Chapter 50: Unexpected Connection

The room was a couple’s suite prepared for a married pair, featuring a floor-to-ceiling window. Before their arrival, Meng Ying had come to inspect the room. After escorting Mr. and Mrs. Xu to their room, Meng Ying left under Mrs. Xu’s eager gaze. Being looked at by eyes so reminiscent of Xu Dian’s gave her a rather unique feeling.

Once the door was closed, Zhao Qiao sat down on the sofa and said, “She seems like such a refined girl, and she’s really beautiful. I like her so much.”

Xu Yi opened the luggage and took out some clothes to wear over the next couple of days, saying, “How could you let her call you ‘sister’…”

“Huh?” Zhao Qiao was stunned, then slapped the armrest of the sofa. “You’re right, that messes up the generational order!”

Xu Yi didn’t respond.

Alright then.

As long as she realized it.

“Later, we must get her to change how she addresses me,” Zhao Qiao said.

“There’s a big shopping trip this afternoon. Who’s going?” Tan Huan asked, flipping through the remaining groceries in the fridge. She glanced back at them. Li Yuan’er blinked, Liang Qiao also blinked, and Meng Ying raised an eyebrow. “I’ll go.”

“Do you know how to drive?” Tan Huan asked.

“No.”

Tan Huan paused, then said, “Then Liang Qiao will go with you.”

“Alright, I’ll drive,” Liang Qiao said.

Meng Ying replied, “Thank you.”

Tan Huan added, “It’s not just shopping; there’s also a task.”

“What task?” Meng Ying glanced at Liang Qiao, who explained, “Every shopping trip comes with a task, but the task is random.”

“Ah, I see,” Meng Ying nodded and didn’t ask further.

Since it was almost noon, Meng Ying took charge of cooking lunch, planning to make fried chicken cutlets and eel. Li Yuan’er assisted her. Wearing an apron, Meng Ying got busy.

The kitchen was filled with the sizzling sounds of cooking.

“Meng Ying, are you cooking?” Zhao Qiao’s voice approached from a distance, and soon she appeared at the kitchen doorway, peeking in. Seeing Meng Ying already frying the chicken cutlets, her slender wrists flipping them back and forth, Zhao Qiao exclaimed, “Wow, Meng Ying, you can cook!”

Meng Ying glanced at Zhao Qiao while multitasking, “Yes, sis.”

Zhao Qiao coughed and walked over, standing beside Meng Ying. “Don’t call me ‘sis.’ Call me ‘auntie’ instead.”

Meng Ying replied, “No way, I’ll stick with ‘sis.’ You look so young, and your eyes are really beautiful.”

“No, call me ‘auntie.’ I’m much older than you. I’m old now,” Zhao Qiao said, lying through her teeth with utmost sincerity.

Meng Ying smiled but didn’t respond, continuing to cook.

Zhao Qiao didn’t leave and kept watching from the side, admiring Meng Ying’s efficient movements.

“Meng Ying, you think my eyes are beautiful?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Uh… they just are.”

Zhao Qiao was taken aback.

Why didn’t she mention her boyfriend??

Zhao Qiao stayed by Meng Ying’s side, probing and testing with multiple questions, but Meng Ying kept her lips sealed, revealing nothing.

Zhao Qiao refused to give up until she noticed the camera not far away.

Suddenly, it dawned on her.

Oh.

They can’t go public.

Got it.

Looking back at Meng Ying, who was skillfully stir-frying and preparing the eel while instructing Li Yuan’er to fetch ingredients, Zhao Qiao found herself liking her more and more.

Six people sat down for lunch. When Xu Yi came out, he was tall, elegant, and distinguished, with a string of Buddhist beads on his wrist. Meng Ying immediately recognized them as from Buddha Mountain.

Xu Yi glanced at the dishes on the table and then at his excited wife, saying, “This must be Meng Ying’s work.”

“Yes, yes,” Zhao Qiao nodded. “Isn’t she amazing?”

“Very impressive.”

Li Yuan’er muttered from the side, “Hey, I helped too, you know.”

Zhao Qiao retorted, “Yes, yes, you’re great too.”

Li Yuan’er pouted.

“…”

Tan Huan invited everyone to sit and said to Meng Ying with a smile, “I’m convinced now. Mrs. Xu is your fan.”

Meng Ying smiled and poured drinks for everyone.

Liang Qiao leaned closer to Tan Huan and said, “They have such a strong presence. It feels like they’ve taken over as the hosts. We’ve never had guests like this before, have we?”

Tan Huan glanced at Mr. and Mrs. Xu across the table, sensing something. “No, we really haven’t. They don’t seem like ordinary people.”

Liang Qiao nodded in agreement.

Looking back at Meng Ying, she remained calm, listening to Mrs. Xu’s chatter.

