Chapter 7

Chen Mo set down his cappuccino, picked up his phone, and said, "How about I call your wife after all—"

"Hey, don't, don't—" Boss Peng hurried forward and grabbed Chen Mo's hand holding the phone. One glare from Chen Mo made him hastily let go again. He sat awkwardly across from Chen Mo, his face miserable. "It hasn't been easy for me either. That tigress at home has a terrible temper, she's ugly, and she can't even bear children. I'm already this old. Is it wrong for me to want a son to inherit the family business? And you say I keep mistresses outside, but she hasn't exactly been idle either. She's kept more pretty boys than I've kept mistresses, and she spends all the money I earn. Then there's my company. Sure, I got my first startup capital through her family's connections, and they helped bring in plenty of business. But I've worked my ass off all these years too, haven't I? Yet more than half the board is made up of her relatives, all of them holding out their hands for money without doing a damn thing. I just wanted to make more plans for myself and leave myself a way out—that's all—"

"You have ten minutes to settle our family's food poisoning incident. In ten minutes, I'll call your wife."

"Damn it!" Boss Peng scratched irritably at his nearly bald head. No longer bothering to complain to Chen Mo, he immediately took out his phone and made a call. Right in front of Chen Mo, he ordered the man to get out of the hospital at once and go to Don't Come Back Restaurant to clarify the truth. "...Say you wanted to extort some money from the restaurant, but then your conscience got the better of you and you decided to apologize to the owner."

As he spoke, Boss Peng secretly watched Chen Mo's expression.

Chen Mo said nothing. Boss Peng gave a few more instructions before hanging up. Rubbing his hands together, he smiled ingratiatingly at Chen Mo. "Student Chen... do you think this arrangement is acceptable?"

Chen Mo nodded, set his half-finished cappuccino on the table, picked up his phone, and rose to his feet. "Don't come bothering me again. Otherwise, if you catch me in a bad mood next time, you won't be so lucky."

With that, he strode away.

Boss Peng watched Chen Mo's high-spirited retreating figure, licking his dry lips. He turned around and craned his neck to watch Chen Mo through the floor-to-ceiling window beside him. Only after Chen Mo entered the film studio and disappeared from sight did he let out a long sigh. His gaze fell on the half cup of cappuccino on the table. Blinking, Boss Peng picked it up and drained it in one gulp. He smacked his lips, shook his head, and sighed. "So he's an old ginger after all. Fuck, that's spicy!"

When Chen Mo returned to the set, he found everyone looking at him strangely. Even Lin Xia, who had always been at odds with him, sneaked over while no one was paying attention and whispered, "Are you okay? I called Young Master Gu. He promised he'd call Boss Peng and tell him not to make things difficult for you."

Chen Mo truly hadn't expected Lin Xia to do that. He immediately smiled and looked her over a few times. "Well, well. Who would've thought the great star Lin was such a warm-hearted traditionalist?"

"Bullshit. You think everyone's like you, refusing to help even when it takes no effort?" Lin Xia rolled her eyes at Chen Mo. Ever since Chen Mo had played the role of Han Yan in the drama, Lin Xia's attitude toward him had done a complete one-eighty. Perhaps she felt that they were now in the same circle, and that Chen Mo had a promising future in both looks and acting. They might even have a chance to work together again someday. So Lin Xia no longer put on airs as a newly popular young actress.

Since Lin Xia had lowered her guard, Chen Mo, a grown man, wasn't going to keep being awkward either. Still, whenever the two got along, they acted like a pair of trash-talking friends. Their mouths were both equally vicious, leaving outsiders unable to tell whether they got along well or badly.

After exchanging a few verbal jabs with Lin Xia, Chen Mo went to Director Zhang to report back from leave. Director Zhang had also been worried about Chen Mo's meeting with Boss Peng, but it wasn't convenient for him to ask.

