Chapter 52: Enemies on a Narrow Road

As soon as Qiao Mulan heard that voice, her originally good mood darkened. A frown creased her forehead as she turned to the speaker. Two middle-aged women walked over together. One was the first lady, wife of the head of Federation. The other one was the wife of the leader of Wu Family, which hadn’t been on good terms with Jiang Family. Right now, Mrs. Wu was holding first lady by the arm with affection and the first lady wore an appropriate faint smile. Though Mrs. Wu was also smiling, it became an uncomfortable one after she saw Qiao Mulan. Wu Family was a second-tier family in the capital star. There were only three first-tier families except for the one of the head of Federation. Only when a first-tier family stepped down or a second-tier family was powerful enough to get ahead of a first-tier one would a second-tier family be able to get in first-tier. Wu Family was the most powerful second-tier family. If Jiang Family fell, it would be the most possible family to become first-tier. Therefore, Wu Family, which wasn’t a friend of Jiang Family, was now even more unpleasant about it. It wished that Jiang Mosheng would die sooner so that it could take Jiang Family’s place as soon as possible. Qiao Mulan was clear about what Wu Family was up to. Every time she thought that Wu Family wanted her son dead, she would shiver all over with rage. However, that was the past. Now that her son was recovering, she was in a good mood. Therefore, even when she met Mrs. Wu, she didn’t bother to even talk to her since no matter what she did, Wu Family would remain a second-tier family. Having been totally ignored by Qiao Mulan, Mrs. Wu took it as a slap on her face. She was so angry that she didn’t speak with careful diction. “Mrs. Jiang, ever since Young General Jiang’s incident, you’ve shut yourself away from the world to take care of your son. Why do you have the mood to shop now? Has Young General Jiang... Have you given up on him?” Putting on a show of surprise, Mrs. Wu left her sentence unfinished to stir further imagination. Ever since Jiang Mosheng’s incident, Qiao Mulan had devoted almost all her attention to her son. Seldom would she go out, which wasn’t a secret in the upper-class society. The shop they were in now wasn’t big but had a high reputation. Average people couldn’t afford clothes here. Customers that would frequent it were from wealthy and powerful families, who had heard of gossips about large families. At first, all eyes were on Yu Jinli so nobody thought about Jiang Mosheng. Now that Mrs. Wu had mentioned him, everyone started to wonder whether something bad had happened to him so that Mrs. Jiang had given up on him and didn’t stay at home to take care of him. Noticing the change of atmosphere in the shop, Qiao Mulan turned to Mrs. Wu more coldly. It was a good thing that her son was recovering. However, it didn’t mean others could make wishful guesses, especially evil ones. It was no good than a curse on her son. But she wasn’t angry enough to start a fight. Her manners wouldn’t let her. “Mrs. Wu, rather than make random guesses, it’d be better if you put more effort into advancing your family. If you are as devoted to your family, Wu Family might be better than it is now,” said Qiao Mulan calmly, with every word striking a raw nerve. Now Jiang Family was still a first-tier family. As long as it stood, Wu Family was inferior to it. Mrs. Wu’s beautiful hands clasped together, twisted. She wished she could go to Qiao Mulan and scratch her pretty face bloody. Mrs. Wu was of similar age as Qiao Mulan but didn’t look so. Though almost 80, Qiao Mulan looked like a woman in her 20s while Mrs. Wu was more of a middle-aged woman. Every time the two were together, Mrs. Wu would be taken as a senior of Qiao Mulan. How could she not hate her? With the advance of technology, human’s life span was prolonged. Normally, a person could live 300 years. Therefore, an 80-year-old was considered young in this interstellar age. “Mom, what do you think about this?” Having changed into a white bunny onesie, Yu Jinli walked out of the fitting room excitedly and jumped towards Qiao Mulan, showing off his new outfit. Qiao Mulan’s originally dampened mood disappeared completely after she saw him. Always generous with her praise, she said: “My Little Chestnut, you look good in everything.” “Oh, no wonder you are in the mood for shopping. You’ve had another child. Now even if you lose your first one, you have a back-up plan. Well done on hiding it from everyone and finding yourself a solution.” Having seen Yu Jinli, Mrs. Wu went full out with her sarcasm. Though Yu Jinli didn’t know what happened when he was in the fitting room, the way Mrs. Wu talked to mom and her malicious tone made him