Chương 24: A Model Husband (1)
Biên tập viên: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Xiao Moli frowned slightly.
"I never take back any of my gifts. Throw them away if you don't like them."
Hastily, An Ziqi explained, "No, it's not that. I just feel that they are too valuable."
Xiao Yining came forward and sat next to Xiao Moli. Raising his head, he said seriously, "Mummy, your perception of value is wrong. If you want to be the mistress of the Xiao family, you must first learn how to spend money."
Exasperated, An Ziqi curled a finger and tapped his cute head.
"You little rascal. What do you know about value? Also, why would I need to learn to be the mistress of the Xiao family?"
"Because you had promised to be my mummy," Xiao Yining responded, matter-of-factly.
His response shook her and made An Ziqi want to scratch the walls.
"Go make dinner," staring at the TV with a sullen expression, Xiao Moli blurted out without even looking at her.
"Mummy, I'm hungry, too."
Xiao Yining rubbed his tummy as he spoke.
An Ziqi looked at the pair of them on the sofa, a little man and a grown man, both hungry and waiting to be fed.
Resigned, An Ziqi turned and walked into the kitchen to make dinner.
Noticing the fish in the fridge, An Ziqi blinked as she recalled Xiao Moli saying that he liked to eat fish in one of their rows the day before.
'So he really did like to eat fish.'
For dinner, she intentionally made steamed fish.
"So tasteless, not edible," Xiao Moli criticized with disdain.
"I like sweet and sour fish, sweet and sour ribs, braised meat, sautéed shrimp…erm…that's it for now."
Stumped, An Ziqi asked, "Are you really treating me like your housekeeper?"
"Aren't you?"
An Ziqi was speechless. Darn it, put that way, he was right. She was indeed babysitting and cooking meals.
"I don't like onions and carrots, so don't add these in future."
Frowning, Xiao Moli picked at the onion and carrots on the plate.
"Oh, oh! No celery either."
Xiao Yining supplemented his father's comment with a nod.
Just look at this grown man, being picky about food.
An Ziqi glared. "Xiao Moli, it's wrong of you to condone your kid in being picky about food. Onions and carrots have high nutritional value. Ningning is still young, and he needs a diverse range of nutritional foods to enable his growth."
At her words, Xiao Moli simply pushed the onion and carrots in the plate to Xiao Yining, instructing, "Eat."
Wide-eyed, Xiao Yining looked at An Ziqi with a sorrowful expression.
This was an unexpected twist of misfortune for him.
Lips twitching slightly, An Ziqi repeated, "Eat."
Xiao Yining felt that he must be the most pitiful kid on earth. He not only had to rack his brains to bring his mummy and daddy together, but now, he had to put up with their combined effort to bully him as well.
An Ziqi looked at the fish bones on the plate and could not resist a smile.
Although Xiao Moli had verbally pointed out that the fish did not taste good, the sullen expression that had persisted since she rejected his gifts was finally disappearing and he looked normal again.
Also, judging by the minuscule lift of his lips—no more than a five-degree lift—he was in a fairly good mood.
This guy also had a childish streak in him.
All it took was a simple steamed fish to coax him into a good mood.
Since that day, Xiao Moli continued to send and pick her up from the training center, citing that it was en route to his destination.
Smiling, An Ziqi chose not to expose him, and the pair continued with their daily toxic exchanges.
Due to the effort of the trainer to keep them apart, Lin Kelan trained separately from An Ziqi and did not get another chance to make things difficult for her.
In addition to the training sessions, one of the conditions of the beauty contest was to work with the investors in promoting their respective companies.
Firstly, promote the company's products and image.
Secondly, get increased exposure with the media and general public to garner votes for the finals.
"We're heading out to Huanyu tomorrow. So exciting," a fellow trainee gushed excitedly in the training center.
"Yes, yes. I wonder if we will get to meet the legendary Mr. Xiao?"
Another of the trainees clasped her hands to her heart.
"Did you know that at a national survey conducted a few days ago, our Mr. Xiao beat everyone else and was crowned the Model Husband of the nation?"
"Oh, really? More rivals now."
...
Gossipy by nature, An Ziqi turned to Xia Tianxing by her side and asked in curiosity, "Who on earth is this Mr. Xiao?"
"You don't know?" Xia Tianxing asked, surprised.
Was it possible that there was any woman in S City who did not know about Mr. Xiao?
An Ziqi shook her head. She had spent the past few years working and struggling to survive. Where would she have found the time or effort to pay attention to the gossip?
"Now, let me give you a crash course."
After all, Xia Tianxing had been a part of the entertainment industry and her gossipy soul was instantly ignited.
"Apparently, at age 19, Mr. Xiao took over control of Huanyu from his father. At that time, many companies had disregarded him for being too young and gone about encroaching into Huanyu's markets. In just one year, Mr. Xiao managed to kick out all these companies and, as a result, even acquired a couple of them. He is not just young and capable, but also handsome and super rich. He is definitely public enemy number one amongst all men!"
That said, she pulled out her phone and said, "Here, here. Let me search on him and find you a photo of Mr. Xiao."
An Ziqi twisted her head, wanting to see what this Mr. Xiao, whom everyone had been gushing about, looked like.
"An Ziqi, come over here for a bit."
From afar, the trainer had called out to her.
Sticking out her tongue at Xia Tianxing, An Ziqi ran over to the trainer.
By the time she emerged from the trainer's office, everyone else had left.
Packing up her things, she left the training center.
Surprisingly, the car that was parked across the road was Xiao Yining's.
-- Nhận quà