Someone nearby immediately chimed in, their tone carefully chosen yet subtly friendly: "I didn't expect Mr. Shi to be married at such a young age. Are you newlyweds? You and Mrs. Shi seem very affectionate."
Shi Youxi looked at the back of the head in front of him, and the earlobes that were red from nervousness, and raised an eyebrow and hummed in agreement.
Mo Mumu casually introduced the couple while striking up a conversation: "It's such a pity. I thought Mr. Shi was single. I was going to introduce you to Mrs. Shi. Where is she from?"
Shi Youxi: "A local."
Mo Mumu turned back to look at him in surprise, "I thought he was from Italy. Did Mr. Shi and his wife meet abroad?"
Shi Youxi smiled broadly, "I guess so, she suddenly appeared in front of me."
"I fell in love with her at first sight, and it took me a long time to find her again."
The man couldn't hide the joy on his face when asked about his wife. It was obvious to everyone that what he wanted to say would please him. The contract had been signed, and Shi Youxi was now the largest shareholder and director of Wenxin. Thinking about how to build a good relationship with the new boss, the people around him started talking about Mrs. Shi.
No one paid any attention to Mu Yiran, who was huddled to the side shaking her head at Shi Youxi.
Enough! Enough! Stop talking!
Seeing that Shi Youxi didn't care at all, Mu Yiran turned to fuss over Mo Mumu, but Mo Mumu only had eyes for this generous sugar daddy, and actually joined in the others' enthusiastic questions:
"I wonder what kind of person Mrs. Shi is that could make someone like you, Mr. Shi, so fond of her."
“Her…” Shi Youxi glanced at the flustered Mu Yiran, “She’s not very tall…”
Mo Mumu hadn't noticed yet: "Haha, that's how the girls in Haishi are—they're not tall, but they're beautiful!"
Shi Youxi chuckled and continued, "She is indeed the most beautiful woman I have ever seen, with a very beautiful beauty mark."
Mo Mumu was taken aback. "A mole? Oh, that's quite a coincidence. My friend also has a beauty mark!"
She pointed at Mu Yiran to Shi Youxi and laughed carefree: "Your wife doesn't look like my friend, does she?"
"Mu Mu!" Mu Yiran couldn't take it anymore. She grabbed Mo Mu Mu's sleeve, her lips twitching as she whispered, "I feel a little unwell, can you please stop talking?"
Mo Mumu finally realized that something was wrong with Mu Yiran and whispered, "What's wrong with you? You're feeling unwell but you still insist on coming along for the tour?"
Mu Yiran didn't reply, so he started acting like a rogue, trying to drag her away by pretending to be unwell.
But that's even stranger.
Mu Yiran is a person who always acts invisible in front of outsiders. To put it bluntly, she is very sensible and would never make a fuss at this time.
unless…
Shi Youxi took in the two's little actions, but instead of answering Mo Mumu's question, he continued, "My wife likes to paint and also loves to eat sweets. She has a childlike personality, but she always likes to act like an adult and boss others around."
Mo Mumu's mind was still on Mu Yiran, so she casually agreed upon hearing this:
"Oh yeah, my friend also loves sweets and always thinks she's mature beyond her years. She's also a designer and loves to draw..."
…Um?
…no?
…Wait a minute?
Mo Mumu shrugged, and the lingering urge in her mind suddenly surged up. She glanced at Mu Yiran, who was pretending to be dead with her head down, and then at Shi Youxi, who was standing calmly to the side, but whose gaze was fixed on Mu Yiran.
Realizing what was happening, Mo Mumu's polite smile froze on her face.
She was silent for a few seconds, then suddenly said coldly, "...Is Mr. Shi in a hurry? If you don't dare, I'd like to say a few words to my friend first."
Mu Yiran was utterly despondent: ...Oh no!
The vice presidents standing nearby were a little confused. Didn't the boss just say that he was in a hurry to go home and hug his wife?
What's wrong with this young master Mo?! He's leaving this old man behind to chat with his friends!
