Prepare
Tao Chu remained in the study, quietly waiting with a mint in his mouth, ignoring the occasional arguing outside the door.
A dozen minutes later, Tao Guohua walked in with a smile: "Chuchu, you can stay at home for the time being. Aunt Xu will tidy up the study later, so please make do with it for now."
Tao Chu guessed that Xu Lingling wouldn't agree to share a room with her, and besides, she was also worried about being discovered about the wig.
"Thank you, Dad. I'll try my best not to cause you any trouble..."
Tao Guohua looked at his daughter, who was still well-behaved, and smiled with delight, thinking that she might still have leverage over Zhou Bingcheng, Wen Tao, and others.
Xu Jing reluctantly came in to tidy up, and as soon as Tao Guohua left, she said to Tao Chu with a sullen face:
“Your dad said you can stay until the Lunar New Year at the latest, and then you can move to your grandma’s house—she only lives in her 90-square-meter apartment. Our house is so small, even three people would find it cramped…”
Listening to her rambling complaints, Tao Chu said with a half-smile, "When the three of us lived here, we didn't feel the house was small. But when outsiders want to squeeze in, of course it's not big enough."
Xu Jing, who was squatting on the ground spreading out a mattress, had a livid face. She stood up and glared at Tao Chu: "If you don't want to stay, go find somewhere else to live. Don't come to my house and make a nuisance..."
Tao Chu crossed her legs and gently tapped her hand on the desk, where she had mischievously carved words when she was a child.
"Your home? Don't you know whose name is on the property deed? You and your daughter are only able to live here because of my father. I'm going back to my own home, what right do you have to comment?"
Knowing she was in the wrong, Xu Jing angrily kicked the pillow at her feet and went out to complain to Tao Guohua.
Tao Chu wasn't afraid of her reporting her—it was Tao Chu, who had just started junior high school, who discovered Tao Guohua's affair with Xu Jing.
Tao Guohua was afraid that Tao Chu would tell Xu Weirong, so he swore that he would never see her again and cried out that he did not want to lose his family.
At the time, Tao Chu was afraid of upsetting her mother, but she also didn't want her parents to divorce, so she didn't tell her mother for the time being.
However, even though Tao Guohua coaxed and begged him, Tao Chu never allowed Tao Guohua to pick him up or drop him off again, and they didn't speak a proper word to each other for two or three years.
When Xu Weirong asked, she only said that she was going through a rebellious phase, and Tao Guohua didn't dare to criticize her at all. Instead, he spoke well of her.
It wasn't until Tao Chu discovered that Tao Guohua seemed to have really stopped seeing Xu Jing that the relationship between the father and daughter gradually returned to normal.
However, less than three months after Tao Guohua's divorce, Xu Jing followed suit and got divorced. The two quickly registered their marriage and held a wedding banquet, showing that their relationship had never ended.
Therefore, Tao Guohua felt guilty about Xu Jing's situation and dared not question his own attitude.
Tao Chu squatted down and straightened the bedding herself. She then took the pillow that Xu Jing had just kicked to the living room and replaced it with a cushion from the sofa.
Turning around, Tao Chu and Xu Lingling, who were having breakfast in the restaurant, stared at each other.
Xu Lingling swallowed the porridge in her mouth and was about to say something provocative when Tao Chu just rolled her eyes at her and went back to her room—she was just a silly girl who had just entered college, and Tao Chu didn't have time to pay attention to her.
Just as Tao Chu had expected, Tao Guohua did not come to see her because of Xu Jing's matter. Instead, he talked about buying Tao Chu daily necessities and clothes during lunch.
Xu Jing continued to ladle seaweed and pork rib soup for Xu Lingling, pretending not to hear.
Tao Guohua had no choice but to assign someone: "I have to go to school this afternoon, and besides, I'm a grown man and I don't know anything about these things. Xu Jing, you take them shopping this afternoon, I'll reimburse you!"
At the end, he waved the chopsticks in his hand and laughed heartily and triumphantly.
Xu Jing glared at him—what reimbursement? Just take the money out of your left pocket and put it in your right!
However, Xu Jing didn't want to start a fight in front of Tao Chu and make a fool of herself, so she kept quiet as if she had agreed.
