Sheng Mumu let loose and fully embraced the opportunity at hand.
With great care, she drafted a loan agreement.
One day, when Qi Mo returned home, his foot had just crossed the threshold of the bedroom.
Sheng Mumu, who was waiting by the door, promptly handed him the agreement.
"Mr. Qi, please sign here," she said.
The man's hand, which was loosening his tie, paused for a moment.
After a brief moment of hesitation, he couldn't help but smile and took the agreement, writing his name next to hers.
Sheng Mumu carefully received the signed agreement and reassured him, "I will definitely repay the principal and interest within the agreed time frame, and I won't run away."
Qi Mo chuckled. "Hmm."
Since the company went public, the contracts he handled never amounted to less than nine figures.
It had been many years since he had treated a mere two million agreement with such solemnity.
"Now that it's signed, is there anything else I need to do?" Qi Mo asked, a hint of amusement in his voice.
"No, just wait for good news from me," Sheng Mumu replied, her lips curved confidently.
Qi Mo's gaze fell on her self-assured smile, his Adam's apple bobbing slightly as he tugged his tie a little harder. He spoke with a hint of laughter, "Alright."
Watching Sheng Mumu leave with excitement, he lowered his gaze to the contract in his hand.
[Additional note: If the debtor Sheng Mumu fails to fulfill the repayment obligation within the specified period, the creditor Qi Mo has the right to pursue the outstanding debt by any means necessary.]
—Qi Mo; Sheng Mumu.
This was perhaps the most extraordinary contract he had ever signed in his life.
He walked into his study and placed this contract together with a stack of project contracts, each with at least nine zeros behind the numbers.
*
The progress of the flower shop exceeded Sheng Mumu's expectations.
She spent half a month surveying the area and finally settled on a storefront less than a kilometer away from Xiyu Yue Ting, surrounded by three upscale residential areas.
The storefront had two floors, with nearly fifty square meters of space on the ground floor, which could be transformed into an outdoor glass greenhouse.
Standing outside the still empty shop, Sheng Mumu could already envision the beautiful scene of sunlight streaming through the colored glass a few months later.
Once the store address was finalized, Sheng Mumu began contacting imported flower suppliers.
She fully utilized her well-honed ability to compare prices, which she had developed during past Double Eleven shopping festivals.
Among the numerous cooperative discount offers from suppliers, she selected the one that suited her best.
Following the idea that "cost-saving equals early profitability," Sheng Mumu employed bargaining techniques she had learned from her grandmother when they used to go shopping together.
However, her grandmother's bargaining involved getting a few extra scallions from the vegetable vendor.
In contrast, Sheng Mumu smiled and effortlessly convinced the supplier to include exquisite complimentary greeting cards with each bouquet.
But these greeting cards shouldn't be underestimated.
They would play a crucial role in the promotional ideas she had in mind for the flower shop.
Just as she was contemplating the name of the shop, her phone buzzed in her pocket.
Before she could unlock the screen, it vibrated several more times.
Mrs. Song, the neighbor from the next villa, had added Sheng Mumu to the community's housewives group chat.
She sent three consecutive welcome messages, subtly conveying the underlying message of "I've become good friends with Mrs. Qi" that was worth flaunting.
Mrs. Song: We have a new friend in our group, Mrs. Qi, who lives next door to me. Mrs. Qi is beautiful and easy to get along with. Welcome, welcome! [Applause]
Mrs. Zhao: Is she Mrs. Qi Mo, Qi Mo's wife?
Mrs. Qian: Of course, Mrs. Song lives next to the Qi residence. Welcome, Mrs. Qi.
Mrs. Sun: I've been wanting to meet Mrs. Qi for a long time. I bumped into her at the entrance of the residential area last time. She has a great figure. Maybe she can share some tips on body management with us. [Smile] [Rose]
Mrs. Li: Let's have an afternoon tea together.
...
Before joining the group, Mrs. Song briefly introduced Mrs. Qi to Sheng Mumu. The people in this group were of similar age, mostly in their thirties, and lived in the same residential area. Occasionally, they would get together for beauty treatments, gossip, and play mahjong to pass the time.
