The question mark Meng Xianwen had sent her in the early hours that morning became Ning Zhen’s greatest source of amusement.
Whenever the slightest thing went wrong, she would open their chat window, stare at that question mark, and imagine the look on his face when he received her message. She couldn’t help bursting into laughter. Any trace of disappointment she had felt before was gone.
The end of the agreement was the best thing that could have happened!
Now, the first thing she did every morning when she arrived at the office was pick up the calendar and cheerfully draw a mark on it. On top of that, she posted a daily update visible only to dogs, counting down how many days remained until the one-month deadline.
As for whether he saw them, what did it matter?
She posted them, and she was happy.
Meng Xianwen, however, was not.
That Friday, after a simple lunch, he sat on the sofa and rested for a while as usual. Out of habit, he opened her profile to see what strange thing she had posted that day.
The moment he clicked in, he was greeted by a serene landscape photo.
The caption was utterly at odds with the tranquil image: [Only 19 days left 😂😂]
His brows drew together. As usual, he ignored it and tossed his phone aside. Leaning his head back, he raised an arm to cover his eyes. The heating in the office was turned up too high; even after undoing the buttons on his shirt, he remained inexplicably restless. The feeling continued throughout the afternoon without easing in the slightest.
Around four o’clock, his phone rang. It was Chang Yi.
Meng Xianwen answered with little enthusiasm.
The New Year holidays were not quite over yet, so Chang Yi was still relatively free. He teased him over the phone, “Are you and Zhenzhen going to Shu Wei’s birthday party together today, or are you heading there separately?”
Shu Wei was turning thirty. This time, she had decided against throwing the lavish celebration her family wanted and instead booked an entire hot-spring resort in the suburbs, inviting friends and relatives to make merry and enjoy a relaxing weekend. As her childhood friend, Meng Xianwen naturally had to go. Ning Zhen’s status this time, however, was a little different. She would no longer be accompanying him as his girlfriend; she was Shu Wei’s friend.
“What do you think?”
Meng Xianwen’s tone was flat, devoid of even the slightest fluctuation.
They had been friends for more than twenty years. How could Chang Yi fail to hear the irritation in his voice? Everyone close to them knew that the couple had fallen into an awkward stalemate. It was just that both of them were tight-lipped, and neither was willing to explain why.
Their friends had discovered the clues from Ning Zhen’s posts.
A few days ago, she had posted a picture of herself eating hot pot alone. Yesterday, she had posted one of herself watching a movie alone. She looked rather lonely and dejected.
They had gossiped about it in private. The difference in their ages was one issue, and Meng Xianwen was far too busy with work to spend much time with her. Once the honeymoon phase ended, wasn’t this problem bound to arise?
“How about this? I happen to have the day off today. I’ll make the trip with you and pick Zhenzhen up. Maybe, for my sake, she’ll be willing to give you a little face.”
“No need.”
Meng Xianwen pressed his fingers to his forehead and rejected Chang Yi’s suggestion almost without hesitation.
He didn’t want to drag anyone else into this—not even his friends.
Chang Yi knew his temper and could only sigh.
They chatted for a few more minutes about Shu Wei’s birthday. Just as they were about to end the call, a dog barked from the other end.
Meng Xianwen’s expression shifted. He stopped Chang Yi before he could hang up. “You’re at home?”
“Yeah. I’m waiting for Lu Yuan to get off work so I can pick him up.”
Meng Xianwen thought for several seconds before making up his mind. “Wait there. I’m coming over.”
Chang Yi misunderstood him and replied, “You want to go with Lu Yuan and me? Sure.”
As soon as six o’clock arrived, Ning Zhen was once again the first person in the company to clock out. She really didn’t want to get caught in the evening rush hour, so she quickly took the elevator downstairs. The moment she looked up, she saw a black sedan parked several yards away in the night.
It was Meng Xianwen’s car.
She had ridden in it countless times and recognized it at a glance.
What was he doing here?
Before she had time to think it through, the car pulled up in front of her. He lowered the window, his attitude exactly as it had always been.
“Get in.”
Ning Zhen: “…”
There was no way she could argue with him in front of the company.
