The System Is One Year Ahead Of Schedule, But It’S Not The End Of The World Yet!

Chapter 85: Heartwarming Maturity! (Part 2)

"My mom is feeling a little unwell and resting at home," Ye Tong said with a smile, hugging Chen Mo.

As Chen Mo was squatting on the ground, Ye Tong had her arms around his neck, positioned at his side. At that moment, Chen Mo didn't pay much attention to Ye Tong's expression while she was speaking.

However, Lin Xinru, who was standing beside them, noticed that when Ye Tong mentioned her mom feeling unwell, her smile seemed a bit forced.

Lin Xinru, who often depicted facial expressions in her paintings, had some experience in interpreting these changes in expressions. Especially when it came to children who were not good at disguising their emotions due to their lack of worldly experience.

She didn't know what kind of experience Ye Tong had gone through to make such a young child learn to respond to others with such a forced smile.

Upon hearing that Sister Qing was just resting at home, Chen Mo didn't ask further questions. Instead, he looked at the roses in Ye Tong's hand and smiled, "Tong Tong, you're so good. You've learned to sell flowers to support your family. How many flowers do you have in your basket? Brother will buy them all for you. Go home early and accompany your mom."

"Huh? Brother Mo, do you want to buy all the flowers here? It would cost a lot of money to buy so many flowers. If you need so many roses, you can buy them from the store over there. The flowers I have were given to me by the store owner. You can buy directly from the owner, it will be much cheaper," Ye Tong said innocently.

Rarely did she have the chance to meet her beloved big brother, so Ye Tong didn't have any thoughts of making a lot of money from him. Instead, she honestly pointed out the most cost-effective method to Chen Mo.

And she even cutely leaned close to his ear and whispered, "The cost price over there is only two yuan per flower, Brother Mo. I'm only telling you, don't tell anyone else, otherwise the owner will get angry."

Seeing this innocent girl with a round face, big pure eyes, and rosy lips, Chen Mo was inexplicably moved by her innocence.

This child was so cute and honest that Chen Mo couldn't help but dote on her. He smiled and said, "It's alright, money doesn't matter. Brother just likes buying flowers from Tong Tong."

"Then... then just sell you one. The store owner said I have to sell them for ten yuan each, otherwise it will affect their market price or something," Ye Tong took out a rose and said, not fully understanding.

Seeing Ye Tong trying to save money for him, Chen Mo immediately smiled and said, "I took a look at your basket, there are probably twenty flowers. I'll buy them all for 200 yuan."

Chen Mo took out 200 yuan and handed it to Ye Tong.

Seeing Chen Mo spending so much money on useless roses, Ye Tong quickly looked at Lin Xinru beside her and said, "Sister, you only need to wear one flower in your hair. Buying too many will cause them to wither quickly and become useless. Please persuade Brother Mo not to spend money recklessly."

She thought that Chen Mo was buying so many flowers to please this beautiful sister, so she wanted Lin Xinru to help persuade him.

Having lived with her mother since she was young, Ye Tong had witnessed how hard her mother worked to earn money. She had also spent time with Chen Mo at the place where her mother and Chen Mo worked, and knew that Chen Mo was also someone who worked hard to earn money.

It was already difficult to earn 100 yuan, let alone 200 yuan.

She didn't want Chen Mo to spend money unnecessarily.

Hearing the sensible words of this obedient and sensible little girl, Lin Xinru's eyes became slightly moist. What a well-behaved and sensible child. This adorable little sister's maturity almost made her want to cry.

Lin Xinru immediately turned her head and glanced at Chen Mo.

Chen Mo immediately smiled and said, "Tong Tong, brother is different now. Brother is rich now, very rich. You can rest assured and sell your flowers to brother."

"Ah? Brother Mo, did you win the lottery?" In Ye Tong's worldview, only people who win the lottery can instantly become very rich.

Chen Mo smiled and patted Ye Tong's head, saying, "Yes, so you don't have to worry about Brother's money."

Although Chen Mo said so, Ye Tong unexpectedly understood. She reached out and held Chen Mo's cheeks tightly, making him look at her, and then, like a little adult, she admonished, "Brother Mo, I heard that many people who win the lottery spend money recklessly and end up becoming poor again. Even if you win the lottery, you can't spend money randomly, otherwise you will easily spend it all."

After saying this, Ye Tong even bumped her forehead against Chen Mo's forehead, as if she was instilling her belief in him, telling him not to spend money recklessly.

This made Chen Mo and Lin Xinru laugh and cry.

