Meng Xianwen and Ning Zhen had a casual meal at a restaurant outside. They hardly exchanged a word throughout the meal.
Apart from the ongoing tiff, the main reason was that his phone kept ringing non - stop. There were both work and personal calls. He had to answer the phone every few bites, and Ning Zhen wanted to snatch his phone and turn it to silent several times.
She looked up at him and casually kicked the leg of his pants on purpose.
How annoying!
During a call, Meng Xianwen's tone paused for just a few seconds and then he continued to talk about business as if nothing had happened. Naturally, he was talking about the troublesome matter of Meng Jiaran being injured and hospitalized. The gloom and unhappiness that had filled his brows instantly dissipated.
His gaze stayed on her face. Rarely able to focus on two things at once, seeing her looking glum, he put the phone on the table and turned on the speakerphone.
Ning Zhen was startled. At first, she didn't understand why. It wasn't until he reached out to scoop up a bowl of soup and placed it beside her that she realized.
She was a little stunned, her eyebrows slightly raised. When she realized she wanted to smile, she quickly lowered her head to drink the soup to cover it up. Then, she bombarded the culprit with several photos and videos all at once: [You're so handsome!]
Meng Jiaran was exasperated: [? Delete them, or I'll block you.]
There was no way she would delete them. She hadn't posted them on her Moments right away already showed her consideration for their more than a decade - long friendship.
Sitting across from her, Meng Xianwen picked up his phone again. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed his movement and continued the bombardment: [Transfer 200 yuan. Sign up for a kickboxing class, will you.]
Seeing that she hadn't eaten much, Meng Xianwen called the waiter and ordered her favorite dessert to be packed separately.
It seemed that he was certain she wouldn't run away again, and even if she did, he was confident he could catch her in no time. After the meal, he drove her home instead of forcing her to stay at the hospital.
After parking the car downstairs, when Ning Zhen unbuckled her seatbelt and was about to open the door, Meng Xianwen, who had been silent while driving, called out to her, "Wait. Take this up with you."
Ning Zhen turned around and saw him picking up a paper bag from the back seat and handing it to her.
For a moment, several guesses popped into her head. She remembered the follow - ups of Guo Xia's several break - up spats with Ye Chuyang. Without exception, they all ended with Ye Chuyang buying gifts. Her face still showed restraint, but her heart was beating faster. She took it delicately and looked down. Her expression instantly froze.
"What is this?" She stared at him with wide - open eyes.
"Ointment." Meng Xianwen took in her reaction and was amused. At the same time, he had to put on an air of complete normalcy. "I need to treat the wounds on my body. It's too hot. They're prone to inflammation. You apply it for me when you get home tonight. Take this up first and remember to put it in the fridge."
Ning Zhen blinked slowly. She heard the faint accusation in his words, accusing her of being too rough last night and leaving too many marks on him.
Her ears turned red, not from shyness but from anger. "Go back to your own place tonight. Don't come!"
She'd delete his fingerprint from the door lock as soon as she got upstairs.
His attitude of acting like the master of the house, coming and going as he pleased, was really over - confident.
Meng Xianwen saw what was on her mind and said nonchalantly, "I can ring the doorbell. As long as you don't mind the noise." After a pause, he leaned closer to her and softened his tone, almost coaxing her, "I'll come back early after I'm done."
Ning Zhen wanted to say a few more sarcastic words to him, but he glanced at the rear - view mirror and reminded her, "There's a car coming behind. If you don't want to go up, you can come back to the hospital with me. I'm not at ease with you alone anyway."
As soon as he said that, she hurriedly pushed open the door and got out of the car. Looking back, there was no car at all in the middle of the afternoon. She'd been tricked by him again.
She was too lazy to argue with him. She rolled her eyes and walked towards the corridor. As soon as she turned around, she couldn't keep a straight face anymore and the corners of her lips curled up.
...
The house was in a complete mess. Especially the bathroom was a sight for sore eyes. People who didn't know might think a thief had broken into her house. Her skirt, his shirt, and pants were all in a messy heap on the floor, and the bottles and jars on the sink were also toppled over.
Suddenly, Ning Zhen felt something under her foot. She picked it up and found it was his watch. She almost had a heart attack.
After checking it several times and making sure the hands were still moving and the watch face wasn't cracked, she let out a long sigh of relief. Her first reaction was to take out her phone to scold him. She had seen wasteful people, but never one as wasteful as him!
He was doing it on purpose. Once she stepped on and broke his watch, he'd make her pay for it. He was good at such low - class things and did them with ease.
But when she opened the chat window and stared at the messages that stopped before their argument yesterday, she quit the chat window decisively. Her competitive spirit flared up. She wasn't going to message him first.
In the afternoon, Guo Xia took a taxi to come and play with her. As soon as she entered the house and looked around, she let out a long sigh, "I can't even remember when I last came here..."
Before Guo Xia came, Ning Zhen had carefully cleaned up all the traces of their foolishness in the house. She didn't even miss any trash and specifically went downstairs to throw it away. After making sure her house was as clean and tidy as before, she opened the door and invited Guo Xia in.
"Then you should really reflect on yourself!"
