Chapter 1845

"Great, great." Liu Zhilong happily agreed, then said, "Since you've already booked the table, let's not waste time and go straight to eat."

"Okay." Liu Zhihao nodded, then took out his phone to prepare to order food.

Just then, he suddenly received a text message; opening it, he saw it was from Zhao Yali: "Brother, come to my place for dinner tonight; I'll cook personally."

"You two go back first; I've made an appointment with someone." Liu Zhihao thought for a moment and refused.

"Who did you make an appointment with?" Liu Zhilong asked curiously.

"Oh... a friend." Liu Zhihao spoke vaguely.

"A male friend, right?" Liu Zhilong chuckled, teasing, "My sister is so beautiful; surely many people will pursue her. You must protect her well."

"Dad—" Liu Xueting's pretty face immediately flushed red.

"Alright, Dad was just teasing you." Liu Zhilong laughed heartily.

Liu Zhihao gave a bitter smile, then said, "Then I'll go to the banquet first; another day when I'm free, I'll take you all to the Seafood City for a big meal, okay?"

"Good, it's a deal!" Liu Zhilong said satisfactorily.

"Okay." Liu Zhihao smiled, then left the hotel.

Half an hour later, Liu Zhihao drove to the building where Zhao Yali lived. Zhao Yali had just changed clothes and finished her makeup; she walked out of the unit door. Liu Zhihao got out of the car to open the door for her, then the two sat inside the car.

"Where are you going?" Zhao Yali fastened her seatbelt, then asked curiously.

"Don't you like Seafood City? I'll take you there." Liu Zhihao smiled, then started the car and drove toward Seafood City. On the way, Liu Zhihao took out his phone and dialed Su Yuxuan's number.

"Hello, brother-in-law, what's wrong?" Su Yuxuan answered the call and asked.

"Yuxuan, we're on our way to Seafood City. Are you free now? If you have time, come to Seafood City for dinner with us." Liu Zhihao said with a smile, "And meet your future sister-in-law."

"Sister-in-law?" Su Yuxuan was stunned, then said, "I'm not convenient right now."

"Aren't you at school? How are you not convenient?" Liu Zhihao said in surprise, "You're not skipping class, are you?"

"Um. I'm outside right now." Su Yuxuan said.

"What are you doing outside?" Liu Zhihao became even more strange; could this girl not only be skipping class but also staying out all night?

"Uh... I'm doing a part-time job outside; I don't have time to go home, so I'm staying at a classmate's house." Su Yuxuan hesitated, then said.

"Part-time job? What kind of job?" Liu Zhihao asked.

"Just... writing songs for people." Su Yuxuan answered.

"Oh, so that's how it is." Liu Zhihao suddenly understood, then said, "We'll be there soon; hurry back."

"I haven't found a job yet." Su Yuxuan said, "Wait for me a while; I'll be back no later than nine o'clock."

"Alright." Liu Zhihao said helplessly.

After hanging up the phone, Liu Zhihao continued driving to Seafood City.

Ten minutes later, they drove to Seafood City. Liu Zhihao took his parents and Liu Xueting to sit in a private room nearby, then ordered dishes and waited patiently for Su Yuxuan to return.

Not long after waiting, a knocking sound rang out. Liu Zhihao stood up and ran quickly to open the door.

Standing at the door was a beautiful youth around twenty years old. Seeing Liu Zhihao, the beautiful youth smiled and said, "You must be Ah Hao."

"Who are you?" Liu Zhihao stared suspiciously at this beautiful youth.

"My name is Chen Kaijun, your girlfriend's roommate." The beautiful youth said with a smile, "Your girlfriend asked me to come help her get some things. Help me print the songs she wrote, then deliver them to Cultural Plaza; I'll wait for you there."

"You two are truly strange; one is a boyfriend, one is a girlfriend, yet when you meet, you introduce each other's roommates." Chen Kaijun muttered.

Liu Zhihao smiled helplessly, then took Su Yuxuan's creations to the table and arranged them neatly.

Chen Kaijun waved his hands repeatedly, saying, "I don't have a girlfriend."

"How can you not have a girlfriend? With your looks, surely many girls will like you." Liu Zhihao laughed.

"I don't like girls; I like boys." Chen Kaijun said with a grin.

"You're gay?" Liu Zhihao was stunned.

"You could say so." Chen Kaijun said with a smile, "Alright, print quickly; I still have to go back to work."

After speaking, Chen Kaijun turned and left.

Liu Zhihao shook his head, then picked up Su Yuxuan's creations and began printing.

Inside the private room.

After waiting a moment, Liu Zhilong and Liu Xueting became somewhat impatient.

"This Yali, why hasn't she come yet?" Liu Zhilong frowned and said, "Could something have happened?"

"Probably not." Liu Xueting said, "She sent a text saying to come to her place for dinner; when I arrived, no one was home, so I waited downstairs for a while, then received a reply telling me to come to Seafood City to find you."

"Then hurry up and call her to ask." Liu Zhilong said.

Liu Xueting took out her phone and dialed Zhao Yali's phone number.

