Chapter 81

Song Anan stared quietly at Pei Kuang for a few seconds, a trace of helpless expression flashed across her face.

"You're so old already, aren't you a bit childish?"

"Childish? I don't think so." Pei Kuang shrugged and said, "But I am a bit excited, I haven't calmed down from it all day."

Seeing him like this, Song Anan didn't know what to feel. It seemed like she wasn't the only one looking forward to this day.

The corners of Song Anan's mouth curled up as she reached out and grabbed Pei Kuang's hand, "Let's go."

Pei Kuang was stunned for a moment, dragged along for a few steps before he reacted.

The soft touch in his palm inexplicably softened his heart. But thinking of something, he suddenly laughed.

Song Anan turned around and glared at Pei Kuang. On closer inspection, her ears had already turned red.

In fact, taking the initiative to hold Pei Kuang's hand made Song Anan very shy. But on second thought, they were in a relationship now, so she felt much more justified.

She humphed, "What are you laughing at, can't we hold hands?!"

"Of course we can." Pei Kuang's voice was still laughing.

"I was thinking that I feel quite like a failure, I was laughing at myself, not at you."

Song Anan didn't understand what he meant. She looked at him suspiciously.

Pei Kuang sighed heavily, "Forget the kiss, you even took the initiative to hold my hand. You have to admit, I'm quite a failure of a boyfriend."

Song Anan was stunned, her face flushed red in an instant as she turned to glare at him, "That's nonsense, it was clearly you who..." kissed me yesterday.

Pei Kuang raised an eyebrow, calmly dropping a bombshell, "Who said yesterday was our first kiss?"

Song Anan was confused for a moment, "What do you mean?"

Pei Kuang looked at her sideways, smiling, "Last time when you were drunk, you clearly forced yourself on me. Afterwards you wouldn't even admit it."

Song Anan's mind buzzed. Forced kiss?!

Her sister-in-law said she held her liquor well!!

"That's nonsense, I was so drunk, how could I have..."

Forced myself upon him!!!

Pei Kuang had an I-knew-it expression, "I knew you wouldn't admit it."

Song Anan: "......"

What does he mean I-knew-she-wouldn't-admit-it, making her seem like an unfaithful person. But that night, she really didn't remember anything.

Song Anan wanted to ask but didn't dare. She could only speculate wildly in her mind, imagining all sorts of forced kiss scenes from TV dramas.

Those overly dramatic ones she used to watch with her sister-in-law.

The more Song Anan thought about it, the more uneasy she felt. Back then, they weren't even together yet, so wasn't she just harassing Pei Kuang?

Without exaggerating, she now desperately wished she could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

Even their intertwined hands made her feel very awkward. After all, it was her who took the initiative to hold his hand earlier. Pei Kuang wouldn't think she was trying to take advantage of him, right?

Thinking of this possibility, Song Anan immediately let go of Pei Kuang's hand, wanting to pretend nothing had happened.

But of course Pei Kuang wouldn't let her have her way. Not only did he hold her hand again, but he also interlocked their fingers.

Song Anan struggled uncomfortably for a bit.

Pei Kuang squeezed her fingertips lightly and coaxed, "Be good, let's hold hands a bit longer."

Song Anan's fingertips burned for a moment.

She lowered her eyes, murmuring inaudibly, "Oh."

Under the dim street lamps, the two walked side by side, fingers tightly intertwined, their shadows stretched long and far.

Pei Kuang would occasionally squeeze Song Anan's palm lightly, and she would squeeze back just as firmly every time. And so they childishly squeezed each other's hands back and forth the whole way.

"You looked down on me just now, didn't you?" Pei Kuang continued accusing.

At this time, Song Anan's mind was filled with regret that she would never drink again. Hearing this suddenly, she was completely confused.

When did she look down on him?

Pei Kuang's mouth twitched slightly, "Just now you said 'you're so old already'."

Song Anan raised an eyebrow, so what?

Pei Kuang asked lightly, "So I understand, you meant that I'm old, right?"

Song Anan was a bit speechless, she didn't mean that at all!

She said defiantly, "Isn't that the truth?"

Pei Kuang chuckled lightly, "Indeed, that is the truth."

But his tone changed, as he said gratefully, "Luckily I'm younger than you, so that makes up for it a bit."

Song Anan: "......"

This guy's skin really gets thicker and thicker!

-

The two went to pick up Ball Ball from Song Linchuan's place first. Pei Kuang had been recuperating at home these days, so it was more convenient to have the little guy with him.

Dinner was takeout.

Pei Kuang had originally wanted to cook it himself, but after being warned by Song Anan several times, he could only obediently listen.

After dinner, the two played with Ball Ball for a while before Pei Kuang sent Song Anan back. She had to work tomorrow and needed to rest early.

After washing up, Song Anan climbed into bed.

She picked up her phone from the bedside table, opened WeChat, and was about to send Pei Kuang a goodnight message when she happened to receive a WeChat message from Song Linchuan.

Song Linchuan: "Auntie, asleep yet?"

Song Anan thought of Pei Kuang and suddenly felt very guilty. "Not yet, what's up?"

Song Linchuan replied very quickly, "Nothing much, just wanted to let you know I can come back in half a month."

Song Anan knew Song Linchuan's intention, he must still be thinking about what they said last time about going around his school.

"Sounds good, I'll treat you to our school cafeteria when you get back."

She was also thinking that it would be a good time to come clean to Song Linchuan about her and Pei Kuang.

-

But before Song Linchuan came back, Qi MuShi impatiently went ahead and came to find Song Anan first, saying he wanted to come play at their school.

That day, Song Anan happened to be off, so she went to pick up Qi MuShi at the school gate.

He had just gotten out of a taxi when Song Anan waved at him, calling out, "MuShi, over here!"

