When Guo Xia came over, Ning Zhen was still standing in a daze in front of the refrigerator. After the recording ended, she played it again, listening to it over and over, yet her heartbeat showed no sign of slowing.
“He really is giving you ten million yuan?” Guo Xia leaned against her shoulder, teasing her. “If he transfers the money to you or gives you a check or something, you have to show me immediately. I’ve never seen that much money in my life!”
Ning Zhen was still lost in thought.
Guo Xia didn’t understand what the ten million meant. Neither did anyone else. Only she and Meng Xianwen—who had never lost his memory, or had recovered it—knew that this was the amount stipulated in their original agreement.
She had been his girlfriend in name only, helping him turn down his engagement to the Song family and silencing the gossip around him. Once the one-year term was up, he would give her ten million yuan, and she and Meng Jiaran would never have anything to do with each other again.
Without a doubt, he had recorded this before yesterday. So he had already been prepared to tell her the truth, merely waiting for the day she happened to come to the refrigerator and press the play button on a whim. Then she would discover that he had already recovered his memory.
Even if she hadn’t noticed anything unusual in the driver’s words on the day they picked up the car, she would have found out what he had been hiding sooner or later—perhaps on some utterly ordinary morning or evening.
That bastard. He really knew how to catch people off guard!
Ning Zhen was angry, amused, and a little on the verge of tears. In her twenty-three years of life, only he had ever made her feel such a complicated mix of emotions. Gritting her teeth, she smiled and said, “He’s so annoying!”
“He recorded it secretly?” Guo Xia guessed with great interest. “Then if I hadn’t come today, you wouldn’t have known?”
“So you’re my greatest benefactor.” Ning Zhen gathered up all her emotions and turned to hug Guo Xia. At that moment, she felt so light she could almost float away. “If he really gives me ten million yuan, I’ll definitely give you a huge bonus!”
Guo Xia burst out laughing.
Ning Zhen spent the entire afternoon walking on air, completely distracted. The kitchen seemed to be hiding some priceless treasure; every so often, she would hurry back to the refrigerator to listen to his recording again.
Guo Xia couldn’t help reaching out to feel her forehead. She clearly didn’t have a fever, so why did she look so seriously ill?
Meng Xianwen also thought Ning Zhen was acting very strangely.
Since Song Yuqing would be staying behind to look after Meng Jiaran, he hadn’t remained at the hospital for long. He returned around dusk, deliberately having the restaurant deliver several dishes Ning Zhen liked.
He had assumed she would treat him as coldly as she had at noon.
“Jiaran said Song Hang and Song Yue went there too?” Her eyes were full of smiles as she chatted with him naturally. “Luckily, I left early. If I’d seen Song Yue’s face, it would have ruined my mood for the entire day.”
Meng Xianwen’s probing gaze moved over her face. Even he couldn’t understand why her attitude had changed so dramatically in only a few hours. “Jiaran was hospitalized because of Song Yuqing, after all. If no one from the Song family came to visit, it wouldn’t make sense.”
“Anyway, I don’t want to see him.”
Ning Zhen didn’t consider herself petty. As far as she was concerned, there was only one person on the list of people who had bullied her yet whom she was still willing to forgive.
That person was the man sitting across from her—Meng Xianwen.
“Don’t worry. He won’t go again.”
Meng Xianwen quietly observed her. He soon noticed where the problem lay: her eyes kept drifting toward the kitchen. He lowered his gaze and thought for a moment before breaking into a silent laugh.
After washing up, he found the ointment in the refrigerator and went into the master bedroom. Ning Zhen was lying on her stomach, distractedly watching something on her tablet. The instant he opened the door, her attention flew toward him, and she pricked up her ears to listen to his footsteps.
He sat down beside the bed and patted her leg. “Get up. I’ll apply the ointment for you.”
It wasn’t only her who had lost control last night. He hadn’t known when to stop, either.
