Chapter 21

Chen Li found it strange. Given Li Hao’s personality, he wasn’t very popular with the leaders. How could a leader come to their house, especially at this time of night?
But Chen Li still got up quickly, put on a coat, and came out.
Before Li Hao could introduce him properly, Mo Qing spoke directly, “No need for tea. My wife and I are here to take Ling Mo away.”
“Ling… Ling Mo…” Chen Li was surprised.
Li Hao was also stunned, “This… leader, you and Ling Mo…”
“Ling Mo’s father is my brother. Since you don’t intend to treat the child well, I’m taking him away! We’ll take care of him!”
Mo Qing received a call from his son at around 8 pm, saying that Ling Mo had been beaten by his uncle at home. Without a word, Mo Qing drove all night from the neighboring city to get back.
But Chen Li immediately realized the situation. If they let Ling Mo go, who knows what rumors would spread.
“It’s so late, let’s talk about it tomorrow morning! The child is asleep, isn’t he?” Chen Li smiled, but her heart was filled with disbelief!
It turned out that the parent of the child who she had been trying to get in touch with was Mo Xiaobai’s father! Now it’s good, Li Yuanhang and Mo Xiaobai are like fire and water at school! Li Hao won’t be able to get transferred back to the city!
“It’s not late yet. Where’s the child?” Mo Qing was straightforward. Hearing that Ling Mo had been beaten, he didn’t intend to hold back at all.
Chen Li and Li Hao’s faces turned pale. If this couple found out that Ling Mo hadn’t even come home, how could they explain it?
“Tell me! Where’s Ling Mo?” Mo Qing glared at Li Hao, his forehead veins bulging, scaring Li Hao speechless.
At this moment, the door upstairs opened, and it was Director Jiang, “The child is with me. Are you his teachers?”
Liang Ru immediately stepped out of the door, raising her head, “We’re not his teachers, we are friends of his father, and we’re also parents of his classmate!”
“Oh, you’re the parents of that little fat guy?”
“Yes, yes!”
Ling Mo came down from upstairs. When he saw Mo Qing and Liang Ru, he showed a slight look of surprise.
“Auntie Liang, Uncle Mo… aren’t you out of town?”
“We’re here to take you away!” Liang Ru didn’t hold back, “I’m going in to pack Ling Mo’s things now.”
“This…” Chen Li was very embarrassed.
This couple came running over late at night, their purpose was obvious. They were highly educated intellectuals, and they were familiar with Ling Mo’s father. What if they listened to Ling Mo and caused trouble for them?
“What? No? Do you want me to come here every day to see the child?” Mo Qing glared at Li Hao, and Li Hao immediately softened.
“You’re the leader of the leader, if you say the child should go, then he should go… Or should I help you send the child over? How dare I trouble the leader!”
Ling Mo stood there, and Director Jiang behind him asked in a low voice, “Is there something wrong with this couple?”
“They’re fine… they’re good people…”
Director Jiang immediately sensed the choking in Ling Mo’s voice.
“Then go quickly. Adults have to go to work tomorrow.”
Ling Mo opened the door, and Liang Ru directly pushed past Chen Li. As soon as she entered Ling Mo’s room, she was stunned. She had heard her son say that Ling Mo lived in the storage room, but Liang Ru thought it was just a small room. Now she saw that it wasn’t just small, it was stuffy and hot in the summer without a fan, and it wasn’t warm in the winter. How could a child live here!
Liang Ru patted Ling Mo on the shoulder and said, “You go pack your textbooks and homework, Auntie will pack your clothes for you.”
Ling Mo was about to say that he would do it himself, but Liang Ru had already opened the closet.
Looking at the neatly folded clothes, Liang Ru opened the luggage bag she had prepared and put the clothes inside. Ling Mo didn’t have many things, and the luggage bag wasn’t even full.
“Auntie… why did you put everything in?”
“It’s more than a year before the middle school entrance exam. If you can take it, take it all.”
When Liang Ru said that, Ling Mo understood what she meant.
“Auntie, this…”
“The middle school entrance exam is not as important as the college entrance exam, but it’s a turning point in your life. Don’t waste the most precious time of your life fighting with people who are not on the same level as you.” Liang Ru opened Ling Mo’s drawer again and saw a photo of Ling Mo’s father and mother when they were young. Without a word, she put the photo in the bag.
Ling Mo stood there, tears unknowingly falling, but he didn’t realize it.
Liang Ru quickly wiped them away, “What are you doing, you’re still young. You’re crying, our Xiaobai got 35 on his math test and he’s still happy, he’s full of nonsense!”
A few minutes later, Liang Ru was carrying the luggage bag, and Ling Mo was carrying his schoolbag, and they walked into the living room.
Mo Qing got up, took the luggage bag from his wife, and then frowned, “So light?”
“I packed everything. You don’t expect me to take pots and pans too, do you?”
