The gossip topic on the 23rd floor of Hengxing Group today is a pen.
Everyone who entered the office to see Meng Xianwen, whether they needed his signature or not, could immediately notice a prominent furry pen on the spacious office desk. The sight was quite a shock.
Only Assistant Wang, who had seen a lot in the world, remained unusually calm.
He went to the tea break area to make a cup of coffee to keep himself awake. A secretary who was on good terms with him pulled him aside and whispered, "Is it true? I heard that Mr. Zhang almost tripped and fell when he walked out of Mr. Meng's office today."
Assistant Wang helplessly dispelled the rumor. "It's not that exaggerated. Besides, that's not Mr. Meng's pen. It should be something Miss Ning accidentally left behind."
"That's why we're gossiping!" The secretary shrugged and gave him a look as if saying "You don't understand." "I never thought Mr. Meng would be like this. I can't look at him the same way anymore."
Assistant Wang took a sip of his coffee and smiled mysteriously.
These people hadn't seen Miss Ning's WeChat Moments. If they had, they'd probably be flabbergasted.
At first, when he just added Miss Ning on WeChat, he felt quite uncomfortable and self - conscious. He even had to group - block her when posting on his Moments. But soon he found that Miss Ning posted on her Moments much more frequently than him. It seemed that she didn't block him, so he could see every day on WeChat how much she and his boss loved each other, and how happy his boss was.
As time passed, except for the Moments where he complained about work in the company, he no longer blocked her from seeing the ones recording his daily life.
By noon, Meng Xianwen, who was at the center of the topic, finally found some time to think about things other than work. After a moment of deep thought, he opened the drawer, found the checkbook, and dialed the internal phone, asking Xiao Ding to come up.
On Wednesday morning, Ning Zhen spent her time doing two things at once. While busily dealing with her work, she also kept an eye on her WeChat messages. To her annoyance, Meng Xianwen had been completely silent the whole morning, as if he were dead.
Hadn't he noticed that his precious pen was missing?
Or did he not care even if the pen was lost?
Whether it was the former or the latter, she was planning to strangle him when he fell asleep at night.
She lay on her nap pillow, turning left and then right. Just when she couldn't hold back and was about to call him and scold him, her phone screen flashed. It was a call from Xiao Ding.
Before 2 p.m., Ning Zhen quickly rushed downstairs. Xiao Ding was already waiting there. When he saw her coming, he stepped forward quickly and handed her an envelope. "Miss Ning, this is what Mr. Meng asked me to give you."
Ning Zhen was slightly stunned. "What is this?"
As soon as the words left her mouth, she immediately guessed that there might be a check in the envelope, and she was overjoyed.
Xiao Ding scratched his head. "I really don't know."
He guessed it was probably a love letter.
Who would believe that Mr. Meng was so clingy when it came to love?
Ning Zhen pursed her lips and smiled. After thanking Xiao Ding, she turned around and walked into the building briskly. She couldn't help but want to open it several times, but since there were people in the elevator, she had to hold back.
When she went upstairs and returned to her office, she quickly rushed into the restroom, closed the compartment door, took a deep breath, and opened it. Inside was indeed a light check.
The figures on it were precise, even down to cents. Well, this was something Meng Xianwen would do!
She carefully put the check away and angrily sent him a message to question him. [I've received the check. What does it mean!]
The man who had been as silent as a dead person the whole morning quickly replied. [What do you think?]
Ning Zhen was really asking a question she already knew the answer to. She could tell at a glance what this amount was for.
He was paying her the reward for being his agreed - upon girlfriend, calculating by the day until the day he woke up from his amnesia.
Ning Zhen sneered. [You said you'd give me ten million. You're going back on your word.]
Meng Xianwen: [A bottle of soda costs three hundred. You get paid for however many bottles you drink, settled daily.]
Was this what he meant by installment payment?
Ning Zhen sent dozens of sarcastic thumbs. She knew she shouldn't have expected too much from him. Meng Xianwen was still that jerk. He wouldn't become a different person just because he was in love.
These past few days had been so sweet, and he had been so considerate everywhere. She was actually a bit unaccustomed to it.
Now that she saw his true colors showing, she rolled up her sleeves and replied with a smile. [Then you should settle the account for the ones you drank before. There are rules for daily settlements. Don't you know how many bottles you drank from me before!]
