Has the Little Money-Grubber Saved Enough for a 'Wife Fund' Today? - Chapter 8

Chapter 8

After hanging up the phone with Long Xi, Mu Yiyan—who had long been ready—paced around her house circle after circle. Sitting didn’t feel right, nor did standing; finally, she simply stood by the door to wait.

Clutching the strap of her bag, she spaced out for a moment until she finally saw Long Xuan’s car through the peephole.

It stopped steadily, parking in a public parking space outside their home.

Mu Yiyan thought that the “Dull Dragon” must recognize her mother’s car; otherwise, why would she park so far away? There was clearly a parking spot much closer to the entrance, yet she hadn’t taken it.

Mu Yiyan wondered: if she stayed inside a bit longer, would the Dull Dragon take the initiative to come up and knock?

The probability was high that she wouldn’t. She didn’t have the courage, fearing that the one opening the door might be her mother. She likely wouldn’t call either, and would instead just wait foolishly at the gate.

Mu Yiyan felt a surge of inexplicable anger. She yanked the door open and let her high heels clatter loudly against the ground.

Seeing the tightly closed door suddenly fly open, Long Xuan was startled and froze. She had just entered through her fence gate and intended to wait by the main door while mentally preparing a script for what to say when she saw her.

She hadn’t expected the person to emerge so abruptly, lips pressed into a straight line and an expression that wasn’t particularly pleasant. Nervous, Long Xuan forgot to even say hello and simply handed over the hat and breakfast in her hands. “I came to return your hat.”

Mu Yiyan looked down at Long Xuan’s hands, unsure if she was looking at the hat or the breakfast.

Only then did Long Xuan belatedly add: “Have you eaten?”

Mu Yiyan’s cold gaze swept over Long Xuan’s face. On her temple, she indeed found a reddish mark.

Thus, President Mu, who had already eaten breakfast, said with a very sour face: “No.”

Long Xuan beamed with joy, pushing the breakfast forward in front of the hat. “My mother made them herself. I chopped the filling.”

Mu Yiyan took the buns but didn’t take the hat. She asked Long Xuan: “Are you free right now? Can you give me a lift? I need to go to the Huiteng Building.”

Long Xuan had already checked the route; it was perfectly on the way. “I’m free. I’ll take you.”

While she was happy, an indescribable force within her body drove her to glance at the door behind Mu Yiyan. Then, she couldn’t help but suck in a cold breath.

In truth, there was nothing there, but she feared that in the gap of their conversation, Auntie Ren—who didn’t care for her—would walk out of the room and give her a few “eye-daggers,” leaving her trembling with fear for the rest of the day.

Fortunately, a second after she looked over, that door that brought her nightmares closed.

Mu Yiyan walked down the steps, clutched the bag of breakfast, passed by Long Xuan, and walked straight toward the white sedan parked not far away.

Long Xuan hurried to follow.

Mu Yiyan walked to the rear side of the car and, without a second thought, pulled open the back door to sit inside. As the door opened, Mu Yiyan was startled to realize that her fingerprint could actually still unlock the Dull Dragon’s car.

Nowadays, many car fingerprint systems are recorded every two years; once expired, they must be re-recorded, otherwise, the car cannot be unlocked.

Mu Yiyan mused that her timing for returning to the country was just right—exactly at the two-year mark. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have known if she could even get into Long Xuan’s car.

Mu Yiyan’s gaze shifted around. Long Xuan didn’t know if she was looking at the scenery or the interior decorations. She had many things she didn’t understand; for instance, she didn’t get why Mu Yiyan didn’t sit in the passenger seat but went to the back instead.

She used to only sit in the passenger seat.

And for example, why did she ask her to turn on the music? She used to dislike listening to music in the car.

Unable to figure it out, Long Xuan reminded herself to focus on the road. Safe delivery was the top priority.

Huiteng Building was only a ten-minute drive from Mu Yiyan’s community. By the time Mu Yiyan replied to a few messages, they had arrived. Long Xuan was considered a slow driver; if the steering wheel were in Mu Yiyan’s hands, the whole trip wouldn’t have taken ten minutes.

Long Xuan had already scouted which building and floor she worked on, so she parked the car in the most convenient spot for heading upstairs.

After a word of thanks, Mu Yiyan opened the door and got out. Long Xuan followed her out, the words she had bottled up the whole way finally finding the courage to be spoken: “When you get off work tonight, do you want to catch a ride with me? It’s quite on my way to pick you up.”

Mu Yiyan’s community and Building No. 3 were only a few kilometers apart; just like with the company, Long Xuan would drop her off first before reaching her own destination.

Mu Yiyan, however, shook her head and said: “No need. I have a date tonight. Someone is coming to pick me up.”

The words were ambiguous, causing Long Xuan’s brow to furrow instantly.

Mu Yiyan adjusted her bag and tucked a few stray hairs behind her ear. With her high bridge and graceful posture, she looked both cool and beautiful. At this moment, she hid all her emotions, maintaining an ambiguous distance that made her seem even more lofty and unattainable.

She glanced at Long Xuan and bid her a cold farewell: “I have a morning meeting. I’ll head up first. Be careful on the road.”

Long Xuan could only nod. By the time she snapped out of it, Mu Yiyan had entered the office building and vanished. She returned to her car and immediately dialed Long Xi.

“Sis, you summoned me?” On the 17th floor of Jiashan Building, Long Xi had wrapped herself in Shen Zaiqing’s deep-cupboard scarf to the point of being unrecognizable. She still wasn’t quite at ease, asking her sister cautiously at the door: “Is Uncle here?”

Long Xuan said: “He’s not. He’s at the laboratory on Huandong 3rd Road.”

