Chapter 37 : Not the Best Driver

The meal lasted for more than an hour.

There was hardly any food wasted on the table.

In the end, everyone clinked glasses, and after the meal,

Sang Miao called the waiter over to settle the bill.

The waiter handed her the bill.

Standing next to her, Ji Zhuoran whispered gossip into Meng Xici’s ear, curious: “Why didn’t Uncle Meng pay for Auntie’s meal?”

In his opinion, even though his mom was a rich lady who never lacked money,

as long as his dad was present, it was always his dad who paid.

Sometimes, even if he wasn’t there, the expense would be noted under his name.

Although today, Sang Miao had said she would treat, in his eyes,

a man paying at times like this was a matter of courtesy.

It puzzled him a little that Uncle Meng, who was always so courteous,

Didn’t say anything this time.

Meng Xici also thought his dad was going to pay,

but naturally wouldn’t dwell on such a trivial matter.

It was just a meal, after all who paid didn’t matter.

He glanced at Ji Zhuoran and replied in a voice only the two of them could hear:

“Then why don’t you go help pay?”

Ji Zhuoran quickly waved his hands and motioned for him to shut up.

Sang Miao’s phone was charging in a medium-sized chain purse.

When she took out her phone and power bank,

a few items accidentally fell out with a “plop” at her feet.

It was her ID card and two bank cards.

Meng Xici bent down to help her pick them up,

and his gaze paused slightly when it landed on one of the cards.

Meng Xici usually used a supplementary card from Meng Peisheng, issued by the same bank.

The design was similar, but he could tell this card wasn’t a supplementary one.

It was one of his dad’s custom black cards.

Ji Zhuoran recognized it too and nearly gaped.

He quickly adjusted his facial expression and quietly gave Meng Xici a thumbs-up from the side.

“I take it back. Your daddy’s really got awareness.”

Meng Xici handed the cards back to Sang Miao.

“……”

Yeah, it seemed like it.

“Thanks.” Sang Miao thanked him casually, putting her ID and cards back into her bag.

This time, she obediently tucked them into the inner pocket, then took out her phone to pay.

Ji Zhuoran’s perception had once again been refreshed today.

Turns out Meng Xici’s stepmother held quite a high status in his household…

…

Sang Miao glanced at the receipt again and casually stuffed it into her bag.

This restaurant was really expensive.

She had picked the nicer dishes too,

and the meal ended up costing several thousand.

She could’ve hired a few temp workers for less than that.

These people were pricey such a loss, such a loss…

Walking out of the restaurant, the group headed toward the parking lot.

Shen Xingxia said to Jiang Jingxun, “Shall I drive you back to the shop?”

Jiang Jingxun nodded.

“Okay, thank you.”

Shen Xingxia smiled casually.

“No need to be so polite, we’re already familiar.”

Seeing that they’d sorted it out themselves, Sang Miao said to Shen Xingxia,

“Then I’ll trouble you to take him back.”

After speaking, Sang Miao said to the two of them,

“Thanks for your hard work today.”

Jiang Jingxun politely said, “Goodbye, Auntie”

He paused for a moment, then glanced at Meng Peisheng beside him.

“Goodbye, Uncle Meng.”

Meng Peisheng responded gently, “Goodbye.”

“Then we’ll be heading off now,” Shen Xingxia said, taking Jiang Jingxun with him as they bid farewell.

Before leaving, Jiang Jingxun also said goodbye to Meng Xici and Ji Zhuoran with a calm and respectful tone.

“See you at school.”

Meng Xici: “Mm, goodbye.”

Ji Zhuoran waved. “Bye-bye, top student.”

They left just like that, and Ji Zhuoran realized he was the only outsider left.

Before Sang Miao or the others could say anything, he quickly spoke up:

“Uncle, Auntie, can Uncle Yang take me home?”

He pointed at Meng Xici.

“I came with Xici in the car this afternoon.”

Uncle Yang was the driver who usually picked Meng Xici up from school.

Sang Miao suddenly put on a perfectly friendly smile.

“Then how about we drive you home together?”

“No, no~” Ji Zhuoran chuckled nervously.

“That’s too much trouble, Uncle Yang can take me.”

If they sent him home and dropped by his house to visit, he’d definitely have to endure his parents’ enthusiastic chatter all night.

Before leaving, Ji Zhuoran didn’t forget to add,

“Auntie, when your new game is ready, be sure to save me a beta testing slot!”

Sang Miao replied breezily, “Depends on your performance.”

After Uncle Yang drove Ji Zhuoran away,

the three of them walked to Sang Miao’s white car.

It was still early, just past eight o’clock.

Sang Miao asked Meng Peisheng,

“Are you heading back to the office, or?”

Meng Peisheng reached out to take the car keys from her hand.

His fingertips brushed lightly across her palm, and he said in a calm voice,

“I’ll be the driver.”

He said it so seriously that Sang Miao retracted her hand and couldn’t help but press her lips together in a smile.

Seeing him open the door and get into the driver’s seat,

she walked around to the passenger side.

The car drove steadily along the road, neither too fast nor too slow.

Meng Peisheng rested one hand on the steering wheel and smoothly made a turn,

his gaze fixed on the road ahead.

He asked casually, “Why did all of them come over to help today?”

“Oh, actually Jiang Jingxun originally came to deliver takeout to me,

then he just came along with us, and everyone ended up helping out…”

To be honest, Sang Miao still wasn’t quite sure why they were all there.

