Ning Zhen was still cursing inwardly when Meng Jiaran had already hung up the phone.
He finished the water in his glass in one gulp. For some reason, under Ning Zhen’s gaze, he felt a sinking sensation of being seen through. “The news that my brother was hospitalized must have reached Nancheng. Yuqing called to ask about the situation.”
“Will she come to Nancheng?”
Ning Zhen looked away, gazing out the window at the night scenery, and asked.
After three months to process things, she had actually come to accept that she was living inside a novel. But if she hadn’t dreamed about it, she never would have guessed that Meng Jiaran liked Song Yuqing. That guy hid it way too deeply.
Thinking it over, the bottom line was that he never treated her as a real friend!
If she had known he had someone else in his heart, would she have bothered flirting with him? That would be like winking at a blind man!
So the root cause was still that disaster, Meng Jiaran.
She would never forgive him.
“That’s impossible,” Meng Jiaran answered without hesitation. After saying it, he sensed that his attitude came off a bit strange, so he softened his tone slightly and explained, “She’s afraid you’ll misunderstand, so she won’t come.”
Ning Zhen let out two dry, hollow laughs.
One after another, they still dragged her into it as an excuse.
Meng Jiaran certainly didn’t want anyone to misunderstand Song Yuqing, and even less did he want anyone to misunderstand his brilliant brother. Lowering his voice, he said, “My brother has never had any feelings for her from start to finish. It was all our parents talking about it. He never responded. He only likes you. He rarely even interacts with Yuqing.”
Ning Zhen almost couldn’t hold back a laugh.
If Meng Xianwen had ever had a girlfriend before and brought her home, then the Meng family wouldn’t be saying that he only liked her now. Without any reference point, whatever act he put on would look like true love.
“Actually, the two of them are well-suited, don’t you think?” Whoever made Ning Zhen miserable, she’d make them feel even worse. Lowering her head, she deliberately said something aimed straight at Meng Jiaran’s heart.
“…”
Meng Jiaran felt a headache coming on.
The idea of the Song and Meng families forming a marriage alliance—others might not know about it, but Ning Zhen did.
However, the real instigator of this whole thing was him.
Back then, he had accidentally overheard his parents talking about it, and his heart itched with discomfort like a cat scratching. In a bad mood, he naturally needed to find a friend to distract himself. Coincidentally, Ning Zhen was free, so he often took her out to eat, and that casual topic came up.
At that time, he didn’t know she was secretly dating his big brother!
Her reaction had been very ordinary: “That’s a good thing. Brother Xianwen is old enough, it’s time he got married.”
Remembering that, Meng Jiaran put on an ingratiating smile. “No, no, no. You and my brother are the perfect match. Everything else is just a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding.”
Ning Zhen let out a light snort.
Fortunately, the server arrived with the food, cutting this episode short.
“Sister Zhen, please, eat.” Meng Jiaran dutifully handed her the utensils. “You haven’t eaten all day. Have some porridge first to settle your stomach.”
Ning Zhen took them, muttering that she had no appetite even as she wolfed the food down.
Meng Jiaran saw how heartily she was eating and felt his own appetite kick in. He poured himself a bowl of porridge as well.
“What’s the plan with the Song family?” Ning Zhen asked curiously after eating, her resentment fading a little.
Her family wasn’t wealthy, but she had spent a lot of time at the Meng household, so she understood the dynamics well enough. The Song family was strict. Although Meng Xianwen had quietly declined the marriage alliance, that didn’t mean the matter was completely settled. Since the Song elders had taken an interest, they would probably turn their attention to another family.
“I don’t know.”
Meng Jiaran started to say something, then stopped.
“Actually…” Ning Zhen shot him a light, knowing glance, “The Meng family doesn’t have only one son.”
Meng Jiaran was taking a tactical sip of water. When he heard that, he choked, coughing violently until his face turned red. “What nonsense are you talking about?”
