85 Chapter 83

Fearing that Mu Tian Heng was taking this too lightly, Mo Di warned him, "Brother, something's up with Qin Guang Jie wanting to meet you. I don't think you should see him. If you really have to meet him, you have to be extra careful. He's a vicious old fox who's not afraid to mess with the law."

"It'll be fine. I am aware of who he is."

Mu Tian Heng was smiling at Mo Di, thinking how cute he was, worrying for his sake. "Don't you trust me? Your brother is also an old fox."

"You're not a fox, you're a tiger." Mo Di's ears turned red after saying that. Why did it feel like they were flirting instead…

"Cough," Mo Di cleared his throat, "Brother, do you know why Qin Guang Jie wanted to meet you?"

Of course, he could think of two reasons. One was because he had recently poached several of the Qin Group's businesses, and the other, Qin Guang Jie had probably heard that he had assisted in the casino case. One way or another, Qin Guang Jie was bound to hold a grudge.

But Mu Tian Heng did not tell Mo Di about this. "I'm not sure. Maybe because I chose to do business here and this makes him feel threatened. Although he is the richest man in Hua Xia, his business has not been smooth sailing lately and his throne is at stake."

"You really don't know anything else?" Mo Di was sure Mu Tian Heng must've known something.

"I can garner a guess but it's hard to say. If I can confirm anything, you'll be the first to know," Mu Tian Heng replied then tried to shift the subject, "Spring Festival is only a few days away, did the staff give you the holiday schedule yet?"

Mo Di was immediately smitten when Mu Tian Heng mentioned this, "Yes, we have three days off and I can go home in two days."

"Only three days?" Unlike Mo Di, Mu Tian Heng was displeased. "What about those who live far away? Wouldn't that mean they won't be able to visit their families?"

"Yes, but to them, this is just a holiday, they never meant for the participants to go home. And they allowed for those that stayed to have their own party to celebrate the Lunar New Year."

"It's too short."

Mu Tian Heng was quite upset. The days that Mo Di's room stayed empty were too many compared to when he was at home.

"It is short…" Although Mo Di was not as disappointed as Mu Tian Heng, he also wanted to spend more time with him. Ever since he moved to the base, they did not have much time to be alone. It'd been over half a month since he could nestle in Mu Tian Heng's arms and receive kisses that caused him to feel bubbly all over.

Mo Di was blushing harder the more he thought.

"So what time are you allowed to leave? Can I go pick you up?" Mu Tian Heng's voice ran through his head and Mo Di was heating up.

"Ah… ok. We're allowed to leave at 8:30 pm. Brother, you can wait at the east gate. Call me before you leave."

"Alright. I'll give you a call." Mu Tian Heng was filled with bliss.

In fact, Mu Tian Heng had celebrated the Lunar New Year many times because his grandparents were Chinese. It had always been a tradition in his family to celebrate both Christmas and the Spring Festival. Since he was a child, these were the two festivals his family would not miss.

But after his grandparents passed away in a car accident twelve years ago, the New Year would only remind the family of them and no one would be in the mood to celebrate. Since then, the New Year was spent just like any other day.

So many years had passed and he was once again looking forward to the Spring Festival. He believed that with Mo Di by his side, this Spring Festival would be the same as when he was a kid– warm and unforgettable.

Because they only had a few days of break, the participants were not the only ones enduring the long journey to visit their family, Mo Er Qian also decided to come back for a short vacation.

The confidential project he was involved in had finally ended and he immediately applied for a weekend leave to go home.

And it was only half an hour before his boarding time that his superior received his email requesting for a transfer.

If it was approved, Mo Er Qian would be hired as a professor back at his Alma Mater and not have to be cooped up in a place where it took eighty years for any news of the Mo family to reach him.

Especially when his sister was hurt and he was not there to protect her. This was what he could not tolerate.

Mo Er Qian returning home was something everyone in the Mo family was looking forward to, except those in jail of course.

Second Aunt Mo waited at the airport with tears in her eyes. Her second son was locked up, her husband was an idiot who doted on his niece more than their sons and her youngest son was no better off, taking Mo Liu Gui's side whenever he could. Mo Er Qian was the only one she could depend on, her only hope.

Her Er Qian was the most promising out of all the grandchildren in the Mo family. No one could match up to his intelligence. Once he came back, everything would be better, definitely better!

Maybe with his diplomatic connections, he could get San Zhi out of jail early. After all, he was a renowned expert and scholar, his home country should at least give him some face, shouldn't they? If they couldn't even do this for her family, she would let Er Qian serve foreign nations and make them regret it!

Mo Liu Gui was also rushing to the airport. She left the set in a hurry and still had her makeup on.

With the debut of the movie Silence, she had managed to gain some popularity and was invited to take part in several TV dramas and variety shows.