They quickly said, "Mr. Mo, look at you! Didn't Mr. Shi just say he was in a hurry to go home to see Mrs. Shi—"
"It's not a rush." Shi Youxi ignored everyone else and said to Mo Mumu, "I just realized my wife isn't home. We'll have some time to wait for her to come home together. Ms. Mo, you can go ahead and do what you need to do."
Several vice presidents: "?"
What does this mean?
How did you know your wife wasn't home without me seeing you answer the phone or check your phone?
The group looked at each other, and then, almost simultaneously, followed Shi Youxi in looking at Mu Yiran, who was pretending to be dead.
No way?!
With things said to this extent, even the most blind and deaf could understand the gist of it. Mo Mumu glanced at Shi Youxi, her eyes no longer as fawning as they had a few seconds ago, and forced a smile that looked like she was having a seizure. "Alright then, Mr. Wen, you show Mr. Shi around first, I'll be there in a bit!"
No longer giving her any face, Mo Mumu pulled the person inside, slammed the door shut, turned around, her face darkening, and pointed at Mu Yiran with a sinister look:
"You know that Shi Youxi?"
Mu Yiran shuddered, then smiled sweetly: "We're not familiar, it's the first time we've met."
"Not familiar with each other?"
Mo Mumu scoffed:
"A local, not very tall, pretty with a mole! Loves sweets and drawing! She's practically begging for your ID number!"
Mu Yiran tried to struggle: "There are so many people in this world who are similar—"
Before she could finish her excuse, Mo Mumu suddenly asked, "Where did you get this ring?"
Holy crap!
Mu Yiran instinctively reached out to cover herself, but stopped abruptly halfway through the movement. This action was so obviously suspicious!
She had completely forgotten that she had been flaunting this ring outside for half a day, not only in front of Li Bingcheng, but now Mo Mumu had also seen it. Li Bingcheng was good-natured and didn't blame her for lying without thinking, but Mo Mumu was different.
Seeing Mu Yiran's action, Mo Mumu was so angry she laughed. She grabbed her hair, walked around in circles, pointed at Mu Yiran's left hand, and shouted, "Where did you get these four hundred million?"
Mu Yiran: "This is fake—"
"Don't tell me it's fake. Even if you're fake, this thing can't be faked! My eyes aren't blinder than yours! I can tell if it's real or not!"
Her voice was so loud that even the assistant outside the door knocked to ask what was wrong. Mo Mumu took two deep breaths, her face calm before the storm.
"I'll give you thirty seconds to organize your thoughts. Explain to me clearly why you have a diamond ring that was just auctioned off! And why that man also happens to have a pink diamond ring!"
"..." Mu Yiran was completely unable to explain.
Mu Yiran could pretend not to know that Shi Youxi's ring was something he had coaxed her into putting on last night, since Shi Youxi's ring didn't look particularly special.
But hers is different. Mo Mumu is, after all, a rich young lady. The quality and color of this diamond are unique. How could she not see it?
Four hundred million is easy to explain, but this diamond can't be bought for just four hundred million. Those who participate in the auction are either rich or noble, and they need to pass a certain asset assessment in order to participate. There are plenty of people in the world who can come up with four hundred million, but not everyone has the wealth to spend four hundred million as if it were spare change.
Without such a background, Mu Yiran paused for a few seconds, then shamelessly asked, "30 seconds isn't enough to make up a story, how about one minute and thirty seconds?"
Mo Mumu: "………………Mu Yiran!"
Mu Yiran knew her temper too well, so she immediately tried to please her:
"I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry! There was a reason for this. I didn't mean to hide it from you. We just got our marriage certificate yesterday, and I wanted to wait until you came back in a few days before telling you. I didn't expect you to come back so soon! It's all my fault!"
"Actually, it's nothing major. It's just that my aunt and uncle wanted to force me into an arranged marriage, and coincidentally, Mr. Shi Youxi... Mr. Shi was there at the time! He made some conditions, and in exchange, I married him. That's it! I really didn't mean to hide it from you!"