At this moment, Meng Xianwen was sitting leisurely in his chair, reading this message word by word. He couldn't help but laugh, looking relaxed and at ease.
But they were both very tacit. Neither of them mentioned the fact that the pen had been switched.
She was preparing a surprise, and he was waiting for the surprise.
-
These past few days, Ning Zhen and Meng Xianwen had agreed to meet at the hospital in the evening and then go home together.
She was surprised by his ability to handle things. Meng Jiaran had caused quite a stir, but he managed to suppress the whole thing. It had been five or six days since he was hospitalized, and the old house hadn't heard a single bit of news from the outside world.
Not only the old house, but also the social circle was quiet, as if nothing had happened.
Meng Jiaran was having a rather peaceful time recuperating in the hospital. Especially, Song Yuqing treated him as the most fragile person in the world, being soft - hearted and considerate towards him.
This guy even discussed with the doctor that he felt unwell and very weak, and he wanted to be discharged later. He wouldn't mind staying in the hospital for ten more days or so.
The doctor tactfully conveyed the patient's request to the family members, and both Ning Zhen and Meng Xianwen fell silent.
When the two turned back to the ward, he stopped, pulled her into the safety staircase. With no one around, he whispered, "Later, you take Song Yuqing out of the ward first. I'll call you, and then you come back."
Ning Zhen gloated and laughed out loud.
Why was she so happy that Meng Jiaran was in trouble? The only pity was that she couldn't watch the scene on the spot.
" He really deserves a good beating. Honey, I support you!" Ning Zhen hugged his arm and couldn't wait to pull him back to the ward, but he didn't move at all.
" You—" As soon as she opened her mouth to say one word, he lowered his head and kissed her, swallowing the rest of her words.
Ning Zhen closed her eyes.
She should have thought earlier. Was it really necessary to come to the staircase just for one sentence? He had no good intentions!
Fortunately, he knew where they were. After just a few seconds, he immediately let go.
The two of them seemed to have just come here to talk. Soon, they returned to the corridor with natural expressions.
Ning Zhen lied to Song Yuqing that she was too full and asked her to accompany her for a walk downstairs to digest the food. Meng Jiaran, who was lying on the hospital bed, followed them with his eyes.
Meng Xianwen leaned against the window, looking at his younger brother's worthless and spineless appearance, and felt a headache coming on.
" In two more days, you should get ready to be discharged from the hospital." He said in a deep voice. "I've arranged for a family doctor and an aunt to take care of your daily life. You can go back to Mom and Dad's place after you've recovered."
Meng Jiaran took his eyes back from the door and said in shock, "Brother, I'm not well yet. Be discharged?"
"Tell me, when do you want to stay until?" Meng Xianwen looked calm, with a smile on his face. "Shall I book it for you until Chinese New Year's Eve?"
Meng Jiaran thought something was wrong. He put away all his little thoughts and apologized without hesitation. "Brother, I was wrong."
As angry as he might be looking at his brother's appearance, he was still his own younger brother. Meng Xianwen shifted his gaze, tilted his head, and looked downstairs.
The night had fallen, and the tree shadows were mottled under the street lights. From the ninth floor, it was hard to make out the faces of the passers-by. But he found Ning Zhen's figure at a glance, almost instinctively.
She seemed to be in a great mood, chatting and gesturing non-stop with Song Yuqing.
He clicked on his phone and sent a message.
Downstairs, Ning Zhen noticed that there were few people on this road in front of the VIP inpatient department. When she was talking to someone in a relaxed manner, she wanted to communicate face - to - face. As she got excited, she unconsciously turned around to look at Song Yuqing and took a few steps backward.
Suddenly, the phone in her hand lit up. She stopped and opened it to see a message from Meng Xianwen: [Walk properly].
Her eyes instinctively shifted upwards, and she looked up floor by floor. She vaguely recognized the figure in a certain window, knowing that he was staring at her. She directly waved her fist at him.
Song Yuqing also stopped and looked up along her line of sight, breaking into a silent laugh.
In front of the window on the ninth floor, there was another figure. She recognized the person as Meng Jiaran. After his head was bandaged, his silhouette was reflected on the window by the light, looking very much like a pineapple.
Meng Jiaran really wanted to stick his head out to say hello to them, but with his brother right beside him, he didn't dare even if he had the courage of a bear and the gall of a leopard. He could only squeeze by the window and look down with them.