"I understand, but this time is an exception. Tongtong promised to sell flowers to Brother, and Brother will promise not to spend money recklessly in the future." Chen Mo directly used Tongtong's concern about not spending money recklessly as a deal, leaving Tongtong momentarily speechless.

"Well... alright, only this time, Brother can't spend money recklessly in the future. But the boss said he would pay me 5 yuan per flower. Even if I sell each flower to Brother Mo for 5 yuan, I won't ask for the boss's reward anymore. The boss shouldn't blame me for selling it cheap." Although Tongtong compromised, she still wanted to save 100 yuan for Chen Mo.

"You silly child." Chen Mo felt both helpless and sympathetic towards this sensible and obedient child. "If you sell them like this, you won't earn a single penny. Brother Mo bought Tongtong's flowers to let Tongtong make money, not to let the boss make money. Take 200 yuan and keep it, I'll take the flowers."

Chen Mo forcibly gave Ye Tong 300 yuan and took all her flowers.

"Brother, there's an extra 100 yuan." Ye Tong immediately noticed the discrepancy.

"The extra 100 yuan is for buying your little flower basket." Chen Mo smiled and said.

After saying that, Chen Mo immediately gave the roses he bought to Lin Xinru, saying, "I haven't given you flowers yet, so this time I'll give you twenty at once."

Lin Xinru smiled and kissed Chen Mo, saying, "Thank you, Brother Mo."

"Hey, why does Sister call Brother Mo 'Brother Mo' too?" Tongtong understood some things very well, but some things she was still clueless about.

Seeing her innocent look, Lin Xinru smiled and said, "Because Sister wants to be a little girl and be loved by Brother Mo."

With Lin Xinru's explanation, Tongtong nodded with some understanding.

"By the way, Tongtong, have you had dinner yet?" Chen Mo asked, patting her head.

"Not yet. After selling the flowers, I'm going home to have dinner." Tongtong obediently replied.

"Then don't go home yet. What's your mom's phone number? I'll call your mom and tell her that you'll have dinner with me and then go home after eating."

"But how can that be?" Tongtong quickly shook her head in refusal.

Upon hearing her response, Chen Mo deliberately frowned and said, "Brother Mo treats Tongtong as a little sister. Is there anything wrong with a big brother taking his little sister out for dinner? If you think it's not okay, do you think Brother Mo is a stranger and don't like Brother Mo? Brother Mo will be very sad!"

With Chen Mo's words, Tongtong was so anxious that she shook her head like a rattle drum.

She really liked Chen Mo and treated him like a real brother. When she said it wasn't okay just now, it was definitely not because she thought Chen Mo was a stranger or didn't trust him. She was just afraid that Chen Mo and Lin Xinru were on a date and she would be a third wheel if she went along.

Although she was young, she understood this kind of thing.

But in order to avoid Brother Mo misunderstanding that she didn't like him or treated him as a stranger, Tongtong didn't know how to explain for a moment, so she could only nod and agree.

"That's a good girl!" Chen Mo smiled and patted her head, "What's your mom's phone number?"

With Ye Tong giving Chen Mo a number, he immediately made a call.

The first call went unanswered, and the second call rang for more than ten seconds before someone finally picked up.

"Hello..."

As soon as Chen Mo heard the voice on the other end of the phone, he felt something was off. The voice sounded weak and lacking in energy.

However, he remembered that Ye Tong had mentioned her mother not feeling well at home, possibly having caught a cold, so Chen Mo didn't pay too much attention to it.

"Hello, is this Sister Qing? It's Mo Mo. Do you remember me?"

At first, the person on the other end of the line didn't recognize who was calling, but as the familiar voice and name hit her at the same time, Yue Yuqing immediately smiled and said, "Ahem... So it's Mo Mo. Of course, Sister Qing remembers you. How did you get my number?"

"It was given to me by Tong Tong. I was outside getting ready to have dinner when I happened to run into Tong Tong selling flowers. I wanted to take her out for dinner, so I thought I'd let you know in advance so you don't have to prepare her dinner at home."

"Oh, how can we do that? This child... I told her not to go out, but she insisted on going out to earn money... Ahem..."

Yue Yuqing coughed a few times after speaking, indicating that she was indeed unwell.

"There's no need to feel sorry. I've always treated Tong Tong like a little sister and played with her. I'm happy that she likes me and treats me like a real brother, especially since I'm an only child."

"That's really troublesome for you, Mo Mo." Yue Yuqing still trusted Chen Mo, so she wasn't worried about what would happen to her daughter when she was with him.

"Don't worry about it, Sister Qing. That's settled then. By the way, I noticed that you seem a little unwell. Do you have some kind of illness?"

