Chapter 56: Good Night

The kitchen was quite spacious, and there were voices coming from outside. Meng Ying’s eyes were covered, leaving her in complete darkness, but she could still catch a faint, cool scent.

It came from him. She pulled his hand away and turned back to continue chopping the onions.

She ignored him.

The knife hit the cutting board, making a slight noise.

Her heart raced a few times, and she couldn’t tell if it was normal or not.

She remained unmoved. Xu Dian took a step forward, his hand lightly resting on her waist as he whispered, “I feel like, at any moment, I could fall in love with you all over again. Anytime, anywhere.”

After saying that, he let go and left without waiting for her response.

Meng Ying pressed down harder.

The onion was cut into a much larger piece than the others, uneven and oversized.

Meng Ying had to chop it again to make it smaller.

To keep everything uniform.

This guy.

When did his emotional intelligence get so high?

She sped up her chopping.

A little later, Mi Xue came in to help, and soon the dishes were brought out one by one and placed on the table. Zhao Yue and the others noticed and came over to help—carrying dishes, grabbing chopsticks, and serving rice. Xu Dian stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, talking to Hu Ye. His hands were in his pockets, and his profile still looked like that of a carefree, flirtatious young master. No one would have guessed that one day he’d say such cheesy, sentimental lines.

Meng Ying wiped her hands and went back into the kitchen, where she ran into Zhu Min’er. Zhu Min’er’s eyes flickered when she saw Meng Ying, then she quickly averted her gaze.

Meng Ying raised an eyebrow.

At that moment, Qiao Qi came in carrying a bowl of rice and whispered, “After class, Teacher Hu Ye asked her if she wanted to stay or leave.”

“What?”

“Teacher Hu Ye thinks she has a big problem with you and is worried it might affect the class. He hinted that if she keeps acting this way toward you, he’ll ask her to leave. So, as you can see, she’s been behaving much better now.”

Meng Ying was stunned.

She looked over at Hu Ye again.

Hu Ye patted Xu Dian’s shoulder and walked over. Xu Dian followed, and both men looked at Meng Ying. She smiled at Hu Ye.

Xu Dian: “…”

After lunch, there was a half-hour break. Everyone lounged on the couches in the living room, basking in the sunlight. Suddenly, Meng Ying’s view was blocked. She looked up to see Xu Dian taking a pack of cigarettes from the cabinet behind her. He leaned on the back of the couch, looking down at her, and asked, “Are you free tonight?”

“No, I’m not free,” Meng Ying replied.

Xu Dian clenched his jaw, then nodded, stood up, and walked out with the cigarettes.

After a few steps, he crumpled the cigarette box and tossed it into the trash. A car pulled up outside, and he straightened his collar before bending down to get in.

In the room.

Everyone was staring at Meng Ying.

Mi Xue finally realized, “He’s pursuing you.”

Hu Ye rubbed his face, sighed, and tugged at his slow-to-catch-on wife.

If it weren’t for chasing Meng Ying, would Xu Dian have put his work at Xu Corporation on hold and come all the way to Geneva? He had a mountain of tasks piling up, more than he could handle.

And now, he still had to attend a video conference at the Geneva branch.

Qiao Qi scoffed and leaned closer to Meng Ying, saying, “Don’t agree to him. Give others a chance.”

“Xu Dian is a big shot in Li City, surrounded by women. I’ve never seen him chase after anyone before. This is too rare,” Qiao Qi said, studying Meng Ying, trying to figure out what was so special about her that made Xu Dian come all this way. He noticed the sunlight falling on her face. She wasn’t smiling, but the hint of dimples at the corners of her lips and the curve of her eyes made her look like a crescent moon.

This woman was truly beautiful, and her fair skin was the cherry on top.

No wonder.

Qiao Qi licked his lips, his gaze fixed on Meng Ying. Sensing his stare, Meng Ying frowned and moved further away, putting some distance between them. Just then, Xu Qing sent her a WeChat message. It had been two days since Meng Ying last contacted Xu Qing. She opened the message and replied.

Xu Qing: Did Xu Dian go to you?

Meng Ying: Yeah.

Xu Qing: What did he say?

Meng Ying hesitated, then told Xu Qing what Xu Dian had said in the kitchen.

