"Got dumped by a girl while dating?" Jiang Mo pressed her lips together, suddenly growing curious about this ex-girlfriend. She leaned in closer to probe, "What was the reason she dumped Young Master Gu?"
By all accounts, Young Master Gu wasn’t a bad catch.
Zhuge Shen clicked his tongue. "My guess? Probably because the girl found him too cold and clueless about romance."
"I get it—'I hate you for being as dense as a block of wood,'" Jiang Mo munched on a cookie. "Could it be that Young Master Gu is still hung up on his ex, which is why he hasn’t dated since?"
"Hard to say," Zhuge Shen replied. "Or maybe Young Master Gu just has no room for love in his heart—only work."
"Do you know his ex? Got any photos? What does she do?"
"What, are you running a background check now?"
Jiang Mo grinned shamelessly. "Heh, what if she ends up becoming our little boss lady someday? I’m just doing my due diligence."
Zhuge Shen shook his head. "Highly unlikely. From what I know, the girl’s been living in another city. Save your gossipy energy."
"Has Young Master Gu only had this one relationship?"
"As far as I know, just this one," Zhuge Shen admitted. "But don’t go blabbing in front of him that I told you he got dumped, okay?"
Jiang Mo nodded. "Relax, I won’t rat you out."
As the two chatted, Jiang Mo didn’t want to keep Zhuge Shen from his work for too long. Seeing that enough time had passed, she returned to Gu Xun’s office.
Meanwhile, the mother and son were still deep in conversation.
Jiang Mo glanced at the items they’d brought—the soup and fruit had been mostly consumed.
"I’ve said my piece. You’re busy with work during the week, fine, but you don’t even come home for meals on weekends," Su Yunjin chided.
"Alright, I get it. I’ll go back when I have time on weekends," Gu Xun conceded, then turned to Jiang Mo. "Clean this up and see my mother out."
Su Yunjin waved her hand. "Enough, enough. I’ll leave so I don’t keep you from work."
Jiang Mo quickly packed up the remaining food from the table.
Once outside, she eagerly shared her intel. "Madam, from what I’ve gathered, Young Master Gu and Zhang Ruoduo were just classmates. They never dated—the rumors online are fake."
"You got that from Secretary Zhuge, didn’t you?" Su Yunjin smiled, confirming her son was still very much single.
Jiang Mo chuckled sheepishly. "You guessed right."
Su Yunjin almost remarked that Jiang Mo’s connections probably didn’t extend beyond Zhuge Shen anyway. Instead, she asked casually, "So, is Zhuge Shen seeing anyone?"
Jiang Mo thought for a moment. "Nope, he’s single too."
"Ah, so two lone wolves keeping each other company."
Jiang Mo fell silent. "..."
As they stepped out of the elevator, Jiang Mo trailed behind Su Yunjin when another elevator door slid shut across the hall. For a fleeting moment, she thought she glimpsed a familiar figure.
But that couldn’t be—why would he be here?
Inside the elevator, Pei Ting caught sight of a fleeting silhouette in the hallway. Instinctively, he reached out to stop the closing doors and stepped out, only to find the corridor empty.
"Something wrong, Attorney Pei?" The receptionist eyed his abrupt movement in confusion.
Pei Ting withdrew his gaze and re-entered the elevator. "It’s nothing."
Meanwhile, Jiang Mo followed Su Yunjin to the car, assuming they were heading home—until she noticed the route seemed off.
"Madam, where are we going?"
At this hour, they’d usually be home preparing dinner.
"I’ll call your mother. We’re treating ourselves tonight," Su Yunjin said with a playful smirk. "Home-cooked meals are great, but even the best dishes get old after a while. Time for a change."
It had been ages since she’d indulged like this.
Ladies, we’re feasting tonight!
When they arrived at the restaurant, Jiang Mo’s eyes widened—this place wasn’t cheap. Four figures per person.
If she were footing the bill, her wallet would weep.
Actually, she’d never even consider coming here unless she struck it rich.
Su Yunjin assured her not to worry about the price and to just enjoy whatever she liked.
As for why Su Yunjin enjoyed dining with the young girl—it was simple. Jiang Mo ate with such gusto that it made everything taste better by proxy.
