Mother and daughter spent the entire afternoon shopping at the department store. Nan Mo ended up with two blouses.
One had a doll collar with puff sleeves, and the other was a pure white, fitted style that cinched at the waist. Even by modern standards, both were still stylish.
They also bought two pairs of Warrior canvas shoes and two jars of Snowflake Cream. Seeing it was getting late, they prepared to head home.
Just as they reached the entrance, Nan Mo was still complaining to her mother about an ugly dress she had seen when an ill timed voice interrupted.
“Hello, comrade. We meet again.” Wu Mingkang looked at Nan Mo with clear delight.
Nan Mo felt a wave of disgust, but she kept her face blank. “You are?”
Wu Mingkang was not annoyed. He smiled. “Yesterday, outside No. 1 High School.”
“Oh. Do you need something?”
“N-no.” Wu Mingkang flushed for a moment. He had not expected her to be so straightforward again.
Standing beside him, Wu Mingyue clearly recognized Nan Mo. “Nan Mo?”
“And you are?” Nan Mo also recognized the girl, who looked seven or eight parts similar to Wu Mingkang.
This should have been Wu Mingyue, the original female lead. Nan Mo had not expected Wu Mingyue to already know her.
“I’m Wu Mingyue. Wu Mingkang is my brother. I’m also from No. 1 High School. I know you. You’re from Class 3, right? We even have the same math teacher…” Wu Mingyue looked lively and outgoing, her mouth moving nonstop.
“Heh heh, well…” Nan Mo’s head started to throb. She cut in quickly. “Hello, classmate Wu. You and Comrade Wu enjoy your shopping. It’s getting late, and I still have to go home with my mother to cook. Goodbye!”
Before the siblings could react, she grabbed her mother and left.
Nan Mo’s mother knew her daughter usually appeared humble and polite, warm and generous to everyone, but in truth, she had high standards for friendship and very strong boundaries.
So she said nothing about Nan Mo’s attitude. If anything, she felt it was good.
But the siblings’ appearance made her agree even more with Nan Mo’s idea of going to the countryside.
In Shanghai, her husband might not have been some great figure, but he was still the head of a major factory. Plenty of people wanted to drag him down, and plenty of people wanted to attach themselves to him.
Her own maiden family background was not a secret to anyone determined enough to investigate.
Even though she had publicly severed ties on paper, any clever person knew she still had money and valuables. They just could not get at them.
Some people would mind her background, and some would not. Some might even think it was a chance to skip decades of struggle, especially with such an outstanding daughter.
Those two siblings did not look upright at all.
No, she needed to go home and talk to her husband as soon as possible. Maybe going to the countryside really was a way out.
Nan Mo noticed her mother’s heavy silence and found it a little funny.
She had not expected the Wu siblings to produce such an unexpected effect.
After they got home, Nan Mo told her mother to rest and went to the kitchen on her own to cook.
Her mother had too much on her mind to stop her. At worst, when her father came back, he could redo everything.
In the kitchen, Nan Mo saw there was only half a crock of rice left and a large bag of flour. Using the vegetables her mother had bought that morning, she planned to make tomato and egg stir fry, winter melon and pork rib soup, and a simple stir fried green vegetable.
She added a few drops of spirit spring water into each dish. It would not cleanse meridians or remake the body, but it could still help condition her parents’ health before she went to the countryside.
Nan Zhengting arrived home right on time. The moment he entered, he smelled the food.
Seeing Nan Mo cooking, he assumed his wife was unwell and hurried to check on her.
In the bedroom, Luo Ci sat on the bed in a daze. When she saw him, she waved him over urgently.
“What is it? Where do you feel unwell?”
“Nothing…” she said, then told him everything Nan Mo had said earlier, and also described running into Wu Mingkang and Wu Mingyue, adding her own opinion of the pair.
In the end, she summarized her thoughts on Nan Mo going to the countryside.
“So, what do you think?” Luo Ci asked, watching him closely.
Nan Zhengting had always listened to his wife, and what their daughter said, and what Luo Ci believed, were not without reason.
But the thought of Nan Mo being sent down still made him unwilling.
He only said, “Let me think. Let me think some more.”
Luo Ci also felt heartache for her daughter, so she nodded. “Yes, yes. We’ll think more.”
They had barely finished when Nan Mo called them to eat. In the dining room, they saw a table set with two dishes and one soup, all fragrant and inviting.
Neither of them had expected Nan Mo, who usually only helped her mother a little, to have such skill.
Nan Zhengting praised her. “Our Xiao Mo is amazing. Your mother and I will be able to enjoy life in the future.”
