Chapter 114: Engagement
Mu Jingzhe felt warmth in her heart. “Thank you, Shao Dong, but you don’t have to sleep by my feet.”
“It’s fine. Your feet don’t stink.” Shao Dong didn’t think that there was anything wrong with it and didn’t mind at all.
Mu Jingzhe: “That’s not what I meant. It’s…”
“It’s okay, Mom. Just go to sleep.” Shao Xi, who was sleeping above her head, patted Mu Jingzhe’s shoulder. “If you can’t sleep, shall we sing you a lullaby?”
Both Mu Jingzhe and Little Bei got worked up upon hearing the suggestion. Mu Jingzhe was worked up because it reminded her of the embarra.s.sing instance of her singing a lullaby previously. Little Bei got excited because she wanted to sing. “I can sing, Mommy.”
Forget it, if she sang the ‘bombing school’ lullaby, it would make falling asleep even harder. “Never mind, I’m sleeping now.” Mu Jingzhe shut her eyes instantly.
Shao Xi chuckled when he saw Mu Jingzhe’s expression and switched off the flashlight.
Perhaps because the kids were protecting her, although Mu Jingzhe was only pretending to be asleep at first, she really fell asleep afterward.
Knowing that Mu Jingzhe was sleeping with them, the five kids also fell asleep peacefully.
The atmosphere in the Shao Family was relaxed, and they all fell asleep peacefully. However, the atmosphere in the Mu Family was a little heavy and strange.
Tang Moling had suddenly run out but because he had been worried that something had happened to Mu Jingzhe, not for any other reason. Old Lady Mu and the rest couldn’t fathom why.
Even though Tang Moling later came back and said that he’d only run off because he had a car and thought that he could help save a life, he barely managed to get off the hook with this explanation.
However, Mu Xue’s expression didn’t look good, and she ignored Tang Moling. This made Old Lady Mu and the rest feel that something was amiss.
Due to their previous experience, they immediately wondered if Mu Jingzhe had gone back to her old ways and come to s.n.a.t.c.h the person Mu Xue liked.
Before Old Lady Mu could speak up, Tang Moling suddenly fell ill.
Since there was no evidence and Tang Moling was sick, they could only take care of him first. Mu Xue was also coaxed by Old Lady Mu and had no choice but to take care of him for now.
Tang Moling’s fever lasted for half a day before it subsided after dark. After a night of rest, he felt much better the next day and also regained his mental energy.
Mu Xue, on the other hand, looked haggard. One of the reasons was because she had been taking care of Tang Moling. Another reason were the troubles weighing on her mind.
She couldn’t forget Tang Moling’s earlier reaction. After seeing that Tang Moling had more or less recovered, she said, “You can leave now. Don’t ever come back again.”
Mu Xue had her own pride and couldn’t pretend to be muddle-headed.
Tang Moling was shocked. “Mu Xue, don’t misunderstand…”
“I didn’t misunderstand. I’m not blind either. I can tell.” Mu Xue interrupted him. “I don’t want to know how the two of you crossed paths. I don’t want to see you now. I don’t have any other requests. I just hope that you won’t be with her in the future.”
Tang Moling looked at Mu Xue’s haggard appearance and felt as if a knife was cutting his heart. “It’s not like that. Mu Xue, don’t misunderstand. The reason I reacted so strongly is because one of my family members was once bitten by a venomous snake and died. That’s why…”
He knew that he had let Mu Xue down, so Tang Moling’s heart was filled with distress and regret. Because of this, he had no choice but to lie.
He was genuinely fond of Mu Xue. He was very sure about this relations.h.i.+p. There was a voice in his heart that kept telling him that the person he should be spending his life with was Mu Xue.
He was very certain of his intentions and his future with Mu Xue. However, his heart fluttered when he saw Mu Jingzhe. He really shouldn’t have allowed himself to be swayed.
By now, everyone in Great Eastern Village knew about his relations.h.i.+p with Mu Xue. He had to take responsibility.
“Xiao Xue, don’t overthink. I only like you.”
