Zhuang Jiayi couldn’t take it any longer and said, “Stop arguing.”
Meng Songnian paced the living room with his hands behind his back, finally calming down a bit and asked Meng Qinghuai, “So, aren’t you going to introduce her to us?”
Meng Qinghuai: “Introduce what?”
“…” Meng Songnian nearly lost his temper again. “Your girlfriend! Family background, appearance, education, character!”
“Pretty good.”
Pretty good?
Meng Songnian scoffed, “Can she compare to a Guan family Miss?”
“About the same.”
“?” Meng Songnian frowned. “What do you mean about the same?”
Meng Qinghuai doubted Meng Songnian could understand and slowly looked at him again.
“All four—family background, appearance, education, character—are about the same.”
Meng Songnian felt his son was completely brushing him off and sneered, “You might as well just say she’s Miss Guan.”
Meng Qinghuai was speechless and sighed silently.
Meng Fanchuan, beside them, couldn’t stand it anymore. “Our big brother’s dating someone, and you’re making a fuss?”
Meng Songnian snapped, “Shut up.”
Then he bombarded Meng Qinghuai with questions, “Do you know you’re about to get married? Do you know you have a betrothal? Do you know you have a fiancée?”
Meng Qinghuai paused for a second. “I know.”
Meng Songnian grew even angrier. “Knowing all that, why do you bring a woman back? What do you want to do?”
Remembering what Guan Yingtang had told him, Meng Qinghuai borrowed her words directly, “To get a head start on married life.”
He wasn’t lying; that was the truth.
But Meng Songnian seemed taken aback, looking at his son with a complicated expression.
Suddenly, he cleared his throat and involuntarily said to Zhuang Jiayi and Meng Fanchuan, “You two go ahead; I need to talk to Qinghuai alone.”
After his wife and younger son left, Meng Songnian stepped closer to Meng Qinghuai, paused, and slowly lowered his gaze.
“Now that it’s just the two of us, to be honest, aren’t you worried about yourself…”
Meng Qinghuai frowned, “About what?”
Meng Songnian hinted darkly, “That aspect, you know?”
“…?” Tense.
“Why the rush to experience anything? What’s the point of getting married early!”
Meng Qinghuai was speechless at his father’s wild guesses and sighed, “Why don’t you just go to work every day yourself?”
Meng Songnian glared. “None of your business.”
He didn’t want to say more, and simply said, “This morning, your Uncle Zhi called me. It’s his birthday this month. We’re invited to have dinner in Hong Kong Island. I heard Miss Guan is coming back too.”
Meng Qinghuai frowned. “She’s coming back?”
“I’m not wasting my time lying to you.”
“…”
“We plan to take advantage of your Uncle Zhi’s birthday to go to Hong Kong Island to discuss your marriage with Miss Guan. So, please handle everything properly before then. If you can’t—”
Meng Songnian dropped a harsh warning, “Then don’t get married.”
……
By the time Meng Qinghuai returned to Jinghua Mansion, it was nearly 8 PM.
Though Zhuang Jiayi tried her best to keep him for dinner, Meng Qinghuai politely declined, thinking of Guan Yingtang alone at Jinghua Mansion.
Although unspoken, everyone understood the reason Meng Qinghuai had been living at Jinghua Mansion lately.
Returning home now was obviously because of that mysterious girlfriend.
Meng Songnian was extremely displeased and scolded Meng Qinghuai extensively during dinner.
But Zhuang Jiayi, as mother, was more thoughtful.
“Actually, maybe you could try to understand the girl Qinghuai likes? Maybe she’s not as bad as you think.”
After all, their eldest son was always mature and responsible, never making mistakes.
Meng Songnian sighed deeply. “I asked Uncle Zhi. He told me the first time he met this Miss Yi was at Gōngtǐ. She was drinking with friends and got drunk, and Qinghuai picked her up. He said she had a lively personality, was loyal, and even stood up to people cutting in line at the market. But I’m looking for a daughter-in-law, not someone who’s mixing in underworld affairs.”
Zhuang Jiayi frowned. “I just spoke with the Carlos Duchess. She said this Miss Yi is very noble and charming, speaks fluent Spanish, and talks literature and art with her. They both like Anselm Kiefer’s paintings. She even said Miss Yi and Qinghuai look perfect together.”
Meng Songnian doubted, “…Are they talking about the same person?”
“Not impossible,” Zhuang Jiayi smiled suddenly. “When I first married you, we used to fight all the time, remember?”
At that time, Zhuang Jiayi had just arrived in Beicheng, her Mandarin wasn’t standard, and Meng Songnian couldn’t speak Cantonese.
