Meng Xianwen’s pen paused, leaving a blot of ink on the paper.
He kept his head lowered, eyes fixed on the contents of the document, and frowned slightly. A few seconds later, he composed himself, finished signing his name as though nothing had happened, and looked up. Taking the berthing agreement Xu Lai handed him, he skimmed through it before giving a faint smile.
“You got here just in time. I’d almost forgotten about this.”
Without the slightest pause, he signed his name with practiced ease and continued, “Get the berthing arrangements taken care of as soon as possible. I’ll need it next month.”
At that, he said with a hint of helplessness, “This really did come at the right time. I probably won’t have to rack my brains over a Qixi gift this year. Since I happen to have some free time, I can take her out to sea and let her relax.”
Xu Lai immediately understood.
These days, all kinds of platforms and businesses began promoting holidays well in advance. Even a single man like him knew that Qixi was next month.
Based on what he knew of Ning Zhen, he thought she would definitely like the gift President Meng had chosen for her.
A barely perceptible smile flickered across his brows. “President Meng, I’ll have Assistant Wang follow up closely with the maritime authorities.”
Meng Xianwen discreetly sized Xu Lai up, not missing the slightest change in expression on the other man’s face.
A vague suspicion surfaced in his mind, but it was too baseless—and he was too unwilling to entertain it. He suppressed it without hesitation.
What role did Xu Lai play in this entire affair?
Was he merely a smooth and conscientious special assistant, or was he also Ning Zhen’s senior from university?
If he was Ning Zhen’s senior, that still didn’t quite make sense. For instance, why had Xu Lai misled him when he’d mentioned buying a yacht? There had been no need—unless Xu Lai had known that he was testing him at the time, or unless Xu Lai had guessed that his car accident had left him with memory loss.
But both of those “unlesses” depended on one essential premise:
Xu Lai knew that his relationship with Ning Zhen was fake.
Xu Lai shouldn’t have known. Nor did he have any way of knowing.
“Speaking of Qixi…” Meng Xianwen capped his fountain pen and leaned back, asking casually, as if making small talk, “You may still be on leave then. Do you have any plans?”
Xu Lai paused for a moment, then replied without a change in expression, “Nothing at the moment.”
Sensing Meng Xianwen’s calm gaze, he added jokingly, “I’ll probably have dinner with Assistant Wang. Neither of us has anyone to ask us out.”
Meng Xianwen gave a faint laugh as well and didn’t pursue the subject.
Once he had finished reporting on both the company’s business and his personal affairs, Xu Lai handed him another letter.
“This should be a private letter for you. The number left on it isn’t the secretary department’s. It was probably a mistake by the employee in the mailroom—they put it with the bank statements, so it was delayed for nearly a week.”
The letter had been sent to President Meng by Ning Zhen.
After thinking it over, he had decided to help her one more time. Not that it counted as helping—it was merely a small favor.
Ning Zhen was a truly wonderful person. She was warm and passionate. The more of her sincerity President Meng saw, the more likely he might be to show her understanding after recovering his memories.
Meng Xianwen lifted his eyes. He took the letter and glanced at the sender, the recipient, and the postmark on the envelope. His expression froze for a brief moment.
Had she sent this while traveling with her friends?
So this was the second surprise she had prepared for him.
Xu Lai stood to one side, quietly watching his expression. In all the years he had worked for President Meng, he had rarely seen him so lost in thought. At that moment, he seemed to be studying every single word on the envelope.
He was so absorbed that Xu Lai remained silent, unwilling to disturb him.
A moment later, just as Meng Xianwen was about to open the letter, he caught sight of the figure standing by the desk from the corner of his eye. He restrained himself and set the letter down, his expression returning to its usual calm. Looking at Xu Lai, he said, “This letter is mine. Thanks to your thoughtfulness, I was able to receive it in time.”
“You’re too kind, President Meng. It was simply part of my job.” As he spoke, Xu Lai smoothly changed the subject. “President Meng, I’ll be taking leave starting next Monday. I’ve already handed over everything related to work, but you can contact me anytime if you need anything.”
“Spend some quality time with your parents and help them relax.”
Meng Xianwen nodded. “Don’t worry. I’ll try not to disturb your vacation.”
He had always been a considerate employer, and upon hearing this, Xu Lai replied with a smile, “If you need me, it doesn’t count as a disturbance. Besides, my parents have always encouraged me to put work first.”