Meng Ying had received many compliments on her cooking over the years, so she wasn’t particularly moved, but she did quite like Mrs. Xu—perhaps because of her eyes.

When those peach-blossom eyes were filled with enthusiasm, they seemed to overflow with affection.

After lunch, Mrs. Xu invited Meng Ying to hang out, but Meng Ying had to decline politely as she needed to go shopping with Liang Qiao for the show.

The production team had left a black van, which was already loaded with over twenty maple leaf gift boxes. Meng Ying counted them—exactly twenty-eight.

Liang Qiao explained, “These twenty-eight boxes are part of our task. We need to find a large supermarket to sell them. The proceeds will go toward funding education for the children on Maple Leaf Mountain. These are handmade by them.”

“Oh, I see,” Meng Ying replied. She had heard about Maple Leaf Mountain before—its inconvenient transportation made it difficult for people to travel up and down, but many impoverished families lived there. This was a meaningful initiative. “Let’s go.”

Meng Ying closed the van door.

Liang Qiao glanced at her, his ears slightly red, and walked to the driver’s seat.

Meng Ying followed and took the passenger seat. Soon, the van started and headed toward the city center.

Since it was a sixth-tier city, the downtown area was filled with low-rise buildings, unlike the skyscrapers of big cities. Quickly, the two identified a newly opened supermarket.

The supermarket had a large, modern facade.

After parking the van, Meng Ying hopped out, grabbing one of the gift boxes as a sample. Liang Qiao locked the van and followed her. Together, they walked into the supermarket.

They went straight to the front desk and explained their purpose.

The receptionist glanced at the cameraman behind them, hesitated, and then said, “Let me make a call.”

“Sure, thank you,” Meng Ying said.

The receptionist kept an eye on them as she made the call, her gaze lingering on Meng Ying’s face. After a while, she hung up and said, “You’re in luck. Today is the first day since this supermarket was acquired. The new owner is in the office inside. You can go talk to him.”

Meng Ying glanced inside and nodded. “Okay.”

With the sample in hand, she and Liang Qiao walked in. The floor was spotless, and the supermarket looked much more upscale than its exterior suggested.

After turning a corner, they saw a group of four or five people in the office hallway.

Four men in suits were surrounding a tall man, talking. Hearing the commotion, one of the middle-aged men turned around.

Noticing the cameraman behind Meng Ying, he frowned and said impatiently, “Why did you bring a cameraman in here? Who are you—”

“It’s fine,” a deep voice interrupted. The tall man raised his hand slightly, then turned around.

Behind silver-rimmed glasses, a pair of peach-blossom eyes narrowed as they swept over.

Meng Ying’s steps faltered slightly.

Xu Dian.

He adjusted his collar with his fingertips, glanced at the cameraman behind her, and asked as if he didn’t know her, “What can I do for you?”

But his gaze lingered shamelessly on her waist and face.

Meng Ying didn’t step closer. Instead, she held up the sample in her hand and said, “We’re from the *Leisure Time* show. This episode is being filmed in Maple Leaf Town. These gift boxes are handmade by children from Maple Leaf Mountain. We were hoping to set up a spot in your supermarket to sell them. It’s for charity, and the show will also promote your supermarket.”

“Come closer. Let me see,” Xu Dian said, his eyes flicking to the cameraman again.

For some reason, the cameraman felt a chill and almost lowered the camera. Meng Ying, realizing the man didn’t want to be filmed, nudged the camera and whispered, “Let’s stop filming for now.”

Liang Qiao, looking at the imposing man in the center, also said, “Yeah, he might not like it.”

“Okay.”

The cameraman finally put the camera down.

Meng Ying walked over, stopping about a meter away, and handed him the gift box.

She kept her eyes on her hand, thinking to herself, *Why does this feel like I’m begging him?*

“You’re standing so far. How am I supposed to see it?” Xu Dian said deliberately.

Meng Ying looked up and replied, “Aren’t you wearing glasses?”

Xu Dian took off his glasses and handed them to the middle-aged man beside him. Tilting his chin up, he raised an eyebrow. “Not anymore.”

For him, the glasses were just an accessory, a mask of sorts. He wasn’t nearsighted. *She’s dressed so casually today,* he thought. *But that top fits her too well, accentuating her slim waist.*

Without the glasses, Meng Ying still didn’t step closer. She simply asked, “Can we sell them here?”

Xu Dian stared at her intently, watching her remain still.

Xu Dian bit the tip of his tongue, tasting a faint metallic tang. He shoved his hands into his pockets, clenching his fists, and said, “Fine, you can sell them here.”

Her attitude was really something else!!

“Thank you,” Meng Ying smiled at him, then turned and walked away, quickly disappearing around the corner.

The hallway fell silent.

Jiang Yi stepped out of the office, glanced at the corner, and walked over to Xu Dian’s side. He lowered his voice and said, “Boss Xu, you’re really going all out for Miss Meng. You even came to this rundown company for her…”

This company had just been acquired.

