“No,” Meng Chu refused instinctively.
Song Yumian was surprised: “What’s wrong?”
Meng Chu glanced at Cheng Jinyu beside her.
He was gathering the leftovers into the kitchen.
She lowered her voice: “Something came up. How about we meet somewhere for dinner tomorrow night? I’ll tell you then.”
The fact that she was living in this community couldn’t be hidden from Song Yumian at all.
After all, Song Yumian often went to stay at her home.
She could hide it for a while, but not for long.
“Okay. Are you all right?” Song Yumian asked worriedly.
Meng Chu said, “I’m fine.”
Just as she hung up, Cheng Jinyu came out of the kitchen.
Meng Chu felt a little apologetic: “You waited for me to clean up together.”
“It was nothing,” Cheng Jinyu said, not minding at all.
Meng Chu suddenly remembered: “Oh, right. Has Momo been walked?”
“Don’t worry. Someone walks it every day,” Cheng Jinyu explained.
Only then did Meng Chu relax.
But after saying that, the two seemed to fall into a brief silence.
Meng Chu was about to say something when Cheng Jinyu’s gaze fell heavily on her.
His eyes lowered slightly toward her as he said in a low voice, “Meng Chu, you’re not staying here as a guest.”
Huh?
Why bring this up all of a sudden?
She nodded and started to say, “I understand.”
But Cheng Jinyu suddenly smiled again.
He said softly, “I mean, you’re not a guest staying here. You’re also the mistress of this home now.”
“So you can invite your friends over to play anytime.”
Only then did Meng Chu fully understand what he meant.
Actually, Meng Chu could tell that Cheng Jinyu was also someone with a strong sense of boundaries.
Apart from her, almost no outsiders had ever come to his home.
He didn’t even really invite his own friends over.
But now he was letting her feel at ease bringing friends home.
This kind of exception was once again unmistakable.
After a long moment, Meng Chu nodded lightly: “Yeah, I really understand.”
The next evening, Meng Chu arrived at the restaurant she had agreed to meet Song Yumian at.
It was a Japanese restaurant.
She had chosen this place mainly because this kind of Japanese restaurant had small private rooms for two.
Song Yumian arrived just after her. As soon as they sat down in the private room, she teased, “What, is the business-trip guy treating us again today?”
“I’m treating,” Meng Chu said with a smile.
Song Yumian pushed a large bag over: “My parents insisted I bring these to you. They’re just some homemade things. You can buy them in Shanghai too. They kept saying they felt embarrassed about riding home in your boyfriend’s car last time.”
“Thank your uncle and auntie for me,” Meng Chu said, not being overly polite.
After all, Song Yumian had brought it all the way from home.
“Didn’t you say you had something to tell me?” Song Yumian had been holding it in all day.
Meng Chu: “Let’s order first. We’ll talk after ordering.”
She was afraid Song Yumian would get too emotional later.
After ordering, Song Yumian urged, “All right, what did you want to say?”
“I moved,” Meng Chu said, without hiding anything, getting straight to the point.
Song Yumian opened her mouth as if to speak, but in the end it all turned into a sigh.
She said, “Sigh, I knew this day would come sooner or later.”
Actually, ever since Meng Chu’s almost-boyfriend appeared, Song Yumian had felt this day would come sooner or later.
Song Yumian looked distressed: “Does that mean I can’t come to your place to hang out anymore?”
Meng Chu knew she had gotten it wrong and said softly, “It’s not what you think,”
“Huh? Didn’t you move in with your boyfriend?” Song Yumian quickly said, “I don’t discriminate against premarital cohabitation at all. After all, if you’re going to get married, you have to try it out first, right?”
Meng Chu: “…”
She quickly raised the cup in front of her and took a sip of water.
She knew Song Yumian spoke without any restraint, but this was too unrestrained.
Meng Chu hesitated for a long time, but still decided to tell the truth.
“Actually, when I went back to Shanghai that day, something happened.”
After Meng Chu finished explaining the whole story, Song Yumian across from her indeed exploded.
She was trembling with anger: “Damn, that stupid bastard. Seven days was really letting him off easy. That son of a bitch can go to hell.”
“Chuchu, you must have been so scared at the time,” Song Yumian looked at her, tears welling up.
Meng Chu quickly comforted her: “It’s okay. I was very scared when it happened, but I’m much better now.”
“How could there be such a beast,” Song Yumian was so angry she wanted to curse with every swear word she knew.
Even so, she still felt it wasn’t enough.
Meng Chu said, “That’s why I moved out of there.”
Song Yumian nodded hurriedly: “You definitely should move. That bastard knows where you live. Even though we’re not afraid of that kind of idiot, you can’t have anything to do with someone like that.”
“Yeah, so I’m telling you this to make you careful too. You’d better install a camera at your door, and always keep something for self-defense in your bag.”
