˙Ma Rui suddenly noticed something and asked her son, "That aside, Xiao Yuan, I'm wondering why you are here. You never spend your free time with me and now you are doing homework in my parlor. You're behaving quite different!"
"Aren't you being overly suspicious?" Mo Yuan grumpily retaliated.
Ma Rui narrowed her eyes. "I don't think so… it's you who is acting strange." She felt an abrupt wave of excitement. Her eyes widened. "Don't tell me that you've set your eyes on this little cutie pie?" She covered her mouth with her hand and smiled goofily.
Mo Yuan closed his eyes out of frustration. Sometimes, he felt like escaping this house.
But Ma Rui didn't stop there. "My dearest son, you should understand that that attitude will never let you win a girl's heart. If you want, I can always help you there!"
Mo Yuan's frown had darkened. "No need. Please do what you need to do, but I'm fine by myself."
"Why are you always like this? Look, you are making Xiao Luo afraid of you!" Ma Rui briefly glimpsed at the little girl in her arms.
The young boy shuddered in shock. He quickly glanced at Han Luo, who was peacefully looking at her mother's photos. She didn't hear anything that the mother-son pair said. Realizing that his mother lied to him, Mo Yuan had a glare anchored onto his countenance.
Ma Rui giggled, finding it amusing how she knew exactly how to get on her son's nerves. "By the way, why does Xiao Luo only have one small bag? Didn't she bring her luggage?"
"She escaped from that house. Sheng Ming couldn't ask for anyone's help, incase his mother found out. He secretly sent her here. But I'm sure his mother knows by now."
"That woman!" Ma Rui clenched her fists. "Don't worry, Xiao Luo, let's go shopping. Today, I'll make my dreams come true." Her eyes glimmered while her expression was painted with determination. She sprang up and took Han Luo's hand. "Xiao Luo, let's have some fun!"
"Yes!" Han Luo beamed. She loved anything fun, so the little girl happily agreed.
Before Ma Rui left her parlor, she turned to look at her son. "Don't tell me you're going to miss this chance!"
"Uh…" Mo Yuan expressionlessly closed his book and stood up.
Ma Rui drove the car to a popular shopping mall in town. She always wanted to have a daughter and play dress-up with her. Her inner demon was unleashed as she kept buying dresses, matched shoes, and accessories.
Mo Yuan heaved a sigh. "Aren't you going overboard? She can't take all of them back with her." He had a hunch that those cousins of hers would steal everything from her.
"Then she won't have to take them. She can leave them all right here. I'll bring her here every week from now on. No one can stop me!" Ma Rui sang with a sinister hint in her voice. If she knew that her supposed friend's daughter was this cute, she would've kidnapped her long ago.
Mo Yuan shook his head at his mother's scheme. "Her aunt won't agree."
"I won't ask for her permission. You are Sheng Ming and Xiao Luo's friend. As your mother, I can take her anywhere I want."
It was only then Mo Yuan understood that this was a trap – he was being used by his own mother. She brought her son with her because it would look like Mo Yuan and Han Luo were friends. She could use this as an excuse, in the future, to always have Han Luo accompany her. Mo Yuan started to have a headache.
Suddenly Ma Rui clapped her hands. "I have an idea! Why don't I buy you two couple outfits? I think it would be wonderful!" She didn't wait for her son's opinion and dragged him around as though he were on a leash. The hearty woman bought multiple couple costumes: prince-princess, Alice-Hatter, Peter Pan-Tinker Bell, Aladdin-Jasmine, Mickey Mouse-Minnie Mouse, a pirate couple, a bear couple, a bunny couple, etc. The two pitiful children were so cute that the sales girls were even happy to spend their time with them. They praised the children open-mindedly.
"Ma'am, your children are so cute. They are too perfect."
"Madam is blessed."
"I wish I had siblings like them. They are just too cute."
"I started to fall in love with them."
Without realizing, she made the two kids exhausted. Finally, around two in the afternoon, Ma Rui decided to have lunch. She took the kids to a luxurious restaurant. "I'm going to order. Xiao Luo, what do you want to eat?"
"Anything is fine," Han Luo happily replied.
Ma Rui then asked her son, "Xiao Yuan, what about you?"
Mo Yuan stayed silent. 'I regret coming here.' He felt paralyzed by his extreme weariness. He was very annoyed at first, yet seeing Han Luo's joyous expression for the first time made him a bit relaxed. She was always happy and cheerful, but this was the first time Little Luo looked livelier than usual. Then there was him – whose presence always made her timid and quiet. Ma Rui was luckily able to loosen her up.
After finishing their lunch, Ma Rui offered, "Let's go and watch some movies."
"I'll pass," Mo Yuan directly declined without even considering his mother's request.
"But why? We never watch movies together…" Ma Rui pouted. She was such a romantic woman, and she didn't know why her son ended up like this.
"She looks tired." Mo Yuan pointed at Han Luo.
Ma Rui then noticed that Han Luo was dozing off. The little girl drowned in fatigue after trying on so many outfits in a single day; the energetic mother was too excited to notice that before. She looked at her son and smirked. "Aren't you caring? My heart is melting."
Mo Yuan scowled and stood up. "Let's go home."
"All right, all right." Ma Rui carried Han Luo and laid her down in the back seat while Mo Yuan sat in the front passenger seat. Ma Rui helped her son to buckle up before they drove off.
The mother believed that in the next few days, she would have lots of fun with the kids.. She couldn't wait for tomorrow.