After dinner, Cheng Zhuo and Qiao Li took a walk home with Feng Yaoqin, chatting about family affairs.
Sheng Mumu and Qi Mo, both workaholics, were busy with their own things.
One was in the study looking over financial statements.
The other was in the bedroom writing marketing plans.
Qi Shaobai dragged his reluctant feet back to his room, with disappointment all over his cold eyes.
Buzz- The phone on the desk vibrated.
He opened it to see a message from Wei Zhaonan.
"Handsome Zhaonan: Dad got two tickets."
"Handsome Zhaonan: [Picture]"
Suddenly, Qi Shaobai's eyes lit up when he saw the premiere tickets for "Intense Delusion" on the screen.
"Shaobai: Not bad, where did you get them?"
"Handsome Zhaonan: Come to school tomorrow and call me Dad, then I'll tell you."
"Shaobai: I don't want to smack you in front of teachers and classmates."
"Handsome Zhaonan: I'll tear up the tickets now."
"Shaobai: Oh."
Though he said so, it was just joking around.
Qi Shaobai knew that his good buddy Wei Zhaonan had saved him a ticket.
His mood leapt from the bottom of a valley into the sky.
The corners of his lips curled up as he hummed a tune and turned on his computer.
He would play some games to celebrate.
But as soon as he opened the game interface, his eyebrows furrowed.
Wait a second...
He seemed to have overlooked something important.
What if he ran into his dad and stepmom at the movie theater?
The mood for games vanished instantly.
He sat there with a serious look, opening his high school entrance exam preparation books.
As if making a painful decision, he ruffled his own hair and started working on practice questions.
One must know when to compromise. There are no such things as having your cake and eating it too in this world. A man must be willing to pay the price for his decisions.
That was what his dad had told him before.
And at this moment, Qi Shaobai deeply agreed.
Doing practice questions was the price he had to pay.
He must go to the movie premiere.
He also had to take Monday's monthly exam seriously.
Since he wanted both fish and bear paw, he could only give up his daily gaming time.
Plus, if, by any chance, extremely unfortunate event, he got caught by his dad and stepmom at the theater, he could use the practice questions he did as proof to mitigate some scolding.
He and Wei Zhaonan agreed to get into the theater early on premiere day, to avoid running into his family when getting tickets checked.
Seeing Qi Shaobai's message, Wei Zhaonan snorted contemptuously.
Without exaggerating, he felt Uncle Qi was the smartest adult he had ever met.
He did not believe at all Qi Shaobai could sneak this past Uncle Qi.
So he kindly gave Qi Shaobai a suggestion:
"Handsome Zhaonan: Qi, I think you should start practicing your kneel down pose in advance. Make it look good, maybe you'll get less reprimanding when Uncle Qi catches you."
"Shaobai: Nonsense?"
*
Sunday.
Though it was not time for the premiere to start yet, many fans had already gathered outside the commercial area where the theater was located.
Under a ginkgo tree fifty meters from the mall entrance.
A tall, slender boy surveyed his surroundings vigilantly, pulling down the brim of his hat a little.
With more than half his face covered by a black mask, one could still tell he had an aloof and cold look from his brow and eye contours.
Some passing girls glanced back at him a few times.
Noticing that, the boy moved further behind the tree.
He impatiently took out his phone and texted Wei Zhaonan.
"Shaobai: Where are you?"
They agreed to get in as soon as it opened, but he didn't see Wei Zhaonan around.
Soon a reply came:
"Handsome Zhaonan: Fxxk, wait for me, I suddenly have an upset stomach, must've eaten something bad, going as fast as I can, wait for me a bit."
Qi Shaobai looked at the smelly message and clicked his tongue, turning off his phone.
He looked around again.
Just then, a black Rolls-Royce parked at the intersection outside the theater.
People's eyes were drawn to it.
The car came to a full stop, and the driver in the front seat got out and jogged a few steps to open the rear door.
Then, a man got out of the car.
His features were sharp and clear-cut, his eyes pitch black, his expression steady and aloof.