The tears that Mu Xue had been suppressing finally fell. “Really? But why do I feel that you’ve been distracted recently?”
“It’s because of work. I’ve taken on a lot of responsibilities, so I’m distracted.”
Tang Moling wiped away Mu Xue’s tears, his heart aching for her. “I didn’t do a good job and I made you sad. Actually, my purpose for coming this time was to discuss the engagement with you. I wanted to get a matchmaker to propose the marriage.”
Old Lady Mu had hinted twice that he should propose marriage. She wanted them to get engaged as soon as possible. Otherwise, there would still be some ambiguity about their relations.h.i.+p.
Tang Moling knew that he ought to do this. There was a voice in his heart urging him to do it, but he didn’t know why he hadn’t done it yet. Now, he knew that he had to do it.
Mu Xue was stunned when she heard the words ‘marriage proposal’. She looked at Tang Moling, whose eyes were filled with her. “Do you want to? If you do, I’ll get someone to come…”
Mu Xue’s heart jumped. “Why are you talking about this when you haven’t even recovered yet?”
She blushed and left. Although she hadn’t given an answer directly, her intentions were clear.
Tang Moling smiled in relief as he watched her leave. Yes, this was what he ought to do.
Tang Moling asked around and very quickly, following the custom of Great Eastern Village, he invited a matchmaker to propose marriage. He sent over two carts full of betrothal gifts, which was far better than what other families usually received.
Everyone knew about the relations.h.i.+p between Tang Moling and Mu Xue, so the villagers weren’t surprised.
Very soon, the date of the engagement was set. When they looked at the calendar, they realized that an auspicious day was coming up. If they missed it, they would have to wait two more months.
After Old Lady Mu waited for so long, at long last, Tang Moling finally proposed marriage. How could she wait two months? She immediately decided on the nearest date.
The engagement day hadn’t arrived yet, but Tang Moling’s gifts kept coming.
The betrothal gifts consisted of the finest food and items. The Mu Family finally found out a little about Tang Moling’s ident.i.ty. They didn’t know much, but they knew that Tang Moling would be the heir of a big, affluent family in the future. He was so rich that they couldn’t even count how much money he had. In the future, Mu Xue would be able to live a good life by marrying him.
Given Tang Moling’s status, there were many rich young ladies waiting to marry him, but Tang Moling had chosen Mu Xue.
Old Lady Mu was so proud that she told the villagers everything she knew. Her heart swelled with pride when she saw everyone’s envy.
After the engagement date was set, both Old Lady Mu and Tang Moling heaved a sigh of relief.
Because of the engagement, Mu Xue finally felt a sense of security and was no longer constantly anxious about losing Tang Moling. Just like before, she was her quiet self again. It was as if she had returned to the beginning with Tang Moling and their relations.h.i.+p had started to be sweet again.
It was only in the dead of the night that Tang Moling felt a little uneasy and guilty, not only toward Mu Xue, but also toward Mu Jingzhe.
Although he knew that Mu Jingzhe hadn’t been bitten by a venomous snake, he was still a little worried about her condition. However, he deliberately stopped himself from asking around about Mu Jingzhe’s condition, afraid that he would waver again.
He didn’t even dare face Mu Jingzhe and he felt inexplicably guilty. He hadn’t expected Mu Jingzhe to be unaffected and even happily come over to help out on the day of the engagement. She even gifted them a kettle with the word ‘happiness’ written on it.
“When you guys get married, I’ll definitely give you a big present.”
Seeing Mu Jingzhe in such a state, Tang Moling heaved a sigh of relief. Then, he felt incredulous and depressed.
Mu Jingzhe obviously didn’t know about Tang Moling’s conflicted feelings.
Although Mu Teng and Li Zhaodi’s share of the family a.s.sets had been carved out, and things had gotten unpleasant between Old Lady Mu and them previously, they hadn’t severed ties after all. On such a big day as Mu Xue’s engagement, Mu Jingzhe still had to help out. She wasn’t close to Mu Xue, but they were cousins after all, so she naturally had to go.