Mu XiYuan stood up as well and, with a cold voice, he said, "I'll pass on dinner… I don't want to die from poison."
He gave Mu ZhenYu a meaningful look as he said that, turned around, and returned to his room.
Xu WanZhi watched him left, lifted her head up, looked straight into Mu ZhenYu's eyes and said to him, "Mr. Mu, that recording earlier, I…"
Mu ZhenYu spoke before her and interrupted her effort to explain herself. "I know, that wasn't you who said it." His lips curved upward and he said, "Don't worry too much, WanWan."
Xu WanZhi's body froze for a second. She was a little stunned. He did fake drunk the other night and tricked her into telling him the truth.
It seemed he had figured out a while back that she was no longer the original Xu WanZhi.
Seeing that she had remained silent, he carried on, "And, I think Mu XiYuan had suffered enough and you can let him off the hook now. Why don't you find a chance and cure him? He is still of use to me."
Xu WanZhi was no longer surprised by his mightiness. She nodded and said softly, "Okay, I shall."
Mu XueLin wasn't home tonight but that was expected. At the dinner table was the old madam, Aunt Hu, Mu ZhenYu's stepmother / Mu XiYuan birth mother Wang LiZhen, and Mu ZhenYu's second aunt Mu Ling.
Wang LiZhen was Mu XueLin's second wife. In the novel, every move that she made was made with personal gain in mind. She would have "taking over all of the Mu's fortune" carved onto her forehead if only she could.
At the dinner table, she maintained a smile that was neither too friendly nor too distant but, for the most part, she was watching Mu ZhenYu and Xu WanZhi the entire time.
Mu ZhenYu took a look at her out of the corner of his eye and put a piece of sparerib into Xu WanZhi's bowl in a very poised manner. Xu WanZhi understood that he was doing it for show so she, too, picked up a piece of shrimp with her chopsticks and fed it to him.
Mu ZhenYu smiled at her and ate it with no hesitation. He even purposefully bit down on the chopsticks so she couldn't retrieve her chopsticks right away. And the two of them just went back and forth like that throughout the entire meal. Their acting successfully ruined both the old madam and Aunt Hu's appetite. Aunt Hu rolled her eyes the entire time and was just short of making a loud retching noise.
Xu WanZhi purposefully avoided looking in her direction and simply played along with Mu ZhenYu the entire time.
Over the entire table, Mu ZhenYu's second aunt was the only one who didn't have any problems with them and she even kept putting food into Xu WanZhi's bowl.
After a long while, Wang LiZhen finally said to the old madam. "Aiya, I wonder when our XiYuan will shape up and find me a daughter-in-law. Mom, he's the youngest in the family. You must help set him up."
The old madam gave her a look and said while looking into her bowl, "Set him up? I have been looking this last couple of years. There are quite a few girls whose families rival ours. Take the daughter of Jinwei Corporation as an example. She is candid and cheerful and has a strong family background. And then there's the daughter of Zhengqing Corporation. She was very cute too. But, both of them are ofZhenYu's age and a bit too old for XiYuan.
Everybody at the table knew what the old madam meant after she had said that. The old madam still favored ZhenYu more and, one way or another, she disapproved of Xu WanZhi and insisted of splitting up the two of them.
Wang LiZhen was not an easy one to dismiss. She looped back to the same topic again. "Age is not an issue. As the saying goes, a girl that is three years older than the boy will bring about good luck. Instead of dwelling on the age, it's more important to find a good, supportive wife. His dad's business is going to him in the end anywya. It's more important to find him a wife from a good family who would be helpful to him in business."
When the second aunt heard that, she slammed her bowl down onto the table and said, "What do you mean by that, sister-in-law? My brother is still pretty healthy. I don't think you need to rush to look for a daughter-in-law yet, do you now?"
Wang LiZhen pursed her lips a little and tried to save the situation. "Little sister-in-law, that's not what I meant. I think you are reading too much into it."
"Sister-in-law, do you think that your son XiYuan is the son of Mu's but not ZhenYu? What do you mean by the Mu's business will become his in the end?" Mu Ling looked at Wang LiZhen's hands that were covered in grease from peeling the braised pawns and said with subtext, "Disgusting."
Mu Ling was old madam's favorite daughter. Wang LiZhen wasn't bold enough to go up against her in front of the old madam. She could only force a smile and said, "Aiya, look at me. I was just worry about XiYuan was all. Little sister-in-law, you should keep an eye out for XiYuan too."
Mu Ling snickered, picked up a prawn and brought it over to Xu WanZhi's and said, "WanZhi, I know you need to watch your shape as an actress. Prawns should be alright though, right?"
Xu WanZhi thanked her and, before she could bring her bowl over to take the prawn, Mu ZhenYu took it away with his chopsticks.
"I'll peel it for her." He said as he gave her a deep and meaningful look. He then skillfully peeled the prawns and put it inside of her bowl.
Mu Ling had on a loving smile the entire time and said in a neither friendly nor distant tone, "Look at them. They are so in love. It's all about finding your own partner in this day and age. Somethings just can't be forced. This matchmaking thing doesn't always work. There's no love to speak of when two are together because of money."
