MBBBA Chapter 7

The two of them stood there, staring at each other.

Qiao Qiao was the first to break the silence, speaking calmly, “Just out for a stroll after eating too much.” Yep, just casually strolling several subway stops away.

Zhang Peng, on the other hand, racked his brain for an excuse. “I came over to discuss some business… happened to pass by… thought I’d take a quick look before leaving.”

After each offered their explanations, they continued to stand there, staring awkwardly at each other.

In the bright jewelry store, the awkwardness in their eyes was impossible to hide.

Qiao Qiao leaned against the wall, checking his phone, while Zhang Peng stuck his hands in his pockets and whistled as he looked up at the ceiling.

A long moment passed.

Qiao Qiao finally spoke, “I was telling the truth. Do you believe me?”

Zhang Peng replied earnestly, “Same here.”

They locked eyes, and after a moment of awkward silence, both burst into laughter.

Finally, Zhang Peng admitted honestly, “My mom gave me some money, so I thought, after all these years, I should buy you something nice. I wanted to get you a diamond ring.”

Qiao Qiao, not quite so honest, said, “I was just here to see what you might buy me.”

Zhang Peng gave Qiao Qiao a look that said, If you don’t tell the truth, I’m going to spank you.

Qiao Qiao sighed and dropped his shoulders. “Okay, fine. I came here to buy a diamond ring too. I’ve been saving up my scholarship money for the past few years, almost ten grand. Buying a diamond ring shouldn’t be a problem. How much did your mom give you?” He guessed it was maybe ten thousand? Fifty thousand? Qiao Qiao knew that Zhang Peng’s family wasn’t well-off; they had even sold their house to support his startup.

But Zhang Peng’s answer was far beyond his expectations: “Five hundred thousand.”

Qiao Qiao: “?”

Just then, Zhang Peng’s phone buzzed, and he saw a notification from Alipay—an additional hundred thousand had been deposited.

“No, six hundred thousand.” Zhang Peng corrected, showing the screen to Qiao Qiao. “She just transferred another hundred thousand.”

Qiao Qiao pointed at the ICBC app icon. “You’ve got another notification there too.”

Zhang Peng opened the ICBC app, which showed a transfer of four hundred thousand from Liu Nüshi.

“Oh wow.” Qiao Qiao laughed out loud. “Liu Nüshi really rounded it up for you.”

Zhang Peng was a bit numb. Just how much had Liu Nüshi been stashing away behind his and Old Zhang’s backs? He turned to Qiao Qiao and said, “Let’s go get you a big diamond ring.”

Qiao Qiao shyly protested, “Hey, I can only afford a one-carat.”

The kind of poverty Zhang Peng’s family had wasn’t quite what Qiao Qiao had imagined.

Zhang Peng’s face remained calm. “Am I not just mooching off my parents?”

Qiao Qiao puffed up his chest with pride. “I, on the other hand, saved this money myself.”

Zhang Peng patted his head and sincerely praised him, “Xiao Qiao, I must have been a saint in my past life, like the Golden Cicada or something, to deserve such a beautiful and capable wife like you.”

Qiao Qiao beamed with pride, nodding without a hint of modesty.

Hand in hand, the two of them started looking at diamond rings.

A million yuan seemed to be the starting price for a large diamond ring. A bit of extra craftsmanship and the price could easily soar into the tens of millions.

Zhang Peng blushed a bit and mumbled, “Last time I looked, they weren’t this expensive.”

Qiao Qiao nodded in agreement. “Way too expensive. Let’s look at something else.”

The sales assistant then led them to see smaller rings, one to two carats, ranging from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of yuan.

They could afford them, and they were indeed beautiful. But—

Qiao Qiao said, “Peng Peng, I’ll buy you one that costs ten thousand or so. You don’t need to buy one for me.” With that much money, why not splurge on some Sony gear instead? “A mouse, keyboard, and monitor—let’s get those!”

Zhang Peng agreed, promising to buy those three items. Then he added, “I really don’t need a diamond ring. Diamonds are just carbon atoms, after all.” Gold, now that’s real money.

Qiao Qiao understood him perfectly. “How about a gold ring?”

“That’s an investment.” Zhang Peng agreed with a smile.

So, hand in hand, they went next door to Lao Fengxiang and bought a pair of gold rings. Then they took the subway two stops to the Sony store, where they bought the three-piece set.

While the sales assistant helped them pack everything, they wandered around the store, and before they knew it, they had picked out a pair of headphones and a speaker system. Then they thought, since they already bought the speakers, why not go all out and set up a home theater? They ended up getting everything they needed.

They bought so much that they had to take a cab home. In the cab, Qiao Qiao kept saying he was hot and needed a cold Coke.

Zhang Peng quietly released his pheromones. “Didn’t you say, with me, the cola spirit, by your side, you didn’t need a Coke?”

Qiao Qiao scrunched up his nose. “But you’re all sweaty right now.”

“No, I’m not.” Zhang Peng insisted, leaning closer. “Smell, it’s still cola.”

“Get away.” Qiao Qiao said, scooting further away from him.

Zhang Peng sighed dramatically. “You weren’t like this last night.” Who was it clinging to him, inhaling his scent like crazy?

Wrapping around his waist, refusing to let go.