To be honest, Sheng Mumu was not used to the shallow and unproductive conversations in this commercial group chat.
But in order to attract the first batch of customers to her flower shop, she occasionally participated in the group chat and tried to engage in the topics discussed by everyone.
Sheng Mumu noticed that everyone else's nickname followed the format of "Mrs. X."
After hesitating for a while, she decided not to follow the trend and continued to use her own name as the nickname in the group.
Not for any particular reason.
Just the thought that if she divorced Qi Mo one day and was still in the group, she would have to change her nickname back, which would be awkward.
However, even though she chatted with everyone using her real name "Sheng Mumu" every day, the ladies still referred to her as Mrs. Qi.
At that moment, Sheng Mumu finally understood the meaning behind Qi Mo's words that day.
He said, "If it were you, you could consider managing a physical store."
If it were you...
Implicitly, it included her current identity as Mrs. Qi.
Qi Mo truly deserved to be a successful businessman who led the Qi Group to go public at a young age.
In just a short conversation, he had already stood in her shoes and considered her advantages.
He was truly a cunning old fox!
Sheng Mumu silently sighed in her heart.
There was no negative connotation.
It could be considered praise.
In her previous world, during her school days when she was experiencing her first taste of love, Sheng Mumu had secretly admired several people.
After growing up and becoming more mature, she seriously analyzed the common characteristics of the boys she liked—
Without exception, they had to be intelligent.
She was contradictory.
She could occasionally have a brain freeze and do something stupid, but her significant other must be intelligent.
Exceptionally intelligent.
Intelligent in a worldly and sophisticated way.
It was precisely because she understood this point that she found the reason for her being single since birth.
Since starting to work after graduation and losing the naive and beautiful filter of campus life, she had encountered one smooth-talking man after another.
Among ten people, there were probably five smooth talkers, three oily men, and one wise guy.
The remaining one might even be a sister.
Sigh.
Compared to the people she had met before, this world was really too friendly.
In other words, her "fake husband" Qi Mo was just too good, not fitting into the aforementioned categories.
Wait a minute! Stop!
Why should she compare Qi Mo with her criteria for choosing a partner?
That's strange.
Sheng Mumu hit the brakes on her thoughts and got back on track.
With her personality, she couldn't accept the convenience brought by her identity as Mrs. Qi during her entrepreneurial process without a clear conscience.
She secretly thought in her heart that she would share the profits with Qi Mo once the flower shop started making money.
Even if he didn't want it, she would definitely find another way to give it to him.
She didn't want to owe anyone any favors.
On the other hand, Qi Shaobai also noticed that Sheng Mumu had been extremely busy, leaving early and returning late every day.
He didn't inquire further.
Sheng Mumu was not the malicious stepmother he had imagined, but there was no need to deliberately get closer to her.
Being strangers living under the same roof was fine, without interfering with each other—it was good enough.
On this day, Qi Shaobai skipped his evening self-study and made plans to play basketball with Wei Chaonan.
While on their way to the basketball court, someone suddenly appeared and blocked their path.
Liu Zhenzhen gathered her courage and stood opposite Qi Shaobai, timidly raising her gaze.
"Brother Qi..."
Last time, Liu Zhenzhen had tried to drug Qi Shaobai's drink but failed. She had thought that as long as Qi Shaobai didn't notice, there would be another opportunity in the future.
But she didn't expect that after that day, Qi Shaobai would always be indifferent to her, not even willing to talk to her.
She had no idea where she had gone wrong.
Qi Shaobai glanced at her and impatiently said,
"Don't block the way."
After uttering those words, he continued walking forward.
After Sheng Mumu told him about the incident with the drugged drink, he completely cut off contact with Liu Zhenzhen. They weren't that close to begin with, so severing ties didn't burden his mind.
He didn't make it clear because he didn't want any trouble.
He didn't expect Liu Zhenzhen to suddenly appear here today.
Seeing that Qi Shaobai didn't want to acknowledge her, Liu Zhenzhen grew anxious and took a couple of steps forward to catch up.
Gritting her teeth, she called out,
"Brother Qi, I saw your stepmother and a man entering a hotel."
