Ning Zhen looked at him in disbelief.
For a moment, she nearly blurted out, “Who’s the one with a guilty conscience here?”
Fortunately, she caught herself in time and swallowed the words. Her eyes darted around as she found the perfect excuse amid the chaos, though her retort still sounded more like a bluff. “You’re the one with a guilty conscience!”
After glaring at him furiously for a while, she was the first to cave. In a vague tone, she said, “Fine, then. But you’re not allowed to get angry after I tell you. I drove the car back myself. Just so we’re clear, I only drove for part of the way. The boss needed me for something, so I let the driver take over.”
Ning Zhen admired herself. She had managed to sidestep the question she most wanted to ask and bicker and joke with him as usual. Maybe being around the wrong people really did rub off on you.
Meng Xianwen felt a headache coming on. “...”
He should have guessed.
She had been excited about picking up the car that afternoon for several days.
If she were willing to obediently sit in the back seat, she wouldn’t be Ning Zhen.
“Don’t worry, I didn’t let Aunt Xiao ride in my car.” She immediately wrapped her arms around his waist. Her patience with him usually lasted no more than a minute. When he remained silent, she snapped irritably, “Stop giving me that look. It’s my car. I’ll drive it if I want to!”
She had an answer for everything.
Meng Xianwen was amused into laughter. Seeing that she was about to say more, he lowered his head and silenced her chattering mouth with a kiss.
None of the Meng family members were willing to go upstairs and hurry them down for dinner, so Xiao Xuezhen and Meng Jingshan put the pressure on their younger son. Meng Jiaran complained bitterly—this was no way to treat someone—but with his parents staring at him, he could only steel himself and dial Ning Zhen’s number.
The first call went unanswered, and so did the second. Just as his mood had sunk to the level of bitter melon, Meng Xianwen and Ning Zhen finally came downstairs and entered the dining room.
The two of them looked as though they had quarreled. One was holding hands, while the other kept trying to pull away. After taking her seat and noticing everyone looking at her, Ning Zhen shamelessly shifted the blame. “He’s being unreasonable. He won’t let me drive!”
Meng Xianwen neither confirmed nor denied it. He merely cast her a fleeting glance, too lazy to expose her for twisting the truth.
Xiao Xuezhen and Meng Jingshan exchanged a tacit cough. Naturally, they had no intention of commenting on the younger couple’s squabbling.
Meng Jiaran, however, took his brother’s side this time and said casually, “Try to understand him. After what happened to Big Brother in Nancheng, it’s perfectly normal for him to have some lingering trauma.”
“Is it not normal for me to want to drive my own new car?”
Ning Zhen shot him a sideways look.
What a fence-sitter!
“Fine, fine, you’re both normal. I’m the only abnormal one.”
After wiping his hands with a hot towel, Meng Jiaran raised them in surrender. He really should have kept his mouth shut. He would have been better off simply watching them argue.
“At least you’ve recovered.” At the mention of the matter, Xiao Xuezhen smiled with relief. “Be careful when you drive from now on. Don’t get into another accident.”
Meng Xianwen paused with his chopsticks, then, as though nothing had happened, placed a piece of spare rib in Ning Zhen’s bowl. “Did you hear that?”
She noticed every one of his reactions. Hidden beneath the tablecloth, she quietly clenched the hand resting on her lap and nodded reluctantly.
The dinner table was filled with warmth and laughter, but Ning Zhen had no appetite. They had been so happy lately that she had actually overlooked something important.
The project had already been released, yet Meng Xianwen had not gone to Lu Yuan’s hospital even once.
In the past, he had often said that once he finished this busy stretch, he would have her accompany him to treatment, using the matter to test her reaction.
Now, he had not mentioned it even once.
Since he did not bring it up, naturally no one else did either. Everyone at the table except her believed that he had already recovered his memory. No—that wasn’t right. There was one other person.
Ning Zhen’s hand loosened, and the soup spoon struck the porcelain bowl with a crisp clink.
Meng Xianwen turned to look at her, silently asking what was wrong this time.
Her heart jolted, but not a trace of it showed on her face. In a small voice, she said, “I burned myself. Don’t glare at me.”
He was silent for several seconds before getting up and leaving the dining room. The rest of the Meng family looked on in confusion. He soon returned with a small box of ice cream, which he calmly set beside her.