If he hadn’t been exercising recently, running back and forth between the company and the mall, he definitely would have been exhausted.

Qiao Qiao’s face remained calm and collected. “Talk to me after you’ve showered and smell good again.”

The cab driver in the front seat blushed at their conversation.

When Zhang Peng and Qiao Qiao finally got home, they quickly took a shower together.

They didn’t mess around too much—after all, it was a hot day, and they were already sweaty enough.

Freshly showered and feeling alive again, they looked around at all the practical equipment they had bought for the house and fell into deep thought.

Qiao Qiao scratched his head. “I wanted something romantic at first.” he said, glancing at the gold ring on his finger. “But this turned out a bit… mundane, didn’t it?”

Zhang Peng sighed. He had originally planned a meaningful proposal, but they ended up buying a bunch of random stuff. Where was the sense of ceremony?

The rings were just a random pair of gold ones, and they had casually slipped them onto each other’s ring fingers.

Qiao Qiao shrugged. “Forget it, no need to force it. Peng Peng, let me ask you—are you happy today?”

Zhang Peng smiled. “Happy.” Being with Xiao Qiao, everything was joyful.

Qiao Qiao, understanding what he was thinking, pressed on, “But were you especially happy today?”

Zhang Peng, seeing the seriousness in Qiao Qiao’s eyes, answered just as seriously, “Yes, very, extremely happy.”

Qiao Qiao frowned, “But I’m not happy.”

Zhang Peng’s heart almost dropped.

Qiao Qiao gazed at the pile of Sony equipment, practically drooling. “I’m thrilled!”

Zhang Peng promptly pinned Qiao Qiao against the wall and gave him a playful smack on the butt.

After horsing around for a bit, they started setting up the equipment. Qiao Qiao turned on the TV, letting it play in the background while they both studied the various manuals and instructions.

On the TV, a news report caught their attention:

“Recently, a 50 million yuan jackpot was won at the city’s lottery center, but the winner has yet to come forward. A reporter interviewed lottery center staff, who urged the winner to claim the prize within the next ten days before it expires…”

Qiao Qiao couldn’t help but scoff. “Is this person an idiot? They don’t even know they won?”

Zhang Peng nodded. “Really stupid.”

“Fifty million, even after taxes, if you won that, your company would be saved.” Qiao Qiao shook his head. “Some people have all the luck, can’t even envy it.”

Zhang Peng nodded again. “Yeah, can’t envy that.”

After venting his frustration, Qiao Qiao suddenly paused, putting down the equipment he was fiddling with. “Didn’t you buy a lottery ticket recently?”

Zhang Peng looked up just in time to see the news report mention: “…The winning ticket was sold two days ago…”

Qiao Qiao’s eyes widened. “Didn’t you buy yours two days ago?”

The news continued, “…At a lottery shop on Changning Road…”

Qiao Qiao turned to him, excitement building. “Wasn’t it on Changning Road?”

Zhang Peng hesitated. “It can’t be that much of a coincidence, right?”

“Coincidence or not, go check it out!” Qiao Qiao urged, “I remember you bought a bunch and then never looked at them again!”

Zhang Peng rushed to find his tickets, and Qiao Qiao joined in the search. They finally found a crumpled stack under the pillow in the bedroom. They started checking the numbers one by one—this one didn’t win, this one got fifty yuan, this one didn’t win either…

By the time they reached the last ticket, there was no sign of the 50 million jackpot.

The bigger the hope, the bigger the disappointment.

Qiao Qiao sighed, clutching the small winning ticket worth fifty yuan. “Yeah, I guess we weren’t that lucky.”

But Zhang Peng’s sharp eye caught sight of another ticket tucked under the pillow! He had a gut feeling that this was the one!

Quickly pulling out the nearly crumpled last ticket, Zhang Peng began reading off the numbers:

“05—”

“Matched.” Qiao Qiao said.

“06—”

“Matched!”

“11—”

“Matched!!”

Qiao Qiao couldn’t contain his excitement any longer. He snatched the ticket from Zhang Peng’s hand and quickly read through the remaining numbers: “Ahhhh they all match!!!”

He screamed so loudly, it was like he was about to be turned into original recipe chicken by KFC.

Zhang Peng’s heart pounded wildly as he double-checked the numbers with utmost care.

It was still—

A perfect match!!!

Qiao Qiao grabbed his hand and shook it up and down with all his might.

“Ahhhhhh fifty! Million! Yuan!!!”

Hand in hand, they jumped from the bedroom to the living room, from the living room to the kitchen, and from the kitchen to the balcony.

The sun was blazing, but they hugged each other tightly, not caring that their freshly changed clothes were now drenched in sweat.

Qiao Qiao’s face was full of happiness. “Peng Peng, this is amazing. You don’t have to wake up early every day to chase investments anymore. This money is more than enough.”

For Qiao Qiao, the best part about this windfall was that Zhang Peng wouldn’t have to wake up early anymore.

He had no greed; his heart was filled only with thoughts of Zhang Peng.

Zhang Peng’s heart was filled with warmth, and he swore to himself that he would treat Qiao Qiao well for the rest of his life.

But Qiao Qiao had one more unspoken thought: Now, no matter the time of day, there’d be no excuse for delays—they could have a lot more fun together.

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