Xiao Ding sat in the driver’s seat, his heart in his throat.
He gripped the steering wheel, held his breath, and cautiously glanced up at the rearview mirror again. Meng Xianwen sat upright in the back seat, staring out the window with a face as cold and unreadable as still water.
For a moment, Xiao Ding hesitated, unsure whether he should remind Mr. Meng once more.
He had arrived at their destination twenty minutes ago. Today was a major day for Mr. Meng and Hengxing, and Xiao Ding felt proud to be part of it. After parking, he had finally found a chance to offer Mr. Meng a few words of congratulations—but the moment he turned around, he froze.
Mr. Meng seemed to be in a terrible mood.
Xiao Ding made an immediate decision and swallowed every word. He merely reminded him in a low voice, “Mr. Meng, we’re here.”
To his surprise, Mr. Meng didn’t respond at all, as though he had fallen deep into thought.
Xiao Ding looked through the windshield at the building. Most of its residents had already gone to sleep, and only a handful of windows were still lit. He spotted Miss Ning’s home almost at once. The light in her room was still on, casting a hazy glow through the misty rain. Clearly, she had been waiting for Mr. Meng.
He opened his mouth, then wisely chose to remain silent.
The next moment, a familiar figure emerged from the building beneath a long-handled umbrella. Xiao Ding narrowed his eyes, trying to make out who it was. As the figure drew closer, he realized he hadn’t mistaken her and turned around.
“Mr. Meng—”
He cut himself off abruptly.
What was going on? Less than a minute had passed, and Mr. Meng had already fallen asleep?
Ning Zhen was thoroughly fed up with the rain. She jogged over to the car, and Xiao Ding hurriedly unfastened his seat belt and got out. Fine rain slanted through the night sky as he flashed her an apologetic smile.
“Miss Ning, I’m really sorry. I didn’t know whether you were asleep, so I didn’t dare call you.”
Having spent several years around Mr. Meng, Xiao Ding had learned to speak with impeccable tact.
“Mr. Meng probably had too much to drink and got sleepy. He fell asleep in the car. I was thinking that if he still didn’t wake up after a while, I’d call him.”
“No wonder.” Ning Zhen’s heart finally settled. “I called him, but he didn’t answer. I sent him messages, but he didn’t reply either. I was going to call you, but I was worried you might be driving. I finally saw you come back. I’d been watching from the balcony for quite a while and noticed a car downstairs that hadn’t turned off its engine, so I came down to check.”
She lived several floors up, and on an ordinary night it was hard to make out the cars parked below, let alone in the rain.
Xiao Ding paused, then gave an awkward smile. “I didn’t hear the phone ring. It must have been set to silent.”
That was what he said aloud, but inside, his heart sank.
He had indeed heard Mr. Meng’s phone ring twice on the way here. Both times, Mr. Meng had ignored it.
Xiao Ding had been focused on driving and hadn’t thought much of it at the time.
What was going on?
Ning Zhen didn’t pursue the subject. She gave Xiao Ding a smile and urged him to hold up the umbrella. Then she walked a few steps, carefully opening the rear door as quietly as possible. Lowering the umbrella, she bent down and peered inside.
Meng Xianwen seemed utterly exhausted. Even the sound of her opening the door hadn’t woken him.
She gently nudged him and called, “Wake up.”
After several attempts, he finally reacted. His brow furrowed, and he opened his weary eyes, meeting her gaze.
“How much did you drink?” she grumbled softly. “I’ve been waiting for you forever!”
Meng Xianwen watched her for a moment, then smiled gently. “You’ve worked hard these past few days, Zhenzhen.”
Though Ning Zhen had been grumbling at him, she was more worried about him. She was too busy leaning toward his shirt collar to smell the alcohol on his breath to hear those words, soft as a murmur, clearly.
The only light inside the car came from the central console, leaving the space dim. She did not notice that when the distance between them narrowed until their breaths mingled, a subtle change flickered through his otherwise emotionless eyes.
The heat of his breath brushed her ear. Only then did Ning Zhen notice that he had pulled off his tie, yet still had his shirt buttoned all the way to the top. No wonder he looked so stifled.
She wanted to undo one of the buttons for him, but before her fingertips could touch it, he caught her hand, gripping it tightly.
