Chapter 37: A Quiet Farewell

The day Shen Yilong and Zhu Kailan left was a bright, sunny day.

Shen Mo, Liu Yue, Shen Jiajia, and Shen Jiayun all went together to see them off.

Looking at the smiling faces of Zhu Kailan and Shen Yilong, Shen Mo felt a wave of emotion in his heart.

【I thought there'd be some tearful, life-and-death parting scene.】

Liu Yue rolled her eyes. Where would there be so many life-and-death partings? This is going abroad, not going to another planet. For the Shen Family, this distance is nothing a plane ticket can't solve.

Shen Yilong and Zhu Kailan spent more time saying goodbye to Shen Jiajia and Shen Jiayun, telling Shen Jiayun to keep it up and stop being such a scoundrel like before.

This made Shen Jiayun very unhappy. He'd already improved, okay? Besides, his foundation wasn't bad to begin with.

In Shen Jiayun's own words, he's just like Bai Zhantang in My Own Swordsman — he made big mistakes in his youth because he hadn't met any good people, but his foundation was still good.

Shen Yilong and Zhu Kailan didn't say much more about it. As qualified businessmen, they wouldn't draw conclusions until the very last step.

So the two of them turned around to give Shen Jiajia instructions, telling her not to rush into dating, to look around carefully, and to consult Liu Yue whenever she had problems.

【Sure enough, everyone can see that I'm just an embroidered pillow.】

Shen Mo cheerfully mocked himself.

Shen Jiajia said she wouldn't be dating for now — she wanted to focus on her career.

The rich second-generation kids in her circle weren't good enough for her, and ordinary men couldn't meet her standards.

This piqued Zhu Kailan's curiosity. She asked Shen Jiajia what kind of partner she wanted.

Shen Jiajia pointed at Shen Mo. She wanted someone like him — self-aware, with a good mindset, fit with plenty of stamina, willing to wait on her.

In one sentence: she, Shen Jiajia, could earn money; she didn't need the man to be that outstanding, but at the very least he had to be free of bad intentions.

Zhu Kailan laughed awkwardly, then finally said, "As long as you don't bring a girl home, Mom will be content."

Zhu Kailan knew all too well how rare a man like Shen Mo was.

Not every man can stomach being called a freeloader.

After Shen Yilong and Zhu Kailan left, Shen Jiayun alone stopped Shen Mo and Liu Yue and solemnly apologized to them.

All his past behavior — he, Shen Jiayun, had been a scoundrel.

Mistakes deserve punishment. Shen Jiayun told Shen Mo and Liu Yue to name any conditions they wanted.

Shen Mo and Liu Yue exchanged a glance and said casually: "It's fine, it's all in the past."

This made Shen Jiayun very uncomfortable. It was Shen Jiajia who told him: "A dragon soaring through the sky doesn't care about the chirping of ants."

"Bro, to Liu Yue, the old you was just an accessory. Maybe she was once moved, maybe she once felt hurt, but would you grieve for the rest of your life over the death of your pet dog?"

Shen Jiayun fell silent. So in the eyes of truly outstanding people, everything he'd done in the past was a joke.

But Shen Jiayun quickly pulled himself together. Life goes on — no need to keep dwelling on the past.

Since they didn't care anymore, he'd just move forward again. He couldn't exactly do what novels write about — becoming a slave or servant, debasing himself.

At worst, he'd keep the apology in his heart, and if they ever needed him, he'd go help.

After leaving the airport, Shen Mo and Liu Yue went to the hospital to visit Li Mingming. The moment they stepped out of the elevator, they saw a crowd gathered at the ward door, with Li Mingming's angry voice faintly drifting out.

Exchanging a glance, Shen Mo rushed forward. What on earth was going on?

Pushing through the crowd, Shen Mo and Liu Yue saw Li Mingming furiously cursing at an old woman: "Don't waste my time with nonsense. Your son was the one who chased me, and I fell for him — that's why I agreed to marry him without a marriage certificate and was even willing to have his child."

"But I'm love-brained, not brainless."

"He schemed against me — why should I forgive him? Because of his thick skin? Because your family is poor?"

"Old lady, if you have any decency, you should make your son and his real wife obediently admit their mistakes, apologize, and return some of the money they swindled from me." "Not stand here pointing fingers at me, blaming me, trying to PUA me."

"Also, why would you think that after being tricked once I'd still have any good feelings toward your son? I'd rather cut him out of the picture, take my money, and order male models every night — wouldn't that be better?"

"Once I removed my love-brain filter, what does your son even have left?"

Li Mingming, firing on all cylinders, blasted the old woman opposite her until her face turned pale.

Although Li Mingming didn't know how to curse, her rapid-fire delivery left the old woman unable to get a word in.

The old woman finally slunk away.

Shen Mo stared at Li Mingming in astonishment.

【Is this really the same girl who got beaten a few days ago without daring to fight back, her face full of brokenness?】

Liu Yue smiled, walked up and hugged Li Mingming, saying softly: "Sis, you've finally recovered."

Li Mingming tossed her hair and said coolly: "Don't worry, I've recovered."

"A few days ago I was alone, and with a child I had to act weak. Now my child has someone to look after her, and I have you two backing me up — of course I'm going to fight back."

The moment they entered the ward, Shen Mo saw Wang Ma and Li Sao holding stools.

【So if they can't win the argument, they resort to violence.】

Shen Mo felt that the Liu Family's family traditions were a bit problematic.

Li Mingming lay back down on the bed. The moment she lay down, she put on a frail expression and began reporting the Liu Group's financial situation to Liu Yue.

One word: good.

Two words: very good.

Three words: especially good.

【Tsk tsk, reality really is different from novels. In novels, a big conglomerate is always going bankrupt or collapsing, but the Liu Group and Shen Group just have abundant cash flow and barely any bad debts.】

Liu Yue couldn't help but laugh inside. Her husband was quite amusing.

However, Liu Yue really wanted to tell Shen Mo one thing: established, deeply-rooted corporate groups like theirs tend to adopt conservative strategies, meaning there's always one project within the group that serves as a cash flow source.

This ensures the group never ends up in those novel-like situations where one project bankrupts the whole company and failure wipes out all cash flow.

Taking the Liu Group as an example, its snack food business is the fixed source of cash flow.

After Li Mingming finished her report, Liu Yue asked about Li Mingming's personal situation.

Li Mingming's boyfriend — no, her marriage-scam target — was named Sun Hao. True to his name, he was both a coward (sunzi) and a pest (haozi).

Li Mingming and Sun Hao met last year.

Li Mingming got off work late one day and was mugged; Sun Hao happened to pass by and saved her.

Li Mingming didn't think much of it and gave Sun Hao a sum of money as a thank-you fee.

Then the two began a process of chance encounters, getting to know each other, and chatting freely about life.

In the end, they fell in love.

Li Mingming experienced quite a few new things with Sun Hao, like going to eat at roadside stalls, listening to Sun Hao describe the future.

Hearing this, Shen Mo was extremely embarrassed; he had sweet-talked Liu Yue the same way, though he hadn't been lying.

Then Li Mingming got together with Sun Hao; she spent money on him and helped him find a job.

(End of chapter)