After hanging up the phone, Shi Youwan placed her phone face down on the table and said softly, “Thank you, Xiao Mo.”
Chi Yumo’s first reaction was to glance at Shi Yan with the corner of her eye.
A strange sense of guilt coiled in her heart, as she feared Shi Yan might notice the unusual relationship between her and Shi Youwan. The inferiority complex that had died and been reborn made her feel utterly exposed.
Never before had there been a moment when she felt worthy of Shi Youwan.
Would Shi Youwan’s mother agree to let her daughter marry an Alpha like her? Not only was she destitute and alone, but she was also mute.
Even if Shi Youwan’s mother consented, their union would only turn Shi Youwan and the Shi Family into a laughingstock.
“Miss Shen.” A stranger in a suit and tie approached the table, bowed respectfully, and said a few words to Shen Muxi.
After the man left, Shen Muxi called her assistant and told her to wait at the door of the reception room.
She then wiped her hands with a wet towel from the table and tapped Chi Yumo’s hand with her fingertip. “Xiao Mo Mo, if you’re not hungry, don’t force it. Come on, follow your sister to drink and schmooze for some money.”
【!!!】 Chi Yumo recoiled in shock from Shen Muxi’s words and actions, nearly knocking over the wine glass in front of her.
Fortunately, Shi Youwan, who had been watching her, quickly steadied the glass with swift reflexes, preventing the half glass of red wine from spilling all over the table and staining Chi Yumo’s hand.
But Shi Youwan’s own hand… got dirty.
The deep red liquid trickled over her knuckles, halted in its mischief by a white towel just before it could stain more skin.
Chi Yumo held Shi Youwan’s wrist with one hand and wiped it with the towel in the other, oblivious to how intimate the gesture appeared to onlookers.
Another “Thank you, Xiao Mo” came, and only then did she realize she had done something inappropriate.
She withdrew her hand in a panic, gave Shi Youwan a polite nod, and immediately turned to face Shen Muxi. 【Let’s go, Mu Xi Jie.】
“Why are you panicking?” Shen Muxi looked at her amusedly and didn’t rush to leave.
【Don’t you want to see the play tonight?】
“…” Whoa, now she was in a hurry. Shen Muxi held back a laugh and stood up. “Auntie Shi, you and Sister Youwan enjoy your meal. I’ll take Mo Yu to discuss some work first.”
Sister Youwan?
Chi Yumo was stunned. Shen Muxi, that tyrannosaurus who picked fights with heaven and earth, knew how to play nice too!
“Mm, go ahead with your business.” Shi Yan glanced over at them and saw Mo Yu bowing to her in greeting—excessively respectful.
Shi Youwan said nothing, calmly watching the two leave the table. She couldn’t help but chuckle inwardly at Xiao Mo’s stiff and awkward demeanor in front of her mother.
Both were elders, and Xiao Mo was reserved in front of Old Master Shen as well, but there were subtle differences.
It was because she was her mother that Xiao Mo was extra cautious.
“Youwan.” Shi Yan called out.
“Mm?”
“Are you very familiar with this Mo Yu?” How familiar did two people have to be for one to habitually touch the other’s skin, and the other to show no resistance?
Youwan was her daughter. Since returning from abroad, aside from handshakes as formal courtesy, Shi Yan had never seen her so close with outsiders. Even with Yin Man, the physical contact she’d witnessed was limited to accidental arm brushes.
But with this Mo Yu…
“Mm, quite familiar. Recently, we’ve been preparing to establish the Shifeng Charity Foundation’s special program for the hearing impaired. I’ve chatted with Mo Yu alone a few times and have come to admire her greatly.”
“I see.” Shi Yan pretended to believe it and didn’t press further, but she made a mental note to look into it later—or ask Shi Youran. She never meddled in Youwan’s business or private affairs and rarely interfered, but that didn’t mean she knew nothing about her daughter’s life.
Both were her daughters. The younger one’s marriage was blissful, with children of her own—settled, no need for worry. The elder was approaching her forties, still single and without a lifelong companion.
Her wife, anxious for their daughter even from beyond the grave, must have long resented her for failing to look after their eldest properly.
It was time… to have a talk.
In one of the reception rooms prepared by the Shen Family for guests, the person meeting Shen Muxi and Mo Yu was a high-level executive from Mingcan Jewelry, the leading brand in the domestic jewelry industry.