From a showbiz standpoint, any form of popularity, whether good or bad, was worthy of publicity! In the entertainment industry, what should be feared wasn't a bad reputation but having no reputation at all. This was also the reason why many artists deliberately spread their own scandals to promote themselves. Once they were popular, they could slowly wash white their reputation.

Mo Liu Gui had not only received the role of a second female lead in an ancient costume series but also a live variety show. Both of which would be arranged after the New Year.

The moment Mo Er Qian came out, everyone from the Mo family saw him. How could they not when he was surrounded by macho foreign bodyguards in suits?

Mo Liu Gui jumped up and waved a white scarf at him. Her eyes were slightly red and she called to him, "Second brother, second brother!!!"

Mo Er Qian spotted her immediately. He had on a gentle smile and sped straight towards her, ignoring his tearful mother who was about to pounce on him. When he was within her reach, Mo Liu Gui ran to him and gave him a hug.

"Second brother, I missed you, I missed you so much!" Mo Liu Gui said with a slight choke in her voice. She held onto Mo Er Qian's waist and buried her face into his cashmere coat. "I missed you so much, did you miss me? It's been so long since you came to visit Xiao Gui."

"Of course I miss my Xiao Gui. Brother misses you the most." Mo Er Qian patted her head. The heartache in his eyes was unconcealable.

As soon as she heard what Mo Er Qian said, the second aunt felt a stab to her heart which distorted her face.

'He misses Mo Liu Gui the most? What about me, his mother?!'

'Every single one of them, why do they care so much about this girl? My husband, my second son, my youngest son, and now even my eldest son who has been abroad for so long!'

What was her position in their hearts?

In fact, the second aunt was not oblivious to her status in the family. But back then, the Mo family was in harmony and none of her sons were in trouble. If there was any discord, Mo Di would be the one to bear the brunt. Nobody could affect her mood or her livelihood. Even if her husband and sons only cared for Mo Liu Gui, she could accept it entirely because there were no bad consequences for her to face.

But now that Mo Di was gone, she and her sons had to bear the consequences of every bad thing that had happened. She refused to accept this. Why, why should her sons be treated this way? Why was it that despite what had happened, everyone still devoted themselves to Mo Liu Gui?!

What was this?!!!

The second aunt was furious to the point of almost having a heart attack. She wanted to tear Mo Liu Gui away and give a son a good talking to but now was not the time. They were in public and with the Patriarch and her two pretentious sisters-in-law around, no one would take her side.

She knew that her eldest son was now the most prominent figure in the Mo family, she could not let him turn against her. He was her only hope.

Tears fell uncontrollably the more she thought of her fate.

When Mo Er Qian and Mo Liu Gui stopped talking, he turned to everyone else to greet them one by one. The second aunt happened to be the first in this group Mo Er Qian referred to as 'everyone else'.

"Mom, why are you crying?"

Seeing his mom's tearful face, Mo Er Qian frowned.

"I… I, I miss your brother. It's almost New Year and I don't even know how he's doing in prison." The more she said, the more hurt she felt. Her eyes were now completely red, "Er Qian can you find someone to get your brother out? He's being mistreated and suffering in there!"

Mo Er Qian's frown deepened as he showed an ambiguous expression.

"Er Qian, your mother is right. Prison life is very hard. Can you find a way to save everyone that was put in there and restore our family to what it used to be?" The eldest aunt said as she stared at Mo Er Qian with expectant eyes. Her son, Mo Si Lang, was also in prison and his sentence was even worse than Mo San Zhi's.

Mo San Zhi only had three more months of his sentence while her son had to stay inside for another year and a half. Even if he got a shortened sentence, it would still take at least another year. Her heart ached thinking of how he had to spend the next Spring Festival in prison!

Even the Patriarch chimed in, "If you know someone who can help, give them a call. Our family is facing a predicament. Help us if you can. We're all family here. Your two brothers and third uncle are in prison because of that beast. You should look into this."

Mo Er Qian initially wanted to express that he was just a researcher and had been holed up in America for research. He almost had no contact with the Hua Xia government or the police. There wasn't anything he could do. But his grandfather happened to mention his third uncle who was the father of his dearest sister, and this kept him from saying anything discouraging.

"….I'll try," Mo Er Qian reluctantly agreed, "But I can't promise anything."

"Good, good, as long as you're helping," The eldest aunt said.

The second aunt looked at her and twitched her lips. She turned to Mo Er Qian and said, "Er Qian, how long can you stay this time? Can you stay longer? Mom hasn't seen you in a long time."

"A week."

Even if his transfer was approved, he still had to return to America to handle the formalities and hence, could only stay for a week at most. But after his transfer, he would be able to come back here for a month or two before his new job began.

"A week is almost twice as long as the last time you were back! That's great!" Mo Liu Gui cheered happily but her mood sank as she thought of something.