...
In a blink of an eye, it was Friday.
From the moment Ning Zhen arrived at the company for work, she had been looking forward to getting off work. The delivery riders were very busy that day, sending out one bunch of flowers after another.
Throughout the day, she could see roses placed on the desks of some colleagues here and there. Influenced by this atmosphere, after she got in the car after work, she glanced around, but there wasn't even a blade of grass, let alone a flower.
Meng Xianwen noticed all her little actions and coughed lightly to hide his smile.
Ning Zhen glared at him, sat back properly, and cleared her throat. "Where are we going?"
"To have dinner first."
Meng Xianwen didn't want to reveal too much. After giving a simple answer, he lowered his head to look through his phone. She stole a glance and saw that it was work again. If it weren't for the fact that he left work early to pick her up, she would have told him to go back to Hengxing and spend the Qixi Festival with his business.
Ning Zhen curiously watched the street scenery outside the car window. Several times, she thought they were approaching the destination, but the car drove past.
The car sped along for a long time.
Gradually, they started to leave the urban area of Beicheng and seemed to be heading towards the neighboring city. She looked puzzled and finally couldn't help but kick his trouser leg and asked, "Where on earth are we going?"
Meng Xianwen propped his forehead and glanced at her. "You'll know when we get there."
Ning Zhen: "..."
The less he said, the more curious she became. It was not within the territory of Beicheng, and she was not very familiar with it. She took out her phone to search for the nearby map. Just as she unlocked it, he snatched it away.
"Don't look at your phone in the car," he said.
Of course, she guessed that he was trying to give her a surprise. There was a smile in her eyes, but her mouth was merciless. "You've been looking at yours for a long time!"
Her hands were also busy, pretending to grab the phone back. Meng Xianwen dodged, and the two of them seemed to have found the last bit of fun on this journey and started a childish tug - of - war over a phone.
Thanks to the partition being put down, Xiao Ding, who was concentrating on driving in the driver's seat, knew nothing about it. Ning Zhen grabbed Meng Xianwen's tie and straddled his lap.
She caught him off guard this time. After getting close, she deftly felt for the phone in his pocket and said proudly, "Stunned, right? You snatched mine, and it's the same for me to take yours."
Seeing Meng Xianwen's momentary look of surprise, Ning Zhen became even more complacent. This was what they meant by "The magic art is one foot high, but the Taoism is one foot taller." She quickly got back to her seat. She knew the password; it had been changed to her birthday.
Just as the phone was unlocked, there was a sudden laugh beside her. She turned to look, and there was no trace of surprise on his face at all. It was all an act. When he saw her looking at him, he said slowly, "We're here."
He had been playing tricks on her!
Ning Zhen realized it later and threw the phone back at him discontentedly. Her attention was quietly diverted. When she casually looked out of the car window, she was stunned.
In the night, there were sparse lights twinkling at the dock of the port. The window was lowered, and a faint, salty breeze blew in, lifting her hair.
In a daze, she let him lead her out of the car and stared blankly at the yacht moored at the dock.
It took her a long time to come to her senses. Her eyes were filled with great surprise, and she threw herself into his arms. "Oh my god! Is this... is this my Qixi Festival gift?!"
Ning Zhen's heart was pounding wildly.
She remembered pestering him for a yacht when they were in Nancheng. She never dreamed that it would become a reality and be parked right in front of her.
Meng Xianwen was almost knocked back half a step by her.
He tightened his arms and laughed in her ear. "Don't think too much. It's not a gift."
Ning Zhen's face changed in an instant. Angrily, she tried to push him away. "Meng Xianwen, explain clearly!"
"At most, it's a gift box," he said.
Normally, solemn gifts come with packaging, which may be delicate or ordinary. Without exception, the real surprises are always hidden.
Meng Xianwen would not and could not give this yacht to Ning Zhen as the first Qixi Festival gift.
It had once been in the hands of another person.
Absolutely impossible.
Ning Zhen couldn't understand all these twists and turns. She only cared about one question. "Is the yacht mine? Just tell me yes or no!"
He was silent for a few seconds and then murmured an affirmative answer.
"Oh my god, hubby, I love this gift so much!"
"I've already said it's not a gift," Meng Xianwen corrected, his tone cold. "If you say it wrong again, we'll go home."