She glanced at Meng Xici in the back seat.

“Did you all go hang out at his house?”

Was it really about buying cake on purpose?

No, Meng.

He shifted the blame to Ji Zhuoran:

“Not really, Ji Zhuoran wanted to invite Jiang Jingxun.”

At least that part was true.

The car stopped at a red light, and Meng Peisheng tapped the steering wheel lightly twice with his fingers.

He said offhandedly, “You all seem to get along well.”

Not at all, Meng Xici refuted in his heart.

Meng Peisheng glanced at him casually through the rearview mirror.

Meng Xici preferred quiet and didn’t have many close friends.

Since returning to Beicheng in middle school,

he’d only seen two or three friends come over to the house in total.

Unlike most students during their school years,

who always had a crowd coming and going.

Lively but also a bit noisy.

His biological father, Xu Lingzhen, had always appeared the most refined,

yet was also the most rebellious.

Gu Qian was a few years older than them, calm and independent.

Back when those two got together, all their friends thought they must be seeing things.

Gu Qian was a distant relative of the Gu family in Gangcheng,

and she lost her parents when she was young.

His own mother had always liked girls.

She thought her only son was disobedient and gave her constant headaches.

Not wanting to go through childbirth again, she raised Gu Qian like a daughter.

To Meng Peisheng, Gu Qian was no different from a real sister.

Whether in the troublemaking days of youth or in today’s calm and uneventful life,

Meng Peisheng had never liked making hypothetical assumptions,

If something had been different… what would’ve happened.

That kind of thinking was meaningless.

But when it came to this one matter, he couldn’t help but wonder

If nothing had happened to the two of them…

The voices in the car pulled him out of his brief memories and back to reality.

Sang Miao’s tone was lazy and hoarse with the ease of someone full and content.

She asked, “So, did he agree?”

Meng Xici: “…Not yet.”

Sang Miao looked a bit regretful, and echoed it in her tone: “Oh, that’s a bit of a pity.”

Meng Peisheng rejoined their conversation, smiling faintly:

“What’s the pity? Some kind of program?”

Other than things like parent-teacher meetings or exams, Meng Xici rarely talked to him about school life or casual matters.

So, he instinctively didn’t respond.

“They’re trying to form a band. Classmate Meng is going to…”

Sang Miao paused, then turned to Meng Xici behind her.

“Right, were you playing the guitar or bass?”

Meng Xici hesitated and then replied, a little embarrassed: “Bass.”

He wasn’t very comfortable discussing this kind of thing in front of them.

Hearing that, a flicker passed through Meng Peisheng’s eyes,

but because the traffic light ahead was red, he remained unusually quiet.

A few seconds later, the light turned green.

He drove forward, a faint smile slowly forming on his lips, and said gently to Meng Xici:

“We don’t have a bass at home. I’ll get one for you.”

Meng Xici had been raised under the care of his mother.

To the heiress of the Gu family in Port City,

music had always been considered a fundamental skill for children of noble families.

You didn’t have to be a master at it, but a certain level of musical cultivation was essential.

And those music lessons had always focused on classical music.

That Meng Xici would take up an instrument like the bass came as a bit of a surprise to Meng Peisheng.

But then again, maybe it wasn’t such a surprise.

He had the genes for it.

Meng Xici was also a little surprised by his father’s unusual silence earlier.

He had almost thought it meant disapproval of him playing this kind of music.

After all, he had been taught classical instruments from a young age.

For families like the Gu and Meng clans, with deep cultural roots,

something like being in a band could seem rather rebellious.

Meng Xici gave a slight explanation: “It’s just for an opening ceremony performance.

It’s not going to be super professional.”

He really didn’t plan on going all-in on the band thing…!

Meng Peisheng: “Mm, I’ll bring it to you in a couple of days.”

That was the end of the father and son’s conversation.

Light music floated through the car.

Sang Miao remembered something else and asked,

“So are you guys hoping Jiang Jingxun will sing or play piano?”

Meng Xici answered briefly: “Play piano.”

Sang Miao nodded. “Then you all better work hard to win him over.”

“…Why?” Meng Xici looked slightly puzzled and couldn’t help but ask softly,

“Do you really want him to join?”

Sang Miao answered righteously, “Can’t I?”

“Oh,” Meng Xici pursed his lips, calmly and cautiously treading the edge of a landmine,

“I get it. It’s because he’s handsome.”

Sang Miao: “…?”

What’s with this kid? He speaks to her with no sense of respect.

Wasn’t he calling her mom this afternoon?

There’s just no elder authority left here!

Sang Miao said slowly, “Why are you so focused on whether someone’s handsome or not,

Classmate Meng Xici? I think your mindset has issues.”

Meng Xici: “?”

Weren’t you the one focused on it first?

He was speechless, feeling a little outmatched:

“I wasn’t focused on that kind of thing, okay?”

“Yes, you were. You just said it.”

Meng Peisheng had a faint smile, but didn’t join in their argument.

He glanced out the window,

there weren’t many cars on this road.

The speedometer showed the car slowing to the minimum legal speed.

When they got home, Sang Miao glanced at the time and asked in surprise,

“There wasn’t any traffic today. Why did it still take ten more minutes than usual?”

She finished speaking and looked over at the driver in confusion.

Meng Peisheng returned the car keys to her and said calmly, “Maybe my driving skills aren’t that great.”

Sang Miao: “……”

Really?

Meng Xici: “……”

His dad was really good at lying with a straight face.