Ling Keng and Bai Yuning stared at each other, Ling Keng felt guilty for a moment but then quickly came to his senses. It wasn't that he felt guilty; he wasn't just making things up, it was all the truth!
"Ahem, um, are you all done queuing? I'm late, did it end so quickly?"
Lin Zhi stepped in to break the deadlock: "Not yet, but you're here just in time. Bai Yuning is urging us to do it again!"
Chen Tingting glared: "Didn't someone say they wanted him!"
"This program is supposed to be about Ling Keng playing the cello, hurry up, don't waste everyone's time because of you." The Berkeley senior, one of the hosts, nudged the innocent-looking Ling Keng.
"No... why are you yelling at me? It's not like I wasted time on purpose. I even won the competition today."
"Wow, that's great! Hey, Bai Yuning, hurry up and sing it again. Stop standing there and get down to business!"
Bai Yuning's face flushed crimson. She quickly composed herself, turned around silently, and went back on stage. Ling Keng's words had ripped away her fig leaf, and she couldn't just walk away now.
"Let's go." Shi Youxi grasped the woman's slender shoulders and led her outside.
Hearing the cello music slowly rising behind her, Mu Yiran finally understood what was going on. "So you didn't perform."
"Yeah, I just rehearsed for a classmate for a bit." Shi Youxi's lips curled into a smile. "What, Auntie's disappointed because she didn't get to see me perform?"
“Yes.” Mu Yiran nodded. As soon as she entered, she saw the boy sitting behind the cello with his head down. Compared to 5 years ago, he now looked more like a young nobleman when he played the cello. Originally, the cello was the same size as him, but now the boy’s legs were longer than the cello.
"Why have I never seen you play the cello?" Thinking back, I haven't seen Shi Youxi play the cello during this time I've traveled through time, and there doesn't seem to be a music room in the villa.
"Because nobody praises me anymore..."
"What?" Once outside, it was recess time, and the school was noisy, so Mu Yiran didn't hear what he said.
The two arrived at the staff's waiting area. Someone was about to come up and fix Shi Youxi's hair, but the boy turned his head away. He pulled the woman close and leaned down to say, "As long as Auntie wants to hear it, I can pull her anytime."
"But I only accept praise, otherwise I won't pull it."
Mu Yiran was amused by his arrogant expression. She did something she hadn't done in a long time and pinched the boy's ear. "Don't worry, I'll definitely praise you from every angle without any brainpower."
Her ears quickly burned from her touch, and Shi Youxi turned her head and moved the other ear closer, while a bag was stuffed into her hand.
"Go and change your clothes quickly,"
Shi Youxi practically stuck her head into the bag, her voice muffled, "Did you buy this for me?"
"Yes, it was custom-made, so the size should be accurate. Let's wear this for the shoot."
"What are you looking at? I want to see too—" The bag was ripped open, and Guan Shiyan appeared out of nowhere, squeezing his head through.
"Get out—"
"Wow, new clothes!" Guan Shi stretched out his hand, took them out, and then held them up to his neck. He looked up and casually asked Ai Ni, who was standing in front of him, "Does it look good?"
Ai Ni was taken aback. She glanced at him a few times and remembered that this boy was the one who forced the young master to participate in the community taekwondo. Now he was trying to steal the clothes that the madam had prepared for the young master!
They even called themselves good brothers, how despicable!
Ai Ni frowned. "It doesn't look good; it makes my skin look darker."
"What!" Guan Shiyan looked at her in shock. It was the first time in his life that someone had told him he was dark-skinned. Although he was not like Shi Youxi, who was the type who could not get tanned, he had never gotten dark-skinned in the years because he had been working in the laboratory for a long time.
"This lady clearly has no sense of fashion, but this is a perfect match for me."
"This is my type, Auntie. Our young master doesn't like these things. He likes sexy things, the sexier the color, the better..."
Shi Youxi chuckled and snatched the suit back from his hand. "If you can't stand the truth, then don't ask questions. Let go! Try touching me again..."
"What! You want to draw your sword against me again? You let me carry the bag, but you won't let me touch your clothes. Do you think I'm a garbage collector?" Guan Shiyan originally wanted to tease Shi Youxi, but the other party's disdainful look shattered his young heart, and he kept bringing up old grievances with Shi Youxi.
Mu Yiran watched the two boys leave and couldn't help but chuckle. She had been so focused on Shi Youxi that she had forgotten to make an outfit for Xiao Guan as well. Thinking this, she asked Ai Ni, who was standing to the side in a daze, "Do you think that color would suit another boy?"
Ai Ni: "No... a little bit."
"What do you mean by 'not a little bit'? Does it really make you look dark? I think Xiao Guan's skin is quite fair."