She took half a step back, a polite fake smile fixed on her face. “No need. I drove here myself.”
“There are quite a few winding roads on the way to the resort. It isn’t safe to drive at night.”
He was concise, and what he said made perfect sense. That was indeed the case. But Ning Zhen wasn’t willing to give in. She smiled. “Then you should bring a driver. It’s dangerous otherwise.”
She didn’t drive very often, but how much better could he be, considering he had a chauffeur most of the time?
“I’ll—”
Click.
Before she could finish, Meng Xianwen calmly smiled. It seemed as though he had accidentally pressed a button, lowering the rear window.
The adorable Labrador quickly stuck its head out. It had obviously recognized Ning Zhen and barked at her excitedly twice, its tail wagging so fast it looked as if it might jump right out of the car.
“Zhenzhen, I’ll head over first. I’ll see you at the resort,” he said warmly.
Ning Zhen ignored him completely. Astonished and delighted, she stopped him. “Wait, wait! How did you bring Qiansui along?”
“It’s been cooped up all winter. I brought it out to get some fresh air.”
“Oh, oh!”
She hadn’t seen Qiansui in quite some time. Now that it was right in front of her, she couldn’t see anyone else. She moved closer, vigorously rubbing its head and nuzzling it. “You’re going out to play, aren’t you? Are you happy?”
“Zhenzhen, there’s a car coming up behind you.”
Meng Xianwen watched her for a moment, the corners of his lips curving into a smile. He reminded her, “Get in first.”
Ning Zhen turned her head. It was quitting time, and quite a few cars were stopped on the ground-level road. Blocking the way here really would have been inconsiderate. She quickly opened the door and climbed into the back seat. Qiansui was even happier. The moment the door closed, Meng Xianwen raised the window and smoothly drove away from the Shengdu Building.
In the back seat, a woman and a dog chatted away.
“Do you miss Mommy? If you do, take a breath!”
“Woof!”
While waiting at a red light, Meng Xianwen occasionally glanced at the rearview mirror. A complicated, indescribable feeling swept through his heart.
In fact, this feeling was not unfamiliar to him. He had experienced it once before, several months ago.
On the night of the celebration for the project launch, he had refused to let her go upstairs to the second floor of the old residence. She had angrily slammed the door behind her. Late that night, after drinking, he felt slightly unwell and went downstairs to get some air. When he heard a noise coming from the living and dining area, he immediately went over and caught her red-handed.
She had been leaning against the refrigerator, eating ice cream. The instant their eyes met, she had been so startled by him that her eyes went wide, and she nearly screamed.
He had been quick enough to cover her mouth.
In the next moment, he unexpectedly felt the coolness of her lips travel through his palm and spread throughout his body.
For the sake of safety, Meng Xianwen drove slowly the entire way. By the time they reached the hot-spring resort, it was already past eight in the evening. Quite a number of friends had come to celebrate Shu Wei’s birthday.
Qiansui liked its godfather, and it liked its godmother, but most of all, it loved its owner.
The moment it saw Chang Yi, it began excitedly circling him.
Chang Yi coaxed it for a while, then exchanged a meaningful look with Lu Yuan and said, “What can I say? It’s all thanks to its godfather. Otherwise, I might not have remembered that you needed to come out and get some fresh air.”
Lu Yuan was more direct. “I’d say it’s all thanks to its godmother.”
Meng Xianwen’s expression remained unchanged.
His gaze drifted, seemingly unintentionally, toward Ning Zhen in the distance as she embraced Shu Wei.
Shu Wei called over her assistant, handed her a room key, and leaned in to whisper, “Don’t worry, I didn’t put you and Lao Meng in the same room. He’s staying one floor below you. If he gets on your nerves, just throw a dance party in your room and make enough noise to drive him crazy.”
Ning Zhen couldn’t help laughing. “Okay!”
-
The next morning.
Ning Zhen opened her eyes blearily. Not yet fully awake, she groped for her phone beside the pillow.
Twenty minutes earlier, Meng Xianwen had sent her a message: [I need to talk to you about something. Remember to get back to me when you wake up.]
