After a rainstorm, Beicheng finally slipped into autumn.
For this week, Ning Zhen had briefly returned to living the single life. Meng Xianwen was away on a business trip for seven or eight days, so they could only chat and call each other. The first few days had been perfectly normal: Had she eaten? What had she eaten? Were the doors and windows properly closed?
That changed on the night before he was due to return.
After taking a shower, Ning Zhen sprawled comfortably across the bed, enjoying herself while multitasking. A TV drama played on her tablet, while she played a game on her phone. She was having the time of her life when Meng Xianwen’s name suddenly appeared on the screen.
Without thinking, she declined the call. After finishing the round, she called him back. He answered at an unhurried pace.
“I was just taking a shower.”
She lied through her teeth with her eyes wide open.
But she had no choice. That bastard was not only petty, he also loved lecturing her.
If he found out that she had been having such a wonderful time on the nights he was away, he certainly wouldn’t be happy about it.
Silence settled over the call.
Ning Zhen waited for a while, but he still didn’t say anything. She moved her phone away to check that the signal was full, then tentatively asked, “Honey, are you all right? Did you have too much—”
“Can’t you answer the phone while you’re showering?”
He cut her off, his voice low.
Ning Zhen blinked, wondering if she had heard him correctly.
She became even more convinced that he had been drinking. She knew his itinerary well. Today was the last day of his trip, and after finishing his business, he had to attend a dinner. There was no avoiding alcohol. He held his liquor well and was usually sensible at social functions, drinking only a few glasses to be polite. He would never let himself get so drunk that he lost awareness.
He must have had quite a bit tonight.
“How am I supposed to answer the phone while showering?” Her face warmed. She didn’t want to dwell on the subject, and she was even more worried that someone might be with him. “Are you done with the dinner?”
“Mm,” he said. “I just got back to the hotel.”
Ning Zhen let out a sigh of relief.
Still, that was only to be expected. He had plenty of faults, but he cared about his dignity. When it came to matters like this, he was fairly reliable. He wouldn’t call her in front of other people and say things he shouldn’t.
She had relaxed too soon.
He seemed determined to get an answer. After a few seconds, he asked again, “Can’t you answer the phone while showering?”
“If you want to answer it, you answer it. I’m not answering it.” She more or less understood what he was getting at, and held back a laugh.
He hummed in response. The hotel suite was so quiet that she could clearly hear the sounds coming from his end of the call. She listened carefully, as though she had some kind of supernatural ability. In an instant, she imagined herself appearing right in front of him, watching as he loosened his tie and tossed it aside.
He removed his watch and placed it on the sofa, then raised his hand and undid his buttons one by one.
Ning Zhen sank farther down onto the bed and pulled the covers over herself, wishing she could hide completely. In a soft voice, she asked, “How much did you drink?”
“I don’t remember.”
“Then are you feeling awful?” She pressed her lips together. “Have Assistant Wang get you something to sober up.”
“I don’t want to see him right now.”
Ning Zhen muffled a laugh. He didn’t want to see Assistant Wang, and Assistant Wang probably wanted to see him even less.
She quickly stopped laughing and asked, pretending not to know the answer, “Then who do you want to see?”
“Who do you think?”
As he spoke, he rose from the sofa and headed toward the master bedroom’s bathroom. His steps were not as steady as they were when he was sober, and there was a lazy looseness to them.
Hearing that he was still walking, Ning Zhen criticized him, “You’re such a wasteful man, staying in a suite that big all by yourself!”
Meng Xianwen didn’t argue. If she were there too, he wouldn’t really care where they stayed. Even the budget chain hotel where she had once stayed would have been fine with him. But she wasn’t there, so naturally, he would make himself as comfortable as possible.
Ning Zhen had always been talkative, and the inexplicable atmosphere only made her chatter even more. One sentence followed another.
Even she had no idea what she was saying anymore.
Click.
She fell silent at once.
She knew that sound too well. It was the metallic buckle of a belt coming undone, and it pulled every nerve in her body taut. It felt far too close—so close that she could almost imagine him lying beside her.
They watched each other in silence, their breathing hot and heavy.
“Why did you stop talking?”
He spoke almost as if issuing an order.
“Keep going.”
Reason told Ning Zhen that she should hang up. Who would willingly indulge his madness in the middle of the night? But emotionally, her finger lingered over the end-call button and refused to press it. All she could do was hide beneath the covers and mutter, “Shameless.”
The night was far too quiet, as though the entire world were asleep and only their heartbeats, breathing, and gasps remained, mingling at the same moment.
…
Morning.
