot, pushing Mu Jinyu to go and create offspring with Gu Xiyan and the other two ladies tonight!
She wished she could hold a grandson in ten months' time.
"What a pity..."
Su Zijin shook her head in regret.
Mu Jinyu escaped Su Zijin's room and then headed towards the courtyards of Yu Linglong, Lin Qiaoxia, and Xu Qingya.
"Knock knock."
He knocked on the door.
"Please come in."
Mu Jinyu pushed the door open and entered.
"Young Master Mu, you're back?"
The three ladies, who were busy with remote work at the wooden table and heard the door opening, looked up and excitedly shouted upon seeing him.
"Yes, I'm back,"
Mu Jinyu responded with a smile to them.
He had intended to open his arms and give them each a comforting hug.
But now, as Su Zijin had pressured him into marriage, it was better not to provoke them further to avoid making things messier in the end.
So, he stopped himself mid-action.
Lin Qiaoxia and Yu Linglong had been ready to throw themselves at him, but seeing that Mu Jinyu had no intention of embracing them, they ended up not moving and asked, "Young Master Mu, your trip outside didn't entail any problems, did it?!"