Ning Zhen didn't stay long at Guo Xia's place. Knowing there were still plenty of serious matters to attend to, she polished off the last grape, patted herself clean, and got ready to leave.
Guo Xia was used to seeing her off at the entrance of the residential complex every time, watching until she got into a car. Before stepping out the door, Guo Xia grabbed a fridge magnet and tucked it into Ning Zhen's bag.
"I noticed you were staring at this fridge magnet the whole time. Since you like it, it's yours!"
Ning Zhen had been waiting for her to say that and accepted it with a beaming smile.
It was a recordable vinyl-shaped fridge magnet.
When she pressed the play button in the middle, Guo Xia's voice rang out: "What month is it? How many pounds are you now? Ask yourself if you really want to eat that. Ask yourself if you'd die without having a late-night snack. You don't want people calling you a fat pig when you're out walking, do you?"
Ning Zhen burst out laughing. Hearing it once wasn't enough; she looped it again and again. "This is so fun!"
The two walked out of the apartment and took the elevator.
Guo Xia leaned in, patiently teaching her how to use it, muttering under her breath, "Look, you can erase my recording. Press this button to record your own voice—it holds about thirty seconds. There's a USB port here for charging, but the battery lasts a long time; once every six months is fine."
"Got it."
Ning Zhen put it away, thoroughly satisfied, but then a thought struck her and she protested, "Such a fun little thing, and when you bought it, you didn't think of me at all!"
Bringing it up got Guo Xia riled up too. "You wouldn't have had any use for it! I recorded that for Ye Chuyang. You absolutely won't believe this—he's gained thirteen pounds this year. Every morning I wake up worried sick, afraid that in two years I'll open my eyes and find a pig sleeping right next to me. So now I'm cracking the whip on him to motivate him to lose weight."
"Break up with him, do it today" was right on the tip of Ning Zhen's tongue, but she swallowed it back down hard and asked in disbelief, "How dare he gain thirteen pounds?!"
"Men are all the same."
Guo Xia glanced at Ning Zhen, hesitating as if she wanted to say more. "Once they settle into a stable relationship, they stop making an effort and let themselves go. They don't know how good they have it."
Ning Zhen caught the look in her eyes. "What are you looking at me for?!"
What did this topic have to do with her?
Guo Xia just shrugged and didn't answer. They had known each other for years; each knew the other inside and out. Even Guo Xia herself had been strong-armed by Ning Zhen into the "looks-first" club.
Ning Zhen shot back immediately, "What do you mean 'men are all the same'? The one I picked would never!"
She was indeed a die-hard looks lover. Thinking back, one major reason she had her eye on Meng Jiaran earlier was that he was handsome.
By the same token, if Meng Xianwen hadn't had the looks and bearing he did, she would have preferred to come clean and confess that night rather than board his shady ship.
The elevator reached the ground floor.
Ning Zhen and Guo Xia walked out of the cabin together, chatting casually. As they left the residential complex and headed to the roadside to wait for their ride, a clear male voice called from behind: "Xiaxia."
They both turned around.
Ye Chuyang, holding a bottle of water, walked up with a wide smile on his face. "Ning Zhen, long time no see."
His feelings were as mixed as the smile on his face every time he saw her.
He had to smile. Of course he had to smile—could he afford to be careless with his girlfriend's best friend?
Normally, Ning Zhen wouldn't even bother to give Ye Chuyang a second look, let alone pay him any attention. But just ten minutes ago, Guo Xia had said he'd gained thirteen pounds, and now she scrutinized him with a critical eye, taking in everything from his slightly messy hair to the sneakers on his feet.
Ye Chuyang's scalp tingled and his heart pounded as he pressed closer to his girlfriend for protection.
Ning Zhen gave a meaningful smile and said, "You sure eat well."
Guo Xia nearly burst out laughing. She held it in with great effort, quickly turning to look at the traffic and then shifting the subject: "Zhenzhen, what's the license plate number of the ride you ordered?"
"It's here."
Ning Zhen glanced at the notification on her phone and waved her hand. "Bye, sweetie. I'll come find you to hang out next time~"
"Mm."