Ning Zhen woke groggily and stared blankly at the ceiling for a moment. As her thoughts gradually returned, habit immediately made her reach for her phone. She groped around beside the pillow and found it, but when she touched the screen, it remained completely black.
Then she suddenly remembered. She hadn’t charged it last night. She and Meng Xianwen had stayed on the phone the entire time. Her last memory was of him telling her in a deep voice to go drink some water. She had drunk more than half the water from the thermos on the bedside table, her whole body damp with sweat. She had wanted to take a shower, but she had been too exhausted, so she had simply lain there and waited for her breathing to settle.
She had planned to shower once she had rested, but before she knew it, she had opened her eyes and it was the next day.
She hurriedly plugged in her phone. After waiting a while for it to turn on, she found three missed calls: two from Meng Xianwen and one from Meng Jiaran, who had called ten minutes earlier.
There were also messages on WeChat.
Meng Jiaran: [? Call me back within half an hour, or I’m calling the police.]
Meng Xianwen: [Message me when you wake up.]
Her finger hovered over the screen for several seconds. Deliberately ignoring one particular person, she replied only to Meng Jiaran.
Ning Zhen: [Just woke up. We’ll talk when I get there.]
Meng Jiaran replied instantly.
Meng Jiaran: [Don’t be late!!]
He was truly afraid of her. Looking pitiful and aggrieved, he even sent her a two-hundred-yuan red envelope.
Ning Zhen accepted it quickly, slipped her feet into her slippers, and hurried out of the bedroom. She plunged straight into the bathroom for a shower.
The more she tried to forget what had happened, the more vividly it surfaced in her mind. Her toes curled in embarrassment. She abruptly shut off the water and, taking advantage of the fact that she was alone at home, let out several anguished cries.
Damn it. Damn it.
Her willpower had been especially weak in the middle of the night, and he had kept attacking her defenses without pause. Now that she had woken up and the sun was shining, all she wanted was to erase the entire experience from her memory.
After showering and washing up, her mood finally settled. She emerged from the bathroom with a serene expression.
It was Saturday. Song Yuqing had sent out invitations to her housewarming gathering several days ago.
Meng Jiaran had been injured in a fight and hospitalized, and there had naturally been consequences afterward.
Song Yuqing had rejected every blind date arranged by her parents and other relatives. In addition, she had gradually packed her belongings and moved out of the Song family’s old residence, no longer living with her parents.
Ning Zhen had no idea whether Meng Jiaran had received guidance from some expert behind the scenes or had figured it all out himself.
He moved at the same time, taking an apartment downstairs from Song Yuqing’s.
He called it looking after her. She lived alone, and having a good friend downstairs—someone who knew her well—would give her someone to rely on.
The previous day after work, Ning Zhen had made a trip back to Jingyuan. With complete shamelessness, she had selected a bottle of well-aged red wine from Meng Xianwen’s liquor cabinet to give Song Yuqing as a housewarming present.
As for Meng Jiaran’s housewarming party, the fact that she was willing to show up at all was already an enormous favor to him!
On the way to Song Yuqing’s new home, she made a special stop at the flower shop to pick up the bouquet she had ordered in advance.
Once back in the car, Ning Zhen did not start the engine immediately. She happened to glance at the passenger seat, and an idea came to her.
Sunlight streamed through the car window, illuminating the flowers and red wine on the seat. She immediately took a photo, opened WeChat, deliberately ignored another question mark from Meng Xianwen, and posted the picture to her Moments.
Attached: [Today’s main mission: Go to my best friend’s place and freeload off her food and drinks. Cheers!]
After posting it, she curved her lips into a smile and set off!
Song Yuqing and Meng Jiaran’s apartment was located in a bustling area, yet tucked away from the noise—a garden hidden within the city.
Her license plate had been registered in advance, so she drove smoothly into the complex. After parking, she took the elevator to the twentieth floor. The moment she stepped out of the elevator, a head that looked somewhat like a kiwi poked out from the apartment doorway. Over this period, Meng Jiaran had upgraded from a bald head to a kiwi.
“Look at you, being so polite?”
He came out wearing an apron. “You’re bringing a gift just for coming over? That’s not like you.”
Ning Zhen: “…”
The way he acted as though this were his home—and as though he were the male host—was exactly like his shameless older brother.
As expected of brothers!
She took half a step back, preparing to turn around. Putting on an expression of feigned confusion, she muttered to herself, “Looks like I came to the wrong place. I’m supposed to be going to the twentieth floor, not the nineteenth.”
She was mocking him for treating Song Yuqing’s place as his own and himself as the man of the house.
