The next morning.
There were not many friends left at the resort. Ning Zhen went downstairs to the first floor and saw an acquaintance, Xiao Ding, in the lobby.
Xiao Ding quickly stepped forward and whispered, "Miss Ning, Mr. Meng told me to come and take you home. The car is parked outside and can leave at any time."
Just as Chang Yi and Lu Yuan came over, they happened to hear this.
The two glanced at each other, frowned tightly, and asked, "Where is Xianwen?"
Xiao Ding carefully replied, "Mr. Meng suddenly had a very important meeting that required his personal presence. He left by car two hours ago."
Not only were Chang Yi and the others puzzled by this, but Xiao Ding himself hadn't figured it out either.
When he got up this morning, he accidentally found that Mr. Meng had sent him a message at two o'clock in the morning, reminding him to drive to the resort at eight o'clock. Although he didn't understand why, he rushed over as soon as possible. But unexpectedly, Mr. Meng was leaving in another car.
Before leaving, Mr. Meng specifically told him, "There are many sharp turns on the way back to the city. Drive safely and slowly. Take her downstairs."
He nodded in agreement.
He could clearly feel that Mr. Meng was in a low mood. Before getting in the car, he even looked up at the window of a certain room upstairs, remained silent for a long time, and then got in the car and left.
Ning Zhen lowered her head and looked at her phone. Suddenly, she looked up and smiled, saying softly, "Xiao Ding, I'm really sorry to have troubled you to come all this way for nothing. But my friend is here to pick me up by car. She's outside the resort now and will come in soon."
She had known about Meng Xianwen's departure earlier.
There was still a message from him in WeChat that seemed to be covering up the truth: [I have something to do and have to leave first. Xiao Ding will take you back.]
Xiao Ding was stunned.
Chang Yi and Lu Yuan were even more headache - stricken.
What on earth was going on now? Why was it so hard to understand?
Ning Zhen remained calm. She walked to the other side to say goodbye to Shu Wei, then walked out of the lobby briskly. A white car drove over and stopped steadily in front of the porch. The window of the driver's seat rolled down, and Guo Xia poked her head out and smiled at her, "Baby, get in the car!"
"Why are you alone?"
Ning Zhen opened the car door and sat in the passenger seat. After fastening her seat - belt, she asked curiously.
Guo Xia shrugged, "If there was a third person in the car, I was afraid you'd hold back your tears."
"..." Ning Zhen burst out laughing. "I want to cry, but there's someone else who should cry. Anyway, I won't cry."
"Don't say you didn't cry. Your eyes are all swollen," Guo Xia mercilessly exposed her. "It's not embarrassing to cry in front of me. You don't even think about how many times I've cried in front of you."
Ning Zhen restrained the smile on her face and said softly, "You don't know how happy I was last night."
She finally said what had been weighing on her mind for a long time.
She scolded Meng Xianwen thoroughly. Without a doubt, he probably wouldn't want to see her for the rest of his life, and she felt the same way.
He would definitely die before her.
Even if they met again, it would be at his funeral.
"What did you say?" Guo Xia asked.
Ning Zhen pursed her lips and still couldn't help laughing out loud.
What did she say?
She said, "It's impossible for me to be with you. I'd be crazy to be your girlfriend, so stop wasting your time. It really annoys me. Whether you're satisfied or not is your business. I'm not!"
She said, "You don't know how relieved I was when the agreement ended. I counted the days every day this past year. It's finally over, and then it starts all over again. You're crazy, but I'm not."
She also said, "It's over."
It should all end here.
It was just like having a bad cold.
The symptoms were the same: a dry throat, a stuffy nose, tears, and body aches all over.
But she had a good physical foundation. She would face it positively and get rid of all the weakness, reluctance, and low - spirits brought about by those moments.
Xiao Ding stood on the porch and watched the white car drive further and further away. He was completely confused. He hesitated for a long time in the car and then dialed Meng Xianwen's number. After waiting for about ten seconds, the call was answered, and Meng Xianwen's slightly hoarse voice came through: "It's me. What's up?"
