Nine o'clock in the evening.
Ning Zhen was draped over Meng Xianwen, her cheeks flushed, waving goodbye to Shu Wei.
Shu Wei was several years older than her, and her tolerance for alcohol was unmatched—the drinks tonight weren't even enough to wet her throat. "Let's do it again sometime!"
Ning Zhen's eyes were glistening, her breath carrying the sweet scent of vanilla as it brushed against Meng Xianwen's ear. Her gaze traveled over his broad shoulders to shoot Shu Wei a smile. Her steps were unsteady, and fearing she might lose her balance, she grabbed at his shirt with both hands.
The spots she'd gripped were all crumpled.
"They're gone." She laughed, looking a little silly. "Time for us to go home too."
Meng Xianwen watched her grab and cling to him, only a step away from fully losing her mind to the alcohol, yet he was oddly patient with a drunk person for once. He looked at her calmly, and after a long moment, he tightened his arms around her and guided her into the car.
As soon as they were in the back seat, he instructed Xiao Ding to drive home, then immediately raised the privacy divider.
"So thirsty..."
Ning Zhen seemed to have no strength left, melting softly against his chest as she mumbled in a small voice about wanting water.
Meng Xianwen pretended not to hear.
He let her fingers fiddle with the buttons of his shirt.
"My head's spinning too." Ning Zhen gazed at his jawline, her eyes hazy, and giggled drunkenly. "There are two of you."
With that, she reached up to mess with his face, but he caught her hand.
Meng Xianwen finally deigned to acknowledge her, asking in a low voice, "Zhenzhen, are you drunk?"
"Not drunk!"
That's how it always goes on TV—people who are drunk never know they're drunk.
Ning Zhen wholeheartedly agreed. Of course she wasn't drunk. How could she possibly let herself get drunk in front of Meng Xianwen? She'd come to this dinner with the mindset of "if I can't avoid it, I'll face it head-on." Lately, she'd been mulling over two things.
One: when was Meng Xianwen going to move out of her apartment!
Why hasn't he moved yet?
Cooped up in that ten-square-meter bedroom day after day—doesn't he worry he'll suffocate?
Two: he hadn't been testing her lately, so... did he believe she was really his girlfriend or not?
She decided to go all in—pretend to be drunk and probe what he was thinking now.
"Looks like you're really drunk."
Ning Zhen was latched onto Meng Xianwen like an octopus, their bodies pressed close, so she naturally heard that murmured remark. Her heart tightened. Here it comes, just as she'd expected...
"Zhenzhen, I want to ask you something."
Meng Xianwen lowered his head, his lips slowly brushing against her ear, his voice very soft.
"Mmm."
She gave him a dazed look, as if her dizziness was too much to bear, and leaned back against his chest.
She didn't need to guess what he wanted to ask. It was bound to be him trying to coax her into revealing what they really were to each other!
She knew this bastard hadn't fully let down his guard and suspicion!
"Your bank card PIN," he drawled slowly, "can you tell me?"
Ning Zhen's breath hitched.
She blinked, her eyes snapping open in surprise, meeting his gaze head-on.
He stared right back at her, a faint glint of amusement crossing his eyes—teasing, playful, as if silently telling her he saw right through the game she was playing.
"..."
Her fingers tightened on his shirt buttons, pressing hard. She had no doubt that if she held a knife right now, blood would be splattering across the car.
She gritted her teeth, took a slow breath, held it in, held it in—then suddenly furrowed her brows, and a gurgling sound escaped her throat uncontrollably.
Meng Xianwen's expression shifted instantly.
"Ugh..." Ning Zhen looked like she was in agony, letting out a dry heave.
All trace of amusement vanished from his face. He pulled a handkerchief from his suit pocket, pressed it to her mouth, and pushed her away.
Ning Zhen stole a glance at him and, playing along, leaned against the car window. She lowered her head, a few strands of hair falling across her cheeks, hiding her true expression in that moment.
She was fighting hard to hold back her laughter. If he hadn't lost his memory, then fine—whatever he said went. But since he had, how could she not have the upper hand over him?
The ride was smooth and uneventful all the way to the entrance of their residential complex.