She looked at him suspiciously.
In a low voice, he said, “Undo it when we get home.”
Ning Zhen’s face flushed. Xiao Ding was getting the umbrella from the trunk, but the later it got, the quieter everything became. There was no guarantee he hadn’t heard. She hurriedly slapped a hand over Meng Xianwen’s mouth and deliberately raised her voice to drown him out.
“Honey, I know you’re feeling awful because you drank too much. Just bear with it—we’ll be home soon!”
She was now certain that Meng Xianwen was truly drunk. If he had been even a couple of drinks less intoxicated, he would never have said something like that with a third person present. It was one thing for him to embarrass himself, but he had no right to drag her into it!
Meng Xianwen’s Adam’s apple bobbed. Her sweet, clean scent filled his nostrils.
He stared at her with deep, unfathomable eyes.
It was as if he were seeing her for the first time. His gaze traveled over her inch by inch, taking in every detail—the damp strands of hair clinging to her forehead, her lovely brows, her bright, lively eyes… He missed nothing.
Ning Zhen glared at him. The look in his eyes gave her the strange impression that he might kiss her palm the very next second.
Of course, it wasn’t an illusion. This pervert really dared to do it!
She quickly pulled her hand back and tugged at him. “Come on, get out. We’re going home.”
Xiao Ding had also opened the umbrella and was standing nearby.
Meng Xianwen got out of the car and shared the umbrella with Ning Zhen. Afraid of getting wet, she clung tightly to his arm, practically trying to burrow into his embrace. He cast her a sidelong glance but did not push her away.
“Go home and get some proper rest,” he gently instructed Xiao Ding. “You can come pick me up a little later tomorrow.”
Xiao Ding hurriedly nodded.
He stood there, watching the couple walk closely together toward the building entrance. Miss Ning’s light, cheerful voice gradually faded into the distance, while the umbrella tilted unconsciously toward her the entire way.
…
The elevator stopped on the first floor.
Meng Xianwen folded the umbrella with mechanical movements and walked into the elevator with Ning Zhen. After she pressed the button for their floor, she remembered the message Song Yuqing had sent her and asked casually, “Did Jiaran get drunk too? I don’t remember seeing him when I left.”
His eyes remained fixed on the illuminated floor numbers as they rose. At her words, he slowly turned to look at her. “Yes. He got drunk.”
Ning Zhen wore a gleeful expression.
Serves him right. He had a mouth that was good for nothing but drinking, and not enough nerve to confess his feelings.
It had been a long time since she had thought about the original novel, and she had forgotten most of its details. But one thing was beyond doubt: tonight, Meng Jiaran had gotten drunk, and Song Yuqing had taken him home. Unless he had been absolutely furious, he would never have done something so classless.
He must have been furious enough to explode.
Today, while she was with Meng Xianwen, she happened to overhear one of the older relatives asking how Song Yuqing was getting along with his nephew.
On the surface, it was about making friends. In reality, it was a matchmaking setup.
Somehow, Meng Jiaran could still pretend nothing was wrong. In fact, he was practically crawling through the darkness, driven mad with rage and jealousy—he had probably ground his teeth to dust.
Just imagining the scene made her want to send that guy a reaction meme of Tang Monk munching sunflower seeds.
“What are you laughing at?”
A calm, low voice interrupted her imagination.
“I’m laughing because he has no idea what’s going on,” she replied. “He can’t hold his liquor, gets completely wasted after a few drinks, and still insists on drinking. ‘Terrible at it but hopelessly addicted’ describes him perfectly.”
“Is that so?”
Meng Xianwen shifted his gaze away without the slightest change in expression.
He knew perfectly well that she didn’t have the slightest romantic interest in Jiaran. She didn’t like Jiaran at all.
But even so, that night she had still been able to manipulate Jiaran under the pretext of taking care of him. He could even imagine that if everything had gone smoothly in the direction she wanted, she might have argued with Jiaran, surprised him with little gifts, and become the most considerate girlfriend in the world.
“Ugh, I hate rain in the summer.”
Ning Zhen raised her arm and scratched it irritably. Annoyed, she said, “There are always so many mosquitoes after it rains at night, and they love biting me. Look, I’ve only been outside for a few minutes and I’ve already got several bites. They itch so badly! If I scratch them raw, they hurt too!”