"Is this enough? Want to order more?"
"This is plenty, Madam," Jiang Mo insisted, though even this spread seemed excessive.
Thankfully, high-end restaurants had a policy: steep prices, but tiny portions.
A true "no poor people allowed" establishment.
Jiang Mo eyed the exquisitely plated lime-charred Wagyu beef drizzled with Italian balsamic glaze. She cut a piece and savored it—tender with a crisp sear, a perfect balance of sweet, salty, and a hint of tang.
"This beef is amazing!" she exclaimed after the first bite.
"These places do have some skill," Su Yunjin remarked before shifting topics. "How’s work at home been? If you ever change your mind and want to join the company, just say the word—I’ll arrange it."
"I’ve only been at it a few months, but I’ve learned so much. You, Grandpa Gu, everyone’s been so kind to me," Jiang Mo answered earnestly.
"Good. Stay as long as you like. When your mother first came to work for us as a maid, she said it’d just be for a year or two. Next thing we knew, twenty years had passed. I watched her go from a young girl to a mother, and now to middle-aged Auntie Wang."
"People even tried poaching her a few times—luckily, I caught wind of it."
From Jiang Mo’s earliest memories, Wang Xia had always worked for the Gu family. Her mother was constantly busy, yet their family never wanted for much.
During holidays, Wang Xia would bring home gifts from the employers.
Both Jiang Mo and her brother had received plenty growing up.
When Jiang Mo got into A University, Wang Xia came home with a laptop worth tens of thousands—a graduation gift from Madam Su.
Though her mother rarely spoke about the Gu family at home.
"Someone tried to poach Mom? I never heard about that," Jiang Mo said, intrigued. Were housemaids really that in demand back then?
"Oh yes, ages ago," Su Yunjin reminisced. "Ironically, it was one of my close friends. I invited the wolf into my own house—after visiting a few times, she took a liking to your mother."
"Waited until my back was turned and tried to lure her away with money."
Jiang Mo nearly choked. The way Su Yunjin described it sounded... suspiciously sapphic.
Her eyes sparkled with gossip. "Did Mom waver?"
"Your mother admitted she was tempted—but even if I hadn’t found out, she would’ve refused," Su Yunjin scoffed. "Testing loyalty with money, please. As if we don’t have plenty ourselves."
She’d later confronted the friend, who awkwardly defended herself: "You were the one who kept praising your maid! I just thought she’d be perfect for my household too."
After that, Su Yunjin made sure to watch her words around certain "friends."
Recalling the past, Su Yunjin was quite sentimental. "Your mom was quite the firecracker back then. When I was younger, I used to argue and bicker with your dad a lot. Every time we had a disagreement, your mom would stand nearby, glaring like she was ready to throw down, afraid I’d get bullied."
"When I was pregnant with the second child, there was a period when I wasn’t doing too well. Your mom not only took care of the baby but also looked after me..."
"Seeing how low I was, she even encouraged me to go out and find something I enjoyed doing..."
Once she started reminiscing, the words just kept flowing.
Jiang Mo listened, finally understanding why she’d been able to land her job through connections. Her mom, a seasoned veteran at the company, was clearly well-regarded by the higher-ups.
"So, did you set my mom and dad up, or did they fall in love on their own?" Jiang Mo asked the question that had been on her mind.
Su Yunjin looked puzzled. "Your parents never told you? Back then, it was your mom who had her eyes on Old Li—she pursued him."
She sighed. "Your mom was quite the wild one in her youth."
Whoa, so Old Li had been telling the truth all along? Jiang Mo and her younger brother had always thought he was just joking.
Just as Jiang Mo was about to dig for more details, a message popped up on her phone.
Gu Ye: "Weren’t you and Mom supposed to deliver soup to my brother? Why aren’t you back yet? Don’t tell me you’re planning to eat out without me."
"...Yeah, we’re already eating," Jiang Mo replied, sending a silly grinning sticker.
Gu Ye pouted at the message, then sent a heartbroken accusation to Su Yunjin: "Mom, fine, you took soup to my brother, but how could you two go off and feast without me?"