Long Xi yanked off the hot scarf and let out a sigh of relief: “Uncle said the next time he sees me, he’s going to skin me alive. I have to hide from him.”

Long Xuan told her to relax: “Don’t worry, he won’t be back until the afternoon.”

Long Xi followed her sister and swaggered into the company.

As the saying goes: The sparrow may be small, but it has all its vital organs. Her uncle’s company wasn’t large, but the personnel configuration was complete, and the output value was not something an ordinary enterprise could compare to.

This was because their company had two “Big Buddhas”: one was her uncle, who was still in his prime, and the other was her stoic sister. These two Buddhas held over a hundred patents; the patent fees alone could support a company of ten people, not to mention the cooperation agreements signed with large enterprises. In this industry, it was always them choosing others, never others choosing them.

Long Xi looked at the office decor, which was so low-profile it seemed slightly tacky, then looked at the stack of commercial cooperation proposals piled high at the front desk. She thought to herself that people who know how to make money truly do it quietly.

Looking at the dazzling array of certificates on the wall, Long Xi instantly understood why her uncle wanted so badly to pull her into their company. With their strength, supporting an extra mouth was as simple as straightening a stack of crooked documents.

Alas, she had no interest in technology or inventions; she preferred to inherit her mother’s profession and go to the mountains to deal with plants.

Entering Long Xuan’s office, Long Xi picked a comfortable sofa to sit on and mysteriously pulled out a list, handing it to Long Xuan. “I’ve scouted it out. Sister Mumu isn’t going on a date with just anyone tonight. She has a banquet—the second daughter of the Hongye Group is having a birthday. It’s a low-profile birthday party with not many people invited, and the location is very elegant.”

“I have a friend who is going too. I’ve listed everyone for you.”

Long Xuan stared at the list, her expression somewhat dazed. After a long while, she spoke: “Can I go too?”

Long Xi advised: “Sis, we shouldn’t go to this kind of banquet. In those commercial social settings, there’s bound to be plenty of drinking. The alcohol concentration will definitely exceed safety limits. If we even take a sip, it’ll be a huge disaster.”

It wasn’t just a matter of alcohol concentration; more importantly, it was Mu Yiyan’s social circle—Long Xuan couldn’t fit in. At the company, she only cared about R&D, soaking in the lab all day without having to deal with many people. By contrast, Mu Yiyan’s social circle was vast, spanning all industries.

Long Xuan wanted to know her friends, too.

But for now, she could only compromise. Long Xuan folded the list and put it away, saying: “It’s fine. I’ll go wait at the entrance tonight.”

“Once she comes out, I’ll drive her back.”

Long Xi whispered to her: “I’ve also settled it with my friend. When the banquet ends, she’ll notify me, and I’ll tip you off.”

“You’ll definitely be able to catch Sister Mumu.”

Long Xuan felt it would be better to head over early and stake out. She looked at the guest list; she actually knew several of them—they were the “young talents” Auntie Ren talked about every day. She knew Auntie Ren had never liked her and wanted to set Mu Yiyan up with someone else; she didn’t want these young talents to find an opening.

She didn’t tell Long Xi the details. After work, she went home, ate a little, told her mother she’d be home late, and headed out.

The hotel was halfway up a mountain, in a rather remote location, but it was quiet and elegant.

The spot where Long Xuan parked happened to offer a view of the sunset’s afterglow. She had arrived early, and the sun hadn’t completely sunk yet. She watched it slowly plunge into the embrace of the mountains, watching the sky lose its color, turning pearly white, then from white to black.

Then, the lights of ten thousand homes flickered on.

Long Xuan turned on the light inside her car, as if she too had lit a lamp to meet those ten thousand lights from across the distance.

She began rummaging through the storage compartments in the car, wanting to find something to do. When she got bored, she would get sleepy, especially as it neared her bedtime.

If she fell asleep, it would turn into a joke tonight. She had already left a bad impression before; she was walking on thin ice now and couldn’t afford to make that mistake again.

Long Xuan first started a movie, adjusted the screen to a comfortable position, leaned against the backrest, and watched quietly.

Sensing sleepiness creeping into the depths of her consciousness, she felt the decision to watch a movie was improper—it was too quiet, too artistic, the more she watched, the more hypnotic it became.

So, Long Xuan pulled up the happy soap operas that Shen Zaiqing often watched, wanting to make herself laugh for a bit. If she laughed more and her emotions fluctuated, she wouldn’t be so sleepy.

As it turned out, when a person is sleepy, everything they watch makes them sleepy.

Long Xuan endured for a while, but her eyelids continued to fight. She got out of the car and walked a few laps, but she was still sleepy.

She kept reminding herself to stay awake, struggling to hold on until 9:30 PM. Long Xuan couldn’t bear it anymore and wanted to take a nap.

According to her sister’s intel, this banquet wouldn’t end before midnight; she expected to wait another three hours. Since she could wake up in the morning, if she set more alarms now, she should be able to wake up later just the same.

She still had to drive Mu Yiyan home tonight; she couldn’t drive in a state of exhaustion where she could nod off at any moment—it was too unsafe.

Weighing it over and over, Long Xuan decided to sleep for a bit. She didn’t recline the seat very low, not wanting to make herself too comfortable, and she didn’t unfasten the seatbelt, letting it stay taut against her waist.

The communicator was tied to her wrist, with both the ringtone and vibration set to maximum.

Once everything was ready, the long-awaited exhaustion, like a sprayer ready to fire, shot out its thick black ink, rapidly covering Long Xuan’s consciousness.

In less than three seconds, Long Xuan had lost all territory and plunged into endless darkness.

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