A Girlfriend Falls from the Sky

"Mom, you just said Li Xun isn't delivering food anymore and got a job at a Fortune Global 500 company. Do you know the name?" Xia Qing asked after the call connected.

"I think it's called Penguin Video. Anyway, it's a high-level office job, very promising. Xia Qing, listen to your mom..."

Xia Qing chatted with her mother for a while longer before hanging up.

Then, Xia Qing looked at Yu Juan and said, "Li Xun isn't delivering food anymore. His new company is Penguin Video!"

The screenwriter's commission for the first arc of Young Bao Qingtian came in: 200,000 per episode, totaling 1.2 million. It's said that because of Young Bao Qingtian's astonishing success, the website also prepared a big red envelope for the main creative team, including the director, screenwriters, and producers. It's unknown when it will arrive.

There was no longer any need to live in that rented room of just over ten square meters. Li Xun found a reasonably sized agency near the Penguin Innovation Building. After explaining his needs, he stopped paying attention for the time being. Housing in this area was quite tight; he estimated he'd have to wait until after the second arc was filmed to move.

Dai Ying's intention was to finish filming the second arc before the Lunar New Year, with a preliminary launch date set for the first day of the New Year.

There was still plenty of time, but not much room for waste. Within these next two or three days, he would be heading to the filming location.

Around ten in the morning, Li Xun was lying in bed scrolling through short videos when Dai Ying sent him a WeChat message. Before Li Xun could even read it, the message was recalled.

Li Xun sent back a question mark. Shortly after, Dai Ying's message came again.

Yingying: "My parents are here in Jing City."

Li Xunhuan: "That's great. Take your aunt and uncle around and show them the sights."

At the same time, he felt a bit strange. Her parents were in Jing City, what did that have to do with him?

A moment later, Dai Ying's message came again.

Yingying: "My mother keeps feeling dizzy and suspects she has a serious illness, like cancer."

Li Xunhuan: "Then you should get her to a hospital for a comprehensive check-up immediately. As people get older, it's always good to get checked, whether there's something wrong or not. Also, if you need any help, don't hesitate to ask."

Meanwhile, Li Xun's confusion grew even stronger. Her parents were sick, and he wasn't a doctor, so what use was telling him? She was so wealthy, she didn't need to borrow money from him either!

Yingying: "She's already admitted to Xiehe Hospital for tests. All the results will take a few more days."

Li Xunhuan: "It's good that she's being tested. Don't worry, everything will be fine."

After a long while.

Yingying: "Can you come over to Xiehe later?"

Li Xunhuan: "Okay!"

After replying, Li Xun came to his senses and felt strange. He asked, "What am I supposed to do there?"

Yingying: "Your girlfriend's mother is hospitalized. Isn't it only natural for the son-in-law to visit his future mother-in-law?"

Li Xun looked at the message Dai Ying sent. He recognized every single character, but when they were put together, he couldn't understand it.

Li Xunhuan: "President Dai, I'm Li Xun. Did you send this to the wrong person?"

Yingying: "No, it's you I'm talking about, Li Xun!"

Li Xunhuan: "When did this happen? How come I don't know anything about it? No one informed me!"

Yingying: "My parents are always rushing me to get married. I had no choice but to say I was already dating someone. They insisted on knowing the details, so I sent them your information."

Li Xun sent three thumbs-up emojis in a row.

Li Xunhuan: "Brilliant, truly brilliant. Leader, I'm genuinely impressed this time!"

Yingying: "Dress up when you come. You need to make a good impression on your future in-laws for the first meeting."

Li Xunhuan: "Dress up? I haven't even agreed yet, and I'm not good at acting!"

The situation was too sudden; Li Xun needed time to process it.

After a while.

Yingying: "If you're unwilling, I'll just say you dumped me and we broke up!"

Li Xunhuan: "Okay, that's the only way to put it--Wait, when did I dump you?--If anyone's dumping, it's you dumping me!--That's not right either, why would you dump me?! Why don't you just say we broke up due to incompatibility!"

Dai Ying didn't reply further.

Looking at Li Xun's reply, her heart felt hollow.

It had taken a great deal of courage for her to confess to Li Xun that she had pretended to their parents that he was her boyfriend.

Even now, her palms were still covered in sweat.

But the situation had reached a point where she couldn't keep deceiving them.

Her parents were in Jing City, and it was for medical treatment. If the "son-in-law" didn't show up, it would be difficult to justify, both in terms of reason and emotion.

Moreover, she was genuinely scared this time, afraid her mother really had a serious illness, afraid her mother might suddenly be gone one day.

Her mother's biggest wish in recent years had been to see her daughter one day wear a beautiful wedding dress and marry a young man she loved. If something were to happen to her mother this time, and she couldn't even fulfill this most basic wish, she would truly feel guilty for the rest of her life.

But she really couldn't conjure up a boyfriend out of thin air!

What else could she do?

