"Lin Chen, the basketball game is the day after tomorrow."
"Shen Qing and I will come see Xiaoxi this afternoon. I'll bring your basketball uniform over then too."
Xu Mengyao re-edited and sent the message.
Lin Chen didn't reply immediately.
Xu Mengyao was thin-skinned. If he replied right away, she'd definitely suspect he saw the previous message. Maybe she wouldn't come over for ten days or even half a month.
Half an hour passed.
Lin Chen replied simply: "Okay."
Xu Mengyao breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Lin Chen's reply.
"Lin Chen and I are only pretending to be married."
"How could I just ask him if he's providing meals? Even if Lin Chen's cooking is delicious, I can't be like this."
Xu Mengyao muttered to herself.
Around three or four in the afternoon, Xu Mengyao and Shen Qing arrived.
"Mommy, Aunt Qingqing!"
The door opened, and Lin Xiaoxi called out happily.
"Xiaoxi, Mommy missed you so much."
Xu Mengyao quickly picked up Lin Xiaoxi and kissed her.
Lin Xiaoxi said in a childish voice, "Mommy, I miss you too. Auntie Qing, I miss you too."
"Mommy, can I invite Nannan to eat with us?"
Xu Mengyao asked, "Who is Nannan?"
Lin Xiaoxi replied, "Nannan is my good friend. We often play together. Nannan's mommy gave me some delicious food."
Shen Qing said, "Xiaoxi, Nannan's mother was playing downstairs with her, and your father was playing downstairs with you, so you met and became good friends, right?"
"Yes, yes!"
Lin Xiaoxi smiled sweetly.
Xu Mengyao looked at Lin Chen.
Lin Chen looked at Xu Mengyao and said with a chuckle, "Mengyao, I didn't say much to Nannan's mother."
"Xiaoxi, you can vouch for me."
Lin Xiaoxi said with a puzzled look, "Daddy, you talked to the auntie, and you seemed to be having a good time."
Lin Chen: "..."
"Mom, I want to invite Nannan to dinner, but Daddy said I can only invite her when you're here."
"Can I invite Nannan now?" Lin Xiaoxi asked.
Xu Mengyao patted her little head and smiled, "How about some other time? Aunt Qing is here today. How about you invite Nannan over when Aunt Qing isn't here?"
"Mommy, why?"
Lin Chen said, "Aunt Qing is a guest, and Nannan is also a guest. We have to take care of our guests, right?"
"If we invite them at the same time, will we not be able to take care of them?"
Lin Xiaoxi pondered.
After a moment, she nodded, "You're right, Daddy. Then I'll invite Nannan over for dinner next time."
Xu Mengyao handed a bag to Lin Chen.
"Lin Chen, try this."
"See if this basketball jersey fits."
Lin Chen nodded.
He took the bag and went to the bathroom.
Shen Qing quietly asked, "Xiaoxi, Auntie Qing wants to ask you a question, is Nannan's mother pretty?"
Lin Xiaoxi answered without hesitation, "Pretty, but I think Mommy is the prettiest, and Auntie Qing, you're pretty too."
"Xiaoxi, this is our little secret."
"Don't tell your Daddy, okay?" Shen Qing instructed.
"Why can't I tell Dad?"
Lin Xiaoxi asked, puzzled.
Xu Mengyao said, "Xiaoxi, it's a secret. You can't tell anyone about this secret between you and Auntie Qing."
"Xiaoxi, let's go to the balcony."
"Your mom and dad might want to have a little kissy-kissy."
Shen Qing carried Lin Xiaoxi and walked toward the balcony.
Lin Chen quickly changed into his basketball uniform.
Xu Mengyao looked at him, surprise in her eyes.
Lin Chen looked slender, not at all imposing, but when he changed into the basketball uniform, Xu Mengyao realized that Lin Chen's arms were quite substantial.
"Mengyao, you chose the right size."
"This basketball uniform fits me well."
Lin Chen said with a smile.
"That's good."
"Let's go to the study and talk."
The two arrived at the study, and Lin Chen explained, "Mengyao, I didn't say much to Nannan's mother. We just exchanged a few polite words each time."
Xu Mengyao said, "We're just pretending to be married. Even if you actually had something with her, I wouldn't mind."
Lin Chen smiled at Xu Mengyao.
Xu Mengyao felt a little uncomfortable under his gaze: "Why are you looking at me like that? Don't get any ideas."
Lin Chen said, "You're the one who called me in."
"Do you need something?"
Xu Mengyao said, "I called you in, just to make Xiaoxi think we… we were being intimate."
"It's all pretend, understand?"
Lin Chen nodded: "Understood. How's the basketball game arranged?"
Xu Mengyao breathed a sigh of relief.
"There are ten teams in the company basketball tournament. Each team has twelve people, and there are ten senior executives participating. Each team will get one executive."
Lin Chen smiled. "Sounds like they're serious. If we win, is there a reward?"
Xu Mengyao said, "The entire first-place department gets double their monthly salary, and the second-place team gets a fifty percent raise."
"The ten executives only get a reward if their team wins. The prize money is one million, and each person contributes one hundred thousand."
One hundred thousand wasn't much for Xu Mengyao and the others.
But if they could win, one million was pretty good.
"How do we play?" Lin Chen asked.
Xu Mengyao said, "We're divided into Group A and Group B. Each group has five teams, and every team will compete against each other once."
"A win gives you three points, a draw gives you one point, and a loss gives you zero points."
"The team with the highest total score in each group advances to the finals."
Lin Chen said, "The champion team needs to play five matches, while the other teams play four. This definitely won't be just one day, then."
Xu Mengyao replied, "Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Those with matches will play, while those without will work as usual."
"We'll have two matches on Wednesday and Thursday, and only one final match on Friday."
Lin Chen frowned. "Xiaoxi needs her nap. On Wednesday and Thursday, I might only be able to play in one match each day."
Xu Mengyao nodded. "That's fine. Each team has twelve people, so you don't need to play in every match."
Lin Chen asked, "The competition is at your company?"
"Yeah."
Xu Mengyao nodded. "The basketball court at the company is pretty good. You can take Xiaoxi over there to check it out tomorrow."
"And meet and get to know the team members."
Lin Chen asked, "Will you be there? How will you introduce me? Are we just going to go public like this?"
Xu Mengyao calmly said, "I'll introduce you as my husband. The employees won't dare to make a fuss since I'm the boss."
"There might be some people who cause trouble for you after this is public. If there are any, let me know."
"I'll handle it."
Lin Chen nodded slightly.
With Xu Mengyao's looks, and her money, even if she had a daughter, she definitely wouldn't lack suitors.
"Lin Chen, you're going to face some trouble. As compensation, I'll buy this house from the landlord, and it'll be in Xiaoxi's name."
"But you can live here as long as you like."
Xu Mengyao said.
Lin Chen shook his head, "There's no need. I've already bought this house from the landlord. The contract's signed, and the transfer will be completed in a few days."
"Huh?"
Xu Mengyao was stunned.
Lin Chen smiled faintly and said, "Since Xiaoxi likes it here, I bought it. Are you staying tonight?"
-----------------------
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