Chapter 96: Very Honored

As they exited the Maple Forest Leisure Center, Mo Qian Ni was panting heavily from running.

Seeing that Yang Chen still held onto her hand, Mo Qian Ni pretended to cough and her face turned red, whether from shyness or from the exercise, it was unclear.

"What's wrong? Miss Mo, do you have a sore throat?" Yang Chen asked innocently.

Mo Qian Ni glared at him. "Let go of your pig trotter!"

Yang Chen chuckled, unfazed. Though he released her soft, delicate hand, he couldn't help but comment, "Miss Mo, your insult lacks creativity. Pig trotters can't bend to grip your hand."

Knowing that arguing with this guy would lead nowhere, Mo Qian Ni didn't bother to retort and headed straight for the car.

Once they were on the road they came from, Yang Chen glanced behind and, seeing no one following, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Mo Qian Ni teased with a playful smile, "So even thick-skinned people like you have fears. Are you worried that Zhou Dongcheng will chase after us?"

Yang Chen was indeed worried about that effeminate guy catching up. Awkwardly, he chuckled, "Miss Mo, your mind is truly intricate. You can even think of such profound questions."

"Don't worry. Although he comes from a background in the underworld, he's famous in this circle for being modest and courteous. You can't even tell he's one of those young masters. He never forces anyone," Mo Qian Ni explained.

"Listening to you, he sounds quite kind..." Yang Chen muttered.

Mo Qian Ni pressed the volume button on the steering wheel, lowering the music in the car to a minimum. "Of course, he can't always be so kind. If he were truly harmless, people wouldn't fear him. I'm just saying, if you don't provoke him or threaten his interests, Zhou Dongcheng will always treat you with kindness. That's unlike his father."

"Have you met Zhou Guangyuan?" Yang Chen asked.

Mo Qian Ni gave him a look as if he were an idiot. "Of course, Dongxing Group is not a small enterprise. It's not uncommon for us to see Zhou Guangyuan in some public occasions. But to be honest, that old man doesn't seem like a businessman. Despite all the whitewashing over the years, every time I see him, I feel like he's wrapped in darkness, making people feel uneasy."

That's how he could become the underground emperor of the East District. Yang Chen actually thought Zhou Guangyuan looked somewhat normal.

After saying this, Mo Qian Ni fell silent for a moment before saying, "As a return for helping me today, I'll give you the chance to choose the dinner location."

Yang Chen was relieved that he wouldn't have to go to some strange place with Mo Qian Ni. After thinking for a moment, he said, "I want to eat hot pot!"

Mo Qian Ni glanced at him. "It's not winter yet, why eat hot pot? It'll make you break out."

"You said it's my choice, so what do you think we should eat?" Yang Chen asked with a hint of complaint.

"Let's eat at a street food stall."

"Still street food? Big sis, didn't you say it's my choice?" Yang Chen smiled bitterly.

Mo Qian Ni snorted. "You said it. I gave you the chance, not the final say. Your choice got vetoed, now we're going to the street food stall!"

Yang Chen closed his eyes in pain. This woman was too good at being stubborn!

Half an hour later, Yang Chen sat across from Mo Qian Ni at Auntie Xiang's street food stall, looking glum. A few Sichuan-style dishes were placed in front of them, and the bright red peppers looked like they would burn Yang Chen just by looking at them. Since it was still early, there weren't many people around the street food stall. Compared to last time, it seemed quite deserted, and the cool breeze of early autumn brought a hint of chill.

Mo Qian Ni took a sip of white wine and looked at Yang Chen, who seemed like a bullied child, displeased. "What's with that expression? I treat you to dinner, and you're still frowning." Yang Chen wiped the sweat from his forehead, which was brought on by the spicy food. "It's not like you've been eating like this since childhood. You should know, it's rare to eat such spicy food abroad."

"Oh, I almost forgot. So you're a returned scholar from overseas. I, a wild girl from a small mountain village, can't compare to you." Mo Qian Ni mocked.