Rationally, he knew that people shouldn’t vent their anger or resolve problems in that manner. Emotionally, however, when he realized that she was thinking of leaving, he had been utterly incapable of remaining rational or calm.
She had actually been planning to leave. She really would leave him.
It was as though some despicable instinct hidden deep within his body had driven him to act on an uncontrollable desire to possess her.
And all of it was her fault.
So no matter what method he had to use, he would never allow her to leave.
Ning Zhen paused the video and turned to look at him. The words were already on the tip of her tongue, but she swallowed them back. He was wearing nothing but a pair of pants, his upper body bare. One sweep of her gaze over him filled her with smug satisfaction at the evidence of her own glorious victory.
He really did look as though someone had beaten him up.
There were scratches, claw marks, and bite marks. He looked an absolute mess.
Last night, she had been both furious and wronged. She had even blamed herself. Why had she ever fallen for this man? She could have randomly grabbed anyone off the street, and they would probably have been less infuriating than him.
Not only had he left her hanging all afternoon and evening, but after she had finally managed to feel a little better, he had come knocking on her door.
If he had sincerely apologized and tried to make amends, she… she wouldn’t have simply let him off the hook!
But what had he done? Not only had he failed to apologize, he had coldly criticized her instead. When she had run upstairs past him, she had truly made up her mind never to see him again for the rest of her life.
Even if they ever met again, it would only be at his funeral, where she could come face-to-face with his portrait.
As Ning Zhen recalled everything that had happened the night before, her expression tightened once more. She sat up, swept all her hair to one side, and exposed the skin along her neck and beneath her collarbone.
He slipped an arm around her and drew her closer. Squeezing some transparent gel ointment onto his fingertip, he calmly spread it over the marks.
When she noticed his gaze moving lower, Ning Zhen quickly pushed him away and pulled down the hem of her nightdress. In a serious tone, she said, “That’s all!”
Meng Xianwen’s Adam’s apple bobbed. He hummed in response.
She snatched the ointment from his hand. The moment her fingertips touched his back, she felt the muscles tense beneath them. For some reason, the sight of them applying medicine to each other struck her as hilarious. Pressing her lips together to suppress a laugh, she asked, “What’s the story behind the recording on the refrigerator magnet?”
She had finally asked.
Keeping it bottled up had been too unbearable.
Just as she had guessed that if he had recovered his memory, she had to confirm it for herself, she now felt the same way about the recording.
“What recording?” he asked, pretending not to know.
Ning Zhen wasn’t about to show any mercy to her boyfriend. She deliberately pressed down hard on one of the wounds on his back and imitated his usual tone. “I’m busy. You have one minute. If you don’t say anything, keep it to yourself.”
Meng Xianwen really did remain silent for an entire minute. Before Ning Zhen could urge him on, he finally said in a low voice, “Compared with how things began, I care more about the outcome. Whether you believe me or not, I really did consider never recovering my memory for the rest of my life.”
“I don’t believe you!” Ning Zhen immediately saw through him. “Do you dare swear on your conscience that you never once thought of using this against me someday when we had a fight?”
Before he could answer, she added, “I almost forgot. You don’t have a conscience in the first place.”
Meng Xianwen gave a short laugh. “Tell me, what exactly do you think I want to use against you?”
Ning Zhen punched him in the back again. “You think I don’t know? You just want me to obediently do whatever you say. You did before, and you still do now!”
Meng Xianwen neither confirmed nor denied the accusation. He continued explaining why he had made the recording. “On the two nights we were traveling, Lu Yuan called me.”
Ning Zhen let out a derisive snort. “Nothing good ever comes from you two talking on the phone at night. You’re always plotting how to fool people, aren’t you?”
“Lu Yuan said something.” His voice was calm and even. “He said that if I planned to take our relationship further, I should wait until I recovered my memories. At that time, he didn’t know that I had already recovered them—”
“He still doesn’t know now, does he?” Ning Zhen was practically filled with admiration for him. “How did you have the nerve to say I was deceiving both sides? Are you any better? You’re the worst of all—you deceived everyone!”
