Gourmet: Midnight Vending-Chapter 403 - 362: Mu Mu: Hello Auntie, I Am...

This house is considered the best house in Jiuniu Pass.

On the day the house was completed, Chen Mo’s father’s back was straight, and he kept telling everyone, "You still need to have a son. Look, my son paid to have it built. The greatest thing I’ve done in my life is having my son!"

Standing at the door, Chen Mo reached out his hand, then retracted it.

"Didn’t even give a heads-up before coming back, and I haven’t figured out how to talk about the failed real estate project."

Chen Mo pondered, rubbing his chin, "Hmm, that’s not right. I have over two million in cash in my phone now. What’s there to fear about the failed project?"

He gently twisted the rotary mechanism of the big red door.

This door was installed four or five years ago, and the latch still turns smoothly, thanks to his father occasionally cleaning out the sand and applying oil.

He cherishes this yard and this house very much.

Pushing open the door and walking into the yard, six large rooms come into view, with the easternmost being the bedroom and living room where his parents live.

His mother said, when you marry, your wife should live in the western room, that’s your new room, it’s reserved for you.

The two middle rooms haven’t been furnished much, temporarily empty.

There are also two southern rooms in the yard serving as storage, where...

All the new items his mother got from the pharmacy, like a washbasin, or stainless steel basins exchanged from old phones, Chen Mo remembered every time his mom got new items, she would clean them and wrap them up, storing them in the southern room.

"When your new building is renovated, these will come in handy."

Continuing inside, as soon as he stood at the door, Chen Mo caught a rich aroma of dough—it’s soy flour!

Just as he was thinking about what to say upon entering, the door suddenly opened, "Who’s there?"

The woman in front of him looked over and was momentarily stunned, "Oh! Why didn’t you say you were coming back? This rascal, are you on break or what, coming back at this odd time?"

Saying this, Liu Xiuzhen grabbed Chen Mo’s arm, clutched his hand, and pulled him inside, "I was just telling your dad when we should go to the city to visit you. And we don’t even know how our building looks now."

Inside the door was the living room, with a sofa and a coffee table against the wall. The kitchen was at the back, along with a round table.

Chen Jinping sat at the table, holding a wine cup, seemingly lost in thought too.

But he quickly regained his composure and put down the glass, giving Chen Mo a meaningful look, "Why are you back at this time?"

Chen Jinping understood his only child’s nature the most.

If he’s back not during a holiday, there’s probably something up, so he turned his head, "The kid just got back, let him settle. There probably aren’t enough doughballs to eat, go make some more dough."

Liu Xiuzhen clapped her hands, "Oh, look at me, I’m so thrilled I’ve forgotten. Mo’er, you rest, have a drink with your dad first while I make more dough."

Chen Mo didn’t stop his mother; cooking was her most direct and simple way of showing love.

Chen Mo sat next to his dad, Chen Jinping handed him a glass, "Pour yourself a drink, should I have your mom fry some peanuts?"

"No need." Chen Mo poured himself some baijiu.

"Did something happen?" Chen Jinping asked directly.

"Nothing happened."

A silence settled between them, both sipping drinks and picking at the table’s only dish of cucumbers in garlic sauce.

Northern father-son relationships are quite subtle.

Clearly, they’d take a bullet for each other, yet can’t utter a word of concern.

Chen Jinping remained silent, waiting for Liu Xiuzhen to speak.

Chen Mo stayed quiet, unsure of what to say.

Moments later, Liu Xiuzhen came back with the flour mixture, "Two big bowls for each! Mo’er, you should’ve told us you were coming back. Had I known, I would’ve gone to the town to buy some meat this morning."

Chen Mo took a breath, "This is fine; I’ve loved soy flour since I was a kid."

He nearly mentioned he had meat in the car, but then thought about the trouble his mom would go through to cook it, so he let it go.

"By the way, Mo’er, how’s the renovation of our building going? Why are you dressed like that, just got off work?"

Chen Jinping said nothing, just slowly drank, but his attention was clearly on their conversation.

Chen Mo took a deep breath, "Mom, I sold our building."

"What?"

As Liu Xiuzhen cried out in surprise, Chen Jinping spilled some wine.

"Are you short of money? Did you get into trouble? How could you decide something so big without telling the family?"

