The old house’s glasshouse looked breathtaking beneath the evening sky ablaze with sunset.
After spending some time in the main house’s tearoom with Xiao Xuezhen and Meng Jingshan, Ning Zhen slipped away on the pretext of going to the glasshouse to pick some flowers for photo props.
She lightened her steps, clasped her hands behind her back, and wore a mischievous grin. Without making a sound, she crept up behind the butler and shouted, “Uncle Yang!”
Uncle Yang nearly dropped the watering can. Turning around, he gave her a helpless yet indulgent smile. “Scaring me once in a while is fine, but don’t get mischievous and try to scare Xianwen’s parents.”
“Haha, don’t worry. I only scare Meng Xianwen. He can take it.”
Uncle Yang chuckled. “What brings you to the glasshouse?”
“I want to cut a few flowers to use in some pictures.”
Ning Zhen looked around, unable to decide, and tossed the question to Uncle Yang. “Everyone has their own specialty. You choose for me, Uncle Yang. Just make sure they go with my new car.”
Before becoming the old house’s butler, Uncle Yang had originally been a gardener.
Though the glasshouse now had a professional caretaker, he still came by every day whenever he had the time. He could only rest easy after seeing everything with his own eyes.
“Shall I decide, then?”
“Mmhmm.”
Ning Zhen followed behind him and asked casually, as though making conversation, “Uncle Yang, I noticed Uncle Meng really enjoys drinking. Does the kitchen have some special hangover remedy that isn’t shared with outsiders?”
“We do.”
Uncle Yang put on the reading glasses hanging from his chest, bent down, and focused on selecting flowers as he replied, “I gave a copy to your mother two years ago. I thought it might come in handy when your father drank. Is your father still in good health?”
“He’s doing pretty well. His blood lipids are a little high, though, so my mother’s been urging him to lose weight.”
With a grin, Ning Zhen smoothly changed the subject. “But I’m talking about Xianwen. He has to drink sometimes for work. Take the day of his project launch, for example—he was reeking of alcohol. I was worried sick. I want the hangover recipe so I can force-feed it to him!”
Uncle Yang had watched Ning Zhen grow up, so he knew that beneath her complaints was actually a little resentment.
He quickly put down the scissors and explained, “He didn’t actually drink that much that day. His father and Jiaran were the ones who drank quite a bit. Xianwen probably just picked up the smell of alcohol from them. He’s always been a man who knows his limits. He would never let himself get so drunk that he didn’t know what he was doing.”
At his words, Ning Zhen’s heart sank.
All along the way, she had been replaying the events of that night in her mind. Thinking carefully about it, his behavior had been very strange. At first, he had messaged her and told her to wait for him. Yet during the long stretch that followed, he hadn’t replied to any of her messages or answered her calls.
The explanation he later gave her was that he hadn’t wanted to disturb his father’s sleep, so he had put his phone on silent.
But between leaving the old house and getting home, had he truly not looked at his phone even once?
All the details she had overlooked came flooding back to her now.
“I certainly didn’t see any sign that he knew his limits!” Ning Zhen forced down her surprise and complained outwardly, “He told me to wait for him that night, but then he didn’t reply to my messages or answer my calls. I was worried sick. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have gone and disturbed Aunt Xiao so late at night.”
Uncle Yang laughed heartily. “So that’s what happened. It was already very late that night, and it was raining too. I told him to stay the night. At first, he agreed.” At that, he shook his head with a smile. “But then he turned around and asked Xiao Ding to drive him home. We couldn’t stop him.”
Even someone as steady and composed as him couldn’t bear to be apart from the woman he loved once he fell in love.
Ning Zhen froze, and the world around her seemed to fall silent.
Knowing Meng Xianwen as she did, she was certain that when he agreed to Uncle Yang’s suggestion that he stay the night, he hadn’t been merely humoring him. At the very least, he had genuinely considered staying that night. As for what had changed his mind, she had no idea yet.
But if he had considered staying, why hadn’t he sent her even one message?
He knew she was waiting for him.
She actually wished she were simply imagining things, but Uncle Yang’s words left her thoughts in turmoil.