Moments later, Zhao Yali answered the call.

"Hello, sister, I've already arrived at Seafood City; which private room are you in?" Liu Xueting asked.

"We haven't arrived yet." Zhao Yali said, "Just encountered a small matter; it delayed us a while."

"Ah? Haven't arrived yet? Where are you now?" Liu Xueting asked in surprise.

"We... we're on the way." Zhao Yali said vaguely, "We'll be there very soon."

"Alright." Liu Xueting hung up the phone.

After waiting a while longer, Zhao Yali and a man finally arrived late.

Seeing this man, Liu Zhilong and Liu Xueting were both startled.

This man was none other than the beautiful youth they had met earlier in the restaurant—Chen Kaijun! Liu Zhilong and Liu Xueting looked at each other; they never expected Zhao Yali to be with Chen Kaijun.

Seeing the two's surprised expressions, Zhao Yali smiled and said, "This is my good friend Chen Kaijun; we often create music together at school. This time he happened to come here, so we came together."

"Hello, I'm Chen Kaijun." The beautiful youth Chen Kaijun also greeted Liu Zhilong and Liu Xueting friendly.

"Hello." Liu Zhilong and Liu Xueting both responded somewhat awkwardly.

Their minds were filled with question marks: what exactly was this beautiful young man's background? What was his relationship with Zhao Yali? Though many doubts filled their hearts, neither knew how to bring up the questions.

Seeing the atmosphere had become somewhat awkward, Zhao Yali quickly eased the tension and said, "Ah Jun, this is Liu Zhilong and Liu Xueting whom I mentioned to you earlier; their daughter is one of the contestants in this preliminary selection."

"Oh, is that so? That's wonderful. I have a suggestion: why don't we also participate in this preliminary selection?" Chen Kaijun appeared very enthusiastic.

"This..." Zhao Yali clearly hadn't expected Chen Kaijun to make such a proposal and looked at Liu Zhilong and Liu Xueting with some hesitation.

Liu Zhilong saw Zhao Yali's hesitation and quickly said, "This is certainly the best option. We were just worried about not finding a suitable song. With your two talents, participating in the preliminary selection together would be even better."

After hearing this, Zhao Yali also thought it was a good idea, so she nodded and said, "Alright then, let's participate in the preliminary selection together."

Afterwards, the group discussed for a while and decided to first select the song for the competition.

Zhao Yali brought out several songs she had composed previously and began discussing them with Chen Kaijun.

"This song is called 'Time'. I think this song fits the theme of the preliminary selection you are entering very well." Zhao Yali turned to a song and recommended it to Chen Kaijun.

After listening to it once, Chen Kaijun was also very satisfied with this song.

After the discussion was settled, the four began waiting for Su Yuxuan's arrival.

Although two more "big shots" had joined, the dining atmosphere remained very harmonious.

After finishing the meal, Zhao Yali and Chen Kaijun bid farewell to Liu Zhilong and Liu Xueting and left the Seafood City.

Early the next morning, Su Yuxuan arrived at Liu Zhihao's home.

After seeing Su Yuxuan arrive, Liu Zhihao happily welcomed her into the house.

Although they would part again after only a brief reunion, Su Yuxuan was arranged perfectly by Liu Zhihao; from noon until evening, she accompanied him. Throughout the afternoon, Su Yuxuan stayed with Liu Zhihao; the two chatted in the room at times, watched movies together at times, and strolled around the residential compound at times, as if trying to make up for all the time they had missed during this period.

By evening, Su Yuxuan received a phone call; it was from Zhao Yali.

"Hello, Yali, what's wrong?" Su Yuxuan asked as she answered the phone.

"Yuxuan, where are you now?" Zhao Yali asked.

"I'm at Zhihao's house," Su Yuxuan replied.

"Oh, it's like this: regarding the matter I told you about last night, how have you considered it?" Zhao Yali asked.

"What matter?" Su Yuxuan asked, pretending to be confused.

"It's about participating in the preliminary selection with us," Zhao Yali quickly said. "We have already decided; Chen Kaijun will also participate in this preliminary selection. We plan to perform his original song; it's a very excellent song, and I think you will definitely like it."

"Oh... but I still feel it's not quite appropriate. After all, Zhihao and I are amateurs; competing against professional contestants like you will surely result in a terrible defeat," Su Yuxuan continued to make excuses.

"Oh, the competition results don't matter; what's important is that we all get a chance to showcase our talents," Zhao Yali persuaded. "Besides, with Ah Jun here, we definitely won't lose."

"But..." Su Yuxuan still wanted to continue making excuses.

"Alright, it's settled then. I'll send you the song to listen to in a moment; if it's okay, we'll start rehearsing tomorrow," Zhao Yali said very firmly.

"Alright then," Su Yuxuan helplessly agreed.

After hanging up the phone, Su Yuxuan told Liu Zhihao about the matter.

"You're going to participate in the preliminary selection?" Liu Zhihao was startled. "Aren't you and Yali competitors? How could she invite you to join her team?"