Tan Mo put the matter at the back of her mind after Qin Muye had successfully convinced her that everything was all right.
Tan Mo and the others left the Hot Springs Villas in the afternoon to return to Beijing University. But Wei Zhiqian did not show up at all.
At that, a thought crossed Tan Mo’s mind. Was Uncle really that busy today?
In the end, she kept her thoughts to herself and did not call Wei Zhiqian.
She felt as if she would appear immature if she interrupted him during his work.
…
Two weeks passed since she had last seen Wei Zhiqian.
He would still text her through WeChat to ask her about how she was doing.
They were texting each other like they always had before.
Everything was fine except that she did not see Wei Zhiqian.
Tan Mo’s brothers would often come to keep an eye on the guys who tried to approach her with ulterior motives.
“Say, what’s wrong with Uncle, anyway?” Tan Mo lamented. “He used to come here every day, and I’ve complained that he was clingy. Sometimes, I just thought of asking him to come less often, although I never dared to say it. That time at Hot Springs Villas, I even felt relieved that your brother and the gang asked for him. I can still recall the overflowing blissfulness in my heart after getting rid of his supervision.
“But who would have thought that it would be the last time I saw him. From that night until now, I’ve never seen him even once,” Tan Mo was overwhelmed with regret as she spoke. “If only I could turn back time, I would not make any complaints. This must be a punishment for me. I did not cherish him when he was around. Yet, I’ve started to miss his presence after his sudden disappearance.”
It was a weekend that day. The two friends had gone home to stay with their families..
Tan Mo was texting Qin Muye through WeChat.
After thinking it all over, Qin Muye went looking for Qin Mufeng.
Fortunately for her, Qin Mufeng happened to be at home that day.
“Brother, do you know what’s going on with Brother Zhiqian lately?” Qin Muye threw her brother a question right after seeing him.
Qin Mufeng raised his eyebrows at her query. “Why? Did Tan Mo ask?”
Who would be concerned about Wei Zhiqian other than Tan Mo?
“It’s not just Mo; I feel that something is strange about this whole situation too,” Qin Muye replied. “We all know how much Brother Zhiqian usually cares for Mo Mo. Since her 18th-birthday celebration, he would head to Beijing University three times a day without fail. He did that just to prevent questionable guys from wooing her.
“And here comes the weird part. He suddenly went MIA on her after my birthday party. Putting that aside, how could he stop visiting her for three weeks consecutively?” Qin Muye raised her arm before Qin Mufeng’s face with her middle finger, ring finger, and pinky finger opened to symbolize the number three. “Three freaking weeks! He did not show up even once.
“This has never happened since Mo Mo got acquainted with Brother Zhiqian at age six,” Qin Muye went on. “The times when he went on business trips were one to two weeks at most. During his travels, he would video-call her frequently and visit her the first thing upon his return.
“But what about now? Even though he is still here in B City and not attending any business trip, he has not visited Mo Mo. To top it all off, he has not video-called her at all. They only exchange texts with each other on WeChat.”
With that, Qin Muye raised a corner of her lips into a smirk and added, “If it weren’t for Mo Mo’s profound knowledge of Brother Zhiqian’s wording preferences, his word choices and typing habits, I would’ve assumed that it was someone else texting her. I’d even presume that he had had an accident and asked someone to text her in his stead to avoid making her worry. And for that reason, he has avoided showing her his face to keep her in the dark.”
Qin Mufeng was gobsmacked upon listening to his sister’s story.
“You should become a novel author with such a rich imagination.” It was at that very moment that Qin Mufeng realized Qin Muye had a wild imagination that was uncontrollable.
“Brother, it looks like you know something about it after all.” Qin Muye immediately understood the subtle meaning of her brother’s words. “So, what’s Brother Zhiqian been up to lately? Is he preoccupied with his work?”
