Pei Cheng An, who treats everything in his life seriously, has made the proper preparations. He has even come up with a blind date plan. Of course, it’s not the result of his own work as he’s not good with dealing with women and he’s also not sure what women like. Since he has no idea how to follow up after dinner, yesterday he asked the help of an uppercla.s.sman who is happily married with children.
When he makes that suggestion, Xia Zhen asks, “Do you like watching movies?”
Seeing Xia Zhen a little dazed, he adds, “I’ve also watched fictional historicals such as War and Peace, Count of Monte Cristo…” He stops adding examples.
Pei Cheng An answers in affirmative.
“Okay. You can decide what to watch.”
Very attentive. But for Xia Zhen, he’s overly attentive. None of her friends are like him.
Huh, didn’t he want to see a movie? Didn’t he like realistic, rigid things like doc.u.mentaries? Recently isn’t there a movie so illogical, so shallow, and so unfunny that countless people bashed it on the internet? Let’s just go and see that movie.
The sound of a phone’s ringing interrupts her words. It’s Pei Cheng An’s. She stops and motions for him to answer the phone. He apologises, takes out the phones, and presses answer. Yes, press. His phone is a long outdated cellphone. Although it was once a popular item in the past, it’s nevertheless not a smartphone. Few people use such phones these days. She only knows her grandpa uses one. Hm, now she knows another one.
He looks dignified but also apologetic as he tells her, “My mentor is hospitalised after suffering a stroke. He doesn’t have any family around so I have to go to the hospital. Today…”
Pei Cheng An lightly bites his lower lip. “Then I’ll take you home first. Or if you have any place to be, I’ll drop you off there.” Since he has agreed to go to the movies with Xia Zhen, he now feels the guilt of abandoning her.
“I’ll go home myself. Hurry up and go take care of your old folk.” She only wants to leave him as soon as possible. When he’s beside her, she’s unable to think rationally.
Is this to tell her his mentor isn’t an old man but simply a middle-aged man? Fine. Xia Zhen smiles graciously. “Then take care of your mentor. I’ll…” as she says this, she is already opening the door and getting down.
A person’s influence is truly scary. She’s a lively person. She must avoid someone like him.
After Xia Zhen buckles her seatbelt, Pei Cheng An starts the engine. Due to her habit of taking taxis, she gives him the address of the neighbourhood she lives in.
She blanks before vaguely remembering that Madam Tian says she met Pei Cheng An’s mom in a dance cla.s.s. The two of them got along well and, after more conversation, learned that they both have a silly child at home who doesn’t priorities love. So they decided to set them up.
Pei Cheng An drives steadily, not at all showing any signs of anxiety. He doesn’t speed either.
As soon as he’s gone, she returns home carrying a large bag of snacks.
However, reality is always cruel. Madam Tian sighs bitterly.
Tian Xue Fang stares at her. “It’s fine that you’re not genuine, but you’re also not serious. It’s not strange that people can’t take a liking to you.”
“Oh, but something strange did happen today.” She raises her eyebrows and laments. Taking out a pack of potato chips, she skilfully tears it open. Leaning back on the sofa, she adopts a very lazy posture.
“What do you mean ‘made it’?” Xia Zhen initially wants to continue teasing her mom but she remembers that she’s supposed to pretend to be infatuated with her date.
Xia Zhen stops arguing with her. Instead, she brings up a very infatuated expression. “I and Pei… Pei Cheng An has confirmed our relationship.”
“If not, a sibling relationship?”
Xia Zhen looks down at her body. “Mom, do you think I still need to lose weight?” Just yesterday her dad told her to eat more meat because she’s too skinny. The difference between parents really is big.
“I don’t have love handles!”
Isn’t the coat to keep her warm? Is she still her biological mom!
“You like him?” Madam Tian looks like she’s found the new world but can’t help but be suspicious.
Does he have any skeletons in his closets? Any secrets?!
She can’t help but blush at such thoughts.
Madam Tian doesn’t understand the ups and downs going in Xia Zhen’s mind. She can only tell her daughter has never looked this shy and girlish before.
“We’re supposed to go to the movies after dinner but just after leaving the restaurant, he received a call saying his mentor suffered a stroke.”
“Why don’t you think that he made an arrangement earlier on with his friends?” This is a very common tactic. “But it doesn’t matter even if he’s not satisfied with me. I’ll try to take him down!” Xia Zhen has a very determined look.
“Daughter, mom supports you!” Once her mom finishes, she returns to her room. She doesn’t continue to interrogate Xia Zhen or complain about her eating snacks.
Then she returns to her room. Taking out a pen and paper, she comes out with a new plan.
Xia Zhen initially refuses. She’s close with Xue Chen but is completely unfamiliar with his sister. Under Xue Chen’s intense persuasion, she finally agrees. Besides, the members of Cabbage band will also be going so there will also be many of her acquaintances there. After dinner, they can also put their throats to practice.
Xue Chen’s sister Xue Han is a big shot who was accepted into several prestigious universities abroad and later decided on Yale University. Xia Zhen has only met her twice. How should she put it? There’s an undeniable distance between them two― the distance between a top scholar and a study idiot.
She figures that there would many more of Xue Chen and Xue Han’s other friends but unexpectedly there are only the Cabbage band members and her. And obviously, Xue Han.
What’s going on that she’s not in on?
[ill.u.s.tration by Pride Nyasha]