“Dad, Mom!” Mo Fei deliberately called out loudly from the doorway.
She then set the local specialties on the floor and took a baseball bat out of her space, hiding it behind her back.
The crying and arguing inside the house came to an abrupt stop. The first ones to rush out to greet Mo Fei were Jianian and Jiayue.
The two children charged toward her like a whirlwind, nearly knocking Mo Fei to the ground.
Seeing that the children were unharmed, she secretly let out a sigh of relief, then quietly returned the baseball bat to her space.
“Did you miss Mommy that much?” Mo Fei smiled gently.
The next people to come out from the living room were Song Yi, Mo Zhicheng, and a married couple who looked several years younger than the two of them.
“Little Aunt, Little Uncle.” Following the original owner’s memories, Mo Fei recognized them and greeted them politely.
Mo Fei’s little aunt, Mo Qiujin, did not even spare her a glance. Her little uncle, Chen Ming, on the other hand, still wore a smile and nodded at Mo Fei.
After everyone exchanged greetings, everyone except Song Yi and the children sat back down on the living room sofa. The atmosphere was clearly off.
“Why didn’t you tell us you were coming back early? I could’ve had your dad pick you up from the airport.” Song Yi walked over to the door and took the things Mo Fei had brought back. Her eyes looked slightly red, as though she had been crying.
While closing the door, Mo Fei lowered her voice so only she and her mother could hear. “Why are they here?”
“They came to borrow money from your dad because of your cousin’s wedding,” Song Yi replied just as quietly, then added, “She’s been crying for half an hour. Your dad hasn’t said a word.”
Mo Fei first urged her son and daughter to go to their own rooms. When she stepped into the living room, she instinctively frowned.
Ever since she was little, what she hated most was the smell of cigarettes, and she hated smokers even more.
Now the living room reeked of cigarette smoke. Half the fruit platter she had carefully selected was covered with cigarette ash, while Chen Ming still had a half-smoked cigarette between his fingers.
The disgust on Mo Fei’s face was far too obvious. Chen Ming immediately became awkward, unsure whether he should continue smoking or put it out.
Mo Qiujin, who had never liked Mo Fei to begin with, could not stand seeing her husband being looked down upon. She immediately sneered. “Oh? The most capable person in the Mo family is finally back. What an impressive air you’ve got.”
Back then, Mo Fei’s unmarried pregnancy had caused the Mo family to lose face in front of all their relatives.
Mo Qiujin had been the very first member of the Mo family to announce that she was cutting ties with Mo Fei. It had also been her suggestion to her elder brother, Mo Zhicheng, that they financially cut Mo Fei off.
After that, almost every year during holidays and family gatherings, Mo Qiujin would bring up everything Mo Fei had done again, afraid people might forget.
That was also the biggest reason why Mo Zhicheng had been unable to forgive his daughter during those eight years.
Mo Qiujin had originally believed that after eight years, there was no possibility of reconciliation between her elder brother and his disobedient niece. Yet when she came to borrow money this time, she discovered that her elder brother and sister-in-law were not even living at home anymore. They had moved into the house Mo Fei rented to help her look after those wild children.
Mo Qiujin became furious. She ordered her husband to drive them to Jinshi Garden Residential Complex overnight.
It was as though she feared that if she arrived even a moment later, her elder brother would be completely poisoned by Mo Fei.
Mo Fei had no desire whatsoever to pay any attention to this little aunt of hers.
She turned to Mo Zhicheng and said, “Dad, I put the gifts I brought for you and Mom in your room. It’s getting late, so I’ll take the two of them to bed first.” Both children could bathe and sleep on their own. She said this simply because she did not want to stay in the same room as these two damned relatives.
Mo Zhicheng, who had been sitting on the sofa with a dark expression without saying a word, finally spoke. “Let your mother take the children to bed. Sit down.”
Although she had no desire to face her little aunt and little uncle, Mo Fei still gave Mo Zhicheng that much respect and patiently sat down.
Mo Qiujin also could not be bothered to waste time on Mo Fei and continued, “Brother, I know you and Sister-in-law have managed to save up quite a bit over the years. Qingqing is getting married next month. We’ve already agreed with the groom’s family that besides the ¥660,000 dowry, we’ll also give her a ¥300,000 car as part of her marriage portion. But your brother-in-law’s money is all tied up in the stock market right now. We really had no other choice but to come ask you! You watched Qingqing grow up. She’s so accomplished. She’ll definitely take care of you in your old age.”
Mo Fei listened absentmindedly beside them while secretly glancing at Mo Zhicheng.
According to the original owner’s memories, her father had always doted on this younger sister. Ever since she could remember, her father had practically granted every request Mo Qiujin made.
Whenever something happened in Mo Qiujin’s family and they came to borrow money, they called it borrowing, but after taking ¥10,000 or ¥20,000, they were never seen paying it back.
When Chen Bingqing had missed admission to a key senior high school by a single point after graduating from junior high, it had been Mo Zhicheng who spent ¥50,000 and pulled strings to make it happen.
