Chapter 30
Chapter 30
Wang Ming drove to Longwan Baodi in the Xiaohu District.
The area was quiet and secluded. Jia Fang’s mother-in-law lived in one of the elegant-looking detached villas.
He parked the car, straightened his clothes, and walked toward the house carrying the gift bags.
After he rang the doorbell, the door opened a moment later. Jia Fang’s mother-in-law looked at him with a face full of confusion. “And you are?”
Wang Ming immediately flashed a bright smile. “Auntie-oh, no, Grandma!
“I’m an employee of the Caring for the Elderly Foundation. We’re distributing nutritional supplements to everyone over the age of sixty.” As he spoke, he handed over the supplements in his hand.
The confusion on the mother-in-law’s face faded slightly, replaced by a faint smile.
“Oh, thank you, but I don’t really need these. My son has money. Give them to someone in need.”
Wang Ming was momentarily at a loss; he had forgotten that detail.
Jia Fang’s family was well-off and her husband was wealthy. How could her mother-in-law possibly care about these things?
He had no choice now. If he wanted to eat a meal made by her, he had to bring up Jia Fang.
Wang Ming steadied himself. “Grandma, Jia Fang is a Public Welfare Ambassador who oversees many of us. She specifically asked me to bring these to you.
“She’s busy today and didn’t have time to come in person, so she commissioned us at the foundation to deliver this token of her affection to you.”
A flash of pleasant surprise crossed the mother-in-law’s eyes, and her smile became more genuine. “So it’s a gift from Jia Fang? Well, in that case, I must accept it.
“Quick, come in and sit. It must have been hard work traveling all this way.”
Wang Ming followed her into the house. Every corner of the interior reflected a high quality of life.
The old lady gestured for him to sit on the sofa while she busied herself with pouring tea.
Wang Ming wondered how he could naturally bring up the idea of staying for a meal.
Bringing the tea over, the mother-in-law said with a smile, “That girl… how did she suddenly think of me?”
Wang Ming was surprised. From the old lady’s words, it seemed Jia Fang didn’t usually show much concern for her mother-in-law.
He realized he had been too impatient. He should have done more homework. If he made a mistake, would he end up causing Jia Fang to get a divorce?
“Jia Fang is always thinking of you; it’s just that work has been incredibly busy lately.
“When she heard our foundation was doing this event to provide supplements for the elderly, you were the first person she thought of.”
Jia Fang’s mother-in-law set the tea on the coffee table and sat across from Wang Ming with a sigh.
“Sigh, it’s about time she did something productive. All she does is play mahjong all day and dress up like a peacock. It’s infuriating. She’s even leading my granddaughter astray.”
Wang Ming took a small sip of tea, pondering how to steer the conversation toward food.
“Grandma, Jia Fang said the food you cook is delicious. She’s always talking about how she misses your cooking.”
The mother-in-law froze. “I’ve never cooked for her. Did Jia Fang really say that?”
A flash of awkwardness crossed Wang Ming’s face, and he gave a forced laugh. “Ah, she…”
“Is the Jia Fang you’re talking about my daughter-in-law?”
Wang Ming nodded quickly. “Yes, that’s right. She likes wearing black silk stockings and has a mole on her lower back.”
As soon as the words left his mouth, the mother-in-law’s eyes widened. She exclaimed, “Her lower back? Where exactly is that?”
Wang Ming hurriedly cut the topic short. His eyes darted around frantically as he added:
“Oh, it’s almost noon, isn’t it?”
He discreetly pressed a button on his phone, and the sound of a stomach growling immediately played from the device.
Hearing the sound, the mother-in-law instantly stopped wondering about the “lower back.”
She looked at Wang Ming and asked, “Are you hungry? Should I heat up some food for you? We have some leftovers we haven’t thrown out yet.”
She expected Wang Ming to politely decline, but to her surprise, he agreed immediately. “It would be rude to refuse such hospitality.”
The corner of the mother-in-law’s mouth twitched, and she forced a smile. “Fine, I’ll heat it up for you.”
With that, she stood up and walked into the kitchen.
Wang Ming sat on the sofa, watching the old woman’s retreating back as he sighed inwardly.
Jia Fang’s mother-in-law looked to be around seventy. Although her hair was silvering, her gait was steady, and she seemed to be in excellent health.
He had gotten more flustered the more he spoke earlier. How had he ended up mentioning Jia Fang’s mole? It was a stroke of luck that the old lady was slow to react due to her age.
A short while later, Wang Ming ate a token amount of food.
Throughout the meal, the old woman kept complaining about Jia Fang.
She grumbled that Jia Fang didn’t dress like a proper daughter-in-law, and that her granddaughter was now the same.
Every day, the girl dressed like a beggar, as if she couldn’t afford pants. She insisted on wearing those long stockings that were full of holes and tatters.
To the old woman, it looked like a beggar’s outfit, but in Wang Ming’s eyes, that style was exactly right.
[Beep…]
[First part of the Jia Fang trigger mission complete.]
Wang Ming looked at the System interface.
[1: Eat a meal at Jia Fang’s mother-in-law’s house. (Complete)]
[2: Go mountain climbing with Jia Fang’s daughter. (0/1)]
Alright, it was time to go. If he stayed any longer, he was bound to slip up.
“Grandma, I have to head out now. I won’t stay to help you clear the table.”
“It’s fine, it’s fine. The nanny will take care of it when she gets back in a bit.”
As she watched Wang Ming leave, Jia Fang’s mother-in-law sat on the sofa and frowned.
“That Xiao Fang… where does she have a mole? That kid just said… lower back… lower back…”
She gradually drifted back into deep thought.
Leaving Longwan Baodi, Wang Ming drove to West Guan Normal University.
Once on campus, he began asking around for Jia Fang’s daughter’s name.
As he wove through the students making inquiries, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of nostalgia. Just a year ago, he had been a vibrant college student himself.
Now, all of that felt like a distant memory, and his heart was filled with longing.
“To hell with that! Longing for what? All I think about when I remember college is Zou Mengmeng’s shadow!”
Wang Ming mentally slapped himself.
His left brain and right brain were at war.
He asked person after person in the plaza in front of the Foreign Language Building. Finally, he caught a key piece of information from the conversation of a few students.
Two students were saying, “Zheng Shushuang didn’t come to class. I think she went to an internet cafe with her boyfriend.”
“She skips class all the time anyway.”
After the two students left, Wang Ming began to mutter to himself.
Zheng Shushuang had a boyfriend, and he only had five hundred thousand in savings.
Moreover, her family was well-off. Even if he spent all five hundred thousand on her, it seemed unlikely he’d be able to take things further. He felt like he couldn’t even find a way to approach her.
Even so, he had to try. He just needed to go mountain climbing with her once to get another System reward!
He headed to the largest internet cafe across from the school.
Yesterday, Wang Ming had carefully studied the photos of Zheng Shushuang at Jia Fang’s house, so her appearance was etched into his mind.
He entered the cafe and searched every corner of the first floor, his gaze scanning every seat.
Finally, in the twenty-yuan-an-hour high-end zone, he saw a girl who looked very similar to the photo.
Looking closer-yes, it was her!
She was wearing a JK skirt, torn black stockings, and small black leather shoes, blowing bubbles with her gum.
However, there was no one else next to Zheng Shushuang.
Didn’t they say she was with her boyfriend?
Wang Ming slowly walked up behind her.
Zheng Shushuang was wearing a headset, her eyes glued to the computer screen.
On the monitor, a female character holding an AK was crouching in a second-floor room, aiming out the window.
“Smoke! Smoke! There’s no one in the final circle! If we hold this position, the chicken dinner is ours!”