At that moment, the private room door was pushed open, and a waiter brought in the red wine.
The waiter politely asked, “Would you like me to open the wine now, both of you?”
“Sure, thank you,” Meng Chu nodded.
Soon, the waiter swiftly and efficiently opened the bottle. This restaurant didn’t have a formal wine-tasting ritual, and as for decanting, it was done rather hastily.
The red liquid gently swirled in the clean, crystal-clear wine glasses.
Once the waiter poured wine for both of them, he left the private room again.
Meng Chu reached out and raised her glass toward Cheng Jinyu across the table. “Let me toast you first.”
The contract with Linjiang Group had progressed so quickly precisely because of the information Cheng Jinyu provided.
If she hadn’t known where Zheng Qifeng played basketball, the event couldn’t have been arranged.
Cheng Jinyu, who had been lowering his eyelashes as if lost in thought, seemed enveloped in an inexplicable mood.
Only when Meng Chu raised her glass did she notice something was off with him.
“What’s wrong?” she asked softly.
But Cheng Jinyu picked up his wine glass and lightly clinked it against hers. “Congratulations.”
Seeing a smile appear on his face, Meng Chu finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Soon after, the waiter brought in dishes. The serving speed was not too slow.
“You don’t seem to be used to this wine, do you?” Meng Chu put down her glass and asked.
This bottle wasn’t too expensive, probably incomparable to what he usually drank.
Cheng Jinyu shook his head. “It’s alright. The taste is quite decent.”
Meng Chu chuckled softly. “Actually, I don’t really know how to appreciate any wine.”
Suddenly, Cheng Jinyu laughed.
Meng Chu didn’t understand what was funny and thought she might have said something wrong.
Before she could ask, Cheng Jinyu said leisurely, “I remember you once told me, you can’t even appreciate tea.”
His words brought the memory back to her.
She laughed at herself, then slowly took another sip.
Cheng Jinyu watched her face, seeing that she was carefully savoring the wine’s flavor.
“Alright, I still don’t get it,” Meng Chu admitted, giving up.
Although she didn’t know how to appreciate wine, it didn’t stop her from drinking a few more sips.
After all, drinking was meant to celebrate and lighten the mood.
Perhaps because Cheng Jinyu was opposite her, she didn’t worry about being pressured to drink.
Instead, as she drank, more than half the bottle of red wine disappeared.
When the meal was over, Meng Chu called the waiter in to prepare the bill.
Unexpectedly, after entering, the waiter whispered, “Sir, the bill has already been settled on this side.”
Meng Chu instinctively looked up toward Cheng Jinyu, who had a calm expression.
“It’s not like you’re treating me,” she said, a bit helpless.
Cheng Jinyu replied, “The two of us, do we still need to split?”
Meng Chu was momentarily stunned.
The waiter beside them lowered his head and chuckled quietly, clearly thinking they must be a close couple.
“Alright, let’s go home,” Cheng Jinyu stood up.
Meng Chu got up and said, “Next time, don’t compete with me for the bill.”
Cheng Jinyu turned his head slightly toward her, lifting his eyelids just a bit. “No need to rush. There will be plenty of chances to eat together.”
Meng Chu suddenly stopped. Cheng Jinyu had already walked ahead of her.
He seemed not to notice the footsteps behind him.
When he turned around, he saw Meng Chu standing still in the same spot.
“What’s wrong?” Cheng Jinyu looked at her.
But Meng Chu didn’t answer and only stared at him.
Cheng Jinyu noticed her cheeks were slightly flushed and a thought crossed his mind: could it be…
She was drunk.
Although they had drunk more than half the bottle of wine, it shouldn’t have been enough for her to be intoxicated.
Still, Cheng Jinyu wasn’t reassured and walked back to her.
He stood in front of her, slightly lowering his head to look at her, patiently asking again, “What’s wrong?”
He was about to reach out and steady her by the arm.
But just as he began to speak, a slender, snow-white finger gently touched his face.
Then the finger pressed lightly against his cheek.
Cheng Jinyu stood still, even his breathing involuntarily softened.
Meng Chu blinked, curiosity showing on her face. “How can you always say those things so calmly, without blushing or your heart racing?”
