Has the Little Money-Grubber Saved Enough for a 'Wife Fund' Today? - Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Time trickled by second by second, and the hands on the wall pointed to a startling number.

Back in Building No. 3, Shen Zaiqing, who had previously managed to sit calmly and watch television, could no longer stay still. The clock had already crossed midnight—an hour Shen Zaiqing previously wouldn’t have dared to imagine. At this hour, her own eyelids were starting to fight each other, let alone someone who was long accustomed to being in bed by nine o’clock.

More importantly, when Long Xuan left, Shen Zaiqing had specifically instructed her that if she was going to be back later than midnight, she must call home. She was worried about Long Xuan’s state; she feared that at such an hour, Long Xuan would be so groggy and dazed that driving would be unsafe.

But so much time had passed, and there was not a single word from Long Xuan.

Shen Zaiqing grabbed Long Xi and asked, “Has that birthday party ended or not? It’s so late, and your sister isn’t back yet.”

Long Xi glanced at her communicator and said, “Sister Mumu said it’ll be another twenty minutes.”

“Ma, what are you worrying about? Sis is twenty-five this year; are you afraid she doesn’t know the way home?”

Shen Zaiqing’s worry only intensified: “That’s not what I’m worried about. I’m afraid her biological clock is fixed—that she fell asleep while waiting.”

“You know if she falls asleep…”

No amount of thunder could wake her.

Shen Zaiqing didn’t say the second half of the sentence, but Long Xi understood. She slapped her forehead, saying she had forgotten about that detail. Had she known, she would have gone along.

Long Xi tried to reassure herself: “Twenty minutes left. Let’s call Sis; maybe we’re just overthinking it.”

Shen Zaiqing quickly pulled out her communicator and dialed Long Xuan’s number.

The phone rang once through, but Long Xuan didn’t answer.

Long Xi: “Call again, call again.”

The second time it rang through, Long Xuan still didn’t pick up.

Long Xi asked Shen Zaiqing with a grave expression: “Ma, your communicator is linked to the camera in Sis’s car, right?”

Shen Zaiqing replied, “Yes, only mine is linked at home.”

“Call a few more times. If Sis still doesn’t answer, her car camera will grant me access. Then we’ll know if she’s actually sleeping.”

Long Xi had a premonition: “I don’t even need to look to know the result.” Then she added indignantly, “How can Sis sleep at such a critical moment? I thought she’d finally win over Sister Mumu tonight.”

Shen Zaiqing glared at her: “Wasn’t that your rotten idea in the first place?”

Long Xi muttered under her breath, “I was trying to help her.”

After the fifth call, their prediction came true. The video connected, and the in-car camera clearly captured Long Xuan’s rock-solid sleeping posture, her steady breathing, and her motionless eyelashes.

Shen Zaiqing and Long Xi were certain: Long Xuan was in a deep sleep and had entered that state where external people and things could hardly wake her.

“What should we do?” Their brains whirred as the dutiful sister and the hardworking mother thought of a countermeasure together.

The communicator by Long Xi’s hand vibrated, bringing news that made a bad situation worse. Her “friend” told her: the banquet was over, and she was coming out.

Long Xi looked at the message from every angle and realized her boss meant it literally—”coming out” meant she had already stepped out of the hotel gates, not that she was just leaving the banquet hall.

They might not even have a chance to wake Long Xuan.

Long Xi knew the camera had a 360-degree view. She manipulated the screen, pointing the camera toward the hotel entrance, and saw Mu Yiyan in a black evening gown walking in their direction.

Long Xuan had parked very close to the hotel entrance. Even if Mu Yiyan slowed her pace, she would arrive within two minutes.

Long Xi quickly turned the camera back and told her mother to turn off their own display. “Ma, Ma, Ma! Quick, turn off our video and sound! I see Sister Mumu walking over!”

Shen Zaiqing was about to complain that, due to the girl’s excitement, the entire screen was blocked by the dragon cub’s green head, and she couldn’t see anything. But before she could voice her dissatisfaction, the communicator was snatched away by the impatient Long Xi, who swiftly cut their side’s video and audio.

Shen Zaiqing clearly didn’t understand the move. She asked strangely, “Why turn off the video and sound? Shouldn’t we explain things to Mumu?”

Long Xi found an explanation for her frantic action that sounded like it came from deep thought: “What if we ruin Sis’s ‘good thing’?”

Shen Zaiqing’s eyes widened: “Are you saying Mumu won’t be angry, but might actually like your sister being like this?”

Long Xi hadn’t felt it when she was just making things up, but now she felt it was actually possible. “Who knows, it might really be like that. Sister Mumu has liked my sister for so many years, and they were roommates for so long—it’s not like she hasn’t seen every side of her. Back in university, wasn’t she the one who always dragged Sis out of bed?”

Shen Zaiqing thought about it seriously and felt Tietie had a point. But with the outcome uncertain, her face remained grave: “What do you think will happen next?”

She and Long Xi sat side-by-side on the edge of the bed, each holding one side of the communicator, holding their breath as they stared at the screen, wishing they were there in person.

Long Xi’s heart was in her throat. She said those things, but she still worried Mu Yiyan might have thoughts about Long Xuan sleeping on the job.

She said, “I don’t know either.”

“Sister Mumu changed a lot since she came back. Sis is already a mystery, but she’s even more of one. I can grasp the general direction, but I really can’t see through these small details.”