He even had the nerve to send people the “My Eyes” emoji all the time!
The corner of Meng Jiaran’s mouth twitched.
He keenly caught the sound of light footsteps coming from behind him and hurriedly lowered his voice as he said to Ning Zhen, “You’re not at the wrong place. Hurry and come in.”
Ning Zhen took advantage of the situation. “Send me another red envelope!”
Meng Jiaran held back his temper again and again. “Fine, I’ll send it!”
Song Yuqing also arrived at the door. When she saw the flowers in Ning Zhen’s hands, her eyes lit up. She pushed Meng Jiaran aside and went to greet her. “I was just wondering if you were almost here. These flowers are so pretty. I’ll put them in a vase later.”
Ning Zhen handed the flowers to her. “The flowers are from me. As for the bottle of red wine, that’s Meng Xianwen’s gift. He wanted to wish you a happy life on your own in advance!”
A faint smile appeared at the corners of Song Yuqing’s lips. “Okay.”
She stepped aside, pulled Ning Zhen into the apartment, and Meng Jiaran followed close behind.
The two culinary novices, whose combined number of visits to the kitchen could be counted on one hand, had no idea what had inspired them to get busy in the kitchen so early in the morning. Ning Zhen went over to take a look. Everything looked pretty good, and the lamb chops were sizzling in the oven, filling the room with an enticing aroma.
There were only the three of them for lunch.
Meng Xianwen’s flight was at one in the afternoon, and he was expected to arrive at Beicheng Airport around three thirty.
After lunch, Meng Jiaran glanced at his watch and suggested enthusiastically, “Why don’t we all go to the airport to pick up my brother?”
Ning Zhen was eating melon. A trace of unease flashed through her eyes as she refused, “No. If you want to pick him up, go by yourself. Why should we all go? Is he some kind of important person?”
“Why are you snapping at me?” Meng Jiaran looked at her suspiciously, then understood. “No way. Did you and my brother have another fight?”
Couples’ displays of affection weren’t necessarily of interest to Song Yuqing. She saw them every day whenever she opened her social media feed, and they lost their novelty after a while. But now that she heard they had been fighting, she looked over curiously.
Ning Zhen picked up a cushion from the sofa and threw it at him, then made a zipping motion across her lips.
Shut up. Don’t ask about things that aren’t your business!
Meng Jiaran was speechless. “I give up on you two. I don’t know what there is to fight about. You have a blowup every few days.”
Ning Zhen smiled. “You’re single, so of course you don’t know what we fight about. You’re just jealous. It’s not that you don’t want to argue with someone—you just can’t find anyone to argue with, right?”
“…”
Meng Jiaran instinctively looked toward Song Yuqing.
Their eyes met.
Song Yuqing hurriedly looked away, lowering her eyes as her thoughts wandered.
The atmosphere fell silent for a moment.
Ning Zhen cleared her throat and urged him, “If you’re going to pick him up, hurry up and go. Oh, right—remember to call Xiao Ding. Don’t make him come all this way for nothing.”
“…Oh.”
…
Beicheng Airport.
The first thing Meng Xianwen did after getting off the plane was check his phone.
Her location showed that she was currently at Song Yuqing’s place. She had been posting on her social media one update after another, chatting enthusiastically with Chang Yi and the others in the comments, yet she refused to answer any of his messages.
He knew he had gone a little too far the night before, but he had been drinking at a business dinner and feeling somewhat irritable.
It was also her fault for hanging up on him.
When he had made the first call, he had been in the car on the way back to the hotel. He had only intended to remind her to lock the doors and windows, chat with her for a few minutes, and then hang up.
But she had been the one to end the call.
When she called him back, he had just returned to the suite.
With people coming and going all around him at the airport, Meng Xianwen lowered his head and looked through her replies in the comment section one by one. Just as he was about to exit and send her a message letting her know he had arrived, a voice sounded from several steps away.
“Brother, over here!”
He looked up at the sound.
Meng Jiaran hurried over, taking three steps in two, then opened his arms and gave him a hug. Grinning, he said, “Brother, I came to pick you up. Surprised?”
“By yourself?”
Meng Xianwen nodded casually. According to the location on his phone, he knew she wasn’t at the airport, but he still couldn’t stop himself from scanning the area. Every face around him was unfamiliar.
“I wanted to come with Ning Zhen, but she refused.”
Meng Jiaran shrugged. “She said you two had a fight and she didn’t want to come.”
Then he pressed, “You really did have a fight?”
Meng Xianwen paused, then suddenly laughed. “You could say that.”