Cheng Jinyu looked at her flushed cheeks and moist black eyes, suddenly amused.
She was trying all sorts of ways to tease his vanity.
“Mainly because you make it so obvious,” Cheng Jinyu whispered.
Meng Chu wasn’t actually drunk.
Her alcohol tolerance wasn’t so high as to never get drunk, but two glasses of wine wouldn’t send her into a frenzy.
She was just a bit tipsy, a little emboldened by the alcohol.
Her usual sense of distance vanished in an instant.
His words echoed on her face again.
Cheng Jinyu looked into her eyes and said, “So… you just want to ask me out for dinner.”
Ask him out?
Meng Chu blinked. Her alcohol-clouded mind seemed to clear up at that moment.
“It’s all the same,” Cheng Jinyu said, lowering his gaze, staring straight at her.
Meng Chu muttered, “No, it’s not the same. Asking you out for dinner and asking you out on a date are two different things.”
Cheng Jinyu asked, “How are they different?”
“One is dinner, the other is a date.”
Meng Chu answered without hesitation.
“Oh, well, a date is fine too.”
But the moment he said the word “date,” the previously quiet air suddenly sparked as if struck by electricity, crackling with tension.
Meng Chu suddenly realized her finger was still resting on his cheek.
Although he was a man, his skin was unnervingly smooth.
She quickly withdrew her finger and whispered, “Let’s go.”
This time, she practically fled straight out of the private room.
Cheng Jinyu stood still, watching her retreating figure, then suddenly chuckled to himself.
–
Since both had been drinking, Cheng Jinyu asked the restaurant to call a driver-for-hire.
The driver arrived quickly, within minutes.
Because the driver was driving, both Cheng Jinyu and Meng Chu sat in the back seat.
This time he was driving an SUV, whose rear seat wasn’t as spacious as the sedan he usually rode in.
As soon as Meng Chu got in, she leaned against the door nearest to her.
The space between them was wide enough for another passenger to sit.
After the car started moving, she remained lost in thought.
But as the car cruised steadily, the fatigue and drowsiness from the wine began to flood her.
Meng Chu’s eyelids gradually lowered.
Cheng Jinyu had originally turned his head to look out the window but soon felt the quietness beside him.
It was the kind of silence where even breathing slowed.
He turned to look and found Meng Chu resting her head against the car window, nodding off.
Clearly, that posture wasn’t comfortable for her.
As the car moved, her head kept leaning against the glass.
So he gently leaned closer.
The empty space that could have fit another person was instantly filled.
He then reached out and shifted her head onto the seatback, but she couldn’t settle comfortably.
Soon, her head slowly tilted to the side.
This time, she leaned toward Cheng Jinyu.
The warmth so close drew her drifting mind.
As her head rested heavily on his shoulder, the firmness of his arm felt a little uncomfortable.
She frowned, tilting her head again.
Cheng Jinyu, who had been sitting still, finally couldn’t help but lean down slowly.
Only when her head rested comfortably on his shoulder did he settle fully.
Outside, the neon lights blurred into streaks as the car sped along.
After an unknown amount of time, the car stopped below Meng Chu’s apartment building.
Cheng Jinyu paid the driver and the man quietly left.
The already quiet car now held only the two of them.
Cheng Jinyu glanced sideways at the girl, who was sleeping soundly, seemingly unable to wake.
Just as he thought this, Meng Chu suddenly stirred.
Her head slid from his shoulder back to the seat.
Her head leaned on the seatback as she curled up again.
“You were so obedient before when you were sleeping,” Cheng Jinyu said, lowering his head to look at her.
Meng Chu, resting against the seat, seemed unaware of what he said.
Her eyes closed lightly, oblivious to everything around her.
After watching her for a moment, Cheng Jinyu slowly leaned closer.
Perhaps the wine she drank tonight was different.
It seemed especially intoxicating.
So intoxicating that his self-control had slipped.
He lowered his forehead to only inches away from hers.
If he just lowered his head slightly more…
The originally silent car interior became even quieter.
His pounding heart echoed loudly in his chest, fiercely.
The blood in his body seemed to surge.
His mind screamed with thoughts.
She was right beside him, within reach.
Even if he did something now, it would be understandable.