Yang Chen couldn't be bothered to argue with her. Suddenly, he remembered something and asked earnestly, "How are you planning to deal with your stepfather, Zhang Fugui's problem? I didn't know the reason before, but seeing you look upset these past few days, it seems like he's causing you trouble. If you need any help, just say the word. I'm free, you know."

Mo Qian Ni paused with her chopsticks mid-air and looked straight at Yang Chen. She asked, "Have you been paying attention to whether I'm upset or not?"

"Um..." Yang Chen smiled awkwardly. He couldn't just say that every time she walked by, he would sneak a few glances and even stare at her butt, right? So he just said, "The colleagues in the office said you didn't seem to be in a good mood, so I noticed."

Mo Qian Ni's eyes showed a hint of disappointment as she softly said, "Do you remember the last time we came here, I received a phone call?"

"I remember." Yang Chen remembered that night when he was "forced"!

"It was my mom. She said Zhang Fugui wanted to come to Zhonghai to work and asked me to pick him up and arrange something for him." Mo Qian Ni chuckled, "Actually, he didn't really want to come here to work hard. He owes a large gambling debt back in our hometown. If it weren't for me helping him pay it off, he would have been beaten to death by those people... But his reputation there is so bad that he had no choice but to come to Zhonghai."

"You know his character, so why did you let him come?" Yang Chen asked curiously.

"Would you like to hear a somewhat long story?" Mo Qian Ni asked back.

"If you don't bring me here to eat next time, I'm willing to listen to your heartfelt confession..." Yang Chen tried to negotiate.

"Impossible."

"Um..." Yang Chenshan smiled faintly, "You go ahead."

Mo Qianni's lips curled slightly, like a victor, before she began her narrative in a calm tone.

"I told you last time, when I was thirteen, my dad passed away, and my mom remarried Zhang Fugui. Zhang Fugui was one of the few unmarried men in the village, relatively young, and he always liked my mom, so eventually she agreed. At that time, Zhang Fugui wasn't really into gambling yet, although we were poor, we could still manage to have enough to eat."

"...But maybe a few months later, my mom fell ill and couldn't get up because she worked in the fields every day, and she was already weak. I was only thirteen then, and after finishing classes at the village primary school, I stayed at home because there was no junior high school nearby."

"I asked Zhang Fugui to take my mom to the nearest town for medical treatment, because I was afraid that if my dad left me, my mom would too. If that happened, I would truly be an orphan. I was very scared and kept begging Zhang Fugui... I had never called him 'dad' before, but that time, in order to plead with him, I kept calling him 'dad', 'dad'..."

"But Zhang Fugui suddenly became unrecognizable to me... He simply didn't listen to me. Apart from going to the village chief to get some herbs for me to boil for my mom, he didn't do anything..."

"Later, Auntie from next door told me that Zhang Fugui was too poor, he didn't have money. Even if he went to the hospital in the town, he couldn't afford to get my mom treated, let alone buy medicine. And even for the bus fare to the nearest town, he couldn't afford it."

At this point, Mo Qianni's voice became somewhat hoarse, her eyes slightly reddened. She poured herself a small glass of white wine and drank it in one gulp.

"That your mom..." Yang Chen didn't pursue the question.

Mo Qianni continued, "My mom eventually got better. I don't know if it was heaven's mercy or if the herbs from the village chief really worked. But that one illness made my mom seem to age several years all at once..."

"But, I was still very afraid. At that time, I thought, if my mom got sick again, but we still didn't have the money to get her treated, what would happen? I couldn't bear to think about it. My only thought at the time was to make sure my mom had money for medical treatment..."

"So, you came to Zhonghai alone?" Yang Chen realized.

Mo Qianni nodded, self-mockingly saying, "Do you think it's absurd, foolish? A girl who wasn't even fourteen, pretending to be mature when she really didn't understand anything, taking a train alone to Zhonghai, wanting to earn money to get her mom treated."

"Not foolish, but you're impressive. I'm curious how you got the money to buy the train ticket," Yang Chen asked.

Mo Qianni's gaze evaded, hesitated for a moment, then said, "I stole someone's wallet at the station..." After speaking, she lowered her voice and asked, "Will you look down on me? Do you think I'm shameless, blatantly admitting to such a despicable act?"