Not wanting everyone to misunderstand, Chen Mo got straight to the point. "I met Boss Peng at Eighth Day Café and had a few words with him. Under my patient instruction, Boss Peng has recognized his mistake. It's settled."

Chen Mo said it with complete confidence. The two of them had been in the café lobby by the floor-to-ceiling windows, with so many eyes watching them. He wasn't afraid people would get the wrong idea or deliberately try to smear him.

Everyone was skeptical, but no one showed it in front of Chen Mo. The matter was considered over.

Chen Mo was about to return to the dressing room to change when Director Zhang suddenly asked, "I heard from Director Jiang that you can write songs too. Is that true?"

"Huh?" Chen Mo froze, then realized Jiang Jie had been talking about the original Chen Mo, the one from before he had transmigrated.

Director Zhang took Chen Mo's reaction as confirmation. Since he also wanted to give Chen Mo a boost, he said, "How about this? Write a song for our Young Emperor too. I'll take a look. If it works, we'll use it as an insert song. It can help promote the production as well."

Of course, the person who stood to gain the most in the end would definitely be Chen Mo himself.

Chapter 7

After work that night, Chen Mo returned home to find that Father Chen and Mother Chen weren't busy at the restaurant as usual. Instead, they sat stiffly on the sofa, waiting for him to come back.

Seeing how prepared they looked, Chen Mo smiled faintly. "The food poisoning issue has been resolved. It was a misunderstanding. You don't need to worry."

Father Chen and Mother Chen exchanged glances. After hesitating for a while, Father Chen cautiously said, "I heard from your uncle that the person who framed our restaurant was sent by an investor from your production. That investor—"

Before Father Chen could finish, Chen Mo smiled and said, "It's fine. It's all been settled. By the way, when's dinner? I'm a little hungry."

Hearing that, Mother Chen quickly stood up. "It's already ready. I made braised chicken, your favorite."

Chen Mo smiled. "Then I'll go wash my hands first."

By the time Chen Mo came out of the bathroom, Father Chen and Mother Chen had set the table and laid out the dishes and utensils. The family of three sat down to eat. Watching Chen Mo's elegant movements, so different from before, Father Chen and Mother Chen hesitated again and again before finally asking haltingly, "...I heard from your uncle that you act on set, and that you have to ride horses and shoot arrows... When did you learn to ride horses... and drive...?"

Chen Mo paused with his rice bowl in hand. The food between his chopsticks accidentally fell onto the table. A greasy piece of braised chicken now sat on the clean, tidy tabletop, looking rather out of place.

Chen Mo slowly set down his bowl and chopsticks, lowering his eyes. "I told you a long time ago. I'm not—"

"Oh, children naturally want to learn whatever they see. Besides, our Momo is so smart. Of course you'd learn it as soon as you tried. It's normal that we didn't know." Mother Chen cut him off. She used her chopsticks to put several pieces of chicken leg meat into Chen Mo's bowl. "Eat up. You've been busy on set all day, and you didn't eat well at noon either. Have more. It's all your favorite food."

Then she added several chopsticks of cold vegetables to Chen Mo's bowl. "Eat some vegetables too. You never like vegetables. You won't get enough nutrition that way."

Chen Mo looked at the food in his bowl, then looked up at Father Chen and Mother Chen. They happened to be studying him with complicated expressions. When their gazes met, Father Chen and Mother Chen immediately lowered their heads as though startled. Mother Chen picked up the glass beside her and took a sip of water, while Father Chen quickly shoveled half a bowl of rice into his mouth.

Chen Mo thought for a moment but said nothing more.

The meal was somewhat stifling. After dinner, Mother Chen went to wash the dishes, while Father Chen worked in the kitchen too, washing and cutting vegetables in preparation for tomorrow's ingredients.

Chen Mo stood in the kitchen doorway, watching Father Chen and Mother Chen work. After some thought, he said, "I'm working as both an actor and a production assistant on set. Over the next month or so, I should make around fifty thousand yuan. But the production won't settle the payment until I wrap. When that happens, I'll give you the money as living expenses."

