Chapter 368: Chapter 332: The Father-Son Conspiracy
Mu Qinian never expected Gu Qili to be there, and in her excitement, she exclaimed, "Ali."
"Is Ali what you call her? Call her mom." Mu Shuoqian glared at him disapprovingly and grabbed a towel to wipe his hands.
Mu Qinian pursed his lips and didn’t say anything else, but his dark, round eyes kept roving over Gu Qili.
"It’s okay. You can call me whatever you like." Gu Qili picked up a piece of braised pork from the plate, gently blew on it, and then offered it to his mouth, "You must be hungry. We’re about to start dinner."
Mu Qinian bit into the piece of braised pork and licked his lips: "Ali, why did you come over today?"
"Is there something wrong with today?" Gu Qili blinked.
The little guy was about to open his mouth to explain when he suddenly received a stern glare, carrying an implicit warning.
He wisely closed his mouth, "Ali, I’m going to wash my hands."
Watching his retreating figure disappear behind the door, Gu Qili shook her head helplessly; she knew Mu Qinian hadn’t yet accepted her. A mother who wasn’t around for four years suddenly pops back into his life, and even if he knows there’s a misunderstanding, it’s not so easy to come around. If adults can find it tough, not to mention a child.
She turned her head and came face to face with Mu Shuoqian’s slightly grim expression, which startled her.
"All these bad habits of his, and you still indulge him?"
Gu Qili tried to explain in a soft tone: "He’s still young. It’s understandable if he can’t accept it right away. You shouldn’t push him too hard."
"If he doesn’t accept it, I’ll scold him until he does. What a terrible attitude; he’s clearly overjoyed to have a mother but pretends not to care at all." Mu Shuoqian relentlessly criticized his son without sugarcoating his words. He only put on the facade of an innocent rabbit to deceive the naive Gu Qili. How could he, as a father, not know his son’s true colors? He just wanted to make Gu Qili feel guilty, so she would pay more attention to him and treat him better.
Gu Qili certainly didn’t agree with Mu Shuoqian’s conclusions, and her expression fell: "Mu Shuoqian, is that how you talk about your son? With this kind of attitude, Niannian will definitely have the same bad temper as you in the future."
"My temper is bad?" Mu Shuoqian seized on the important point in her words, "Where is my temper bad?"
"Smell it for yourself." She grabbed the cuff of his sleeve and brought it to his mouth, glaring at him unhappily, "There isn’t a single part of you that doesn’t reek."
Gu Qili couldn’t be bothered with him and went to the kitchen to bring out the meals, while Mu Shuoqian was still blocking the doorway, forcing her to sidestep,
Gu Qili: "..."
"I’m hungry, I’m hungry." Mu Qinian, shaking his freshly dried little hands, ran out, and Yu Bo also came downstairs after putting away his backpack.
Sitting at the dining table like a lord, Mu Shuoqian watched as Gu Qili brought over the last soup, wiping her hands on the apron: "Yu Bo, Niannian, time to eat."
Yu Bo quickly said, "I can eat in the kitchen."
"We’re all family here, so don’t be so formal." Gu Qili proactively pulled out a chair for him, "Please, have a seat."
Her mention of "family" was just to make Yu Bo less reserved, but to Mu Shuoqian’s ears, it significantly improved his mood.
After dinner, Gu Qili was about to leave when the weather outside changed. It was overcast initially, but suddenly, strong winds whipped up, threatening a heavy rainstorm.
Mu Shuoqian sat in the living room watching TV while Gu Qili and Mu Qinian stood at the doorway. Just as she finished putting on one shoe, raindrops started pounding down, falling fiercely and quickly wetting the street.
Rain is rare in Aus City during winter, especially a downpour like this.
"It’s raining." Mu Qinian tugged at Gu Qili, "What should we do?"
"Then I’ll go find an umbrella, before the rain gets heavier." Gu Qili looked toward Yu Bo, who was coming out of the kitchen, "Yu Bo, do we have umbrellas?"
Before Yu Bo could say "yes," he saw the man on the couch frown at him. Having worked in this house for many years, he somewhat understood Mu Shuoqian’s temperament, and sensibly changed his answer, "We don’t have umbrellas at home."
Gu Qili: "..."
It rains all year round in Aus City, who would believe there were no umbrellas at home?
"Niannian, do you have an umbrella? Even a children’s umbrella would do." At this point, she didn’t care about size; any umbrella would suffice.
Mu Qinian’s eyes flickered and he shook his head, "Ali, it’s not that I don’t want to help you, but I really don’t have an umbrella."
In his room, the cupboard was filled with various umbrellas. Mu Qinian couldn’t do without an umbrella because rain would ruin his hairstyle.