“Let me see.”
Meng Xianwen immediately turned toward her, took hold of her arm, and examined it carefully. Seeing the mosquito bites on her fair, smooth skin, along with the scratches from where she couldn’t stand the itching, he frowned. In a deep voice, he reminded her not to scratch while rubbing the bites with his fingertip to ease the itch.
“This side too!”
Ning Zhen watched his features, pressing her lips together to hide a smile.
Today, she could reluctantly give him ninety-five points. The deductions were for drinking too much despite feeling unwell and then rushing home through the night—and, of course, for this moment.
The instant she spoke, Meng Xianwen’s expression changed slightly. He released her hand at once and said evenly, “Go home and put some medicine on it.” After a pause, he added with restraint, “Don’t scratch.”
“Oh.”
The elevator stopped.
The two of them stepped out. Ning Zhen deliberately fell a step behind, casually coming up with a lie. She claimed that her hands were wet and the fingerprint scanner might not recognize them, so Meng Xianwen would have to open the door.
But he simply stood there without moving. She thought he had seen through her trick and rolled her eyes inwardly. Even drunk, his reactions were sharp enough—what a jerk. He didn’t deserve a surprise!
It wasn’t until the motion-sensor light in the hallway went out that Meng Xianwen reached out and scanned his fingerprint. At the very moment the door opened, the restless turmoil in his heart gradually settled.
Stay calm. This would be the last time he ever stepped into this apartment.
Ning Zhen moved closer, watching his reaction with curiosity and nervous anticipation. When he pushed open the door and froze at the sight of the decorations inside, she let out a soft laugh and threw herself into his arms.
“Honey, are you happy? This is what I’ve been working overtime to put together these past few days!”
She had been lying to him about working overtime.
In reality, she had been gathering all kinds of materials and editing them into a ten-minute-long video.
Even the projector that had been gathering dust at home had finally found a use. At that moment, its image was already being cast onto the wall. Just before he opened the door, she had quietly pressed play on her phone.
For the first ten-odd seconds of the video, it was her. Wearing pajamas, she picked up the watch he had left on the bedside table and aimed the camera at its face, lowering her voice to a whisper.
“Oh my gosh, it’s two-thirty in the morning. Mr. Meng isn’t beside me. Let me make a quick prediction—he must have gone to the study to work overtime while I was asleep. Shh, shh, shh. Keep your voice down, or he’ll hear us!”
She flashed a sly smile.
The camera shifted. She was now barefoot, tiptoeing out of the room. Another man’s voice sounded in the video—deep and low. It must have been secretly recorded; the image flickered past in an instant. The man on the balcony was on the phone, the night beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows serving as his backdrop.
“Wow, wow, wow! Mr. Meng is challenging his own record again. What time is it today?” The scene changed to another day.
“Three twenty…”
At that point, she suddenly fell silent, her eyes filled with heartache. But soon she took a deep breath and smiled even more brightly.
“As expected of Beicheng’s most dedicated workaholic!”
Then the photographs began flashing by, one after another.
He was reading documents in the car. He was leaning against the sofa, catching up on sleep. He was making a phone call at his desk…
Ten minutes passed quickly. The final photograph was from tonight’s celebration banquet. He was clinking glasses and chatting with several employees, brimming with confidence and vitality in the frame of her camera.
At the end of the video, she clasped her hands together, smiling radiantly.
“A driver in Nancheng once told me that life is made up of hurdle after hurdle—no matter how hard each one is, you get over it. A few years later, when you look back, none of it seems like such a big deal anymore. But I want to record this so that the thirty-nine-year-old and forty-nine-year-old Meng Xianwen will know that the twenty-nine-year-old Meng Xianwen”—she gave a thumbs-up—“was amazing! It was absolutely not ‘no big deal.’ It was something huge and truly incredible!”
The video ended.
Meng Xianwen froze, as though he still hadn’t come back to himself after those ten brief yet endless minutes.
A moist kiss landed on his chin.
He finally reacted and lowered his eyes to look at her.
She seemed a little nervous too. Her eyes gazed up at him expectantly.
“Do you like it? I don’t care—you have to like it!”
