Chapter 43
Returning from the Du family’s house in the evening, Xiang Mo and Du Chi went to a nearby shopping mall near the old mansion.
Previously, Xiang Mei had mentioned meeting some old friends during this trip back to the country, but she was actually attending a university alumni event at a five-star hotel the next day. Her friends would all be accompanied by their husbands, and since she was alone, she had asked Xiang Mo to be her plus-one.
Xiang Mo didn’t have any formal wear in his wardrobe, and he wasn’t familiar with suit brands either. Naturally, Du Chi took on the role of an advisor.
“Try on that suit jacket with the notched lapel again.”
In the luxurious brand store, Du Chi sat on the sofa, one leg crossed over the other, fingers interlocked on his lap. He resembled a demanding casting director, examining Xiang Mo from head to toe.
“Is this one not good enough now?” Xiang Mo frowned slightly, not wanting to change into an eighth outfit.
“It lacks character.” Du Chi’s lips parted slightly as he spoke decisively, “Change.”
Well, Xiang Mo really didn’t like shopping.
If he were still single, he could spend this time painting, watching movies, or doing whatever he pleased. Instead, he was here, catering to this dog’s whims.
Du Chi was clearly enjoying this fashion show, and Xiang Mo wasn’t blind; he could tell.
But that’s the magic of love—things you don’t want to do suddenly become something you’re willing to compromise on when your partner is involved.
Of course, Xiang Mo’s compromises weren’t without limits. At least sacrificing some time to indulge this spoiled dog was something he felt was worth doing.
After another change into a pure white suit, a casually dressed middle-aged woman in shorts and jeans entered the store. It was Xiang Mei.
Xiang Mei walked straight to Du Chi and sat down, crossing her arms over her chest, and appraised Xiang Mo. “Have you made your decision?”
“I’ve picked out five sets,” Du Chi said. “Auntie, take a look.”
Xiang Mo didn’t even know which five sets Du Chi had chosen, but that wasn’t the point. He looked at his own mother and asked, “Aren’t you going out for dinner with your best friend?”
“She finished eating and then came here,” Du Chi answered on Xiang Mei’s behalf as if it were only natural, as though this was a question that should’ve been directed at him.
Xiang Mei simply allowed Du Chi to answer for her, completely ignoring Xiang Mo. She turned to Du Chi and asked, “Which five sets? Let me see.”
Xiang Mo had tried on so many suits, and he didn’t expect Du Chi to remember exactly which five sets they were.
Originally, he only wanted to buy one suit for the alumni event tomorrow, but this rich guy insisted on paying and bought all the ones he liked himself.
“Where should we go next?” Xiang Mei linked arms with Du Chi and asked.
“Women’s clothing on the third floor?” Du Chi suggested.
Xiang Mei struck a pose, as if ready to charge forward. “Let’s go!”
With Xiang Mo carrying a bunch of shopping bags behind them, he couldn’t help but wonder how these two had become best friends.
Who’s the husband here? How could they let the wife carry the bags herself?
After shopping to their heart’s content, Xiang Mo and Du Chi carried bags of stuff and accompanied Xiang Mei back to her hotel room.
Tomorrow’s alumni event was being held at this hotel. As they passed the second floor in the elevator, they could see the banquet hall being set up for the event. They caught a glimpse of a sign by the entrance that read “Department of Chinese Alumni Association, ×× University.”
The sign flashed by, and neither of them paid it much attention.
Leaving the hotel, Du Chi asked Xiang Mo, “Do you want me to accompany you tomorrow?”
“No need.” Xiang Mo shook his head. “Aren’t you preparing for your studio’s launch event?”
In the past, Du Chi had received the Fangzheng Award as an individual, but now that he had established his own studio, he needed an opportunity to make his work more widely known.
Meeting Du Chi’s father at the Du family’s villa today was not primarily about Xiang Mo’s art exhibition, but rather about Du Chi’s studio launch event. This was the main focus, which was why Du Chi’s father, who had shown no interest in Xiang Mo, was willing to take time to meet them.
The time and location for the launch event had been set—next weekend at the Fanghe Art Gallery. Over the next week, Du Chi needed to prepare his speech and determine which typeface he would be promoting at the event.
Compared to this, there was nothing more important right now. Xiang Mo naturally felt this way because he and Du Chi were a team.
“I’ll come pick you up after it’s done,” Du Chi said.
The hotel was only about twenty minutes away from their home, but for a couple deeply in love, even those short twenty minutes were too precious to waste.
Xiang Mo’s lips curved up. “Alright.”
The next morning, Xiang Mo arrived at the hotel, checking the time.
He was dressed in a beige suit, the design of the sleeves and the cut of the trousers deviating from traditional formal wear, giving him a youthful yet elegant look.
Walking beside him, Xiang Mei wore a bohemian-style long dress and had a large red flower pinned behind her ear. Compared to the other mature and dignified ladies dressed in formal wear, she looked more like Xiang Mo’s peer.
