Chapter 18

Da Tu Li’s red polish fingernails hid one of the side effects of years of smoking .

‘Uncle, you can’t blame me for my inability to help you,’ Da Tu Li said . ‘This time your precious son offended Yue Gu Zai . Besides, I believe uncle has a solution to rescue your son . ’

Da Wan Quan had a diagonal scar below his eyes . He felt the Da Household’s power was yielded from his years of hard work . But he couldn’t accept Da Tu Li’s father letting the little girl Da Tu Li lead the Da Household instead of him .

Da Wan Quan had visited Ni Sheng’s headquarters in China, but the guards refused to let him see Yue Gu Zai because he wasn’t the head of the Da Household . He wouldn’t have looked for Da Tu Li if Da Fu Li wasn’t his only son . After his son was born the doctors told him that he couldn’t have any more children . He didn’t expect his only son would grow up to cause catastrophes for him .

‘If you didn’t spoil my son since he was a boy then he wouldn’t turn out this way,’ Da Wan Quan said .

Da Tu Li laughed coldly . ‘Uncle, it’s unfair to blame me for his mistakes . Uncle, you’re the one who is infamous for spoiling your son . Besides, he is my little brother . What am I supposed to do each time he asks me to rescue him, let him die?’

‘What will it take for you to save him?’ Da Wan Quan asked .

‘Uncle, you know what I want,’ Da Tu Li said .

‘OK, I’ll hand over my districts in South East Asia and South America,’ Da Wan Quan said .

Da Tu Li shook her forefinger . ‘No, no, no . Uncle, honestly you’ve worked hard half your lifespan . You should leave the world for young people to deal with . Uncle, you’ve withered, aged and it’s a struggle for you to move about . Uncle, have you thought about retiring?’ She gestured for an assistant to give the prepared documents to Da Wan Quan . ‘The truth is I’ve prepared a retirement island home for uncle . It’s by the seaside, it’s tropical all year round . I bought the whole island . There are no paparazzi on the island to disturb uncle . Uncle, what do you think about this ideal early retirement plan?’

‘You!’ Da Wan Quan said .

Da Wan Quan glared contemptuously at Da Tu Li and thought about his son for more than a minute .

‘OK, if you can bring him back in one piece then I’ll retire,’ Da Wan Quan surrendered .

‘OK, but I can’t promise I can bring him back in one piece after he offended Yue Gu Zai,’ Da Tu Li said . ‘I can only promise I’ll bring him home . After all he is my only little brother . ’

‘OK,’ Da Wan Quan agreed .

On the other side of the world, Yue Gu Zai happily took his wife on a honeymoon . Before departing Italy for his honeymoon, he assigned all his duties to Cheng Yi . Everyone knew it was Cheng Yi’s belated punishment to be an overworked slave .

After Yue Gu Zai and Zhen Zhen returned home from their honeymoon, Cheng Yi was exhausted to death in bed .

Cheng Yi had to deal with the Da Household causing trouble in South America for Ni Sheng, as well as Shu Tang Jue and Mr Tao’s gangs . Even the almighty Huyen Di had to play a cat and mouse chase with Shu Tang Jue while Bai Yu Tian was busy making an antidote for Zhen Zhen .

Since Yue Gu Zai’s gang members were all busy with their missions, they didn’t reunite until after Yue Gu Zai returned home from his honeymoon .

‘How’s the antidote coming along?’ Cheng Yi asked Bai Yu Tian .

‘What do you think?’ Bai Yu Tian asked .

Cheng Yi didn’t need to voice what he thought .

‘I gave the antidote to boss,’ Bai Yu Tian said . ‘But I forgot to tell boss about a tiny side effect . ’

Huyen Di scoffed . ‘Forgot?’

Chu Gian laughed and drank tea .

Only the heavens knew whether Bai Yu Tian forgot or intentionally forgot .

Three days after the reunion, Zhen Wu and teacher returned home from an outing and they heard Zhen Zhen’s piercing shriek .

Zhen Wu slowly walked to his parents’ bedroom, his parents were lying bed together . His dad wore a dark expression while his mum continued to shriek loudly .