Father Chen and Mother Chen were startled. They hurriedly asked, "What are you planning to do?"

"Nothing." Chen Mo frowned. He didn't want to see them acting so jumpy. "It's just to help support the household."

Father Chen and Mother Chen studied Chen Mo closely. After a long while, they slowly said, "All right."

After thinking about it, Mother Chen added, "We'll save it for you. When you need it in the future, you can ask us for it. That way, you won't spend it recklessly."

Chen Mo smiled faintly. After a moment of contemplation, he added, "After school starts, I want to live in the dorms—"

"No!" Mother Chen suddenly shouted. The bowl slipped from her hand in agitation. The blue-and-white porcelain bowl smashed into the sink with a loud clang, startling everyone.

Water still rushed noisily from the faucet. Mother Chen stood there blankly for a moment before realizing she had lost control. She said, "I mean, the school dorms are dirty and terrible. You care so much about cleanliness. How could you possibly get used to living there? And there are too many people in the dorms. It's not good for studying either. Home is quieter."

Father Chen followed up quickly, "Right, right. That's what your mother means. Nothing else. If you think your mother and I disturb your studies at home, we can move to the restaurant."

"No need—" Chen Mo stopped midway when he looked up and saw Father Chen and Mother Chen gazing at him with red-rimmed eyes full of pleading. He choked on his words. When he spoke again, his tone had changed. "I only thought living at school would save time. But you're right. There are too many people in the dorms, and the hygiene is poor. Maybe I wouldn't get used to it either. I'll stay at home, then. You don't need to move out."

After thinking about it, Chen Mo finally said, "No matter what, as long as I'm still Chen Mo, I'll take care of you in your old age."

After saying that, Chen Mo couldn't stand the awkward atmosphere in the kitchen any longer. He casually found an excuse and turned to return to his room.

Father Chen and Mother Chen were left standing dumbly in the kitchen. After a long while, Mother Chen covered her mouth and cried softly, "What on earth is going on...?"

Their son had been injured and fallen into a coma several months ago. After waking up, he no longer recognized his parents and insisted he was someone else, laying out his claims in a surprisingly coherent way. He constantly complained that their son had stolen his body. He had made a huge fuss, run away from home, and gone to Kyoto, saying he wanted to find his real parents and older brother. After returning, his personality had changed drastically. Not only had his taste in food and his temperament changed, even the things he knew were different from their son's.

But if this Chen Mo wasn't their son, where had their son gone?

At first, Father Chen and Mother Chen could still comfort themselves by saying Chen Mo had entered a rebellious phase, that his thoughts and behavior were simply very different from before. But no matter how rebellious someone was, even if it could change a person's temperament and personality, it couldn't make abilities appear out of nowhere. How could he suddenly know things he had never known before?

Yet no matter how much Father Chen and Mother Chen doubted, they didn't dare ask him directly. They were even afraid that if they asked too much and annoyed him, Chen Mo would leave again without a word. So they would rather live in this uncertainty, as long as they could keep their son by their side.

Mother Chen covered her mouth and cried in anguish, while Father Chen, his eyes red, wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Leaning against each other, Mother Chen reached out and lightly punched Father Chen, complaining, "It's all your fault. Why did you have to ask such pointless questions? What if you drive him away again... I won't forgive you..."

Chen Mo returned to his room and threw himself onto the bed. Through the thin door, he could still vaguely hear crying and complaints coming from the kitchen. He sighed in irritation.

Father Chen and Mother Chen had lost their son overnight. He had lost his own parents and older brother, as well as his comfortable, affluent life. Now that things had reached this point, who the hell was to blame?

Staring wide-eyed at the white-painted ceiling, Chen Mo lay quietly in a daze for a while. Thinking of the songwriting task Director Zhang had given him, he sighed again, closed his eyes, and entered the system.