After sitting down, Mu Lingfeng casually set the bag aside.
Madam Mu asked, "What did you buy?"
"Didn't Mom say my clothes were too plain and told me to get some formal wear? So I had Xiaoxu take me to buy a few suits."
"I told you long ago to get them custom-made, but you wouldn't listen."
The Mu family members all wore clothes custom-tailored by master designers, yet Mu Lingfeng went out and bought ready-made ones. Given his casual attitude, a suit probably cost around a thousand yuan.
"I rarely wear suits anyway, so what's the point of having so many custom-made? When I actually need one, buying a couple is more than enough to get by," Mu Lingfeng said indifferently.
He rarely wore suits indeed. Spending all day at the farm or out in the orchards, how could he possibly wear a suit? He wouldn't even wear particularly nice clothes for fear of ruining them.
"The weather is too hot right now. Just let the people under you handle things; you don't have to do everything yourself. Look at you, you've gotten tanned again." The old lady looked at her grandson's handsome face. "You used to look like a prince charming, but now you're turning into a dark prince charming."
Mu Lingfeng smiled. "Not really. I look in the mirror sometimes, and I don't think I'm that dark."
He looked at his mother. "Mom, Grandma's eightieth birthday is coming up. Have you helped me prepare a gift for her? I've been too busy and haven't had time to get one."
His tone carried a hint of apology at the end.
"I've already prepared it for you. I knew you wouldn't have time to sort out those things, with all your attention focused entirely on those horses, cows, and sheep."
Madam Mu complained about her son. "The only reason Mom was rushing you to get married was because she considered that you're always too busy and don't have anyone to help you manage and arrange these social obligations. But you went ahead and... Oh well, the marriage license is already issued, so there's no use in Mom being dissatisfied."
"Tomorrow night at your grandmother's birthday banquet, bring Zhang Ling over so I can take a look at her."
Zhang Ling?
Mu Lingfeng quickly realized this was his wife.
He only remembered that his wife shared the Zhang family name, but for the life of him, he couldn't recall her actual given name.
He simply couldn't remember the names of people he didn't care about.
"Mom can just go look at her herself. I don't remember what she looks like, so how would I know who's who?"
Mu Lingfeng said, "Regardless of whether she's good or not, she is a daughter of the Zhang family. Since Mom likes daughters of the Zhang family, I married her. Don't urge me to marry again in the future."
Madam Mu was boiling with anger. "She is a daughter of the Zhang family, but she was born to Zhang Mutian and his ex-wife. Zhang Mutian and his ex-wife divorced over twenty years ago, and the father and daughter barely keep in touch normally. She can hardly be considered the eldest young lady of the Zhang family."
"You won't even be able to get a share of the Zhang Group in the future, nor will she be able to help you in business. Besides, Zhang Ling grew up with her mother, so her exposure is limited. She's simply not a match for our Mu family."
"It's all because Zhang Mutian is too cunning. His precious daughter must have looked down on you, yet he still wanted to form a marital alliance with our family, which is why he had his eldest daughter marry you."
Mu Lingfeng said indifferently, "Mom, you're the one who agreed to this, and it was a match strongly promoted by my eldest uncle and aunt. What do you have to complain about?"
"Who I marry doesn't matter. As long as I have a wife, that's enough. Zhang Mutian didn't deceive you either—he sent his daughter over to go on a blind date with me."
Though Zhang Ling lacked her father's favor, it didn't change the fact that she was Zhang Mutian's daughter.
Madam Mu choked back her words.
Having been outmaneuvered by Zhang Mutian, she had gone home and given her eldest brother and sister-in-law a thorough scolding, and her anger still hadn't subsided.
"Besides, if Zhang Mutian's precious daughter looked down on me for being a country bumpkin, even if she really went on a blind date with me, it wouldn't have led anywhere. Even if her father persuaded her to marry me, our marriage wouldn't be happy anyway."