They hadn’t planned to run a supermarket, but now, for Miss Meng’s sake, they’d have to keep it open for a few more days.

The supermarket staff were quite helpful. Upon learning it was for charity, they were all willing to assist, even the receptionist came out to help arrange the gift boxes in the most prominent spot.

After exchanging WeChat contacts, Meng Ying and Liang Qiao took the opportunity to buy the supplies they needed. At checkout, they were told there was a discount promotion, so they ended up saving quite a bit.

Once everything was loaded into the van and secured in the back seat, Meng Ying got in. Liang Qiao took the driver’s seat, and as they drove off, he pondered for a moment and said, “That boss just now, he looked really refined, like a nobleman. He didn’t seem like someone from around here.”

Meng Ying thought to herself, *Of course not.*

Liang Qiao added, “Hey, the atmosphere between you two felt a bit off.”

Meng Ying laughed. “How so?”

“Ha, maybe it was just my imagination,” Liang Qiao said, glancing at Meng Ying again. Seeing her smiling eyes, his face flushed once more.

When they returned to the inn, Mr. and Mrs. Xu hadn’t come back yet—they were having dinner outside. So Tan Huan took charge of cooking for the four of them. She even brought out some alcohol, insisting they all drink together.

Meng Ying propped her head up with her hand, repeatedly waving off the offer, indicating she didn’t want to drink. But Tan Huan insisted, and in the end, Meng Ying had no choice but to down two glasses. Almost immediately, she felt dizzy.

Thankfully, she had eaten enough to cushion the alcohol.

After dinner, they washed the dishes, and the four of them moved to the living room to chat.

Just as they sat down, the doorbell rang. Mr. and Mrs. Xu walked in, with Mrs. Xu carrying a large bag of peanut cookies, a local specialty. Seeing Meng Ying, her eyes lit up, and she quickly sat down beside her, handing her a piece.

Meng Ying, feeling a bit woozy, leaned back and waved her hand, but Mrs. Xu insisted, placing the cookie in her hand. Luckily, it was well-packaged, or else the sofa would have been a mess.

“Oh, you’ve been drinking?” Zhao Qiao frowned slightly, sniffing the air.

Meng Ying was dizzy but still quite lucid. She looked at Zhao Qiao’s peach-blossom eyes and smiled. “Auntie, your eyes are really beautiful.”

“You’ve already complimented me several times, child.”

Zhao Qiao nudged Xu Yi, who went to fetch some honey. He handed it to Zhao Qiao, who then made a cup of honey water for Meng Ying.

Li Yuan’er, jealous, exclaimed, “Sister, you’re so good to Meng Ying!!”

“I’m envious.”

“Keep being envious,” Zhao Qiao replied.

The room erupted in laughter, and soon everyone was chatting about all sorts of things. Xu Yi rarely spoke, while Liang Qiao had a lot to say. Eventually, the conversation inevitably turned to relationships. Surprisingly, it was Tan Huan who opened up first. During the last season, she had never mentioned her love life, but tonight, perhaps because of the alcohol, she seemed eager to share. Hugging a pillow, she began to talk about her past relationship.

Everyone listened quietly.

No one had expected Tan Huan to have been so deeply in love with someone—and it was an unrequited love at that. She had confessed her feelings, only to be rejected, and in the end, it led to nothing. She spoke calmly, but her story tugged at everyone’s heartstrings. Li Yuan’er moved closer and hugged Tan Huan, whimpering, “That’s so heartbreaking.”

After Tan Huan finished, she looked at Meng Ying and said, “Your turn.”

Meng Ying, leaning back on the sofa with her knees hugged to her chest—a posture that suggested insecurity—glanced at Zhao Qiao beside her, who patted her arm reassuringly.

Meng Ying smiled. Though her mind was clear, she felt like sharing. She didn’t think there was anything she couldn’t talk about.

So, she began to talk about her past as a stand-in.

She didn’t mention any names, only the story.

The room grew even quieter. The wind chime at the door jingled repeatedly, its sound punctuating Meng Ying’s words like a rhythmic accompaniment. The willow branches by the lake occasionally brushed the water’s surface, creating ripples that quickly settled back into calmness.

The Lover’s Lake was so clear you could see the bottom, and its reflections were even more pristine.

A black car pulled up by the lake. The window rolled down, revealing a man inside with a cigarette between his lips. He gazed at the inn with its lanterns hanging, the floor-to-ceiling windows revealing silhouettes of people inside, though he couldn’t make out who they were.

His fingers tapped lightly on the steering wheel as he watched for a long time.

Just then, his phone rang.

He picked it up and looked at the screen.

Zhao Qiao: How could I have given birth to such a scumbag like you!! You absolute trash!!!!

Zhao Qiao: Get lost!!!!

Previous

Next