uncomfortable. Tugging at Qiao Mulan’s sleeve, he asked in a small voice: “Mom, who is that old lady?” “Old lady? Who do you think you are talking about? Watch your manners. Is that what your parents have taught you?” Having been called an old lady, Mrs. Wu’s face twisted. She wished she could give that boy a good beating. That brat must have said that on purpose. However, Yu Jinli wasn’t to blame since Qiao Mulan did look young while Mrs. Wu who wasn’t exactly old did seem older than Qiao Mulan was in comparison. Therefore, he naturally called someone that looked older than his mom an old lady. Having been scolded by Mrs. Wu, Yu Jinli suddenly felt he was unfairly treated, not knowing where he did wrong at all. “Well, I’m curious about the manners of your family however, Mrs. Wu. I’ve heard that you came from a family of scholar before you were married. How come you’ve turned into a shrew after you were married? Didn’t the leader of Wu Family teach you any manners?” Pulling Yu Jinli behind her, Qiao Mulan looked at Mrs. Wu sharply and said with a cold tone. At first, she didn’t want to argue with Mrs. Wu at all. However, now that Mrs. Wu had scared her son-in-law, she wouldn’t let her off easily. As soon as Qiao Mulan finished talking, the crowd broke into loud laughter which left Mrs. Wu so angry and embarrassed that she went forward, wanting to strike but was stopped by the first lady. “That’s enough,” scolded the first lady in a small voice. She didn’t like Qiao Mulan either, but it wasn’t proper for people like them to quarrel in public. Though she hadn’t been a part of it, since she came with Mrs. Wu, she felt embarrassed as well. Besides, Qiao Mulan was still the lady of Jiang Family. As long as Jiang Family stood strong, she couldn’t have an open quarrel with her so all she could do was to stop Mrs. Wu. Now that the first lady didn’t back her up, Mrs. Wu was even angrier. But she could do nothing about it. She didn’t dare to irritate the first lady at all for her family needed the support of the head of Federation before it could become a first-tier family. So, she simply glared at Qiao Mulan and left with the first lady. She wondered how long would Jiang Family stand. After she became a lady of a first-tier family, she wouldn’t let that little bitch Qiao Mulan off. Having sent away the unpleasant women, Qiao Mulan waved her hand happily. She bought every set of onesie she liked and had them delivered to Jiang Family. “Why isn’t there a baby fish onesie?” Having gone through all the clothes in the shop, Yu Jinli had found onesies of all kinds of animals whether he knew or didn’t, except for fish ones. What’s wrong with baby fish? Baby fish is adorable. Why isn’t there a baby fish onesie? “Little Chestnut, you like baby fish?” asked Qiao Mulan gently. She was a totally different person from when she was in front of Mrs. Wu. “Mm, baby fish is cute. It swims,” said Yu Jinli excitedly, his eyes glinting. He recalled when he was a koi fish, living in a large lake, with a lot of friends. Days passed in swimming competitions or rest under lotus leaves in the sun. He enjoyed it. After he went living among humans, from time to time, he would turn back into a koi fish when he would stay in a beautiful fish tank his master shifu prepared for him or taken back to the lake he once lived. The thought of his past gave him a wider smile. With the bunny onesie he was in, he looked even cuter. However, that didn’t last. Perhaps it was because of the thought of his new body in this world and a low level of cultivation which made him unable to turn back into a koi fish, the reason that he hadn’t had a good swim in a long time. Qiao Mulan couldn’t bear to see Yu Jinli in a bad mood. The moment she saw him unhappy, she wished she could give him the best of everything in the world for him to be happy. A baby fish onesie? Buy it! There isn’t a baby fish onesie? Then let me have several baby fish onesies made to order so that Little Chestnut can wear whichever he wants to! Therefore, Qiao Mulan experienced a sense of achievement of buying her kid stuff. Whenever her baby grinned at her, her heart melted. “Baby fish onesies will take a few days and will be delivered to our home as soon as possible. You can wear these for a while,” said Qiao Mulan in a tender voice. “Mm, thank you, mom,” said Yu Jinli happily. Though he couldn’t turn back to a koi fish yet, he was happy enough to have koi fish onesies. Qiao Mulan then took Yu Jinli to another shop. She acted as if she wanted to move this mall back to her home. When the two returned home, it was almost dinner time. Noticing how late it was, Yu Jinli didn’t go upstairs to Jiang Mosheng and went directly to the kitchen to prepare all the ingredients he needed for live stream later.