SES Chapter 93 Part 1

At night, Mu Dai was rummaging through boxes and drawers, sorting her clothes and packing her bag.

Uncle Zhang passed by her door and saw clothes piled all over the bed. Yan Hongsha seemed to be helping her give opinions, and Uncle Zhang vaguely heard Mu Dai say that she was going climbing with Luo Ren tomorrow, up the snow mountain.

Right before closing time, Uncle Zhang deliberately passed by her door again. She was still busy, tugging at the zipper of her backpack with a loud zip-zip sound, trying it out.

Uncle Zhang asked, “Little boss lady, are you heading up Jade Dragon Snow Mountain?”

Mu Dai lifted her head. “Uh-huh.”

Uncle Zhang snapped, “Jade Dragon Snow Mountain—you just buy a ticket and go up! Was it really worth turning the whole house upside down, like you’re about to climb Mount Everest?”

Mu Dai said, “You don’t get it.”

Yan Hongsha chimed in, “Uncle Zhang, she’s in love. You wouldn’t understand.”

Two brats, both younger than him combined, had the nerve to say he “didn’t understand.” Uncle Zhang was so mad he nearly rolled his eyes right out of his head.

The next morning, Mu Dai got up early, intending to find Luo Ren, but then thought going too early would make her seem too eager. So she dawdled to kill time and ended up teaching Cao Yanhua a full set of boxing drills.

Cao Yanhua had finally graduated from just running laps and kicking to learning real forms. He was flushed with excitement, throwing himself into each move like it was life or death.

At breakfast, Yi Wan San was missing, and Yan Hongsha hadn’t shown up either. Mu Dai figured it made sense for Yan Hongsha—she’d just lost family and needed time to recover. But Yi Wan San?

Cao Yanhua said, “Probably bro San San’s off brooding again. I told him yesterday—be sad for a bit, sure, but don’t act like you had some deep, tragic love story. So fake.”

Mu Dai burst out laughing.

Uncle Zhang had made egg-and-scallion pancakes, the smell so good it warmed the heart. Mu Dai thought they were delicious. Since she was going to see Luo Ren anyway, she grabbed a piece, slipped it into a plastic bag without much thought—until she looked up and saw Uncle Zhang glaring at her with pure disdain. She blushed instantly, like she’d just been caught sneaking out of someone’s bed.

Uncle Zhang scolded, “Girls always think about outsiders, that’s for sure. Raised you all these years, and you’re packing him a pancake already. Just you wait—after you marry him, you’ll be running back home every few days for rice, oil, and seasoning!”

Fuming, Mu Dai stomped her feet, grabbed the bag, and bolted.

Cao Yanhua tried to stifle his laughter, chewing on his pancake while watching her through the window—then suddenly froze.

Across the street, a young woman was standing stock still, head tilted slightly, staring right at Mu Dai.

She looked familiar. Then it hit him—that was Lian Yan’s friend, Lian Shu.

Mu Dai walked off quickly with the bag in hand. Lian Shu turned to watch her leave, body perfectly still, head tilted, like a carved statue turned in place.

What the hell is this? Cao Yanhua swallowed his bite of pancake, full of suspicion.

The front door was half open. He peeked out. Uncle Zheng was by the fishpond with Pingting, who was happily splashing in the water.

Mu Dai strolled in, grinning. Uncle Zheng saw her and, out of habit, gestured upstairs. “Little Knife hasn’t gotten up yet. Go drag him out of bed.”

Wanting to make it clear she wasn’t here just for Luo Ren, Mu Dai lingered downstairs. Pingting tugged at her plastic bag, pulled it open, caught a whiff of the pancake, and started eating it on her own.

Mu Dai poked her. “Say it—Sister Mu Dai. Sister Mu Dai.”

Annoyed, Pingting twisted away and showed her back.

Uncle Zheng said, “Forget her. Go get Little Knife up. I want to install the Phoenix Tower lightbox today. The delivery truck broke down and won’t come till tomorrow. I need Luo Ren to drive out and fetch it.”

Mu Dai blinked. “Today?”

Uncle Zheng frowned. “Why? You two got plans?”

Mu Dai stammered, “Luo Ren said we were going hiking today…”

“Oh, hiking.”

Uncle Zheng huffed. “Figures. All of you are useless when it comes to real work. Calling yourselves shareholders, but during renovations, you all ran off into the mountains. Now we’re about to open, and what do you do? Go hiking again.”

“You’re opening in the next coupleof  days?”

“Of course.”

She’d actually forgotten that huge milestone. Quickly, Mu Dai backpedaled. “Well… then we can wait until after the opening to go.”

Uncle Zheng eyed her. “Volunteering? Don’t go saying I forced you.”

Mu Dai nodded quickly. “I volunteered, really. I’ll tell Luo Ren.”

Uncle Zheng said, “That’s more like it. This is a family business; family should help. Can’t always dump it on Miss Lian—I’d feel bad.”

“Miss Lian? You mean Lian Shu?”

He nodded. “Yeah, her. She came early today with wallpaper samples, let me pick the pattern, and even offered to fetch it for me.”

He hadn’t expected her so early. He’d gone out for breakfast, Pingting had let her in, and when he came back, she was waiting with the sample book, keeping Pingting company.

Such a polite, friendly girl—he really didn’t get why Luo Ren disliked her so much.

Uncle Zheng looked troubled. “Or maybe, Mu Dai, you could see if Cao Yanhua or Yi Wan San is free to go instead. Don’t want to trouble Miss Lian…” He tilted his chin toward upstairs. “Seems like Luo Ren and that Miss Lian don’t get along.”

Mu Dai laughed. “It’s just picking up wallpaper, right? I can do it.”

Uncle Zheng gave her a look. “Now that’s acting like a proper little boss lady.”

Mu Dai giggled, then said, “I’ll go find her now. The sooner we buy it, the sooner it gets up on the wall.”

She turned to leave, patting Pingting’s head in farewell. Pingting said, “Sister, go upstairs.”

Even Pingting knew to tell her to go up. Mu Dai sighed, “Not going.”

Pingting ignored her, pressed a finger to her lips, and whispered, “Shhh.”

Mu Dai told Uncle Zheng, “Let Luo Ren know I was here, okay?”