What exactly had happened that night?
“I had no idea,” she continued chatting with Uncle Yang, her expression unchanged. “If something like that happens again, you have to stop him, Uncle Yang. Going out so late at night in the rain—what was he thinking?”
Uncle Yang nodded with a smile.
He cut several flowers, wrapped them in a sheet of newspaper, and handed them to her. “How about these?”
“They’re gorgeous!”
Ning Zhen took the bouquet with a radiant smile. There wasn’t the slightest hint of anything unusual on her face. Their conversation seemed like nothing more than ordinary small talk, something she had forgotten the moment it ended.
She even handed her phone to Uncle Yang and asked him to take several bright, beautiful photos of her with the flowers. Then she sent them to Meng Xianwen as if nothing had happened.
[You really need to reflect on yourself. Uncle Yang’s photography skills leave yours in the dust!]
It was August, and Ning Zhen was a magnet for mosquitoes, so she didn’t dare stay in the glasshouse for long.
After chatting with Uncle Yang about this and that, she carried the beautiful flowers out of the glasshouse. The heat of August in Beicheng was oppressive, and even the sunlight after sunset was strangely glaring.
She narrowed her eyes, crossed the lawn beside the lake, and hurried back to the main house, her thoughts heavy.
The excitement over the surprise of picking up her new car had ebbed away like a receding tide. She wanted some peace and quiet to think. After politely declining Xiao Xuezhen’s invitation to visit the small Buddhist shrine, she went upstairs and entered Meng Xianwen’s bedroom openly.
Since returning to the country, he had rarely stayed overnight at the old house.
And during this period, he hadn’t stayed there even once.
The large bedroom was clean, tidy, quiet, and solemn.
Ning Zhen was restless and badly wanted to wreak a little havoc. After wandering around, she stopped in front of the imposing bookcase, raised her phone, and took a selfie. She continued pestering him.
[Checking in!]
She put away her phone and looked up at one of the photographs displayed on the shelves.
It showed Meng Xianwen in his teens with several of his childhood friends.
Her gaze lingered on his youthful face for a long while. Just as she found herself smiling at him, her eyes shifted to Lu Yuan, who had an arm slung around his shoulders, and her smile froze for several seconds.
Actually, something else had happened that night—a small incident that seemed rather significant in hindsight.
In the early hours of the morning, Lu Yuan had called him.
If it had been Chang Yi or Sister Shuwei, Ning Zhen wouldn’t have thought twice about it. But Lu Yuan was different. He knew everything about Meng Xianwen’s circumstances.
Ning Zhen slowly stepped backward and sat down on the sofa. She began going through the messages from that night one by one, while also piecing together the small details she had forgotten.
…
At the same time, a black Rolls-Royce traveled along a broad road.
Meng Xianwen opened the photos Ning Zhen had sent him, one after another. She had made no attempt to hide the fact that she had run wild in his room, leaving behind check-in photos in every corner.
Beside him, Meng Jiaran was chatting with someone. Suddenly, a quiet laugh sounded inside the car.
He slowly turned his head and saw his brother staring at the phone screen. Curious, he craned his neck to take a look—then immediately felt his scalp prickle and decisively moved farther away.
Thank goodness. In the brief glimpse he’d caught, it had only been Zhenzhen taking a selfie with his brother’s trophy—not a photo of her kissing his brother.
Otherwise, he really might have had to crawl under the car.
Around seven o’clock, the vehicle stopped in front of the main house.
Meng Xianwen got out and walked up the steps. After entering, he swept his gaze around the room. When he didn’t see the familiar figure, he asked quietly, “Mom, where’s Zhenzhen?”
Long before their car passed through the ornate iron gates, Xiao Xuezhen had already received the news. She couldn’t help laughing when her son’s first words upon coming home were to ask for his girlfriend. Raising a hand, she pointed upstairs. “She was tired after a full day at work, so she’s resting in your room. Call her down when dinner’s ready.”
“Is that so?”
Meng Xianwen’s expression remained unchanged. “I’ll go take a look.”