Mo Mumu knew how the Wen family treated her. In the past, when Mu Yiran said this, her attention would definitely be on the Wen family, but this time she didn't.
Mo Mumu frowned and closed her eyes as she listened to her rambling on and on. Every word she uttered was evasive, and every sentence conveyed the same meaning—"This is not a big deal, so I didn't want to tell you and bother you."
Mo Mumu had always known her hidden thoughts and Mu Yiran's unusual wariness, and she had always been understanding and considerate, but...
But……
Mo Mumu suddenly felt a little sad and discouraged.
She opened her eyes and looked at Mu Yiran with a serious tone: "I won't ask you about anything far away, just tell me, was your disappearance in London last time related to that person surnamed Shi?"
Mu Yiran choked on her words, her lips moving slightly before she fell silent.
Mo Mumu laughed in anger. She pointed at Mu Yiran's right hand, which was still wearing a wristband, and said, "Your injury is also related to him, isn't it?"
"..."
"You not only know him, you're very close to him! Mu Yiran, what counts as a big deal to you? Or do you think that as a friend, I don't need to tell you about your big deals?"
Hearing her dejected tone, Mu Yiran's heart clenched suddenly. "Mu Mu... I didn't mean that..."
Mo Mumu raised her hand to block her, her eyes filled with deep regret, both towards Mu Yiran and towards herself.
"You're injured! You told me it was an accident! You went missing and told me you got lost and your phone was off! Now you've inexplicably married someone! You tell me it's just an agreement, nothing serious!"
"I don't care who you're dating, and I don't need to know everything about you. I'm not that controlling, but! I'm your friend, aren't I? I'm your only friend, aren't I? Mu Yiran, what do you take me for?!"
"Are I still with you? Am I any different from the new friend you met today?"
Mu Yiran twisted her hands together, feeling helpless and confused. She shook her head at Mo Mumu: "You are my only friend, Mumu, you are my family! I have never treated you as anyone else!"
"But as your family, I know nothing about you," Mo Mumu said softly.
“I know you’re not used to telling me those things, you always only share good news and not bad. You always have your own way of dealing with others, but I’m not someone else, am I? Mu Yiran, I understand your insecurity, I understand your wariness of people, but can you also understand me? At least as your friend, when you’re in trouble, when you’re hurt and sad, when you’re forced into a corner, even if I can’t do anything, I can at least do this!”
"I should at least stay by your side... shouldn't I?"
"..." Mu Yiran wanted to say something, but she realized that what came out of her mouth was still "I don't want you to worry."
That's not right, so she pursed her lips, her bright, large eyes staring blankly at Mo Mumu, her eyes red-rimmed, as if Mo Mumu had lied to her.
Mo Mumu sighed and didn't press her further about why she married Shi Youxi. She simply asked, "You married him, and you live together?"
"In that case, you can go back with him first. If you don't want to, just call me and I'll come pick you up."
"The occasion isn't right today, and I also have some things to do. I'll ask you to have a proper talk with him another day."
"I'll give you some time these next few days to reflect on whether what I said was right or wrong."
"Mu Yiran, if you truly consider me family, you shouldn't avoid talking about this. I hope you can be completely at ease with me."
Mo Mumu actually had many more questions she wanted to ask. She wanted to know if Shi Youxi treated Mu Yiran well, what kind of person he was, and whether the expected etiquette for a marriage of convenience had been inappropriate for her. She wanted to remind Mu Yiran not to compromise on herself, as she still had family and friends to support her.
But she also had a temper. After the two had a fight, she couldn't bring herself to say anything more intimate. She could only see them off, put on a fake face, exchange a few polite words with Shi Youxi, and watch the awkward yet harmonious couple go downstairs.
Mo Mumu watched the elevator doors close indifferently, then turned to take out her phone. "Hey, help me find someone right now! It's urgent!"
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