They sat down to eat. The entire meal passed with only the soft clink of chopsticks against bowls and plates, and in the end, all three of them ate until they were stuffed.
After dinner, Nan Zhengting and Luo Ci felt an indescribable ease throughout their bodies. They assumed it was simply because their daughter had cooked for them.
Nan Mo knew her cooking was not truly that good. It had to be the spirit spring water.
She had cooked not only to quietly help their health, but also to show them she had the ability to take care of herself in the countryside.
Meanwhile, Wu Mingkang and Wu Mingyue also returned home. Along the way, Wu Mingkang kept questioning his sister about Nan Mo.
When he learned Nan Mo was the steel factory director’s daughter, his determination to marry her only grew stronger.
Wu Mingyue understood her brother’s thoughts and found them ridiculous.
At school, plenty of boys liked Nan Mo openly and secretly. With her brother’s conditions, Nan Mo would never look at him.
But if he succeeded and Nan Mo became her sister in law, getting Nan Mo’s director father to arrange her a job would be effortless.
And she had heard Nan Mo might have to go to the countryside. That meant Nan Mo would be desperate for a solution.
So Wu Mingyue subtly hinted that marriage could keep someone from being sent down, urging her brother to work harder and quickly win over the proud Nan Mo.
When Wu Mingkang got home, he dragged Mother Wu aside and said he wanted to be matched with Nan Mo.
When Mother Wu heard the girl was the director’s daughter and excellent in every way, her first instinct was to refuse.
But her son insisted Nan Mo must also be anxious to avoid going to the countryside. Maybe she was too thin skinned to find a matchmaker and was just waiting for the man’s side to approach first.
If they seized the initiative, their chances would be high.
Wu Mingkang had no real confidence as he spoke, but whether Nan Mo could be won over or not, marriage truly was a way out.
Mother Wu felt her son’s reasoning made sense. Besides, if he married, he would not have to go to the countryside.
She cared about Wu Mingyue too, but compared to her son, her daughter was clearly less important.
The next day, she sought out Xue Mei, the most reputable matchmaker in Shanghai.
Xue Mei’s mother had once worked as a servant for the Luo family when she was young, and Xue Mei had even lived with the Luo family as a child.
Later, the Luo family moved to Hong Kong, leaving behind only their married daughter, Luo Ci, in Shanghai.
Xue Mei and Luo Ci had been very close, but as the political climate grew tense, Xue Mei feared that staying too close would invite trouble over Luo Ci’s background, so she had gradually distanced herself.
Now, upon hearing the Wu family wanted to arrange a meeting with Nan Mo, she waved her hands repeatedly.
Everyone knew how much the Nan family cherished this daughter. There was no chance the Wu family’s son could be worthy of Xiao Mo.
Xue Mei also roughly understood why the Wu family was in such a hurry, so she suggested they consider other families instead.
Mother Wu had never felt confident about matching her son with the director’s daughter anyway, so she agreed to look at other girls first.
After sending Mother Wu away, Xue Mei went straight to the Nan home to find Luo Ci. She stepped inside, looked around, and asked, “Where is Xiao Mo?”
“She’s in her room. What is it?”
“Come on, let’s talk in your room.”
Seeing Xue Mei’s expression, Luo Ci thought something serious had happened and hurriedly pulled her inside. “What happened?”
Afraid of scaring her, Xue Mei quickly said, “Nothing serious. I just heard Xiao Mo might go to the countryside?”
Luo Ci’s mood dipped. “How did you hear that?”
“How did I hear it? A woman came to me today, asking me to help her son arrange a match. Do you know who she wanted to match him with?”
“Who? Xiao Mo?”
“Exactly, Xiao Mo!”
Xue Mei snorted. “I don’t know where she got the nerve. She opened her mouth and demanded to meet Xiao Mo, as if her son were worth it.”
In front of Mother Wu, she had maintained a bit of professional restraint. In front of Luo Ci, she did not hold back at all.
“She told me Xiao Mo is about to go to the countryside, so she’s rushing to arrange a meeting now.”
“She even said it was practically guaranteed, that all I had to do was pass along a message.”
Remembering Mother Wu’s words made Xue Mei furious all over again.
“And then?” Luo Ci asked.
“And then I told her to drop it. I said I could match her son with someone else. What else would happen?”
After talking a while, Xue Mei left. Luo Ci truly started to feel anxious.
Shanghai did not have only one matchmaker. Xue Mei would refuse outright, but others might not.
Once that door opened, more matchmakers would come.
If word spread that people kept coming to meet Xiao Mo, it could ruin her reputation.
Thinking of that, Luo Ci could not wait even one more minute. She went out to find her husband immediately.
That very day, the couple needed to make a decision.