Has the Little Money-Grubber Saved Enough for a 'Wife Fund' Today? - Chapter 10

Chapter 10

In the hotel parking lot, after being woken up, Long Xuan lifted her head in a daze, struggling to open her eyes to clearly see the person in front of her.

She couldn’t remember where she was, nor did she know who this person with the flower-like smile was. She tried hard to retrieve her memories, but her brain’s “boot-up” speed was slow; she needed to wait a bit longer.

Mu Yiyan leaned down, an imperceptible smile flashing in her eyes as she watched Long Xuan.

She asked her: “Exactly how long did you sleep? We’ve only been apart for a few hours, and you already don’t recognize me?”

Recognizing Mu Yiyan’s voice, Long Xuan immediately jolted, losing half of her sleepiness. She sat up straight, clutching her seatbelt, and accidentally let the truth slip out: “I came to take you back.”

She originally had a “just passing by” excuse, but since she was sleep-addled, she had forgotten what the meticulously planned excuse was.

Mu Yiyan straightened up and tapped her fingers on the roof of the car, looking down at her with a hint of doubt in her expression. “How come I didn’t know I had gained a chauffeur?”

Long Xuan picked up a few scattered memory fragments and said: “It’s so late, and there aren’t many cars here. It’s hard to call a taxi. I happened to be passing by, so I can give you a lift back.”

Mu Yiyan didn’t know how this place, surrounded by mountains and miles from nowhere, could possibly be “on the way,” but she didn’t expose the lie. She raised the window for her, walked around to the passenger side, opened the door, and sat inside. While fastening her seatbelt, she said: “Then thank you. Please take me to Xunyi Tiancheng.”

She stopped halfway through buckling. “Oh right, are you awake? Do you want to wait a bit before driving?”

She would have preferred to drive herself, but since she had been drinking, she couldn’t risk a DUI.

Long Xuan was also checking her own condition. She blinked a few times and shook her head; she didn’t feel any discomfort. That timely “rain-like” sleep had restored her energy, and the post-waking grogginess wasn’t too pronounced. She replied to Mu Yiyan in a firm voice: “I am very clear-headed now.”

Mu Yiyan trusted her.

The car drove smoothly out of the parking lot, traveling at a steady pace. Long Xuan was very focused while driving, her mind free of distractions as she watched the road. The road was quiet, and the car cabin was even quieter.

Mu Yiyan shifted around restlessly. She had drunk too much tonight, and the aftereffects were surging. Those restless impulses were clamoring, wanting to break through her physical shell and escape her control.

Wanting to use conversation to distract herself, Mu Yiyan asked Long Xuan: “Can you drink alcohol now?”

Long Xuan drove seriously and answered seriously: “I can have a few glasses of low-alcohol drinks, but high-proof ones won’t work. One glass might knock us out.”

For a Dragon, alcohol is a substance more dangerous than drugs. Drinking too much causes them to lose control and become a completely different person.

The thing Long Xuan remembered most clearly was the experience of her mother, Long Xin, getting drunk in her youth. Professor Shen talked about it repeatedly, bringing it up as a textbook case whenever she had the chance, and strictly forbade the dragon cubs in their house from drinking. For over twenty years, Long Xuan hadn’t worn a single piece of clothing with pockets—and might never have the chance to—all thanks to that one drunken experience.

Long Xuan didn’t dare drink. She feared that if she got drunk and caused some unpleasant incident, she wouldn’t even be able to keep the pockets on her pants.

Mu Yiyan, unaware of the family’s tragic drinking history, said: “Haven’t they invented a type of wine that Dragons can drink now? Low alcohol but full flavor, so you won’t get drunk easily. Don’t you guys drink at all during company team-building events?”

Long Xuan told the truth: “Not at all. My Mommy strictly forbids us from drinking. Every time my Uncle tries to goad my sister and me into drinking, my Mommy shoots him back with ‘eye-daggers.’ My Uncle is afraid of his sister, so he doesn’t force us.”

“It seems to be a matter of constitution.”

“My Mom says that after a Dragon gets drunk, their temperament changes drastically. They can’t control the urge to transform into a Large Dragon, they cause trouble everywhere, and they even bite people randomly.”

“Is it that serious?” Mu Yiyan couldn’t imagine Long Xuan biting people randomly, pondering the probability of such a thing happening to her. Finally, she thought—forget it, if it’s uncontrollable, then it’s better not to drink.

Mu Yiyan leaned back, giving her weight to the backrest. Her mood suddenly turned low.

The winding mountain roads had ended, and they had entered the straight main road. She wasn’t as dizzy now, and her thoughts were becoming clearer. She remembered why she had brought up the topic.

She had heard that after a Dragon drinks, they instinctively revert to their “Dragon Cub” form. She had never seen Long Xuan as a dragon cub and was curious, so she wanted to ask indirectly. It was said that being a dragon cub is the most comfortable state for a Dragon, and they must spend a period of time each day in that form—jumping and climbing—for their physical and mental health.

However, despite being roommates for three years and having a protective layer installed in their dorm, Long Xuan had never transformed in front of her. Mu Yiyan had asked her more than once why she didn’t change, and the answer was always “I don’t want to.”

Whether she truly disliked changing or simply didn’t want to tell her the real reason, Mu Yiyan felt frustrated by the lack of information. she cared about these things; the Little Dull Dragon always kept secrets from her, and there was always a “membrane” between them.

