Ye Junlan and Ning Hui came up with a flimsy excuse to leave, temporarily giving the couple whom outsiders assumed were having a lovers’ quarrel some privacy.
Meng Xianwen thanked the two elders for their thoughtfulness.
He went inside and headed upstairs at an unhurried pace. On the stairs between the first and second floors, he nearly collided with Ning Zhen, who was rushing down. He reached out and caught her by the arm, frowning. “Can’t you watch where you’re going when you come downstairs? What if you fell?”
“This is my house!”
Ning Zhen pulled away, thoroughly displeased by his presumptuous tone. “Don’t lecture me.”
She had lived here since the day she was born. She could go up and down these stairs with her eyes closed without falling. What exactly was he cursing her for?
He stood on a step below her, and the two of them looked each other in the eye. Ning Zhen knew the staircase was no place to talk. She gave him a cold glance, turned, and went upstairs. Meng Xianwen followed a few steps behind and entered her room.
It wasn’t just that Meng Xianwen didn’t want anyone to know about their agreement. Ning Zhen wanted even less for anyone to find out.
She went to the window and pushed it halfway open. With her excellent eyesight, she would be able to see her parents the moment they entered the alley.
“What are you doing here?” she demanded, taking the initiative.
Meng Xianwen sauntered over unhurriedly and stopped beside her. He gazed carelessly at her profile. She really had been sleeping face-down on the bed that afternoon, and her hair was a little messy. He looked away and turned his eyes toward the window.
“What did you mean by that post?”
Ning Zhen was so angry she nearly laughed.
So he really had come here to demand an explanation.
“Mr. Meng, the agreement between us was still in effect on the day of the annual banquet.” Her voice carried undisguised sarcasm. “If you wanted to put on an act, you should have told me beforehand. What if we’d been found out?”
“Zhenzhen, say something I can understand.”
Meng Xianwen glanced at her again, his tone even. “Don’t misunderstand. I didn’t come here to argue with you. I just want to understand what happened.”
Ning Zhen paused.
Although she was still angry, they had known each other for so long. He might be devious, but he wasn’t the type to confront her like this and then refuse to admit it.
“You didn’t know?”
“If I had known, do you think I would have come here?”
Ning Zhen gave a silent scoff. Too lazy to continue beating around the bush, she embellished Shu Wei’s account of what had happened and rattled off the whole story. By the time she finished, she was angry all over again.
“Mr. Meng, if you wanted to break up, then just break up. Did you really have to play so many games? Is this fun for you?”
Meng Xianwen suddenly felt a headache coming on.
But his cold had long since passed. That meant someone else was the one who wasn’t thinking clearly.
When his slightly cool palm touched Ning Zhen’s forehead, she instinctively tried to dodge, only for his other arm to pull her firmly against him.
They were standing very close—close enough for her to clearly catch the clean, crisp scent clinging to him.
“You’re not sick, so what have you been thinking about all day?” He released her, though he remained very close. “Rejected proposal, breakup?”
At that, he let out a derisive laugh. It was hard to tell whether he was mocking her or the person who had started the rumor.
“Use your head and think about it.” Meng Xianwen paused for several seconds, then lowered his eyes to look at her. “I want to get married. You don’t want to get married. We have an argument, and then we break up? Leaving aside the fact that something like that will never happen, even if it did, would I let outsiders know?”
Ning Zhen was briefly rendered speechless. When she thought about it, he had a point.
She had been furious when she first heard Shu Wei mention it.
But she hadn’t been angry about the rumor itself. What really upset her was…
She had truly been happy that day while they were shopping for jewelry. If it had all been part of some scheme, then feeling happy in that moment would only make her feel humiliated.
“If…” she said, still unwilling to concede. “If you really didn’t know anything about it and didn’t help spread the rumor, then fine. I’ll consider it my misunderstanding.”
Meng Xianwen was rendered speechless, then laughed helplessly.
What did she mean by saying she would consider it her misunderstanding?
Usually, she seemed clever and sharp. How could she believe such an outrageous rumor had been spread by him?
Unwilling to lose the upper hand in a conversation after so much time apart, Ning Zhen abruptly changed the subject. “Then what excuse are you planning to use to tell people we’ve broken up?”
