Jiang Mo’s mind worked quickly. "Could one of those two women be Mrs. Jin?"
"No wonder you're my daughter—so sharp!" Wang Xia began recounting the past. "Back then, Mrs. Jin and our Madam were close friends. She often visited our home, and over time, we became familiar. Later, Mrs. Jin tried to poach me to work for her."
"When Madam found out, she got angry and had a big argument with Mrs. Jin. After that, Mrs. Jin rarely came to visit."
"What about you? Didn’t you consider switching jobs?" Jiang Mo asked. If she were Su Yunjin and someone tried to poach her right-hand woman at home, she’d be furious too.
Wang Xia shook her head. "I never even thought about it. I was doing well, and your father was also working for the Gu family."
That made sense. No wonder Mrs. Jin had proactively added her as a friend back then and was now asking these questions. All these years later, she still hadn’t gotten over losing the battle for the housekeeper.
Jiang Mo felt a bit embarrassed. She’d assumed the woman was trying to poach her, but it turned out the real target was her mom all along.
"I even accepted a few red envelopes from her. Is that a problem?"
"Don’t worry. You’ve already turned her down, so she probably won’t bring it up again."
Wang Xia then shifted the topic to Li Zheng. "Your father and I haven’t had time to keep an eye on him lately. Has that boy been staying up all night playing games, completely losing track of day and night?"
She hit the nail on the head. Over on his end, Li Zheng had just woken up.
Groping for his phone on the bedside table, he saw a message saying, "Wanna hang out?" He muttered to himself, "Seems this big star is as idle as I am. Well, guess I’ll humor him."
So when Jiang Mo returned from grocery shopping in the afternoon and didn’t see Gu Ye, she assumed he’d gone out.
But at dinner, she spotted him coming downstairs and realized he hadn’t left the house all day.
Gu Ye scratched his head awkwardly when he saw her. "Hey, talk about bad luck—got stood up last minute."
That evening, Jiang Mo brought Li Zheng some fried noodles and skewers, kicking open her little brother’s door.
"Stop gaming and eat!"
Li Zheng’s eyes stayed glued to the screen. "Sis, I’m almost done. Ten minutes—just give me ten minutes!"
Ten minutes later, he slipped into the living room and dug into the food.
Jiang Mo cradled half a watermelon. "So who do you game with all day?"
"Classmates, online friends," Li Zheng said between bites. "Today, I played with Brother Gu Ye."
Jiang Mo raised an eyebrow. "Since when did you two get so close?"
Li Zheng smirked. "I’m lovable and charming—what’s so surprising about getting along with people? Don’t be jealous, sis."
"Ugh, that’s such a corny, narcissistic line," Jiang Mo shuddered in mock disgust. "Scores come out tomorrow. Nervous?"
"Why would I be?" Li Zheng feigned confidence. "Probably close to our estimates."
Of course, that was a lie. The whole family was waiting anxiously for Li Zheng’s results.
Even the Gu family had taken an interest.
"Your kids are all bright. Li Zheng probably did well," Gu Baotian remarked. "Any thoughts on what he’ll study?"
Wang Xia smiled. "Not yet. We’ll see what his score is first."
Jiang Mo, meanwhile, stared at her phone. When Li Zheng’s score popped up—642—she exhaled in relief. "Li Zheng just checked. He got 642."
Gu Baotian whistled. "That’s quite impressive."
"See? I told you not to worry, Wang Mom. Smart kid, bound to do well," Su Yunjin said, sipping her coffee.
"We owe it to your and the old master’s blessings," Wang Xia beamed. "Once he picks a school, we’ll invite everyone to celebrate."
"We’d love to share the joy," Su Yunjin replied. "If Little Xuan scores like this in his college exams, I’ll thank the heavens."
Jiang Mo was already mentally sifting through majors for her brother.
But the more she looked, the more pitfalls she found—some industries were declining, others had terrible job prospects, and some were oversaturated.
Every option seemed like a dead end.
After a moment’s thought, Gu Baotian suggested, "If Li Zheng’s choosing a major, he could consider AI, energy and power, or electronic information."
Jiang Mo nodded eagerly. "Got it. We’ll research schools carefully."
The whole family pitched in, with Jiang Mo leading the charge online. Days later, they finally settled on a university and major for Li Zheng.
Li Daming had been practically floating with joy lately. Though he’d never gone to college, he’d raised two top students.
"Come on, daughter. Tomorrow, I’ll take you car shopping. Time to buy you a car."
Li Zheng pouted. "Dad, I’m the one who got into college. Why are you rewarding sis instead?"
