"Do you have to remind me? Urgh!" Su Qianhua screamed in frustration. Her next free day was in two months, and it wasn't even guaranteed.
Her unit was very short-staffed, so the members hardly got breaks.
"Ranran, I'm hanging up now. "Mysteries in the Imperial House" is about to begin". It was a series she had been following as closely as possible, and she would never miss a chance to enjoy watching it in the comfort of her apartment.
"Alright, talk to you later Huahua." Pei Yueran laughed as she said it. Su Qianhua made a face at that weird sounding nickname before ending the call.
*****
Immediately Li Yuchen came back from school, the butler told him that his father asked to see him in the study.
He was startled. He may or may not have caused some trouble at school. His teacher punished him to stand outside, but he hoped she didn't call his father or report him to the principal.
He wanted to show his best side to his Goddess.
When he knocked on the door of the study, Li Chuanmo told him to come in.
"Hi Dad, how are you doing?" Li Yuchen was smiling in such a way that his adorableness was put on full display, but Li Chuanmo became suspicious.
The more innocent and adorable Li Yuchen looked, the less innocent he actually was.
"What did you do?"
"W-what do you you mean Dad? I-I didn't do anything."
Li Chuanmo decided to drop the subject and talk about the reason for calling him.
"I wanted to ask you a question. Do you know what games I can play with your Auntie? I don't think she liked the ones we played yesterday."
When he realized his father called him to ask for help and not to punish him, he became confident and pompous again.
He said, "Dad, first of all, my services are expensive and my time is precious. If you have questions, use WeChat or something. Henceforth, I'll charge you extra if you just summon me like this."
Li Chuanmo raised an eyebrow at him, "I provide for your needs, so can't you help me a little?"
"Dad, don't bully me. Those are things you have been doing for me before, because you're my father, and not as payment for my help. They are two different things."
"Alright. What do you want?"
"I want extra allowance."
"How much?"
"Twenty thousand."
Li Chuanmo snorted. "Why don't you just go rob a bank? It will be faster."
"Dad!" Li Yuchen whined. "Okay Ten thousand?"
"Two thousand."
Li Yuchen scoffed. "Why don't you go and hire a professional then?" He was not a beggar!
"Three thousand."
"Five thousand or nothing."
"Fine."
Li Yuchen smiled. Ah, victory was sweet.
He sat down and crossed his legs, looking every inch the professional relationship coach. "So tell me what happened, minus the last part." He waved his phone, smiling mischievously. "I have picture evidence of that one."
Li Chuanmo ignored his taunt and gave a summary of how their day went.
Li Yuchen shook his head in mock horror. "Dad, where did you learn your dating tricks from?"
Li Chuanmo didn't understand what he was trying to say, but he still answered, "Nowhere. Why?"
Li Yuchen said in a long suffering tone, "I thought you wanted to play together with her. How come you won all the games and beat all the levels? Were you trying to spend time with my Goddess or were you trying to become a world game champion?
"Dad, if you really want to court my Goddess, you need to step up your game. Look for games that would bring you closer together, and make both of you laugh or something, I don't know."
"Oh, I see."
Li Yuchen roasted his father in his heart, 'I'm sure you can't see anything. I won't be surprised if you bring out financial games and win all of my Goddess' money!'
He sighed. At this rate, she would really just remain his "Auntie" instead of Mother. This won't do! He had to bring in backup!
Leaving his father's study, he sent a picture to his grandmother.
*****
Since Li Qianye's retirement, the Li couple had become very carefree, having more time to relax and enjoy their time together.
On this particular day, both of them had nothing much to do. Zhang Heying didn't feel like going out. She was still worried about Pei Yueran, but she had not visited because she wanted to give them time together.
She had been sending messages daily to Pei Yueran however, so she knew she was feeling better.
Seeing her low mood, Li Qianye decided to cheer her up and announced that he would give her a massage. So he gathered the needed materials and told his wife to lie down.
As he massaged her back, he praised her continuously, "Wife, your skin is so good. You look like you've not aged one day since I met you more than four decades ago. You are a true goddess!" and on and on, he continued praising her.
He was exaggerating, but Zhang Heying truly looked young and beautiful. Although she was in her late fifties, she had maintained herself well and still looked like a young girl.
She kept smiling as she said, "Don't sweet talk me, Old man." Just then, her phone beeped, alerting her of a message on WeChat.
"Oh, but I'm saying the truth." The more Li Qianye rubbed her back, the more shiny and supple it looked. He had just subconsciously leaned down to kiss her back when Zhang Heying sprang up, hitting his nose.
"Old man, look!" she shouted excitedly, showing him her message. It was the picture of Li Chuanmo and Pei Yueran the other day. Li Yuchen had just sent it.
"Wow, they're moving really fast. This is great!" Li Qianye said happily. Both of them faced each other to exchange a high-five, but then Zhang Heying screamed in alarm.
"Old man, what happened to you?"
Li Qianye was bleeding from his nose.
"What what?" Noticing the blood when he touched his nose, he said, "you bumped into me, but it's nothing."
"I'm so sorry", She said as she wiped his nose with a tissue. "But, how did I bump into you? Were you planning on doing something else to my back?"
Li Qianye looked away guiltily at first, but decided there was nothing to feel guilty about. He then looked back at her. "Yes, I wanted to do this", he said as he began to kiss her.
The massage session ended just like that.