Meng Jiaran had originally planned to head upstairs and take a shower, but at those words, he immediately abandoned the idea. Taking a tactful step back, he changed the subject. “Mom, where’s Zhenzhen’s car parked? In the garage?”
Most of his cars were flashy sports cars. Now that he was thinking about the couple using matching cars, he felt envious—and a little sour.
After receiving his mother’s nod, Meng Jiaran pulled her toward the garage with him. As he walked, he mused that this was actually a good idea. He could buy a matching model with Yuqing, too. Even if no one noticed, he could secretly enjoy it himself.
After watching them leave for the time being, Meng Xianwen unconsciously glanced toward the staircase. He went upstairs with steady steps and walked down the hall. When he saw that the door to his room was ajar, the corners of his lips curved upward. Looking relaxed, he raised an arm and pushed the door all the way open.
He walked in slowly.
Click.
The door closed behind him.
The sound didn’t disturb the person sleeping on the sofa.
He approached step by step and stopped in front of the sofa. It was only seven o’clock, and the sky had yet to darken. His tall figure blocked a ray of sunset streaming in through the window.
She sensed something and her lashes fluttered. Opening her eyes, she looked up at him. Perhaps still groggy from sleep, she stared at him blankly for a while before mumbling, “You scared me.”
A smile appeared on Meng Xianwen’s face. Bracing one hand against the armrest, he leaned down and kissed the tip of her nose. His breath drifted over her skin until he caught her lips, kissing and caressing them slowly.
She parted her lips slightly and closed her eyes, breathing in sync with him.
They both knew this wasn’t the place for them to lose control. Their kiss was lingering and intimate, but not intense.
“I thought you weren’t going to get out of the car all day.”
After kissing her for a while, he released her and rested his forehead against hers, laughing softly.
Ning Zhen concealed all her uncertainty perfectly. She glared at him, but his teasing still made her smile. Hooking her arms around his shoulders, she spoke in a light, almost coquettish voice. “I’m just really happy. Extremely happy. Is that not allowed?”
Meng Xianwen looked at her quietly.
In a few days, when she saw the yacht she’d been dreaming of, he wondered just how happy she would be.
“Let go of me.” Ning Zhen pushed against him and smoothed her slightly disheveled hair. “I’m going to wash my face, and then we’ll go downstairs. Don’t stay in the room too long.”
“Mm.”
He nodded, but then ignored all convention. Sliding one arm beneath her knees, he lifted her securely into his arms. As she let out a startled cry, he carried her calmly toward the bathroom.
“Put me down…” She covered her mouth with one hand and ordered him in a low voice, “Do you even realize where we are?”
Meng Xianwen paid no attention. He didn’t set her down until they entered the bathroom. The spacious washstand was large enough for both of them. Before Ning Zhen could say a word, he reached out and gathered her hair back, as though he had performed the motion countless times before.
Ning Zhen turned on the faucet. She cupped cold water in both hands and closed her eyes, no longer needing to hide her true emotions.
Could things really be what she thought they were?
Two voices argued in her mind. One analyzed the situation rationally: ordinary people didn’t do things like this. It made no sense.
The other shouted back: Ordinary people wouldn’t do it, but that bastard would!
The water stopped running.
Meng Xianwen pulled over a clean towel. Cradling her damp face in his hands, he carefully dried it bit by bit.
Ning Zhen tilted her face up to study him, wishing her eyes were microscopes so she wouldn’t miss the slightest change in his expression.
A bead of water slid down her curled lashes. When she blinked, it looked almost like a tear, falling onto his finger.
Her gaze lingered on his face for too long. Eventually, he lightly tapped her forehead and asked casually, “What are you staring at me for?”
“Don’t flatter yourself. Who was looking at you?”
Ning Zhen sensed danger and immediately turned her head away with a soft huff.
“I get the feeling you’re feeling guilty about something.”
Meng Xianwen tossed the towel aside. Bracing both hands against the washstand, he lowered his eyes to look at her, completely enclosing her within the space in front of him.
“Tell me. What have you done that you feel guilty about?”
