Chapter 18 – Did They Go on a Date
Huo Qing looked at the person in the room and asked, “Er Bai… do you know my brother?”
Before the money god could speak, Chen Bai said, “We’re friends.”
The parties could also be called partners, and “partners” could be rephrased as “friends.”
Huo Chuan didn’t comment further on this description and didn’t elaborate.
He didn’t say much, but he didn’t leave either, sitting down on a chair at the side of the piano room.
Although it looked a bit odd, these two were indeed quite open and were just friends.
With an additional person acting as a messenger in the room, Huo Qing filmed her video and, finding nothing stimulating happening, decided to go downstairs to accompany her mother.
When the footsteps in the corridor faded, only the two of them remained in the room. Huo Chuan spoke up, saying, “You’ve changed quite a bit.”
Knowing what he was referring to, Chen Bai rubbed his pink hair and took the initiative to ask, “Is it not good-looking?”
The person sitting on the sofa didn’t respond immediately; after a moment of silence, he shifted the topic and asked, “How did you end up here?”
Chen Bai answered concisely, “I came to help… just happened to be here.”
In short, it was purely accidental.
Having asked everything he wanted to know, Huo Chuan didn’t speak further. He loosened two buttons on his shirt and leaned back quietly on the sofa.
As the soothing piano sound resumed, he closed his eyes amidst the continuous notes.
In this kind of weather, the sound of rain mixed with the piano was perfect for sleeping.
When the last piece ended and the piano sound faded, Chen Bai moved his hand and turned to look at the man on the sofa who hadn’t moved at all.
Those originally half-opened eyes had closed at some point.
It dawned on him that according to the storyline, the money god had been busy for the past couple of days without much rest.
This person had probably held back his fatigue because Huo Qing was present; now that she was gone, he had changed like this.
After hesitating for less than a second, Chen Bai stood up and walked to the side of the sofa. He decided to politely wake him up by tapping his shoulder instead of slapping his face.
Fortunately, the money god wasn’t in a deep sleep; a tap on the shoulder was enough to rouse him, and his eyes opened slightly.
“……”
Before the sitting person fully opened his eyes, Chen Bai silently withdrew his hand that was about to slap his face and said, “If you’re tired, you should rest.”
His dark pupils met Chen Bai’s gaze.
Chen Bai said, “I’ll let Auntie know later.”
—
After the last piece ended, there was a brief silence before a figure appeared by the stairs on the second floor.
Zhang Ling put down the flowers she had been fiddling with and looked over with the butler.
Surprisingly, it was a very young person coming down, with light pink hair flying through the air as they moved, and their skin was excessively pale.
As if noticing the gaze from this side, the person turned to look over, their rare light gray pupils meeting theirs, followed by a clear smile.
Upon reaching the living room, even without having seen him before, they could recognize Chen Bai, who greeted Huo’s mother and then said with a smile, “Mr. Huo went back to his room to rest.”
His smile was genuine.
With one less money god to deal with, he felt significantly more relaxed.
Mainly because he wasn’t getting paid, he didn’t feel motivated to perform.
—If he were getting paid, that would be a different story.
Huo Qing asked, “Mr. Huo?”
If she remembered correctly, this person had said not long ago that he was friends with her brother.
She recalled that none of her brother’s friends referred to him as Mr. Huo.
Chen Bai lowered his voice and said seriously, “It’s more appropriate to say that Mr. Huo is my boss.”
This title couldn’t be mentioned while the money god was around; now that the other party wasn’t present, he spoke it smoothly.
Huo Qing nodded, understanding why.
No wonder her brother seemed to smile less when he was around; it turned out it was because of this.
Although she hadn’t entered society yet, she could roughly guess that no one would smile brightly and sincerely at their boss.
Having completed his task, Chen Bai didn’t plan to stick around for a family gathering. He had intended to leave right after greeting them, but the woman in the wheelchair called him back, asking, “Are you playing the piano at the Hailuo restaurant this weekend?”
Swallowing the words he hadn’t yet spoken, Chen Bai replied that he was.
Zhang Ling smiled, her eyes narrowing: “I guessed so.”
This time, Huo Qing felt out of the loop; she looked left and right, trying to figure out what the two were discussing.
Hailuo restaurant was the place where Chen Bai worked, and it was also a restaurant that Zhang Ling occasionally went to with friends.
Although her friend didn’t frequent visit that restaurant, ever since the restaurant had changed to a pianist, they had been going every weekend, saying the new pianist was very likable. If she went, she would definitely like him too.
Regarding his appearance, her friend hadn’t said much, only mentioning that he looked good and had recently dyed his hair pink. Then she saw it today.
Chen Bai didn’t leave immediately; he stayed temporarily to chat with Huo’s mother.
Naturally outgoing, he could converse with anyone, and with plenty of experience chatting with various shop owners on the street, he found it easy to talk with older generations as well.
Zhang Ling sat in her wheelchair, her eyes crinkling with laughter.
With an extra person in the house, it instantly became livelier. Lively but not noisy, there was no need for polite small talk or irrelevant daily chatter, which made everyone feel more at ease. The more she looked at the pink-haired person next to her, the more she liked him.
