9 o’clock. The two of them finished their first dinner together, which was, all things considered, harmonious.
From the East Wing, as she was leaving, Guan Yingtang vaguely saw shadows flitting past the windows of the West Wing across the way— water sleeves swirling in dance, as if the opera singer was performing a melodic aria.
The lilting singing drifted out from the room, occasionally punctuated by a man’s laughter and cries of “Bravo!” The nightly revelry of the wealthy was vividly manifest in this moment.
Deep in the alley at night, a cool wind blew. Two cars belonging to Meng Qinghuai were parked discreetly at the entrance. When he saw them come out, He Yongzhi took the initiative to open the car door, waiting for the two to get in.
The driver who had brought Meng Qinghuai hesitated for a few seconds, standing still.
Dining in such a private place signaled that their relationship was not ordinary. Now that dinner was over, the gentleman escorting the lady home was the most basic etiquette in social circles.
Meng Qinghuai did indeed intend to do so, but before he could speak, Guan Yingtang took the initiative, “I can go back by myself.”
After acting all night, all she wanted now was to hurry home and soak comfortably in a bath.
A faint smile lingered at the corners of her eyes, polite yet distant. Meng Qinghuai did not insist. “Alright.” As he spoke, he opened his phone to his WeChat QR code. “Miss Guan, please add me.”
Guan Yingtang lowered her gaze slightly. In her three-month plan of indulgence, she had never intended to include Meng Qinghuai, nor to get close to him. Things like WeChat—if they could be avoided, so much the better.
She politely declined, “You’re usually so busy with work, I don’t want to bother—”
“You don’t have to contact me.” Meng Qinghuai’s tone was calm, cutting her off before she could finish.
Meng Qinghuai wanted Guan Yingtang to understand: completing the marriage alliance was their task.
Whatever she wanted to do in Guangzhou was her own freedom— he wouldn’t interfere.
Having one more way to reach her was simply to have a backup for her safety.
Unfortunately, Guan Yingtang completely misunderstood.
She only felt this man was overbearing: she didn’t have to contact him, but she had to add him.
Forget it. It was just a contact.
Satisfy him.
Humming to herself inwardly, Guan Yingtang’s face remained soft as she took out her phone. “Alright.”
With a “ding,” a new profile picture appeared in her contacts list.
She didn’t even look at it, only eager to say goodbye to Meng Qinghuai. “Well, good night then, Mr. Meng. Rest early.”
“Good night.” Meng Qinghuai’s tone was equally unreadable as he spoke, walking toward the car he had arrived in.
The two drivers exchanged glances. He Yongzhi quickly shot a look at the younger driver across the way.
Both cars, with their respective owners, backed out of the alley one after another, then drove off into the night in different directions.
Watching in the rearview mirror as Meng Qinghuai’s car grew more distant, only then did Guan Yingtang feel as if she had finished tonight’s “performance.”
She shed her mask, glanced to the side, and, sure enough, saw a delicate paper bag placed on the back seat.
“Uncle Zhi, right?” Guan Yingtang thanked He Yongzhi, probing a little as she did. “Thank you for bringing my clothes.”
“You’re welcome, Miss Yi, it was nothing.” Although he wasn’t sure what sort of game these two were playing, He Yongzhi dutifully followed Meng Qinghuai’s instructions. “I didn’t open it. Please check if it’s the one you wanted.”
Guan Yingtang opened the bag and took a glance. Relaxed, she curved her lips. “It is.”
Suddenly remembering something, she continued to ask He Yongzhi, “Did you tell Mr. Meng I went to the Company?”
He Yongzhi wasn’t about to take the blame. Looking at Guan Yingtang through the rearview mirror, he replied, “Miss Yi, the place opposite the Company is the Meng Family’s exclusive Temporary Parking Zone, so if a car is parked there it’s very noticeable. I guess the Young Master must have seen you when he came out.”
“……”
Guan Yingtang hadn’t expected it was her own slip-up.
But this man was too sharp— he didn’t even look up, yet knew immediately it was her across the street.
Trying to keep up appearances under the gaze of someone like that would require even more caution and care.
Remembering that she had just added this man on WeChat, Guan Yingtang finally took out her phone and tapped on the new profile picture in her contacts list—
The photo was of a man leaning against a car, watching the sunset, his back to the camera.
Even though it was just a silhouette, Guan Yingtang quickly recognized from the figure and build that it was Meng Qinghuai.
His username was unusual, too: “nov22”.
November 22? Was it some memorable date?
As for this newlywed husband’s detailed information, Guan Yingtang still knew far too little. She only knew he was once a figure covered in glory at their alma mater, and that his family held an extremely prominent status in Guangzhou.
Other things about him, she knew nothing.
She casually tapped into his Moments. It was all reposts of business information, with almost nothing about his private life.
It matched her impression of him perfectly: a capitalist who only knew how to make money, with no sense of fun.
——“You don’t have to contact me.”
Meng Qinghuai’s words echoed in her ears again, making Guan Yingtang sneer inwardly.
If I don’t have to contact you, then why bother adding you?
Since I’ve added you, I might as well let this Meng Family’s Young Master see what it costs to cross a Victoria Harbour Girl.
–
Night had already settled over Guangzhou, and the city was quiet. The car drove from the city center all the way back to the Meng Family’s grand residence on the South Third Ring.
Meng Qinghuai took a call in the car, and by the time he got home it was already ten o’clock.
