Twentieth Day of Pretending to Be an Alpha

“Basketball game?” Chu Mo was a bit taken aback and asked in surprise, “You don’t mean the National College Basketball League, do you?”

Xie Songchen was also momentarily stunned and asked back, “How do you know?”

Chu Mo calmly locked his phone screen to prevent Xie Songchen from seeing what he was searching on Weibo.

“Of course—because Chu Yun is also participating in the game,” Chu Mo said. “What else?”

Xie Songchen’s eyes darkened slightly.

He should have thought of it. Even if Chu Mo went to watch the game, it would only be because of his brother, Chu Yun.

After a moment of silence, Xie Songchen still asked, “Will you go watch?”

Chu Mo was surprised—Xie Songchen actually cared whether he would attend the basketball league?

Could it be because…

Xie Songchen wants to take the opportunity to hug Chu Yun after the game and is afraid of being seen by me?

Chu Mo thought this guess made a lot of sense.

He couldn’t help but fall into deep thought.

In that case, he would pretend not to go, give Xie Songchen the chance to hug Chu Yun—and then catch him off guard.

“Of course I want to watch Chu Yun’s game,” Chu Mo took a sip of his latte and said with feigned regret, “but I don’t have a ticket.”

The reason Chu Mo said this was because he knew that in order to get close to Chu Yun, Xie Songchen definitely wouldn’t give him a ticket.

Xie Songchen looked at Chu Mo without saying a word.

He seemed to be considering something.

After a moment, Xie Songchen’s Adam’s apple bobbed, and he said, “I have a ticket.”

Chu Mo almost choked on his coffee again.

He pretended to be surprised and asked, “You have a ticket?”

Xie Songchen took a slightly crumpled ticket out of his pocket and placed it on the table.

Chu Mo remained outwardly calm, but his pupils were practically having an earthquake.

Xie Songchen actually gave him the ticket??

When Chu Mo saw the words on the ticket, his eyes widened instantly, and his pupils shook even more.

“A… family ticket?!”

Chu Mo looked at Xie Songchen in astonishment.

The latter averted his gaze, looking out the floor-to-ceiling window, and spoke with rare hesitation, “The organizers gave it. There was an extra one. It’s no use keeping it.”

There was a certain awkward stiffness in Xie Songchen’s tone.

Chu Mo was still in shock, unable to speak.

Seeing Chu Mo’s lack of response, Xie Songchen pursed his lips and said, “I didn’t really want you to come.”

Chu Mo: “…”

Then why give him the ticket?

Xie Songchen’s gaze wandered as he continued to awkwardly explain, “I just saw you didn’t have a ticket, so I gave it to you.”

Chu Mo suppressed his inner confusion.

He didn’t know why Xie Songchen was doing this, but he did need the ticket.

Buying one online wasn’t guaranteed.

So, Chu Mo reached out and took the ticket, asking with a straight face, “Ahem, how much do I owe you?”

Xie Songchen suddenly looked up.

His gaze fell on Chu Mo’s hand holding the ticket.

His eyes widened slightly.

The next second, he concealed the joy in his eyes, suppressing the curve of his lips, and said in a deep voice:

“It’s a gift.”

Chu Mo raised an eyebrow, surprised. “A gift?”

Xie Songchen nodded.

Chu Mo put the ticket in his pocket and sneered, “Tell me, what’s the condition? Is it to make you permanent, or to let you be with Chu Yun? None of that’s possible. I can at most give you money.”

Xie Songchen looked at Chu Mo, his eyes suddenly becoming very serious.

So serious that Chu Mo was taken aback.

“I don’t need you to give me money,” Xie Songchen said, his thin lips parting slightly. “Just promise me one thing.”

Chu Mo asked blankly, “Promise what?”

Xie Songchen didn’t speak.

He realized he was too concerned about this matter, so he silently hid the emotions in his eyes.

After a moment, he bent down to tidy up the scattered documents on Chu Mo’s desk.