Over the years, the money spent on Mo Qiujin’s family had added up to at least several hundred thousand yuan. Otherwise, given how frugal Song Yi and Mo Zhicheng had always been, they would not have saved only ¥500,000.
This time, however, Mo Qiujin’s appetite was even bigger. She wanted Mo Zhicheng to directly give Chen Bingqing a ¥300,000 car.
I only rent a ¥2,000-a-month car, Mo Fei silently complained to herself. She suddenly felt as though she had been living on the very edge of making ends meet.
Seeing that Mo Zhicheng still refused to speak, Mo Qiujin grew anxious. It looked as though she was about to cry again.
That trick had always worked before, but tonight she had already cried for half an hour without any effect.
Chen Ming had no ideas of his own. Aside from smoking, all he ever did was echo his wife’s words.
Unexpectedly, Mo Zhicheng asked a single question. “Mo Qiujin, don’t I have a daughter?”
His voice was not loud. It was only a short sentence with a few simple words, yet everyone sitting on the sofa froze.
Mo Fei inwardly smiled. She understood Mo Zhicheng’s attitude toward the matter, and immediately felt much more confident. “Of course you do. Isn’t she sitting right here?”
Mo Qiujin laughed in anger. “Brother, don’t tell me you’re getting old and have forgotten what kind of person this wonderful niece of mine is. She slept around with a man before even graduating from university and ended up with children, ruining her own future. I heard that all she’s been able to do these years is work as a waitress, a saleswoman, a receptionist, and jobs like that. Our Qingqing graduated from a prestigious university with a master’s degree and works at a major internet company. Are they even comparable? Brother, some people simply can’t be relied on. You and Sister-in-law are already getting old. You can’t afford to get worked up.”
“Little Aunt, my cousin doesn’t even have the surname Mo, does she? Whether she’s accomplished or not has nothing to do with my dad. Whether I’m accomplished or not has even less to do with you. At the very least, I wouldn’t run to someone else’s home in the middle of the night to shamelessly borrow money, then become furious out of humiliation after being turned down. Besides, Little Aunt, don’t you know the saying, ‘Repay what you borrow, and borrowing again will be easy’? How much money have my parents lent your family over the years? Have you ever paid back even a single cent?”
Mo Fei smiled gently, but every word she spoke was utterly merciless.
Having grown up in an orphanage, she had learned countless crude expressions from a young age. It was only after growing up that she had learned to behave more civilly and fit into society.
Now, Mo Qiujin had completely stirred up the wildness buried within Mo Fei once again.
Mo Qiujin clenched her fists in fury and shrieked, “You little bitch, what nonsense are you spouting?!”
Only after shouting those words did Mo Qiujin realize she had gone too far. She instinctively glanced at Mo Zhicheng.
Mo Zhicheng’s expression seemed to have turned even darker.
Mo Qiujin’s heart tightened. Just what kind of spell had Mo Fei cast? How had she managed to win her elder brother’s heart back in such a short time?
Mo Fei did not take Mo Qiujin’s insults to heart at all. Still smiling faintly, she casually opened the coffee table drawer, took out a fruit knife, and, in full view of everyone, drove it forcefully into the watermelon on the table.
Red watermelon juice flowed down the blade that gleamed with a cold light, looking strikingly like human blood.
Mo Fei pulled the fruit knife back out and gripped it in her hand, staring coldly at the two of them. She did not say a single word, yet it seemed as though she had said everything.
Two minutes later, the elevator doors closed, and Mo Fei’s home finally became peaceful again.
She stood up and opened the living room windows to air out the cigarette smoke.
Mo Zhicheng walked over to Mo Fei, looking as though he wanted to say something but hesitated.
Mo Fei had assumed her father was about to scold her for disrespecting her elders. Instead, Mo Zhicheng only said one sentence. “Don’t take your little aunt’s words to heart.”
Watching her father slowly walk back toward his room, Mo Fei felt that he looked much older. It was as though all the strength had been drained from his body.
He had changed a great deal.
In the past, if Mo Fei had ever dared to speak to Mo Qiujin like that, Mo Zhicheng would certainly have scolded her. Yet now, for the first time ever, he had silently condoned Mo Fei’s actions and had even comforted her.
Mo Fei let out a sigh of relief.
At least for now, it seemed that Mo Zhicheng would no longer blindly take his little sister’s side.
That meant she no longer had to worry that when the natural disasters truly arrived, Mo Zhicheng would give away all the supplies she had worked so hard to gather to someone else.
That would have been even more unbearable than starving to death.
After washing up and returning to her room, Mo Fei fell into a new worry.
She realized that Jinshi Garden Residential Complex was no longer very safe.
Her little aunt and little uncle now knew her address, and they had most likely also seen the dried meat, canned food, instant noodles, and other supplies in the kitchen…
What if they remembered them once they found themselves short on supplies?
To keep her parents from softening toward those awful relatives in the family, she had to find an opportunity to explain just how serious this issue was. In the future, they absolutely could not casually reveal their address to relatives or friends.
Besides, a cunning rabbit always had three burrows. Only then was it truly safe. Mo Fei began looking for another hideout of her own.
She had to move quickly.
Thinking of the government’s upcoming regulations, she could feel that time was running out.