Dyeing hair pink often gives a frivolous impression, but this person didn’t come across that way at all; instead, he seemed perfectly suited to the color. As they chatted, it became clear that he wasn’t restless but was grounded and sincere.
He was indeed quite likable.
While they were chatting, the pastry chef in the kitchen made some small cakes. The pink-haired man went to observe and learn, and the chef happily shared his skills for baking small cakes.
Huo Qing realized completely at this point.
Chen Bai was able to chat so effortlessly in the livestream not just because it was necessary for broadcasting; it was because he was naturally good at conversing and could chat with anyone.
In the afternoon, after needing to prepare for the livestream, Chen Bai exchanged WeChat contact information for future conversations and then mentioned he would be leaving.
Zhang Ling asked the family driver to take him back, saying he should come by and hang out again.
It was hard to catch a ride in the mountains, which were some distance from the city, so Chen Bai nodded.
Huo Qing stood by the door with an umbrella, waving goodbye to him, just like when they first met.
The vehicle gradually disappeared into the rain curtain, leaving only the sound of the falling rain.
As she walked back from the manor’s gate, crossing the courtyard, just as Huo Qing returned to the house, a figure came down from the second floor.
It was her well-rested brother. He scanned the living room and asked, “Where is he?”
It was obvious who this “he” referred to. Huo Qing said, “He had work… just went back.”
The livestream was something only she and Er Bai would know about, and she almost blurted it out but managed to stop herself in time.
Huo Chuan asked, “He really left?”
Huo Qing glanced at him: “He’s not like those people you looked for before.”
Only her scummy brother’s previous acquaintances would come to the door wanting to stay no matter what; Er Bai was only there for work and clearly didn’t care about her brother.
Huo Chuan gave a brief acknowledgment.
*
Chen Bai didn’t have the driver take him home; he stopped the car at the nearest subway station to the manor and chose to take the subway back.
Work was work, and considering all aspects, he didn’t plan to let anyone related to the money god know where he lived for now.
Even though it was Saturday, due to the heavy rain, there weren’t many people out. He transferred twice on the subway, getting a seat both times and feeling a bit drowsy.
Drowsy, but as soon as he stepped out of the subway station, the cold wind mixed with the rain hit him, waking him up instantly.
The good news was that he was almost home.
The bad news was that his umbrella was still at the money god’s manor.
When he left to get in the car, someone from the manor had helped him with the umbrella, and he hadn’t thought to take it back, probably assuming others had forgotten it as well.
While he hesitated between quickly running back to get it or slowly walking home, his phone buzzed in his pocket.
He pulled out his phone and glanced down.
It was a message from his good neighbor. With one hand in his pocket, Chen Bai typed a reply.
Two seconds after sending the message, the other party replied briefly: [Wait for me]
The pink-haired man, who had initially intended to brave the heavy rain, slowly withdrew his leg.
Cars on the adjacent road passed slowly, their headlights flickering on and off, while the streetlights were obscured by the falling rain, leaving only faint glimmers of light.
Amidst the cacophony of rain, a figure with an umbrella approached from the end of the street, their gray casual outfit nearly blending into the dark pavement.
Help had arrived.
Even from a distance, the energetic pink-haired man had already started waving.
There was only one umbrella for the helper, and since there were no convenience stores along the way, they could only share one as they walked together.
Once under the umbrella, Chen Bai first expressed his gratitude to the kind neighbor, then looked up and asked, “What made you think to message me today?”
His neighbor was different from him; they rarely wasted words and would only message when necessary. Receiving a message from them had surprised him a little; he thought they might have been hacked.
The neighbor replied, “I didn’t receive a message today.”
Since they hadn’t received any messages, they sent one themselves.
It seemed quite logical, but something felt off. Chen Bai chuckled and said, “I thought you’d be resting after your night shift, so I didn’t message you.”
He didn’t want to disturb them, so all his trash messages were sent to his new friend Qingzhou.
“When I’m resting, messages don’t disturb me,” the good neighbor said, “I can send messages anytime I want.”
Chen Bai laughed and agreed, then asked, “How did you know I had gone out?”
“I saw you this morning; you were buying flowers,” Xu SuNian said, “Were you going on a date?”
Hearing the voice mixed with the sound of the rain enter his ears, Chen Bai raised his head and took a good look at the person beside him.
His neighbor today wore only a hat and no mask, and from this distance, he could directly see their deep eyes, which looked unchanged from usual.
It was hard to imagine that this neighbor, who never talked about this topic, could say “date” without batting an eye.
A strange laugh point was hit, and the pink-haired man found it hard to contain himself, laughing so hard he leaned back.
As they were climbing the stairs, the unperturbed neighbor reached out to steady him, preventing him from tipping backward and causing an accident.
“That was just flowers for a friend’s mom.”
The pink-haired man laughed so hard he had to pat his chest and cough a couple of times, then waved his hand and said, “Things like dating have nothing to do with me.”
As long as the four hundred million debt was still there, no one would date him.
Chen Bai had a clear self-awareness and was already prepared to be single for life.