Just like he did in his daily work.

After tidying up, as he walked toward the door, he pretended to be indifferent and said, “Don’t waste the ticket.”

Chu Mo looked at the back at the door, and just before he left, he said, “I’ll go.”

Xie Songchen’s steps paused.

He didn’t say anything.

He knew he shouldn’t have expectations.

Hope always brings disappointment.

But at this moment, a spark of hope ignited deep in his heart.

The flame flickered—impossible to extinguish.

After a while, Xie Songchen gave a low “hmm,” leaving only his back view behind.

Chu Mo didn’t see his expression.

But somehow, Chu Mo felt…

That Xie Songchen seemed quite happy?

Before he could think further, Li Shuo walked in from the door.

“President Chu, Young Master Chi is on the first floor.” Li Shuo paused, showing a troubled expression. “I asked him to come up, but he said he doesn’t want to come up or see you.”

Chu Mo’s mouth twitched. “Then why is he here?”

Li Shuo was silent for a moment, then said, “When he said he didn’t want to see you, his eyes kept looking at the elevator. I think he might be saying the opposite.”

Chu Mo rubbed his temples, casually picked up his phone and put it in his pocket, and headed straight to the first floor.

If Chi Cheng didn’t see him, he’d probably keep waiting.

In the first-floor lobby.

Chi Cheng had lost some weight recently, looking even more like a model.

His superior jawline was as sharp as a knife, attracting the attention of passersby.

The model’s face was quite sour, and he sat on the sofa, irritably ruffling his hair.

He hadn’t expected that by not seeking out Chu Mo in anger, Chu Mo would completely ignore him.

As if he didn’t matter at all!

Recently, Chi Cheng had been busy with work, overwhelmed every day.

Plus, after offending those bosses at the meeting, the Chi family’s industrial chain was targeted everywhere, and Chi Cheng was harshly reprimanded by his family.

He had spent a lot of effort resolving these issues.

But no matter how busy he was, whenever he had a moment of leisure, his mind was filled with thoughts of Chu Mo.

Just then—

An elevator on the first floor opened, and a tall figure in a suit stepped out.

Chi Cheng immediately sat up straight, his eyes lighting up.

He stood up, just about to walk forward, when he suddenly realized he looked like a “bootlicker.”

Clearly, it was Chu Mo who was at fault first.

Chi Cheng’s fingers tightened, averting his gaze, pretending not to see Chu Mo.

Yet his peripheral vision kept glancing at him.

Chu Mo strode up to Chi Cheng, frowning. “What’s up?”

Chi Cheng coldly said, “I haven’t looked for you these past few days. Do you regret it?”

Chu Mo: “…”

How did I not know I regretted it?

“If you regret it,” Chi Cheng raised his chin arrogantly, “I can give you a chance to make it up to me.”

Chu Mo sneered, mocking, “Young Master Chi, why don’t you tell me how I should make it up to you?”

Chi Cheng didn’t catch the mockery in Chu Mo’s words, and he said with delight, “You really want to make it up to me?”

Chu Mo remained expressionless. “No. Just spit it out.”

A hint of disappointment flashed across Chi Cheng’s face.

But he quickly adjusted his tone and said, “After returning to the country, I started a new company and prepared a social platform project. In a few days, there’s an investor meeting, and I hope you can come.”

Chi Cheng rarely spoke nicely.

This was one of the few times.

Upon hearing this, Chu Mo was startled.

This meeting was an important plot point in the original story.

In the novel, after returning to the country, Chi Cheng founded a new company and prepared a social platform project, inviting major bosses in H City to attract investment.

Chu Mo also attended this investment meeting.

At the meeting, Chu Mo publicly mocked Chi Cheng for being delusional, creating a trash project, and said, “Your company probably can’t even get Pre-A round investment. How about I invest five million in you, just like throwing coins at a wishing turtle—just to hear the sound.”

Chi Cheng was infuriated, rejected him on the spot.