If it were the old Mu Yiyan, Long Xi felt she would definitely forgive her sister. Now, it was hard to say. Someone who had been hurt once couldn’t possibly be without some lingering anger.

The mountain wind was strong, and the temperature had dropped significantly at night. As soon as Mu Yiyan left the hotel, she felt the chill and pulled her thin coat tighter over her gown.

She swept a glance toward the parking lot. It was strange; even with a casual glance, she always managed to spot Long Xuan’s car instantly.

She wanted to head over quickly, but she was unexpectedly stopped by a colleague and chatted for a few minutes. Knowing she hadn’t driven, the colleague offered to take her home, but she politely declined.

After sending the colleague away, Mu Yiyan continued toward Long Xuan’s car, verifying her suspicions bit by bit. Even when she stood right beside it, there was no movement. The Little Dull Dragon had truly fallen asleep while waiting for her.

A tenderness entirely different from her daytime demeanor emerged in Mu Yiyan’s eyes, intertwined with a slight hint of intoxication from the wine. A thought suddenly flashed; Mu Yiyan felt she was going to be very irrational tonight.

Standing by the driver’s seat, Mu Yiyan lifted her right thumb and pressed it lightly against the unlock button, lowering Long Xuan’s car window.

As soon as a gap appeared, Mu Yiyan saw Long Xuan’s peaceful sleeping face.

As Mu Yiyan looked at Long Xuan, Shen Zaiqing and Long Xi were looking at her through the camera. They desperately wanted to see Mu Yiyan’s expression to know if she was angry, so they could explain if needed. But restricted by the camera angle, they couldn’t fulfill that wish.

Long Xi felt it necessary to insert a side comment during this tense moment: “Every cell and every pore on my sister is sleeping peacefully. She’s sleeping so soundly—if it were me, I definitely wouldn’t have the heart to wake her.”

Shen Zaiqing glared at her.

The camera couldn’t catch Mu Yiyan’s face, but it caught the process of her effortlessly lowering the window.

Long Xi returned to the main topic: “Ma, look! Sister Mumu used her fingerprint to unlock Sis’s car.”

“Sis won’t even let me record my fingerprint. When she comes back tonight, you have to give her a good talking to. How can she value romance over her own sister?”

Shen Zaiqing wanted to focus on the screen, so she patted the noisy dragon cub, demanding silence: “Don’t I get the same treatment? Doesn’t that make you feel a bit more balanced? Look, it seems Mumu is about to wake Mimi up.”

Long Xi leaned in again, staring excitedly at the screen: “Let me see how she does it.”

“I feel like Sis has some kind of ‘mechanism’ on her. We can’t wake her, but maybe the moment Sister Mumu calls her, she’ll wake up. That would be more effective than anything.”

Shen Zaiqing watched the fully lowered window, then watched Mu Yiyan lean down, her head slowly approaching. Suddenly, her inspiration exploded, her thoughts taking a sharp turn: “She’s not going to kiss Mimi, is she?”

Long Xi covered her own eyes with one hand and held the other up high to cover her mother’s eyes, chanting: “See no evil!”

Truth be told, they had kept the video and sound on to explain for Long Xuan if Mu Yiyan got angry. That was why they hadn’t turned it off yet. They certainly hadn’t intended to spy on an intimate moment.

“Stop blocking me! I was joking. Mumu is waking your sister up,” Shen Zaiqing said, dodging the dragon cub’s hand and pointing at the two faces on the screen that hadn’t actually touched.

Long Xi quickly lowered her hand, her eyes wide open, not wanting to miss the process of Mu Yiyan waking her sister.

She saw Mu Yiyan reach out toward the back of Long Xuan’s neck, touching it lightly. Then, her sister woke up.

She woke up? Just like that?!!

Long Xi was about to announce her monumental discovery when the screen suddenly went black. She held the communicator, wandering around the room in frustration looking for a signal: “Why did it go black? Is the internet down?”

Shen Zaiqing said calmly, “I turned it off.”

Long Xi said excitedly, “I almost discovered my sister’s secret! She really does have a mechanism on her!”

Shen Zaiqing said, “Your sister is awake, and the window for an explanation has passed. Whatever happens next is for her to handle. How could we possibly keep watching?”

Long Xi gave a sycophantic thumbs-up, saying her mother was truly wise and heroic. Then she grabbed Shen Zaiqing’s hand and whispered, “Ma, when Sister Mumu tapped Sis’s ear, it seemed like she said something. Did you notice? Right before she said ‘wake up’?”

Shen Zaiqing shook her head, though she looked a bit hesitant. “I didn’t hear it clearly. Looking at her lip movements, it seemed like…”

Long Xi had also observed the lip movements and felt a spark of inspiration: “It looked like…”

Shen Zaiqing couldn’t bring herself to say it. She let go of the communicator and walked toward the living room: “Who cares what it was. Let them toss and turn as they please. I’m going to bed.”

The dragon cub hugged the doorframe, her round head peeking out as she asked persistently, “Ma, are you really not curious?”

Shen Zaiqing said coldly, “Not curious.”

The dragon cub laughed, a very punchable grin on her face. “Then I’m going to apply to Sis for the wake-up service tomorrow. Don’t go eavesdropping tomorrow morning, okay?”

Shen Zaiqing really wanted to hit her right now.

Support Has the Little Money-Grubber Saved Enough for a ‘Wife Fund’ Today?