CHAPTER 402: CHAPTER 361 GOOD TIMES IN THE YEARS

After shopping, Zhuo Yuqing and Liu Lian went to a rice noodle restaurant with several shopping bags. It was the weekend, and the place was crowded. They arrived just as a table was vacating, and a waiter was cleaning it up.

After ordering, Zhuo Yuqing scrolled through news on her phone. The heat of Chi Ming’s divorce incident had not subsided and still occupied the headlines of major news websites, stirring a lot of buzz.

"Yuqing, let me tell you a secret,

"Her boyfriend is someone she dated back in school days. He’s just a junior employee now, but Tong Bi is always dressed in branded clothes and uses luxury goods every day. Where do you think her money comes from? Even if she’s the top star in entertainment, her salary has a limit, right? And besides, we all know about how much one can earn in our industry."

Zhuo Yuqing said, "No wonder our news gets intercepted. I guess even the reviewers don’t have the guts, it must be because the editor-in-chief has tacit approval. If so, even if the chief editor disagrees, it wouldn’t matter."

"Sigh, what can we do? We can’t seduce the editor-in-chief like that, tsk, that’s shameless."

Zhuo Yuqing had just picked up her chopsticks when suddenly someone sat down at the adjacent seat. They were at a four-person table with two seats empty.

Zhuo Yuqing thought it was peak time, and there were no seats, so someone wanted to share the table with them,

"Came to mooch a meal." He said it as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Although Zhuo Yuqing was surprised to see him eating rice noodles, Liu Lian across from her was so shocked her jaw dropped, and it took her a while to stammer out, "Hello, President Bai."

Bai Chengxi nodded at her, "Hello."

"This is my friend Liu Lian, the one I’ve mentioned to you," Zhuo Yuqing quickly introduced.

"Hmm, I remember," Bai Chengxi very graciously acknowledged, "You haven’t eaten yet?"

"Just started, I’ll order some more for you," Zhuo Yuqing hurriedly called the waiter for a menu, "What would you like to eat?"

"Anything is fine, I haven’t tried this before."

Zhuo Yuqing looked at him with a ’you’ve-never-had-rice-noodles?’ expression and quickly added a few more items.

After eating, Liu Lian quickly found an excuse to slip away,

"Do you have plans for the afternoon?" Zhuo Yuqing looked at the man who kept following her.

"Not much." The two strolled leisurely in the mall, with Bai Chengxi carrying several shopping bags Zhuo Yuqing had bought.

"I want ice cream," Zhuo Yuqing exclaimed, spotting her favorite ice cream shop. She instantly ran over, bent down to peer through the glass, and pointed at the flavors she wanted, "This, this, and this, all of them."

After ordering, she asked Bai Chengxi, "Do you want some?"

He shook his head.

Zhuo Yuqing held up the ice cream with great delight and gave it a lick. Noticing Bai Chengxi watching her, she felt a bit embarrassed and offered, "Want a taste?"

It was meant as mere politeness, but Bai Chengxi actually leaned over to take a bite,

Walking by an amusement arcade, Zhuo Yuqing pointed inside, "I want to go in and play for a bit."

Bai Chengxi didn’t say anything, just went straight to the token exchange counter for her and got a bunch of game tokens. The girl at the counter stared at him for a long time, eventually sneaking him twenty extra tokens with a shy comment, "Don’t let the boss see."

Bai Chengxi thanked her and returned to Zhuo Yuqing, handing her the tokens, "Go play."

"What about you?"

"I’ll watch you play."

Zhuo Yuqing’s favorite was the dance machine, as she had learned to dance when she was young and was very passionate about it. After selecting a song and turning back, she saw Bai Chengxi sitting in a chair behind her watching.

She gestured a ’V’ sign at him and began dancing to the beat. At first, she couldn’t fully let go because he was there, but as she got into it, she danced better and better, quickly attracting a crowd of onlookers.

Bai Chengxi was initially content watching alone, but as people around him began to gather, he furrowed his brows, feeling as if his treasured possession was being scrutinized.

After dancing to one song, Zhuo Yuqing turned to see a crowd gathered to watch her. She was used to such scenes and wasn’t embarrassed, but Bai Chengxi had a stern expression and seemed displeased.

She stepped down from the dance machine, "What’s wrong?"

"It’s nothing," he said unconvincingly, "Are you going to continue?"

Zhuo Yuqing felt like he preferred she didn’t dance anymore, so she wiped her sweat with a tissue, "I’m tired. Won’t dance anymore."

She usually couldn’t stop once she started on the machine, staying for an hour without coming down. Today, she only danced to one song and hadn’t had enough fun yet, but seeing Bai Chengxi unhappy, she decided not to dance anymore.

"There’s a shooting game over there that looks fun; shall we go play?"

