November 1, 20XX (Thursday)
The Grand Royal Palace Hotel- Milan
Mother Zhao stared at the note innocently laying on her opened suitcase as if it would jump and yell at her. At the back of the note was a black credit card she thought would never come back into her hands as her son had forbidden her use of it, especially when she had bought a yacht after buying countless luxurious bags to go with every shoe she had before.
She wondered briefly when her son secretly placed it in Beijing. She remembered packing by herself and only her bodyguard was near her suitcase before landing in Milan.
She took the note with a smirk and reread the contents while setting aside the credit card, 「Mom, Mei Li also have a card but I doubt she'll let you use it. This one is yours, no limits this time... Even if you buy a yacht, just make sure you and Mei Li have fun. Take care. -Yang」
Couldn't her son be more obvious?
He clearly likes Mei Li more than he realizes. Mother Zhao used to buy anything she could, it had been her way of testing Yang's bottom line. She had concluded then that her son was a spendthrift and a spoiler. She was thankful that her son was too buy to let loose.
Although Yang was a spender, he was particular and choosy on people he could trust with his money and to give Mei Li a black card and letting her let loose as long as Mei Li enjoyed herself was a clear indication that her son was falling fast.
Meeting her grandchild is drawing nearer with every second… she must use this opportunity to deepen their relationship especially when Mei Li will stay at Zhao Manor for a month. Mother Zhao briefly praised her daughter, Yue, for her quick mind. She also needed to think of an idea for her son to stay at the manor and not at his condo.
For her future grandchild's sake!
Mother Zhao laughed at herself, she couldn't help but look back at her teenage years when she was still dating her husband, Zhao Shi Rong. In fact, her husband who was her boyfriend back then also accompanied her to shop and would buy whatever she wanted no matter its size or its price. As long as she was liked it, he would buy it. It seems her son resembled his father.
Smirking in amusement, Mother Zhao took her phone and shoot a picture then sent it to her husband with a caption, 「Your son just did what you did to me when we were dating. He clearly likes her. Our plan worked.」
The reply came a couple of minutes after, 「Finally! They were harder to match up than managing eight companies at once.」
She quickly replied,「… That's because your son is more stubborn than you.」
Mother Zhao snorted as she read her husband's immediate reply,「Just like you but I love you anyway, stubborn and all.」
「Good or else you'll be sleeping on your study when I come back… Should we tell her father?」She replied before starting to unpack her things into the closet near her.
「…Might as well. I need to contact his agent first. Let me do this. You focus on Mei Li there.」
「Remember he is still on witness protection program… Be sure to use an encrypted line, okay? And try to ease him into the conversation… He might come to China and threaten Yang for defiling his youngest.」Her reply was hard to type as memories of the past came flooding into her head. She had to sit down as a lone tear shed from her eye. The past with all her regrets was always the reason for her tears.
Mother Zhao wiped her eyes to read the text her husband sent her. 「… to think that Yang asked her older brother for his younger sister's files. This family is too pitiful. Forced to be apart far too long.」
She quickly typed before reaching out for a tissue to wipe her eyes,「There is still hope. With Yang's progressing relationship with her, Mei Li have more chances of meeting her elder brother.」
Waiting for her husband's reply, she looked outside toward the view; night lights scattered like the vast stars of the sky in different colours of the rainbow. She felt the starless sky contrasted the city lights as if two forces were fighting, like the fates of people; full of nothingness and suddenness.
The earth was indeed such a small thing. To think her daughter, Yue, would befriend the daughter of her late best friend. It was as if history had repeated itself. She had been so surprised when she meets Mei Li for the first time, following meekly and shyly behind her energetic daughter.
Mei Li's attitude was far too different compared to her mother regardless of how similar their appearance was. Oh, how similar those doe-like eyes with the same light brown hair and a face that could fit the palm of a large man's hand with a foot that was smaller than a large man's hand. Both mother and daughter were petite but all the similarities ended there.
In terms with attitude, the mother could be likened with fire while the daughter is water. In fact, Mei Li resembled her father in terms of manners, conduct, and morals. The father and daughter shared the same talent in arts too.
'A Father who needed to pretend to be an old man so he could mentor his child…' Mother Zhao bowed her head as she leaned into the window sill. She let herself cry as the sadness that overtakes her heart became overwhelming before praying for peace and happiness to the Xue Family that had been hunted with this horror of a reality.
Mother Zhao wiped her tears away and smiled while saying to herself out loud, "Get a grip of yourself, Zhao Hui Ying, you need to be on your toes with Mei Li. You need to pretend you have no idea of her identity as Miss M."