Gu Qili felt played by this entire family. She glanced at Mu Shuoqian sitting on the sofa, pretending nothing was amiss, and swallowed back the question she wanted to ask about whether he had an umbrella in his trunk. She knew that even if she asked, the answer would be no.
"It’s okay, it’s fine without an umbrella. The car is just outside, I can run to it," Gu Qili said as she took the car keys Mu Shuoqian had given her earlier and was about to open the door.
Both her hands were grabbed on each side; Mu Qinian held her left hand. Looking up pitifully, he said, "There will be thunder at night."
While her right hand was held by Mu Shuoqian: "Why leave? You’ve lived here for two years. One more night won’t matter."
"Yes," even Uncle Gao agreed, "The weather forecast has already mentioned that there will be a heavy rainstorm tonight, and it’s so cold, the roads will be slippery. It’s not safe for you to drive back alone."
All three were trying to make her stay; if Gu Qili insisted on leaving, it would seem too much.
She made a phone call to Mei Zi, who said that the vineyard had already taken precautions.
"I’m doing a craft project, it’s due tomorrow."
"I’ll help you," Gu Qili said sincerely.
Mu Qinian was taken aback. He always did his craft projects himself; although the teacher wanted the kids and parents to complete them together, he couldn’t get Mu Shuoqian involved. Once, they needed to make a sailboat, and he really couldn’t manage it, so he went to Mu Shuoqian for help. But Mu Shuoqian impatiently slapped together a model that ended up last place in the class.
Mu Qinian lay on the carpet, resting his chin in his hands, watching as toilet paper rolls transformed into colorful skyscrapers in Gu Qili’s hands.
The teacher said this craft project was themed on waste utilization, to be creative with the trash from daily life. Hearing this, Gu Qili gathered several unused toilet paper rolls, wrapped them with colored paper, drew little windows on them, and they became a skyscraper community. She was in charge of cutting while Mu Qinian was in charge of the drawing.
As the mother and son were engrossed in their task, the door was pushed open. Mu Shuoqian stood against the light, silently watching the big and small figures, heads touching as they lay on the carpet. At this moment, time seemed still and warm, infusing this often too-sombre home with much more warmth, all because of her presence.
"Not done yet?" Mu Shuoqian walked over with big steps.
"Just need a name for the community," Mu Qinian was very satisfied with their work, "Dad, you name it."
Entrusted with such an important task, Mu Shuoqian thought seriously for a minute, then picked up a color pen and wrote four characters beside the completed sign - Qili Garden.
The calligraphy was strikingly beautiful. Gu Qili felt slightly uncomfortable, as if she had just been confessed to publicly. Luckily, Mu Qinian also liked the name. She finally breathed silently with relief and sneakily glanced at the man, who was also staring at her. His eyes were shimmering, seemingly thinking of something amusing, and a bright smile appeared on his face.
"Mu Qinian, go to bed after finishing the craft, it’s late," Mu Shuoqian began to usher his son to bed while signaling with his eyes that Gu Qili should go to her room as well.
Gu Qili pretended not to see his gaze and accompanied Mu Qinian to brush his teeth and wash his face.
Mu Qinian was delighted, whereas the man next to him darkened his face, with a hint of sarcasm toward his own son: "Are you just afraid of the thunder? Just say it."
"Who’s afraid of thunder?" Mu Qinian was embarrassed in front of Gu Qili by his father’s revelation, immediately looking unhappy and feeling like he’d lost face.
"Then you still need someone to stay with you?"
"I..." Mu Qinian’s face turned red with blockage from his father’s words, unable to refute, but luckily Gu Qili wrapped her arms around his shoulders to defend him: "I’m the one afraid of thunder, I need Niannian to stay with me."
Mu Qinian heaved a sigh of relief, his little mouth curved in triumph, as if to say, give up any thought of sleeping with Ali.
Gu Qili no longer paid attention to the jealous man, instead turning to enter the washroom.
As soon as she left, Mu Shuoqian’s voice dropped low: "If you don’t sleep with your mom tonight, I’ll buy you that limited edition One Piece collectible figure set."
"Really?" Mu Qinian’s eyes instantly lit up; that was something he had long wanted, but he didn’t have enough money, and his stingy dad refused to buy it. He was even planning to trick his grandfather and uncle for it.
"Would I have fun lying to a little kid like you?" Mu Shuoqian sneered with a look of disdain.
"Deal," Mu Qinian high-fived him, "I want to see it this week."
"That depends on your behavior," Mu Shuoqian replied.
Mu Qinian thought his dad looked like a shameless old fox, ready with knife and fork. But the thought of that One Piece figure set made him betray Ali against his conscience.
Oh well, no wonder Ali is always bullied. Such a questionable IQ.