At these words, Lu Yuan leaned back into the driver's seat and asked, "What did you two fight about?"
Meng Xianwen wore an expression that clearly showed he didn't want to talk about it.
He looked out the car window. In the northern city, it was the cusp of spring turning to summer, and even the night breeze carried warmth, slipping through his fingers. Inappropriately, he thought of the feel of her hair strands, but before he could dwell on it, he pulled his arm back, rolled up the window, and shut out the noisy commotion outside.
"Sorry you had to make the trip for nothing today."
After a long moment, he spoke in a low voice.
Lu Yuan shrugged nonchalantly and chuckled, "Saying that makes it sound distant. But speaking of which, are you still moving to Lanting?"
Before Meng Xianwen could answer, he added in a joking tone, "The way I see it, there's no way you're moving. Why not just stay here at Zhenzhen's place? She knows what kind of shape your body is in, and she's got my contact info too. If you ever get a headache or a fever, I bet she'd take care of you hand and foot."
Not just take care of him hand and foot—she'd have him wrapped around her finger.
They'd known each other for years, and who could make Meng Xianwen look so helpless? As far as Lu Yuan knew, he hadn't seen many people with that kind of ability.
"I never planned to stay at her place."
Meng Xianwen frowned almost imperceptibly. With a longtime friend, some things weren't hard to say, "I can't even remember how we started. Do you really think I'd live with her?"
As he spoke, he felt a headache coming on. "I'm just asking for trouble."
Lu Yuan laughed, propping his head on one hand as he studied him with great interest and teased, "Funny, I think you're actually enjoying it."
Meng Xianwen shot him a glance and leaned his head back.
It was indeed asking for trouble.
He'd never intended to live with Ning Zhen from the start. The reason he'd brought her into the conversation at dinner was because he was certain she was hiding something important in this relationship. Rather than probing again and again, deep down, he wanted her to come clean on her own.
This was his move—put pressure on her, keep applying pressure.
When she wavered, he'd give her a reassurance, tell her, promise her, that no matter what she was hiding, no matter what she'd done wrong, he wouldn't hold it against her.
Thinking back on tonight's events.
Thinking about how he'd lost himself in that kiss, he let out a laugh for no reason.
Lu Yuan looked confused: "You just had a fight, and you're still laughing. Looks like you really are enjoying it."
Meng Xianwen didn't deny it. "Don't tell her about today."
"What?" Lu Yuan played dumb. "You mean the part where you were supposed to move to Lanting but flaked on me at the last second?"
"It's getting late."
Meng Xianwen glanced at his watch. "I'm heading back first. I'll treat you to a meal another day."
"Just a meal isn't enough."
Lu Yuan got out of the car too. "You owe me one."
Meng Xianwen nodded with a faint smile, agreeing. But he'd only taken a couple of steps when Lu Yuan's voice came from behind again, "Rare thing, though—what made you change your mind all of a sudden?"
"..."
Lu Yuan stood by the car, watching Meng Xianwen stride off into the distance, and couldn't help but laugh.
The trip wasn't a total waste after all—he'd gotten a good show out of it.
With that thought, he bent down into the car, grabbed his phone from the center console, and sent a message.
Buzz buzz buzz—
In the night, Meng Xianwen slowed his pace, unlocked his phone, and a message from Lu Yuan popped up: [You're treating your brother like a fool. Do me a favor—lips are all swollen from kissing, and you're telling me you had a fight?]
He glanced at it, paused, then casually turned off the screen and headed toward Building 18.
...
"I'm exhausted!"
Ning Zhen patted her pillow, kneeled by the bed to set it up properly. The dinner had been consumed by a kiss and some bed-making activities, and she collapsed, too tired to care if she was dirty. She flopped straight onto the bed, tilting her head to stare at the aromatherapy lamp on the nightstand.
The wet sounds of lips and tongues intertwining seemed to still echo in her ears.
Remembering how that kiss had started, the last of her shyness faded, and she finally snapped back to reality. She shot up like a fish, grabbed the pillow she'd just arranged, and started punching and smashing it. That bastard—don't think she didn't know what he was up to!
Not a single punctuation mark of what he said was believable!
And him going on about how he would forgive her? How dare he even say that. If he really would forgive her, then why didn't he forgive her that night three months ago? Why didn't he let her go?
And who asked for his forgiveness anyway?
Rather than his condescending forgiveness, she'd rather cause chaos on top of his head and lord it over him.
The things he was saying now...
He just wanted to pry the truth out of her mouth.
Over the past three months, Teacher Meng had given her plenty of lessons, one of which was never to reveal your hand easily—once you did, the other person got to call the shots in the game.
He wanted her to come clean?
Dream on, in his wildest fantasies!
Was she the kind of person who could be fooled by sweet talk? If he wanted her to confess, it was simple—he could give her all his money, and then maybe she'd consider it. But now all he was doing was flapping his lips, and that was no different from trying to catch a wolf with empty hands.
Ding dong ding dong—
As she was pounding the pillow, the doorbell suddenly rang, startling her. She quickly set the pillow back, got off the bed, and padded to the door while calling out, "Coming, coming!"
The door opened.
Ning Zhen put on a bright smile. "You're back! Why didn't you invite Lu Yuan up for a bit?"
She actually had a lot she wanted to secretly ask Lu Yuan.
Meng Xianwen sidestepped in, wordlessly changed into slippers, and only then looked at her. Probably influenced by Lu Yuan's message, his gaze involuntarily lingered on her lips. "He had other things to do."