“Meimei, my God, your son is so handsome!”
As soon as they entered the venue, someone approached them, holding champagne flutes. Xiang Mo still wasn’t used to such crowded settings, so Xiang Mei took two glasses of champagne from a waiter and handed one to him.
“This is my college roommate,” Xiang Mei introduced them, “a talented woman who has published many volumes of poetry.”
Xiang Mo nodded. “Hello, Auntie.”
“Your son isn’t married yet, right? Does he have a partner? I have a relative’s daughter—”
Xiang Mo’s eyebrow twitched imperceptibly. They had only exchanged three sentences, and they were already talking about matchmaking?
“It’s fine.” Xiang Mei waved her hand to interrupt the person. “My son does have a partner, and they have a good relationship.”
After parting ways with this “auntie,” Xiang Mei introduced Xiang Mo to several more people. If Du Chi was socially awkward, then his mother was no slouch either.
Thankfully, only the close roommate brought up matchmaking with Xiang Mei. Other ordinary university alumni mostly just praised Xiang Mo for his youthful handsomeness and didn’t inquire about his love life.
Many of the graduates from the Department of Chinese had done well for themselves. There were authors, scriptwriters, and quite a few teachers among them.
As Xiang Mo navigated the crowd with Xiang Mei, suddenly there was an excited voice behind them. “Senior!”
Xiang Mei turned her head first, her eyes lighting up. “Du Bin!”
The term “senior” had no relevance to Xiang Mo, so he didn’t react upon hearing it. It was only when he heard Xiang Mei’s exclamation that he turned his head to look, albeit leisurely.
But at that glance, his heart almost skipped a beat.
“…Du B—”
Xiang Mo stared at the middle-aged man approaching them. Just yesterday, this man was reserved and hardly spoke a word. He looked like an immovable Buddha. Today, his face was beaming with smiles, as if he were a completely different person.
“Have you heard of Du Bin?” Xiang Mei heard Xiang Mo’s mumbling. “He’s a pretty famous art collector, a junior from my time. We were quite close during our university days.”
Xiang Mo was familiar with this Mr. Du, but what he didn’t know was that this Mr. Du’s last name was actually pronounced as “Du ‘Bin’.”
Silently, he pulled out his phone and opened a chat with Du Chi. He removed the “杜宾” (Du Bin) and replaced it with “老公” (husband).
By this time, Du Bin had approached. Xiang Mo hurriedly put away his phone.
“Senior, it’s been hard to meet you,” Du Bin’s attention was entirely on Xiang Mei. “How long are you planning to stay in China this time?”
“Leaving the day after tomorrow. I owe several articles, so I don’t have much time to relax.”
“I’ve read your articles. They’re as sharp as ever.”
At this point, it seemed that Du Bin finally noticed Xiang Mo’s presence. He had just started saying, “Who is—” when his smile froze on his face.
It wasn’t the displeased or angry kind of frozen. Xiang Mo couldn’t quite put a label on it, but he guessed that perhaps this Mr. Du was experiencing the kind of awkwardness that made you want to pick at your toes.
“This isn’t… the artist Xiang, is it?”
His voice suddenly grew more steady, and the excited expression vanished.
Xiang Mo felt like he saw a joyful dog suddenly realizing someone was taking a photo, immediately switching to a more dignified demeanor.
Like father, like son.
“Do you two know each other?” Xiang Mei looked surprised at the two men.
“He and my son…” Du Bin clearly wasn’t sure if Xiang Mei knew about this, hesitating about whether to bring it up or not.
“Hello, Uncle,” Xiang Mo greeted warmly, then turned to Xiang Mei and said, “He’s Du Chi’s father.”
“What?!” Xiang Mei’s eyes widened, shocked. “Why didn’t you say it earlier?”
Xiang Mo thought, How would I know you two know each other?
“Xiao Xiang.” Du Bin changed his address and his attitude towards Xiang Mo became friendlier. “I wasn’t very attentive yesterday. Don’t take it to heart.”
“Yesterday?” Xiang Mei asked curiously.
“No, Uncle Du,” Xiang Mo said and then turned to Xiang Mei. “We went to Du Chi’s home yesterday.”
Xiang Mei immediately understood what was going on, looked at Du Bin with a furrowed brow, and said, “Du Bin, you little rascal, don’t you dare bully my son.”
“How could I, Senior?” Du Bin chuckled awkwardly and then came over, putting his arm around Xiang Mo’s shoulder. “Xiao Xiang, just entrust the art exhibition to Uncle for you.”
On the other side:
Du Chi, who was in the process of cooking steak, felt his phone vibrate.
He picked it up and saw a photo sent by his wife.
In the picture, there were three people—people he was quite familiar with. However, seeing these three people in the same photo left him utterly puzzled.
Du Chi: “?”—
Du Chi: See, I told you we were destined for each other.
