You Make Money, I'll Spend It: Stepmother's Ultimate Pleasure in the Aristocratic Family

Chapter 95

Sheng Mumu did what she said she'd do. She quickly arranged for Qiao Li and Cheng Zhuo to meet.

Qi Mo noticed something was off about her one day when she came out of the bathroom after showering. He saw Sheng Mumu smiling happily as she lay on the bed sending a voice message on her phone.

"Li Li, that guy is called Cheng Zhuo. He's about 1.8 meters tall, good-looking, and has two little dimples."

After sending it, she opened the chat again to listen.

Seemingly satisfied with her own objective assessment, she pursed her lips in a slight smile and flipped over, speaking to her phone again:

"Cheng Zhuo, do you have any photos? Send one over, if not, take one now."

Qi Mo was drying his hair with a towel, water droplets sliding down his stiff, coarse hair.

Hearing Cheng Zhuo's name mentioned, his eyes flickered slightly.

The fingers holding the towel stiffened.

He couldn't help but recall the last time he spoke with Cheng Zhuo.

He wondered how Cheng Zhuo planned to verify his guesses about her background.

But it probably wouldn't be much longer.

If she really was one of the Chengs, would she leave?

Thinking of this, the man's strong brows furrowed deeply.

Various possibilities flashed through his mind as his eyes churned with darkness.

Suddenly, a complaining voice came:

"What is this, a daily life photo? I asked for a photo, not some weird baby picture!"

The extremely social Sheng Mumu, after sending her grumbling voice message, held her phone up to the towel-drying man beside her.

"See, I told Cheng Zhuo to send me a photo so I could show Li Li what he looks like, but he sent me this kind of photo instead."

Qi Mo chuckled softly and looked at the screen.

In the photo, three children sat lined up on a rocking car.

Two boys and a girl.

The tallest boy on the left side of the frame had his lips pouted, an unwilling expression, as if forced by an adult to ride the rocking car.

Qi Mo guessed this was probably Cheng Zhuo's brother, Cheng Xin, the president of Fangcheng Group.

His gaze moved to the middle, and Qi Mo's eyes suddenly tightened.

The little girl in the pale yellow dress held an ice pop, tilting her head at the camera with her two tiny dimples full of smiles.

The shortest little boy on the right couldn't sit still. He stood waving his hands on the rocking chair, as if wanting his older brother and sister to look at him.

Qi Mo's eyes narrowed slightly.

The intention behind Cheng Zhuo sending this photo was very obvious.

He wanted her to see a childhood photo of the three Cheng siblings together.

The man's motions of drying his hair stopped as he gazed at her with deep, brooding eyes.

Sheng Mumu didn't notice his subtle expressions. She still looked at her phone, joking:

"What do you think, isn't this guy silly for using a baby picture with split pants when trying to impress a girl?"

Qi Mo was silent for a few seconds, making sure he didn't see any abnormal expressions on Sheng Mumu's face, before slowly answering with a faint laugh in his voice:

"Mm, he doesn't seem too bright."

Sheng Mumu nodded in agreement, "Mm"-ing before sitting back on the bed.

She sent Cheng Zhuo a threatening voice message:

"If you don't have any normal photos, I'll just use your old ID photo!"

Watching her enthusiastically care about and meddle in other people's relationships, Qi Mo's lips curled up slightly as he laughed helplessly.

That night before bed, Sheng Mumu told Qi Mo the truth.

"Actually, Li Li wants to find someone to pretend to be her boyfriend to get out of the matchmaking dates my mom arranged."

Leaning against the headboard reading a business magazine, Qi Mo's brow quirked slightly. "Pretend?"

"Yeah, pretend." Sheng Mumu nodded and said, "Just like us."

At her words, the man's hand flipping the pages suddenly paused, and his eyes clouded with obscurity.

With her back to him as she played on her phone, Sheng Mumu didn't see his expression as she continued:

"It would be best if it works out, but if not, a pure, platonic arrangement like ours is pretty good too."

The sounds of page-flipping behind her stopped completely, and after a few seconds of silence, the man's low voice rang out:

"Success depends on the person."

Hearing his words, Sheng Mumu blinked in confusion.

He rarely gave opinions on other people's matters, yet today he uncharacteristically stated a clear stance.

It seemed a bit strange.

Curious, Sheng Mumu turned her head.

The man's profile was stern and determined. Sensing her gaze, he turned to look at her and asked in return:

"What do you think?"

Caught off guard by the question, Sheng Mumu thought his expression was very subtle, as if there was meaning behind his words.

After pondering for a while without deciphering his intent, she answered belatedly:

"Hard to say, depends on Cheng Zhuo's performance."

Hearing her reply, the man's gaze suddenly softened as he murmured deeply:

"Right."

*

Three days later.

Cheng Zhuo and Qiao Li finally met up.

Sheng Mumu had arranged for them to meet at the bar where Qiao Li's band performed.

On the way there, Sheng Mumu conveyed Qiao Li's thoughts to Cheng Zhuo.

"My cousin actually wants to find someone to pretend to be her boyfriend, act out a play. But the dates she's gone on have all been super weird."

Cheng Zhuo had seen many posts online complaining about bad matchmaking dates, so he could guess this Miss Qiao was probably hurt from the experience.

He gave a cheerful laugh:

"I understand. I'm not here today thinking it's a matchmaking date. Let's just treat it as making friends with Miss Sheng's cousin."

Plus, who knows, maybe in the future they'd become family.

As the two chatted while walking to the bar, Sheng Mumu smiled and said, "Right, right, you're all peers, you should be able to chat happily."

"Let me first introduce my cousin's personality to you."

Cheng Zhuo wasn't here for matchmaking to begin with. He just wanted to chat more with Sheng Mumu and find out more.

He nodded: "Sounds good."

Sheng Mumu: "She seems gentle, delicate and demure on the outside, loves music--"

After saying the first half of the sentence, they stepped through the bar's doors.

The surrounding sounds suddenly grew noisy.

Cheng Zhuo only saw Sheng Mumu's lips moving but couldn't make out the second half over the din.

He figured Sheng Jie probably wanted to say Miss Qiao liked music and enjoyed playing the piano and such.

As expected, Miss Qiao was likely a very gentle and tranquil girl.

The atmosphere in the bar was fiery.

Cheng Zhuo focused on finding an empty booth and didn't notice the rock band performing on stage.

Sheng Mumu smiled and leaned in closer to be heard over the noise, looking at the stage proudly as she yelled:

"The one singing on stage is my cousin!"

Cheng Zhuo was stunned for a moment before following Sheng Mumu's gaze to look at the stage.

Suddenly his eyes widened in surprise.

On stage, one of Qiao Li's fair, petite arms was casually draped over the mic stand.

She had a beauty mark at the corner of her eyes, which looked upward in a lazy, casual manner.

Her attitude was unrestrained and at ease, perfectly in control.

Her burgundy spaghetti straps and black cargo pants and combat boots exuded a sweet yet spicy vibe.

Cheng Zhuo's eyes held traces of shock and stunned admiration, along with great astonishment.

He slowly turned his head:

"Sister Sheng, I think we have different understandings of gentle."