Everyone froze for a moment, then looked away in perfect unison, pretending they had seen nothing and continuing with their meal.
A complicated feeling rose in Ning Zhen’s heart. She blinked at Meng Xianwen, her brows and eyes curving into a smile, then opened the ice cream and scooped a bite into her mouth. The sweetness spread across her tongue, but the chill made her shiver.
Could Lu Yuan’s late-night calls have anything to do with the aftereffects of Meng Xianwen’s amnesia?
Late that night, Ning Zhen did not fall asleep once she was tired. Her mind was occupied by a single matter.
In the silence, she heard a rustling sound and realized that he had thrown off the covers and gotten out of bed. He left the room and closed the door.
She immediately opened her eyes. She desperately wanted an answer, yet felt like a headless fly, rushing blindly in every direction.
She had thought of several plans. For instance, she could wait until he fell asleep and sneak a look at his phone. But she rejected the idea after only a few seconds.
She couldn’t do anything without certainty!
Unless she was sure she could find the answer on his phone, she might easily alert him and ruin everything.
Ning Zhen tossed and turned in the darkness, silently waiting for time to pass. After a long while, she reached for her phone and tapped the screen. It was already close to midnight.
She took a deep breath and got out of bed, moving as quietly as possible. When she passed the study, she paused briefly and held her breath to listen. There was no sound inside.
She then tiptoed through the living and dining areas into the kitchen. She had rehearsed this route countless times in her head and proceeded in an orderly fashion, warming the milk before carefully carrying the cup back to the study.
Holding her breath, she pressed her ear against the door and listened.
Still nothing!
Ning Zhen was furious—not only at Meng Xianwen, but at Lu Yuan too. Why were these two so strange? They never called when they should, yet whenever they shouldn’t be talking, they could chat endlessly!
Suddenly, she heard the door handle being pressed down. She quickly composed her expression, hurriedly stepping back half a pace and pretending she was about to knock.
The next second, the door opened, and she came face-to-face with Meng Xianwen’s surprised eyes.
His gaze dropped to the milk in her hand, and a faint smile appeared in his eyes. Seeing through her at once, he said, “That’s for me?”
“Don’t flatter yourself.” She rolled her eyes and mimicked his tone, drawing out her words. “I’m thirsty. I’m drinking it myself.”
Meng Xianwen said nothing. He simply reached out, naturally wrapped an arm around her waist, and pulled her inside. He picked her up and sat her on the office chair. Not wanting her rare thoughtfulness to go unappreciated, he took the cup from her and drank a mouthful of warm milk.
“All worked up over a car and unable to sleep?” he teased.
Ning Zhen cursed him viciously in her mind.
Just a car? Easy for him to say. Why hadn’t he agreed to get her one back then? Aunt Xiao was Aunt Xiao, and he was him. He’d better not try to take credit for this.
“This is the best gift I’ve received all year. What do you know?”
“You’re speaking too soon.”
Ning Zhen perked up at once. The Qixi Festival was coming up soon, after all. She leaned closer to him. “You mean the gift you’re giving me will be better than Aunt Xiao’s? Hubby, really? What is it?”
Meng Xianwen looked at her and raised the cup directly to her lips, making her stop talking. If he let her keep pestering him, he might accidentally give away the yacht.
Ning Zhen was caught off guard and swallowed several mouthfuls of milk before turning her head away. She scolded him, “I brushed my teeth already! I don’t want to brush them again. You’re so annoying!”
He gave a faint smile and countered, “You even know I brushed my teeth, and you brought me warm milk?”
Ning Zhen was speechless. What an obnoxious narcissist. The warm milk was merely an excuse to cover up the fact that she’d been caught eavesdropping—it wasn’t for him to drink. She really couldn’t stand how wildly her imagination was running while he remained perfectly calm and composed. She pushed the cup toward him, but misjudged her strength, splashing some of it onto his chest.
The relaxed, pleased look on his face froze.
The study suddenly fell silent.
Ning Zhen came to her senses and hurriedly got to her feet, rushing toward the door. She was only one step away from the master bedroom when a strong arm shot out and hooked around her waist. His voice, carrying a slight chill, came from behind her ear.
“Did you do that on purpose? You don’t just want me to brush my teeth again—you want me to take another shower too.”
“…”
Ning Zhen wore an utterly hopeless expression.
