Meeting the Mo family

“Hey.”

“Hi.”

“What’s your name?”

She pursed her lips but considering that his father had helped her when she was down, she let down her guard a little. The family seemed to be nice after all. And she was hoping they would let her stay with them. She had nothing to eat after all and she wasn’t stupid enough to reject help when being granted.

“Mo Xin Er”

“Mo? We share the same family name? Are you a distant cousin. Ah…. I’m Mo Yuan”

“Oh..”

“I like your pair of eyes. It's blue.”

She went silent for some time before looking up at him again. His eyes were pure and the held no animosity compared to others. Ever since middle school when she had learned to understand people, she was fairly aware that most were averse to the color of her eyes. Most of her peers called her a freak. And she had gotten used to blending perfectly in the crowd and hiding herself away from people.

“Thank you” And she totally meant it!!

“Which school do you go to? I’m from Qing Yu High School” He seemed undeterred about her monotone. Qing Yu High School? She didn’t expect them to be from the same school.

“I’m a student of Qing Yu too. Last year.”

“What? How come you’re in my class and I don’t know you?”

Mo Xin Er was speechless!! What sort of connection was this.

“You’re in my class?” she squinted her eyes and a thought came into mind. She seemed to remember who he was. He was one of those boys sitting at the back of the class. 

“Anyway, nice to meet you. What are you doing here?”

“Er….”

“Mo Yuan!!” Mrs Mo's voice rang behind them and they turned simultaneously to see her standing with her hands akimbo. “What did I tell you about sitting appropriately on the couch?”

“Okay….okay. No offense. On it”

He pouted and sat properly making her lift her lips slightly. 

“Are you comfortable, Xin Er?”

“Yes. Thank you so much.”

“Oh. I found it” Mo Yuan suddenly exclaimed, inching over and grabbed the console.

“Go tidy yourself”

“Yes, mom.”

He groaned and scuttled off towards a door, she assumed was his room and shut the door. After a while, he came out. Coincidentally, the door to the living room also opened and shut. What came into her view was an older man. He was an older version of Mo Yuan and she presumed he was Mr Mo.

“I’m home” he grinned and was soon beside his wife kissing her slightly on the cheeks. She laughed awkwardly and Mo Xin Er couldn’t help but feel embarrassed when she saw the passion swirling in their eyes.

“Hello there. Do you guys remember that you have a son here?”

“Ah….. How are you now, my dear?” he turned from his wife and faced her instead ignoring his unhappy son.

“I’m fine. Thank you, sir.”

“No problem. Have you eaten?”

“Yeah. Thank you, Mr Mo”

“It's nothing. I’d like to talk to you. Get us a glass of juice, Yuan.”

“Yes, dad.”

He led her into a separate room which she supposed was a gym. 

“Please sit down.”

“Thank you”

“What's your name?”

“Mo Xin Er.”

“Hm. Xin Er, nice to meet you. I saw you fainted in front of the house. The doctor said you were pretty dehydrated. Since when did you eat last?”

“Huh…Two days ago.”

“That’s pretty bad.”

“What about your parents?” he asked and she fell silent for some time clearly uncomfortable .

“I don’t have a dad. And, my mom died three days ago.”

“Oh. That's a pity. Don’t fret. You have us here. You don’t have to panic.”

Her eyes widened in shock as he patted her hand.

“What year are you?”

“Sophomore. Last years.”

“Will you stay with us?”

“Huh?”

“You can stay with us. Actually, my wife had always wanted a girl. She says it's boring to shop alone. So… I want to adopt you.” He muttered and eyed her cautiously as she fidgeted in her seat.

“Er..Thank you, sir. I… Thanks, I…”

“Calm down.”

“Thank you so much.”

“But there is a condition.”

The light in her eyes dulled slightly “What is that?”

“I need you permission to add you to our ancestral register.”

“But, that is…..”.

“It doesn’t matter. None of my family has a problem with it”

“Thank you, Mr Mo.”

“No. Call me dad.”

She turned silent for a moment before speaking up softly “Dad”

“Good. You should join your mom outside. I have some things to do.”

“Okay. Thanks, dad” she mumbled silently and he smiled as she scuttled off probably shocked by how the words rolled off her tongue.

He grabbed his phone from the table and dialed some digits.

“Hello, Mr Zhou”

“Hello.”

“It's done. I’ll get her to sign the adoption documents by tomorrow.”

“Okay then. You have to do your best to protect her”

“Yes, I will.”

“Okay. I’ll relay to boss”

“Thank you, Mr Zhou”

…

Two days later, she stepped out of a green colored Land Rover with Mo Yuan in tow. They walked side by side into class seemingly attracting a lot of attention. She gave him a small smile and took her seat. She watched him frown a little and walked towards the guy sitting on her right and whispered some things to him. The other boy raised his eyebrow glancing at her for a moment before shrugging and gathered his books. Her eyes squinted and realization hit her. Mo Yuan wanted to sit next to her. He grinned cheekily and slipped into the seat making her other seatmate cringe. Mo Xin Er held back a smile. Her seatmate, Yun Miaomiao who she had barely talked to had a crush on him. She always blushed whenever he walked past them, anyway. She looked at her newly found brother, assessing him but she couldn’t really see what attracted her. He was handsome though but she didn’t feel anything.