The crease between Meng Xianwen’s brows deepened again.
“When did we break up?”
Ning Zhen glared at him. Was he really going to nitpick over the wording? How annoying.
She corrected herself. “You know what I mean. The agreement has ended, so our relationship has ended too. Fine, you don’t want to tell outsiders—but are Aunt Xiao and Uncle Meng outsiders? Don’t you think you owe them an explanation?”
“Why are you in such a hurry?” he asked impatiently.
“I am in a hurry!” she shouted. Her eyes gleamed unusually brightly with anger. “This is affecting my life!”
“Tell me. How is it affecting you?”
Ning Zhen’s blood began to boil. She could hardly believe he was such a heartless bastard. So to him, it made no difference at all whether their agreement had ended or not? It had no impact on him whatsoever?
Then what had all her occasional bouts of sadness during this time meant?
Had she simply become so addicted to acting that she was putting on a performance of how uncomfortable it was to go through withdrawal after the end of their relationship?
Unwilling to back down, she shot back, “You have the nerve to ask how it’s affecting me? Then listen carefully. I’ve only gone a few days without posting you on my social media, and everyone who knows you has either come straight out to ask me or tried to sound me out about whether we had a fight. Now that it’s New Year’s, my parents keep asking when you’re coming over and when I’m going to your place. And with everyone thinking I’m your girlfriend, if I start dating someone tomorrow, people will think I cheated on you!”
Meng Xianwen listened seriously to the long string of complaints. His expression remained fairly calm at first, but the instant she uttered the final sentence, his face changed dramatically.
He took a step closer and demanded, “Who are you going to date tomorrow?”
“Is that the point? The point is that we need to clear this up as soon as possible—to make it clear that I”—Ning Zhen pointed at herself, then at him—“have nothing to do with you.”
She didn’t want to waste any more words on him. She had also had enough of this relationship that she couldn’t explain to anyone. Delivering a final ultimatum, she said, “In any case, one month at most. If you still haven’t said anything after a month, I will.”
Meng Xianwen stared at her, his expression as dark as still water.
Ning Zhen wasn’t afraid of him. She looked determined to sever their relationship and draw a clear line between them.
“Fine.”
After the two of them silently stared each other down for a moment, he suddenly smiled for no apparent reason. His expression turned gentle—almost tender.
Ning Zhen’s gaze remained fixed on his face. He had agreed far too readily, and instead of feeling relieved, her heart began to rise into her throat.
Ahhh! This bastard looked exactly like this every time he was about to set a trap for her!
Just as she was about to question him warily about what he was scheming, he smoothly changed the subject.
“My parents have asked several times when you’re coming over. I have no answer to give them.”
At that, Ning Zhen’s breath caught, and she looked conflicted.
From New Year’s Eve until today, Meng Jiaran had asked her every day when she was going to visit the family’s old house. That alone was fine; she could scold him through text messages, voice messages, or even emojis.
But Aunt Xiao had been asking too.
She had only mentioned it jokingly, telling Ning Zhen that the red envelope for her New Year’s gift was already prepared. On top of that, she had gotten a safety charm for her, since this was Ning Zhen’s zodiac year.
All Ning Zhen could do was brush her off.
After one or two times, Aunt Xiao had fallen silent.
“I already told you. I’m never seeing Jiaran again, and I’m never going to the Meng family’s house.” Ning Zhen could only glare at him resentfully.
“Who did you tell that to?” he countered, the smile at the corner of his lips turning faintly cold. “When have you ever kept your word with me?”
Ning Zhen’s brows shot up.
He probably needed something from her too, hoping she would play along during the New Year festivities and put on an act, at the very least so the elders could enjoy a happy holiday. Meng Xianwen paused, his tone softening somewhat. “I said to stay away from Meng Jiaran. Did I ever say you couldn’t come to the house again?”
“…”
Ning Zhen stared at him in astonishment. No matter how many times it happened, she was still amazed by his shamelessness.
Just to get her to make the trip, he had actually started lying with a straight face.
Noticing that the expression on Ning Zhen’s face had begun to soften, Meng Xianwen said calmly, “I’ll come pick you up tomorrow.”
Ning Zhen really couldn’t stand his attitude.
