Chapter 14
"belch."
"belch."
The two people who had been competing to see who could eat the fastest both let out a burp, signaling the end of the contest.
Unaffected by the two, Jiang Jiawei held the edge of the porcelain bowl, leisurely sipped her soup, and then slowly put a mouthful of rice into her mouth.
They have a truly devout respect for food.
Mu Zhengxi noticed that Jiang Jiawei had a pretty big appetite, but he didn't know where it went. He felt like he could snap her arm if he used a little force, and he would quickly look away when his eyes glanced at places he shouldn't.
"Brother Xi, let's go play checkers."
"Your sister hasn't finished eating yet."
"She'll be gone for a while."
"Then how can the two of us play?"
“We’ll use a different chessboard.”
"No, we have to wait for your sister."
"..."
Jiang Jiawei looked over and said, "I'm not playing. You guys play by yourselves. I'll wash the dishes later."
Mu Zhengxi was taken aback by this remark. "Hey Jiang Jiawei! Your attitude shows no sportsmanship!"
Jiang Jia crossed his arms, looked at Mu Zhengxi, and said, "I knew this all along. See? You don't believe me."
"I can't even wash the dishes?"
Mu Zhengxi said righteously, "No."
"Okay, then don't rush me to eat."
"I didn't rush you, I've been waiting for you."
"Brother Xi, when are you going back to Hanyang?"
"Me? This afternoon."
"So soon?? Isn't tomorrow Sunday?"
"Because we have football training tomorrow."
"What a rush! You just got back yesterday and you're leaving again today. When are you coming back next time?" Just moments ago they were childishly bickering, but now, upon hearing the news that Mu Zhengxi was leaving, Jiang Jiawei's voice clearly lowered.
"You can't bear to part with me?" Mu Zhengxi seized the opportunity to bring up old grievances, "Weren't you nicer to me just now?"
The quick-thinking child immediately asked, "Do you want ice cream? I'll get you some."
"No, I just finished eating."
"All right."
Mu Yashan didn't, Zeng Yuan wouldn't, and Mu Shaoqing certainly wouldn't. As for Mu Zhengting, he wasn't familiar with him at all. The last time Mu Zhengxi remembered feeling reluctant to part was a long time ago, when he was in third grade and spending Chinese New Year in Hong Kong. Jiang Wenqing asked him if he would return to Hanyang after the New Year. At that time, he didn't know that Mu Shaoqing had planned to let him stay in Hong Kong. But after only a few days in Hong Kong, he cried and made a fuss about returning to Hanyang, and Mu Shaoqing had no choice but to give in. For the first time, Jiang Wenqing kept her promise and didn't let work interfere with her picking him up at the airport on time. That was also one of the few times Mu Zhengxi had seen her cry, in his memory.
The sudden silence and downcast expression of Jiang Jiayi left him somewhat at a loss. Mu Zhengxi awkwardly and formulaically said, "I'll be back in a while."
"Then it will probably be autumn when you come back next time."
It's autumn now, but summer in the south is just too long. Mu Zhengxi thought to himself, "It can't be that long," but then he remembered that the league starts next Saturday.
"I think so..."
He looked at Jiang Jiawei, who was eating quietly the whole time, as if their conversation had nothing to do with her. What's going on? Aren't you sad for a second?
She asked Jiang Jiayi, "Do you eat tendon?"
The person who was heartbroken a second ago leaned over and bit into the tendon the next second.
Mu Zhengxi: "..."
"What about you? Do you want it?"
"Huh? I..."
What's going on? He's not a child.
"You come too."
Okay, I'll just have to eat this, even if it's a bit much.
Because he had to catch his flight, the chess game that had been put on hold was never finished.
Mu Zhengxi was reluctant to part, "I'll continue next time I come back."
Jiang Jiayi: "It won't be during winter break, will it?"
Mu Zhengxi affirmed, "No." He added, "Don't forget to play basketball. I'll come back and check on the results."
"good!"
Evergreen is quite interesting.
Hanyang.
The restaurant had just started serving dinner, and Zeng Yuan was the only person at the table.
Mu Zhengxi originally wanted to go upstairs directly, but was stopped again.
Zeng Yuan didn't ask him where he had been these past two days. She said, "Teacher Mei told me that you concentrated all your competition training time during the week."
"I have football training this weekend, I don't have time." Mu Zhengxi pulled out a chair and sat down, and the servant set out a bowl and chopsticks for him.
The chopsticks hovering over the bowl were raised and lowered, like a mouth that wanted to say something but couldn't. Zeng Yuan looked at Mu Zhengxi, who was only focused on stuffing food into his mouth, and in the end, she didn't say anything.
A new car has come into the yard.
Soon, footsteps came from the entrance of the hall, and Mu Zhengting walked in, glancing at Mu Zhengxi, "You're back?"
Upon hearing this, Mu Zhengxi's cheek muscles twitched slightly, and he raised the left corner of his mouth in a sarcastic manner, as if he were the one who had lived here for a long time.
Zeng Yuan stood up. "Have you had dinner yet?"
"not yet."
Zeng Yuan took the suit jacket draped over Mu Zhengting's wrist and handed it to the maid, "Why haven't you eaten yet, it's so late?"
"My roommate ate something weird yesterday and got gastroenteritis. We only took him to the hospital this afternoon with the head of the international department, and he's still like this now."
"What would you like to eat? Let the kitchen make it for you."
"Something light, please."
"Then let the kitchen cook you something—"
"Eat shit, it suits you better."
The restaurant fell silent for a moment.
The chair legs scraped against the marble floor with a grating sound. Mu Zhengting frowned and looked at him like he was an idiot. Having successfully annoyed him, Mu Zhengxi happily went upstairs with his hands in his pockets.
