Ning Zhen and Song Yuqing said goodbye at the entrance of the coffee shop.
There was still a hint of uncertainty on Song Yuqing's face as she asked in a low voice, "Are you sure we can do that? Won't it cause problems?"
When it came to dealing with Song Yue, Ning Zhen, as an outside observer, knew exactly what to do. Asking her for business strategy advice was a stretch, but when it came to scheming and making someone's life difficult, she was practically an expert.
She rubbed her hands together, eager to share her brilliant plan with Song Yuqing, having considered every angle. In short, they absolutely would not swallow this injustice silently—otherwise, Song Yue would go on thinking he was the only one in the world with a brain.
But now, seeing Song Yuqing hesitate, Ning Zhen didn't know what to say. Good heavens, was this the difference between a scheming supporting female character and the female lead?
"Just give it a try."
Ning Zhen thought to herself, wondering if she was leading the female lead astray. The thought flashed through her mind briefly. "If anything comes up, find me. You can also find Jiaran, but his head isn't as sharp as mine, so you'd better come to me instead!"
Song Yuqing looked at her quietly, then broke into a gentle smile. "Alright."
"I'm off then. We'll talk on the phone." Ning Zhen waved at her and headed toward the ground-level parking lot.
She hadn't taken two steps when Song Yuqing called out, "Zhenzhen."
Ning Zhen turned around. "What's up?"
Perhaps when people are extremely tired, they unconsciously let their guard down. Song Yuqing's voice was so faint—so soft that if Ning Zhen hadn't been listening intently, she might not have caught what she said at all.
"Zhenzhen, earlier... about that matter with Mr. Meng, would you mind?"
Ning Zhen was momentarily taken aback. A strange feeling passed through her heart. She hadn't expected Song Yuqing to ask her that question. Throughout this period, including just now, they had tacitly avoided mentioning that the Meng and Song families had once considered a marriage alliance.
She didn't think she would mind.
After all, she and Meng Xianwen weren't really a couple.
But in that instant, Meng Xianwen's calm, deep eyes appeared in her mind—his faint smile, his words that were either teasing or mocking. She hesitated for a while before shaking her head.
Was it that she didn't mind, or that she didn't know?
Ning Zhen couldn't quite say. Maybe it was a bit of both. Apart from her, no one knew this was a novel world, and Song Yuqing's destined partner was Meng Jiaran. Could that be what influenced Meng Xianwen's decisions?
Even she thought Song Yuqing was wonderful—flawlessly wonderful. Her family background was prominent, she was kind, meticulous, upright, sincere to everyone, and even treated her "rival in love" with such thoughtfulness and grace.
Anyway, no matter how she looked at it, even if she examined her through a magnifying glass, Ning Zhen couldn't find anything wrong with Song Yuqing.
Oh no!
She absolutely had to listen to the Great Compassion Mantra ten more times. She couldn't keep thinking about such deep questions, or she'd have nightmares again tonight. Ning Zhen shook her head rapidly and said in a loud voice, "I wouldn't mind at all!"
Song Yuqing, on the other hand, was startled by her reaction. After recovering, she laughed and said, "That's good, then."
The two waved goodbye—one heading back to the office, the other to the parking lot. After getting into her car, Ning Zhen finally let her true emotions show, frantically running her hand through her hair in frustration. She shouldn't have hesitated earlier. It was all Meng Xianwen's fault.
She remembered that it had been a long time since she'd last given him a hard time. She took out her phone, opened their chat, and sent a message: [The employee drinks in the Hongxin break room are ten thousand times better than those at Hengxing. You should reflect on that.]
A few minutes later.
Meng Xianwen didn't reply with a message, but a call came through. Ning Zhen looked at the caller ID and thought she might be hallucinating from sheer annoyance—otherwise, why would he be calling her during work hours?
She swiped to answer. "What?"