The wrought-iron gates slowly opened, and the car drove along the winding driveway. The Meng Family’s residence on the South Third Ring was named after their surname— Meng Yuan.
The estate was large, with two main buildings front and back, equipped with a Private Helipad, Golf Course, and other facilities.
Zhuang Jiayi loved flowers, so Meng Songnian had built her a nearly thousand-square-meter garden in the backyard.
Zhuang Jiayi loved the sea, but Guangzhou’s geography couldn’t provide one, so Meng Songnian had created an Artificial Lake encircling the estate.
At night, the lake’s surface shimmered like silk, glowing with emerald light.
Usually, the Meng Family Couple lived in the front Main Building, while their three children lived in the rear Annex.
Recently, the second son, Meng Fanchuan, was busy with work abroad, and the only daughter was still in school, so only Meng Qinghuai stayed in the Annex.
As usual, he went first to the study. He intended to finish the work from his earlier call, but somehow, after setting his phone on the desk, it slipped open to his photo album.
The screen was filled with photos of him and Miss Guan.
The woman’s eyes were tinged with a tipsy smile, her slender arms wrapped around his neck like a lazy, coquettish cat burrowing into his embrace.
Almost involuntarily, Meng Qinghuai began swiping through the photos one by one.
His brows furrowed slightly—
How could there be someone who loved taking photos so much, with a different pose in every shot?
Standing, sitting, lying prone, lying down.
The more he looked, the more Meng Qinghuai inexplicably loosened his collar.
And he found himself thinking:
Does she take such intimate photos with everyone?
“Not asleep yet?” Meng Songnian appeared outside the study at this moment, knocking twice on the door.
Originally, Meng Songnian and Zhuang Jiayi had planned to have tea with their future daughter-in-law this weekend before returning to Guangzhou, but since the Guan Family Miss had suddenly gone abroad, they had to leave Hong Kong ahead of schedule today.
“Still some work to do.” Meng Qinghuai replied, discreetly flipping his phone face down.
Hands behind his back, Meng Songnian walked in, his presence imposing. “You shouldn’t always be working overtime. You should also spend some time thinking about the things a man your age ought to think about.”
“What should I be thinking about?”
“You don’t care at all about marriage.” Meng Songnian was blunt. “Tell me, Miss Guan was perfectly fine at the banquet, so how come after you drove her home, she disappeared the next day? Did you do something to her in the car?”
Meng Qinghuai: “……”
He wasn’t sure if Meng Songnian was entering menopause early, but sometimes he came up with the most bizarre ideas.
“What could I possibly have done?” Meng Qinghuai was speechless.
“How would I know?” Meng Songnian suspected his son didn’t want the marriage and had deliberately scared the girl off so she ran away overnight.
After a pause, his tone softened, earnestly advising, “Listen to me, marry a virtuous wife. Nowadays, it’s rare to find a well-bred, dignified young lady like Yingtang.”
——Dignified. Well-bred. Quiet. Gentle.
As these four words fell from Meng Songnian’s lips with certainty, Meng Qinghuai smiled soundlessly, not bothering to argue.
Meng Songnian began listing Guan Yingtang’s virtues, saying how her temperament was similar to Zhuang Jiayi’s, how satisfied he was with this future daughter-in-law, and how the marriage alliance would benefit both families’ reputations.
Meng Qinghuai listened half-heartedly, not really paying attention. Amidst the endless monologue, his phone suddenly rang.
The very person who had claimed she didn’t want to bother him had sent a message:
Isabella: “Sorry, Mr. Meng, may I ask what your home’s wifi password is?”
Meng Qinghuai typed in a string of characters.
Not long after, it rang again.
Isabella: “Sorry, does your TV get Emerald Channel?”
Meng Qinghuai replied with a blank expression: “No.”
The flurry of messages made Meng Songnian frown. “Who’s looking for you so late?”
Meng Qinghuai casually set his phone to vibrate. “A friend.”
As the company’s top executive besides himself, it wasn’t strange for his eldest son to be contacted late at night. Meng Songnian didn’t think much of it, squinting as he returned to the topic of marriage.
“I think you’d better find some time to call Miss Guan.”
“Ask her where she is. If possible, accompany her on her travels and develop your relationship.”
“A man should take the initiative. There’s nothing to be embarrassed about.”
“Your mother and I didn’t know each other before marriage, and look how harmonious we are now.”
……
Meng Songnian went on and on, completely unaware that the phone in Meng Qinghuai’s pocket vibrated every few minutes.
Isabella: “Mr. Meng, where are the drinking glasses?”
Isabella: “Mr. Meng, I don’t really know how to use your smart system. Can you teach me?”
Isabella: “Mr. Meng, why isn’t the bathwater hot?”
And the most recent one—
Isabella: “Mr. Meng, why aren’t you replying to me?”
Meng Qinghuai: “……”
If the previous messages still seemed like normal questions from someone not used to a new place, the last one made Miss Guan’s intentions crystal clear.
Staring at the screen, Meng Qinghuai’s lips tugged up ever so slightly.
“Are you listening to me or not? What are you always looking at on your phone?” Meng Songnian frowned in disapproval, exasperated. “Is Miss Guan in your phone? Is your wife in your phone?”
Meng Qinghuai: “……”
Hard to say.
Actually, yes.
It’s just that the Miss Guan in his phone might not be quite the same as the one he imagined.
“You should get some rest.” Without replying to any of the messages, Meng Qinghuai grabbed his suit jacket and headed out. “I have something to take care of.”