"Don’t interrupt, let Xiao Mo speak slowly. He’s grown up now, he must have his reasons for whatever he does, what’s the rush?" Chen Jinping said quietly.

Chen Mo glanced at his father, reassuring his mother, "Well, back then, I set my eyes on a second-hand apartment near the company, thinking it’d be closer to work, no need for a car, I could just walk every day! So, I sold it."

"The place we bought it was inexpensive, can the house you’re interested in be so cheap?"

Chen Mo appeared calm, but he smiled bitterly inside.

If it weren’t for the cheap pre-sale, he wouldn’t have bought a failed project.

Now that he earns quickly, there’s no need to tell everything to the parents; they’re getting old, keeping their emotions stable is better.

Chen Mo said, "Mom, believe it or not, just after a few months of selling it, that developer ran away! Now a lot of owners are suing every day."

"Huh?" Liu Xiuzhen grew even more astonished, "What kind of developer is so heartless? Oh dear, so it’s good that you sold it, thank goodness you did. Even if buying another one costs more, at least money won’t be taken by someone so unscrupulous."

Phrasing it as a bad news first, then following with worse news makes the former easier to accept.

Surprisingly, both Liu Xiuzhen and Chen Jinping felt quite fortunate at this moment.

To further assure them, Chen Mo added, "We paid a total of fifty-five thousand for the down payment and loan. I got sixty thousand, and our family made five thousand. I’ll transfer this sixty thousand to your account, keep saving it for me. We can talk about buying that second-hand one later!"

This time Liu Xiuzhen didn’t refuse, just nodded in agreement.

In her eyes, Chen Mo was still a child, how could a child handle so much money!

"Mom, speaking of, there’s another matter why I’m back this time."

Chen Jinping pricked his ears, knowing that Chen Mo couldn’t have come back just for this little issue.

"My boss’s son is having a gift-giving ceremony, and all the hotels in the city are booked. He asked me to think of a solution. I thought, our courtyard is big! Why not host it here with full services?"

Liu Xiuzhen held Chen Mo’s hand, "This matter..."

She was at a loss for words.

Chen Jinping took over, "If it’s for the boss, it should be done well. You go to work tomorrow, I’ll get Man Yin over to help organize."

"Uncle Man Yin?" Chen Mo recalled, "No need, Dad, I won’t be going to work for the next few days. Since it’s for the boss, I plan to handle it myself, even doing the cooking myself."

Chen Jinping looked surprised, "You’re cooking?"

"Yes, there’s something else I haven’t had the chance to tell you."

Chen Mo planned to drop the second bombshell.

He needed to reveal these things eventually, and now seemed like the right time, especially when Jiang Fei could later help smooth things over with his parents, so they wouldn’t be too angry.

After all, in Chen Jinping’s old-school thoughts, pleasing the boss was very important.

The boss’s words carried a lot of weight. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

Just as Chen Mo was about to mention he was on unpaid leave and making money running a stall, he heard...

"Is anyone there?"

"Is someone inside? Hello? Is this Brother Mo’s house? Anyone home?"

Chen Mo felt a sudden chill down his back.

Damn it!

How could he forget there was someone in the car?

Oh no, he put Mu Mu into the mobile home at the service area to sleep, and since he was used to being solitary, returning home stirred so many emotions, he flat out forgot there was someone still in the back!

Before Chen Mo could speak, Liu Xiuzhen curiously stood up, peeking through the window, "Who’s this girl? Doesn’t look like she’s from our village."

And she opened the door.

Chen Mo had a bad feeling, right before he stood up to explain, Mu Mu in the yard noticed Liu Xiuzhen.

"Hello Auntie, is this Chen Mo’s home?"

"Yes, it is. Who are you, little girl?"

Mu Mu shyly smiled, then walked up with her head lifted, "I’m..."

Chen Mo was momentarily at a loss for how to explain, seemed like some things couldn’t quite be explained!

Oh right, Mu Mu wasn’t dumb, she couldn’t blurt out nonsense, yes, that was it.

Then he heard Mu Mu’s sweet voice.

"Oh Auntie! I didn’t know Brother Chen Mo was bringing me to his hometown; I thought he was taking me to Jingzhou first. It’s my first visit here, coming empty-handed...

Auntie, let me buy some things first!"

Chen Mo: ?

It sounded like she was stating facts.

But why does it feel like everything’s off somehow?