“Sure, you can come with us…but why this sudden interest?” Xu Mingzhen was besties with Xiao Menghan. The two of them were like sisters.
When they’d first met the Wei family, Xu Mingzhen hadn’t known anything about them.
Then, after they’d gotten to know each other better, she’d realized that Wei Mingwen and Xiao Menghan were nice and easy to be around.
But she still worried that the social status of the two families was too different, and it might be awkward if they got too close.
But as Tan Mo grew up and became closer to the Wei family, those in the Wei household came to consider her a part of their family.
Especially at the Wei Estate, where she was considered one of their own.
So Xu Mingzhen began interacting more with Xiao Menghan. She came to realize that Xiao Menghan had an outgoing personality, and, although she was intelligent, she didn’t use her brains to scheme. At the same time, she was good at keeping those around her well behaved.
Every time she was with Xiao Menghan, she felt very close to her.
The two of them were like sisters.
“You know that I only have one son, that little brat Zhiqian. I’ve thought of having another child so I could have a daughter, but I’m afraid that I may have another son. That would be a huge headache.” Xiao Menghan had actually thought this over. “I only have Zhiqian at home, but that’s enough work for me.”
Xu Mingzhen felt for her…
“That’s true,” Xu Mingzhen said as she thought about the past. “I also wanted a daughter, so I tried hard…but then I had three sons in a row.”
“By my second, I was still driven to have a daughter, and I was hopeful. I thought to myself, I’d surely be lucky enough, since three’s a charm, right?”
“But my third child was another son…”
“By that time, I was already a bit resigned, but, at the same time, I wanted a daughter even more. I’d already tried three times, so if I gave up then, I’d surely regret it… So I told myself, if my fourth child still wasn’t a daughter, then I’d give up. But my fourth child was Mo Mo.” Xu Mingzhen pressed her forehead and shook her head with wonder. “Thinking about it still surprises me… I was surely bold back then.”
Xiao Menghan thought to herself, just two sons, not to mention three… Just half of the trouble that Wei Zhiqian was would be enough of a headache.
“Your Jinqi has a gentle personality, and I’m sure he helps you take care of his younger sister and brothers,” Xiao Menghan said. “But look at my Zhiqian, if I had another son, and my younger son followed his older brother around all day…then wouldn’t I have another small Zhiqian?”
She didn’t mean to say that her son was bad. It’s just that he was so difficult, especially around females.
The only females he interacted with were his family and Tan Mo. And Tan Mo is so young.
Xiao Menghan was very concerned for her son.
“I just want to have a daughter to dote on and dress up. I probably won’t take the leap, but aren’t you going shopping for Mo Mo? I can go with you two and give some advice. I’ll make sure Mo Mo is dressed beautifully.”
“Sure thing,” Xu Mingzhen smiled and agreed. “We’ll go together.”
Xiao Menghan was excited for the trip. She started planning in her own mind.
It would be the first time she’d gone shopping with Tan Mo, so she couldn’t embarrass herself for sure.
Mo Mo was so pretty, so she had to dress prettily as well.
Xiao Menghan ran to her closet and dug around for an outfit.
Wei Mingwen came by, and, noticing the ruckus, he poked his head in and asked, “What are you doing in there?”
“Does this outfit look good on me?” Xiao Menghan raised an outfit to her body and eyed it in the mirror.
“It looks good. Are you heading out now?” Wei Mingwen asked, astonished.
“No, I’m going out tomorrow.” Xiao Menghan’s attention was on her choice of outfit, so she didn’t explain anything further to him.
Wei Mingwen was feeling a bit sour. “Who are you meeting dressed so prettily? When you go out with me, you never pick outfits the day before.”
Xiao Menghan finally stopped digging through her closet and turned around to Wei Mingwen. “Who says I don’t? When we were going out, before we had a date, I’d pick out an outfit and start dressing up the day before our date. It’s just that I never told you.”
Hearing what she said, Wei Mingwen suddenly remembered the time when he was still young and he had been dating Xiao Menghan.
Xiao Menghan had been extremely beautiful and she always dressed well, so wherever she went, it was like she was under the spotlight.
Even when she walked outside with him, other men would turn around and look at her, and he would be very jealous all the time.
Of course, Xiao Menghan was still very beautiful. But it was a different type of beauty now.
When she was young, she had been like a daisy, enveloped in the morning dew.
Now she was an elegant and boldly colored rose.
She was beautiful then and now, but it was a different type of beauty.
“Mo Mo was invited to the Tulip Awards Ceremony, nominated for best script.” Xiao Menghan put the outfit she was holding back in her closet and said, “Tomorrow, Mingzhen is taking her to the shopping mall to choose a gown. You know that I’ve always wanted a daughter. I guess I could wait until Zhiqian finds a wife, then I can dress her up…
“But Zhiqian is still young, and he is focused on his studies. This is a good thing, and I have no desire to interfere with that, so I’ll have to wait. I was just thinking, I could go with Mingzhen and Mo Mo to the shopping mall and I could experience the joy of having a daughter.”
Wei Mingwen smiled. “It’s all because of that little brat Zhiqian. He had to call her niece. He could have called her sister, then I could be Mo Mo’s godfather…”
“Exactly!” Xiao Menghan chimed in.
Wei Zhiqian was outside and had wanted to go in to greet them, but hearing that they were complaining about him, he decided not to disturb them for now.
Otherwise they wouldn’t let him off the hook…
…
The next day, at the scheduled time, Xiao Menghan got prepared and went to the Tan home and headed out with Tan Mo and Xu Mingzhen.
However, just after breakfast, as she was still putting on her lipstick, she noticed that Wei Zhiqian was dressed and waiting for her at the door.
“What are you doing here?” Xiao Menghan stopped what she was doing, and, with the lipstick still raised in her hands, looked at Wei Zhiqian curiously.
“Aren’t you going to go with Auntie Tan and Mo Mo to the shopping mall? I’ll go with you guys, and I can give you some advice,” Wei Zhiqian said.
“Since when are you willing to do things like this?” Xiao Menghan asked curiously.
“It’s the first time that we’re going to dress Mo Mo up, so I should be there.” said Wei Zhiqian.
Xiao Menghan complained, “I’ve told you before how strange it is that you call Mo Mo your niece. Technically that means you should be of a similar age to the elders in the Tan family, but you call Mingzhen auntie…”
“You should have called Mo Mo sister instead,” Xiao Menghan said, “then I could be her godmother.”
“She is still so young, so it would be strange to call her sister,” said Wei Zhiqian.