He was attending the banquet today on behalf of his company and their chairman.
Discussing work was purely incidental.
If not for the coincidence of Shen Muxi and Mo Yu both being at the banquet, this deal would likely have waited for the executives from Lingjiang to handle.
“Miss Shen, we would like to invite Mo Yu to participate in Mingcan Jewelry’s anniversary celebration and high-end jewelry new product launch in mid-October. At that time, the group’s executive chairman, chief designer, and other senior leaders, along with Mingcan Jewelry’s global spokesperson Jiang Shu Yao and several brand ambassadors, will all be in attendance.”
“With such a star-studded event, what role will Mo Yu play?” She could be a green leaf among the greenery for the right price. But to be one of the flowers? The terms were negotiable.
“Mo Yu will wear the main promoted diamond series and walk the finale alongside international supermodels in the jewelry show segment. We can also arrange for her to interact on-site with Best Actress Jiang Shu Yao to generate hot search buzz. Afterward, we’ll discuss deeper cooperation based on her performance. What do you think, Miss Shen?”
“Sure,” Shen Muxi agreed readily, raising her glass with a smile to toast this Omega benefactor. “President Yang, leave a business card, and I’ll have my agent follow up.”
“Miss Shen isn’t going to ask about… anything else?”
“The glow of Mingcan Jewelry—even a speck for Mo Yu is already her honor.” At this stage, fame was worth more than money.
“Seeing is believing, Miss Shen. You’re a straightforward person. Cheers.”
After a few glasses of wine, drawn to Shen Muxi’s bold, eloquent, humorous, and charming nature, the older Omega, who hadn’t felt desire in ages, felt a spark of interest. She wanted to taste the wine from the most beautiful actress’s lips… and sample this stunning Alpha’s Pheromones.
With her status at Mingcan Jewelry and her S-Grade Omega differentiation, what was wrong with pursuing Shen Muxi?
“Miss Shen, are you free tonight?”
Asking Shen Muxi out was a spur-of-the-moment idea. She knew it wasn’t easy to privately meet a top star like her, but she had to try.
Shen Muxi’s upturned lips rippled like spring water, her smile radiant across her face. “Does President Yang have other business to discuss with me?”
She was a master at reading the room, discerning the true intent behind negotiators’ words and actions.
If she weren’t going to support that little peach-flavored bunny tonight, her response wouldn’t have been this. Mingcan Jewelry’s benefits as a gold sponsor—there might be more to gain.
This Omega benefactor… wasn’t unpleasant either.
But tonight, she still preferred seeing the little bunny, smelling that peach scent again.
Nianhua had bought her several varieties of peaches lately, but none were as sweet as the little bunny’s peach flavor. She’d almost forgotten that fragrance.
On the other side, after a brief daze, the gold sponsor Omega gave an awkward smile and shook her head. “I’ve been presumptuous.”
Two failed romances and years of dull solitude had tempered the older Omega’s temperament to icy detachment, down to her bones.
Who said one had to date, marry, have kids?
…
After finishing work, Shen Muxi took the elevator upstairs to rest. She spent more time in hotels than at home when back in Yinzhou City.
Chi Yumo waited for the down elevator, but when the doors opened, only little Shen Miao was inside.
Spotting her, Shen Miao stepped out and looked up. “Sister, weren’t you with my aunt? Huh, where’s my aunt?”
Shen Miao tilted her head, looking left and right, but saw no Shen Muxi.
As the doors closed, fearing someone else might arrive on this floor and bump into Shen Miao at the entrance, Chi Yumo guided her a few steps aside by the back.
She then pointed upward, followed by pressing her palms to her cheeks in the universal sleeping gesture, telling Shen Miao that her aunt had gone upstairs to rest.
“Oh, so sister means Auntie’s gone to sleep?”
Chi Yumo nodded.
“Sister, you can’t speak?”
Chi Yumo nodded.
“Is your throat sick?”
Chi Yumo nodded.
“If you’re sick, did sister go to the hospital to see a doctor?”
Chi Yumo nodded.
“The doctor couldn’t fix it?”
Chi Yumo shook her head.
“But when I’m sick, or Mommy, Daddy, Grandpa, Grandma are sick, the doctors always fix it. Mommy says there’s no illness doctors can’t cure. Sister, let Mommy take you to our doctor, okay? There are uncles and aunties, and they’re super super amazing.”
