Looking at that familiar face on the screen, the old madam's smiley face turned solemn. She looked from Mu XiYuan to Xu WanZhi, then narrowed her eyes.
Mu Ling, watching everybody's responses, knew that something was wrong and quickly changed the subject. "Aiya, these are the same actors in all the shows. Of course they look familiar. Hurry up, let's keep on watching. I want to know what the show is about."
Having said that, Mu Ling snatched the remote control out back from Mu XiYuan's hand and said, "Mom, let's keep watching."
But before she could even hit the "Play" button, Mu XiYuan spoke again.
"Stop playing dumb, Second Aunty." Mu XiYuan snickered. "This actor is probably a part-time traditional doctor. The only question is, did he really know traditional medicines or did he come pretending to be one with assiduity."
His words were, doubtless, like oil on fire. The old madam's look got worse and her face-full of wrinkles now looked vicious and terrifying.
She looked up slowly and looked over at Xu WanZhi. "Miss Xu, can you please explain what is going on to us?"
"What else could it be?" The corners of Mu XiYuan's lips went way high and he leaned all the way back against the back of the couch. Plopping the ankle of one foot onto the knee of the other and shaking it up and down, he looked so complacent that his tail was sticking straight up.
He handed a cup of tea to the old madam and said at a moderate pace, "I'm afraid Miss Xu had treated all of the Mu's as though we are fools that she could wrap around her little finger. Even if she needed to hire an actor to play the role, she could have at least look for one that was not popular. 'Blossoming Us' was about to air and she had intentionally looked for someone that she knew we would see. Obviously, she wanted us to know that she had fooled us. Grandma, it was lucky that you have asked her to come over to watch it with us. Good things happen to good people. And we are able to see through her plans while she is here with us. Lucky for me for surviving the medicines prescribed by this so-called traditional doctor. Otherwise, you would be arranging for my funeral right about now."
The more he talked, the more excited Mu XiYuan got. Finally, he crossed his arms in front of himself and said, "Am I right, Miss Xu?"
"XiYuan, I knew you have always felt hostile towards me. I don't blame you for thinking that." Xu WanZhi gave a wholehearted smile and turned to the old madam. "Old Madam must not know that XiYuan had reached out to me before Huanyu went bankrupt and wanted to take away all assets under ZhenYu's name."
"What?" With everything that had happened tonight, the old madam wasn't able to process all of the information right away. She looked over at Mu ZhenYu, then over at Mu XiYuan. She pointed at Xu WanZhi with her shaking finger and asked, "What… what is she talking about?"
"Perhaps because of his background. I know that Aunty LiZhen and Uncle Mu are in love with each other but there are rumors that XiYuan is the illegitimate child from the third person. Rumors can do a lot of damage. It'd make sense that XiYuan would hate his brother from the first marriage." Xu WanZhi smiled and carried on. "Which was why I was surprised when he came looking for me and asked me to join force with him to set up ZhenYu from both externally and internally. I talked with ZhenYu about it and agreed that even though they have different mothers, they are still brothers. So I pretended that I agreed to his suggestion to stop the situation between the two of them from intensifying."
Wang LiZhen, who was put on the spot for no fault of hers, gave Xu WanZhi a stare. But she was a mistress before and that was the fact that would never change. There was nothing that she could say other than staring at Xu WanZhi.
Xu WanZhi took the opportunity to turn and look at Mu ZhenYu. She saw that not only had he not contradict what she had said, he was looking at her with interest to see what she was going to say next.
Xu WanZhi went on. "XiYuan was very excited, thinking that he will be able to take down his brother this time. What he hadn't expected was that I did not carry out my end of the bargain. He felt that I had tricked him and hated me for it. Truth was, Old Madam. I have always wanted the two of them to make up with each other. My intention was not to fool anyone."
She gave the Old Madam a very sincere look and paused at the perfect time to create the suspension before she finally sighed and went on. "The incident was put on the back burner when XiYuan got ill later on. When I found out about his illness, I knew he had the same issue as my other friend. But, just think, why didn't I give him the prescription that I have right away instead of coming to the Mu's and using your request and a traditional doctor as a cover treat him? That was because I knew that XiYuan would never trust a prescription from me."
She sounded very rational while appealing to the Old Madam's emotion. After the whole speech, she finally slowed down on her talking speed and said, "To XiYuan, no doubt anything from me will be poison. Never mind about the prescription, I think he even held me accountable for him getting sick this time. He would never trust medicines from me. So the only thing I could do was to find someone to pretend to be a traditional doctor and pass on the prescription that I had."
Having said that, she looked over at Mu XiYuan and asked, "Am I right, XiYuan?"
Her speech had both logic and evidence and it had sufficiently baffled the old madam.
Mu Ling, hearing all of her words, felt nothing but compassion for her. Frowning and grabbing Xu WanZhi's hand, she said to her, "I'm sorry you have to go through that, child."
At the same time, a shred of guilt and embarrassment flashed passed the old madam's eyes.
From that slight change on her look, Xu WanZhi could tell that 80% - 90% of what she had said had nailed the issue head on. Mu XiYuan had been badmouthing her a lot around the Mu's and, very possibly, waiting for an opportunity to play the recording to the old madam.
Now that she had told the story from a different perspective, that would nip that one in the bud altogether.
Xu WanZhi looked squarely at Mu XiYuan after she had finished talking.