After all, they were already close like this.
If anything, he was moving too fast.
But the desire and thoughts inside him raged on.
Cheng Jinyu’s almost obsessive restraint finally stopped him at the closest distance possible.
Just a little more.
Suddenly, the girl who had been sound asleep seemed to sense the car had stopped.
She slowly opened her eyes and locked gazes with the face so close to hers.
Meng Chu’s soul trembled violently.
Whether from shock at Cheng Jinyu’s closeness or something else, she suddenly sat upright.
But as she moved, their lips—only a breath apart—touched.
The gentle contact was something Meng Chu had never felt before.
Light and warm, like a soft feather brushing her forehead.
The touch instantly tingled like electricity.
Meng Chu froze in place as Cheng Jinyu pulled back slightly.
Neither spoke, seemingly waiting for their emotions to settle.
But their hearts, once quietly resting in their chests, pounded wildly.
“We’ve arrived. I wanted to wake you,” Cheng Jinyu’s voice finally sounded in the car.
Even he didn’t realize how tense his tone was.
Meng Chu responded with a faint “Thank you.”
Her voice was dry, as if the moisture in her throat had evaporated.
“I’ll head home first,” she said again, pushing open the door.
After stepping out, she suddenly asked, “Where’s the driver?”
Cheng Jinyu replied, “I let him go.”
Standing outside, Meng Chu asked, “Then how are you getting home?”
Cheng Jinyu was silent.
–
In the end, Cheng Jinyu parked the car there and took a taxi home himself.
“Don’t see me off. You go upstairs first,” he said softly by the car.
Meng Chu’s head was spinning badly, but she nodded. “You be careful.”
Cheng Jinyu nodded and turned away.
Meng Chu stood in place, watching his retreating figure until he disappeared around the corner.
When she went upstairs, she was still in a drowsy haze.
Her steps felt uneven, as if stepping into soft and hard spots alternately.
When she got home and closed the door, she leaned against it.
So…
His lips had touched her forehead just now?
No, no.
That couldn’t really count as a kiss.
Meng Chu shook her head hard, trying to push the thought out of her mind.
That was at most an accidental touch.
Yes, when so close, such a thing could easily happen.
At the same time, Meng Chu suddenly realized why Cheng Jinyu had been so close.
He said he wanted to wake her up.
But to wake her, he could have just grabbed her arm or shaken her shoulder.
Being that close looked more like…
He wanted to kiss her.
That thought made Meng Chu laugh at herself.
She often received compliments for being pretty and talented.
But that was Cheng Jinyu!
He must have met countless beautiful and capable women.
What kind of man was he that he would secretly want to kiss her while she was asleep?
Yet another thought struck her mind.
No matter how pretty the other women were, he was already married.
She was his wife.
If he had any feelings for her, no one could blame him.
Suddenly, it felt like two little voices were fighting in her head.
One told her to wash up and go to sleep, stop thinking so much.
The other insisted she wasn’t wrong—it really was just like that.
In the end, Meng Chu sighed deeply and whispered, “Better wash up and sleep.”
Sleeping would put an end to such complicated thoughts.
–
In the following days, the two seemed to be quietly avoiding each other.
Cheng Jinyu would send photos of the baby, and after Meng Chu replied, the conversation quickly ended.
One day, Meng Chu went to Linjiang Group again, this time to the factory.
After signing the contract, they needed to prepare to transition the machines from laboratory stage to factory mode.
Though this was a matter for the technical department, Meng Chu, as project lead, had to oversee everything.
Once, she happened to meet Qian Wei and Wang Can.
But Wang Can looked very downcast, standing silently in the vast factory.
“What’s wrong?” Meng Chu approached.
Seeing her, Wang Can whispered, “Director Meng, have you finished your negotiations?”
Meng Chu nodded. “Almost done.”
Although this project was personally approved by Zheng Qifeng, the actual execution was still handled by Qian Wei.
So Meng Chu naturally continued to work with Qian Wei and occasionally ran into Wang Can.
Meng Chu suddenly said, “You look much thinner.”
Wang Can looked down at herself. “Maybe I’m dieting.”
As the group prepared to leave, Qian Wei called Wang Can over and whispered something to her.