The old madam didn't like this either. She purposefully ate loudly to show her displeasure.
Seeing that most everyone had stopped talking, Xu WanZhi picked up the napkin, wiped her mouth, looked up and asked, "Old Madam, ZhenYu mentioned XiYuan's illness to me previously. His back is sore and he feels chilly all the time, and has some dizziness and ringing in the ears. It sounded a lot like the symptoms that a friend of mine had a while ago."
The old madam didn't care for Xu WanZhi, but when her younger grandson's illness was brought up, her eyes lit up reflexively. "And what happened to your friend?"
"Just like little brother XiYuan's illness, he went to a lot of doctors to no avail. Finally, he went to a traditional doctor and was given a prescription that ended up curing him." Having said that, she looked over to Mu ZhenYu. "I can refer the doctor when the Mu's designated doctor is over."
The old madam was like a whole different person all of a sudden, "That works. Have him come by tomorrow then?"
"Sure." Xu WanZhi nodded and said, "Most definitely."
After dinner, Mu ZhenYu went to smoke in the garden.
Xu WanZhi took a dinner plate, picked some fruits for Mu XiYuan, and brought it into his room.
Mu XiYuan had retreated back into his own room to recover after the fight with Xu WanZhi earlier in the day. Watching her walked inside of his room, his face was dark like a piece of coal.
"What are you doing here?" He propped his body up and coughed. "Visiting me will not help you achieve your goal of marrying into a prestigious family."
Xu WanZhi smiled at him sweetly and slowly walked over to his bed. She put the fruits down on his nigh table and retorted nonchalantly. "I brought some fruits for you, but you don't need to eat them if you think I might have poisoned them."
Having said that, she chanted a spell quickly and removed the spell that was placed on him – that was requested by Mu ZhenYu. She finally had the opportunity to stay far enough away from him so she could use her magic. She must make good use to it.
Mu XiYuan gave her a look and looked outside of the window. "I don't know what kind of spell you have used on Mu ZhenYu. He didn't even blame you after he heard our conversation, but…"
He turned around and stared at her viciously. "There are enough people fighting over the Mu's fortune already. I am not going to let you be a part of it."
Xu WanZhi played with the tip of her hair before she pinched another strawberry and plopped it inside of her mouth. She waved her hand and said, her voice slightly muffled, "Look at yourself right now. I don't think it'd matter to you how many are there fighting over the Mu's fortune."
She casually strolled out of his room and heard a noise made by a strawberry hitting the door.
It'd seem like the weakling back in the room was angered by her.
Right then, Mu ZhenYu also came back inside after he has finished his cigarette and ran into her in the hallway.
His lips curving slightly upward, he glanced over at Mu XiYuan's room and asked her in a low voice, "All taken care of?"
"Yup, all taken care of." Xu WanZhi turned around and gave it a look. "He will be the bouncy Second Young Master Mu again in a few days."
"If you can take care of it yourself, why did you bother with the whole traditional doctor spiel in front of the old madam?" He walked in front of her in a few steps and stroked her on her cheeks with his hand that still smelled like his cigarette – a scene that looked like the two of them were madly in love with each other from the eyes of an outsider. "WanWan, what are you trying to pull here?"
"To appease the old madam, of course." Xu WanZhi looked up and met his piercing eyes. "Mr. Mu, I trust that you wouldn't want a second or a third Liang ZhiQuan, right?"
Mu ZhenYu snickered and said, "So? Where are you going to find this traditional doctor from?"
"I'm in the entertainment circle." She reached out her little hand and gently stroke over his knuckles that was stroking her cheek. "We have no shortage of actors in my circle."
Mu ZhenYu flipped his hand around, grabbed hers, and held it tightly in his. She could immediately feel a sense of warmth covering the back of her hand. "The old madam is not an old lady who could be fooled easily. She would know he's an actor."
"That is the whole purpose." Xu WanZhi winked at him. "Don't worry. I have my ways with old people. Mr. Mu needs only to focus on his business."
Xu WanZhi looked up and it was the super gossipy Aunt Hu.
She had on her apron and held a spatula in her hand as though she worried that others wouldn't know that she was hard at work. She walked over quickly and said, "You let as soon as you were done eating. You could at least help us elderly to clean up some. That's exactly why the old madam doesn't like you."
Mu ZhenYu gave her a look and said, "Why does the guest need to help clean up? What do we hire all the servants for then? To laze around like you?"
Aunt Hu shook her head, "What are you talking about, Young Master. The old madam will be displeased again has she heard this. She'd say you are going against your family for this little goblin."
Mu ZhenYu was just about to say something else before Xu WanZhi tugged at him.
Her palm was soft and her grab and pull felt like she was whining to him. He stopped himself from saying what he had wanted to say.
"It's just wiping down the table and doing the dishes. I'll go take care of them," said Xu WanZhi as she purposefully straightened out Mu ZhenYu's collar and stood on her tip toes as though she was about to give him a kiss. In reality, she whispered into his ear, "Don't worry, I also have my ways with middle-aged woman who didn't know her place."