"Are you sure it's me who should reflect?" Guo Xia gave her a sidelong look. "You two were lovey - dovey here some time ago, and then you both moved into the penthouse. You should think about it. If you hadn't 'run away from home' this time, would I have had the chance to come?"
Ning Zhen was rendered speechless by her words. "What do you mean 'run away from home'? I'm just coming back to my own place, okay?"
"I bet you'll move back within a month." Guo Xia shrugged and leaned over to ask, "Are you back together?"
Even in front of her best friend, Ning Zhen was stubborn. "No. I'm not that easy to coax. And I won't move back. It's not my house. When we quarreled, I had to pack my things and leave dejectedly. If it were here, I'd definitely pack all his things and throw them out, telling him to go somewhere cool!"
Guo Xia sized her up and pulled her towards the master bedroom. "Don't just talk the talk. Take some real action. Come on. There must still be his things here. Throw them out quickly. If you don't, I'll look down on you."
"Hey!" Ning Zhen's pretense was exposed, and she burst out laughing. "Are you also on his side to bully me?"
The two of them were in a playful mess. Guo Xia snorted and laughed, "Me, bully you? Me, bully you by coming out from home to accompany you in nearly 40 - degree heat?"
Hearing this, Ning Zhen hugged her again. They both tacitly stopped talking about Meng Xianwen. It was such a mood - killer. They slumped on the sofa and ate. Guo Xia's lips were red from the spicy food, and she'd finished the can of Coke. She asked, "Do you have anything else to drink at home?"
"Yes. It's in the fridge. Get it yourself!" Ning Zhen jerked her chin. "Get me one too."
Guo Xia got up and ran into the kitchen. She found two bottles of lime juice. Just as she was about to leave after closing the fridge, she spotted the record - audio fridge magnet she had given Ning Zhen among the bunch of colorful fridge magnets.
In the living room, Ning Zhen was leaning on the sofa pillow. She took off the disposable gloves and hesitated before opening the location tracker. It showed that Meng Xianwen was at the hospital.
She hesitated and sent a message to Meng Jiaran: [How are you?]
Meng Jiaran replied instantly: [? Hello, have you forgotten that you just scolded me?]
It could only be said that they were indeed friends of many years. The next second, he sent a photo. When she opened it, there were three people in it. Meng Xianwen was standing in the middle with his back to the camera. Probably feeling a bit annoyed, he had rolled up his shirt sleeves to his elbows.
Facing him were two men.
Ning Zhen took a closer look and sent several rows of question marks. It was okay to show her Meng Xianwen's back, but who wanted to see Song Yue's full - face!
She wished she could wash her eyes and quickly typed: [Get out! How disgusting! Oh my god, did you hurt your head?]
On the other side, Meng Jiaran, who was lying on the hospital bed, let out a low chuckle after reading this message. He lifted the quilt and was about to get out of bed. Song Yuqing, who was sitting beside the bed, quickly came to support him. "What's wrong again?"
Today, only Song Yuqing treated him like a patient.
He also thoroughly enjoyed the treatment of being hospitalized with her. He would ask for an apple one moment and claim that his eyes were uncomfortable the next, asking her to read the greetings from friends for him.
"I just received an order from sister - in - law on the Paileme app," Meng Jiaran said seriously to tease her. "Now I have to fulfill it."
Song Yuqing understood and also laughed softly.
Without warning, Meng Jiaran squeezed over. Song Hang and Song Yue both looked at him in confusion. Song Hang, who had a decent relationship with him, asked with concern, "Jiaran, why did you get up? Are you feeling unwell?"
"I'm fine," Meng Jiaran said, holding up his phone and aiming it at Meng Xianwen to take a photo. "Brother, Zhenzhen is checking up on you. Stand still. I'll take a photo."
"…"
"…"
Song Hang and Song Yue looked at each other, looking utterly amazed.
Was it really necessary?
Meng Xianwen himself seemed to quite enjoy the so - called check - up. Although the smile in his eyes was faint, it was more genuine than when he was chatting with them earlier. He seemed to be in a good mood as he scolded, "Stop being naughty and go lie down."
Meng Jiaran wanted to nod but almost pulled at his wound. He grimaced in pain. After getting back to the bed, he sent the photo.
Ning Zhen opened it and was about to reply when Guo Xia came over with two drinks in hand and gave her a meaningful smile. "I really want to fight with you rich people!"
"What?" Ning Zhen was puzzled.
Guo Xia turned to look at the kitchen. "The voice - recording fridge magnet I gave you. I didn't expect Mr. Meng to be like this in private," she clicked her tongue. "I've really learned something today."
Voice - recording fridge magnet?
Ning Zhen was confused. Didn't the fridge magnet have her voice recorded on it? Before he moved in, she had specifically recorded a message saying "Everything costs three hundred, all three hundred" to remind him not to eat and drink for free at her place!
She sensed something was wrong, and her face changed slightly. She suddenly stood up and ran into the kitchen. The short distance felt like she had run eight hundred meters. Her heart was pounding. She stood in front of the fridge to calm her breathing, then reached out her fingertip and gently pressed the play button on the fridge magnet.
After several seconds of silence, his voice came out, with a smile in it.
It was a sentence that only she and he could understand.
"Zhenzhen, how many bottles of soda can ten million buy you?"
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