Chu Mo was smug.

Little did he know, Chi Cheng’s project would later become the leading social platform in the country, breaking market patterns and becoming a model for countless companies.

Not long after, Chi Cheng’s new company successfully went public, and the Chi family achieved new glory.

Later, every time Chu Mo thought of it, he regretted it so much his intestines turned green.

Even later, Chu Mo begged to invest in Chi Cheng’s project.

Now, with Chi Cheng inviting him to attend, of course, Chu Mo had to go.

While agreeing to Chi Cheng, Chu Mo didn’t forget to mock him. “I want to see what kind of project you can come up with.”

Chi Cheng was taken aback.

He was overjoyed. “You really want to come?”

Chu Mo raised an eyebrow. “What, afraid I’ll go and embarrass you?”

Chi Cheng straightened his face, suppressing the curve of his lips. “Then you must be there, on the afternoon of the fifth.”

Chu Mo was momentarily stunned.

The afternoon of the fifth?

That was the time of Xie Songchen’s basketball game.

How could there be a conflict in the plot tasks?!

Chu Mo frowned. “What time in the afternoon?”

Chi Cheng replied, “Two o’clock.”

Xie Songchen’s game was at four.

There were two hours in between.

As long as Chu Mo attended the investor meeting, mocked Chi Cheng a bit, he could leave.

It should be doable.

“Then you better be on time,” Chu Mo mocked. “Don’t be like when you were a kid—always late for school.”

Chi Cheng was stunned.

When he was a kid, he often deliberately arrived late.

The reason was simple: he just wanted to take a detour to go to school with Chu Mo.

Chu Mo’s high school and Chi Cheng’s elementary school weren’t in the same direction.

Chi Cheng would get up early every day—taking two extra hours—just to do so.

As a result, he was always late, becoming the infamous king of tardiness.

“You remember that clearly…” Chi Cheng’s ears turned red, muttering.

With Chu Mo agreeing to attend, Chi Cheng’s expression softened considerably.

He had thought he would be rejected.

“Then I’ll pick you up?” Chi Cheng looked at Chu Mo, tentatively asking.

He wanted Chu Mo to sit in his passenger seat.

When he was very young, Chi Cheng saw Mother Chi sitting in Father Chi’s luxury car passenger seat and couldn’t help but think of Chu Mo.

He wanted to take Chu Mo for a ride like that.

Of course, when Chi Cheng got his driver’s license, he was still abroad—with no chance to fulfill this dream.

“Do I need you to pick me up?” Chu Mo sneered coldly. “Give me the address. I’ll go there myself to watch you make a fool of yourself.”

A hint of disappointment flashed in Chi Cheng’s eyes.

But as long as Chu Mo was willing to come, he was still happy.

So, Chi Cheng told Chu Mo a long string of addresses.

The address was long, and Chu Mo clearly couldn’t remember it.

Chi Cheng sighed. “Your memory is really bad. How did you get into H University?”

Chu Mo said coldly, “I just don’t want to remember unimportant things. Besides, who can remember such a long address?”

“Give me your phone,” Chi Cheng reached out to him. “I’ll write it in your notes.”

Chu Mo thought about it, and since he was carrying his personal phone with nothing important on it, he handed it over.

Chi Cheng glanced at the phone and held it up to Chu Mo, facing him. “Unlock it.”

Chu Mo glanced at the screen and unlocked it with Face ID.

Something flashed across the screen.

Chu Mo didn’t see it clearly.

Chi Cheng didn’t expect him to trust him so much, and his lips couldn’t help but curl up.

He happily picked up the phone, ready to open the Notes app—

When he suddenly noticed Chu Mo hadn’t exited the previous app.

The Weibo search interface was directly in Chi Cheng’s view.

He looked closely, and his pupils tightened.

Chi Cheng discovered—

Chu Mo was searching on Weibo for…

Xie Songchen’s name.

In the search box below, it was filled with photos of Xie Songchen playing basketball.