Sparks and Smiles

Fiery Wit

A/N: Where Dao Ming Si's Mother does some undercover research to learn more about the girl her son is reportedly infatuated with.

When she learnt that Ah Si had gone back to Shanghai without warning and having not finished his international finance classes, the matriarch of the Dao Ming Empire was furious. She couldn't direct her ire at her son because she was swamped in projects but directed her eldest and only daughter to inform her heir that she was furious and would be visiting Shanghai on his birthday for the first time in 5 years to get some answers out of him.

When she got the news from Zhuang that Ah Si was in the hospital she was horrified. When she learnt that he was in there because he came to the rescue of a girl whom some thugs kidnapped as a way of revenge on Dao Ming Si, she was infuriated.

Many parts of that story shocked her. First that there was a girl. Ah Si had never shown interest in a girl before and that they were close enough that she became bait for her son worried her. Ah Si was the heir to the Dao Ming Empire and he couldn't become romantically involved with someone who would stain their perfect reputation.

The second thing that shocked her was that Ah Si was defeated. Her son was very athletic and had become quite skilled at fighting after many fights at school. Which meant that he never fought back but instead took all of the hits meant for this girl.

The final thing that incensed Dao Ming Feng was that there were still thugs out there that bore a foolish hatred of the Dao Mings. That could not be permitted regardless of who this girl was.

She put down her cases and resolved to come to Shanghai a week early in secret so as to observe this girl who has changed her son so drastically.
——

She got a file on the girl by the time she boarded the plane and learnt that she was double majoring in nutrition and business at MingDe University. She worked at a tea shop and in a kitchen. Her family owns a catering business.

She looked quite plain and her family name was not one of the elites.

Dao Ming Feng didn't like her already.

But if there was anything her late husband taught her was to reserve final judgement until you have all the information.

And that was exactly what she was going to do.

——
Her first stop was going home. Not only to put her bags away but to inform Liu of her plans. He was to aid her in being unnoticeable for a week so that her children wouldn't even know she was there, allowing her to observe naturally.

She learnt from Liu that the girl (Dong Shancai) has impressed the judges of her cooking competition (who are never impressed easily, which is why she chose them) to give her a never before awarded Special Prize.

She had also impressed her daughter who had one of the most refined palates she had ever seen (she trained her herself) as well as their head chef (who before working for them was a head chef at a 3 Michelin Star restaurant) .

They both also affirmed how much her son cared for this girl.

She still had more intel to gather.
————

She first decided to visit MingDe University.

She contacted the professors that had Shancai and planned to sit in on her nutrition class and her business class.

She was a former alumni of this University so she was quite familiar with the professors and the layout of the university.

She decided to dress in disguise just in case because her son had the eyes of a hawk and she could give herself away should she be too sloppy.