His life clearly hadn’t been affected in the slightest. He still seemed to think of her as his on-call contractual girlfriend, as though they were still in the relationship they had shared over the past year. He wanted to come pick her up whenever he pleased, utterly certain that she wouldn’t refuse.
Damn him!
He could dream on!
Even if he offered her another ten million, she wouldn’t do it!
Her teeth nearly ached from how hard she was clenching them. The words “No. Go away. I’ll get there myself” had already reached her lips, but she swallowed them back down, suddenly struck by the urge to make things difficult for him.
“…We’ll talk about it tomorrow. My parents will be playing cards all night, so if you want to come, make it after ten.”
Ning Zhen was silent for a long time, as though she were reluctantly forcing herself to say it.
All her emotions were written plainly across her face: her resistance to going to the old family home, her hesitation at the thought of disappointing Aunt Xiao and Uncle Meng’s invitation. She pressed her lips together, torn, hesitant, and struggling.
Meng Xianwen’s eyes shifted slightly. He was not nearly as calm and composed as he appeared.
At that moment, his tense shoulders finally relaxed.
“Okay.”
-
The next morning, bright and early.
Ning Zhen had completely shaken off the laziness of the past few days. She got up in high spirits, washed, and ate breakfast.
Ye Junlan was puzzled. “What are you grinning about?”
It wasn’t a silly grin. It was a mischievous one, Ning Zhen silently corrected her in her heart. Aloud, she spouted nonsense. “I’m happy because I’m going to get two big red envelopes today. Is that not allowed?”
“That’s all the ambition you have?”
“Having even a little ambition is already impressive!” she snorted with a laugh. After eating the last dumpling in her bowl, she set down her chopsticks. “I’m leaving, then. Don’t make lunch for me. I’ll definitely be back for dinner.”
Ning Hui brought vinegar over from the kitchen. Hearing this, he glanced at the clock on the wall. “It’s only eight. Xianwen has already arrived?”
It would take at least an hour to get there from the old family home.
Eight o’clock—wasn’t that a little early?
Ning Zhen smiled sweetly. “He’s especially busy with work. He hasn’t even had any time off for the New Year, and he was still working overtime last night. If I drive there myself, he can sleep for another hour.”
Ning Hui and Ye Junlan exchanged glances.
As people who had been around the block, they couldn’t understand young people these days. Yesterday, they had still been furious with each other, and today they were already deeply in love again.
Ning Zhen put on her coat and left the house, full of energy. The weather was beautiful. The morning sun shone down on her, and every strand of hair radiated happiness and excitement.
She slowly drove out of the parking lot.
The previous night, she had excitedly studied the map for half the night, finding several routes completely different from the one Meng Xianwen would take.
She had never said she would wait for him at home. So what if he thought he could play word games just because he’d gone to school for a few years? She could play them too!
At nine forty, after concluding that Meng Xianwen must have already entered the old city, Ning Zhen finally stepped on the accelerator. She stopped driving at a snail’s pace and sped toward the Meng family’s old residence. At exactly ten o’clock, her car pulled up in front of the main building.
Xiao Xuezhen and Meng Jingshan both knew that she was coming to pay them a New Year’s visit.
But when Uncle Yang hurried into the tea room to announce that Zhenzhen had already arrived—and had come alone—the couple were left bewildered and confused. Hadn’t she and their son made up yesterday? Their son had looked to be in a good mood when he came home, too.
What was going on now?
At the same time.
Meng Xianwen parked his car, then walked a short distance to the Ning residence.
On the rooftop, Ning Hui and Ye Junlan were hanging quilts out to dry. Hearing a commotion, they leaned over to look. When they saw that the person below was Meng Xianwen, Ning Hui blurted out, “Xianwen, what brings you here?”
Ye Junlan, however, reacted in time. “Zhenzhen left at eight.”
Meng Xianwen: “…”
Half an hour later, as the car traveled along the broad road, Meng Xianwen received a message from Ning Zhen. He opened it and read every word, his emotions impossible to discern.
Ning Zhen: [I took the good-luck charm Aunt Xiao gave me. I didn’t take the red envelopes she and Uncle Meng gave me; I left them in the guest room on the first floor.]
Ning Zhen: [Don’t worry, I didn’t go upstairs. [Rose] [Fist bump] [Smiling behind hand]]