The conversation returned to business. After briefly discussing the project’s follow-up arrangements, Xu Lai picked up the documents signed by Meng Xianwen and turned to leave. For some inexplicable reason, he felt as though a prickling gaze was fixed on his back.
Just as he reached the door, a voice called out, “Xu Lai.”
Xu Lai turned around.
Meng Xianwen seemed deep in thought. “How long have you been working for me?”
“Almost four years.” Xu Lai was puzzled. He had no time to think it over and answered truthfully.
“Four years.” Meng Xianwen murmured to himself.
The whole matter was not difficult to piece together. Given Xu Lai’s careful and cautious nature, there were only two possibilities. First, Xu Lai had guessed that he had lost his memory, and had also guessed that he was concealing the news and did not want it to become public. As his assistant, Xu Lai had no desire to get involved and was simply protecting himself.
The second possibility was that Xu Lai wanted to help her.
He hoped the first was true.
But whichever it was, one question remained unavoidable: How had Xu Lai known that his past relationship with Ning Zhen was a sham?
“You’ve worked hard during this time. Get some proper rest and relax. If you need more time off, I’ll approve it separately.”
Xu Lai’s shoulders relaxed. “All right, President Meng.”
He opened the door and left the office. Looking down at the stack of documents in his hands, he felt that something about President Meng seemed off. But he could not put his finger on what it was. His tone and choice of words were no different from usual. Was he simply overthinking things?
The door closed.
The calm smile vanished completely from Meng Xianwen’s face. He lifted his eyes toward the photograph of himself and Ning Zhen on the desk and fell into deep thought.
Whether before or after losing his memory, he believed that there was no way she would tell anyone the truth about their relationship. If even her parents and friends knew nothing about it, how could she possibly have told a senior from school?
The phone on the desk lit up, and a message appeared:
*Beep beep beep! I saw that your location is at Hengxing. This is so convenient!*
Ning Zhen had dragged herself through her work on what felt like her very last breath. Remembering that she could see Meng Xianwen’s location on her phone, she immediately perked up and tapped it open.
Her mind held only eight words: *Just as I thought. As expected of him.*
Meng Xianwen replied:
*I drove your car to the office. I’ll pick you up after work.*
He set down his phone. After sitting in silence for a while, he opened the letter. Inside was a postcard. The moment he saw what was written on it, the furrow between his brows unconsciously smoothed out.
Jingle, jingle—
A breeze swept through the city, stirring the wind chime above the door. Customers continued to come and go. Ning Zhen took a sip of her iced drink and muttered to herself, “Do I really have to write it? If I send it, will he even get it? Oh, what am I supposed to write?”
She hid herself in a corner, clutching her pen as she wrote the first line:
【Hey, Meng Xianwen!】
His name was like a key, unlocking the chest that held all her heartfelt words.
She pressed her lips together to hide a private smile. The tip of her pen wandered across the postcard, every beat of her heart taking shape as words—
【I wonder if you’ll have reached the peak of twenty-nine by the time you receive this postcard. I hear postcards take forever to arrive, and sometimes they even get lost. If you don’t receive it, then your luck really is terrible.】
【I’ve been to this city twice. The first time was with my family after the college entrance examination, and the second was with my best friend.】
【Will you make it in time for my third visit?!】
She didn’t want to sign her name.
She picked up the postcard she had finished writing and gently blew on the ink to dry it. Imagining the look on his face when he received it, she pressed her lips together to suppress a delighted smile, her eyes shining with excitement.
In front of the floor-to-ceiling window.
Meng Xianwen pushed the window open a crack. He stood there for a long time, letting the wind seep inside and carry away the oppressive, stifling gloom he had been holding in.
…
Six o’clock in the afternoon.
Bold and utterly unafraid, Ning Zhen shut down her computer five minutes early, ready to clock out at any moment. She was the first person to dash away from her desk. But to the amazement of the colleague at the neighboring workstation, the woman who had just run off faster than a rabbit suddenly came hurrying back. She dropped into her chair, propped her face in both hands, and looked as though she were struggling not to laugh out loud.
“What’s gotten into you?” her colleague asked casually as she slowly pulled the fully charged power bank from its cable and stuffed it into her bag. “Didn’t you already clock out?”
Ning Zhen gave her a mysterious smile.
