Sheng Mumu put down her bowl of porridge and walked over to Qi Shaobai.
She looked him up and down with distaste, focusing on his head which looked hard and stiff.
Sighing, she shook her head.
"Come with me," Sheng Mumu instructed.
Qi Shaobai followed her with a confused look on his face as they entered the first floor bathroom.
Sheng Mumu lifted up the faucet and pushed Qi Shaobai's head down under the running water.
"Wash your hair yourself," Sheng Mumu glanced at her phone, "You have twenty minutes to change your hairstyle, hurry up."
Qi Shaobai obediently lowered his head and wetted his hair that he had been quite satisfied with just minutes ago, washing it thoroughly.
After Qi Shaobai quickly blew his hair dry, Sheng Mumu rubbed a little hair wax into her palms and transformed into Sheng Tony, messing his hair up a bit.
She pushed some of his bangs off to the side, revealing his good-looking forehead.
Restrained, making him look just a little more mature.
Not losing his boyish charm, yet different from his usual style.
After finishing with his hair, Sheng Mumu tilted her neck back to look Qi Shaobai up and down.
"Not bad, after my makeover your handsomeness has doubled," she said.
"Was what I did earlier really that bad?" Qi Shaobai blurted out. "I just wanted to look a little more mature."
Sheng Mumu patted him on the shoulder sagely.
"You had good intentions, but I advise you not to have them anymore."
Qi Shaobai: ......
Qi Shaobai held back from retorting. His gaze happened to glance at himself in the mirror and he paused, pleased at what he saw.
Nodding in satisfaction, he casually lifted his chin at Sheng Mumu standing with her arms crossed to one side and couldn't help praising:
"Not bad."
Sheng Mumu rolled her eyes at this kid. "Don't get cocky."
It's not like he's seen a pig run without ever having eaten pork before.
The money she spent at the salon each month was not for nothing.
When the two of them came out of the bathroom, Qi Mo was just coming down the stairs.
He had his suit jacket casually draped over his arm, descending the stairs with steady steps.
Seeing Qi Shaobai's unusual outfit and hairstyle compared to normal, and Sheng Mumu's self-satisfied expression, he guessed what had happened.
Qi Shaobai called out, "Dad."
Qi Mo's gaze slowly settled on him, the corners of his lips curving up slightly as he nodded approvingly.
"Your outfit today suits the coming-of-age ceremony," he said.
Qi Shaobai's happiness was evident on his face as he smiled.
After breakfast, the family of three left the house on time.
They didn't have the driver take them.
Qi Mo drove, with Sheng Mumu in the passenger seat and Qi Shaobai in the back.
Sheng Mumu knew that Qi Mo didn't drive often and wasn't used to navigating without GPS, so she naturally turned on the navigation app on her phone to serve as a human GPS voice prompt.
"Turn right at the next traffic light," she said.
Qi Mo's voice was gentle. "Okay."
Hearing this, Qi Shaobai leaned forward in his seat, sitting up straight.
He moved to the middle of the back row and held onto the headrests of the front seats.
"I know the way to school well, I could direct with my eyes closed. Let me navigate," he offered.
Upon hearing this, Sheng Mumu turned off her phone. "Alright, then you can—"
But before she could finish speaking, she was interrupted by Qi Mo's seemingly casual words.
"No need," Qi Mo looked at Qi Shaobai via the rearview mirror. "Use your spare time to review vocabulary words instead."
Qi Shaobai: ......
Hearing their conversation, Sheng Mumu didn't think much of it.
She thought Qi Mo made a good point and turned her phone back on.
"Your dad's right, if you have nothing to do, review vocab," she said.
Sheng Mumu suddenly seemed to remember something. She took out a pair of earphones from her bag and handed them to Qi Shaobai.
Adding,
"Wear earphones to listen, don't play it aloud. I'm afraid it'll make me fall asleep."
Qi Shaobai: I...this...
He had only kindly offered to help navigate.
Why did it seem like he was being a nuisance...
He wanted to argue in his defense for a couple sentences.
But then he heard the leisurely conversation from the front seats.
Qi Mo: "You only had a bowl of porridge for breakfast?"
Sheng Mumu: "And two fried eggs."
Qi Mo: "Let's get you some snacks on the street by your school after we drop you off?"
Sheng Mumu: "I was thinking the same!"
Qi Shaobai silently retracted the hand he had on the front seat headrests and sat leaning against the side.
Nevermind.
What else was there to misunderstand?
He felt like a 500-watt lightbulb.
Perhaps...most likely...
His dad hadn't kicked him out of the car and told him to take a different one to school - that was already showing him face because of the coming-of-age ceremony today.
Qi Shaobai put in the earphones.
He opened his music app and chose a rock song.
Listening to music, he gazed out the window at the passing scenery.
The car drove onto an overpass and entered a road along the lake.
It was a road he took everyday.
He hadn't noticed until now, but the scenery was quite nice.
Despite being disliked by both his dad and stepmom, he wasn't in a bad mood. Rather, a hint of warmth appeared in his clear, cold eyes.
His naturally stern face looked unexpectedly happy for some reason.
Sensing the upturned corners of his mouth, he scolded himself in his heart:
Masochist, still smiling after being rejected.
After this interior monologue, his brows suddenly furrowed and he was stunned for a few seconds.
Something wasn't right.
He was about to turn eighteen, yet he was still scolding himself in his thoughts.
How immature.
Today his dad had praised him for being like an adult.
But his current thoughts were the complete opposite.
He straightened his expression and resumed normal, continuing to look out the window.
But the straight line of his lips only lasted a few minutes.
Unknowingly, it curved up again.
Oh well.
There were still a few months until his official coming-of-age.
He would indulge in immaturity for a few more months.
The two people in the front didn't know Qi Shaobai's little calculations.
They thought he was actually listening to English vocabulary.
They continued chatting casually about random topics, saying whatever came to mind.
When they mentioned Qi Shaobai's school coming-of-age ceremony, Sheng Mumu's hand unconsciously moved to touch the gift box shape that could vaguely be felt through her bag. The corners of her lips imperceptibly curved up.
They arrived at the school.
After parking, the three got out of the car.
Qi Shaobai had been voted the school heartthrob by the girls at Beijing No. 1 High School.
Dressed in a shirt today with some of his forehead revealed, his admiring fangirls' faces were even redder than usual.
Just from getting out of the car to walking to the auditorium,
Sheng Mumu had already noticed seven girls sneak glances at Qi Shaobai before shyly running away.
Sheng Mumu looked left and right.
On her left was a handsome, mature man, on her right a handsome youth.
Walking between the two of them, she somehow felt a sense of basking in their glory.
When they reached the school's large auditorium where the coming-of-age ceremony was being held, it was already packed with people.
"Testing, testing, 123," the sound of the microphone check echoed through the auditorium.
Looking in the direction of the voice, the speaker was that same homeroom teacher from the high school entrance ceremony rally.
After the third-year students and parents were seated by class, the homeroom teacher smiled brightly and adjusted the mic.
His opening remarks were still the familiar formula.
"Ah...let me just say a few words—"
