Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
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To secure first place, Yan Qingchi and Jiang Mochen took a taxi directly to the pizzeria. The host was already waiting there and greeted them immediately, “Congratulations! You are the winners of the first day of the ‘Best Partners’ pairing challenge!”
Yan Qingchi and Jiang Mochen excitedly high-fived, very satisfied with the result.
The host said, “You can choose your favorite pizza now.”
“Don’t we have to wait for the others?” Yan Qingchi asked.
“Based on past experience, some people are always slow to finish, so you don’t need to wait for them. After you finish your pizza, the rest of the time is yours to enjoy.”
This was a pleasant surprise. Yan Qingchi and Jiang Mochen chose their favorite flavors from the menu, eating cake while waiting for Uncle John to bake the pizza.
Yan Qingchi thought they could do some shopping later, and Jiang Mochen had the same idea. The two enjoyed a pleasant dinner, picked up their cake, and prepared to enjoy their free time.
As they were leaving, Li Mo and Li Bozhong arrived. Li Mo asked with surprise, “Are we second place?”
“Yes,” the host replied.
Li Mo jumped up excitedly, then looked at Yan Qingchi and Jiang Mochen, “Are you guys leaving?”
Yan Qingchi nodded, “We’ve finished eating. The host said we can use the rest of our time as we please.”
Hearing this, Li Mo waved to them, “Oh, well then, goodbye, have fun!”
“Okay.” Yan Qingchi noticed the “duck” in her deliberately cutesy tone and couldn’t help but smile.
He and Jiang Mochen left the pizza shop and browsed the nearby stores, but because they were worried about needing money the next day, they didn’t buy anything. It was past 8 p.m. when they took the bus back to their temporary residence.
After they got back, they learned that the last place this time wasn’t Wei Zhihang and Yu Xiaoyu, but Fei Jingyu and Yue Ziming.
Mo Xiaoxiao leaned closer to Yan Qingchi and whispered, “Yue Ziming said that after you beat Fei Jingyu, he lost his composure, which affected his performance in the later rounds, so they lost.”
Yan Qingchi nodded, thinking to himself, “His mental fortitude is really quite fragile. Victory and defeat are common in war. If you lose, just find a way to win back, why would you lose your composure?” But then he thought again, “That makes sense. Fei Jingyu probably never considered the possibility of losing. He’s never taken me seriously, but now I’ve directly slapped him in the face. He probably can’t accept it.”
Yan Qingchi didn’t say anything and went upstairs with Jiang Mochen. Before going to bed, they finished the rest of the cake.
The next day’s competition, without a doubt, saw them come in first place again. This time, after eating steak at the steakhouse as a reward, Yan Qingchi and Jiang Mochen used the remaining money to buy some small toys as gifts for the two children.
The recording of “Best Partner” differed from other variety shows. It used a concentrated recording method: the first episode and pilot episode were recorded, then everyone returned to China for three days of rest before the next recording session. The next recording session consisted of three episodes, continuing until the end of May. Then, another three-day rest was followed by the recording of the final two episodes, with all recordings completed by mid-June.
Yan Qingchi and Jiang Mochen finished their first recording session, parted ways with everyone at the airport, and got into their van to return to the company. The flight arranged by the production team landed around 3 PM. Jiang Mochen was away for a while, so he needed to handle some urgent company matters first. He didn’t ask Yan Qingchi to wait for him, but instead told him to go home and see the two children.
When Yan Qingchi returned home, the house was bustling. Qi Qi and Bo Yan were playing in the living room, playing with toy guns and shooting at each other. Yan Yan, in Mother Jiang’s arms, watched them, clapping and occasionally throwing his little ball between them, laughing and causing trouble for his two older brothers.
Just as Qi Qi was about to deliver the fatal blow to Bo Yan, he suddenly saw Yan Qingchi return. He immediately abandoned his final victory and ran to Yan Qingchi with joy, hugging him tightly. “Daddy, you’re back!”
Yan Qingchi hugged him and stroked his hair. “Yes, your father is back too. He’s at the company now. You’ll see him tonight.”
“Really?”
“Yes.” Yan Qingchi rubbed his face. “It’s been a few days, and my little darling seems even cuter.”
Qi Qi’s cat-like eyes crinkled with laughter.
Yan Qingchi released him and said, “Daddy will go upstairs to put his things down first, and then come down to play with you guys.”
Qi Qi nodded. “Okay.”
Bo Yan saw him looking this way and obediently greeted him, “Hello, Uncle Yan.”
“Hello,” Yan Qingchi replied. “You guys continue playing.”
Mother Jiang, carrying Yan Yan, walked towards him and asked, “Will Xiao Mo be back tonight?”
Yan Qingchi nodded and reached out to take Yan Yan in his arms.
Yan Yan raised his chubby little hands and tugged at Yan Qingchi’s collar, calling him, “Daddy.”
Yan Qingchi picked him up and spun him around. Yan Yan giggled and waved his chubby little hands happily. Yan Qingchi thought he was adorable, so he leaned down and kissed him, then kissed Qi Qi as well.
Qi Qi looked up at him and asked, “Daddy, can I hug my little brother?”
Yan Qingchi wasn’t sure if Qi Qi was big enough to hug Yan Yan, so he looked at Mother Jiang.