Meng Chu warned her in detail, afraid Song Yumian might encounter something like this too.
Song Yumian replied, “I understand.”
Seeing that she was about to cry from anger, Meng Chu kept comforting her.
Finally, Song Yumian said softly, “Looking at it this way, your boyfriend is really reliable. He protected you and immediately had you move. By the way, where are you living now?”
Meng Chu said the name of the community: Yulong No.1.
Song Yumian nodded and then said, “This community name sounds so familiar. I think I’ve heard it somewhere.”
Then she suddenly looked at Meng Chu.
“Don’t move. Wait a second.”
Meng Chu sat quietly in her seat as Song Yumian across from her took out her phone and quickly typed, seemingly searching for something.
Of course, Meng Chu knew what she was searching for.
Until Song Yumian looked up at her with a shocked face.
“You don’t mean this community, do you?” Song Yumian turned her phone toward her.
The phone screen indeed showed the community name she had mentioned, and it clearly displayed the per-unit price of homes in the community.
“Damn, so a wealthy family was right next to me all along,” Song Yumian said, shocked.
Meng Chu chuckled: “Don’t be like that.”
Song Yumian: “I knew your boyfriend was rich, but I didn’t know he was rich to this extent.”
Meng Chu didn’t even know whether she should tell her the truth.
Actually, her boyfriend was Cheng Jinyu.
Oh, right, not her boyfriend yet.
Because he was her husband.
“Your dad doesn’t even live in this community now, does he?” Song Yumian suddenly joked.
Meng Chu was amused: “Why do you have a bigger problem with my dad than I do?”
Song Yumian: “He treats Xiao Yixin so well, sending her abroad to study and giving her all kinds of luxury goods. I just can’t stand how Xiao Yixin spends your dad’s money as a matter of course, while you don’t spend a cent.”
“And your dad is so rich. If he had bought you a house in Shanghai, would you have run into this kind of thing?”
At this moment, Song Yumian grew angrier as she spoke.
Instead, Meng Chu comforted her: “All right, I didn’t want it. I don’t want to get too involved with my dad. After all, he already has a new family.”
Song Yumian was even more aggrieved than she was: “But why? He says every day how much he likes you and how proud he is of you, but he doesn’t do anything practical. If he directly transferred 10 million into your bank account, would you give it back to him?”
Meng Chu thought seriously for a moment: “I really wouldn’t. Then I’d split it with you.”
“Okay, it’s settled. We split it.”
Song Yumian said without any politeness.
Then the two began imagining how to spend that 10 million.
After that, Song Yumian suddenly winked at her and said in a low voice, “How does it feel to live together?”
Meng Chu was amused by this sudden question.
She said, “Your turn is too abrupt. We just finished talking about money and you start talking dirty.”
“So, how dirty are you two exactly?” Song Yumian looked shocked and curious.
Meng Chu: “…”
Then she said solemnly, “Absolutely none.”
“Don’t tell me you two still haven’t…” Song Yumian trailed off.
Meng Chu quickly raised her hand: “Stop.”
Song Yumian frowned: “No way. You’re so beautiful. What man could hold back?”
Meng Chu heard her wild words and was about to sigh.
“No, what’s going on with your boyfriend?” But this time Song Yumian knew she shouldn’t say too much.
Seeing her look as if she found it hard to speak, Meng Chu said, “It’s not what you think. Our progress just isn’t that fast.”
“That’s fine, take it slow,” Song Yumian suddenly said. “Is your boyfriend the hard-to-deal-with, aloof type?”
Meng Chu nodded: “A little.”
“No wonder. This kind of guy probably enjoys a slow simmer and won’t be in a hurry.”
Song Yumian looked like she understood it all.
Meng Chu thought for a moment and humbly asked, “So how do I speed things up with someone like that?”
“Huh?” Song Yumian looked at Meng Chu.
Meng Chu nodded and said frankly, “The impatient one seems to be me.”
Because she had dinner with Song Yumian and Cheng Jinyu also had a business dinner, she actually got back earlier than him.
Around after nine, Cheng Jinyu sent her a message.
He said he would be back late and told her to go to bed early.
When Meng Chu finished showering, she saw the messages Song Yumian had sent to her phone.
Song Yumian: [How was it? How was it?]
Meng Chu: [Sorry, he has a business dinner tonight and still hasn’t come home.]
Song Yumian: [Business dinners are good. Business dinners mean drinking.]
Song Yumian: [Hehe, too much alcohol makes people impulsive.]
Song Yumian: [Don’t sleep. Wait for him to come home! Take him down in one go!!!]
Meng Chu: “…”
She suddenly regretted asking Song Yumian for advice.
Because the idea Song Yumian gave her was to pretend to fall in front of him, create physical contact, and spark love.
Meng Chu sighed.