That saying really was true: eavesdropping rarely succeeded, and it almost never ended well. This was what happened when you picked up a stone only to drop it on your own foot.
—
The next day was Saturday.
After washing up, Meng Xianwen dressed neatly and stood beside the bed, putting on his watch. The person in bed had been thoroughly disturbed by the noise he was making so early in the morning. Before yesterday, she might have found him annoying, but there had been a sweetness to her tolerance. When she was in the mood, she would even follow him into the dressing room to help pick out his shirts. Today, however, she had begun to suspect him. Her mind was a mess, and all she wanted was for him to hurry up and leave.
Ning Zhen pressed a pillow over her ears and shooed him away in a muffled voice. “Don’t even think about it. I’m not going to accompany you to work overtime!”
“Pick me up at Hengxing this afternoon.”
He made the request as though it were only natural.
Unable to bear it any longer, Ning Zhen answered with a string of vague “mm-hmms.” After he left, the sleepiness vanished from her face. She threw off the covers and got out of bed, then spent the entire morning pacing back and forth around the house. After thinking it over carefully, she decided she couldn’t wait foolishly for him to walk into her trap like she had the previous night.
Who knew when Lu Yuan would call him again?
Was she supposed to wait until the end of time?
Putting aside how many nights she could endure lying awake in anxiety, she couldn’t use the warm-milk trick again so soon. Reason told her that the smartest thing to do now was to remain still while her opponent made no move—to respond to change with constancy.
But…
She couldn’t help herself!
Her chaotic thoughts suddenly became clear when she came across Lu Yuan’s bitterly complaining post about working overtime. She speared a piece of melon with her fork and chewed slowly as she considered an important question: Could Lu Yuan also be in a panic? Otherwise, why would he call Meng Xianwen several times in the middle of the night?
She decided to take a gamble!
After all, aside from Meng Xianwen, the only person who might be able to tell her the whole story was Lu Yuan.
And between the two of them, Lu Yuan was clearly the easier one to coax and handle. The chances of digging the truth out of him were far higher.
With that in mind, Ning Zhen made up her mind. After finishing her fruit, she opened her chat with Meng Xianwen and messaged him as usual:
“It’s all your fault. I’m so sleepy today. I’m going to take a nap, and I’ll go to Hengxing whenever I wake up. [Eye roll]”
A few minutes later, he replied:
“Okay.”
Completely lost in her own thoughts, Ning Zhen failed to notice that there was anything unusual about his answer.
Holding her breath, she grabbed her bag and sunglasses and swept out of the house in the afternoon.
…
Hengxing Group.
Meng Xianwen sat behind his desk, leaning back in his chair. He toyed with the fountain pen she had given him for a while, inexplicably feeling a little guilty toward her. It was true that he rarely spent time with her. Remembering the cup of warm milk from the night before, he let out a brief laugh, capped the pen, and rose unhurriedly.
Assistant Wang emerged from the refreshment area carrying freshly brewed black tea. Looking up, he saw Mr. Meng walking toward him, tall and steady, appearing ready to take the elevator out. He hurried over to meet him.
“Mr. Meng, your tea.”
“I have something to do.”
Meng Xianwen glanced at his watch. His voice was light and carried an easy smile.
“Little Wang, you should leave early too. Have a pleasant weekend.”
After his initial confusion, Assistant Wang was overjoyed. He still couldn’t resist adding a shy joke. “Mr. Meng, I’m alone. Whether I’m at the office or at home, it makes no difference.”
“Work is important, but so is life.”
Meng Xianwen patted him on the shoulder. As he finished speaking, the private elevator doors slowly opened. He stepped inside, unable to conceal his good mood.
Once the doors closed, Assistant Wang let out a worried sigh.
Even a workaholic like Mr. Meng had a visibly richer and more exciting life after getting a girlfriend…
It took Meng Xianwen nearly forty minutes to drive from Hengxing Group back to Jingyuan, even without traffic. He scanned his fingerprint to enter and went straight to the master bedroom, only to freeze.
Not only was the bed empty, but the room was empty too. He checked her location, which showed that she was currently somewhere in the house.
Frowning, he searched the entire place but couldn’t find her.
After thinking for a few seconds, he called her.
Her bright ringtone sounded nearby. Following it step by step, he finally found her phone inside the woven storage basket on the entryway cabinet by the door.