"Didn't go smoothly today?" Meng Xianwen's deep voice came through alongside the sound of keyboard clacking. His tone was as flat as ever, as though he was just asking casually, without really caring.
Ning Zhen leaned back against the driver's seat and said with irritation, "You're really something, always knowing. Well, I wouldn't say it didn't go smoothly—it's just that I came in the morning and didn't get to see Yuqing until four. Don't ask why; that's her work confidentiality, do you think I can tell you?"
Meng Xianwen hummed in acknowledgement, his eyes fixed on the data charts on his screen. His phone sat on the desk, speakerphone on, and he didn't bother checking whether the call had disconnected.
"Do you have any business dinners tonight?" Ning Zhen asked again.
"No. Just say what you want to say."
Meng Xianwen was so busy that he went from opening his eyes to work every day. At this critical juncture, he had turned down every social engagement he possibly could, which meant Ning Zhen had been free as well—in the past three months, she'd accompanied him to plenty of dinners and banquets.
"Then can you get off work early today?" Ning Zhen glanced at the center console screen. It was almost six o'clock, and on a sudden impulse she said, "If you can, I'll drive over to pick you up. If you can't, pretend I never said anything."
There was a brief silence on the other end of the line. "Tell Xiao Ding."
Ning Zhen smiled and hung up crisply, then sent a message to Xiao Ding, informing him that he could leave work early today. Xiao Ding was far quicker on the uptake than his boss, replying instantly: [Fist bump][Fist bump]
...
Before this, Ning Zhen rarely came to Hengxing, and she'd never had the chance to drive here. The internal system recognized her as a temporary vehicle and didn't grant her access to the restricted B3 level, so she could only stop at B1 for now. After parking, she sent Meng Xianwen her location: [Hurry down. If you take more than half an hour, you'll have to pay the parking fee!]
After six o'clock, employees from other departments at Hengxing began to leave one after another.
Mondays always made people feel drained. With a ding, the elevator doors opened, and several casually dressed employees walked out looking tired. Suddenly, one of them froze, staring at a man who had just stepped out of the private elevator a few paces away.
When he stopped, the others nearly collided into him. Following his gaze, they also froze, all staring dumbfounded at the tall man in a well-tailored suit as he walked steadily away and got into a pink Audi.
Before they could get a clear look, the car quickly pulled out of its spot and sped toward the exit, tires screeching against the ground. "Was that Mr. Meng just now?"
As the barrier arm lifted, Ning Zhen let out a genuine sigh of relief. "Phew, just barely—two minutes shy of the half-hour mark. And why were you so slow?"
Meng Xianwen sat in the passenger seat looking somewhat cramped and uncomfortable. He glanced down at a pair of high heels on the floor beneath the seat, then helplessly rested his head in his hand.
Everything was relative. Before, he'd never thought much of Xiao Ding's driving, but after less than five minutes in Ning Zhen's car, he was convinced that giving Xiao Ding a bigger year-end bonus was absolutely necessary.
He spoke in a low voice: "Find a convenient spot and pull over."
"What now?" she mimicked his tone.
"I'll drive."
If he could go back an hour, there was no way Meng Xianwen would have let her come pick him up from work. As she'd guessed, he was a man who valued his life—especially after the accident in Nancheng, he'd grown increasingly particular about road safety. Now the environment was relatively dangerous, this car hadn't been modified or reinforced, and the driver was Ning Zhen. He didn't like the feeling.
He couldn't change the former, so he'd just have to swap out the driver.
Ning Zhen shot him a sidelong glance. "You're so annoying!"
She cursed under her breath, but still drove for a stretch, pulled over to the side, unbuckled her seatbelt, and got out. She passed Meng Xianwen at the front of the car, the two of them swapping places. Once she settled into the passenger seat, she kicked off her driving flats and slipped back into her heels.
The navigation destination was home.
Meng Xianwen didn't trust Ning Zhen behind the wheel, and she didn't have much faith in his driving either—who knew if the last time he'd driven was his road test day?
