The Missing Piece: 貌合神离
Extra Story 11: Sunny Days
It was New Year’s Day.
For once, Shen Mo woke up of his own accord.
The days before the Lunar New Year had been filled with rain, yet surprisingly, the sun showed its face right on the first day of the new year.
At about nine in the morning, Shen Mo woke up. Still dazed, he looked at the time.
The first thing that came to mind was preparing breakfast for Ji Ning. But he immediately remembered that he was spending New Year’s at his parents’ house. With his parents here to take care of Ji Ning, Ji Ning definitely wouldn’t starve.
The blanket was enveloped in the smell of sunlight. Shen Mo rolled around under the blanket, then lay in bed for a while longer before getting up to dress himself.
Once he was done, he walked out of his room, only to find that Ji Mingxuan was alone in the living room.
“Mr Ji, where are my parents?”
Ji Mingxuan was reading the news, holding a cup of tea in his hand. Even as he sat in the small living room of Shen Mo’s house, his elegance still didn’t diminish at all.
Lifting his chin, he said, “They took Ji Ning out to play.”
“Huh? Where did they go?”
“Some amusement park, from what I heard.”
“They went out that early? Then what are we going to do?”
“That’s right.” Ji Mingxuan put down his newspaper and revealed a faint smile. “So it seems we’ve been set aside.”
Shen Mo didn’t know what he meant. Ji Mingxuan sighed. He could only ask, “Tell me. Where do you want to go?”
Shen Mo finally understood, although somewhat belatedly. Ji Mingxuan was always busy with work, and Shen Mo’s work wasn’t easy either. They rarely had any time for leisure, so they should really use this as a chance to relax properly.
Shen Mo thought for a while and said, “It’s quite a small place. There probably aren’t many things to do.”
Ji Mingxuan seemed as if he’d known Shen Mo would say this. He suggested, “Let’s go watch a movie, then.”
“Sure. What should we watch?”
Ji Mingxuan handed Shen Mo a movie theatre brochure. “You can choose.”
Shen Mo accepted it and took a look. A whole row of New Year’s movies was printed on the brochure.
Why did he feel… that Mr Ji had been planning this for a long time?
But Shen Mo didn’t ask. He looked through the brochure carefully.
Most New Year’s movies were for families to watch together; they weren’t too different from one another. In the end, Shen Mo chose a comedy film. “Let’s watch this one.”
Right after, Shen Mo remembered something and asked, “It’s not that easy to buy tickets now, is it?”
“That’s not a problem.”
Ji Mingxuan glanced at the name of the film that Shen Mo had chosen. He then called his assistant. “Yes, it’s me. Bring me the tickets.”
In less than ten minutes, a young man wearing glasses came upstairs and gave Shen Mo two movie tickets.
Shen Mo looked at the seat numbers. The seats were quite good, but—
“This isn’t the movie I chose.”
“Hm? Oh, I’m sorry. I got the wrong ones.”
The assistant apologised as he fished out a fistful of movie tickets from his pocket.
Shen Mo glanced at them. What a surprise, tickets for every single movie that was on during New Year’s. Not knowing what expression to make, Shen Mo stole a glance at Ji Mingxuan.
Ji Mingxuan looked unruffled. As if nothing had happened, he explained, “He’s a new assistant.”
“Yes, I’m new.”
The assistant rummaged for a long time. Once he found the movie tickets Shen Mo wanted, he was finally able to leave.
Ji Mingxuan pointed at the congee breakfast on the table and said to Shen Mo, “Have some breakfast. We’ll go watch the movie after you finish.”
Obedient, Shen Mo sat down for breakfast. But he couldn’t help asking, “What about the other movie tickets?”
Ji Mingxuan said with a smile, “Don’t worry. There will be people to watch those.”
The town’s movie theatre wasn’t too far away. After Shen Mo had breakfast, he went out with Ji Mingxuan, and the two walked there slowly. When they arrived, they found that the theatre was filled with people.
Even Shen Mo was surprised, murmuring, “How come there are so many people? Is everyone here for movies? I wonder if it’s crowded at the amusement park too.”
Ji Mingxuan didn’t reply. He bought a cup of popcorn, stuffed it into Shen Mo’s arms, and said, “Let’s go in.”
So Shen Mo entered the theatre, hugging the cup of popcorn.
It was a full house. Even the front-row seats were all filled. Fortunately, Ji Mingxuan had bought the tickets early, so they had good seats and could watch the movie comfortably.
The movie had nothing special about its plot, but there were plenty of punch lines and the actors performed well, making it quite a decent New Year’s film.
Shen Mo laughed easily; most of the time, he laughed when the audience laughed. On the other hand, Ji Mingxuan was much more reserved.
Only when Shen Mo laughed so hard that he started tugging on the hem of Ji Mingxuan’s clothes did Ji Mingxuan laugh along somewhat.
The end of the film was rather sentimental. It won over a few tears from Shen Mo.
When they finished the movie and walked out, it was already noon. Shen Mo and Ji Mingxuan found a nearby restaurant for lunch.
As they ate, Ji Mingxuan asked, “Do you have any plans for the afternoon?”
Shen Mo looked out the window and said, “It’s rare for the weather to be so good. Maybe I should go paint in the park.”
“You paint every day. You’re not tired of it yet?”
“Of course not. I’ll never get tired of it.”
With what Shen Mo had said, Ji Mingxuan could only reply, “Let’s go, then.”
All of Shen Mo’s paint tools were at home, so the two stopped by Shen Mo’s family’s house before they went to the park.
The park was crowded too because of the good weather, and some people were even flying kites. Warm sunlight fell on Shen Mo’s body. There was already a touch of spring.
Shen Mo chose a good place and sat down. He then set up the easel and started painting. At first, he chatted with Ji Mingxuan every so often, but he gradually sank into his own world, focused only on painting.
Time flew by. When Shen Mo finished the painting, the sun was already setting in the west.
Shen Mo stretched and turned around. “Mr Ji…”
Shen Mo stopped just after he called Ji Mingxuan. It turned out that Ji Mingxuan, sitting under a tree, had already fallen asleep. Shen Mo didn’t want to wake him up. He only took off his own jacket and gently draped it over Ji Mingxuan.
Even when he was asleep, Mr Ji still looked so handsome.
Shen Mo turned around and gazed at his painting. He thought for a while, then picked up the paintbrush and added a stroke to the canvas. He hadn’t painted a specific person; he’d only added a vague silhouette in the corner.
The irresistible spring breeze brushed past a corner of the man’s clothes. It was beyond tender.