In the afternoon, Tao Guohua drove away with the only car in the house, so Tao Chu had to drive his own car with Xu Jing and her daughter.
Xu Jing suggested navigating to Rainbow Market—the earliest small commodity wholesale market in Jianglin City, where you could get all your daily necessities for fifty yuan, and with some bargaining, you could buy two sets of winter clothes and a pair of shoes for two hundred yuan.
Tao Chu ignored her and drove directly to the downtown business district.
Seeing that she was about to drive into the underground parking garage of the most expensive shopping mall, Xu Jing was afraid that she would be ripped off, so she slapped the back of the driver's seat hard: "What are you doing? Our family can't afford the things here!"
Tao Guohua is an associate professor at Jianglin University, and they don't have to pay mortgages or car loans, so how could they be short of money?
The handbag Xu Jing carried when she went out and the coat Xu Lingling wore were not cheap items; they were just disgusting themselves.
Tao Chu said, "Everyone go your own way and mind your own business. If you want to go to the Rainbow Market, take a taxi yourself."
After Xu Jing and her daughter dawdled off the car, Tao Chu locked the car door and went to take the elevator.
She looked at the brands on each floor of the elevator and silently made her own calculations.
Anyway, I won't be staying here for long, so I'll just make do with the bedding and blankets and wait until after the New Year.
Buy common brands of toiletries, but make sure to get better clothes to prepare for the maiden voyage of the Yangtze River cruise during the Chinese New Year.
I always need to buy two of each of the following: coat, cashmere sweater, and dress. As for skincare and makeup products, I'll follow Cen Le's list…
Oh right, I need to buy some jewelry and bags to make a good impression. Let's go check out the luxury stores on the first floor first.
Tao Chu's phone was linked to several of Xu Weirong's cards, so he didn't need to worry about money; now was not the time to concern himself with such things.
Xu Jing and her daughter secretly followed Tao Chu and were shocked to find that she went straight into Cartier as soon as she got off the elevator.
I waited outside for more than ten minutes and saw her come out with a small bag, then turn around and walk towards Celine. A little while later, she came out with a medium-sized bag.
Xu Jing gritted her teeth and called Tao Guohua, telling him to prepare for a major financial blow. Xu Lingling started tugging at her sleeve: "Mom, she's gone to Hermes."
Xu Jing couldn't help but yell into the phone: "Serves you right for being so cocky! You just blurted out the words about reimbursement without even opening your mouth! Fine, now she's gone to buy Hermes, and I haven't even bought Hermes yet, what gives her the right..."
However, the items Tao Chu liked not only required additional purchases but also meant waiting at least two months. She neither wanted to be ripped off nor had the time to wait.
Seeing Tao Chu emerge from Hermès empty-handed, Xu Jing and her daughter breathed a sigh of relief—thankfully, Tao Chu still had some sense.
But Tao Chu did not leave the luxury store on the first floor. He browsed for another half hour and finally carried four or five bags back to the underground parking lot, where he put them in the trunk first.
This was the first time Tao Chu had ever spent so much money in his twenties.
But now, this money will only be valuable if it can be used to help her.
But Xu Jingxin was heartbroken and had no desire to go shopping.
Xu Lingling hooked her arm and said coquettishly, "Mom, she bought so much, why should we go back empty-handed? Does Dad only spend his money on her? We're going on a cruise during the New Year, and I don't have a dress suitable for the banquet yet!"
Xu Jing thought about it and realized it made sense. Why should Tao Guohua generously give away the money she had saved up through frugality to Tao Chu in the blink of an eye?
But she hadn't lost her mind yet. Forget about the luxury goods, she took Xu Lingling to browse the women's clothing on the second and third floors.
When Tao Guohua opened the door in the evening, he was stunned by the various packaging bags in the living room—although Xu Jing had called in the afternoon, he really didn't expect the three women in the family to be such shopaholics.
Tao Guohua looked at Tao Chu, who had just come out of the study, and his smile was a little stiff: "Chu Chu, you bought a lot."
Tao Chu blinked twice and whispered, "Dad, these... I didn't buy them."