Yue Gu Zai couldn’t stand his wife’s shriek . ‘Zhen Zhen, be quiet!’

‘You… me…’ Zhen Zhen mumbled for half a day .

Zhen Zhen didn’t know why she was home . Her last conscious memory was Bai Yu Tian injecting a poison into her body .

‘Am I really not dead?’ Zhen Zhen asked .

Zhen Wu sighed and looked at his dad . ‘Dad, deal with your wife on your own . ’

Zhen Wu dragged the peeping tom teacher who was eavesdropping at the door away from his parents’ bedroom .

‘Xiao Wu, let me see the entertaining play a bit longer,’ teacher pleaded . ‘Your mum is impressive . I haven’t seen Gu Zai’s cold face expressed a different emotion for a long time . ’

‘Teacher, don’t you know it’s not honorable to eavesdrop?’ Zhen Wu asked .

‘OK, but later you have to promise you’ll let me win a game by at least one thousand points,’ teacher negotiated .

‘Teacher, how old are you?’ Zhen Wu asked . ‘Aren’t you ashamed of yourself asking me to let you win all the time?’

Inside Yue Gu Zai and Zhen Zhen’s bedroom, Zhen Zhen was still in shock .

‘Am I really not dead?’ Zhen Zhen asked .

Zhen Zhen was overjoyed to be alive, she kissed Yue Gu Zai’s cheek, and his bad mood disappeared .

‘How did we travel home?’ Zhen Zhen asked . ‘What happened to Shu Tang Jue? How did you find me?’

Zhen Zhen shot countless questions at Yue Gu Zai, and his bad mood returned . His wife had forgotten everything, including their wedding day, honeymoon and the extent she was attached to him .

Yue Gu Zai silently fumed, got out of bed, dressed and strode to the study room .

Zhen Zhen thought Yu Gu Zai was a difficult man to please . She didn’t know why he didn’t explain how he rescued her, but only left their room in an angry state .

Zhen Zhen’s thoughts were distracted by her best friend Nan Ma . She prepared mentally before calling Nan Ma, she knew Nan Ma would nag her for not being out of contact for a long time .

‘Nan,’ Zhen Zhen said softly .

‘Yes?’ a familiar man’s voice answered Nan Ma’s phone .

Zhen Zhen thought she called the wrong phone number . She checked the phone number, it was Nan Ma’s number .

‘Hello, I want to talk to Nan Ma,’ Zhen Zhen said .

Unbeknownst to Zhen Zhen, the familiar man’s voice belonged to Shu Tang Jue .

‘Miss, please wait,’ Shu Tang Jue said . ‘Small rice grain, you have a call . ’

Thirty seconds later, Zhen Zhen heard Nan Ma threatened the man .

‘Do you want to die?’ Nan Ma asked Shu Tang Jue . ‘Why did you dare answer my phone? And you dropped it in the bath tub too . ’ She picked up her wet phone . ‘Who is it?’

‘Nan,’ Zhen Zhen said softly .

‘You little shit, you still know how to call me?’ Nan Ma scolded . ‘Do you know how worried I was about a little shit like you who has no conscience? Where’s my godson? I must have owed you and your son in a previous life, which is why in this life I’m cursed to worry endlessly about you and your son . ’

Zhen Zhen didn’t dare to open her mouth, and let Nan Ma scold her until Nan Ma was satisfied .

A while later, Zhen Zhen opened her mouth, but Nan Ma’s phone disconnected . It bugged her why the man who answered Nan Ma’s phone sounded so familiar .

‘You little shit, say something!’ Nan Ma said to her dead phone .

Nan Ma remembered her phone fell into the bath tub, and reasoned the battery must have died . She looked enviously at Shu Tang Jue’s long hair that was naturally smoother than hers . But she was too angry to admit she was envious . ‘It’s all your fault . You dropped my phone in the bath tub . ’

Shu Tang Jue calmly buttoned his shirt and kissed Nan Ma’s cheek . ‘It’s my fault . Later today I’ll buy you a new phone . What do you want to eat for breakfast? I’ll go cook it immediately . ’

‘Do you have money to buy me a new phone?’ Nan Ma asked .

