"No thanks, I have to go back. I'll pass on supper," Sheng Mumu politely smiled and declined Cheng Zhuo's invitation.
"Alright then, I'll get going first. See you tomorrow, Ms. Sheng," Cheng Zhuo flashed a smile, waved goodbye, and jogged towards the employee parking lot.
Sheng Mumu stood in place for a few seconds before leaving.
Ran's words echoed in her mind, along with the image of Cheng Zhuo's beaming face.
No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't associate that smile with the words "ulterior motives."
Well, it definitely won't be the case.
She heaved a sigh of relief and shrugged. Then she turned and left.
Not far away, inside the car, Cheng Zhuo didn't start the engine right away.
He slid his hand to the side and rolled down the window.
His fiery gaze intently watched the slender retreating figure in the distance.
His eyes narrowed ever so slightly, as if lost in thought.
*
Jing City No.1 Middle School had started school.
The third year high school students had returned a week earlier than the first and second years to report for duty.
Qi Shaobai walked into the classroom building with a bag slung over one shoulder. As soon as he entered, he saw Wei Zhaonan waving at him excitedly while pointing to the class allocation list posted on the bulletin board.
"Qi Shaobai, the class allocation is out. We're still in the same class, Class 4."
Qi Shaobai didn't have many close friends. Wei Zhaonan was the only one he considered a brother.
Naturally, he was happy to hear this news.
A lazy smile spread across the handsome, delicate face of the youth. He lifted his chin lightly towards the school store.
"Let's go, I'm dying of thirst."
Although summer had passed, the heat remained unrelenting.
Just the short walk from the car to the classroom building had his palms sweating.
Passing the fragrant Camphor trees along the path, the two similar-height seventeen-year-old boys sauntered lazily towards the school store.
The afternoon sunlight shone diagonally from behind, casting Qi Shaobai's slender silhouette onto the ground.
A few girls walking towards them couldn't help but steal glances, unconcealed joy and bashfulness in their eyes. They nudged their companions as if to say "look at that hottie."
The boy's cold eyes swept over them indifferently.
Just a fleeting moment, yet it left the girls' hearts racing several times faster. Shyly averting their gazes, they quickened their steps and scurried away.
Wei Zhaonan was long accustomed to such scenes. He sighed and complained, "Geez, we're both good-looking guys of similar height, so why are girls always secretly admiring you without even glancing my way? So unfair. Don't you think the girls at our school have poor taste?"
Qi Shaobai's brows furrowed. He side-eyed his friend and mocked, "Is it possible they just don't appreciate you?"
Wei Zhaonan exaggeratedly recoiled. "What, am I not handsome?"
Qi Shaobai just shook his head and continued walking, retorting, "I don't think so, you barely qualify as not ugly."
Unexpectedly, Wei Zhaonan didn't fire back. As if a thought had just occurred to him, he clapped his palm and exclaimed,
"Oh right, did you hear our school is holding the college entrance exam mobilization assembly jointly with the girls' high school this year?"
Jing City No.1 Middle School and Jing City Girls' High School were brother schools, often holding teaching workshops together.
But it was the first time they would jointly hold the college entrance exam mobilization assembly.
The third year high school boys who heard this news, Wei Zhaonan included, were over the moon.
Having heard the girls' high school had plenty of beauties, he was full of anticipation.
Qi Shaobai responded nonchalantly, "I didn't hear about that."
He wouldn't have cared even if he did.
Seeing his utter indifference, Wei Zhaonan felt even more indignant. He grumbled sourly,
"Young Master Qi, this is what they call ‘the rich man doesn't know the sufferings of the poor’. Too many girls admire you, so you can't understand the woes of us common folk."
Qi Shaobai's brows rose. "Weren't you just bragging about being handsome? And now you're admitting you're ordinary?"
Wei Zhaonan: "......"
Qi Shaobai pulled open the freezer at the school store and took out a bottle of chilled water.
Too thirsty to even pay first, he immediately twisted open the cap and gulped down a mouthful.
Fine beads of sweat had formed on his forehead, radiating a carefree youthful spirit under the sunlight.