Guo Xia followed her to the curb. After Ning Zhen got into the car, she took out her phone to snap a photo of the license plate and reminded, "Make sure to text me when you get home!"
Soon, the ride merged into the flow of traffic and disappeared into the distance.
Ye Chuyang put his arm around Guo Xia, finally catching on to the earlier comment. He looked completely thrown off. "Was she insulting me just now?"
...
Inside the car.
Only when the sweet, embracing couple in the night could no longer be seen did Ning Zhen purse her lips and turn back to sit properly. The phone in her hand rang—it was her mother calling. She smacked her forehead in annoyance. Because of Meng Xianwen, she had completely forgotten about such an important thing!
Her parents were probably baffled and exchanging confused looks right now.
She quickly answered the call. "Mom, did Uncle Liu come to our place?"
"He’s already left!" Ye Junlan said, exasperated. "Your dad and I had tea with him, but we didn’t dare ask why he suddenly brought so many gifts. Where are you?"
"Guo Xia needed me for something."
Ning Zhen lowered her voice to explain. "Aunt Xiao and her husband probably thought I’d worked hard taking care of Meng Xianwen these past few days, so after dinner they had Uncle Liu drive me home and threw in some gifts as a thank-you. It’s no big deal."
Ye Junlan reluctantly accepted that reasoning and changed the topic. "Then when are you bringing Xianwen home for a meal?"
"In a couple of days, once he’s fully recovered."
"Alright."
Ye Junlan softened her tone. "Let me know the day before so your dad and I can buy groceries."
"Is all that really necessary?"
"You ungrateful child! Your father and I are doing this for whom? For you, to save face! I’ve noticed you eat at the Mengs’ place a lot, and you always come back raking in leftovers!" Ye Junlan raised her voice. "I won’t waste time talking. I need to figure out what gift to send back."
And with that, before Ning Zhen could get a word in, she hung up with a click.
Ning Zhen had no intention of mentioning to her parents that she and Meng Xianwen were about to live together. She was certain that, at most, within seven days, he would slink out of her apartment in defeat—and that was exactly why she had agreed so readily.
Based on what she knew of him, even when he was injured in the hospital, he refused to share a bed with her. There was no way he would later occupy her master bedroom.
As for where he would stay?
There were only two spare bedrooms: one about nine square meters and one about eight square meters. Either choice would be smaller than the bathroom in his current place.
Would he be able to stand it? Of course not!
Seven days would be his limit.
She could tell with her pinky toe that after a few nights, he would make some excuse about being too busy with work or not wanting to disturb her rest, lamely moving to a hotel suite near Henghsing. At that point, she might let him off easy if she was in a good mood, or if not, she would definitely throw some sarcastic remarks his way. Call it a taste of his own medicine—serving him right for putting rocks on his own feet.
So, was there any need to tell her parents about this? No point at all. Telling them would just be a waste of phone credit!
-
Ning Zhen didn’t rest when she got home. She bustled around the house, setting things up. Thank goodness for the power of money—it let her summon people to buy everything she needed even late at night. Going overboard would backfire, so she only prepared matching couple items: two pairs of slippers and two water cups. She even splurged on his preferred brand of razor and toothbrush.
If she was going to play the part, she had to go all the way. Gritting her teeth, she opened the shaving cream and poured out a quarter of it, cursing under her breath as she did. This was all money! Her money!
By the time she finished perfecting every detail she could think of, it was nearly midnight. She sat on the bay window in the master bedroom, a wave of inexplicable anger rising in her. For someone who might not even stay at her place for more than two or three days, she had been busy until now.
Ning Zhen tapped open her chat with Meng Xianwen and sent a message: [You there?]
Less than ten seconds later, she unsent it.
She sent another: [Asleep?]
And unsent that one too.
That menace was clearly already sound asleep, and sleeping deeply—completely oblivious to the trouble he’d caused her. Ning Zhen jabbed at his profile picture in frustration. The chat showed: I patted Meng Xianwen’s butt. That got a laugh out of her, so she unsent it and jabbed again.
Just as her mood was starting to lift, a question mark suddenly popped up in the chat: [?]
The smile on Ning Zhen’s lips vanished. She blinked, stunned.
