Time is running out.
Sheng Mumu directly lit up her phone and held it up in front of Cheng Xin.
"Brother, Dream Master, is that you?"
Cheng Xin looked at the phone held up in front of him.
When he saw the four words "Dream Master," he didn't immediately realize it was a nickname.
It wasn't until he scanned the chat records in the conversation box.
His eyes suddenly brightened.
The more he looked, the more familiar it became.
He glanced at Sheng Mumu and asked, "Mumu, the person I've been chatting with, is it you?"
Sheng Mumu lightly pursed her lips and nodded slowly.
Although she was very reluctant to admit it, she had to admit:
"It's me."
Cheng Xin: "..."
He gradually recalled the contents of their conversation.
As Cheng Xin reminisced, he asked, "An accident took away my legs..."
"In recent times, things have improved, and I can move them a little bit..."
"Are you referring to... Qi Shaobai?"
"Well... um..." Sheng Mumu embarrassingly wanted to bang her head against the wall. She took a deep breath and said, "I made it all up."
Cheng Xin's narrow eyes suddenly curved, and a hint of amusement appeared at the corners of his eyes and eyebrows.
"Your skill in making up stories isn't bad."
He had actually been deceived by her.
Sheng Mumu's mouth twitched. She glanced at another person who knew the truth, Qi Mo, and smiled awkwardly.
"What?" Cheng Zhuo looked at his older brother in confusion and then at his sister and brother-in-law, looking utterly lost. "What are you talking about? Why don't I understand?"
Cheng Zhuo: "???"
At what point did he lose track?
"This is how it happened," Sheng Mumu calmly began.
She briefly explained the story that couldn't be told to Qi Shaobai to Cheng Zhuo and Qiao Li.
Meanwhile, Qi Shaobai searched in the parking lot with his phone's flashlight for five minutes.
He didn't overlook even the bottom of the car.
He searched back and forth along the path from the parking lot to the elevator lobby.
But there was no trace of the car keys.
He had no choice but to return empty-handed.
He pushed open the door to the private room, about to say, "Dad, I couldn't find the car..."
But he suddenly stopped mid-sentence.
Inside the private room, laughter filled the air, and the atmosphere was lively.
"...keys."
Qi Mo turned his head upon hearing the words. His hand naturally moved to his pocket, and a composed smile lingered on his face as he said, "I just found them on me."
"Ah... That's good then." Qi Shaobai didn't doubt his father's words and sat down, feeling relieved.
Around the table, the five people exchanged knowing glances, and laughter erupted once again.
Qi Shaobai looked at everyone in confusion, "????"
Seemingly influenced by the atmosphere, his naturally gloomy expression slowly curved into a gentle arc.
Although he didn't know what they were laughing about, it was always safe to laugh along.
Otherwise, he would stand out.
Qi Shaobai glanced at everyone on the table, adjusting his smile to match everyone else's.
The Qi Shaobai in his eyes: I'm super cheerful.jpg
The Qi Shaobai in everyone else's eyes: What is he doing???
During the meal, Qi Shaobai noticed Cheng Zhuo and Qiao Li occasionally glancing at his legs.
They would then speak softly and burst into laughter.
Unable to bear it any longer, Qi Shaobai put down his chopsticks and asked Qiao Li, "Why do you both keep looking at my legs?"
Qiao Li blinked and activated her serious nonsense skills:
"It's nothing. Cheng Zhuo envies your long legs, and I'm teasing him."
Qi Shaobai was skeptical as he asked, "...Huh?"
"You better be telling the truth.jpg."
Cheng Zhuo leaned in and picked a piece of braised pork for Qiao Li's bowl.
Nodding as if nothing happened, he chimed in, "Yeah, I envy you so much. I envy your healthy long legs."
Qi Shaobai: "...???"
Um...
Although he was praised,
It just felt... weird.
*Three days later.*
Cheng Xin left Beijing due to work reasons.
In the two days before his departure,
He had a total of four meals with Sheng Mumu and Cheng Zhuo.