"Mr. Meng, Miss Ning didn't want me to take her. Her friend came to pick her up."
There was silence, a long silence.
Xiao Ding still patiently waited for the next words.
"Which friend?" he asked.
"Seems to be Miss Guo."
After a while, Meng Xianwen just said "hmm" and ended the call.
-
After getting home, Ning Zhen was exhausted. She took a hot bath and then fell into bed to sleep. It seemed that she wanted to make up for all the sleepless nights of the previous period. She slept for a long time. When she opened her eyes, it was already seven o'clock on Monday morning.
She was back to her life a year ago.
She went to work, got off work, had meals, went shopping, and watched movies with friends. Occasionally, when she was waiting for a taxi on the roadside or crossing the sidewalk to take the subway, she vaguely caught sight of a black car in the traffic. As it was getting dark and there was a distance between them, she couldn't see clearly.
Whether it was just passing by or on purpose didn't seem important anymore.
Xiao Ding in the driver's seat was extremely uncomfortable. He looked through the windshield and watched Ning Zhen cross the sidewalk. The night wind blew her hair. She was wearing headphones and listening to music, seemingly not recognizing the car she passed by.
The traffic light turned green.
Xiao Ding gently stepped on the accelerator and drove forward. He looked at the back seat through the rear - view mirror. Meng Xianwen had no obvious expression on his face. He neither closed his eyes to rest like before nor took advantage of this time to handle business. He just calmly looked out of the car window.
He had a dinner party that night and arrived late.
All those present were business partners. Several of them jokingly asked him to punish himself with three glasses of wine. In the past, he would always decline gracefully. But today, he was very abnormal. He really drank three glasses. There was a smile in his eyes, as if he was in a great mood. He drank to every toast.
Someone at the dinner also mentioned Ning Zhen.
"I ran into Miss Ning at a celebration the other day. She and her colleagues were very dedicated," one of them said.
Suddenly, Meng Xianwen paused in his actions, put down his glass, and looked over.
Seeing that he wanted to listen, the man continued.
In fact, it was just an ordinary thing. It was just a casual greeting between people who were not very familiar, which could be summarized in two sentences. But Meng Xianwen listened attentively, as if imagining the scene, and inexplicably let out a laugh.
When Meng Jiaran received a message from his childhood friend, he was having dinner with Song Yuqing.
Cai Zechuan: [I saw our brother. It seems to be a business dinner, and he drank quite a lot. He almost didn't recognize me.]
The next message: [Did Sister Zhen really break up with our brother?]
This matter had been circulating in the circle not long ago, but there was still no response from the parties involved. Cai Zechuan couldn't hide his gossip and excitement. He thought that seeing Meng Xianwen drunk tonight was another piece of evidence.
Meng Jiaran: [Do you need me to pour some water on your brain.jpg]
Meng Jiaran: [Send me the address!]
He frowned unhappily and put down his phone.
Song Yuqing, who was sitting across from him eating dessert, put down her fork. "Do you still have something to do? Then you can go first."
"My brother,"
Meng Jiaran couldn't hide things from her. "Cai Zechuan said he saw my brother drunk. I'm a little worried."
Song Yuqing understood.
"Hey, these two," Meng Jiaran leaned back. "I'm really convinced. They never let people worry less."
Song Yuqing couldn't help smiling.
Meng Jiaran was still in a hurry to go to the club. After paying the bill, he walked out of the restaurant side by side with her.
"Jiaran,"
When they were about to part ways in the parking lot, Song Yuqing called out to him. Looking hesitant, she still whispered, "I don't think Zhenzhen wanted to break up just because Brother Xianwen was too busy."
"Ah?" Meng Jiaran was taken aback.
"Zhenzhen has known him for many years," Song Yuqing chose her words carefully. "She knew he was busy even before she got together with him. There must be other reasons, reasons unknown to outsiders."
Meng Jiaran took these words to heart.