Wait—he wasn’t asleep either?
Before she could recover, her phone vibrated, sending a tingle through her palm. Startled, she answered without thinking, her voice soft. “Why aren’t you asleep yet?”
At the Meng family study, Meng Xianwen, who had been working overtime at his desk, leaned back in his chair. At first, he hadn’t noticed the screen lighting up—his focus was entirely on the computer. But he couldn’t ignore his phone screen flashing on and off repeatedly.
He picked it up casually.
In the middle of the night, what on earth was she up to? What was she playing at?
“I should be asking you that question,” he said.
“Can’t sleep,” Ning Zhen lied without batting an eye. “I’ve been worried about you.”
“You seemed to sleep just fine the last couple of days.”
“That’s because you were here.”
“…”
Meng Xianwen rubbed his temples. Over the past few days of interacting with Ning Zhen, every word and action of hers had completely overturned his previous understanding and perception of her.
A brief silence fell over the phone call.
Ning Zhen’s favorite spot was the big bay window in the master bedroom, which she had transformed into a cozy little romantic nook. She lay down, gazing out at the night sky, and suddenly exclaimed in delight, “So many stars in the sky. Tomorrow—no, wait, it’s past midnight now—today’s definitely going to be a clear, sunny day.”
Meng Xianwen paused mid-motion.
He slowly got up, walked to the window, and with a swoosh, pulled back the sheer curtain, looking up.
Ning Zhen caught the faint sound and chuckled. “Isn’t it?”
Her reply was met with silence. Meng Xianwen stared at the starry sky with a calm gaze. His eyes were a bit strained from staring at the computer screen for too long. A quiet thought crossed his mind— the last time he had the leisure to gaze at the stars was probably years ago.
“It’s late. You should sleep,” he said.
“Wait—”
Before he could hang up on her unilaterally, Ning Zhen stopped him. With a hint of hesitation, she asked casually, “Did you…”
“What?”
“Were you up this late because you couldn’t sleep? Didn’t they bring you some warm milk from the kitchen?”
“No,” he paused slightly. “My mom brought me some calming tea.”
“Oh.”
She, Ning Zhen, could barely fit as she hugged the panda plushie squeezed to the very edge, absentmindedly poking its belly with her finger. It seemed she had guessed wrong this time—he hadn’t gone to the guest room, wasting the glass of milk she’d specially prepared. The cleaning staff at the Meng household would definitely throw it away tomorrow morning.
“Was the calming tea good?” she asked.
Meng Xianwen leaned against the window, glancing back at the milk on the table. “Not bad.”
Ning Zhen was intrigued by the word “not bad” coming from Meng Xianwen.
In the three months they’d been living this close, this was the first time she’d heard such high praise from him.
“Really?” Her interest perked up. “Then I’ll ask Aunt Xiao to brew some for me next time.”
“What’s got you so unsettled?”
Hearing his slow, drawling tone, she rolled her eyes several times. Oh well, he wasn’t in front of her anyway, so she could dislike him all she wanted.
“What else could be unsettling me?” She replied with feigned grievance, turning it back on him. “What do you think?”
Meng Xianwen let out a faint laugh, not bothering to waste time on such meaningless chitchat with her. He returned to his computer and ended the conversation. “I made an appointment to meet Lu Yuan at his hospital tomorrow morning. If you don’t mind, could you come with me?”
“Of course, we already agreed to that.”
She wasn’t at all comfortable letting him go for treatment alone. Never mind that she was off tomorrow—even if she had been working, she’d pull out all the stops, sweet-talk her way through anything, and beg her boss for a few hours off.
“Thank you.”
He actually spared a civil word for once. “Tomorrow at nine sharp, I’ll pick you up downstairs.”
Ning Zhen heard this and wanted to say she’d be there on time or even a few minutes early, but then she remembered how sneaky and unpredictable he could be. She bit her tongue, muttered a couple of “mm-hmms,” and hung up.
She stretched happily, yanked the curtains shut, and turned off the starry ceiling projector.
Time to make Meng Xianwen taste what waiting felt like!
Tomorrow, she’d make him wait at least—at least seven or eight minutes!
-----------------------