"What about the medicine he gave you?"
Seeing him come back empty-handed, she asked curiously.
"I passed on it, given the side effects."
"Then..." She followed behind him, weighing her words carefully before asking with feigned casualness, "Haven't he and his team figured out a treatment plan yet? I'm so worried."
"Worried about what?"
He turned back to look at her.
"You tell me what I'm worried about." Ning Zhen guessed she wouldn't get anything out of him anyway, so she shifted the topic. Taking his hand, she dragged him toward the second bedroom. "I've already put fresh sheets on the bed. But are you really going to stay in the second bedroom? It's really small."
Meng Xianwen stood at the door and glanced in. "Isn't there another room?"
"That one's even smaller."
"It's fine. I'll use it as a study."
Ning Zhen thought she'd misheard, blinking. "A study?"
Damn it!
She had three rooms total, and he wanted to occupy two!
"Do you mind?" He looked at her sideways.
"Yes, I mind!" She replied without hesitation, a hint of accusation in her tone. "So what, from now on you're going to come home from work, hide in the study, and ignore me? Is that what you call us rebuilding our relationship?"
"..."
Ning Zhen watched Meng Xianwen's face suddenly go silent, and she laughed inwardly.
Even if he only stayed here for a week, she was going to make sure he understood—he wasn't here as an emperor on a secret inspection tour. He was here to go through a trial by fire.
"I'm not unreasonable."
She shook his hand, afraid that her glee might make her laugh out loud, so she took the initiative to step forward, gently resting her head against his shoulder. “I know your job keeps you incredibly busy, but think about it—you leave early and come back late every day, and then you still have to work overtime into the night. That breaks my heart too.”
Meng Xianwen felt a strange sensation in his chest.
He knew that every word she just said was a lie, but as he lowered his gaze, her soft hair brushed against him, her breath swept past his ear, and those words seemed to be gilded with a layer of sincerity. He raised his arm and casually ran his hand through her hair. “Is that so.”
“So—if you want to work overtime later, that’s fine, but I have a time limit.”
Ning Zhen suppressed a smile, her fingers tugging at his shirt. “Once the time’s up, I don’t care if you’re busy or not—I won’t go easy on you!”
He let out an “mm.”
Two figures that looked like they were embracing fell across the floor, truth and falsehood indistinguishable, intimately tangled together.
-
Morning.
The day kicked off with Ning Zhen flustered and clumsy, making a racket, while Meng Xianwen sat calmly sipping his black tea. He never shortchanged himself wherever he went—who knew what he’d told his assistant, but bright and early a restaurant waiter had already delivered breakfast.
His black tea. Her soy milk.
Today was the last day of Ning Zhen’s vacation, so of course she had post-holiday blues. These past few days she’d been sleeping in until eight or nine, and when the alarm blared at 7:30 sharp, she was beyond annoyed. Fumbling for her phone, she switched the alarm off.
At that moment, she figured she’d just doze for five more minutes.
She never imagined that five minutes would turn into twenty. Oh no, oh no—she threw off the covers and sprinted out of bed. On a workday where she was already running late, she didn’t even bother acknowledging the breathing man in her apartment. Bolting out of the bedroom with a messy nest of hair, she made a beeline for the bathroom to wash up.
“Zhenzhen.”
Meng Xianwen had finished his breakfast. For the first time, he found the noisy morning commotion oddly pleasant to the ear. He walked over to the bathroom door and slowly fastened his cufflinks. “There’s breakfast on the table. Don’t forget to eat. I’m heading to the office.”
No sooner had those words left his mouth than he turned and walked toward the door without waiting for her reply.
“Wait—”
Ning Zhen brushed her teeth and washed her face at lightning speed. Water still dripping from her face, she chased after him in a hurry and called him to a stop.
Meng Xianwen turned to look at her, composed and unhurried, silently asking what she wanted.
“Um, hold on for me.” A few strands of hair clung to her damp cheeks. The faint morning light made her skin look translucent. She looked utterly pitiful, but what she said was completely matter-of-fact: “I don’t want to drive myself. Would you mind having your driver take a detour and drop me off at work?”
Meng Xianwen tilted his head.
As if he’d completely forgotten that they had once kissed, as if that kiss had never happened, he let out a short laugh, as though she’d just told him the funniest joke.
“Remember to eat breakfast.”
He didn’t even answer her. He simply tossed out that bland remark, opened the door, and walked out without a hint of hesitation.
Ning Zhen chased after him. “Hey!”
Ugh, what kind of person was this?!
Just yesterday—yesterday he had kissed her, and today he’d turned his back on her like it was nothing?
This floor had four units. Only 2101 was empty, unoccupied. The other three units all had residents, and it was rush hour, so the hallway and the elevator area were a bit noisy. Suddenly, the woman from the next door unit rushed out, tying her hair back as she called out, “Honey, hold the elevator for me!”
Meng Xianwen found the noise annoying and furrowed his brow.
But a lightbulb went off in Ning Zhen’s head. She hurried to the doorway, leaning against the doorframe, and shouted after him, “Honey, wait for me too—wait for me so we can go to work together!”
The moment she shouted that.
Meng Xianwen nearly stumbled. At last, as Ning Zhen had wished, he stopped in his tracks. The two of them locked eyes. When the elevator hall fell silent again, he ignored her and was about to walk off.
“Honey!”
He turned his head back, and in his deep, dark eyes was a look of barely restrained frustration—like he wanted to strangle her but had no idea what to do with her.
“…I’ll give you ten more minutes,” he said.