He was carrying his coat loosely in one hand instead of wearing it.
The crisp lines of his black casual shirt outlined his broad shoulders.
He had casually rolled up the cuffs a few times, and the hem was slightly billowing in the wind.
Though still in formal business attire, he exuded an air of leisurely nonchalance.
Under the night sky, the tall and upright man stood out.
In just a few seconds, more and more eyes focused on him, and whispers arose among onlookers.
The man bent down slightly and reached his hand into the car.
Soon, a fair and delicate hand was placed over his rugged, well-defined one.
He gripped Sheng Mumu's hand and gently exerted some strength to lead her out of the car door.
Their eyes met. The coldness in Qi Mo's dark eyes evaporated, replaced by wisps of tenderness.
The moonlight like silver intertwined with the flickering neon lights.
It shone upon their figures.
Against the backdrop of traffic, it was as if time froze for a moment.
To passersby, they looked like a stunning couple destined to meet.
But to Qi Shaobai, who was fifty meters away under the ginkgo tree, it meant trouble.
He sighed to himself. Things were not looking good.
Dad and Stepmom arrived before Wei Zhaonan.
It seemed he could no longer sneak in early. He could only try to blend into the crowd after most people had entered.
Behind the Rolls-Royce, a black Maybach parked slowly.
Cheng Zhuo and Qiao Li got out of the driver's seat and passenger seat respectively.
Qiao Li spotted them at first glance.
"Cousin, sister-in-law."
Sheng Mumu's eyes crinkled as she smiled. "What a coincidence. We just got here too."
The four of them stood at the intersection.
Qi Mo's cold eyes briefly glanced at the black Maybach, and his brow twitched almost imperceptibly.
It seemed Cheng Zhuo was no longer trying to hide his wealthy family background.
Unaware of the fleeting emotion in Qi Mo's eyes, Cheng Zhuo grinned brightly and greeted them, "Sister Sheng, brother-in-law, let's head in."
After he spoke, the coldness in Qi Mo's eyes dissipated slightly. He gave a faint nod as a response.
As Sheng Mumu walked in, she jokingly teased Cheng Zhuo, "Cheng Zhuo, since you're accompanying Li, shouldn't you be calling Qi Mo cousin instead of brother-in-law?"
Cheng Zhuo was taken aback and at a loss for words temporarily.
Shoot.
It seemed his inner hope for Sheng Mumu to be his real sister was too obvious.
Now was not the time. He had to keep it hidden.
He scratched his head awkwardly and smiled.
Suddenly looking to the composed man beside him, he humbly asked:
"Mr. Qi, how should I address you? Cousin, brother-in-law, or Mr. Qi?"
His main purpose of coming with Qiao Li today was to help her get through her aunt.
Mr. Qi and Sister Sheng knew they were pretending to date.
So addressing Mr. Qi made sense too.
Qiao Li had been chatting with Cheng Zhuo frequently lately, getting along like friends.
She rolled her eyes at Cheng Zhuo and took over, "Are you silly? If you call him brother-in-law, it sounds like you and cousin are family. Calling him cousin makes it seem like you and I are family. But ultimately, no matter how you address them, cousin and brother-in-law are family."
Cheng Zhuo originally understood clearly. But after hearing Qiao Li's words, he got confused again, his CPU working furiously, "Then how should I call him...?"
"Just brother-in-law is fine." Qi Mo's eyes crinkled slightly as he suddenly spoke up.
Having gotten an answer, Cheng Zhuo quickly responded, "Alright, brother-in-law."
Sheng Mumu was totally oblivious to why they had been agonizing over this for so long. She pulled Qiao Li along towards the entrance. "Let's get in. I want to buy popcorn."
She turned and glanced at Qi Mo. "Do you want some? If so we can get a large bucket."
Qi Mo chuckled softly. "Sure."
Then his gaze shifted, scanning the surroundings lightly as he looked for the entrance and concession signage.
Not far away.
Seeing his father's gaze sweep by, Qi Shaobai nervously shrank back further despite the great distance between them.
He lowered his hat brim again.
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