Around 9 p.m., the housekeeper knocked on the door and brought in a neatly ironed black velvet suit. "Mr. Mu said that he will be having dinner with Dean Yan and his family, as well as Mr. Leo and his family from the consulate, tomorrow night."
"Mr. Mu is back?"
Hearing this form of address, the butler smiled. "He arrived a little later than your brother."
elder brother?
What is this?
Mu Zhengxi twitched the corner of his mouth, vigorously wiped his wet hair a couple of times, casually tossed the towel onto the sofa, walked out of the room, and opened the storage room in the corner on the second floor. Although it was called a storage room, the things inside were very neat and clean. Looking up, there was a red and black badminton racket hanging on the wall.
Mu Shaoqing bought it for him.
He has won badminton championships before.
"Aww!"
Mu Zhengxi bent over slightly, his back was lightly tapped, and the tennis ball bounced up again. He turned around and saw Mu Zhengting, who had changed into casual clothes, holding a tennis racket. Mu Zhengting raised his chin and said to him, "Let's play a game."
Mu Zhengxi threw the tennis ball back.
"Play by yourself."
"You dare not?"
"I just don't want to play with you."
Afraid of losing?
Mu Zhengxi said calmly, "Provocation won't work on me."
"Oh, it seems you've grown up."
"I think this can be seen from the height."
Upon hearing this, Mu Zhengting tilted his head and smiled before going downstairs.
Downstairs in the small living room, Mu Shaoqing was drinking tea and reading a newspaper. Seeing someone come down, he asked, "Going to play ball?"
"Um."
Why didn't you invite your brother along?
He said he didn't want to fight me.
"Virtue".
After training on Sunday afternoon, the driver came to pick him up and take him home. During the casual chat after dinner, Mu Zhengxi and Yan Yuheng had been putting on a show for more than an hour. Their patience had worn thin, so they exchanged a glance, grabbed Leo's son, the blond-haired boy, and ran away.
The blond-haired boy asked, "Where to?"
Mu Zhengxi said to Yan Yuheng, "Call Xu Zizhao and see where that kid is."
Yan Yuheng took out his phone.
"Didn't answer, you bastard, went clubbing again."
Where are we going?
Mu Zhengxi stepped on the pedal, "Let's go eat some spicy strips."
They rode their bicycles around most of Hanyang City to the small shop at the entrance of the alley where their primary school was located. Three young men in suits and ties, with a blond-haired guy in the middle who looked like a foreigner, were squatting on the curb with a bag of spicy strips each.
It looks like a tall glass of cola.
Passersby can't help but glance at it a few more times.
Mu Zhengxi looked at the spicy strips in his hand, puzzled. "Hey Yan Yuheng, let me try yours."
Yan Yuheng handed over the bag he was holding, slurping, "Boss, I'll take a bottle of soda. No, it's too spicy."
"Okay."
The blond-haired boy said, "Give me one too."
Mu Zhengxi took a bite, finding it tasteless and unappetizing. "So boring."
He was the one who said he wanted to eat spicy strips, but he was also the one who lost interest and seemed inexplicably angry about something.
The blond-haired boy said, "Why are you so listless? You're full of energy! If you're not going to eat it, give it to me."
Mu Zhengxi glanced at him; this guy spoke Chinese even better than him. "If you ask me, you shouldn't go back to America. Just stay here."
"I'd love to, my mom insists on taking me back home, and you guys can come visit me during your spring break."
Who said I was going on spring break?
"Your dad said so."
"He's crazy."
Upon hearing this, the blond-haired boy burst into laughter, "All fathers are a little sick."
Mu Zhengxi agreed and gave away all the spicy strips in his hand. He stood up, stomped his slightly numb feet, and something fell from the tree into his collar, startling him.
He took it out and realized, "Isn't this the kind of thing from Jiang Jiawei's school?" He kicked the botanist's descendant's big butt with his toe and asked, "What is this thing?"
The blond-haired boy was astonished by his ignorance, "A goldenrain tree? You don't even recognize that tree???"
Mu Zhengxi asked Yan Yuheng, who was chugging soda, "Do you know him?"
Yan Yuheng, standing casually, scoffed and provoked him, "Who doesn't recognize it? Isn't that a goldenrain tree?"
Mu Zhengxi, unusually, didn't hold his tantrum-seeking behavior against him. "How come I never noticed before???"
"Your eyes are in the sky."
Mu Zhengxi looked down and saw that the trees on both sides of the road had fallen to the ground. It was true. When he looked up again, he saw that the entire road was lined with these kinds of trees.
Which Luan?
"The lead singer of the Black Panther band, Luan Shu (Luan Shu)."
"Exactly the same?"
"yes."
Mu Zhengxi bent down and picked one up. It was a bit drier in color. He twisted it between his fingers and found it thin and crisp, like a caramel egg roll.
It turns out that trees that grow in the south can also grow in the north.
The wind blows.
The blond-haired boy started yelling again: "Damn, it's a bit cold. Let's find somewhere to sit."
Yan Yuheng tugged at his clothes, "Dude, you're wearing such a big coat and you still have the nerve to complain about being cold?? What's wrong with your Northeastern American genes??"
Mu Zhengxi stood there, staring blankly ahead.
Has autumn arrived in Changqing yet?
Have you started wearing long sleeves yet?
Yan Yuheng came over and slapped the young man's sentimental thoughts away, "Mu Zhengxi, are you shooting a magazine ad? We know you're handsome, okay? All the girls in Hanyang are looking at you, can't you leave now?"
Damn it.
Mu Zhengxi and the blond-haired boy exchanged glances.
What to do when people are prone to being cheeky? Just teach them a lesson.
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