Not wasting a single moment of sibling reunion time.
He also finalized a project collaboration with Qi Mo over the phone.
With Sheng Mumu acting as a bridge of trust between the two, the collaboration was almost effortless.
Their conversation was concise and efficient to a shocking degree. The entire phone call took less than five minutes.
And in the last two minutes, they didn't talk about work but about Sheng Mumu.
Cheng Xin suddenly said, "By the way, tell Mumu for me that her villa has started renovation. Whenever it's ready, she can move in anytime."
Cheng Xin didn't emphasize his words, saying it casually.
But Qi Mo, clever as he was, couldn't fail to detect the strong reminder in Cheng Xin's words.
Every word struck him.
If Mumu wasn't living well at the Qi family's place, Cheng Xin would bring her back to his own home anytime.
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, and Qi Mo calmly replied, his voice enveloped in a faint smile and certainty:
"Sure, if Mumu gets tired of living at home, I'll go live with her."
This time, it was Cheng Xin who was taken aback.
After a while, a trace of satisfaction floated in his sharp gaze.
His evaluation of his brother-in-law had finally passed with flying colors.
And during this conversation between mature men, Sheng Mumu was completely clueless, kept in the dark.
If she knew, she would mock Qi Mo in person for being childish and naive fifty times over.
Before boarding the plane, Cheng Xin didn't forget to make a phone call to Qi Shaobai.
Over the phone, Cheng Xin instructed, "Qi Shaobai, the package I had someone send you should arrive in Beijing tonight."
"If there's anything you want in the future, just tell your uncle."
There was a pause in his voice, and Cheng Xin ignited an inexplicable desire for victory or defeat as he added:
"What your dad can get, I can get. And what he doesn't want to get for you, your uncle will get for you."
"!!!" Qi Shaobai was so happy that he forgot about his physical education class and jumped up on the spot.
He shouted, "Uncle, you're my god!"
On the other end of the line, Cheng Xin's laughter was hearty, completely unlike his cold and aloof appearance. He replied in a warm voice:
"I'm not a god, I'm your uncle."
"Yes." Qi Shaobai immediately corrected himself, skillfully playing along, "You're my one and only uncle!"
"..."
"Qi Shaobai! What are you doing?-" The physical education teacher noticed him secretly making a phone call and yelled sternly.
"Uncle, I have to hang up." Qi Shaobai quickly said goodbye to Cheng Xin.
As soon as he finished speaking, his body froze.
He realized that his choice of words was improper and could be misunderstood.
He slapped himself on the mouth and made amends:
"No, I mean, I'll hang up first."
Cheng Xin: "..."
"No, I mean, I'll hang up the phone first." Qi Shaobai was flustered, finally getting it right.
Cheng Xin chuckled, "Okay, go back to your class--"
"Beep-beep-beep--" The busy tone sounded from the receiver.
"Class..."
Cheng Xin uttered the last word to the air.
Qi Shaobai was ultimately subjected to punishment by the physical education teacher.
He was made to frog jump around the playground twice.
The physical education teacher had a good relationship with the students on a regular basis.
While supervising Qi Shaobai's frog jumps, he used him as an example to educate the other students.
"You guys always complain that there are no physical education classes in the third year."
The teacher looked towards Wei Zhaonan and gestured, saying, "That person, Wei Zhaonan, you just said I'm not competent enough to compete with other subject teachers, right?"
"Now that we finally have a physical education class, there are still people secretly making phone calls."
"If this continues, will I fall sick every class from now on?"
As the words fell, the whole class burst into laughter.
Laughter filled the autumn playground.
The laughter of the teenagers in their adolescence was as exuberant and unrestrained as their personalities.
The commotion startled the birds perched on the trees, causing them to flap their wings and fly away.
Even Qi Shaobai, who was in the midst of frog jumping, was laughing.
He didn't know whether it was because he was in a good mood about receiving a gift soon or because he heard what the physical education teacher said.
With a face full of joy, he continued frog jumping.
He resembled a big fool.
