chapter 4

After giving Moo Tingxiao the glass of water, she turned and entered the kitchen, unaware of the smiles on his face.

On the side, Moo Jiachen had witnessed everything.

Taking a chopstick, he leaned over to dip it in the broth in Moo Tingxiao’s bowl before he put it to his lips. After he had a taste, he dropped the chopstick and quickly quaffed a mouthful of water. Curling his mouth, he uttered, “Sinister!” The noodles were saltier than the Dead Sea, yet Moo Tingxiao still ate all of them. Mu Nuannuan would surely forgive him eventually, considering how soft-hearted she was. The man was playing up to her with his own sinister plan.

“As if you’re not loud enough.” Moo Tingxiao shot him a glare.

Shrinking back away from him, Moo Jiachen scurried into the kitchen.

Mu Nuannuan was leaning against the countertop, sipping on a pack of yogurt drink. Her bowl of noodles had probably soaked up all the broth like a sponge. It did not matter now; she no longer had the appetite.

Seeing Moo Jiachen dart in, she took out another pack and handed it to him.

Moo Jiachen went up to stand beside her. Taking a sip of yogurt drink, he started to talk like a man who had seen enough of life. “Mu Nuannuan, don’t be conned by Moo Tingxiao. He’s sinister.”

“Mm,” she replied absent-mindedly, looking over at him. “I’m six years older than you... You should have addressed me as your elder sister.”

The fourteen-year-old was still slightly taller than Mu Nuannuan, who stood at 1.7 meters. Going through puberty, Moo Jiachen still looked like a kid even though he was a little taller than her.

He curled his lips and said, “Then I’ll call you ‘Elder Sister’.” He did not really want to recognize that she was Moo Tingxiao’s wife. He was indignant, sighing and feeling sorry for Mu Nuannuan for having married his sinister cousin.

Mu Nuannuan wondered if the yogurt drink was making him sad.

…

The three of them went out together with Shiye behind the wheel.

Mu Nuannuan did not want to sit beside Moo Tingxiao, so she let Moo Jiachen get in first. The plan was for Moo Jiachen to sit in the middle, with her on the left and Moo Tingxiao on the right. Moo Jiachen secretly glanced at Moo Tingxiao before he got in, feeling depressed because he had to sit next to his elder cousin, who did not look too friendly. He must have done something unwise, he thought.

Shiye was to send Mu Nuannuan back to her office in Mu Corporation, then Moo Jiachen to school. After dropping Mu Nuannuan off and going just a short distance, Moo Tingxiao instructed him, “Stop the car.”

As soon as the car came to a halt, Moo Tingxiao looked over at Moo Jiachen. “Get out.”

“But I haven’t reached school yet!” When Moo Tingxiao sent him to school yesterday, it had taken at least ten minutes to drive from there to his school.

“We’re not heading in the same direction.”

“Huh?”

Before Moo Jiachen could figure out what happened, Moo Tingxiao had opened the door and kicked him out of the car.

Moo Jiachen screamed blue murder. “You’re taking things personally just because I was sitting between you and Nuannuan? I dare you to kick me out of the car in front of her!”

Moo Tingxiao ignored him, shutting the door. “Let’s go,” he instructed Shiye.

Shiye glanced at Moo Jiachen who was standing outside. All he could do was keep quiet and feel sorry for him even though he knew that his school and Shengding were in the same direction.

Looking on as the car sped off, Moo Jiachen kicked the roadside tree to vent his frustration. It ended up with him carrying his leg, jumping up and down in pain.

His school was still ten minutes away by car. Even if he ran on foot, it would take half a million hours—well, that was what it seemed like. To make matters worse, he was also penniless, so Moo Jiachen could just mumble to himself, “Fine! I’ll get some money from your wife.”

Mu Corporation was not that far from where he was now, so he turned around and ran toward it.

…

As soon as Mu Nuannuan reached the building, Mu Liyan summoned her into his office.

After the press conference, it seemed that public discussions of Mu Corporation had yet to die down one bit. No one was buying into their story. In desperation, Mu Liyan could only place all his hope on Mu Nuannuan.

“Nuannuan, have you talked to Moo Tingxiao?” He got to his feet immediately when Mu Nuannuan stepped in.

However, the sheer mention of Moo Tingxiao still got her goats.

“I couldn’t convince him. He said he wouldn’t help Mu Corporation.” She never intended to talk to Moo Tingxiao about this in the first place, more so when she found out that “Moo Jiachen” was Moo Tingxiao. She knew right away he was not going to help Mu Corporation.

Mu Liyan became even more desperate. “Then, what should we do now? I’ve gotten the Black Card back for you. Besides, you promised me—”

“The Black Card belongs to Moo Tingxiao. Even if you didn’t help me get it back, he’d find out I lost the card, eventually. He could have gotten it back if he wanted to and probably recovered all the money spent on the card as well…”

After Mu Liyan and Mu Wanqi swindled the money from the Black Card, they had spent nearly 20 million dollars within a very short time. Mu Nuannuan knew that it was nearly impossible to recover that amount of money unless she sold the shares of Mu Corporation that she held and used that money to pay Moo Tingxiao back. After all, she got the shares from Mu Liyan. She could offer to sell them back to him. If not, she could dispose of the shares to a third party. As battered as Mu Corporation’s image was, people were still willing to buy it. After all, Mu Corporation had come a long way.

As Mu Nuannuan had expected, Mu Liyan’s expression changed when he heard what she said.

“Dad, don’t worry. I will help find another way.”

Mu Liyan could not have cared if Mu Nuannuan was sincere or not; he was in desperation.

When Mu Nuannuan came out of Mu Liyan’s office, a colleague went up to her.

“Nuannnuan, someone’s looking for you.”

It was Moo Jiachen.

“Why are you here? Shouldn’t you be in school?” Mu Nuannuan checked the time; it was well past nine.

He leaned against the wall with his bag on his back, sighing. “After you got down, my elder cousin kicked me out of the car. My school’s still so far away and I’m penniless, so I can only come to you…”

“What’s wrong with him, kicking you out of the car?” She took out a hundred dollars from her handbag. “Next time, see me or even your cousin if you need money. Don’t do flimflam things again.”

Moo Jiachen was just street smart, but he was still young. He needed to be taught the proper concept of right and wrong.

“Thank you, Nuannuan.” Moo Jiachen took the money, giving her an appreciative smile.

She smiled back at him, thinking he was not that bad after all.