Chi Yumo froze.
Back at the banquet hall, she’d only seen Shen Miao’s chatty, clever side—neither annoyed nor particularly fond.
But in that instant, the little girl’s innocent purity struck her frozen heart hard.
Shen Miao’s children’s watch on her left wrist rang.
She swiped to answer. “Hello, Mommy?”
“Miaomiao, where did you go?” The smartwatch was on speaker mode, Shi Youran’s voice clear.
“I’m on the sixth floor, looking for Great-Aunt and Grandma. Mommy, I ran into sister again. I’m chatting with her.”
“Sister?” Shi Youran thought for a moment. “The Mo Yu sister sitting next to Auntie?”
“Yep yep, Mommy you’re so smart, it’s Mo Yu sister.”
“Let Mommy see.”
“Okay.” Shen Miao turned her wrist; Chi Yumo realized it was a video call. The screen likely had a privacy filter.
The angle was sideways, so Chi Yumo tilted her head slightly, then awkwardly raised her hand and waved. Her expression and motion were stiff and unnatural.
This amused Shi Youran. “Miaomiao’s so active—one blink and you’re gone. Mo Yu, trouble you to take her to the lounge to find my sister and them. Thanks.”
Chi Yumo made an “OK” gesture.
“Bye Mommy!”
Shen Miao hung up briskly without lingering and naturally took Chi Yumo’s hand.
“Sister, I remembered—the doctor auntie who treats Great-Aunt is super amazing too. Let’s find Great-Aunt, and have her call that doctor auntie to check your throat. She can definitely fix it.”
The hand of a four- or five-year-old was soft and warm.
Chi Yumo recalled those ten years of wandering for survival. Grandma had watched neighborhood kids on weekdays. Three- to five-year-olds going to kindergarten—pickups, drop-offs, care until parents got off work.
Charged by the day, cheaper than full-time nannies, and trusted neighbors made parents comfortable.
On early days home from school, Chi Yumo sometimes helped Grandma watch the kids.
She’d seen all kinds—obedient, naughty, every personality. Cooing over them had smoothed her own temper.
She’d held kids, held their hands, but none were as vibrant and multifaceted as Shen Miao, none as eloquent and endearing.
Shen Miao must have a heart of pure kindness to offer such sincere, heartwarming concern to a stranger she’d just met.
It showed the Shen Family’s upbringing and family values were exceptionally upright.
They raised their children well.
Both the sixth and seventh floors had rest and reception rooms reserved by the Shen Family, over a dozen in total. Chi Yumo pulled out her phone to text Shi Youwan, wanting to confirm if they were on this floor.
“Sister,” Shen Miao swung their joined hands back and forth, unusually stammering, “Mo Yu sister, can I… um, I still want… to ask, are you Auntie or Great-Aunt’s girlfriend?”
The little one fidgeted shyly, adorably bashful. Chi Yumo smiled and shook her head; the kid pouted in disappointment.
She shrugged exaggeratedly and sighed dramatically. “Sigh! Auntie and Great-Aunt are both so pretty, how come they can’t find girlfriends?”
“Sister, you know them all. Are they unwanted because they have so many bad habits and aren’t obedient? Hmm, then my mom must be the most obedient and best, so Dad wanted her.”
[???]
“I want my mom too!”
Chi Yumo listened to Shen Miao’s nonstop chatter while stifling a laugh as she typed in the chat box: [Miaomiao came to find you. Are you on the sixth floor?]
After sending the message, she realized she should have had Shen Miao call Shi Youwan directly. Shen Miao’s smartwatch surely had her grandma’s and great-aunt’s numbers saved.
But the message was already sent, so there was no need to recall it.
Shi Youwan replied quickly: [Yes. 633, left after exiting the elevator, toward the end of the corridor.]
[Chi Yumo: Okay, I’ll bring Miaomiao over.]
At that moment, in tea room 633, Shi Youwan sat face-to-face with her mother, sipping tea. They were supposedly chatting casually about family matters, but her mother’s topics mostly revolved around Youran and her husband and their family of four.
Her intentions were obvious—she was just short of writing “get married” on her face.
Before receiving Chi Yumo’s message, Shi Youwan could still listen patiently to her mother’s rambling digressions, occasionally responding with a sentence or two.
But… after replying to the message, her heart had already flown outside the tea room.
