Mingzhu has decided.

There were not many people in the empire with alerts attached to their names and faces. There were two ways to qualify for the list: Valuable or criminal. At the moment, it was hard to decide which Jun Mei-Mei was.

If the question was addressed to her, she would say neither. She was simply an angry woman that was tired of being used and trampled on. At the moment, she was trying to unpack but her daughter Mingzhu was like a puppy high on sugar running around the house.

Mo Jingzhe was the ever indulgent babysitter, following Mingzhu around and allowing her to be as playful and reckless as she wanted. Mei-Mei did not stop her daughter, the excitement was justified. She was feeling the same way because she was slowly edging her way back into her old life.

Her first step was to move into the luxury villa which her brother Jun Mengzhi had given her as a gift on her eighteenth birthday. Over the years, she had sold a lot of her personal assets to support Mo Liang and his mother's expensive taste.

She never touched this house however or the things inside which included gifts her family had given her on that same birthday. In fact, most of the things that she treasured had been hidden away in this house.

Mei-Mei had planned to keep this house for Mingzhu so she never told Mo Liang or his mother about it. If they had known, they would have occupied it or sold it off and pocketed the money.

Who could have known that the house she was given at eighteen would become her refuge ten years later. She drew the white sheet back from the grand piano which had never been touched, a gift from her aunt Su Manchu.

Mingzhu liked piano but her grandmother had complained about the expense and noise denying her the opportunity to learn it at home. Mei-Mei scoffed, from now on, her daughter would not have to go to other people's houses to play it.

Looking around the dusty house, she wondered why she had ever allowed herself to live a hard life, sharing one small bedroom with Mingzhu in smaller villa when she could have been living in her mansion.

Although it had been untouched for a decade, it still radiated timeless elegance. From the white marble floor beneath her feet to the wide arched floor to ceiling windows, silver and crystal chandeliers to the sweeping staircase with gold coated railings, the house stood proud.

It had towering custom made doors, plush sofas and armchairs upholstered in rich velvet. The gleaming kitchen had every stainless steel appliance needed on its granite countertops or inside the oak drawers. It was next to a large dining room with an expansive oak table accompanied by elegant high-backed chairs.

The bedrooms were big, the closets stocked with brand name shoes and clothes which had gone out of style but still new as they had never been touched.

Outside was a turquoise infinity pool that was currently drained, leaves from the trees on the compound rested in there. The gardens were overrun with weeds but the hedges appeared to have been trimmed at least half a year ago. Someone was doing maintenance on the villa every once in a while.

Mei-Mei had a feeling that it was her brother Jun Mingzhu or little monk as she preferred to call him, despite his dislike of the nickname.

She was taking the dusty white sheets off the sofas when Mingzhu breezed in like a tornado.

"Mother, our new house is so big, its bigger than Wang Ping's house. We have a swimming pool outside. Mother, I have seen a dog house, are we going to get a dog? Mother, mother, there are small houses for cats too. Mother, can we get fish and a tortoise, I will swim with them in the swimming pool...."

"Oooh, Mingzhu, my dear daughter can you ask one question at a time? Yes, our house is bigger than Wang Ping's house. Yes, we are getting a dog and some cats, mommy had sent them to live with your uncle for a while but we can bring them back now. If you want fish and tortoise, you must promise to look after them well."

Mingzhu jumped up and down, clapping and cheering loudly. "Dad, mummy said that we can get fish."

Mei-Mei hands froze, she raised her body and whirled around quickly. Who was Mingzhu calling daddy? Was that bastard Mo Liang here already?

She didn't see Mo Liang, which gave her some relief but that relief died a quick death when Mo Jingzhe entered the living room and responded to Mei-Mei.

"Awesome, dad will take you fish shopping tomorrow."

"Dad!!!" Mei-Mei exclaimed.

She was not death, every once in a while she had caught Mingzhu calling Mo Jingzhe dad and she always pretended not to hear it. She never thought that these two would be so bold to say it in front of her. 

Even though she had a system that was connected to Mo Jingzhe somehow, Mei-Mei did not want to create a complicated situation for the all with misunderstandings like this.

"Mingzhu, you will scare your uncle like this if you call him dad. People will also misunderstand, you need to be careful with your words."

Mingzhu shook her head stubbornly and she stared back at her mother defiantly. "Mommy, uncle is now dad. Freeloading dad is now uncle, Mingzhu has decided."

Mei-Mei knew trouble had arrived when Mingzhu used the words, 'Mingzhu has decided.' Whenever she said them, it meant she was not changing her mind. When she started calling Mrs. Sun freeloading grandma, that was how the decision had been made.

When she decided that she was allergic to broccoli, that was how the decision had been made and so it went with beets, onions, spinach, cauliflower, green papers and spicy dumplings.

Once a upon a time Mingzhu decided she was allergic to milk but when she found that she couldn't have ice cream because it contained milk, the allergy was cured miraculously.

Mei-Mei did not know if there was a miracle cure for this problem.

"Mo Mingzhu." Mei-Mei called sternly. "Don't push me."

"Mom," Mingzhu put her small arms across her chest. "Don't push Mingzhu. Mingzhu has decided."

Mei-Mei crinkled her nose and made a soft growl at Mingzhu. Mingzhu responded in the same way, it was how they settled their big differences. The first one to back down was the loser.

Mo Jingzhe quickly got between mother and daughter. They shared the same temper and spirit of pride. They were both capable of spending the rest of the day like this.

He turned to Mei-Mei and took her hand, gladdened when she did not push him away, "Mei-Mei, I am okay with it. Whether Mingzhu calls me uncle or daddy, it doesn't matter, what matter is my heart which loves her and is devoted to her. Besides, who would you rather have her calling dad, me or Mo Liang?"