Cui Xuemei thoroughly enjoyed her praise.
She had lived an unremarkable life, with nothing much to show for it, except Chu Ci...
Chu Ci was her claim to bragging rights.
"Our Cici takes after me. He was born with good looks."
Cui Xuemei lowered her gaze to her tiles and smiled.
That was true enough. Cui Xuemei had beautiful features, and even now, in her forties, her smile still held the distinctive charm of a beauty.
When Cui Xuemei was young, she had countless suitors. Chu Ci's father, Chu Guoqiang, had been one of them.
Chu Guoqiang was not particularly handsome, his family was not particularly wealthy, and he was not particularly well educated, but he was willing to give. The other men had pursued Cui Xuemei just for fun. Only Chu Guoqiang had genuinely wanted to marry her.
Moved by him, Cui Xuemei had married him.
Unfortunately, poverty made everything miserable for a married couple.
After their marriage, Cui Xuemei and Chu Guoqiang had fought countless times over money. What little affection they had shared had vanished amid one argument after another.
After Chu Ci started sending Cui Xuemei money, she experienced what it meant to "hold her head high" for the first time. Every time she played mahjong, she would repeat Chu Ci's name and accomplishments a hundred times, a thousand times. Cui Xuemei thoroughly enjoyed everyone's envious looks.
Everyone knew Cui Xuemei had a celebrity son.
Cui Xuemei was terrible at mahjong, yet she loved playing. To her fellow players, she was the classic fool with money to burn. To win more money from her, they did not mind flattering her a little more in their everyday dealings.
Just like now-
When Cui Xuemei said Chu Ci had inherited her good looks, the woman opposite her smiled and replied, "Who doesn't know you were a famous beauty for miles around when you were young..."
The smile in Cui Xuemei's eyes deepened.
How could Cui Xuemei not know these people were deliberately flattering her? But she did not care. In fact, she enjoyed it.
After all, with a living money tree like Chu Ci, there would always be money in her bank account.
"Sister Xuemei, could you give me your Cici's contact details? After watching your Chu Ci's livestream, my daughter really, really, really likes him..."
After the livestream of Let's Fall in Love ended, Chu Ci's fanbase had grown several times over. Malicious comments about him online had dwindled, replaced by unanimous praise.
More and more people had learned the name Chu Ci through Let's Fall in Love and had come to like him.
Among them was the daughter of the woman sitting before Cui Xuemei in the turn order.
After learning that her mother played mahjong with Chu Ci's mother, she had asked for Chu Ci's contact details.
"Well..."
Ever since learning Chu Ci had become a celebrity, Cui Xuemei had felt she and her mahjong friends were no longer in the same social class. In her view, Chu Ci would certainly marry a wealthy heiress, and she herself would move to the city to enjoy a comfortable life. How could these women's daughters possibly be worthy of Chu Ci?
"As you know, celebrities have special rules."
Cui Xuemei made up an excuse at random. "They can't just give out their contact details, or it counts as a breach of contract. And a breach means paying astronomical penalties..."
The women who played mahjong with Cui Xuemei rarely went online and knew nothing about the rules celebrities had to follow. At Cui Xuemei's explanation, the woman before her in the turn order widened her eyes. "There's a rule like that? How much is an astronomical penalty?"
"I'm not too sure myself."
Recalling news she had once seen online, Cui Xuemei ventured, "Maybe a few million, or tens of millions..."
The staggering figures frightened everyone at the table.
Especially the woman who had asked Cui Xuemei for his contact details. She murmured in disbelief, "Good heavens..."
Even if she emptied out all her family's savings, she could never come up with that much money.
"I'm refusing to give you his contact details for your own good."
Cui Xuemei sighed. "After all, your family couldn't come up with that much money either, could you..."
The woman before Cui Xuemei in the turn order looked at her gratefully.
Just then, someone suddenly opened the door.
At the same time, a young man's clear voice reached everyone's ears along with the sound of the door opening. "How come I didn't know giving out contact details meant paying a contract penalty?"
It was Chu Ci.
Looking at Cui Xuemei, he raised his eyebrows slightly. "Mom, I don't remember the company having any rule against giving out contact details. You simply don't want to give them to this auntie, do you?"
Chu Ci exposed Cui Xuemei's lie without mercy.
"As for the reason..."
Watching Cui Xuemei's ugly expression, Chu Ci casually drew out his words. "You're hoping I can marry into a powerful family in the capital, so you don't want me getting too involved with this auntie's daughter. Am I right?"
"Well, then..."
Hearing Chu Ci's words, the woman before Cui Xuemei in the turn order erupted in anger. "I thought you were being kind enough to warn me. Turns out you just look down on our family."
"I don't..."
Cui Xuemei had never expected the first thing Chu Ci said upon entering to be an exposure of her lie. At a loss, she said, "I remembered wrong. I thought his company didn't let him give out his contact details freely."
"You know perfectly well whether you remembered wrong or did it on purpose."
Chu Ci took out his phone and opened WeChat with a smile. "I'll give you my contact details, and you can send them to your daughter..."
Thanks to Lele's explanations, Chu Ci had largely figured out how to use a "phone," including how to find his own WeChat ID and add other people as friends.
"My daughter will be so happy."
The woman had not expected Chu Ci to be so approachable, and she put the matter of Cui Xuemei aside for the moment.
"Please pass on my thanks to her for liking me."
Chu Ci had caught a few scattered remarks at the door.
Those included the auntie's daughter asking her to get his contact details, as well as her daughter saying that after watching the livestream, she really, really, really liked him.
"Of course, of course."
The woman could not stop smiling.
Cui Xuemei felt there was something unfamiliar about the Chu Ci before her, and an inexplicable unease arose in her heart. "Cici, didn't you come to bring me money this time? Where is it?"
She instinctively swallowed.
"Money?"
Chu Ci raised his eyebrows slightly. "Since you've brought it up, let's settle some accounts."
It was clearly still the same familiar face, the same familiar appearance, yet Cui Xuemei could not shake the feeling that something about the Chu Ci before her had changed.
"Wh-what accounts?"
Cui Xuemei stammered.