“Work is as usual. Not to the point of being unable to visit Tan Mo.” The corners of Qin Mufeng’s lips curled into a smile as he recalled the real reason Wei Zhiqian was really busy recently. “He is busy going on blind dates lately.”
“Blind dating?” Qin Muye shrieked in bewilderment. The decibel of her voice increased significantly.
“Yeah. Well, he’s not getting any younger.” The fact that Wei Zhiqian remained ignorant of the type of woman he liked at his current age was utterly ridiculous.
Qin Mufeng chuckled. “Look. He would usually work until nightfall during the regular working days. So he couldn’t visit Tan Mo at Beijing University during those days. So it was only during Fridays and weekends that he managed to squeeze some time to see her.
“Now that he needs to go on blind dates, he can only use his weekends for that since he can’t do it during normal working hours. Do you see it now? His blind dates have replaced the time that he used to visit Tan Mo. So does it make sense to you now why he couldn’t visit her? That’s the reason he’s only texting her through WeChat.”
“What? He couldn’t even make time to visit Mo Mo before he gets married. What do you think will happen after he has a successful blind date? Won’t he have to spend time dating that girl and marrying her? He will be spending his weekends going on dates with that girl following that. Then, after his marriage, he will have to spare time for his wife,” Qin Muye said, grumbling.
“And don’t forget that it’s just a blind date now. Yet, he already can’t make time for Mo Mo. So let’s not even talk about whether he could spend time with Mo Mo after he got married. Even if he managed to squeeze time out of his hectic schedule, he could at most visit her once a month. But once he has his own child to take care of, I doubt if he can even manage a regular monthly visit.”
Qin Muye stood up right after she had spoken and began to worry.
Her fantasy had run wild as she continued her narration. And she gradually wandered from the subject.
“Isn’t Mo Mo’s cuteness the reason Brother Zhiqian loved her back then? She was a squishy, cute little plump kid. But once his baby is born, he’ll raise it according to his liking. Then it’ll grow up to be a lovely, squishy, and cute toddler.” The color drained from Qin Muye’s face as she muttered, “And then, he’ll have another baby a few years later. He’ll definitely raise it according to his preferences as well. Once that baby grows up to be another cute little plump kid, Tan Mo will be officially left out of the picture.”
Qin Muye added in a worried tone, “Besides, Mo Mo is no longer a child. She’s adult size now.”
While Qin Muye was talking, she made a huge circle big enough to fit in three Tan Mos.
At the sight of it, Qin Mufeng was at a loss for words.
“Is Tan Mo that big of a woman in your perspective?” he remarked.
“Well, no matter what, she won’t be as small as a child, who looks lovely and cute.” With an anxious look, she continued, “How can she even hope to rival his newborn child in looks and size? There’s no comparison. With a cute little toddler beside him, I don’t think Mo Mo will even cross Brother Zhiqian’s mind anymore.”
Qin Mufeng was dumbfounded. A while later, he commented, “Zhiqian just started going on blind dates recently. How can you decide his family planning for him already when he hasn’t even had a successful blind date yet?”
Ignoring her brother’s remarks, Qin Muye plonked herself down on the chair and grabbed her cellphone. “Gosh! I have to tell Mo Mo now. Then she’ll at least be emotionally prepared.
“Brother, you have no idea how heartbroken Mo Mo is because Brother Zhiqian hasn’t been to see her for three weeks straight. On top of only texting through WeChat, he would even give her excuses, saying that he was busy every time she called,” Qin Muye explained while beginning to contact Tan Mo.
Qin Mufeng did not stop whatever she was doing.
After some time, Qin Muye blurted out, “Mo Mo, I just talked to my brother earlier. As expected, he knew what happened.”
Qin Muye told on her brother without a moment of hesitation.
At that, Tan Mo hurriedly asked, “What on earth is actually going on? Did something befall Uncle?”
Needless to say, Tan Mo had allowed her imagination to run as wild as Qin Muye had.