Meng Xianwen fell silent, then continued with what he had left unsaid. “Anyway, I thought about it for a long time. On the night I came back, after you fell asleep, I made a recording. Sooner or later, you were bound to discover it. I planted that bomb myself.”
It was precisely because he wanted a future with her that he had kept it hidden.
And it was also precisely because he wanted a future with her that he had finally confessed.
He had planned everything, yet overlooked the most important factor: her.
She was uncontrollable, unpredictable, impossible to plan for.
At last, he said it aloud. “Zhenzhen, can ten million buy all the soda water I’ll drink for the rest of my life?”
Ning Zhen understood what he really meant.
She had understood it the first time she heard him say it that afternoon. He wanted to tell her that, from now on, there would be no more talk of agreements or contracts. He wanted to use the money he had promised to give her in exchange for a genuine new beginning with her.
She sniffed and answered without a second thought, “Then give me ten million first!”
After a long silence, he turned around and pulled her into his arms, saying the most infuriating thing in the calmest possible tone. “Following your earlier suggestion, we’ll pay in installments. You’re perfectly capable of taking the money and running.”
Ning Zhen laughed in exasperation. “How many installments? Tell me clearly!”
Anything involving money was of the utmost importance. She had to discuss it with him properly.
Amused by her, Meng Xianwen laughed as well, then held her even tighter.
—
The next day was Monday.
Ning Zhen was half-asleep at work all day. When six o’clock finally arrived and she clocked out, she rushed to the hospital as fast as she could.
Perhaps it was because he had someone he loved taking such attentive care of him, but Meng Jiaran looked much better than he had the day before.
Song Yuqing brazenly skipped work. Because of Meng Jiaran’s injury, her conflict with her parents had reached a boiling point, and she had finally stood up for herself, declaring that she would never go on another blind date or enter into a marriage alliance in this lifetime.
Meng Jiaran was secretly delighted, but he still pretended to be serious as he said, “You should have done that ages ago. Whether it’s dating or getting married, you should be with someone you like. Look at how well my brother is doing now. But then again, my brother and Zhenzhen have known each other for so many years. They know each other inside and out—it’s safe and reliable. You should also… take a closer look. Anyway, there’s bound to be someone suitable.”
The corners of Ning Zhen’s mouth twitched. He might as well have just announced Brother Xianwen’s ID number.
Song Yuqing nodded with a smile. “We’ll see. I don’t want to think about that right now. It’s too much trouble.”
Meng Jiaran fell silent.
The two of them had spent the entire day at the hospital. Even someone as lively and carefree as Meng Jiaran—and even Song Yuqing—couldn’t sit still any longer. It was terribly boring, and the three of them looked at one another in turn.
The patient himself took the initiative to suggest, “How about we play cards?”
Song Yuqing had no objection, but she hesitated before saying, “Won’t Xianwen be coming over later?”
Meng Xianwen never said much, but he was very concerned about his younger brother’s injuries. Before going to work at Hengxing that morning, he had even taken a detour to the hospital and stayed for nearly an hour before leaving. He had also turned down all his social engagements, so he would probably come by after work as well.
“No problem!” Ning Zhen unlocked her phone and opened the location-sharing app for them to see. The three heads crowded together. “See? He and I are both sharing our locations. If he comes to the hospital, we’ll put the cards away.”
“…”
“…”
Meng Jiaran and Song Yuqing exchanged a look and fell silent.
Sharing their locations and everything—it was far too lovey-dovey and sickeningly sweet.
After finishing the work at hand, Meng Xianwen hurried over from the company to the hospital room. What he saw was a warm and harmonious scene.
Ning Zhen sat on the sofa peeling an apple. Meng Jiaran lay obediently in bed, while Song Yuqing stood to one side, adjusting the channels with the remote and softly asking the patient what he wanted to watch. The patient said he wanted to watch a financial program so he could learn something.
