Chapter 149
Sheng Mumu looked at the screen and fell silent.
Thinking to herself: Again? Can you be a little more thoughtful, Qi Shaobai?
What she received on her phone was a Lego picture.
It was in the style of a huge interstellar warship.
Sheng Mumu quickly searched for it online.
Unsurprisingly, it was a set that had already been discontinued over ten years ago.
But Sheng Mumu was totally calm about it.
She casually texted back to Qi Shaobai:
“Ok, leave it to me. Good boy, keep working hard, you're doing great!”
When Qi Shaobai received the message, his body stiffened for a moment.
He had just gotten over being called a “good boy” when those three words “you're doing great” shook him again.
His eyes quaked.
In his seventeen years of life, no one had ever said those three words to him before.
It felt so unfamiliar.
He swallowed and with difficulty accepted this new reality.
After a long pause, he murmured in resignation:
“Fine, I’ll try to get used to it.”
Sheng Mumu opened the WeChat conversation tagged “Master Dreamer.”
Last time, in order to help Qi Shaobai find the discontinued Lego set, she had added this otaku uncle with an anime character as his profile picture.
She started off politely, the same as last time—
“Hello Brother, my son is doing much better now. His legs have started moving a little bit. Thank you for selling me that discontinued Lego set last time. The internet really connects people.”
After a while, a reply came from “Master Dreamer”—
Just three simple words: “That’s good.”
Sheng Mumu paused for a moment, then shamelessly continued typing:
“Brother, I wanted to ask if you have this model? I’d like to get my son another gift.”
“[picture of a puppy blinking]”
Master Dreamer: “I have it.”
A few minutes later.
Master Dreamer: “I’ll mail it to you tomorrow.”
Sheng Mumu: “!!!”
Sheng Mumu excitedly clenched her fist.
Just as people online had said.
She might have gotten his name wrong, but never his nickname or tag.
The tag she had given this otaku uncle, “Master Dreamer”, suited him perfectly.
He really could make dreams come true!
She immediately responded with a string of flattering compliments, praising Master Dreamer to the high heavens.
But he didn’t reply anymore after that. She guessed there were two possibilities:
One, Master Dreamer must be really cool, a man of few words.
Two, like most otaku uncles, he was shy and embarrassed.
No matter which was true, Sheng Mumu felt that the otaku uncle was such a nice person.
The more she thought this, the more guilty she felt.
Just like last time.
She tapped an electronic wooden fish for ten minutes.
Asking the Buddha to forgive her for lying.
After attaining inner peace, there was a knock at her door.
She got up to open the door, and right at that moment her phone rang.
The caller ID showed Qi Mo.
As she walked to the door, she gently slid her finger across the screen to answer.
“Hello?”
Qi Mo, “Hello.”
She opened the door. It was the food delivery she had ordered earlier.
She took the food from the delivery guy and said thanks, then closed the door.
Qi Mo paused for a moment. “I just got off the plane.”
Sheng Mumu was used to this by now. Whenever Qi Mo went on a business trip, he would let her know as soon as he arrived at his destination.
Sheng Mumu checked the time, calculating roughly how many hours he had been on the plane.
It was nearly ten hours.
She couldn’t help asking with concern: “That’s a long time on a plane, must’ve been tiring huh?”
Over the phone, Qi Mo’s voice lifted a little at the end. “Not tiring.”
Sheng Mumu put the food delivery on the coffee table and sat cross-legged on the carpet. “That’s good then.”
Qi Mo changed the subject. “Actually I’m in Germany this time.”
“What?” Sheng Mumu’s hands paused while unpacking the food. “You’re in Germany?”
Qi Mo: “Mm...” Qi Mo explained to Sheng Mumu over the phone that he had decided to accompany his grandmother for a while.
Using business talks as an excuse, so his grandmother couldn’t kick him out.
He hadn’t told Sheng Mumu in advance.
Firstly because he knew she was busy with work these days and didn’t want to disturb her.
Secondly because he could anticipate his grandmother’s temper.
If the two of them really showed up together in Germany, his grandmother would surely be angry and refuse to cooperate with treatment.
While listening to Qi Mo speak, Sheng Mumu felt a slight tremor in her heart.
She was moved by his filial piety towards his grandmother, and also by his respect and support for her career.
She kept these feelings buried in her heart. By the time they reached her mouth, they had turned into sharing the events of her day.
On the phone.
Sheng Mumu chattered on and on.
She couldn’t help complaining:
“You don’t know how cold the Shen city weather is. The wind at the airport made me want to die.”
She also couldn’t help bragging:
“Today I memorized the names, positions, and specialties of all the employees in less than an hour. Impressive, right?”
Qi Mo laughed softly. “You’ve always been impressive.”
Sheng Mumu spoke arrogantly, dragging out her words, “Of course~”
As Sheng Mumu ate her delivery food, she chatted with Qi Mo.
Until she yawned for the third time, and suddenly realized something. She said: “Let’s not talk anymore. You were on a plane for so long, go back to your hotel and rest.”
She had just woken up from a three hour nap, while he had barely even arrived in Germany.
Getting caught up in talking about herself, she had forgotten about that.
Qi Mo spoke calmly: “Alright.”
Sheng Mumu: “Mm mm, bye now—”
“Wait,” Qi Mo interrupted her. “I’ll have someone arrange your meals tomorrow. Don’t order takeout anymore, it’s not healthy.”
Sheng Mumu was about to say there was no need to trouble him, but then thought for him it probably wasn’t troublesome at all. So she said: “Okay.”
Thinking that was the last thing, she was just about to say “Bye bye, go get some sleep.”
But then she heard Qi Mo say:
“Also, remember to tuck a blanket at the foot of your bed when you sleep at night. That way the comforter won’t slide off as easily.”
Sheng Mumu blinked slowly.
A warm current rippled into her heart.
“Got it?” Qi Mo asked when she didn’t respond.
“Weird—” Sheng Mumu hesitated a few seconds. “Why don’t you remind me about tucking a blanket when we’re at home?”
Over the phone, a brief silence.
Then she heard him laugh softly.
She could hear the undisguised laughter and candor in his voice as he said:
“Because when I’m next to you, you don’t need those things.”
Sheng Mumu's heart strings quivered abruptly.
Her fingers holding the phone curled slightly.
As if struck by something.
Her left chest thumped a few times, then grew increasingly soft.
The line was quiet for a long while, as if waiting for her response.
For an instant, everything around her was perfectly silent.
It felt like a lot of time passed, but also just a few seconds.
She heard his voice over the phone again.
“You were yawning a lot just now. Go to bed early.” Qi Mo said. “Good night.”
The receiver was pressed to Sheng Mumu's ear. The man's voice was magnetic and low, as if he was whispering right next to her ear.
The "Good night" especially warm and smooth, stroking the depths of her heart.
Light, ticklish.
Sheng Mumu spoke haltingly, belatedly. "Good night."
She hung up the phone.
She shoved her head into the pillow.
Her fair, porcelain arms thrashed around wildly for a few moments.
Qi Mo's "Good night" seemed to echo in her ears still.
She had to admit it.
She had just been stirred up.
A strange thought suddenly popped into her head.
What if...
She meant, what if...
If she and Qi Mo were dating, could she order him to repeat "Good night" by her ear in different tones a hundred times everyday?
Not for anything else.
Just to give her eardrums a spa treatment.