"It's just a slight cold. It's nothing. I'll be fine soon."

"Where are you living now? I'll drop by to see you when I take Tong Tong home later."

"158 Minsheng Road."

"Okay, I've got it. See you later."

Chen Mo hung up the phone and Ye Tong immediately said, "Brother Mo, I need to give the money I made to the boss first. Wait for me."

"Sure, go ahead." Chen Mo smiled and patted her little head.

"What a well-behaved and sensible little doll. I really don't know if it's a good thing for someone her age to be so mature." Lin Xinru looked at Ye Tong's occasional display of maturity and sighed.

"Sister Qing's husband is not a good person. Not only does he not make money, but he also often comes home with a bunch of gambling debts, which has led to their current situation and forced Tong Tong to mature so early."

"Ah? They're not getting a divorce?"

"They dare not. Her husband said that if she dares to divorce him, he will kill both her and Tong Tong. For the sake of Tong Tong, Sister Qing can only endure it." As he spoke, Chen Mo had already thought about what to do. Even in the past, he didn't have the ability to help Yue Yuqing get rid of her husband.

Not to mention that even if he took official channels, once this leech-like person stuck to Yue Yuqing, it wouldn't be easy to remove him.

Dealing with such a person required using means that were even more ruthless than the other party.

"That's really tragic. To encounter such a person is like a lifelong nightmare." Lin Xinru found it terrifying and hugged Chen Mo's arm tighter.

At this moment in the flower shop, the owner saw Ye Tong returning early and immediately smiled and asked, "Oh, Tong Tong, why did you come back so soon today?"

The owner of this flower shop is actually a very good person. Normally, when people come here to take flowers to sell, they have to pay a deposit first, but every time Ye Tong comes, she never collects her deposit.

And every time Ye Tong takes the flowers out, if they wilt because she didn't water them properly, the owner never minds.

Today, seeing Ye Tong come back so soon and even the flower basket is missing, she naturally became curious.

"There's a brother who has always been very kind to me. He happened to meet me, so he bought all my flowers and even took the flower basket," Ye Tong said as she handed three hundred yuan to the owner.

"I don't know how much your flower basket is worth. Boss, see if three hundred yuan is enough," Ye Tong said innocently.

After hearing this, the owner only took back one hundred yuan and gave the remaining two hundred to Ye Tong.

"That flower basket is not valuable. Since he bought it, consider this money as your profit," the owner patted Ye Tong's head and smiled.

With two red tickets, Ye Tong earned so much money in one day for the first time. She couldn't help but breathe rapidly with excitement.

She doesn't come here every day, but every few days.

The rest of the time, she has to take care of her mother at home.

Her father likes to drink and gamble. Once he finishes drinking, he becomes a completely different person. If he's unhappy, he will beat and scold the two of them. Moreover, he hardly goes out to earn money and the whole family relies on Ye Tong's mother for support.

This puts an immense amount of pressure on Ye Tong's mother.

On one hand, she works hard, and on the other hand, she has to endure her husband's senseless beatings.

Originally, in order to earn a large amount of money every day to repay debts and prevent debt collectors from harassing her child, she had already overdrawn her body with intense work. As a result, she had to endure her husband's occasional beatings for no reason.

Under the intense pressure of work and life, both physically and mentally exhausted, it was inevitable that she would fall ill.

But the more she was like this, the angrier and more indifferent Ye Tong's father became towards her. When he came home, he only wanted money and completely ignored Yue Yuqing's physical condition. If he couldn't get the money, he would resort to violence.

Yue Yuqing was already ill, and being beaten would only make her condition worse.

The worse her condition became, the harder it was for her to go out and earn money. The harder it was for her to go out and earn money, the more beatings she would endure.

She was trapped in a vicious cycle.

But faced with this devil who would go crazy and kill herself and her daughter once pushed to a dead end, Yue Yuqing had no way to resist.

She wasn't afraid of herself getting hurt, she was only afraid of her daughter getting hurt.

No matter how much pain she endured, for this obedient and sensible daughter, she endured it. But now it's not a matter of whether she can endure it or not. If this vicious cycle continues, she has no doubt that she might be beaten to death by her own demon of a husband.

Ye Tong also saw such scenes and was afraid that if her mother couldn't give money, her father would go crazy and beat her. She could only go out and earn money to reduce the possibility of her mother being beaten.

Today, Ye Tong made the biggest profit when she went out to earn money, but she also knew that this kind of profit is not possible under normal circumstances. It's only because Brother Mo takes care of her that she can have such a big profit.

But she still planned to return the 100 yuan profit from selling the flower basket to Chen Mo.

(End of this chapter)