Meng Xianwen surveyed the room, then fixed his gaze on Ning Zhen’s face. He walked steadily over to her, took the fruit knife from her hand, and said evenly, “Why peel an apple before eating it?”
Ning Zhen had only picked it up in a moment of panic and pretended to be busy.
They had been playing cards so enthusiastically that they gradually stopped paying attention to the location-sharing app. By the time they realized he had already arrived at the hospital, they were all flustered. On impulse, she had picked up an apple. She had remembered how Song Yuqing had peeled one the day before and thought she would try it too.
“Brother, she peeled it for you!” Meng Jiaran blurted out.
Ning Zhen: “…”
She turned her eyes to Meng Xianwen and met his gaze, then nodded. “If you don’t want it, forget it.”
“Peel it if you want to,” he said after a few seconds of silence, changing his mind.
Ning Zhen threw his own words back at him. “Why peel an apple before eating it?”
Song Yuqing hurriedly lowered her head and fiddled with the remote, pretending to be busy while actually struggling not to laugh.
Meng Xianwen and Ning Zhen didn’t stay in the hospital room for long. They got up to leave just after eight. Song Yuqing also opened another room and, despite the fact that even the VIP rooms came with nursing aides, insisted on staying behind to take care of Meng Jiaran.
…
In the span of just two days, the two of them had argued and made up. It seemed they hadn’t even had time to regain the sweetness they’d shared before, and now they had to throw themselves back into work.
After the car arrived downstairs, neither Ning Zhen nor Meng Xianwen brought it up, but they tacitly headed outside the residential compound and walked toward the park they had visited from time to time before.
“Is there any follow-up regarding Jiaran?” She didn’t take his arm as she usually did, but he reached over and took her hand anyway. Several times, when she tried to pull away because it was too warm, he only held on more tightly.
“We can only do our best to keep things from escalating.” When he saw a child riding toward them, Meng Xianwen pulled her in front of him and shielded her.
This was a narrow path with few passersby. As night deepened, he took advantage of the darkness to kiss her forehead and said softly, “But Jiaran’s feelings for Song Yuqing may no longer remain a secret. People are bound to start guessing.”
Ning Zhen was surprised, though not entirely. “You knew that Jiaran…”
Then realization dawned on her. “So that’s why you rejected the marriage alliance with the Song family?”
“Don’t read too much into it.” He glanced at her, worried that she might let her imagination run wild, and helplessly explained, “I didn’t know at first, and I hadn’t thought about it.”
“Oh, oh. Then when did you find out?” she asked curiously.
“That night.” Meng Xianwen answered nonchalantly. “Jiaran must have been drunk. He sent me a message wishing me and Song Yuqing happiness. It was completely out of nowhere. Otherwise, why do you think I went back to the old house that day?”
His return to the old house had been a spur-of-the-moment decision.
First, he needed to retrieve the seal. Second, he wanted to ask his younger brother what was going on. But as soon as he parked the car, Uncle Yang told him that Jiaran had drunk too much and had already gone to sleep.
He had originally intended to take the seal and leave. After going upstairs, however, he ran into her sneaking out of Jiaran’s room.
Ning Zhen froze. Her expression shifted repeatedly as her thoughts churned. She shoved him away and hurried deeper down the path.
A force caught hold of her and pulled her back into his arms. Before he could say anything, she raised her face and shouted, “You’re so annoying! Why did you have to recover your memories?”
“That’s one of the reasons I didn’t want to confess back then!” Ning Zhen blurted out, wishing she could grab another brick and knock him into amnesia all over again. “It’s so embarrassing—ahhhhh! I don’t have feelings for Jiaran at all… How could I possibly be interested in him? I’m not. Not at all!”
“Meng Xianwen, I’m warning you: if a third person finds out about this, I won’t let you off!”
Bathed in moonlight, she was flustered and desperate, utterly vivid.
Meng Xianwen stared at her without blinking. In that instant, everything he had once minded—even been jealous of—no longer mattered. He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her.
