Let Mom Probe Things Out
When Su Mo walked into the office, she found Sheng Donglin daydreaming.
She pouted in displeasure and walked over. “What’s wrong? You’ve been out of sorts for the past two days. Is it because you can’t bear the thought of Gong Mo’s imminent marriage?”
Sheng Donglin pinched her nose. “Little jealous thing. Where have your thoughts run off to? I was only thinking if Gong Mo heard our conversation that day.”
“So what if she did or didn’t? Need we be afraid of her?”
“You don’t get it. She’ll definitely tell Nanxuan if she heard us.”
“Wasn’t it just nonsense?” Su Mo added matter-of-factly, “Nanxuan has been kicked out of the family.”
“That’s the problem,” said Sheng Donglin. “If she tells Nanxuan about it, he would never take things lying down.”
“Is that why you’re so beside yourself?” The corner of Su Mo’s mouth twitched. “You’ve always been at loggerheads with Nanxuan. So what if he knows about it?”
“It matters!” exclaimed Sheng Donglin. “He’d definitely oppose me at the drop of a hat if he knew about it. But I’m about to go to the capital and it’s going to be so busy there that I won’t have the time to deal with him. If he doesn’t know about it, he’d most likely not try anything against me.”
“Well, then…”
Sheng Donglin’s eyes narrowed. “It seems like we can only send Mom to probe things.”
…
Gong Mo received a call from her university classmate, Jiang Yao.
Jiang Yao asked, “Wang Hongjun is holding an engagement party on Friday. Are you going?”
Wang Hongjun was their class monitor in university. He was about to leave the country and thus wanted to get engaged before he left. In private, everyone gossiped that he was doing so so that he could receive presents and money, but they couldn’t do anything about it since they had once been classmates. Moreover, it had only been a few days since their graduation. Not going wasn’t an option.
“Yeah. Let’s go together when the time comes,” said Gong Mo. “How much are you putting in your red packet?”
Jiang Yao laughed. “I was about to ask you that. I don’t have much money because I just graduated and I just started my first job so I don’t have my salary yet. I’ll have to ask my mom for money. I can’t just give 200 yuan. 400 yuan sounds reasonable, but I’m worried he might be superstitious and think the number “four” inauspicious, so it seems like 600 yuan is the amount that I should give.”
“I was thinking that too,” said Gong Mo. “What about the rest of the girls? How much are they giving?”
They didn’t care about how much the guys were going to contribute. That’d depend on their relationship with Wang Hongjun, but it was better that the girls contribute the same amount.
“It hasn’t been decided. Some of them say 400 yuan while others say 600 yuan.”
Gong Mo thought it over, then gritted her teeth and said, “Let’s just give 600 yuan, then! We’ll make a favorable impression if Class Monitor is happy and he’ll be a valuable connection if he ever becomes successful.”
“Right, that’s what I was thinking too. I’ll give 600 yuan, then!”
Gong Mo exhaled after hanging up. She had no money either, but she was lucky enough to have been awarded a few scholarships while in school and thus never had to ask Mama Gong for money. There were no red packets in the house, so Gong Mo had to go out to buy some and also visit the bank to withdraw money along the way. While on the way, her phone rang due to a call from an unknown number.
She took the call and heard an unfamiliar woman’s voice. “Are you Gong Mo?”
“Who are…”
“I’m Nanxuan’s mom,” said the other party with a chuckle.
Gong Mo was stunned as she recalled the aloof and distant Mrs. Sheng.
She had seen Mrs. Sheng a few times when she had been dating Sheng Donglin. However, Mrs. Sheng had been unhappy that she was Sheng Donglin’s girlfriend and ignored her, always casting looks at her from afar before leaving. It was really strange that she would take the initiative to call her.
A puzzled Gong Mo asked, “Is anything the matter, Mrs. Sheng?”
“I’ve lost contact with Nanxuan. He’s not come home ever since that incident and I haven’t been able to contact him. I heard from Donglin earlier that you’re getting married to him? I was thinking that you might know where he is.”