She had been just about to step into the elevator when she’d changed her mind. Why should she rush? Never mind the three months when he hadn’t remembered her and she’d waited for him countless times—during this period, she had gone to Hengxing several times, and every single time she had waited for him until the seas ran dry and the stones crumbled.
He had actually come to pick her up for once. He got off work at six, and she had appeared in front of him at six oh-three. After rushing over so desperately, didn’t she deserve to save a little face?
She was a very busy person too!
“Big stars always make a grand entrance,” Ning Zhen said with a perfectly straight face.
Her colleague shook her head. “You’ve worked yourself stupid.”
After tidying her desk, she picked up her bag and asked, “Are you leaving now? We can go together.”
“No.” Ning Zhen bent down to find her charging cable and plugged it in. “I’m staying until my phone’s fully charged.”
“…”
Ten minutes or so later, everyone else in their group had gradually left. Ning Zhen remained at her desk, leisurely sipping water, feeling rather pleased with herself. Suddenly, her phone lit up.
It was a message from Meng Xianwen on WeChat:
【Where are you?】
Seriously?
Did he only have ten minutes of patience?
Ning Zhen was both annoyed and amused as she replied:
【Something came up. I’m working overtime.】
Meng Xianwen:
【?】
Meng Xianwen:
【Fine.】
Ning Zhen glanced at her phone’s charging progress. She really was too kind to him. Even fully charged, it wouldn’t last more than half an hour—staying a little longer would let her avoid rush hour, and she had nothing else to do anyway. Humming to herself, she began tidying up her desk.
Tap, tap, tap.
The sound of someone lightly knocking on the partition made her turn around. A man was standing a few steps away. She stared at him, eyes wide, so startled that she wondered if she was imagining things.
“How did you get up here?”
Under her astonished gaze, Meng Xianwen walked over at an unhurried pace. He had undone the buttons at his collar and rolled his sleeves to his elbows, giving him a relaxed, easygoing air. He cast a casual glance at her computer, whose screen was black.
“Weren’t you working overtime?”
“How did you get up here??” She tilted her head back to look at him.
He reached out and pressed down on the armrest of her chair, turning her—and the chair—completely toward him. He stared straight at her.
“I came up to keep you company while you work overtime.”
Ning Zhen instinctively covered her mouth and glared at him. “You’re so annoying!”
How could this jerk have a girlfriend?
He never showed her any mercy when it came to exposing her little schemes.
“Can I sit in this chair?” Meng Xianwen was a man with a strong sense of boundaries in many respects. He tilted his head slightly, his gaze passing over the chair at her coworker’s workstation before landing on another empty seat.
“Suit yourself!”
After her initial irritation, Ning Zhen couldn’t help wanting to laugh.
A strange feeling brushed through her heart.
She had been to his office several times, but this was the first time he had come to her workplace.
Meng Xianwen nodded, pulled over the unclaimed chair, and sat down calmly beside her. He lifted his chin, signaling for her to continue working overtime at the computer she had already shut down. At the same time, he raised his wrist to check his watch.
“It’s still early. No rush. Take your time working overtime. Work comes first.”
That was unbelievably irritating.
Taking advantage of the fact that all her coworkers had left, Ning Zhen angrily stepped on his foot.
Meng Xianwen didn’t even flinch. He surveyed the things scattered across her desk and gave a derisive snort. Anyone who knew her would say she came here to work; anyone who didn’t would think she had made herself a second home here.
Her keyboard had a bright, garish color scheme. A row of figurines lined the computer stand, along with a small fan, a pothos growing in water, hand cream, a spray bottle, a jar of chocolates…
“What are you—”
Ning Zhen saw him pick up her water cup, but before she could finish speaking, he had already brought it to his lips and taken a drink. The jerk even frowned after swallowing and asked her, “What is this?”
“Rose tea. If you don’t like it, spit it back out!”
After trading a few more barbs with him, she remembered in time that this was her office—her workplace. She promptly unplugged her phone, grabbed her bag, and stood up.
“Work’s over. You’re so impatient.”
“You have a history,” he said, casually ruffling her hair. His tone was maddeningly smug.
What history?!
Ning Zhen glared at him, then suddenly burst out laughing. He had only come to pick her up twice in total. The first time, he had missed her—and now he was calling that a history? Did that mean he was going to come upstairs and check on her personally every time she said she was working overtime from now on?
What kind of person was he?
The two of them left the office and took the elevator down to the first floor.