She pointed to the study: "I've already put all my personal items in the study. I'm afraid I won't have room for my clothes and bags at home, so they're still in the trunk of my car."
Xu Jing, who was sitting on the sofa watching TV, cleared her throat and explained when Tao Guohua looked at her: "It's for both me and Lingling. A few pieces each, it looks like a lot, but it's not even worth as much as one bag Tao Chu has."
"Aunt Xu didn't go shopping with me, so how did she know what bag I bought?" Tao Chu smiled.
Xu Jing added, "When I was browsing on the second floor, I saw you going in and out of the luxury stores."
"Oh—" Tao Chu was too lazy to argue with her, and looked at Tao Guohua, "Dad, Aunt Xu bought so many clothes and shoes, it must have cost a lot, you can reimburse them. Mom left me some money, it's enough for now."
Upon hearing this, Tao Guohua and Xu Jing both breathed a sigh of relief and smiled.
Tao Guohua exchanged a few more polite words and made a gesture as if to transfer money to Tao Chu via WeChat, but Xu Jing quickly interrupted, saying, "Lingling and I picked out two dresses today, and they fit perfectly. Try them on and see!"
Upon hearing this, Tao Chu didn't go back to the study. Instead, she sat in a corner of the sofa and watched the mother and daughter change into new dresses and walk the runway in high heels, her face full of excitement and pride.
Tao Chu was thinking that this didn't look like a new outfit for visiting relatives during the New Year, but rather like an evening gown, when Tao Guohua spoke up: "You've already picked it out, but did you buy me a formal suit? My usual work suits are all worn out."
Xu Jing glanced at Tao Chu, then pulled Tao Guohua and said, "I'll buy it for you next time. We'll talk about it when we get back."
Tao Guohua, however, remembered the news he had heard that afternoon that Wen Yunsheng would be boarding the ship. He turned to Tao Chu and asked, "Chu Chu, there's a cruise ship maiden voyage event for the New Year. Would you like to go?"
Upon hearing that Tao Guohua was actually going to bring Tao Chu along, Xu Jing and her daughter exchanged a glance.
Tao Chu was secretly delighted, but pretended to be clueless and asked, "Is it one of those ocean cruise ships I rode on when I was a child?"
"It's a Yangtze River cruise ship called 'Dream Chaser on the River,' departing from Jianglin and taking four days round trip. If you'd like to go, I'll ask someone I know if there are any tickets left."
Tao Chu hesitated, "But my mother just passed away, it doesn't feel right to participate in this kind of activity..."
Xu Jing thought to herself, "Why don't I remember when we went on a shopping spree this afternoon? Now I'm pretending to be filial."
However, she didn't want Tao Chu to follow along, so she went along with it and said, "That makes sense. She's still in mourning, so let her rest at home."
Tao Guohua insisted, looking at Tao Chu: "By then, the seven-day mourning period will have passed, so it won't matter. Besides, I don't feel comfortable leaving you alone at home."
Tao Chu had no choice but to nod, both "in a difficult position" and "obedient."
Tao Guohua felt relieved after persuading her, and continued, "I'll take you to visit Grandma on the 29th of the lunar year. We'll be on the boat on New Year's Eve, so we won't be able to have a family reunion."
Xu Jing was already unhappy about bringing Tao Chu on the ship, and upon hearing this, she slapped Tao Guohua on the back, startling him: "What are you doing—"
"Have you forgotten that you were supposed to come with me to my parents' house that day? Our family has our reunion dinner on the 29th!"
Tao Guohua had clearly forgotten: "Then, then let's take Chuchu back to see my mother another day..."
Tao Chu stared at Tao Guohua and said softly, word by word, "It's okay, Dad. I'll go see Grandma by myself. You two are the only people I have left now. After all, it's the New Year, and I want to be with my family."
Xu Lingling realized that her mother was no match for Tao Chu, so she interjected, "Dad, why don't you go back with Mom at noon and then have the New Year's Eve dinner with Tao Chu tonight?"
Tao Guohua suddenly realized what was happening and said repeatedly, "Yes, yes, yes, this arrangement can take care of everything. Lingling is so quick to react!"
He patted Xu Lingling's head with a smile, while Tao Chu silently watched their affectionate father-daughter relationship.
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