So, no matter how awkward or embarrassed she felt, she had laid it all out for Li Xun. At the same time, she hoped Li Xun would come to the hospital and act a scene with her so that her mother could complete all the examinations happily.

Unexpectedly, he had refused without a second thought.

She hesitated for a full three hours before messaging Li Xun. She edited and re-edited her message, but could never muster the courage to hit send.

Later, she finally worked up the nerve to send it, only to immediately recall it.

When Li Xun sent back a question mark, she decided to go all in and just say it.

So what if it's embarrassing! I'm going for it!

She never expected things to turn out like this!

Dai Ying's face felt hot.

She would confront her mother about it later.

Her boyfriend was fake, her social media posts were fake, and the "boyfriend" himself hadn't even known about it beforehand. Her social media was only visible to family.

Fake, everything was fake!

"Mom's probably going to be incredibly disappointed in me!"

Dai Ying scrolled through WeChat, finding her university group, high school group, and even her middle school group. Then, she looked through the list of male contacts one by one.

She checked to see which ones weren't married yet.

Her mother's sudden illness made her realize that she really shouldn't keep delaying the matter of marriage.

But she couldn't just grab a random person off the street to marry, could she?

For the moment, the only people she could think of were her old male classmates.

At least they were familiar with each other.

Around 11:30 AM, Dai Ying sat by her mother Liu Fang's bedside, peeling an apple for her.

"Yingying, does Xiao Li know about my hospitalization?" Dai Ying's mother, Liu Fang, said slowly.

Dai Ying's hand paused as she peeled the apple. "Mom, don't worry. I promise I'll be married within six months." After reassuring her mother, and setting a deadline for herself, Dai Ying continued, "As for Li Xun, we two have already—"

"You must be Auntie, right? You look so healthy! You don't look like you have a daughter as old as Yingying at all. You look so young." Just then, Li Xun entered, carrying gifts.

Dai Ying stared at Li Xun, frozen as if struck by a martial arts master.

Li Xun put down the gifts and looked at the middle-aged man beside him, whose features bore some resemblance to Dai Ying's. "You must be Uncle Dai? Yingying often mentions you. I'm Dai Ying's boyfriend, Li Xun."

"Good, good, good, Xiao Li. Come, sit by Auntie." Liu Fang said with a smile, patting the edge of the bed.

Li Xun walked over and sat down.

Liu Fang looked at Li Xun, who was even more handsome than in photos or videos, and her eyes lit up.

"Xiao Li, Yingying mentioned that your hometown is also in Xiang Province?"

"Yes, Lijiawan Village, Changqiao Town, Henghe City, Xiang Province."

"Good, good, good. All from Xiang Province, not too far from Auntie's home."

After chatting with Liu Fang for a while, Li Xun was pulled aside by Dai Ying.

"Didn't you say you wouldn't act and weren't coming?"

Li Xun said, "I didn't want to come at first, but then I thought about it. If I didn't come, you'd tell your uncle and aunt that we broke up, and that I dumped you. Without doing anything, I'd be branded a scumbag. Wouldn't that be unfair?"

"You're a scumbag to begin with!"

"How am I a scumbag?"

Dai Ying changed the subject. "By the way, how did you find your way here?"

Li Xun said, "You're one to talk! I called you over a dozen times, and you didn't answer. I had to ask around and bluff my way here."

Dai Ying's phone had been on silent, so she hadn't heard it.

The two returned to the hospital room. Liu Fang had Li Xun and Dai Ying sit on either side of her bed.

"Xiao Li, do you drink or smoke?" Liu Fang asked with a smile.

"Auntie, I don't smoke or drink!" Li Xun replied.

Liu Fang beamed. "Good, good. Not smoking or drinking is great. You can have children anytime."

Li Xun looked at Dai Ying in surprise.

What's going on? Didn't we agree to pretend to be boyfriend and girlfriend? Why are we at this stage?

Dai Ying's face instantly turned red.

She was overcome with shame!

Just then, Li Xun's phone rang. He apologized and answered it.

It was the agent; they had found a place.

Li Xun discussed it with the agent for a few minutes on the phone, then arranged a viewing time and hung up.

Liu Fang asked Li Xun, "Xiao Li, are you looking for a place?"

Li Xun replied, "Auntie, yes. I'm currently living in a basement, and the conditions are a bit poor. Now that I have some money, I want to find a better place to live."

Liu Fang slapped her thigh and laughed. "Why are you still looking for a place? Yingying's apartment is 150 square meters, isn't that enough for the two of you?"

"Mom, what are you talking about!" Dai Ying exclaimed, flustered. Her mother's careless words made her want to disappear into the ground.

"Auntie, isn't that inappropriate?!" Li Xun also scratched his head.

Liu Fang held her daughter's hand and smiled. "What, are you shy? Didn't you just say you'd be married within six months? I don't think you should go back to our hometown this year. Spend Chinese New Year at Li Xun's house this year, meet his parents first, and then you two work hard to get me a grandchild by Chinese New Year next year!"

This time, both Dai Ying and Li Xun's faces turned red.