Even in a simple black tee and grey pants, he looked much more stylish than other boys his age.
Wei Zhaonan leaned against the store counter, a troubled look on his face.
"This sucks, I wanted to get a cool hairstyle before the assembly to impress the girls. Damn it, parents are supposed to attend too. If I get my hair permed, my mom will definitely nag me about it. But if I don't, I won't get to show off my handsome looks to the girls' high girls. This sucks."
Qi Shaobai's brows knitted together. "Parents have to attend too?"
He recalled that in previous years, only students needed to attend the college entrance exam mobilization assembly.
"Yeah, we got a new teacher supervisor and changed a lot of teachers this year," Wei Zhaonan said. "The new broom sweeps clean. They have to do things differently from previous years."
After speaking, Wei Zhaonan clicked his tongue disdainfully and looked at Qi Shaobai who was paying for the water. "Hey, how come you don't know anything?"
Qi Shaobai lazily sprawled on a bench by the door. "I'm not as gossipy as you."
Wei Zhaonan: "Without me as your friend, you wouldn't even know what day school starts."
Qi Shaobai shot him a glare.
Wei Zhaonan ignored it and asked, "By the way, is Uncle Qi coming to the assembly, or his assistant?"
Qi Shaobai's gaze turned towards the distant sports field as he murmured,
"I don't know either."
...
That night when Qi Shaobai returned home, he happened to see Sheng Mumu watching TV dramas on the small sofa in the side living room. He mentioned this matter to her.
"College entrance exam mobilization assembly?"
Sitting cross-legged on the sofa, Sheng Mumu looked up at him while peeling an orange. "Is it?"
Qi Shaobai glanced at Sheng Mumu, then the study upstairs, and said lightly,
"Yeah, are you or my dad going?"
Sheng Mumu had no intention of asking Qi Mo's opinion upstairs. She enthusiastically volunteered, "I'll go."
As long as parents weren't required to attend, she was happy to participate in school activities.
It would also give her a chance to check out the snacks around Qi Shaobai's school. She remembered there were a lot.
"Okay." Hearing her reply, Qi Shaobai closed his eyes in acknowledgment, the corners of his lips slightly upturned as he headed to his room.
Back in his room, he lazily sank into his desk chair, absentmindedly spinning a pen in his hand as he spaced out.
Sensing his mood had inexplicably turned cheerful, he paused, the pen dropping onto the desk.
So it turned out he wasn't as indifferent as he thought.
The moment he heard Sheng Mumu would attend the college entrance exam assembly as a parent,
his heart felt a subtle...delight?
In the past whenever school activities required parents to attend, his classmates' seats would be occupied by their mothers and fathers.
While the one sitting in his seat was always Dong Assistant.
Dong Assistant would wear an appropriately pleasant smile to get through any situation.
No matter how high or low Qi Shaobai's grades were, no anomaly would show on his face.
Wei Zhaonan would always sigh enviously, "It's so nice not having to worry about getting lectured even if your grades fall. I really wish my mom wouldn't attend parent meetings, but sadly she's too free."
Hearing this kind of talk frequently, over time, Qi Shaobai also started feeling that perhaps it wasn't so bad this way.
Perhaps parent meetings without parents weren't a bad thing after all.
After all, his exam scores were trivial compared to his family company's projects that easily surpassed hundreds of millions.
Not that important.
"Knock knock-"
The urgent sound of knocking interrupted his thoughts.
Opening the door, Sheng Mumu stood outside and blurted,
"Qi Shaobai, give me your final exam papers from last semester. Tell me which subjects you're weak at and which you're strong in too."
"I want to get a sense of where you stand so I can chat with your teacher without embarrassment. It'll also help me better supervise your studies in the future."
She paused, then shook her head and continued,
"No, just the final papers aren't enough. Can you find your monthly exam papers too? Give them all to me."
The seventeen-year-old boy was momentarily stunned, unable to speak past the lump in his throat.
Sheng Mumu tilted her head. She waved her hand in front of him.
"Hey, why're you spacing out? Don't tell me you don't have any strong subjects?"
"Hey hey, can you hear me? This is important."
