Chapter 579: Pre-Wedding Jitters
Ever since Yin Yang left, Xu Mumu has been taking the little one everywhere to play, even visiting Professor Song’s classroom twice during their lectures.
While she enjoys going out every day, she wishes she could spend more time in the lab, but the little one is still too young, and she doesn’t trust leaving the child with others.
Watching the children at home preparing for the high school exams, working hard each day, Xu Mumu brings Doudou over not just to cheer for them, but also to impart some of her own experiences.
Even though they’ve done many exercises, with piles of papers stacked high.
But it’s the high school exams; they don’t dare get careless. The teacher has shared many examples of students who were top performers but didn’t do well during exams; they don’t want to make mistakes during the high school exams.
They’ve also tackled many previous years’ exam papers. Xu Mumu, with her child in arms and nothing much to do, shares her high school exam experiences. Having taken them twice over two lifetimes, she’s quite seasoned and never faltered.
The kids trust her greatly and follow her advice in their studies.
Xu Mumu specifically asked them about their goals. Aside from Xu Minglei and Tiedan wanting to go to National Defense University, Xu Jiaojiao wants to study foreign languages; her foreign language scores are outstanding. Xu Tao is relatively weaker, but his target surprised Xu Mumu; he wants to attend the Political Science and Law University.
Besides these, Xu Xue, being slightly older, is planning to study geography.
Their dreams are quite ambitious, and Xu Mumu didn’t offer any opinions. With their grades, as long as they perform consistently, they should have no problem selecting from the best schools nationwide.
As for underperforming, they’d have nobody to blame but themselves.
With the big sister’s guidance, the kids felt considerably less pressured, making their reviews less anxious and significantly more efficient.
The children engrossed in their studies didn’t notice any changes; it was Xu Mumu who sensed them but didn’t speak up.
As the high school exams approached, the Xu family’s meals improved vastly; Madam Chen would return early daily to prepare dishes for the children. Seeing her grandchildren working so hard, growing thinner, she tried various ways to make tasty food for them; unfortunately, they didn’t gain any weight.
Since Yin Yang left, Xu Mumu has been calling him every day, finding out about his whereabouts, experiences, and if anyone is bothering him.
Yin Yang patiently answers her every time, and their conversations often last long.
Xu Mumu finds it tough here; likewise, Song Jiayan at the Red River Team is having a hard time.
Her mother-in-law constantly opposes her, criticizes her, and orders her around; she barely finds time to check if Yin Yang has returned.
Post-pregnancy she barely got any better, now she’s back to being worn out, thanks to that wicked old lady.
Looking at herself in the water basin, Song Jiayan is furious; she’s determined to leave this family and live a good life.
She secretly waits at the lab and manor several times, but neither Yin Yang nor Xu Mumu returns, leaving her disappointed.
Soon she regains her spirits; her current appearance doesn’t please her. Once she exits Zhao Dashan’s household, she’ll restore herself to her original state; she’s confident she isn’t inferior to Xu Mumu.
Thinking about how Xu Mumu gave Yin Yang a son, Song Jiayan feels some jealousy.
Xu Mumu, unaware of the envy towards her, simply feels a bit lonely with Yin Yang out of the house.
Luckily, when holidays come, Yu Xinyao visits, delighting especially in Doudou; she has already brought over many gifts for him, primarily for Doudou.
"Why are you here again aren’t you going to find Huo Qingze?" During three consecutive holiday weeks, Yu Xinyao spent her time at Xu Mumu’s place, which left Xu Mumu a bit helpless; every time Huo Qingze came to pick up Yu Xinyao, she would notice his pitiful gaze.
A once cool and handsome man, now a bit of a domineering presence. His distressed look gives Xu Mumu goosebumps.
"Today I have some issues and came to talk to you; you wouldn’t be kicking me out, right?" Yu Xinyao shakes a rattle at the little one, who is fond of all kinds of sounds, especially the crisp and pleasant sound of the rattle.
"What’s up?" Xu Mumu curiously asks, "Here, try Madam Chun’s pastries." Xu Mumu pushes the pastry plate towards Yu Xinyao.
"It’s about the wedding between me and Brother Qingze. My mom wants us to hurry up and get married; we’re not young anymore." Yu Xinyao’s face flushes slightly.
"And what did the two of you discuss?" Xu Mumu’s interest piqued.
"Well, it’s just like that. Brother Qingze actually wants to marry sooner; delaying is definitely not an option." Yu Xinyao’s face gets even redder.
"Tsk tsk, seeing you like this, no objections, eh? Then hurry up and get married, seeing as you adore Doudou, go have your own kid quickly too." Xu Mumu says with a grin.
"Yeah, I want to get married too, having dated for so long, the family keeps urging us; I just feel a bit anxious, marrying is entirely different from dating." Yu Xinyao sighs softly.
"What are you thinking all day? I don’t see much difference myself." Xu Mumu is calm.
"Brother Qingze is so busy, we live in different places, our common topics will decrease; I heard many men lose interest in their wives post-marriage, take them for granted, and expect them to serve the whole family..." Yu Xinyao continues to voice many concerns.
Xu Mumu twitches at her worries — is this pre-marital jitters?
Huo Qingze is still trustworthy, she believes Huo Qingze isn’t like that, given his strained relations with his father, he’s practically a lone wolf; Yu Xinyao is overthinking.
As for finding common topics, that’s not difficult; post-marriage, some overlap occurs in living and work. Even without that, they might have children in the future, which acts as a bond for couples. As long as both work on the relationship, the situations Yu Xinyao worries about won’t arise.
Seeing Yu Xinyao almost done venting, Xu Mumu pours her a cup of floral tea.
"Have some water; you’re just overthinking. You’ve known Huo Qingze so long, still unsure his character? You both are mature; he won’t do the things you mentioned." Xu Mumu says helplessly.
"How can people never change?" Yu Xinyao pouts, sets down the rattle, grabs the water, and drinks — having said so much, she indeed is a bit thirsty.