"It's too bad, too bad third brother and fourth brother won't be here. Dad's not here either. So is Xiao Di… if not, we would've had a very happy New Year."

"Xiao Gui, why did you mention that animal?" Mo Wu Hang flared up the moment he heard her words, "If it wasn't for him, nothing would've happened to uncle and our brothers. He not only framed them, he even spread rumors and gave our family a bad name. He even affected your reputation. You should stop thinking about that garbage. Xiao Gui, stop being so silly!"

"Fifth brother! Xiao Di didn't mean to do those things. Even if he did, I'm sure he was misguided by someone else!" Mo Liu Gui looked sadly at Mo Wu Hang, "He's still my brother. The New Year is coming, there's no way I won't miss him…"

"Although, although he did that to my dad and our brothers, and I can't really forgive him, I still care for him sometimes…"

"How silly are you?" Mo Er Qian saw Mo Liu Gui's mournful look and felt his heart hurting as well.

"Xiao Gui, you've loved that white-eyed wolf since you were little but has he done anything good? He's been scheming against you and mistreating you. Xiao Gui, you're an adult now, you should know that I'm right. You have to stop being soft on him or I can't help but worry for you."

"Second brother, it's different. Something's really different. Xiao Di was a good kid before. You've all misunderstood him. It was only after he was hospitalized six months ago that something was not right with him," Mo Liu Gui continued, "Second brother, I wanted to ask you, can a severe allergic reaction affect the brain and change someone's personality? Could it be that Xiao Di had some pathological problems after that incident that we don't know about? He changed a lot after that hospital stay."

"Really? It's hard to say." Mo Er Qian frowned, "I'd have to look into it."

"If he really had nerve damage, shouldn't it be treated as soon as possible?" Mo Liu Gui asked with concern.

"Alright alright, stop talking about that animal." Mo Wu Hang's agitation was rising the longer he listened. He interrupted impatiently, "No matter how much you care about him, he would still think that you're out to get him. Don't mention him anymore, he has nothing to do with us now. Besides, there's no way we'll be taking him for a checkup."

Mo Liu Gui disapproved, "Fifth brother, don't be like this."

"That's enough. My good granddaughter, let's stop talking about him and go home," The Mo Patriarch interjected, "We'll have a prosperous New Year. Don't talk about Mo Di anymore."

…..

Mo Di was not aware that he had once again become the Mo family's topic of discussion. Even if he knew, he would not be bothered by it.

As for Mo Er Qian's return, he was immediately notified. He had been doubly careful but still could not help feeling jittery.

Fortunately, Mo Er Qian probably wouldn't be able to stay for long or create trouble during the Spring Festival.

So Mo Di poured his time and thoughts into his game making. The next deadline was on the 6th of the New Year and there was not much time for him to take it slow.

It was on the 29th that Mo Di was able to finish his work coding the second half of chapter eleven and a new gameplay function. He could finally take a breather knowing that the team would be able to finalize the other details ahead of the deadline.

This time he would be able to please that judge who kept threatening them with a bad review for not having enough chapters to play with.

Mo Di was beaming with satisfaction.

Xian Yu Chao passed by and happened to see Mo Di smiling at the screen. He sighed and said, "I can tell how much you want to go home just from that smile. How could you abandon us?!"

Mo Di looked up at Xian Yu Chao and said with a helpless smile, "I did not abandon you guys. I told you you can come to play for a day or two but you guys refused."

"We don't want to go at this time. Although big boss Mu is very sociable, his presence is just overwhelming. Not something I want to see during the New Year, it could cause bad luck for the whole of next year. I might as well go have Hotpot with fatso. We're planning to book a karaoke box where we can sing and get drunk!"

Lin Jun Feng added, "That's right! But there are only the two of us and Han Chao, the others will be going home."

At this time, Xian Yu Chao rubbed his hands together, "If only we can get a few of the sisters downstairs to join us!"

Mo Di: "…"

Chen Zhao was passing by and seeing that Mo Di had stopped working, he rushed over and tapped him on the shoulder, "Xiao Di, my uncle is coming to pick me up today, why don't we go for dinner together? He kept wanting to have a meal with you but never got the chance."

"I can't tonight, my brother is also coming to pick me up," Mo Di thought for a moment and said, "Why don't we meet on the 2nd?"

"Ai, something might come up again by then. Let's do it tonight, it's fine if boss Mu wants to tag along. My uncle already knows that he's the brother you mentioned. But you should ask boss Mu first. It's fine if he doesn't want to but if he's ok with it, let's all have dinner together."

Chen Zhao stared unblinkingly at Mo Di, "My uncle really misses you, Xiao Diiii."

"I'll give my brother a call," Mo Di smiled. "I also miss Uncle Song."

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