Li Hao remembered that he had to make things clear to Ling Mo. When he got to Mo’s house, he couldn’t say anything bad about him. He was about to grab Ling Mo’s arm when he heard Ling Mo groan.
Mo Qing looked over and saw a patch of red on Ling Mo’s arm. He immediately raised his voice, “What happened!”
Li Hao immediately let go of Ling Mo’s arm.
“I got burned accidentally, Uncle Mo, don’t worry.”
“Okay, let your Auntie Liang take care of you, I won’t worry anymore.” Mo Qing finished, then glared fiercely at Li Hao, “If someone deliberately burned Ling Mo, I’ll make him pay!”
The momentum made Li Hao tremble. He thought: I’m finished at the factory!
Mo Qing looked up and saw Director Jiang standing at the top of the stairs. Director Jiang walked down and handed a piece of paper to Mo Qing. It was a certificate from the hospital, stating that Ling Mo had been treated for a burn on a certain date.
“Thank you.” Mo Qing nodded. He understood that Director Jiang gave him this certificate to make Chen Li and her husband afraid of him.
Once in the car, Liang Ru kept looking at Ling Mo’s injury and discussed with Mo Qing whether they should go to a bigger hospital for a check-up.
Ling Mo had to speak up, “Uncle and Auntie, my injury is fine, it’s just red, no blisters. Xiaobai is still waiting at home!”
“He? My wife and I are not there, he must be happily watching TV secretly.”
“It’s so late, there’s no TV he likes to watch.” Ling Mo said.
“Who said there isn’t? ‘The Return of the Condor Heroes’! Every time I turn the TV to CCTV, whenever I work late and come back, I turn on the TV and it’s always on that channel!”
“Forget it. While I’m not here, Xiaomo, you help Uncle and Auntie watch Xiaobai. He’s really not a worry. He got 30-something on his math test and he’s still watching TV…”
Ling Mo listened to Mo Qing and his wife complain about their son all the way back to Mo’s house.
As soon as they opened the door, Qu Yun ran out, “Ling Mo! You’re here!”
“Why aren’t you asleep yet?” Liang Ru was surprised, but she went to the TV and touched the back of the TV with her hand.
“I’m waiting for you to bring Ling Mo back!” Qu Yun said as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
Just as Qu Yun was about to give Ling Mo a bear hug, and a big one at that, Liang Ru reached out to stop him, “Ling Mo’s arm is burned, don’t cause trouble!”
“Ah? Burned? Is it serious?” Qu Yun immediately reached out to lift his arm.
“It’s fine. It’ll be better tomorrow.” Ling Mo raised his hand and touched Qu Yun’s head.
“Then Ling Mo, go take a shower, don’t touch the burn on your arm. When you’re done, Auntie will bandage it for you.” Liang Ru instructed her son, “You, take care of Ling Mo’s luggage.”
“Okay!”
Before Ling Mo could reach out, Qu Yun picked up Ling Mo’s luggage bag and went inside.
Mo Qing walked to Liang Ru’s side and asked, “Did he watch TV again?”
“This time he didn’t. The back of the TV is cold.”
Qu Yun heard this and couldn’t help but smile secretly. He really thought he was the old Mo Xiaobai. He now had more important things to do than watch TV!
Now, he was on the right track to getting closer to Ling Mo, but he had to thank Mo Qing and Liang Ru for their support.
After taking a shower, Ling Mo came to Liang Ru and Mo Qing’s room to treat the burn.
“Auntie, I have something to ask you.”
“What is it?” Liang Ru asked as she applied medicine to him.
Ling Mo handed a passbook to Liang Ru, and Mo Qing was also stunned.
“My parents left behind two passbooks. One passbook was the money my grandparents left behind when they passed away. My aunt is their blood, so I gave her that passbook. She always thought it was my parents’ inheritance. This one is my parents’ real deposit.” Ling Mo handed the passbook to Liang Ru.
Liang Ru didn’t even look at it and pushed it back to Ling Mo.
“Your parents’ property, you keep it well. Why give it to me?”
“Auntie is an accountant, you must be good at managing assets. If this money is left in the passbook, in a few years, I don’t know if it will be enough for me to go to college.”
Liang Ru and Mo Qing looked at each other. They finally felt the difference between Ling Mo and Mo Xiaobai. Ling Mo would plan everything early, which is what is called “foresight,” different from children of the same age who only know how to struggle with their studies and go in and out of game arcades.
“Okay, I’ll manage this money for you. Whether it’s financial management or investing in any safe projects, I’ll discuss it with you.” Liang Ru opened the passbook and was stunned. It contained 500,000 yuan. This was a huge sum of money in that era.

“This isn’t just my parents’ salary. Back then, my father invested 20,000 yuan in a friend of his who went to Brazil to run a timber business. Later, his friend’s business took off, and he gave our family dividends every year. Later, that uncle’s health was not good, so he sold the company and transferred that part of the money to us according to the shareholding ratio.” Ling Mo explained the origin of the money in the passbook calmly.