The second day Qi Mo went on a business trip.
Sheng Mumu was invited to Su Tingran's house to get her beauty treatment done.
Mrs. Sun and Mrs. Qian also came along.
The four women wore the same spa robes and face masks, lying on separate beds.
Four beauticians sat next to them, skillfully massaging their heads professionally.
Since she started her flower shop business, Sheng Mumu had not purely enjoyed wealthy housewife life for a long time.
The beautician removed the face mask from her face and put a hot towel over it.
The steam brought extreme comfort.
Then the beauticians left the beauty room one after another to prepare essential oils for the full body spa later.
They also left space for the ladies.
The beauticians who often provided home beauty services for wealthy madams knew well.
The beauty spa was just an excuse. What these ladies loved most when getting together was the time to chat and complain.
When there were only the four of them left in the room, Mrs. Qian pushed herself up from the bed and patted the bed angrily, “I’m so fed up!”
Her loud voice startled Sheng Mumu, who was attending such a group beauty event for the first time.
She blinked in shock.
She thought something serious had happened.
Just as she was about to ask “What happened, Mrs. Qian?”, she shut up instantly when she saw Su Tingran and Mrs. Sun's reactions.
Su Tingran took the tea pot from the small tea table beside her and poured flower tea into four cups.
Mrs. Sun took out a fruit platter and some melon seeds from the small fridge even more skillfully and put them on the tea table.
Then the two of them quietly looked at Mrs. Qian.
Their eyes said: Go ahead, Mrs. Qian.
Sheng Mumu was stunned by the scene.
Silence speaks louder than words now.
She took a deep breath, suppressed her surprise, and silently joined the melon-eating and complaining team.
She also indicated with her eyes: Go ahead. I'm ready too.
Mrs. Qian took a sip of the flower tea, clutched her fist and started complaining,
“Old Qian has been saying he would take me on a honeymoon in the UK ever since before we got married. He made it sound so nice. I even started learning spoken English for travel in advance, worrying that I might have trouble shopping there...”
Mrs. Sun and Su Tingran seemed to have heard this story many times. When Mrs. Qian paused, they did not ask further questions.
Sheng Mumu, a newbie who had stumbled into a high-level quest, was confused and asked, “So what happened?”
“What happened?” Mrs. Qian frowned, “Well now, our son is about to learn multiplication and division, but a honeymoon is still nowhere in sight.”
“Oh–”
As Mrs. Qian finished speaking, Su Tingran and Mrs. Sun sighed heavily in unison.
Sheng Mumu: “...”
After venting, Mrs. Qian passed the baton to Mrs. Sun. Mrs. Sun pulled Sheng Mumu’s arm and asked,
“Do you know what I hate most about Old Sun?”
Sheng Mumu blinked in confusion, “Um... Everything?”
Mrs. Sun: “...”
Su Tingran smiled and glanced at Sheng Mumu, “Mumu, be serious.”
“Oh, oh.” Sheng Mumu nodded slowly, her expression suddenly turned serious. She looked at Mrs. Sun, “Which thing?”
Mrs. Sun sighed, her face full of melancholy, “Old Sun, he never wears his wedding ring when he goes out. Tell me, what is he thinking? He must be trying to annoy me.”
Mrs. Qian put on an expression that indicated the situation was very serious, “This cannot do. With so many little vixens out there, if he doesn't show that he is a married man, isn't he just telling others 'come hit on me'?”
Mrs. Sun agreed, “Right, right, don’t you think so too?”
Mrs. Qian: “This is a big deal that needs to be taken seriously.”
The more Mrs. Sun thought about it, the more inappropriate she felt. She even wanted to rush home immediately to catch her husband and interrogate him carefully.
Suddenly, a voice interrupted her train of thought.
“Is there a possibility that he has grown fat and the ring is too tight?”
Sheng Mumu casually said while popping a strawberry into her mouth.
Middle-aged men tend to gain weight.
Uh, no, that's not rigorous enough.
Most middle-aged men gain weight, while a small number manage their physique well, like, um, someone.
The image of a certain man on a business trip in Hong Kong suddenly appeared in her mind. Sheng Mumu's gaze guiltily shifted aside.
She took a sip of tea.
Hearing Sheng Mumu say this, Mrs. Sun found it made sense and her eyes lit up.
“Chi~ Old Sun has gained 10 kg this year. There is indeed such a possibility...”
Mrs. Qian also looked thoughtful, helping Mrs. Sun consider whether this possibility was valid.
The more Mrs. Sun thought about it, the more she felt she had wronged her husband. Her furrowed brows finally relaxed and she breathed a sigh of relief.
Seeing that Mrs. Sun's worries were gone, Mrs. Qian changed the subject and asked Su Tingran, "Mrs. Song, your husband still hasn't returned from overseas?"
Upon hearing this, Su Tingran slowly lowered her eyes, her shoulders sank slightly.
After a while, the corners of her mouth curled up in a reluctant smile.
“I'm used to it. Out of 365 days a year, he is away from home for about 300 days.”
Mrs. Sun's relaxed brows furrowed again. She asked caringly, "So busy? I'm not making random guesses, but aren't you worried that he might have found a mistress abroad? Have you investigated?"
Sheng Mumu was also intrigued by Mrs. Sun's words.
She knew Su Tingran's husband was always overseas but didn't know his homecoming frequency was so low.
Su Tingran always had a smile on her face and never complained about her husband in front of her.
Turned out she kept all the bitterness to herself.
She held Su Tingran's hand worriedly.
The two women exchanged a look. Su Tingran slowly said,
"Before we got married, he told me that due to the nature of his job, he couldn't always be with me,"
"I understand and accept it."
"I thought things would slowly get better after his overseas trade projects got on track in two or three years."
"But year after year, after year..."
"I also don't know for sure if he has someone else abroad. If a man wants to deceive, you can't get the truth from asking."
"And I don't want to secretly investigate him either. After all, there is still marital affection between us. If I go that far, it would mean I don't trust him."
Su Tingran's expression grew heavier and heavier, her eyes reddened as she forced out a smile.
Sheng Mumu tightened her grip on Su Tingran's hand and suddenly asked,
"Tingran, when is he coming back to Beijing next time?"
Su Tingran looked up blankly, "Well... it should be around the New Year."
"Hmm..." Sheng Mumu murmured thoughtfully, biting her lip, "Then I'll borrow the reason of paying New Year's greetings to come to your house and take a look. My judgement of people is quite accurate."
A touch of delight appeared in Su Tingran's eyes. "Okay, Mumu. Thank you."
Sheng Mumu said, "Psh, we are sisters. What's with the thanks?"
After Su Tingran's topic ended, Mrs. Qian and Mrs. Sun looked over at the same time.
Mrs. Qian said, "Mrs. Qi, what about you? Feel free to vent. We sisters will think of ways to help you."
Mrs. Sun said, "Right, what married woman doesn't have complaints about her husband? They just force themselves to endure. Go ahead, what are your grievances, Mrs. Qi?"
Sheng Mumu was stunned, "..."
The atmosphere was gradually becoming strange now.
If she couldn't badmouth Qi Mo, it would seem a bit petty.
But if she forced it, she wouldn't know what to complain about.
Her eyes rolled as she thought for a long time. Finally she came up with something.
She shook her head and slapped her thigh with a sigh, "Oh, our Old Qi—"