Sure enough, Xu Qing quickly replied.

Xu Qing: His emotional intelligence has leveled up.

Xu Qing: He’s telling you that, regardless of the past, he would still fall for you.

Xu Qing: Tsk tsk.

With that one sentence, he had whitewashed some of his previous actions.

Meng Ying thought to herself, it was exactly as she had guessed. She paused, staring at the message Xu Qing had sent, and after a while, she tapped her finger and replied. Then she chatted with Xu Qing for a bit longer before exiting WeChat. After sitting for a while longer, it was time for class.

Everyone returned to the third floor.

The afternoon class began with acting exercises.

Zhu Min’er was much more subdued than in the morning. When acting opposite Meng Ying, her movements were restrained, and she stuck strictly to the script. The two of them ran through several scenes together.

A cool, faint scent drifted over, and Meng Ying instinctively straightened up. The man’s arm tightened around her waist, and the next second, Xu Dian’s lips brushed against her ear as he whispered, “How could you just bump into me like that? Do you know how much I want you? I’m going crazy.”

There were several people in the classroom, and Zhu Min’er, standing right in front of them, looked shocked. Meng Ying struggled, but Xu Dian’s grip tightened for a moment before he finally let go. Meng Ying instinctively reached out to Zhu Min’er, who quickly grabbed her hand. Meng Ying took a couple of quick steps forward, and Xu Dian walked past her, heading naturally to the spot he had occupied that morning.

His words had been spoken so softly.

Only Meng Ying had heard them.

He lifted his gaze to look at Hu Ye.

Hu Ye said, “You can pursue her, but keep your hands to yourself.”

“She bumped into me,” Xu Dian replied lazily, leaning against the wall with his long legs stretched out.

The group: “…”

Meng Ying said, “It’s fine, no big deal. Acting involves a lot of physical contact. I’m used to it.”

The group: “True.”

Xu Dian’s eyes snapped over to her.

Meng Ying smiled at him, and Xu Dian gritted his teeth, asking, “Is it the same?”

Meng Ying: “It is.”

The man’s eyes darkened, the veins on the back of his hand bulging. Then he lowered his head, picked up the camera, and fiddled with it, his expression gloomy. He didn’t say another word.

That hint of triumph vanished.

His phone buzzed.

Zhou Yang: How’s it going? Any progress?

He glanced at it and ignored it.

Zhou Yang: No reply? Guess there’s no progress yet.

Xu Dian: She’s completely unresponsive. No matter what I say, she doesn’t react.

A second later, he added: “And she even clapped back at me.”

Zhou Yang: Then why not check her pulse? See if it’s racing? Yours definitely is, right?

Zhou Yang: Your wife is something else. She’s practically a master of evasion.

Hu Ye noticed.

He walked over to Xu Dian and said, “Mr. Xu, can you at least be fair?”

Xu Dian glanced at him sideways.

“Isn’t she acting better?”

He kept filming.

Hu Ye stared at this troublemaker.

Forget it.

Looking at Meng Ying, it was clear she didn’t have the slightest interest in this Young Master Xu.

It was strange, though, that this young master had chased her all the way here. It was quite pitiful, really.

Dinner was prepared by Mi Xue, who was excellent at making noodles. After everyone finished their noodles, they left one by one, heading back to their apartments. As Meng Ying stepped out of the villa, she heard footsteps behind her. She turned around to see Xu Dian, a cigarette between his fingers, following her. He said, “I’ll walk you back.”

Meng Ying hesitated for a moment but didn’t respond.

She walked out and crossed the street.

The nights here weren’t like those in China, where lights were everywhere.

It was quite dark.

Since it was a residential area.

There were plenty of dog barks, but hardly any people around. The villas were also spaced far apart. In Switzerland, everyone was allowed to carry guns, so it wasn’t entirely safe.

The sound of her footsteps was clear against the ground. Meng Ying looked at her apartment, clutching her phone as she walked over. It was even darker there.

But the footsteps behind her.

Were steady and strong.

Step by step, he followed. From the shadow beside her, she could see he was still holding the cigarette, his fingers elongated by the shadow. Finally, she reached the door.

Meng Ying went upstairs.

The man’s deep voice came from behind: “Goodnight.”

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