Xiao Ding was a sharp young man who always noticed what needed doing. After parking the car, he unbuckled his seatbelt and hurried out. The moment he got out, he saw Mr. Meng standing by the car, seeming to find the inside stuffy—one arm resting on the window frame, the other hand unbuttoning his shirt collar, facing outward as he took a deep breath.
Miss Ning was still in the car.
Xiao Ding stepped a few paces closer and bent down to look inside. There was Ning Zhen, half-reclining in the back seat, draped in a suit jacket.
He carefully opened the door and wondered whether he should help her up.
A second later, a low voice came from the other side: "You don't need to. I've got it."
"Got it, Mr. Meng."
Meng Xianwen leaned into the car and patted Ning Zhen, who was still deep in her act. "We're home. Wake up."
Ning Zhen wasn't entirely putting on a show.
From Chang Yi's place to her apartment, even without traffic, it was forty minutes—and she really had dozed off for a bit. When she'd felt a chill in her half-asleep state, she'd sensed a clean, crisp scent wrapping tightly around her, and she'd slept even more soundly.
She opened her eyes, then closed them again, playing up her inability to hold her liquor.
Meng Xianwen gazed at her quietly for a moment, then reached out—one arm around her waist, the other under her knees—and with a slight lift, scooped her up.
Xiao Ding, witnessing all of this from outside the car, was stunned.
Ning Zhen was startled too, her heart pounding wildly.
More than wondering what his intention was, she was worried he'd lose his grip and drop her on the ground. Out of reflex, she looped her arms around his shoulders, her heart racing so fast she couldn't tell if it was nerves or shock—it thumped and thumped without stop.
Noticing her stare, Meng Xianwen looked down at her.
Ning Zhen promptly tilted her head and rested it against his shoulder. "Ah, so dizzy."
The corners of Meng Xianwen's lips curved up. He carried her toward Building 18, and in the darkness of the night, his voice was barely audible, yet every word reached her ears clearly: "If you throw up on me, I'm tossing you into the lake."
Ning Zhen kept her eyes shut, her lashes trembling.
Whether it was from fear or from holding back laughter—only she knew.
...
The night was deep and still.
Maybe because she'd slept a little in the car, the slightly tipsy Ning Zhen found herself wide awake. Barefoot, she pressed her ear to the door, trying to catch any sound from outside—to figure out what Meng Xianwen was up to.
Had he showered and gone straight to bed?
Or was he working late in the study?
She guessed the latter. She really wanted to open the door and go check, but she'd committed to the performance—might as well see it through. So she gave up.
Ning Zhen turned around, her back against the door, and thought back on everything tonight. The smile tugging at her lips just wouldn't go away. She went back to bed, lay down, flipped over, tossed and turned—then grabbed her phone from under the pillow and, not caring whether it was eleven or midnight, sent a message to Guo Xia: [Told you—what I picked is different!]
Most working folks on a Friday night are night owls.
Guo Xia was no exception—she replied instantly: [What do you mean?]
Ning Zhen was waiting for that exact question. She gripped her phone with both hands and typed quickly: [I got drunk today, and Meng Xianwen carried me upstairs]
Guo Xia caught on: [Princess carry?]
Ning Zhen: [Who asked him to carry me! So annoying!]
Guo Xia: [?]
Guo Xia: [You've hurt my feelings]
Guo Xia: [If you knew Ye Chuyang worked so hard on her diet and still lost 0 pounds, you'd understand why I'm cursed]
Ning Zhen: [I said my choice was different, meaning if the elevator hadn't broken today, he could have carried me up the stairs instead [sunglasses]]
Guo Xia: [Girl, are you trying to kill your husband?]
Guo Xia: [Your place is on the 21st floor]
Ning Zhen beamed: [So what, a mere 21st floor!!]
Guo Xia: [Your husband is one lucky man]
Ning Zhen covered her mouth, giggling to herself.
Then it suddenly hit her that tomorrow morning she still had to accompany Meng Xianwen to Lu Yuan's for treatment, and she let out a long sigh, once again cramming in a last-minute prayer to the Bodhisattva, begging that he absolutely not regain his memory.
