Chapter 22: The Rival Always Wants to Taste Him Again [22]

Chapter 22: The Nemesis Can't Stop Wanting Another Taste of Him "22"

Just as 447 said, although Lin Ran was eager to keep clinging to him, the sudden explosion of popularity was an opportunity he couldn't pass up.

So naturally, his pestering of Shi Mo had to be put on hold for the time being.

But without Lin Ran around, Shi Mo kept running into Ye Qi even more often during this period.

It wasn't that Shi Mo wanted to go out every day, but now that Ye Qi had eyes on his every move, a lot of things had gotten pretty inconvenient.

Especially when 447 had a sweet tooth—Shi Mo had no choice but to take him out to eat.

And every time they went out, they'd always bump into Ye Qi.

Moreover, Ye Qi would always find some lame excuse to hand him all sorts of gifts.

But Shi Mo never called him out on it—sometimes he'd take the gifts, sometimes he'd turn them down.

Ye Qi just couldn't hide how he felt around Shi Mo.

Whenever Shi Mo accepted his gifts, he looked like a happy puppy who wanted to wag his tail right off.

If Shi Mo rejected his gifts, he'd pretend he didn't care, but he'd slink off like a sad little dog, tail drooping.

Even 447 couldn't help blurting out: [Xiao Momo, I finally get why you call him a little mad dog—he really is one.]

Shi Mo just smiled and didn't say anything.

Ever since his dad called him back last time and made him work overtime, Shi Mo hadn't been back to the Shi house in a while.

That is, until his mom texted him again, saying there was someone important he needed to come home to meet.

Shi Mo was a little curious who this important person could be.

447 went to look into it and ended up rolling around on his bed, cracking up:

[Hahaha!!!]

[Xiao Momo! They're trying to trick you into coming home for a blind date!]

[You gotta hand it to them—they actually found a few guys with decent families, looks, and personalities.]

[But they're clearly desperate to get you hooked up. Ever since you admitted you like guys, they've been scouting for suitable men nonstop.]

Shi Mo: "..."

447: [Why don't you just tell them you like Ye Qi? Otherwise, who knows how many more blind dates they'll line up for you.]

Shi Mo: [Xiao Qi, if I told them I like Ye Qi, with how he is now, we'd probably be at the courthouse tomorrow.]

447 thought about how Ye Qi now carried his hukou book everywhere, went quiet for a second, then nodded in agreement:

[True. So what now? You can't just let them keep setting you up like this.]

[They're really serious about this. I checked those guys out—the ones they picked for you are all... ahem, well, bottoms.]

Shi Mo: "..."

Seeing Shi Mo not react, 447 felt a bit awkward and let out a dry laugh:

[Haha... They all think you're the top, huh.]

Honestly, it wasn't just them—even he'd initially thought Shi Mo was the one topping Ye Qi.

It wasn't until the next day that he realized something was off—it seemed like Shi Mo was the one who'd been topped instead.

Shi Mo: "Tch..."

[In that case, I'll go back one more time and set the record straight with them.]

447 looked at Shi Mo, swallowed hard, and got a bad feeling—like Shi Mo was up to something again.

He shook his head and pushed those thoughts away.

No, no! How could anything Xiao Momo does be called scheming?

It's all for the mission!

447's gaze turned determined, then he perched on Shi Mo's head and followed him back to the Shi house.

As soon as Shi Mo got home, he saw a young man sitting in the living room besides his parents.

"A Mo's back? Come, come, sit down. Your Uncle Cheng's son just got back recently too—come meet him."

Shi's mom said with a smile, waving him over.

Shi's dad got up to head upstairs, and as he passed Shi Mo, he coughed lightly and lowered his voice:

"I've checked him out—Sunan's a good kid. Have a proper talk with him. Even if it doesn't work out, you can still be friends."

With that, Shi's dad went upstairs. Shi Mo clearly saw Yun Mujin standing at the stairwell landing, eyes sparkling with excitement and anticipation of the drama.

He looked away and walked over to his mom.

Cheng Sunan stood up too, extending his hand with a warm smile—polite but not standoffish:

"Shi Mo, hey. I'm Cheng Sunan, three years older than you. You can just call me Brother Sunan."

Shi Mo didn't have a bad impression of Cheng Sunan, so he chuckled and shook his hand back.

"Hey, Brother Sunan. Just call me A Mo."

Even though this was supposedly a blind date for them, Shi's mom was clearly more excited than either of them.

She chatted with them for a bit, then decided to give them some alone time—shooing them both out the door with two movie tickets.

Cheng Sunan kept that polite smile the whole time, saying little and not refusing anything.

It seemed like for him, meeting Shi Mo today, going to a movie, and having a meal were all just tasks to check off.

Shi Mo raised an eyebrow, spun the two movie tickets in his hand, chuckled, and agreed.

On the way to the movie theater, 447 sat on his shoulder and said:

[Xiao Momo, I just looked into this Cheng Sunan. I don't think you two will work—his younger brother at home is no pushover.]

Shi Mo had been resting with his eyes closed, but at 447's words, he perked up with interest.

[Oh? Go on.]

[Cheng Sunan is an adopted son of the Cheng family, and to be precise, he doesn't even really count as one. The Cheng family raised him to take the brunt of disasters for Cheng Ziyu, their only child, and clear the path ahead of him.]

[But Cheng Ziyu clearly has some complicated feelings for him. Once the Cheng family caught wind of this, they decided to set Cheng Sunan up on blind dates, using him for a business marriage to score more benefits and nip his hopes in the bud.]

447 paused briefly, then continued, [Xiao Momo, there are two cars tailing you—one's Cheng Ziyu, and the other's Ye Qi.]

A faint smile tugged at Shi Mo's lips when he heard that.

[Hmm... looks like tonight's movie is gonna be quite the show.]

"Ah Mo, there are a few things I think I should get straight with you."

Just as Shi Mo was mulling it over, Cheng Sunan beside him suddenly spoke up:

"I don't like you, and obviously, I can tell you don't like me either."

"I don't know if you've looked into me, but I know quite a bit about you."

"Lately, you've been hanging around Ye Qi a lot, and things seem pretty fuzzy between you two. I think the person you like is him."

Cheng Sunan said this with total conviction.

The second he found out what the Cheng family was planning, he'd already had people dig into Shi Mo's background.

Out of the recent photos, eight out of ten had Ye Qi in them, and the way Shi Mo looked at Ye Qi was nothing like how he looked at anyone else.

Shi Mo opened his eyes, turned to face him, and said with a hint of a smile:

"And yet, you still showed up."

Cheng Sunan shrugged helplessly: "I have no choice. There's a kid at home who's too clingy."

"I want to make a deal with you. Without this opportunity, I wouldn't be able to get out at all."