Fortunately, the employees at Shengdu were either extremely eager to leave on time or extremely eager to work overtime when required, so the two of them didn’t run into many colleagues.
Ning Zhen walked out of the building with her arm linked through Meng Xianwen’s. She was being very generous and didn’t hold his past record against him. Instead, she took the initiative and said, “What do you want for dinner? My treat!”
Then she seized the opportunity to lay down a condition. “From now on, let’s do it this way: if I wait for you, you pay; if you wait for me, I pay.”
What a little schemer she was. Given his established image as a workaholic who never seemed to tire, he’d have to treat her to dinner three hundred and sixty times out of the three hundred and sixty-five days in a year.
Meng Xianwen lowered his eyes and glanced at her. He said nothing, which she took as tacit agreement.
“Well? What do you want to eat?” she pressed.
“Save it for later,” he said. “There’s food in the car.”
Ning Zhen froze for a moment and followed him to where he had parked, her face full of suspicion. She opened the door and got in. Sure enough, there were several wooden lunch boxes on the back seat. He stretched out his long arm and handed one to her.
“It’s still so early!” Ning Zhen opened the lid. Everything inside was food she liked, but she was still puzzled. “It’s Friday. Wouldn’t it be better to eat at a restaurant? We’re not in a hurry!”
And they were eating in her car, no less!
Meng Xianwen glanced at her from the corner of his eye without answering. Instead, he asked casually, “So, what are you planning to do this weekend?”
Ning Zhen scooped a mouthful of rice into her mouth. She had to admit, she was a little hungry, and her appetite had returned in full force. She rolled down all the windows. “Rest. What else would I do?”
There was something strange about that question.
She immediately grew wary. “What are you planning? Let me make this clear first—I’m not going to accompany you to the office to work overtime.”
“Don’t overthink it.” He picked up the phone from the center console and handed it to her. In the calmest possible tone, he said the most unbelievable thing of all: “Fine. Book two plane tickets. After we finish eating, we’re going to the airport.”
Ning Zhen nearly choked on her rice. Her eyes flew open. “The airport? Why?!”
Her reaction amused Meng Xianwen, and he gave a faint laugh. Once he had finished, he answered succinctly, “I received your postcard today. It’s not too late, is it?”
Ning Zhen stared at him in shock.
She had assumed the postcard she sent had probably been lost—or returned to the sender.
He hadn’t mentioned it even after she had been back for quite some time, and she hadn’t asked. When she mailed it, she had already prepared herself for the possibility that he would never receive it.
She had completely forgotten about it. Now that he had brought it up without warning, she was so surprised that she couldn’t process it for a moment.
“You have ten minutes. If we don’t go today, we’ll go next time.”
There he went again.
Did he have some kind of obsession with ten minutes? He was always rushing her!
And yet Ning Zhen could feel her heart pounding so hard it seemed ready to burst through her chest. She wanted to play it cool, but she agreed faster than anyone, shouting, “We’re going! Let’s leave right now!”
On the way to the airport, Ning Zhen excitedly took photos and videos. The entire car was filled with her nonstop chatter.
“Ugh, the weather is so gloomy today. I wanted to film the sunset—”
“Meng Xianwen, this is bad. Neither of us packed a suitcase!”
“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?!”
At last, he spoke.
“Quiet.”
“Go away. Don’t request a song—I don’t feel like singing right now!” Ning Zhen shot back at once.
Meng Xianwen’s lips curved into a smile, his expression easing as he listened to her rambling complaints.
By the time they reached the airport, it was completely dark. Their flight was scheduled to land close to midnight.
None of the photos Ning Zhen had taken that day had been usable, which left her feeling rather frustrated. Why did it have to be a rainy, overcast day? The lighting was terrible for photos.
She turned to look at the man beside her, who was resting with his eyes closed, and the corners of her lips lifted. He was still holding her hand, leaving her no chance of pulling free. Well, today was as good a day as any. Who knew when the next opportunity would come? Even if the sky were painted with brilliant sunset clouds that day, her mood probably wouldn’t be as buoyant as it was now. Sometimes, things that happened outside the plan could be beautiful too.
At ten that night, Ning Zhen posted on her Moments feed, uploading two photos. One showed two boarding passes; the other captured two figures reflected in a floor-to-ceiling window. The image was blurry, but it was still possible to make out a tall, broad-shouldered man walking ahead, briefly passing by with a woman holding up her phone to take a picture.
Caption: 【Eloping to the Moon】
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