Proofread by Claire.KK
With her pallid finger pointing to Qiao Mu, and sorrowful tears glittering in her eyes, Lin Wei said in a tremulous voice, “Qiao Mu, did you do something immoral?”
Although Qiao Mu was very young, she had supported her family since Lin Wei was ill in hospital. If her illness had implicated her daughter to go astray, she would feel very sorry for her.
Qiao Mu felt overwhelmed and just kept shaking her head. For the moment, she was also very helpless, and she didn’t know how to deal with the situation. She had originally planned to tell her mother when she made up a reason a few days later. But she didn’t expect that her mother knew it so soon.
Seeing her daughter just kept shaking her head without saying any words, and her little hands twirled the corner of her sweater desperately, and finding that the red chilblains on her little white hand were especially dazzling, Lin Wei just felt it difficult to conquer the inclination to cry, her nose twitching, and her tears being on the edge of gushing from her eyes.
Qiao Mu still kept silent. Her look made Lin Wei’s heart miss a beat. Then Lin Wei confirmed what she suspected, “Can’t you say something? Where does the money come from? Your mother has heart diseases but has a sane mind! It isn’t 2,000 yuan, not 20,000 yuan, but over 200,000 yuan! You raise the money within a month? Where is the money from?”
Qiao Mu was completely flummoxed, and her mind went blank. If she told her mother their relatives and friends lent the money to them, her mother wouldn’t believe her. Because they all tried to keep away from her and her mother, let alone lending money. The relatives all avoided her and her mother as if they were devils.
“Talk to me!” The more silent Qiao Mu was, the more anxious Lin Wei was. Lin Wei was eager to know the source of the money, but she was also afraid to know.
If she knew she would implicate her daughter to go to such a point, she should have made up her mind to send her daughter to the orphanage. Lin Wei was regret and burst into tears.
Having heart diseases and suffering violent mood swings, Lin Wei felt the sensation of chest tightness was fiercer. She grasped her chest tightly with her hands and breathed hard. Her pallid face frightened Qiao Mu.
“Mom. Don’t be angry. Calm down. I’ll go to find the doctor...” Qiao Mu kneeled on the bed quickly and reached out her hands to help Lin Wei to regain steady breathing. But Lin Wei shook off her hands.
“If you were not about to tell me where the money comes from, I wouldn’t be your mother in the future, and I wouldn’t do the surgery.” Lin Wei hardly got angry with Qiao Mu, while at this time, her heart was so pain that she became hysterical. She roared to Qiao Mu as she panted heavily.
Qiao Mu was so worried that she began to cry. She bypa.s.sed the bed and wanted to run out to find doctor.
“If you dared go out, don’t call me mom in the future. I would take that I have never raised you.” Lin Wei steeled herself to rebuke her. Hearing that, Qiao Mu stopped at once, feeling her legs got frozen. She was stunned and looked at Lin Wei incredulously. She knew that her mother would get angry, nevertheless, she never thought that her mother would get into a rage.
“Mom…” Qiao Mu cried and took Lin Wei’s hands.
“Don’t call me mom. I’m asking you for the last time, where does the money come from?”
Qiao Mu bit her bloodless lower lip tightly, with her eyes full of tears. She was shivering while didn’t knew what to say.
“Did you work as a prost.i.tute? Or did you become someone’s mistress?” Seeing Qiao Mu kept silent, Lin Wei had to ask Qiao Mu with guess directly, with her heart trembling.
“I didn’t!” Qiao Mu justified herself, sobbing.
“Well, where is the money coming from?
Qiao Mu felt as if her heart froze. It took great efforts to beat. She could even hear her heart thumping. Qiao Mu composed herself, then opened her mouth and said, “Someone donated the money to us.”
“Who?”
“Mom...”
“Tell me who he is!”
“A, a gentleman man surnamed Xi...” Qiao Mu lowered her head and dared not to look at Lin Wei’s eyes. As long as they looked at each other, Qiao Mu’s lie would collapse.
“Call him.” Hearing her daughter said that, Lin Wei still didn’t believe it. How could such a good fortune occur to them? She must figure it out, otherwise she would never feel comfortable.
Qiao Mu took out her phone from her pocket slowly, and then found Xi Muqiao’s number. Thankfully, there was his number on the contract, and she remembered it.
At the moment when Qiao Mu dialed the number, she hesitated. She didn’t know whether Xi Muqiao would help her; moreover, they two didn’t discuss with each other before, so, the man may spill the beans at any time.
However, Lin Wei’s burning eyes made her have to call him. Familiar beeps coming from her phone, Qiao Mu was upset and worried, and her palm had already got wet. She even felt the tens of seconds were as long as a century. For the first time, she wished she could hear the man’s voice as soon as possible.
Qiao Mu’s tense nerves had been settled a little until she heard the man’s familiar gentle voice. But then she got nervous immediately once again.
Qiao Mu looked up to the ceiling, fighting back her tears, which were on the point of coming out, and then she said, voice quivering and choking, “h.e.l.lo, Mr Xi, I’m the daughter of the patient who will do the heart bypa.s.s surgery with the money you donated. My mother, my mother wants to talk to you.”
There was no response from the other end of the phone. The man’s silence made Qiao Mu get fl.u.s.tered. Her tears finally came out of her eyes, streamed down, rolled down her cheeks and fell on the cold floor. Qiao Mu was on the verge of falling apart. She tried hard to hold her breath. Her feet were so weak that she could hardly stand.
“Ok.”
Although it was a simple word, it seemed to be a shot for Qiao Mu and made her find her strength again. She wiped her tears away quickly and said, “OK, I hand my phone to my mom.”
“Mom, answer the call.” Then she pa.s.sed her phone to her mother with her little hands trembling.
Lin Wei took over the phone. It was a very young man’s voice, low, warm, soft, and very beautiful. Lin Wei cautiously asked some questions and wanted to confirm his ident.i.ty.
Qiao Mu, standing by her mother, very nervous, looked down at her tiptoes. She was worried. She didn’t know what Xi Muqiao would say to her mother, nor whether he would disclose something to her mother. After all, he had no duty to help her. And it was she who troubled him.
Finally, Lin Wei hung up the phone and beckoned to Qiao Mu.
Qiao Mu felt her heart was suspended again. She was unaware of what Xi Muqiao told her mother, nor her mother’s meaning. She moved to the bed slowly. Her body drooped. Then she said in a faint voice, “Mom...”
“You can directly tell me he donated the money to us. Why did you keep avoiding my questions? You really scared me. I thought you did something wrong.”
Then Qiao Mu felt relieved. She raised her head and looked at Lin Wei’s pale face. After her lips moving for a while, she get a few words out, “You, you frightened me.”
At this moment, Qiao Mu was very grateful for Xi Muqiao. He not only bought her at the price of five million yuan, but also offered her such a big help. Otherwise, she couldn’t have solved the problem that day.
…
The fortieth floor of the Mansion of Xi Group.
Xi Muqiao, standing straight, her hands in his trousers pockets, looked out of the window with his long and narrow eyes half-closed. The light-colored shirt outlined his slender but strong waist. And the spotlessly clean windows mirrored his tall and straight figure.
This was the highest point of the Jiang City, from where one could enjoy the panoramic view of the city. And the man was overlooking the whole city like an emperor!