Nan Ma admired Shu Tang Jue’s hot body and young handsome face . Strangers could easily deduce she was his sugar mummy . It was her fault for bringing a toy boy home to live with her .

‘Go finish taking your bath while I make your breakfast otherwise you’ll be late for work,’ Shu Tang Jue said in a gentle tone of voice .

Nan Ma glanced at the clock on the wall, Shu Tang Jue was right, she would be late for work if she didn’t hurry . She thought it was Shu Tang Jue’s fault she was always late to work each week .

‘I want toast and omelette for breakfast,’ Nan Ma ordered and ran to the bathroom .

‘OK,’ Shu Tang Jue said .

Inside the bathroom, Nan Ma thought at least her toy boy was obedient, and a good cook so it was worth while keeping a toy boy home . Besides, she had a salary big enough to support several toy boys .

Shu Tang Jue happily rolled up his sleeves and cooked in the kitchen .

After Nan Ma walked into the dining room, Shu Tang Jue was unhappy to see her wear a tight blouse tucked in a short pastel yellow skirt . Her outfit accentuated her soft breasts and sexy legs .

Shu Tang Jue suppressed his displeasure and spoke in a sour voice . ‘I warmed up a glass of milk for you too . You should eat breakfast and drink milk while it’s hot . ’

‘OK,’ Nan Ma said .

Shu Tang Jue frowned after he saw Nan Ma searched for birth control pills .

Nan Ma remembered she bought birth control pills since the second day Shu Tang Jue moved in with her . To her, sleeping with a toy boy was one thing but being knocked up at a young age was a separate matter . She was deep in thought when Shu Tang Jue knocked the glass of milk on her skirt .

‘My clothes!’ Nan Ma said and looked accusingly at Shu Tang Jue .

‘I’m really sorry,’ Shu Tang Jue lied . ‘I didn’t do it on purpose . You should eat breakfast first . I’ll go prepare another outfit for you so you won’t be late for work . ’

Nan Ma sighed and ate breakfast quickly . After breakfast, she walked into the bathroom and was surprised to see Shu Tang Jue chose an out of style conservative outfit . But there was no time for her to be fussy, she changed into the outfit he chose .

Afterward Nan Ma ran to the front door, and didn’t forget to give Shu Tang Jue instructions . ‘Stay home and don’t run around . You can watch TV comfortably . If you want to go outside, there’s a set of spare keys hidden in the flower pot and-’

‘And you left money on top of the bedside table,’ Shu Tang Jue said . ‘I know . You should go or you’ll really be late for work . ’

Nan Ma nodded and rushed to work .

Shu Tang Jue picked up Nan Ma’s soiled outfit and put it in the washing machine . Then he changed their bedsheets and decided to throw away his sweaty clothes . On the way to the bin, he picked up Nan Ma’s forgotten birth control pills and tossed them into the bin with his sweaty clothes .

After Shu Tang Jue changed clothes, his phone rang . ‘What is it?’ He listened to his assistant’s report . ‘OK, bring the documents here . Also, you don’t have to trail the Da Household anymore . ’

Shu Tang Jue hung up and turned on the laptop . He worked during the mornings when Nan Ma was at work .

Three in the afternoon, Shu Tang Jue rubbed his strained eyes, saved his files and turned off the laptop . He grabbed some of the money on top of the bedside table and smiled . To him it was an amusing notion to be mistaken as a pauper by his lover . Afterward he grabbed the keys from the flower pot and walked outside to the supermarkets to buy ingredients for dinner .

Outside Shu Tang Jue greeted Aunty Wang .

‘Xiao Tang, are you going to the supermarkets?’ Aunty Wang asked . ‘Xiao Nan is a lucky woman . ’

Aunty Wang sighed enviously . Shu Tang Jue was handsome, a domesticated man and considerate toward Nan Ma . Aunty Wang thought it was a lost opportunity her daughter didn’t meet a man like Shu Tang Jue .

Shu Tang Jue nodded politely . His thoughts were preoccupied about what to make for dinner . Recently he steamed spicy fish and chestnut desserts . His small rice grain was a picky eater who loved eating spicy food . It hurt his brain to think of healthy spicy recipes to please his small rice grain .

***

End of Chapter Eighteen