Mo Jingzhe had read some pages in the Art of cooking green tea and in the book, rules had been listed out for a green tea man or woman.
Rule 4: You are gold, your opponent is dirt. Always compare yourself to a worse person so that your target chooses you.
Mo Jingzhe thought it was better suited for the situation that some of the other rules, like rule number one.
Rule 1: You are a baby. Your legs should be fifty percent butter and fifty percent bone, every few steps you take you should stumble and fall.
Jingzhe was certain that rule number four was going to work and he waited in anticipation for Mei-Mei to choose him.
"Well..." Mei-Mei thought about the proper wording that she could use to educate her daughter while making green tea happy.
"Host, is this really a question, even I would make a better father for Mingzhu than Mo Liang. There is nobody here anyway so you can choose him freely." C4 chimed in, sharing his opinion in a tone that was just short of calling her stupid again.
"Well, you are obviously the better choice." She told Mo Jingzhe. "But...."
She could hardly continue explaining that it was inappropriate when Mei-Mei and Jingzhe were celebrating loudly as if this was a victory and she had approved of the change.
"Dad." Mingzhu shouted.
"Yes." Jingzhe responded loudly.
"Dad." Mingzhu shouted again.
"Yes," Jingzhe responded in the same enthusiastic manner.
Mei-Mei had no words, she went back to the task of unpacking which she could tell was going to take them a very long time. In addition to unpacking, there was cleaning to do.
Two hours later, they were still at it. They had managed to clean the living room, the kitchen and one bedroom. Exhaustion and hunger were eating away at them already.
"It will take us a week to get this done." Mei-Mei groaned, falling on a couch and yawning.
Mingzhu observed how her mother had fallen and she did the same. "Mingzhu is tired mommy." She yawned as well. "Mingzhu will go to bed after eating. She will not be taking a bath because she is allergic to water today. Mingzhu has decided."
"No." Mei-Mei raised her head and said to her daughter.
"But Mingzhu has decided." The little girl whined.
Mei-Mei would not here of it. "Mingzhu is not the parent here, I am and I say that she is not allergic to water. She is just lazy."
She sat up and yawned again. As the parent, she could not afford to be lazy as she had a daughter to feed. They had no fresh groceries or edible food in the house.
She wanted to order for food but the problem was her daughter that was very picky when it came to what went on her plate. It was not because she was spoiled but because she could not eat spicy food and was truly allergic to pork of all things!
As if Mo Jingzhe could read Mei-Mei's mind, he grabbed a car key and shouted out. "I will go and buy groceries and also cook. You two lovely ladies should bathe and relax."
Mingzhu raised her head and shouted. "Dad, Mingzhu wants candy."
"No." Mei-Mei yelled out.
Mingzhu also had a gelatin allergy, it was not so serious but certain candies, yogurts and desserts could affect her. Every year, she had to get a shot that controlled her allergies, but even with the shot, they had to be careful and control the in take of the foods Mingzhu was allergic to.
Unfortunately for Mei-Mei. Mingzhu had been born with a stubborn streak. If she saw a candy she wanted to eat, she would find a way of eating it no matter the consequences.
One time she had come home with a rash and swollen lips. When Mei-Mei asked her why she had eaten the marshmallows knowing that she was allergic to them. Mingzhu had shrugged and answered, "Mingzhu really wanted a taste."
Mei-Mei knew that her father had a candy factory that produced special candies for only her mother, mostly lemon varieties. She had considered asking him to add Mei-Mei to the list but whenever she recalled the look of betrayal and disappointment in his eyes when she chose Mo Liang over the family, she could not bring herself to ask for anything from him.
She dragged herself off the couch and picked up her daughter.
"Come on lazy bones, take a bath with mommy."
"Is it warm water?" Mingzhu asked.
Mei-Mei nodded.
Mingzhu wrapped her arms around Mei-Mei's neck and smiled. "Okay, Mingzhu is not allergic anymore."
*********
Mo Jingzhe's grocery run did not take him to a grocery store or any supermarket around. Instead, he took a flying car to another house in the neighborhood, just ten houses away from Mei-Mei's house.
He was welcomed by a line of servants that escorted him inside and then they proceeded to empty the fridge and pack all of the contents.
"You kid, so you know how to find your way back home." A middle aged woman walked into the kitchen while he was inspecting the fresh goat ribs that had been delivered in the morning.
"Good evening mom." Mo Jingzhe abandoned his inspection and gave the woman a hug.
The woman he addressed as mother was Feng Qi, his adoptive mother. Even though he had been taken back to the Mo family, she had found ways to keep in touch with him. Many times, Jingzhe had run away from the Mo family and gone back to her.
When he was beaten by Mo Liang or Mrs. Sun and hospitalized, it was his mother Feng Qi that took care of him and nursed him back to health. She had even got different jobs at his schools through the years to keep an eye on him and take care of him.
When he was in juvenile detention, she visited twice a week and if regulations had allowed daily visits, she would have visited everyday.
Mo Jingzhe had never forgotten the love and dedication of his mother Feng Qi so when he made money, he bought her the house they were living in and hired a dozen servants to take care of everything.
"Mom, guess what?"
Feng Qi raised her eyebrows curiously, "What is it? You know that I am not good at guessing games."
Mo Jingzhe grinned, leaned down and said, "Your daughter-in-law has moved into her house and I am living with her. It's not just the two of us, we brought Mingzhu as well."
Feng Qi gasped. "Mei-Mei is here and you are living together!! Did you get the marriage certificate?"