That complacent look on him earlier was all gone. In fact, he was giving her a hateful look and gritted his teeth so much that he could crush his molars. Veins were popping on his forehead and his mouth opened and closed repeatedly. Finally, he stood up, pointed straight at Xu WanZhi's nose and said to her, "Xu WanZhi! You are such a shameless woman! How dare you twist things around like that? That could not be further from the truth! You are such an evil woman!"
"Watch yourself." Mu ZhenYu stood up as well and took and step and blocked in front of Xu WanZhi. He reached out and grabbed Mu XiYuan's wrist. "Speak with your mouth. Grandma's sitting right here. What are you trying to do here?"
Hiding behind Mu ZhenYu, Xu WanZhi's smile was sweet. She wasn't worried about enraging Mu XiYuan. The angrier he was, the more it let Xu WanZhi knew that she wasn't very far from the truth.
She even wished he'd come charging at her waving his fist. If that was the case, Mu ZhenYu would for sure interfere and she'd be able to witness the pathetic Mu XiYuan being beaten up by his big brother.
Unfortunately, Mu XiYuan probably still remember the last time he was punched by Mu ZhenYu. He was intimidated by his brother who was taller than him by an entire head. He suppressed his anger and plopped back down onto the couch, still filled with hostility.
Xu WanZhi raised her brows, reached out her little arms, wrapped them around Mu ZhenYu's and said in a pitiful voice, "ZhenYu, I am fine. Why don't you sit back down?"
Mu ZhenYu, too, decided to stop while he was ahead. He sat back down like Xu WanZhi had asked while taking her hand into his and rubbed it with his palm.
Xu WanZhi turned and, once again, looked over at the old madam sincerely. "Truth was, it doesn't matter how XiYuan think of me. As long as he can recover, then both ZhenYu and I can stop worrying."
Mu XiYuan couldn't stand to listen to her anymore. He stood up, walked back inside his room in brisk steps, and slammed his room door shut.
Wang LiZhen, feeling awkward staying there, also left after Mu XiYuan.
The old madam looked over at them and sighed deeply. "Aye, XueLin had this child very late in life so he had spoiled him. Through and through. Come to think about it, it is partly my fault as well. He grew up with me and I didn't raise him properly."
"It's alright, Old Madam." Xu WanZhi shook her head and said, "He is still young. We have all been through our unruly and uninhibited phase. I am sure he will understand where you are coming from later on in life."
"I wonder when he will understand all that you have done for him." The old madam looked away from Xu WanZhi and looked outside of the window. "If we are to place blame, I owe ZhenYu even more. What happened back then… had I listened to his mother and hang in there for longer, or have someone fetch Mu XueLin from Maldives, perhaps… So many years had passed now and my oldest grandchild had already grown into a man. He is going through a rough patch right now but I know he will become even more accomplished than XueLin in the future."
Having said that, she patted at the empty spot on the couch next to her and said, "WanZhi, sit over here next to me. Stop referring to me as 'Old Madam'. Just call me 'Grandma' like ZhenYu."
Having said that, she patted Mu Ling on her shoulder and said, "Hurry up. Play the show."
So much had happened within the Mu's within the last thirty minutes and Xu WanZhi's status had increased to the point that she could sit next to the old madam. Even Mu Ling was surprised by that change. It took her a bit before she quickly nodded and hit "play".
"Blossoming Us" had already hired the best editor and also has very outstanding background music. It had caught all of Mu Ling's attention after some ten minutes.
Xu WanZhi didn't even feel any awkwardness looking at herself on the screen. Quite the contrary, she didn't even feel that she was looking at herself. It was like she was truly looking at the character.
Half way through the first episode, the old madam leaned into Xu WanZhi and whispered into her ear. "I knew that the prescription could only alleviate his symptoms and not the root of the issue. The real issue still lies with Aunt Wu, right?"
Having said that, she patted Xu WanZhi on her hand and said, "You are a very understanding child. You understand relationships between others. You have your ways of handling matters and you are good at gauging how far to go. Stay with ZhenYu and take care of ZhenYu for me, hmm?"
"Mmm." Xu WanZhi nodded at her while she sneaked a peek over at Mu ZhenYu.
Low and behold, Mu ZhenYu was also looked straight at her. There seemed to be satisfaction in his eyes and there also seemed to be something else other than just satisfaction.
Xu WanZhi had the illusion that he was looking at him like he was looking at his wife.
Her thought startled even herself. She cleared her throat and focused on the TV show. She was, after all, someone who was about to head into the big screen. She would need to start looking for her weakness in her acting and worked on improving herself.
Three episodes were played during premiere and the four of them binged all three episodes in one sitting. The old madam, seemingly still didn't have enough of it, held Xu WanZhi's hand, yawned as she told her how great her acting was.
Xu WanZhi responded politely but was felt very complacent herself.
That night, she picked the most remote guest bedroom. When she was ready to go to bed, the Mu's was very quiet. She walked toward her bedroom as lightly as she could but Mu ZhenYu came out of nowhere and called out to her softly, "WanWan."
Turning, she saw that his hair too was wet and his buffed chest was somewhat visible under his sleepwear.
"The whole family had dinner and watched TV together and Mu ZhenYu and his mother remained quiet the entire time. This family finally started to resemble what a family should be like." He strolled in front of her and lifted her chin gently with his finger. "You, too, are becoming more and more like a part of this family. This warm feeling is so… suffocating."
Having said that, as though he was testing her. He looked down and looked into her eyes at a close distance. "You won't leave me, would you, WanWan?"