Last night she had still been searching for how to confirm whether the other person liked her.
Tonight, she was already preparing to create physical contact and spark love?
Put that way, she really was quite impatient.
Meng Chu leaned against the bed sorting work documents.
They would go to Hualin Group on Thursday.
Their project proposal still needed further improvement, and she and her team had been busy with this for the past few days.
Just as she was fully absorbed in work, there was suddenly some movement from the quiet outside.
But the bedroom was too far from the living room, so she only heard something vague.
Meng Chu couldn’t help putting down her laptop and getting up to check outside.
When she reached the living room, she saw Cheng Jinyu by the bar not far away.
He was unscrewing a bottle of mineral water and drinking it with his head tilted back.
After drinking half the bottle in one go, he finally put it down.
At that moment, Cheng Jinyu also noticed Meng Chu: “Not asleep yet?”
Meng Chu walked over and smelled the faint scent of alcohol on him: “Did you drink a lot?”
“No, just a few glasses. I really couldn’t decline,” Cheng Jinyu explained softly.
Seeing that he was clear-headed, Meng Chu believed him.
“Why don’t you go take a shower first and rest early?” Meng Chu said.
Cheng Jinyu didn’t say anything, just looked at her.
Fortunately, he soon walked over.
Meng Chu was also hesitating. He had been drinking, so he must be tired.
Maybe she should just forget it tonight?
Just as she hesitated, whether because her heart wanted it or heaven was helping her, Meng Chu actually slipped and tilted to the side.
Cheng Jinyu happened to be right beside her and quickly grabbed her arm.
Only then did Meng Chu avoid falling.
But after steadying herself, she blinked, and an absurd thought flashed through her mind.
Maybe…
Just now.
“Ouch, my foot, my foot,” Meng Chu called out softly twice, then looked at Cheng Jinyu with her brows tightly furrowed: “I think I twisted it.”
Cheng Jinyu looked at her ankle, then raised his eyes to her.
Meng Chu took the chance to say, “Can you help me back to the room?”
If he helped her like that, wouldn’t there be physical contact?
Before Meng Chu could feel even a trace of secret delight, she suddenly felt her whole body lift into the air.
When she looked at Cheng Jinyu, their gazes were frighteningly close.
Because Cheng Jinyu had directly picked her up.
In a princess carry.
“Helping is too much trouble. I’ll just carry you in.”
Cheng Jinyu’s bright, dark eyes stared straight at her.
Meng Chu pursed her lips slightly and finally said in a muffled voice, “Sorry to trouble you.”
When they reached the room, Cheng Jinyu set her down by the bed, then knelt on one knee in front of her and reached out to check her ankle.
When his slender fingers gently pinched her ankle,
Meng Chu felt a tingling sensation run up from her ankle.
It tickled so much that she couldn’t help wanting to pull her foot back.
“Does your ankle still hurt?” Cheng Jinyu examined it carefully. The skin was not red or swollen, still fair and smooth.
Meng Chu said softly, “It still hurts a little.”
When Cheng Jinyu came back to his senses, he raised his face to look at Meng Chu again.
He saw her leg move involuntarily, and the guilt in her eyes was completely exposed.
Although Cheng Jinyu had drunk a little, his mind was very clear.
He suddenly chuckled lowly.
Seeing his inexplicable smile, Meng Chu couldn’t help asking, “What’s wrong?”
“You,” Cheng Jinyu stared at her, his voice slightly hoarse from drinking: “Who taught you this move?”
Pretending to fall in front of him.
Was this deliberately seducing him?
“What? I just fell by accident,” Meng Chu was so startled that she shrank back onto the bed.
She immediately burrowed under the covers.
The ankle that had just hurt too much to walk on was now completely fine.
She pulled the blanket up to cover her whole body and said from under it, “Go take a shower. I’m tired and want to sleep.”
The boat capsized!
She! Just! Shouldn’t! Have! Played! That! Trick!
She was seen through immediately.
Meng Chu hid under the blanket, curling up into a ball.
Until she felt her blanket being lightly tugged. She held on for dear life.
But the other party seemed unwilling to give up.
So she quickly turned over and lay on her side facing the direction where she slept.
This time, the blanket was still lightly pulled by an outside force.
‘Fine, fine, fine.’
‘So you’re laughing at me, huh.’
‘Come on, come on.’
Meng Chu simply let go of the blanket. Sure enough, the blanket over her head was pulled down, revealing her slightly flushed face.
Her already delicate face now carried a shy, slightly annoyed look.
She was so beautiful she hardly seemed of this world.
Cheng Jinyu slowly approached her. His sharply defined Adam’s apple visibly bobbed. 1
Their eyes met.
Before Meng Chu could look away amid her wildly pounding heart, Cheng Jinyu had already spoken in a low voice.
“I really like it.”
“I really like this move of yours.”