Stealing a wallet? That's nothing. I've even robbed a bank before... Yang Chen thought, but he naturally wouldn't say it out loud. He just nodded honestly, "No, people make mistakes. At least you're much nobler than me. I've been to the police station twice."

Mo Qianni finally smiled and continued, "You might know some of what happened afterward. After I came here alone, I tried to self-study, got help from a few fellow villagers including Xiang Sao, and some assistance from the welfare home, and managed to attend junior high school. Later, because of Ruoxi's grandmother, who is also the CEO of Yulei International, happened to come to our school for a speech, she noticed me and cultivated me. Since then, I've been able to hold my head high in Zhonghai. If it weren't for the CEO, there wouldn't be the Mo Qianni of today... You should understand now why I was so angry when I found out that you, this scoundrel, married Ruoxi."

Yang Chen nodded in understanding.

"The most precious kindness in the world is like sending charcoal in snowy weather." Although Mo Qianni's words sounded light, it was apparent that for a girl who came from a remote mountain village, with no support and even negligible existence, to enter a real school, to experience all this with the upper class society, and to become an elite in Zhonghai's business world, what Lin Ruoxi's grandmother gave Mo Qianni was definitely not just material help. Perhaps more importantly, it was a kind of spiritual support that sustained Mo Qianni. Of course, the efforts Mo Qianni made along the way must have been several times greater than an ordinary person, and the joys and sorrows along the way were probably only understood by herself.

"Eventually, I earned money. I still remember when I sent the first sum of money to my mom, she cried on the phone for a long time, but we were all very happy... My mom knew I had grown up, and I knew I could finally take care of her..."

"However, that was also the beginning of Zhang Fugui's obsession with gambling. He knew I could receive a considerable salary every month, and after settling down in Zhonghai, his gambling got bigger and bigger. From starting with a few cents, to later gambling tens, even twenties with some people, and in the past two years, it's been hundreds up and down," Mo Qianni sighed lightly.

Yang Chen frowned, "Then why didn't you let your mom divorce him, let her leave him and live with you in Zhonghai? With your income, you could easily support yourselves very well. Why bother with that gambler?"

Mo Qianni smiled bitterly, "He might be a shameful gambler to you, an incompetent and shameful stepfather to me... but to my mom, he's the man who took her in when she was most destitute, the man who accompanied her for over a decade. Even if Zhang Fugui is bad, he hasn't done anything outrageous to my mom, he's been by her side all along..."

"So, for your mom, you've been giving money to help Zhang Fugui cover his gambling debts? Even agreeing to let him come to Zhonghai?" Yang Chen understood the situation now, feeling a sense of pity. Every family has its own difficulties. If Mo Qianni hadn't spoken about it herself, who would have known that this glamorous beauty executive had such a dark side?

Mo Qianni nodded. "What else can I do? I can't force my mom to divorce, she can't refuse Zhang Fugui's earnest pleas, and I can't reject the only family member's requests."

"Do you think your mother loves Zhang Fugui?" Yang Chen asked.

Mo Qianni paused for a moment, then said, "If she didn't love him, she wouldn't have stayed with him in that remote and impoverished village for so long. Even though she knows her daughter has a house, a car, and a career in a bustling city, she still silently stays with Zhang Fugui, guarding the old house and the two acres of land."

"How can you be so sure? I speculate that maybe your mother doesn't want your career to be affected because of her. After all, if some people find out about your true background, it might not be favorable for you at work," Yang Chen suggested.

"I don't care!" Mo Qianni was somewhat excited. She hadn't considered this possibility before, but Yang Chen's words made her suddenly more awake. "Do you really think it's possible? My mom isn't staying with Zhang Fugui out of love, but out of concern for my future?"

Yang Chen thought for a moment, then smiled strangely. "If you're willing to trust me, we can conduct an experiment. Afterward, everything will become clear."

"An experiment?" Mo Qianni looked at Yang Chen in confusion, but out of instinctive trust, she nodded slightly.