"It's much better to marry someone who won't look down on me. Living our lives together as companions can still be comfortable."
The old lady and her daughter-in-law: "..."
"Grandma, Mom, I'm already married, so please don't set me up on any more blind dates."
The old lady sighed and said, "Since you've already accepted Zhang Ling, what else is there for your mother and me to say?"
"You're a bit slow when it comes to recognizing people and can't even remember what your wife looks like. You need to spend some time interacting with her and getting familiar with her. It would be the joke of the century if a husband and wife met and neither recognized the other."
Mu Lingfeng had plenty of virtues, but his biggest flaw was his terrible facial recognition. When he was taken for a checkup, he was diagnosed with mild prosopagnosia.
It took him a while of spending time with someone to actually remember their face.
Fortunately, it wasn't severe prosopagnosia. If it were severe, even living together day after day would leave him unable to tell who was who.
Mu Lingfeng wanted to say that he and his wife were simply living as companions, but the words died on his lips, and he obediently murmured an assent to keep his grandmother and mother from continuing to nag.
After chatting with his grandmother and mother for a little while, Mu Lingfeng went upstairs to his room, took a shower, collapsed onto the bed, and drifted off to dreamland.
He didn't have much of a social life. Unlike his younger brothers, who always managed to round up three or five friends to go play whenever they were off work—either playing ball or heading out to sea—his schedule wasn't packed with entertainment.
He simply loved riding horses and tending to his cows and sheep.
Occasionally, he would inspect his other businesses, keeping his days busy and fulfilling without much time left for going out to play.
When he actually managed some rare leisure time, he usually went to play chess with the god of dreams.
The day passed quickly.
The next day, as usual, Zhang Ling first went to the hospital to visit her mother. Since her mother was still not well enough to leave the intensive care unit, Zhang Ling only needed to visit during regular visiting hours and didn't have to stay at the hospital the rest of the time.
Leaving the hospital, she headed to her shop. The renovation workers had started work today, so Zhang Ling stayed at the shop until five o'clock in the afternoon before heading back to Mu Lingfeng's apartment in Huaxi Gardens.
No sooner had she arrived home than her father called her.
"Zhang Ling, where are you right now?" Zhang Mutian asked in a deep voice over the phone.
"Change into your evening gown and eat something—not too much, just a little—then find a convenient place to park and send me your location. I'll have the driver pick you up."
"There won't be any food at the banquet, or why else would you make me eat at home before leaving?" Zhang Ling remarked casually.
Zhang Mutian retorted, "I'm afraid that since you've never seen the world, you'll see all kinds of delicacies and act like a starving ghost reincarnated, making a laughingstock of the Zhang family."
His words darkened Zhang Ling's expression, and she snapped, "If you're afraid I'll make a fool of you, then don't ask me to go. But since you reminded me, I'll make sure to eat to my heart's content at the banquet and humiliate you properly. My skin is thick anyway, so I'm not afraid of being laughed at."
With that, Zhang Ling hung up the phone, unwilling to speak with her father any longer lest they start arguing again.
She leisurely brewed herself a cup of flower tea. After finishing the tea, she returned to her room to change into the evening gown she had bought yesterday and put on the set of jewelry bought for her. Although her jewelry wasn't as expensive as the ones belonging to Zhang Qing and her mother, the mere sight of her wearing jewelry paid for by her father—regardless of its worth—would be enough to infuriate that pair of mothers and daughters.
She was going to drive Yuan Qiuying and her daughter crazy with anger.
Zhang Ling even applied light makeup. Her natural looks already surpassed Zhang Qing's; wearing the evening gown, accessorizing with jewelry, and adding makeup made her look both elegant, beautiful, and poised.
She had no desire to steal the spotlight at the banquet; she simply wanted to irritate her stepmother and stepsister.
Ready to leave, Zhang Ling sent her location to her father and told him to arrange for the driver to pick her up.