Chapter 129

Chapter 129

After listening to Wen Tangtang’s theory, Wen Miao froze completely.

She had imagined plenty of scenarios where she might be interrogated, but never anything like this!

It was just… wildly ridiculous.

Wen Miao wanted to argue, but then she thought about it. Denying it would be easy, but what came after that? If Wen Tangtang asked about Nan Mu again, how were they supposed to explain?

But if she didn’t explain, Wen Tangtang’s guess was way too outrageous.

Wen Miao’s face flushed bright red. She sat stiffly on the sofa, looking hesitant and conflicted. In Wen Tangtang’s eyes, however, that looked like she was silently admitting it.

Wen Tangtang clutched her chest in agony. “So it really is what I guessed?”

Wen Miao clenched her own hands tightly, afraid she wouldn’t be able to stop herself from blurting out the truth.

Meanwhile, Wen Tangtang was still immersed in her own spectacular deduction. “I knew that was the truth. I figured it out right away… Come on, did you really think those little moves of yours could escape my eyes?”

Wen Miao smiled awkwardly. Her inner monologue: Heh. Then I think your eyes belong in the trash can.

Wen Tangtang looked at Wen Miao, then suddenly frowned. “Wen Miao, oh, Wen Miao… You’ve really lost your head…”

Wen Miao listened with a twisted expression as Wen Tangtang scolded her for a while, then heard her ask, “So what are you going to do about the baby now?”

“Huh? Baby? What baby?” Wen Miao was bewildered.

Wen Tangtang pointed at Wen Miao’s stomach. “Aren’t you pregnant?”

Wen Miao was full of question marks. Unable to hold back, she asked, “What pregnancy? When did I say I was pregnant?”

“You’re not?” Wen Tangtang even looked Wen Miao’s stomach up and down suspiciously. “You’re really not? I already know the truth anyway, so there’s no point hiding it from me, right?”

Wen Miao nearly broke down. “I’m not, I’m not, I’m really not!”

Wen Tangtang let out a sigh of relief, then even started complaining about Wen Miao. “Then when I started making my deductions earlier, why didn’t you argue?”

Wen Miao thought: You have to give me a chance to argue first.

“That day, you got up and suddenly threw up, so I thought…” Wen Tangtang said, breathing another sigh of relief. “Thank goodness. At least you didn’t cause a huge disaster.”

As she spoke, she suddenly lowered her head and leaned close to Wen Miao’s ear. “Don’t blame me for being nosy, okay? I really just want to tell you, if you ever… ahem, if you two ever sleep together, you absolutely have to use protection! You can’t take too many of those birth control pills. If you really have to take them, take the short-acting or long-acting ones in advance. Emergency contraception is way too harmful to your body. You can’t take it more than twice a year…”

Wen Miao felt like her entire face was burning red. “What are you talking about?! We haven’t gotten to that point…”

Wen Miao felt she could no longer let Wen Tangtang’s imagination run wild. “Wait. Comrade Wen Tangtang, may I ask why you know so much about birth control pills?!”

“Because I looked into them too.”

“Then why would you look into something like that?”

“Because I’ve taken them before.”

Wen Miao’s eyes widened. “What? You’ve taken birth control pills?”

Wen Tangtang opened her mouth, but said nothing.

Seeing her stay silent, Wen Miao kept pressing, “Why would you take that?”

Wen Tangtang didn’t speak. She only kept making faces at Wen Miao. Wen Miao didn’t understand and was about to ask again when Wen Tangtang pinched her arm.

Wen Miao cried out in pain. “Ow-what are you doing?”

Wen Tangtang desperately signaled for her to look toward the door. Only then did Wen Miao see that, outside the living room, Wen Xin had appeared at some point and was standing in the doorway, his face dark and grim.
Who knew how long he had been standing outside listening?

The three of them had been best friends since childhood, but still. Wen Miao felt perfectly fine discussing these things with Wen Tangtang. If Wen Xin heard them, though, it just felt… weird.

Wen Miao promptly fell silent, scratched the back of her head, and changed the subject. “Where’s Nan Mu? Wen Xin, have you seen Nan Mu?”

===

At that moment, Nan Mu was in the garden, helping Mrs. Jia arrange the potted plants Wen Miao and the others had just moved in.

“Actually, the fishtail palm would be better over by the pond.”

Mrs. Jia straightened and glanced at the spot Nan Mu had indicated. Casually, she said, “Wouldn’t it look a little cluttered there?”

Nan Mu nodded in agreement. “It would be a bit cluttered. From an aesthetic standpoint, it would indeed be an unnecessary addition. But for you and your family, Mrs. Jia, it would be timely help.”

Mrs. Jia’s hands paused. “Why do you say that?”

Nan Mu raised a hand and pointed into the distance. “Was that museum up ahead built three or four years ago?”

Mrs. Jia looked in the direction he was pointing. Though she did not quite understand what the young man meant, she still answered, “Yes. That’s the City Museum. Why?”

Nan Mu smiled. “Its design is rather distinctive.”

Mrs. Jia felt this young man’s thoughts jumped around far too much, with one sentence barely connecting to the next. Still, she patiently replied, “Yes. After all, they hired a designer from Poland for it. The shape on top looks a lot like a sailboat, doesn’t it? It symbolizes smooth sailing.”

At that, Nan Mu gave a soft laugh. “The design is good, and the symbolism is auspicious. But as for smooth sailing… I’m afraid that may not be the case. Especially for your family, Mrs. Jia.”

Mrs. Jia turned back in astonishment.

Nan Mu lifted his chin toward the museum. “The ‘corner of the sail’ on that ‘sailboat’ points directly at the front gate of your home, Mrs. Jia. It is just like a sharp blade aimed at the people living here… Why don’t you think carefully? Ever since construction began on that museum, has your household had far more troublesome incidents than before? Especially illness, sleepless nights, that sort of thing.”

Mrs. Jia took a shocked step toward Nan Mu.

Seeing this, Nan Mu did not wait for her to speak before continuing, “In feng shui, the main gate is supposed to be the place that receives yang energy. In truth, the feng shui position of this house is fairly good. It is that museum across the way that has ruined it, turning all the original good fortune into harmful energy. Fishtail palms can block that harmful energy, which is why I suggested placing it there.”

“You… understand feng shui?” Mrs. Jia studied Nan Mu in some surprise.

Now that she thought about it carefully, it really had been after the museum was completed that her husband fell seriously ill. After that, one troublesome matter after another had followed…

Could it really be because the feng shui had been disrupted?

Why had she never thought of this possibility before? She had never even considered asking a feng shui master to take a look.

“Someone in my family line was a great feng shui master. When I was little, I spent time around my elders and picked up a little by watching and listening, that’s all.”

“So it’s knowledge passed down through your family. You’re far too modest. If you could see it at a glance, that shows you truly have skill.” Mrs. Jia smiled. This time, however, her smile looked much more sincere than before. “What did you say your name was? Nan Mu, was it? Why don’t you help me take another look and see if there’s anything else wrong with my home?”