Chapter 31

Tonight's wives chat group was livelier than usual.

Sheng Mumu and Wang Qinwei became the center of attention.

[Mrs. Sun: Don't spread those rumors, everyone. Mrs. Qi was at my house playing mahjong today, and Qi Chief came to pick her up in person. They looked very much in love.]

[Mrs. Zhao: I knew it! I didn't believe those nonsense stories either. Mrs. Qi looks so spirited and happy, clearly a woman nourished by love.]

[Mrs. Song: Don't believe rumors, don't spread rumors. [making a face]]

[Mrs. Qian: Sorry about skipping mahjong today.]

[Mrs. Sun: @Mrs. Qian, you dodged a bullet. Mrs. Qi won against three families today, super lucky.]

[Mrs. Li: Who lost big? [curious]]

[Mrs. Sun: Mrs. Wang, her luck was bad today. Ah, let's not mention it.]

[Mrs. Li: Huh? How come I don't see Mrs. Wang chatting in the group? She usually loves talking with everyone.]

[Mr. Wu's Precious: Oh Mrs. Li, you didn't see the news? ]

[Mrs. Li: What news? I just got back from vacation in Switzerland, still at the airport, just opened my phone.]

Those who used to be close with Wang Qinwei suddenly distanced themselves from her, and started mocking -

[Mr. Zheng's Little Wife: My god, so juicy. Looks like Mrs. Wang didn't just have bad mahjong luck, her marriage ran into trouble too [covering mouth giggling]]

[Mr. Wu's Precious: I felt something was off for a while. Mrs. Wang always loved showing off her lovey-dovey relationship in the group, but we've never run into the couple together in the compound. So this is what's going on, who would've thought!]

[Mr. Zheng's Little Wife: That's right, that 2 million dollar necklace she showed off, it's got to be a fake right?]

[Mrs. Li: You guessed right! I just went on vacation in Switzerland, met a friend who said the flower shaped necklace auctioned here last month was won by Qi Chief from Beijing. And it was the only one!]

[Mrs. Qian: Last month? That must have been when Mrs. Qi got married, Qi Chief probably bought it as a gift for his new wife.]

[Mr. Wu's Precious: Hahahaha, I'm dying, Mrs. Wang is too embarrassing!]

[Mrs. Zhou: That's right, I was there playing mahjong today, Mrs. Wang was furious.]

[Mrs. Zhou: To think I used to be close with her, listening to her gossip about Mrs. Qi. Now looking back, she was probably just jealous that Mrs. Qi is happily married.] [...]

In the car.

The center of attention Sheng Mumu was using Qi Mo's phone to look for restaurants nearby.

After a long time she picked a barbecue restaurant not far from Xiyu Garden.

Sheng Mumu pulled up driving directions, planning to prop the phone on a car mount.

After looking around, she realized there was no phone mount in the car.

Oh...

He always had a driver take him around, so a phone mount was unnecessary.

Qi Mo glanced at Sheng Mumu's hovering hand. "Picked a place?"

Sheng Mumu responded: "Mm, a barbecue restaurant, not too far, but on a small road, might be hard to navigate."

Qi Mo watched the road ahead, "I can't look at navigation while driving, you follow the directions and guide me."

"Ok."

Qi Mo had planned to talk to Sheng Mumu about Dr. Jiang on the drive over.

Seeing her fully concentrated on the navigation, afraid to make a wrong turn, he decided to wait until they got to the restaurant.

As the car approached the villa compound entrance, Sheng Mumu's attention was caught by a familiar figure.

"Isn't that Qi Shaobai up ahead?"

Hearing this, Qi Mo slowed down and looked in the direction she was gazing.

Qi Shaobai was sitting on a roadside bench, elbows on knees, staring blankly at the ground lost in thought.

The car stopped in front of Qi Shaobai.

Sheng Mumu rolled down her window.

"Little Qi, what are you doing sitting here?"

Caught off guard mid-daze, Qi Shaobai lifted his head with a startled look.

Before he could respond, Sheng Mumu cheerfully invited:

"Your dad and I are going for barbecue, want to join?"

Qi Shaobai's gaze went past Sheng Mumu to the man in the driver's seat. He pondered for a good few seconds before heaving a sigh of relief. Silently he got up and opened the back door to get in.

He actually had no appetite at all.

But on second thought, this might be a farewell dinner, so he went along. He didn't know this stepmother Sheng Mumu for long, but his impression of her was decent.

If the rumors were true, that his father had an affair leading to divorce...

As the son, he felt somewhat guilty.

Qi Shaobai got in the car carrying this gloom.

He had assumed the atmosphere would be even heavier for the two in front, but reality was far from what he imagined.

Recalling the scene at Mrs. Sun's house, when Qi Mo suddenly appeared, Sheng Mumu couldn't help joking about it.

"What you said back there was so TV drama-like."

Qi Mo casually glanced over, tone flat, "What did I say?"

Sheng Mumu cleared her throat, and lowered her voice to mimic Qi Mo's tone from earlier.

"Ahem...Is the assurance I give enough?"

Still feeling unsatisfied after the mimicry, she shaped her hand into a mic shape and held it to Qi Mo.

"Let me interview you, Mr. Qi. How many big bosses can you take down in one meal? Such an awesome vibe."

Qi Mo: "......"

He looked down at the fair fist held up to his face, and let out a low chuckle, the overbearing aura around him turning gentle.

Seeing him laugh, Sheng Mumu was even more delighted. "Oh, Mr. Qi, successful men like you, have you ever said, 'It's getting cold, time to bankrupt the Wangs'?"

Qi Mo kept one hand on the steering wheel, propped his elbow on the other, glancing over with mirth in his eyes.

The hard edges of his jawline softened, his tone also taking on a hint of laughter, voice gentling:

"No one speaks like that."

If he wanted to take action, he would just directly do it, no need to announce it ahead of time.

"With your wealth, you could be more arrogant," Sheng Mumu seriously shook her head in argument.

Qi Mo helplessly rubbed his temple, letting out a few muffled chuckles from his chest.

Sheng Mumu also realized she wasn't making much sense, and started laughing too.

The man's summer breeze-like charming low laughter mingled with the woman's vaguely silly crisp laughter, falling upon the "foolish son's" ears in the backseat.

Qi Shaobai was thoroughly confused: "???"

The usually cold eyes of the seventeen year old rebellious teen now harbored great bewilderment never seen before.

Was the adult world so strong that they could laugh off anything that happened, or did he get something wrong?

These two really didn't seem like they were about to divorce at all.