Chapter 1043: I Regard That Child as a Younger Sister, Like Lin Nuan
When Lin Ran said this, her lips were curled up in a self-mocking fas.h.i.+on. “Then, when I kicked up a fuss at home, Brother would be really annoyed at me. He said other than the branded gowns that Liang Mulan would prepare for her when she attended functions, none of the clothes in her wardrobe cost more than 500RMB, mostly ranging from 100RMB to 200RMB! He asked me to look in her room if I didn’t believe him.”
Lin Nuan’s room had been left the way it was since Lin Nuan left the Lin family. Firstly, it was because Liang Mulan still hoped Lin Nuan would come back. Secondly, Lin Ran refused to stay in the room Lin Nuan used to live in out of spite.
“I was afraid that they might falsify things, so I went right away…” Lin Ran said, “I knew Lin Nuan only took a small piece of luggage with her when she left. When I went into her room, the clothes in her wardrobe were indeed cheap things. Even the skin care products she used were local brands, costing under 100RMB! Her bags were hung there as well. Other than the purse that she used when she attended functions, she didn’t own any other luxury goods.”
The Lin family had always educated their kids to be thrifty. It wasn’t that they were stingy with their kids, and it was fine if they wanted a luxury good, but they had to create an equivalent value in exchange for it.
Lin Jingquan had told Lin Nuan and Lin Chen when they were little that although they were well-to-do, they weren’t born to be parasites. The family would provide them with an excellent living environment and provide them all they needed growing up, but that didn’t include the luxury goods that they didn’t need as children.
Cen Mo nodded. The Lin family indeed taught their kids well. This was why Lin Nuan and Lin Chen turned out to be so outstanding.
“Later, after I got on better terms with Brother, he told me that Granny would ask Lin Nuan to wake up at 5 am every day. Since she was six, she had learned the things that girls from respectable families ought to learn in the morning. After breakfast, she had to go to school, and at noon, she had to nap. In the afternoon, after coming home to finish her homework, she would need to practice her musical instruments! Unless Lin Nuan was sick, she went through the same routine every single day.”
Lin Ran smiled at Cen Mo. “So, it isn’t that I’m magnanimous. I only feel that Lin Nuan didn’t live as well as I had imagined at the Lins. In the past, although I lacked material goods, at least my parents never interfered with how long I slept. To the extent of their capabilities, they would provide me with the best, spoiling me and indulging me. When I think of it this way, I feel more balanced…”
Although Lin Ran put it this way, Cen Mo still felt that Lin Ran had a magnanimous heart.
Cen Mo understood things differently from other people sometimes. After hearing Lin Ran say all this, he felt that Lin Ran was perhaps envious of the life she had just described. As he stood there watching Tuan Tuan, his thoughts went elsewhere…
Song Yao had woken up. Because she would ask to eat the tomato egg noodles Cen Mo made every morning, Cen Mo let Lin Ran take care of Tuan Tuan and went into the kitchen.
Before entering, Cen Mo instructed Saihand, “Help me do something, and it has to be fast…”
Saihand had thought it was some grave matter, so he nodded earnestly and listened.
“Go check out the most in-trend sports car, pick a color that suits girls, and send it to Lin Ran. Then check out yachts and private planes and send those to her as well.”
When Saihand heard this, he thought he was dreaming. After he managed to respond, he said to Cen Mo, looking like he was in a difficult position, “Sir… is it appropriate to be giving Miss Lin Ran all this?”
Saihand had let his thoughts run wild. He thought that Cen Mo had ulterior designs on Lin Ran.
“What do you mean by appropriate?”
“Miss Lin Ran is the child of Lin Nuan’s adoptive parents! Miss Lin Ran’s entire family knows that you’re married…”
“Mm, so?” Cen Mo looked perplexed. Perhaps he hadn’t antic.i.p.ated Saihand to have such a fertile imagination.
So? Saihand turned back and glanced at Lin Ran, who was bending over on the lawn and taking the remote control from Tuan Tuan. “But… if you make Miss Lin Ran your girlfriend, how are you going to explain things to Ms. Lin Nuan’s adoptive parents?”
Cen Mo was rendered speechless.
“Saihand, you…” Cen Mo had initially wanted to ask Saihand if he left his brain elsewhere, but he swallowed those words back down. “I regard that child as a younger sister, like Lin Nuan. I’m merely fulfilling that child’s wish. Have you been too free these days and watched too much TV? What kind of nonsense is your head filled with!”
Saihand was rendered speechless.
Recently, under the recommendations of Lin Nuan’s makeup artist Mu Taotao, he had watched many TV dramas where there were third parties involved and which ended disastrously. Mu Taotao even enthusiastically discussed the storylines with him.
Other than Little Lu, Mu Taotao was the second person who was willing to be such close friends with him, so Saihand liked her very much as well. He very earnestly watched the TV dramas that his friend recommended to him so that he could discuss them with his friend every day.
But Saihand didn’t understand why Mu Taotao always got him to watch those third party dramas where the characters suffered a bad end! Had a third party interfered in Mu Taotao’s romance before?
Saihand was still pondering why his friend Mu Taotao had to watch such TV dramas when Cen Mo entered the kitchen and began preparing breakfast for Song Yao.
Liang Mulan pulled Song Yao’s hand and said, “Cen Mo suffered hards.h.i.+p when he was young, so he especially treasures the people around him. How many men are willing to cook for their wives and sisters? If this child is lacking in any way, Nuan Nuan, you and Song Yao need to be more tolerant of him.”
Liang Mulan’s heart ached whenever she recalled what Cen Mo had been through, so she couldn’t help speaking a word or two about it with her daughter and Song Yao.
Song Yao felt quite touched, actually. By saying this, Liang Mulan was clearly treating Cen Mo as half a son. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have said all this. Song Yao had always been good at coaxing others, so she said, “Don’t worry, Auntie. With you doting on Cen Mo, Nuan Nuan and I wouldn’t dare bully him!”
This made Liang Mulan’s heart warm up. Actually, Liang Mulan was discussing with Lin Jingquan about acknowledging Cen Mo as their G.o.dson. This way, Cen Mo would be someone who had parents doting on him. But Lin Jingquan feared that to raise this request now would be too abrupt. He said to wait a while and bring it up when they became more familiar with each other.
Liang Mulan felt it made sense too, so she didn’t mention this matter last night at dinner.
Song Yao saw that Lin Nuan had already put on the anti-radiation clothing Liang Mulan brought. She put it on before Liang Mulan as well, thanking her.
Liang Mulan and Lin Ran were both around, so Cen Mo made two more bowls of tomato egg noodles, wanting Liang Mulan and Lin Ran to have a taste as well.
Liang Mulan and Lin Ran had eaten before they came and had initially declined, but Cen Mo had already asked the servants to bring it to the table. They were first attracted by the appearance of the noodle dish, then by the aroma. They ended up finis.h.i.+ng the entire bowl, including the soup, repeatedly praising Cen Mo for having great culinary skills.