Ning Zhen smiled without responding.
"Pretentious fool."
If she hadn’t read the whole novel, she really would have been fooled by this little brat.
But then again, what did the male lead and female lead have to do with her? She couldn’t care less about that. And as a supporting character, she absolutely hated the main characters!
“Your job’s fine, right?” Meng Jiaran shifted the subject.
Ning Zhen had interned at a financial media company backed by the TV station during her senior year. Because she performed well on a daily basis, she got a formal job offer right after graduation. Her workload was neither too busy nor too slow—just a regular office worker. “I asked for a week off.”
A week!
Her perfect attendance bonus, her performance bonus!
Ning Zhen had already made up her mind. She’d have to make Meng Xianwen reimburse her for that loss.
Since this was a contractual romance, of course, everything had to come with clear accounting. If he were her real boyfriend, she wouldn’t bother being so petty. But he wasn’t—so coming here counted as a paid gig.
To his credit, Meng Xianwen still had a shred of humanity left. After confirming the contract was in effect, he’d given her a supplementary credit card, letting her spend whatever she wanted for the year. But she dared not go too overboard. Quietly, she asked him what the limit was.
He let out two short, amused laughs at that. Instead of directly answering, he told her to find out the limit yourself.
Would she actually test it?
She really did dare. The first month, she miserably spent fifty thousand. He didn’t say a thing. The second month, she got bolder—doubled it. He still said nothing. This month, it had shot straight to two hundred thousand. And he still hadn’t so much as grunted.
“In that case, okay.” Meng Jiaran sighed. “Still, I think my brother will want to be discharged from the hospital as soon as he wakes up tomorrow. That guy never listens.”
“Right?” she chimed in half-heartedly.
Diners were starting to leave one after another.
The two of them stopped talking and focused on eating. They finished the entire table of food, eating until they were full and glowing.
Meng Jiaran patted his belly. “Let’s pack something for Mom and Dad and take it to the hospital.”
Ning Zhen had no objections. “Sure.”
…
Back at the hospital, the ward was very quiet, broken only by occasional sobs.
Ning Zhen quickly got into character and followed Meng Jiaran inside.
Meng Jingshan sat in front of the hospital bed, wiping his son’s hands with a warm cloth. Xiao Xuezhen sat on the couch nearby, her eyes rimmed red.
“Aunt Xiao,”
Ning Zhen perked up, went over to sit beside Xiao Xuezhen, and choked out a voice tinged with tears, “You have to take care of yourself. Jiaran and I bought some porridge. You and Uncle should have a little, no matter what.”
Xiao Xuezhen held her head in her hands, not saying a word.
But Ning Zhen knew it meant silent permission. She opened the takeout containers and utensils, leaned in close to Xiao Xuezhen, and patiently spoon-fed her, one spoonful at a time.
Toward Aunt Xiao, Ning Zhen could still muster some genuine sincerity.
In the whole Meng family, the person who had been kindest to her was the deceased grandmother, and right below her stood Xiao Xuezhen. Xiao Xuezhen regretted never having a daughter. When Ning Zhen was a chubby, adorable child, Xiao Xuezhen always bought her clothes and shoes.
Their habit of going shopping and having afternoon tea together had continued to this day.
When Meng Jingshan put down the warm towel and turned around, he saw exactly this scene. A flicker of emotion crossed his eyes, and his earlier cold, stiff attitude had unconsciously softened.
“Uncle, Aunt Xiao,”
Ning Zhen glanced at the time and suggested, “You’ve been resting neither the entire day. Why not let Jiaran take you back to the hotel first? I’ll stay here and watch over things. If Xianwen wakes up, I’ll inform you right away.”
She would have loved nothing more than to go back to the hotel and sleep like a log.
