After confirming that Meng Qinghuai really did bring back a whole box of condoms late at night, Guan Yingtang put the small box back into the larger case, no longer able to hold back, and quickly turned off the light to lie back down.
In the darkness, her fingertips burned, and she couldn’t stop blushing and feeling her heart race.
Guan Yingtang completely understood Meng Qinghuai’s reason for buying condoms — they were, after all, husband and wife, and someday they would need to use them. But what she couldn’t understand was—
Why on earth did he have to buy a whole box? That was just ridiculous.
It was downright insane…
Her heart pounding wildly, Guan Yingtang recalled how, just moments ago, when she had touched his abs, he had been completely unfazed. She couldn’t help but chuckle softly under the covers.
He pretended to be some virtuous mountain flower, but it turned out he was just putting on an act.
Suddenly, she heard the sound of the door being quietly opened again. Guan Yingtang immediately held her breath and pretended to be asleep.
Sure enough, not long after, she heard Meng Qinghuai’s light footsteps enter, pause at the table for a few seconds, and then leave the bedroom again.
After he left, Guan Yingtang sat up slightly, turned on the light, and checked again.
The entire box of condoms was gone.
……
Meng Qinghuai only remembered after returning to his study that his brother’s gift had been left in the master bedroom.
When he pushed the door open to retrieve it again, Guan Yingtang was already asleep. He said nothing and quietly took out the box, then went back to sit in the study.
Meng Fanchuan had said it was a wedding gift for him. Meng Qinghuai casually opened the box, but after inspecting the contents, he frowned—
Forget it.
He shouldn’t have held any hopeful expectations for his brother.
There were so many condoms that Meng Qinghuai didn’t even have a place to store them. After looking around, he shoved the box into the bottom drawer of his calligraphy desk.
Then he unrolled a sheet of xuan paper, gently moving his wrist, dipping the brush tip into ink, and began writing character by character.
Fu Shengyun always said Meng Qinghuai’s handwriting was different. Everyone thought he was better at the large, steady, and powerful regular script, but unexpectedly, he preferred semi-cursive.
His writing flowed like clouds and water, with brushstrokes full of explosive force.
For the past few days, Meng Qinghuai had been writing Zhao Mengfu’s . Today he happened to be writing the fourth section and paused at a sentence—
“Yu qing yue qi shu mei xi, xin zhen dang er bu yi”
(“My heart delights in her gentle beauty, yet it stirs unrest and discontent.”)
Cao Zhi adored the nymph’s beauty so deeply that his mood could not calm.
…Even writing characters came with hidden meaning.
Meng Qinghuai focused intently, laid down the brushstrokes, but after finishing, he realized that somehow Guan Yingtang’s name had appeared on the paper.
“My heart delights in her gentle beauty, yet it stirs unrest and discontent, Tang—”
His brush paused. After a long moment of silence, he laughed to himself. What on earth was he doing?
He crumpled the entire sheet and tossed it in the trash, then smoothed out a new page and started writing—
A vertical stroke, a dot, then a left-falling stroke.
When he reached the fourth stroke, Meng Qinghuai suddenly realized what he was writing, sighed softly, hesitated for a moment, his chest rising and falling, and then simply continued.
A few seconds later, he stopped at the final stroke.
Under the faintly bulging blue veins on the back of his hand, the character “Tang” was almost piercing the paper, fully revealing his current feelings without any concealment.
He had really written it out; no point in hiding his thoughts anymore.
Probably because the shock from the previous night was so intense, Guan Yingtang spent the whole night dreaming strange dreams.
In her dream, Meng Qinghuai demanded that they use up a whole box of condoms in one day. She was terrified and froze, but he held her tightly and kissed her twice.
She unwillingly agreed. When the two of them, passion ablaze, finally tore open a package, the box turned out to be filled entirely with earplugs.
When Guan Yingtang woke, she still remembered the two of them silently staring at the earplugs in the dream.
She’d never had such a baffling dream in her life. She blamed Meng Qinghuai.
After lying in bed for a while, Jiang Kewei called and invited her to continue going out today.
A few months ago, Guan Yingtang would have eagerly agreed, but now, she hesitated.
Sunday meant Meng Qinghuai didn’t have to go to the office, which meant he would be home all day.
