Chapter 356: Chapter 321: Go Easy on Him
Gu Qili quickly caught up to him, lowering her voice to avoid being overheard by Mu Qinian: "Mu Shuoqian, what are you trying to imply here? Is it not okay for me and Qini to spend a couple of days alone?"
"I didn’t say it wasn’t okay."
"Then why are you still following us?" Gu Qili said through gritted teeth.
"You do your thing, I do mine, is there a problem with that?"
"Qili, don’t stoop to my dad’s level." A small hand tugged at her sleeve from below.
Although Mu Qinian was also quite dissatisfied with Mu Shuoqian’s apparent third-wheel behavior, he dared not show open defiance, to avoid angering him and possibly jeopardizing their trip as well.
Gu Qili’s expression was still not great, and Mu Qinian could only gesture to her to lower her head so he could whisper.
Gu Qili bent her ear toward his small mouth, just to hear Mu Qinian say with worried concern: "Qili, my dad is going through male menopause, just put up with him a bit."
Male menopause?
Pfft!
Gu Qili’s previously gloomy mood was instantly lifted by the little one’s unguarded comment, and she wholeheartedly agreed with him: "You’re right,
Mu Shuoqian finished with the check-in cards, and the family of three went through the security checkpoint. When it was time to board, Qini suddenly needed to use the restroom, so Mu Shuoqian took him to a distant washroom.
Gu Qili watched as the big and small figures left, their identical black coats, even their walking postures bearing a striking resemblance, standing tall with an air of arrogance.
She turned to look at the three travel suitcases standing side by side beside her legs, one black, one pink, and one cartoon blue, exuding a warm feeling of a small family leaning on each other.
"Miss, those must be your man and son, right? They sure are eye-catching," a middle-aged woman sitting next to her couldn’t help but compliment, "Miss, you’re really lucky. Handsome husband, obedient son."
Gu Qili nodded politely at her, without offering any explanation to the stranger. The husband was now part of her past, and he was currently just her ex-husband, yet she was about to go on a trip with him.
Gu Qili gazed out the window at the planes taking off and landing, sighing silently to herself.
A hot milk tea was thrust into her hands, and Gu Qili looked up to see the little fellow standing in front of her, holding a juice and sipping vigorously, his cup soon half-empty.
"How did you know I like milk tea?" The little guy was marvelously unkempt today, with black hair flopping softly.
She remembered the scene from years ago, in his office, where he shared a cup of milk tea with her.
Gu Qili held the milk tea but didn’t drink it, exchanged a few words with Mu Qinian, and then proceeded to board the plane.
After boarding, they sat in first class. Gu Qili wanted to sit by the window so she could place Mu Qinian in the middle, to avoid sitting next to Mu Shuoqian. But Mu Qinian insisted on gazing at the clouds and occupied the window seat, leaving her no choice but to sit in the middle.
No sooner had she sat down than a familiar scent settled next to her. Gu Qili tried her best not to acknowledge his presence, diligently fastening Mu Qinian’s seatbelt, and helping him take off his coat.
After tending to Mu Qinian, Gu Qili attempted to fasten her own seatbelt, but for some reason, couldn’t buckle it.
As she became somewhat flustered,
Mu Shuoqian straightened up, gave her a brief glance, and with swift movements removed a coin stuck in the seatbelt and placed it into his trouser pocket, before nonchalantly returning to his newspaper.
Although she hated him, he still came along. Let him show off one more time under the guise of being with his son.
, she finally breathed a sigh of relief, unaware that someone would be childish enough to tamper with a seatbelt.
Having arrived in S city close to noon, the person in charge from the S city’s Lisboa personally drove to the airport to receive them.
Each of the family of three, towing a suitcase, stood out immediately in the crowded airport, all strikingly attractive, the airport carpet turning into a red carpet, a veritable fashion show.
"Young Master Qian, Madam, Young Master," the person in charge from S city had been waiting at the exit early, "You must be tired from the journey, my car is parked in the parking lot."
The word "Madam" made Gu Qili feel somewhat disconcerted. She glanced surreptitiously at the man beside her, who was expressionless as he nodded in thanks to the person in charge: "Thank you."
Since he showed no reaction, she didn’t feel like explaining either.
"Young Master Qian is too kind," the person in charge stealthily eyed Gu Qili and muttered to himself, Young Master Qian indeed has good taste.
The person in charge led the way in front, with Gu Qili and Qini following behind Mu Shuoqian.
In the car, the two of them talked about work all the way, which almost bored Mu Qinian to sleep,
For the Nth time, Mu Shuoqian looked at where Qinian was resting his head; although it was cushioned by a coat, he could still feel the undulations beneath and forcefully averted his gaze.