But the circumstances wouldn’t allow it. How Meng Xianwen planned to end things nine months from now was his problem. But she also had to protect herself from him slinging mud at her reputation. She didn’t care how the outside world saw her, but she very much cared about Uncle Meng and Aunt Xiao’s opinion.
Opportunities like these—to earn goodwill—were far too rare.
Meng Xianwen had terrifyingly good health—Ning Zhen had never seen him get sick. Uncle Meng Jingshan and Aunt Xiao Xuezhen, though in their fifties, looked younger than their peers and were physically robust. This made staging a "true love revealed through adversity" scenario incredibly difficult.
It was a golden opportunity that couldn't be squandered.
She had to seize this night.
And not just that—she would post on Weibo, Instagram, and WeChat Moments, making sure everyone knew how thoughtful, how kind, how gentle a girlfriend she was.
"No."
Meng Jingshan dismissed the idea without a second thought. "You're too frail to stay up all night. Don't cause more trouble here!"
"Uncle..." Ning Zhen's tears fell. "If I go back, I won't be able to sleep anyway. I'd worry about him even more."
She shot Meng Jiaran a meaningful glance.
After so many years as friends, Meng Jiaran caught on immediately. In his opinion, neither his parents nor Ning Zhen needed to stay—he could handle it on his own. But the priority was to get his parents home, so he said, "Let's listen to Zhenzhen. Besides, when Brother Xianwen wakes up, he'll probably want to see her more."
He paused, then pressed further. "It's also more convenient if Zhenzhen looks after him."
Ning Zhen's expression froze for a few seconds.
But she quickly relaxed. This was a private ward, staffed with top-tier nurses. Once everyone left, she could just lounge on the sofa, play with her phone to pass the time. Even if Meng Xianwen woke up in the middle of the night, there'd be no need for her to lift a finger.
Meng Jingshan shot his younger son a glare.
Why bring up that sore spot? As a father, he wanted to forget that night entirely—had no wish to remember how his son had embraced Ning Zhen, how he'd held her, or to even imagine what they might have been up to in the study if he hadn't come downstairs. After that incident, he never set foot in the study again, and neither did his wife.
"Mom," Meng Jiaran said, ignoring his father's angry stare. He walked to the sofa and helped Xiao Xuezhen up. "I'll take you both home first. Young people can handle staying up. Tomorrow, you and Zhenzhen can switch shifts, okay?"
Xiao Xuezhen nodded.
Ning Zhen wanted to see them off to the elevator lobby, but Meng Jiaran stopped her. She could only watch them go with a look of genuine concern. Once the hallway was silent, she returned to the hospital bed, looking down at Meng Xianwen.
He had changed into a hospital gown, his forehead bandaged simply.
At that moment, his breathing was steady, sleeping soundly.
Look at you now!
If it were anyone else in the hospital, she would have felt empathy. But since it was Meng Xianwen, she only wanted to laugh in wicked delight. He'd be miserable when he woke up—he'd lost an entire day, an entire day!
For someone like Meng Xianwen, wasting money was tolerable, but wasting time was unforgivable.
But he was always wasting her time!
Over the past three months, he'd take her to various events. The first few times, she didn't know his ways. He'd call and say he was downstairs, and she'd rush down, look around, and see his car nowhere. Just when she was about to call and ask where the hell he was, his car would roll up.
Once or twice, she got annoyed and asked him directly: if he wasn't downstairs, why say he was?
He smiled faintly. "I don't like wasting time waiting for people."
Noticing her anger, he smiled again and offered a compromise: he could wait for her, but his time was precious—it was billed by the second. If she didn't mind paying, he wouldn't mind waiting.
Ning Zhen imagined his expressionless face when he woke up and could barely contain her glee.
She stepped lightly around the ward, snapping photos—taking care not to let Meng Xianwen appear in any of them. She snapped just one shot of the crescent moon outside the window, then posted a late-night status on WeChat Moments:
"Watching you sleep so peacefully—wonder if I'm in your dreams [crescent moon]"