Their early relationship was far from harmonious.
One was born into immense affection, the other proud and arrogant.
Only after going through many things did they open their hearts.
And the graceful elegance Zhuang Jiayi later displayed was all nurtured by Meng Songnian’s love.
“Since they both say Qinghuai cares a lot about this girl, why don’t we arrange a meeting one day? Besides…” Zhuang Jiayi shook her head, “Miss Guan doesn’t seem interested in Qinghuai anyway, no need to force it.”
Meng Songnian pondered his wife’s words before saying, “We’ll see.”
……
At Jinghua Mansion, the soft lights in the living room flickered.
Meng Qinghuai had just entered when he heard a clattering from the kitchen.
He hurried over to find a small pot on the floor.
Next to it, Guan Yingtang was blowing on her hand.
Seeing him, she froze for a moment, then lowered her hand awkwardly. “You’re back?”
Meng Qinghuai stepped forward and took her hand to inspect it.
Her left index finger was red.
“What were you doing in the kitchen?”
Guan Yingtang was embarrassed.
A refined lady who rarely did household chores had tried to be a little more domestic but ended up burning herself.
“I wanted to make something to eat,” she said. “But when I lit the stove, the oil splattered so high I was startled.”
Meng Qinghuai pulled her back to the living room and called Uncle Zhi to bring some burn ointment.
“Don’t do this anymore,” Meng Qinghuai warned as he massaged her fingertip. “What if you get hurt?”
Guan Yingtang feigned casualness and shrugged, “Actually, it doesn’t hurt—”
“But I’ll hurt,” Meng Qinghuai interrupted firmly.
He looked into her eyes.
Guan Yingtang’s heart skipped heavily, suddenly enveloped by a deep sense of security, weighty and filled with happiness.
How could she let him worry about her?
Not good at these things, so she promised to listen.
Guan Yingtang nodded seriously. “Okay.”
They sat together in an embrace.
Meng Qinghuai continued to massage her finger and asked, “Are you going home next month?”
Guan Yingtang was stunned. “How did you know?”
She had wanted to surprise Meng Qinghuai.
She told her mother, Ho Ling, that she would return home ten days earlier than planned before Guan Zhiheng’s birthday.
But returning early would mean their marriage would be put on the agenda.
Their parents would meet, and she could openly stand beside Meng Qinghuai.
“It’s my dad’s birthday,” Guan Yingtang said. “I want to be with him.”
She wrapped her arms around Meng Qinghuai’s neck, hesitated, then softly asked, “Will you come?”
“Of course,” Meng Qinghuai lightly kissed her lips. “I’ll come to formally propose to the Miss Guan who returns from her travels.”
Guan Yingtang giggled, her lips curling as she leaned against his shoulder like a cat, sniffing his neck, and kissed him twice. “Before then, I’ll also give you a gift.”
“What?”
Guan Yingtang sat up straight in Meng Qinghuai’s arms, about to speak, but her gaze suddenly landed on his phone beside his leg.
After calling Uncle Zhi earlier, Meng Qinghuai had casually tossed the phone onto the sofa.
Now, some notification lit up the screen.
Guan Yingtang clearly saw what was on it and was stunned, her eyes wide with shock.
“Meng Qinghuai!”
She grabbed his phone incredulously and asked, “Didn’t you say you deleted it?”
On the screen was a selfie of Guan Yingtang drunkenly hugging him from before.
Guan Yingtang had long since moved past that incident.
Now the photo not only reappeared unexpectedly but he had even set it as his wallpaper?
Caught off guard, Meng Qinghuai responded calmly, “Sorry, I didn’t notice one slipped through.”
“?”
Impossible—Guan Yingtang was sure he had cleaned out his phone.
But she didn’t care now; blushing, she reached for the phone, “Delete it now.”
“Okay.” Meng Qinghuai raised his arm slightly, holding the phone out midair. “What will you give me in exchange?”
“…”
Guan Yingtang came to Beicheng empty-handed; she had nothing to trade. Pouting, she asked, “What do you want?”
Meng Qinghuai said nothing, only stared at her like that.
They locked eyes for a few seconds, and it seemed she understood something.
She leaned up and kissed him.
Her kissing skills weren’t refined, but her intention to delete the photo was sincere.
Her lips parted slightly, her tongue shyly licked his.
After a while, she pulled away.
“Okay?”
Meng Qinghuai hesitated for a few seconds, his voice hoarse, “One kiss for one photo?”
Guan Yingtang nodded seriously.
But the next second, she witnessed how cunning people could be.
Her gentlemanly fiancé looked at her calmly and said:
“I still have over a hundred more.”
“???”
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