One whole day — either going out with her best friends or staying home… playing with her old man who alternated between hot and cold?
Just the slightest comparison in her mind made it obvious which was more tempting.
“No thanks.” Guan Yingtang was already itching to get moving, but she coughed gently and said politely, “I have some things to take care of today. I’m not going out.”
After hanging up, Guan Yingtang suddenly remembered the checklist Zhang Qingdan hadn’t updated in a long time.
When she first came to Beicheng, she had excitedly written many things down. Now, reviewing it—
Went clubbing once — done.
A street food stall meal — done.
Wore a favorite dress once — done.
A spontaneous trip—been to Barcelona twice, so that counts.
……
Half the checklist had already been completed. According to the plan, Guan Yingtang should have continued ticking off the rest. But after last night, she realized—
Now the name “Meng Qinghuai” seemed more interesting than anything else.
How could this be? Outwardly serious and composed, but secretly buying condoms by the box.
Pen in hand, Guan Yingtang paused and suddenly smiled shyly.
Compared to Meng Qinghuai’s operation of buying a whole box of condoms, she felt like she had been very reserved after all.
Just as Guan Yingtang set down the pen, she suddenly heard the doorbell ring downstairs. She walked to the window and saw a car parked in the courtyard.
After washing up, Guan Yingtang went downstairs. Sure enough, Xu Fu and the two employees who had visited before were sitting on the sofa.
Several stacks of documents lay on the coffee table, along with two or three laptops.
Meng Qinghuai was there too, dressed in a clean shirt, sitting in the main seat, head lowered, long fingers flipping through documents, looking refined and reserved.
Who would have thought that such a man would buy condoms by the box?
Thinking of this secret she had uncovered, Guan Yingtang couldn’t help but want to laugh.
She pressed her lips to keep them from smiling and walked over gracefully, naturally greeting everyone, “Good morning.”
Before going to Spain, she had seen similar scenes. The employees knew her identity and stood respectfully, nodding in acknowledgement.
Meng Qinghuai did not look up at Guan Yingtang but merely picked up the tea in front of him and said, “The dining room has food.”
“Okay.” Guan Yingtang headed toward the dining area. Passing behind Meng Qinghuai, she casually dropped, “Thanks, old man.”
“…” Meng Qinghuai nearly choked on his tea.
Xu Fu and the employees kept their eyes glued to the documents in their hands, pretending not to have heard a thing.
Meng Qinghuai set the teacup down, casually glanced at Guan Yingtang, then quickly withdrew his gaze.
“Continue.” His voice was calm, betraying no abnormality.
“Okay.” Xu Fu sat up straight and cleared his throat. “As of last week, our system’s user satisfaction rate has reached 85%. Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, several financial institutions in the mainland, and a few in Southeast Asia have sent cooperation proposals regarding blockchain technology…”
Guan Yingtang sat in the dining area having brunch. She deliberately chose a seat where she could see the corner of the living room, watching Meng Qinghuai as she ate.
He worked with great focus, rarely speaking, but his commanding presence was effortless. His long legs, wrapped in suit trousers, crossed slightly, noble and steady.
But when she thought about his expression just now when she called him “old man,” she couldn’t help but look down and laugh. It wasn’t enough.
After finishing her meal, she paused a moment and then, as if nothing had happened, walked behind him.
She bent slightly, “Old man, are you tired?”
Meng Qinghuai: “…”
Everyone else: “…”
The next second, two hands landed on the man’s shoulders. “Let me give you a massage.”
Xu Fu and the employees exchanged glances, then immediately and tacitly lowered their heads, pretending to be absorbed in documents or phones.
Soft, boneless hands suddenly began massaging his shoulders without any order. Meng Qinghuai closed his eyes, took a deep breath in his heart, wondering what this young lady was playing at today.
But with subordinates present, there was nothing he could do. He only turned his head slightly, cooperating with the act, “No need, you should rest.”
His eyes warned, “Don’t cause trouble.”
Guan Yingtang blinked, “Oh.” She turned and went back upstairs.
At the second-floor corner, her posture finally lost all reserve as she leaned against the wall, laughing so much she wished she could livestream it to Jiang Kewei.
So much fun. Playing with the old man was too much fun.
How had she never realized Meng Qinghuai was this playful before?
……