2445: Short of One Player

Short of One Player

"Yes!" Hua Jin walked over, stooped in front of the boy, and hugged him. He then teasingly said, "We're done with the kickoff ceremony this morning, so I'm here to play with you."1

"What do you want to play?"

"How about mahjong?"

"Yup, I know how to play that." The boy paused before giving a spiteful look. "Still, my brother doesn't know how to play it. We can't start a game with just the three of us."

This troubled the man. "Oh, right; three can't make up the number for a game."

The younger boy turned to his sibling and asked, "Do you know how to play?"

"Nope." The other boy shook his head blankly as he sipped his yogurt.

Just then, a name popped into their mother's head out of the blue. "Hey, I just thought of someone who can come over easily."

"Who is that?"

She went to look for her phone directory, took out a name card, and dialed a number.

After the line got through, she spoke into the mouthpiece smilingly, "Jun Mo, it's Shishi. Are you busy now?"

"Hey." Jun Mo's gentle, husky voice was heard from the other end of the line. "No, I'm not busy. Why?"

"Where are you now?"

"I'm at home."

"Oh, what a coincidence! Do you like to play mahjong? We're short of one player."

…

The doorbell rang ten minutes later.

The lady host ran to open the door to see the neighbor standing outside. The latter greeted her with a quiet smile, "It's been a while!"

She led the guest in. "It's been a while, indeed!"

The other tried to recall their last meeting. "If I didn't remember wrongly, we last saw each other at the celebration of 'The Green Apple'."

Speaking of 'The Green Apple', Jun Mo's male character actually stirred a lot of controversies among the netizens when it was out on the market.

After all, it was really rare for a lady to act as a man.

Such arrangements might be seen in dramas based on operas but hardly for mainstream commercial productions.

Qin Zhou had taken a huge risk by accepting a male role for the androgynous actress.

It was worth mentioning, though, that despite her inexperience, Jun Mo managed to inject the right touches into her acting and brought out the flavors expected of her supporting role, which delighted the audience. Moreover, she had an obvious advantage with her strikingly good looks and sharp features, which many young stars could only dream of, that were nicely complemented by her gentle and elegant persona. After the release of the film, besides the main leads, her character was the most eye-catching, which started a trend of neutral look, where many girls could be seen following her fashion and hairstyle.

The up-and-coming actress had also recently received a few production offers, and Yun Shishi was really astounded to learn that her offers included a spy movie called, 'The Oriole behind the Throne'.

This was a Central Pictures production with a cast of veteran actors. As the only newcomer in the lineup, Jun Mo's performance was highly anticipated by the media.

With her neighbor finally here, the mahjong session could begin.

After the four of them sat down to play, Little Yichen decided to ditch his TV shows and stood beside his mother to watch the game quietly.

The four chit-chatted as they played.

Hua Jin and Jun Mo, who had acted together in a drama before, got along well. The latter had left a good impression on the former; hence, they had plenty to talk about.

The two shared a serious smoking addiction that saw them picking up stick after stick, be it dealing a good or bad card. Luckily, the two boys did not mind it. What they did at most was avoid the two adults at times and then grumbled under their breath, "How smoky!"

The female guest heard that and quickly apologized, "I'm sorry."

Same went for the male visitor, where he immediately stubbed out his cigarette.

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