It sounded rather serious. Ning Zhen decided she probably couldn’t get away with staying in bed, so she threw off the covers and went to the bathroom. Reluctantly, she replied to him, treating it as though she were approving official memorials: [What is it?]
She brushed her teeth, glancing at her phone every now and then.
Damn it, he’d gone silent again!
By the time Ning Zhen had finished washing up and getting dressed, a short, rhythmic knock sounded at the door. After all, they had once spent a year together as a couple; she knew who it was without even checking the peephole.
Sure enough, when she opened the door, Meng Xianwen was standing outside.
He was holding a leash, and Qiansui was looking at her expectantly.
Ning Zhen understood.
This was the matter he’d been talking about: taking the dog for a walk.
The two of them and one dog strolled through the resort in the early morning. Far from the city and backed by mountains and water, the resort had wonderfully fresh air. Qiansui clearly loved it there and pulled forward with all his might. Ning Zhen nearly lost her grip on the leash and stumbled forward, but someone caught her by the shoulder and smoothly took the leash from her hand.
She looked up, her gaze settling on his sharply defined profile.
Guo Xia’s words from a few days ago echoed in her ears: Meng Xianwen was trying to win her back.
She had argued against it at the time, but now she was beginning to wonder. After all, everything he did was easy to misunderstand.
She had run into Chang Yi over late-night snacks the previous evening, and he had joked with her, saying that Meng Xianwen was using the dog as an excuse for now, and might very well steal the dog in the future. Starting today, he was going to guard against the two of them—the male and female fiends—in case they kidnapped his son Qiansui.
“Zhenzhen, keep up.”
Meng Xianwen had walked several steps ahead with Qiansui. Noticing that she hadn’t followed, he turned around and called to her.
Ning Zhen gave a silent scoff and came forward unhurriedly.
After walking for a while, they made a loop and arrived at the place where he had parked the previous day. He handed her the leash. “Wait here. I’m going to get something from the car.”
Ning Zhen had no desire to look at him.
But she couldn’t stop her eyes from following his retreating figure.
She was twenty-four years old, and before this, she had never regretted anything she had done. She had thought that if there was one thing she might regret, it would be the scheme against Jiaran that night. If she could erase a single moment from her life, she had assumed that would be the one.
But it turned out she was wrong.
What she truly wanted to erase was that night at the old house, when she had tossed and turned in the guest room, unable to sleep, a small fire burning inside her. After much deliberation, she had slipped out of her room and found some ice cream in the refrigerator. She had eaten only a few bites before running into him.
After a brief uproar, he had asked, “Is it good?”
She was still annoyed and didn’t want to answer him. Turning her back, she had hummed, “Not good at all!”
“All right.”
He actually hadn’t drunk much at the celebration banquet. After returning to the old house, he had rested for a long while and drunk the hangover remedy Uncle Yang brought him. By then, he was completely sober. “The rain’s stopped. I’ll take you out to buy some.”
She had stared at him in surprise and turned around. “You…”
But he was already walking away, so she had no choice but to follow.
There were several drivers on call at the old house at all times. They found one who hadn’t gone to bed yet. Thinking back on it later, she realized that both of them must have been a little drunk that night. Otherwise, why would they have gone out to buy ice cream in the middle of the night instead of sleeping?
But it was too late, and very few shops were still open.
Through the misty rain, she spotted the familiar Peugeot sign and was overjoyed. Turning to him, she said she had found one. The driver pulled over, and he went into the shop with her.
She picked out several flavors she liked from the freezer, then sat with him on high stools, watching the puddles outside the floor-to-ceiling windows reflect a corner of the city.
Suddenly, she couldn’t help smiling. But she absolutely didn’t want him to see, so she turned her face away and gazed elsewhere, her eyes bright with amusement.
He asked, “Good?”
This time, she nodded.
…
“The temperature’s a little low. Put this on first.”
A deep, steady voice pulled Ning Zhen’s thoughts back to the present. She lifted her eyes and saw Meng Xianwen walking slowly toward her, holding out a cashmere scarf in a gender-neutral style. The tag was still attached.
Ning Zhen’s gaze drifted toward the scarf.
The words were practically glaring at her:
Making a special effort for no reason.