-
Saturday morning.
Just like last time, Ning Zhen was stopped by Lu Yuan at the door of the examination room. Luckily, she had prepared herself mentally beforehand, so she neither kicked up a fuss nor argued, only watching Meng Xianwen and Lu Yuan enter the examination room with a worried look.
The door slid shut slowly on its own.
The concern on Ning Zhen's face was genuine, but it wasn't what Lu Yuan thought it was.
She wasn't worried that Meng Xianwen wouldn't get better.
She was worried that Lu Yuan's hospital medical team would work medical miracles and actually cure him for real.
To distract herself, Ning Zhen got up from the bench in the hallway, paced back and forth a few times, and then decided she didn't want to stay on that floor. She asked a nurse and took the elevator down to the first floor, where there was a row of vending machines — one for medical records, and one for assorted drinks.
She wasn't thirsty, but when her eyes landed on the sparkling water, her heart stirred.
Every time she went to the supermarket, she'd buy loads of flashily-packaged drinks, and sparkling water was always a staple in her fridge, but she rarely drank it straight — she usually mixed it with juice or something, so it went down very slowly.
Since Meng Xianwen moved in, the sparkling water in the fridge had visibly dwindled.
This guy had such a weird palate!
She didn't really know the specifics of the treatment, but last time when he came out of the examination room, he seemed so exhausted...
The body always reacted faster than the mind. Before Ning Zhen even realized it, she had already raised her phone and scanned the QR code to pay for a bottle of sparkling water. But then, when the bottle was pushed out, it got stuck.
"What the heck..."
Ning Zhen muttered to herself and banged the vending machine, but the sparkling water waiting to be rescued still didn't budge.
"Let me help you."
Just as she was on her tiptoes, noting down the contact information under the QR code to call someone for remote assistance, a gentle male voice came from behind her.
She turned around at the sound. It was a young doctor in a white coat, wearing silver-rimmed glasses, with clean-cut features and an air of scholarly grace about him, refined and composed in every gesture.
"That vending machine was kicked and abused by someone before," the doctor explained with a smile. "But it's no big deal."
Ning Zhen smiled and stepped aside to make room for him.
She studied him curiously. As he bent down, she happened to catch a glimpse of his name badge —
[Name: Chen Jinghe
Department: Neurology
Title: Attending Physician]
Neurology?
Ning Zhen's eyes shifted slightly. In a daze, she heard the sound of a bottle landing inside the machine. She blinked, and this doctor named Chen Jinghe pulled out two bottles of sparkling water from the dispensing slot. He handed her one with a smile. "There you go."
"Oh, thanks."
She took it and thanked him.
Only then did Chen Jinghe get a clear look at her features. He paused for a moment — why did he feel like he'd seen this girl somewhere before?
"You're welcome," he said.
"Um, doctor..." Ning Zhen tightened her grip on the sparkling water, opened her mouth as if about to speak, hesitation written on her face. She'd searched online for information about Meng Xianwen's amnesia, but there were no clear answers anywhere.
Suddenly running into an attending physician from neurology — she was genuinely tempted. But her rationality completely overpowered her curiosity.
The project Hengxing was about to release was Meng Xianwen's life's work.
It had to be extremely, extremely important, otherwise why would he be so fiercely covering up the news of his memory loss, even hiding it from Chang Yi, his best friend of over twenty years?
If he found out she was going around questioning every doctor she ran into, beating around the bush...
He really would throw her into the lake. That infuriating man!
Forget it!
She wasn't interested in asking anyway!
"Thank you," she said, pulling herself together and putting on a bright smile. "I wanted to ask where the restroom is."
"Restroom?" Chen Jinghe turned around and pointed her in the right direction.
Ning Zhen followed his gesture and looked — but froze.
Not far away, in the elevator lobby, Meng Xianwen stood tall and straight, watching her. She had no idea how long he'd been staring at her like a ghost, his expression so calm it carried an unsettling sharpness, a depth she couldn't read.
She gasped and instinctively clutched the sparkling water tighter.
Then came the wave of relief. Close call, so close! Good heavens, thank god for her quick thinking and sharp instincts — crisis averted, no harm done!