Having heard of that “alcohol method” later on, Mu Yiyan had suddenly remembered it and asked casually. But since drinking was off the table, that method was definitely a dead end. If there were other opportunities in the future, she would try a different way to test it.

The cabin fell back into an indescribable silence. The air pressure around Mu Yiyan was very low, and Long Xuan noticed it. But she was too clumsy with words to know how to liven up the atmosphere. Anxiety was useless, so she could only let the silence persist.

When they were ten minutes away from the community, Mu Yiyan took out her communicator and began replying to messages. Seeing that she wasn’t just sitting there in a daze, Long Xuan felt a sigh of relief.

Once they drove into the complex, Long Xuan saw that the parking spot from this morning was still empty, so she pulled in. After parking, she looked at the lights of the detached villa. Seeing that the lights on both the first and second floors were on, she began to get nervous again.

Mu Yiyan laughed at her cowardly look and said: “The lights were left on for me. My mother isn’t home.” Seeing that Long Xuan’s lips were dry, she asked: “Do you want to come in for a glass of water?” The Little Dull Dragon had waited so long for her and driven her back; it wasn’t too much to invite her in for water.

Long Xuan thought about it, then shook her head: “No, it’s very late. I should go home too.”

Mu Yiyan knew she was still afraid and didn’t force her, simply telling her to “be careful on the road” before letting her go.

Just as Long Xuan’s car pulled out of the space, Mu Yiyan saw Ms. Ren, dressed in a light purple coat, walking toward her with an air of noble elegance in every movement. She was holding a box of hangover medicine, smiling meaningfully at Mu Yiyan.

Mu Yiyan stood in place waiting for her. Before she even reached her side, Ren Suiqing couldn’t help but tease: “Sending me off to buy hangover medicine just because you didn’t want me to run into her, eh? What, afraid your old lady would eat her alive?”

Mu Yiyan went to meet her, draping an arm around Ms. Ren’s shoulders to walk toward the house. She was smiling, but her steps were unsteady as she leaned against her mother. Stumbling slightly, she said: “I really drank too much, Ma. Why don’t you believe me?”

Ren Suiqing glanced at her, immediately looked away, and sneered: “If you were really drunk, you would have eaten her up. You’d let her leave? She delivered herself to your door and you didn’t want it? Don’t think I don’t know how long you’ve been pining for her.”

Mu Yiyan couldn’t help but straighten up, laughing as she said: “Ma, don’t think of me as so evil. Is your daughter some kind of predatory beast who eats people? Also, my dear Mother, couldn’t you be a bit nicer to Long Xuan? Why do you have to pick on her the moment you see her? Now she runs as soon as she sees you, and in the future…”

Mu Yiyan trailed off.

Ren Suiqing gave another contemptuous smile: “I pick on her because she’s just not good enough. If she were even remotely acceptable, would I say anything?”

This sentence stung Mu Yiyan. She stopped walking and began to argue with her mother: “Ma, are you questioning my taste? Long Xuan is wonderful. I won’t allow anyone to say she isn’t good.”

Mother and daughter were equally stubborn. Ren Suiqing wouldn’t easily change her mind. She couldn’t stand her daughter’s “love-brain” and said bluntly: “You’re just blinded by love. There are plenty of people better than her. I could introduce anyone to you and they’d be better than her.”

Mu Yiyan snatched the hangover medicine from her hand and entered the villa ahead of her, saying crossly: “Ma, you don’t understand her, so don’t talk nonsense.”

Ren Suiqing’s desire to express herself surged. She chased after her, chattering incessantly: “Tell me yourself: emotional value, professional networking, financial support—which one can she give you? Her personality is lukewarm, she’s cowardly, and her expression isn’t smooth—it takes her ages to sputter out a single word. She’s not attentive, not detailed. If you’re wronged, she won’t notice. Will she coax you? No! You’ll just suffocate keeping it inside. With her temperament, you’ll have to accommodate her in everything, both at home and outside. Why should the child I worked so hard to raise have to accommodate someone else!”

“What ‘accommodating’? Ma, what are you talking about!” Mu Yiyan walked faster and faster, nearly exploding with anger. She wasn’t just cross with her mother; she was angry at herself.

She liked Long Xuan—had liked her for many years—and she could feel that the Little Dull Dragon had feelings for her too, but there were too many problems between them. Her mother’s words were absolute nonsense, yet within that nonsense, there were things that struck Mu Yiyan’s heart.

It was exactly these things that made Mu Yiyan feel so irritable now.

Mu Yiyan was very conflicted. On one hand, she was anxious to hook the Little Dull Dragon, to possess her and make it public. On the other hand, she wanted to adjust the gears that couldn’t quite mesh together. Although they didn’t need to fit perfectly in every single aspect, the teeth of those gears should at least be adjusted to a state where they could mesh.

Between her and Long Xuan, it wasn’t just a matter of misalignment; even the direction and speed of their gears were different. Even if they got together in the future, they would either go their separate ways or create too many friction sparks. It wouldn’t last.

It all came down to details. If Mu Yiyan herself didn’t care, it would be fine, but she happened to care about every single one of these things immensely.

Returning to her room, a headache-stricken Mu Yiyan took a deep breath. She told herself she couldn’t rush. She had to stay calm; solving the problem was the most important thing, and she shouldn’t care about the opinions of others.

As long as there was dawn surrounding her, she could demand of herself to be a patient hunter.

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