She leaned over slightly and fiddled with the center console screen, picking a route with fewer cars but a longer distance. Meng Xianwen glanced at it, said nothing, and naturally had no objections.
"So bored, let's listen to some music!" Ning Zhen turned sideways to look at Meng Xianwen. "First song, your pick. What do you want to hear?"
Meng Xianwen was noncommittal: "Quiet."
"Oh, oh, oh, you want to hear 'Quiet'?" Ning Zhen stifled a laugh, deliberately twisting his meaning—she knew he wanted her to be quiet, but she couldn't stay still. "Fine then, one 'Quiet' dedicated to my most loyal fan, Mr. Meng."
"…"
Ning Zhen cleared her throat and began singing a cappella, following the melody from memory: "You want me to be so embarrassed, I never wanted to part!"
Meng Xianwen let out two short laughs.
Her voice, punctuated by his occasional chuckles, turned a heart-wrenching love song into something comedic—until the very end, when she stopped being silly and looked at him seriously.
"How was my singing?" she asked, watching him with an easy, expectant air, a faint smile still curving her lips.
"Not bad. Other people charge money for singing." Meng Xianwen paused, his tone utterly flat. "You charge lives."
Ning Zhen almost choked on her own breath. She wanted to be mad, but she couldn't hold it in—she turned her head toward the window, shoulders shaking with suppressed laughter. The sky at seven or eight in the evening had already darkened, and the car window had become a mirror, clearly reflecting the expression on her face at that moment.
She watched as the car drove into familiar streets, then started giving commands with renewed energy. "Hey, hey, hey, stop up ahead! I need to buy something!"
The car had already passed the spot, and there was no reversing back. Still, Meng Xianwen slowed down and pulled over. Before he could ask what she wanted to buy, she had already unbuckled her seatbelt and floated out like a gust of wind, light and swift.
He rolled down the window and watched her retreating figure, his expression thoughtful.
Ning Zhen returned carrying a bowl of bayberry shaved ice. Her steps were brisk, the night breeze lifting her skirt. As she approached her pink car, she hesitated for a moment—Meng Xianwen, in his suit and tie, stood tall beside the vehicle. Apparently hearing the crisp click of her heels, he turned around calmly and fixed his gaze on her.
"Why did you get out of the car?" she walked over, asking out of curiosity, but didn't give him a chance to answer before letting out a light huff, letting the evening wind blow strands of hair across her face. "Fine, fine, I know—my car isn't as spacious as your Rolls-Royce, it's too stuffy, right?"
What a man, born with a mouth that just had to talk.
Meng Xianwen let out a very faint laugh. His gaze moved from the shaved ice to her face. It was as if he had all the patience in the world for her, or as if he'd lost the last shred of it—he asked in a low voice, "What's going on today? Talk."
There was no question: Ning Zhen was a noisy person.
She was always making noise in his ear, wherever she was.
But today was a little different. She was acting strange, all over the place.
"What do you mean?" Ning Zhen's hand holding the shaved ice tightened instinctively. The chill spread from her palm, leaving her feeling a bit at a loss.
Meng Xianwen gave her a steady look, raised his hand, and glanced at his wristwatch. "I'm busy. You've got five minutes. If you don't say it by then, keep it to yourself."
"Hey!"
Ning Zhen's facade cracked instantly. It was only her lack of nerve that stopped her from smashing the shaved ice in his face—how could anyone talk so insufferably?
She should have rolled her eyes and gotten back in the car.
She should have scoffed at his five minutes.
Time slipped away, second by second, in the night breeze.
Ning Zhen scooped up a big spoonful of shaved ice and shoved it into her mouth. She didn't want to meet his eyes, so she looked across at the empty street on the other side and said, in a muffled voice, "Meng Xianwen, if someone bullies me because of you, would you do something about it?"