"Young Master Guan?"
Mu Yiran pulled Ai Ni to sit down on the side, and the staff began to position the equipment and test the lighting.
"Hmm, you haven't seen him before? He's Xiaoxi's classmate, Guan Shiyan, oh... but how did he figure out you're the older sister? You look so young." Mu Yiran pinched Ai Ni's cheek, her dimples appearing and disappearing.
Ai Ni wasn't dressed all in black today; she was dressed casually in a sweatshirt and sweatpants, with her hair in a high ponytail. She looked like a high school student, but Ai Ni is not yet 18; she really is young.
Ai Ni shook her head, just thinking about how Guan Shiyan had called her "sister" earlier, and how his nonchalant smile was so annoying!
The filming lasted only about half an hour, and at the end, other students from Jingyi were arranged to shout cheers.
When Li Bu Huo walked over, he saw Mu Yi Ran adjusting Shi You Xi's collar. Even though the woman was wearing high heels, she only reached the boy's nose. She was looking down and carefully adjusting the collar pin, completely unaware that the boy in front of her was intently watching her.
Strands of her hair brushed against Shi Youxi's nose, making it itch, and his body itched even more. He didn't need to bend down to smell his sister's scent; he wanted to rub against her, to inhale...
Mu Yiran adjusted herself and looked up. She felt something touch her head, so she stepped back to look at Shi Youxi and asked, "Did I bump your chin?"
"...Yeah, maybe." The boy touched it and rubbed it, then complained to her, "It hurts."
"Oh, I'm so sorry, let me see—"
"Mr. Cheng."
Before Mu Yiran could even lift Shi Youxi's chin, Li Buhuo called her away, and Mu Yiran asked Guan Shiyan, who was chatting with the director of photography, to take a look at her.
"What's wrong, my delicate young master? Where did you hurt yourself? Let your good brother blow on it for you."
Turning his gaze away from Li Bu Huo and the woman, Shi Youxi slapped Guan Shiyan's hand away, a cruel smile on his lips. "You've got your hands on something, and you want to blow on your forehead."
"......"
Having passed another hurdle, Ai Ni looked up from her phone and glanced at the boy frantically wriggling on Shi Youxi's body.
Noob.
She thought Guan Shiyan was despicable; he clearly couldn't beat the young master, yet he always had a sharp tongue.
"Mr. Cheng, the schedule for the trip to the Shenzhen-Hong Kong branch has been arranged. It's next Tuesday. Actually, you can delegate this to someone else; you don't need to go personally."
"Hey, didn't you tell me to focus on my career? Aren't you happy that I'm working hard?"
"Because you'll just be wasting your time there."
Mu Yiran: "...No need to be so blunt. You'd be satisfied if you could just make a cheerful girl lose her smile!"
Li Bu Huo sighed speechlessly, "You just want to go out and have fun, don't you?"
"Yes, who wouldn't like a paid trip?"
"Fine, go if you want. The office building over there was only recently established, and because the chairman passed away, they're currently devoting too much energy to managing it. If you go..."
After talking for a long time, Li Buhuo finally decided to just have the agent manager in Shenzhen and Hong Kong sort out the work and have Cheng Ran go through the formalities.
Cheng Yuan is currently not in the country, and Li Ziqi has joined a production team. There shouldn't be any more incidents in the short term. Letting Cheng Ran go to the branch office to learn will also make it easier for her to take on the position of acting chairman in the future.
He promised Cheng Ran's mother that he would take good care of Cheng Ran, and that he would make sure Cheng Ran could comfortably sit in the chairman's position.
"Are you done talking? Then I'm going over."
"Wait a minute, are you going to sit next to Young Master Shi again?"
Mu Yiran looked at him in confusion, "Yeah, today's filming is all about him, why don't we keep an eye on him?"
Li Bu Huo recalled the scene of Shi Youxi lowering his head to kiss Cheng Ran's head. He was certain that he hadn't seen it wrong. As a man himself, he understood Shi Youxi's thoughts very well.
"Don't you think you and Young Master Shi are getting a little too close?" Li Bu Huo hesitated, looking at Cheng Ran's innocent and naive eyes, and decided to be more direct. "Are you going to let yourself go and regress in your life?"
Mu Yiran understood his meaning, frowned and said seriously, "How can even you say that about me? I've already turned over a new leaf, okay!"
"Besides, I didn't do anything out of line. It was just what a normal stepmother would do for her stepson. Those people have dirty minds, why are you joining them in criticizing me?"
"My feelings for Xiaoxi are simply the affection of an elder for a younger generation; I have no other ulterior motives."
Li Bu Huo sneered: "What if he has it?"
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