Bai Chengxi nodded, and while passing by the service desk, he bought her a bottle of mineral water. His thoughtfulness made Zhuo Yuqing feel all warm inside, and he even twisted open the cap for her.

Zhuo Yuqing remembered a saying she had once seen: "I want to find a husband who won’t make me twist off bottle caps."

"This game?" Bai Chengxi pointed at the machine in front of them.

"Yep." Zhuo Yuqing set aside the water, took some coins and inserted six of them, "We’ll be teammates, shooting the minions first, and then the BOSS at the end."

"Okay." Bai Chengxi placed his shopping bag on the ground next to him and picked up the replica gun attached to the machine.

Bai Chengxi had a particularly standard posture while holding the gun, standing erect with focused eyes; he looked very professional.

Zhuo Yuqing stared at him and zoned out, not even realizing the game had started, foolishly getting shot by a monster right away.

Bai Chengxi turned around and met her infatuated gaze, clearing his throat gently to remind her: "Zhuo Yuqing."

It was then that Zhuo Yuqing finally snapped back to attention, hurriedly refocused, and inserted more coins to continue playing.

She had often played this game before and considered her marksmanship to be divine. Still, with Bai Chengxi there, she could only follow behind him like a sidekick, watching as he effortlessly breezed through levels and helped her defeat the final BOSS.

"Bai Chengxi, you’re so amazing, I’ve never beaten the last level before." After clearing the game, a token fell out of the machine, and Zhuo Yuqing happily picked it up. It was a monster doll which she held to her chest, smiling joyfully at him.

For a brief moment, Bai Chengxi’s expression faltered as he suddenly remembered a social media post she had once shared, where her brother had gifted her a doll, and she was beaming while hugging it for a photo.

Although he knew that was her brother, he couldn’t help but feel irrationally jealous.

The two played in the arcade for a while longer and when they finally left, it was already dark. Zhuo Yuqing was so tired that she fell asleep in the car, still draped in Bai Chengxi’s jacket. It had gotten a bit chilly when they went outside, so he had given his jacket to her.

She was sleeping soundly, still holding the doll in her arms, while Bai Chengxi gazed at her peaceful sleeping face, then suddenly pulled over to the side of the road,

took a photo, not rushing to drive again. Instead, he composed the first social media post he’d made in four years. It was simple, just four words: "Sunny days are good."

Because Bai Chengxi never posted on social media, his sudden post of a picture, which was clearly of a woman, made his friends go wild with curiosity.

Gu Qili, fresh from her shower and sitting in bed with her phone, was shocked to see Bai Chengxi’s sudden post. Noticing the woman’s hands in the photo and the caption "Sunny days are good," she exclaimed as if discovering a new continent, calling to Mu Shuoqian who was on the phone: "Mu Shuoqian, come quickly and look, Bai Chengxi posted on social media."

Mu Shuoqian spoke into the phone, "Alright, arrange it like that."

"Mu Shuoqian." Gu Qili, growing impatient, ran over with her phone and held up the photo in front of him: "Look, isn’t this his wife with the doll?"

"Why do you care about someone else’s wife?" Mu Shuoqian tapped on her forehead, "Gossiper."

"Don’t tell me you are not curious. I don’t believe it."

"I’m not interested in other women," Mu Shuoqian scoffed, "you know that best."

"Then I’ll go gossip with my son." Before Gu Qili could move, the bedroom door was knocked, and Mu Qinian peered in through a crack, quickly slipping inside when she saw both adults standing there.

Clutching his blanket, he toddled to the middle of the bed and dumped it there: "I’m sleeping here tonight."

"No way." Mu Shuoqian naturally disagreed. Gu Qili had been at the vineyard daily, and just when she had finally come home, he hoped to enjoy some benefits; he couldn’t let this little guy seize the opportunity.

He was about to send the rascal packing when Gu Qili had already seated herself next to him: "Great, Mama wants to sleep with you too."

Mu Qinian glanced at the man who was frowning, "Dad, did you hear that?"

The implication was, A-Li wants to sleep with me, and you’re the extra one here, please disappear voluntarily.

"Go back to your room." Never had Mu Shuoqian thought that his greatest rival would be his own son, and this rival was even backed by Gu Qili. Just like now, as he was about to send him away, Gu Qili was glaring at him with her eyes.

"Mu Qinian, get back to your room now."

Mu Qinian’s eyes swiftly darted, and then he dove into his mother’s embrace like a little lamb: "Daddy is so scary."

Gu Qili shot Mu Shuoqian a sharp look: "Why are you talking so loudly, what’s wrong with Niannian sleeping here? If you don’t like it, go sleep in the guest room."

Mu Shuoqian, of course, wouldn’t go to the guest room; he narrowed his eyes, temporarily conceding.

Anyways, Mu Qinian is a heavy sleeper, he had his ways.