When his car appeared in the basement of the club, Xiao Ding let out a long sigh of relief. Although he had some martial skills and worked as both a driver and a bodyguard, taking care of Meng Xianwen alone and driving at the same time was really beyond his capacity. Not only Xiao Ding, but even Meng Jiaran, his own younger brother, was seeing his elder brother drunk like this for the first time.
He wasn't completely drunk and unconscious, but he kept silent, didn't answer any questions, frowned tightly, and his breathing was heavy and impatient.
"Who was at the dinner today?" Meng Jiaran suddenly got angry and asked.
Xiao Ding answered truthfully and silently added in his heart that no one would dare to force Mr. Meng to drink.
After observing for some time, he had figured it out. This was called a broken - heart.
However, the word "broken - heart" seemed too out of place when applied to the calm and rational Mr. Meng, so no one had noticed it for the time being.
At Royal Garden.
Auntie Qian had prepared the hangover soup in advance. Unfortunately, Meng Xianwen opened his eyes, took a look, and waved it away with his hand. He still retained a glimmer of consciousness and walked unsteadily towards the master bedroom. Meng Jiaran followed closely behind, afraid that he would fall, and quickly went to support him.
After he finally covered his elder brother with the quilt out of breath and beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, he took a few steps back and collapsed on the sofa. Out of habit, he took out his phone, intending to tell Ning Zhen about this, but then he remembered what Song Yuqing had said and put the phone away irritably.
After a long time.
Meng Jiaran got up and was about to leave. His eyes casually swept across the bedside table and suddenly stopped. He thought he was seeing things. He stepped forward to take a closer look and stood there stunned as if struck by lightning. How could there be an earring here?
His head buzzed.
After regaining his senses, a surge of emotions welled up in him. Although he knew that his elder brother definitely wasn't that kind of scumbag, a guess still flashed through his mind.
He slowly looked at his sleeping elder brother. He really wanted to pull him up and ask him clearly, but he held back. He paced back and forth like an ant on a hot pan in the large master bedroom.
He couldn't stand it.
Not even for a single second!
Meng Jiaran took a deep breath, unlocked his phone, took a photo of the earring on the bedside table, and sent it to Ning Zhen neatly with the message: [Is this yours?]
In order to cultivate her mind, Ning Zhen was sitting at the desk, suppressing her anger and doing handicrafts. These were all delicate works that Guo Xia had bought for her. She had questioned several times whether these were just toys for primary school students.
Guo Xia argued plausibly, "This is one of the treatment courses for a broken - heart that I've designed for you. It can train your patience and make you calm, so you won't think about other things."
Ning Zhen sent a screen full of question marks.
She emphasized again: [I'm not heart - broken!!]
She really didn't have the time to think about other things now.
She wanted to throw all these things into the trash can.
Just when her limited patience was running out, the phone on one side lit up. Out of the corner of her eye, she thought it was Guo Xia asking about the progress. She grabbed it and opened it. After seeing the photo sent by Meng Jiaran, her face showed surprise and confusion.
It was her earring.
However...
Wasn't it thrown away by Meng Xianwen?
She held her breath and replied, "Where did you see it?"
Meng Jiaran replied instantly, "On my elder brother's bedside table. Isn't it yours???"
Ning Zhen was slightly stunned and fell into a brief daze.
Since he didn't throw it away that day, why did he take her to the mall to compensate her with new earrings?
And why did he take it back and put it on the bedside table?
There was a faint guess in her heart, but she didn't want to think deeply.
Don't want to, don't want to, don't want to!
She didn't want to guess or think anymore. A correct guess wouldn't be a reward, but a wrong one would be a punishment, a punishment for herself.
Ning Zhen pushed the phone far away.
But Meng Jiaran was even more anxious and upset. Since she didn't reply to his messages, he called her.
The ringing and vibrating sounds kept going. She was extremely annoyed and answered the call, shouting, "Yes, it's mine. So what?"
"You scared me. Then it's okay," Meng Jiaran said calmly and hung up the phone.
He was still an innocent person.
As long as this earring belonged to Zhenzhen, that was enough.
As for why it appeared in his elder brother's room and what the two of them had done in the room, he didn't want to ask a single word.