Hearing her voice, Qi MuShi looked over, "Auntie."

He waved back while running over to Song Anan.

In the three years plus since then, the little brat from back then had grown into a spirited youth.

Over the past few years, Qi MuShi had kept in touch with Song Anan, and they would occasionally meet up for meals.

Of course, Shi Qing would usually come along too if she had time.

This wasn't Qi MuShi's first time visiting this university either. Back when they finished filming the show, Song Anan had said she would take him to tour their artificial intelligence department, and she had made good on that promise long ago.

Qi MuShi had changed quite a bit over the years. Relying on his own efforts in the past two years, he got into the best public high school in B City, and was now a high school sophomore.

His goal now was to get into an artificial intelligence related major at this university.

As Shi Qing put it, choosing to take him on that variety show back then really paid off. Who could have imagined that a failing student could become so motivated after finding his goal, and truly turn his life around to become a top student!

Looking at the youth who now towered over her by more than half a head, Song Anan smiled and asked, "MuShi, did you grow taller again?"

Qi MuShi arrogantly replied, "Yup, I'm 1.78 meters now. Compared to when you last saw me at New Year's, I've grown a whole 5 cm!"

Boys in their mid-teens are when they have growth spurts, so a lot can change in a short time without seeing each other. Song Anan patted his shoulder with a laugh, "Let's go, there's an artificial intelligence lecture today that I got two tickets for, want to go listen?"

Qi MuShi's eyes lit up, "Really? Is there still time?"

Song Anan smiled, "Don't worry, I asked around about the time and place, we can definitely make it if we head over now."

Qi MuShi was elated, but looking at the two bags in his hands, he couldn't help but worry, "Then what should I do with these? Can I bring them in?"

Shi Qing had packed a pile of snacks and homemade desserts for him to bring Song Anan when she heard he was going to visit her.

Song Anan looked at them and figured they probably wouldn't make it if they went back to her dorm now.

She said, "They don't smell, it should be fine."

If it really didn't work out, she could wait outside while Qi MuShi went in to listen.

Qi MuShi nodded, that was the only way.

When Song Anan and Qi MuShi rushed over, the lecture had just begun. They went through the ticket check smoothly and got in without any issues.

The lecture was held in a large amphitheater classroom. Song Anan and Qi MuShi found an inconspicuous spot and sat down.

Qi MuShi listened very attentively, taking notes on his phone from time to time. Song Anan was not as interested.

She struggled for a bit at first, but the jargon was like a foreign language to her. She gave up and took out a textbook from her bag to read instead.

The lecture lasted two hours. When it ended, it was lunch time. Song Anan took Qi MuShi straight to the nearest school cafeteria.

Their school cafeteria offered a wide variety of dishes, including a special stir-fry window. The tastes were pretty decent too.

“Auntie Song, I took a look around just now. Your school cafeteria serves such great food at such low prices!” Qi MuShi remarked as he ate.

“No no, you mustn’t let my mom know about this. Otherwise when I get in, she’ll definitely use it as an excuse to cut my allowance.”

Song Anan laughed. “Don’t worry. If you ever run out of money for meals, come find me and I’ll treat you.”

Qi MuShi giggled and said, “Great! I’m holding you accountable to your word. No going back on it later!”

Song Anan smiled. “Of course, I keep my promises.”

The two chatted casually as they ate.

Qi MuShi suddenly recalled something and said, “Oh right, have you heard from Uncle Linchuan? My dad is collaborating with him again in his next drama.”

Song Anan shook her head. “No I haven’t. We’ve both been busy lately, our phone calls are usually brief.”

Uncle Linchuan had already been filming this drama for over five months. He had only come back twice briefly for urgent matters. He seemed quite busy overall.

Qi MuShi continued, “Uncle Linchuan is the male lead this time. My parents have high hopes for him and say he’s close to completing his transformation.”

Song Anan nodded. She knew a little about Song Linchuan’s attempts at transformation.

Compared to Pei Kuang’s decisive and drastic transformation under the immense pressure of his past relationship, Song Linchuan’s had been much more gradual.

This meant that Song Linchuan’s transformation would inevitably be slower, but it was undoubtedly the most steady approach.

“I heard my dad mention he's also thinking of getting Uncle Pei to make a guest appearance in this drama.” Qi MuShi kept talking.

“To be honest, if it wasn’t for my complete lack of interest in entering the entertainment industry, I would have gotten my dad to create a role for me too. Wouldn’t want them to leave me behind and make me seem antisocial!”

Song Anan was confused. What did this have to do with being sociable?

Qi MuShi lifted his chin arrogantly and explained, “Of course it matters! We’re all nephews, I can’t let them get ahead of me!”

Song Anan: “...”

She didn't know how to respond to this. What strange competitive streak was this?

It was laughable looking back. When Qi MuShi had insisted on taking her as his auntie years ago, everyone else had thought it a joke. Yet he had been serious about it.

Over the years, he had continued to treat Song Anan as his auntie, calling her Auntie Song this and Auntie Song that. Even his own mother Shi Qing hadn't expected this.

Qi MuShi beckoned Song Anan over and whispered mysteriously, “Auntie Song, do you know why I was in such a rush to come find you this time?”

Song Anan shook her head.

When he had urgently called her a few days ago insisting on coming over to hang out as soon as possible, she had been puzzled. It wasn't like this was his first visit, so she was confused about the urgency.

Qi MuShi smiled and explained, “I heard Uncle Linchuan would be back soon. I saw on his social media that he seemed to be competing with Uncle Pei. He must be coming back to your school right? I had to come too, can't fall behind!”

Then he quickly added, “Oh right, remember that electric scooter you rode with Uncle Pei last time? Let's go for a spin around campus after we eat!”

Song Anan: “...”

She really hadn't expected this reason.