Mother Jiang said, “Let him hug him, but don’t let go.”
Yan Qingchi understood, bent down and handed Yan Yan to Qi Qi. Mother Jiang helped him get into position, and Qi Qi hugged Yan Yan and swayed him. Yan Yan bit his finger and smiled. Qi Qi leaned down and kissed him, then turned to look at Bo Yan, “Yan Yan, look, I can hug him now.”
Bo Yan had just watched the family reunion and was too embarrassed to go over, but now that Qi Qi was calling him, he felt he could go over. He watched as Qi Qi carefully held Yan Yan in his arms, poking Yan Yan’s cheek, then poking Qi Qi’s cheek.
Yan Yan laughed, but Qi Qi didn’t. He turned to Bo Yan, puzzled, and asked, “I’m not Yan Yan, why are you poking me?”
“Just doing it,” Bo Yan explained.
Qi Qi accepted the answer, but declared, “Then I’ll poke you next time too.”
Bo Yan nodded, “Okay.”
Yan Qingchi watched Qi Qi and Bo Yan play, then picked up Yan Yan again and handed him to Mother Jiang. “I’ll go upstairs to put my luggage away. Mom, please take care of the children for a bit. We’ll have dinner together when Mochen comes back.”
“Okay, go ahead,” Mother Jiang said kindly.
Yan Qingchi carried his suitcase upstairs, changed his clothes, found the small toys he had bought for the two children abroad, grabbed a bag of candy, and went downstairs.
He distributed the toys to Qi Qi, Bo Yan, and Yan Yan. Bo Yan was a little embarrassed and refused several times, but Qi Qi insisted he take them, so he accepted.
Yan Qingchi shared the candy with Qi Qi and Bo Yan. Yan Yan was too young to eat candy. And Qi Qi felt sorry for Yan Yan, wondering why he couldn’t eat so many things. He couldn’t bear it, so he let Yan Yan lick the candy a few times. Yan Yan tasted the sweetness, smacked his lips, and looked very satisfied.
Only then did Qi Qi put the candy in his mouth, patted Yan Yan’s head, and said, “Little brother, you have to grow up quickly, so you can eat lots of delicious things.”
After saying that, he looked at Yan Yan still smacking his lips in satisfaction, thinking his little brother was silly but also very cute. He couldn’t help but pinch Yan Yan’s cheek before turning to play with Bo Yan.
Around 7 p.m., Bo Feng came to pick up Bo Yan. Bo Yan waved goodbye to Qi Qi and promised to see him at school on Monday.
Jiang Mochen got home after 8 p.m. Mother Jiang had ordered dinner in advance and had it delivered by the hotel staff. The family sat around the table, talking about their experiences filming the show abroad while eating.
Qi Qi had never been abroad and was very curious about foreign countries. “Are their boats big? Their squares are like ours, with pigeons too?”
Yan Qingchi nodded and poured him some drink. “Yes, Dad will take you boating another day.”
“Okay, when?”
“Next month,” Yan Qingchi thought, “Dad’s work will be finished next month, then I’ll have time.”
Qi Qi nodded. “Then I’ll wait for Dad to finish work.”
“Okay.” Yan Qingchi ruffled his hair.
He suddenly remembered that Qi Qi’s birthday seemed to be coming soon, not just seemingly, but it was really in the next couple of days.
Both Yan Qingchi and Jiang Mochen were actors, and when they got busy, they always forgot the time, so they had marked the important dates on their phone calendars well in advance. When they were negotiating the contract with the “Best Partner” program team, they mentioned that although the guests would be filming in one session, there would be three days in China. Yan Qingchi asked Guan Mei to tell the program team that he hoped to spend May 15th in China, and the program team readily agreed.
That’s why Yan Qingchi and Jiang Mochen both remembered it was May 15th, but almost forgot— May 15th is the day after tomorrow, isn’t it?
Yan Qingchi told Jiang Mochen about it that night before bed. Jiang Mochen hadn’t forgotten, because May 15th was the day he met Qi Qi while doing charity work. Qi Qi was young and hadn’t remembered his birthday when he was abandoned. When asked when his birthday was, he would just shake his head and say, “I don’t remember.”
Jiang Mochen adopted him and named him after his own surname, so he felt there was no need for Qi Qi to continue celebrating his old birthday; if he didn’t remember, he didn’t remember. However, he worried that if he considered the day of his adoption as Qi Qi’s birthday, it would subtly remind Qi Qi that he was adopted. So he chose May 15th, the day he met Qi Qi.
Qi Qi was very well-behaved. When Jiang Mochen told him that his birthday would be May 15th from now on, he didn’t ask why, but simply nodded and said, “Okay.”
Last year, when Jiang Mochen celebrated Qi Qi’s birthday with Yan Qingchi, he told Yan Qingchi about the origin of Qi Qi’s birthday. Yan Qingchi, after hearing this, was somewhat moved, saying, “You’re quite thoughtful.”
He didn’t tell Jiang Mochen that his own birthday was the day he was adopted, because he was already a big boy then. His adoptive father had asked him, “When is your birthday?” He confidently replied, with a hint of flattery, “It’s the day you adopted me; that was my new beginning.”
His adoptive father simply smiled and didn’t say anything more, taking it as agreement.
Different birthdays, yet both stemming from love.
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