Upon reaching the hotel, Mu Shuoqian was checking in. At the request of young Mu Qinian, they were staying at the Toy Story Hotel. Mu Shuoqian had booked the room in advance.
"Sir, here is your room key and breakfast voucher, please take them." The front desk attendant said with a smile, handing over the room key.
"Mu Shuoqian, you didn’t book just one room again, did you?" This time she was more cautious, and sure enough, she saw that he only had one room key in his hands.
Mu Shuoqian didn’t respond to her question and, pulling his luggage, headed to the elevator, waiting with a calm expression.
Gu Qili, fuming, followed after him. Just as she was about to question him again, Mu Qinian at her side lifted his little face and asked somewhat gloomily: "Ali, aren’t you happy? I asked Dad to book this family suite. I wanted to stay with you," his previously cloudy face immediately cleared up, patting Mu Qinian’s head gently as if afraid of scaring him: "Not at all, I am very happy."
"Really? I knew you would be happy." Mu Qinian’s black eyes twinkled with joy, and while Gu Qili wasn’t paying attention, he shared a brief eye contact with Mu Shuoqian who was slightly turning his head.
"Dad, did I do a good job?" On the sofa in the room, Gu Qili in the bathroom, Mu Qinian stretched out his little hand to Mu Shuoqian, seeking praise: "Where is the thing you promised me?"
Mu Shuoqian indifferently swatted away the plump little hand before him: "We’ll talk about it when we’re back home."
"Dad, you’re not going to back out on your word, are you? My teacher says, ’A gentleman’s agreement is unbreakable as the pursuit of a spent horse.’"
Mu Shuoqian unapologetically corrected him: "It’s ’A gentleman’s word is as good as his bond, hard to follow even with a team of four horses,’ don’t misuse idioms if you can’t use them right, you can’t even catch up to a farting dead horse."
"Dad, don’t change the subject. If you go back on your word, I’ll go tell Ali right now that it was you who insisted on booking this family suite." Mu Qinian hopped off the sofa, pretending he was about to tattle.
Mu Shuoqian’s face showed no sign of panic; he casually flipped through the travel guide on the coffee table and spoke indifferently: "If you’re not satisfied, I can book a separate room, and you can move there by yourself."
Upon hearing this, Mu Qinian halted his steps abruptly; he didn’t want to be separated from his Ali.
He backtracked to his original spot, flashing a grin at Mu Shuoqian with eight shiny little teeth: "Dad, I was just joking. Don’t take a child’s words too seriously."
Mu Shuoqian humphed coldly, ignoring him.
"Qini, it’s colder here than in Aus City, do you want to put on another piece of clothing? Did you bring any clothes?" Gu Qili came out of the bathroom, peeking over.
"Clothes?" Mu Qinian quickly ran to his suitcase, opened it with the code, and unzipped it to reveal a bunch of toys spilling out. His little hands searched through the toys, but eventually, he shook his head regretfully: "I didn’t bring any."
Gu Qili felt a bit of a headache seeing the box of toys: "Qini, why did you bring so many toys?"
"These aren’t toys; they’re my good friends. This is Little Cutie, this is Monkey Thunder... None of them have been to Disney before, so I brought them along," said Mu Qinian holding a toy monkey, "to let them see the world."
Gu Qili squatted down and touched his Monkey Thunder: "Qini, you’re such a thoughtful friend, they must be very happy."
"Time to eat," Mu Shuoqian looked over from his phone, his gaze casually sweeping over the monkey, his voice laced with irony: "Your Monkey Thunder hasn’t tried Disney’s lunch yet, do you want to take it with you?"
His sarcastic tone made Mu Qinian pout his lips.
Gu Qili took his little hand and walked over, speaking with a tinge of dissatisfaction: "Can you not crush the child’s innocence?"
Mu Shuoqian looked over intently, saying nothing and just gazing at her unblinkingly; before she would get scared by such looks from him, inexplicably feeling intimidated, but now, even though she couldn’t be completely composed, she could still look him in the eye, her face defiant as if to say, what I said isn’t wrong, right?
Mu Shuoqian lowered his gaze and turned away, heading out the door.
Gu Qili and Mu Qinian exchanged glances and then followed suit.
After lunch, the family of three entered the park to play. For Mu Qinian, this place was nothing short of heaven on earth. Gu Qili dared not let go of his hand; the moment she relaxed her grip, he would vanish without a trace, and her energy was slowly waning.
It’s no wonder Chen Yishu said that taking kids out is not just about financial resources, but physical endurance is the key.
She had volunteered to take Mu Qinian to Disney, but the current situation seemed more like she had dug herself into a hole.
"Mu Qinian," the man who was indifferent to this place finally put on a stern face and spoke, "If you stray more than three meters away from me again, I’ll send you back to Aus City right now."
Although Mu Qinian was reluctant,