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墨書 Inktalez
I drove Fu Yan home.
Along the way, he sat stiffly in the passenger seat, his jaw tense and silent.
I said lightly, "If you've taken everything, don't put on a deadpan face. Who do you want to upset?"
He closed his eyes briefly and replied, "Meng Xi, I'm not here to entertain."
I scoffed, "Sorry, but you are. If I want you to smile, you have to smile; otherwise, just leave."
As we entered the house, Meng Jinzhi was trimming branches in the yard.
His gaze fell on Fu Yan, a faint smile on his lips, but a sharp glint gradually emerged in his eyes.
"The young lady is back."
He greeted me with a smile, "And this is…"
"My boyfriend, Fu Yan."
His fingers trembled slightly. "What does Mr. Fu like to eat? I can prepare something with Aunt Liu."
"No need. He won't be staying for dinner; he specifically came to thank my dad."
I led Fu Yan upstairs.
My dad was waiting in the guest room, his gaze toward Fu Yan filled with a glaring scrutiny.
Fu Yan stood before him, back straight, as if he had suffered great humiliation, forcing out a reluctant thank you through clenched teeth.
"Thank you for Mr. Meng's appreciation and care. In the future, Fu Yan will certainly repay generously."
My dad calmly said, "I don't need your gratitude; just take good care of Xi."
"…Yes."
My dad glanced at me and said, "Xi, go downstairs and rest. I need to talk to Fu for a bit."
He talked with Fu Yan for a long time.
It wasn't until Fu Yan left that he told me with an inexplicable expression:
"The kid with the surname Fu is indeed capable and has some depth. He has already signed that contract, and when I questioned him today, he answered without a hitch."
"Unfortunately, he received kindness but seeks revenge instead; it's truly morally corrupt and shows poor character."
My dad sighed, " Xi, with Jinzhi as an example, how could you be interested in someone like him?"
Meng Jinzhi?
I suddenly looked up at my dad, just in time to meet his gaze filled with regret:
"Over the years, your mother and I have seen Jinzhi's feelings for you."
"Our previous opposition to you being with the kid with the surname Fu was not due to differences in status. On the contrary, if it were a talented and humble person like Jinzhi, even if his conditions were a bit lacking, it wouldn't matter."
"But this Fu Yan is truly insatiable and ambitious..."
My dad muttered as he went downstairs, and I stood there in a daze, walking to the window to look down.
In the dimming light, Meng Jinzhi was still carefully tending to my little garden.
When I was young, I read too many fairy tales and envied the princesses who had their own gardens, so I asked my mom to help me create one too.
Unfortunately, most of them are delicate flowers that require careful nurturing, and I quickly grew impatient after just a few days, ultimately leaving it all to Meng Jinzhi.
This organization took many years.
When I was young, I regarded him as an older brother. However, after experiencing the outside world, and seeing him silently standing behind me, I gradually began to overlook his presence.
But my dad mentioned tonight his feelings towards me.
What kind of feelings could Meng Jinzhi have?
That answer is actually not hard for me to guess at all.
I slowly walked down the stairs to the garden, and in those brief few minutes, countless fragments related to Meng Jinzhi flashed through my mind.
On the ground lay a trimmed rose that had already begun to wilt.
"Meng Jinzhi."
I picked it up and softly called out to him, "You seem unhappy."
He responded quietly, "It's... my personal issue."
"Is it because I just said in front of you that Fu Yan is my boyfriend?"
He slightly turned away, no longer looking at me.
"But that was part of our agreement; it's just a part of the plan. I won't be deceived by him again. Why do you still seem unhappy?"
I clutched the rose and walked over, forcibly turning his shoulder towards me. "Meng Jinzhi, look at me."
"It's impolite not to look at someone when speaking."
Under the moonlight, his lowered eyelashes resembled the wings of a butterfly, fluttering lightly against my heart.
Through the thin fabric of his cotton T-shirt, his burning body temperature pressed against my palm.
He seemed a bit flustered, trying to escape my gaze: "I'm sorry, Miss. If I have offended you—"
He couldn't finish his sentence.
Because I held onto his collar, stood on tiptoe, and kissed him.
The kiss was reckless and passionate; in the rush, our teeth clashed against each other, and he let out a muffled groan, his face turning even redder.
"Fool, you need to respond to me."
He lowered his eyes and breathed heavily: "I'm sorry, Miss... I haven't learned how."
"Then just hold me steady, don't let me fall."
"Yes."
As our hearts brushed against each other, the roses were crushed, their petals scattered everywhere, and both our clothes were stained with flecks of light red.
In the originally fresh Herb Fragrance, a hint of sweet richness gradually intertwined.
I threw myself into his embrace, and he instinctively supported my waist as we both fell onto the swaying swing.
As the kiss ended, both our breaths became rapid, and our hearts raced.
I looked at Meng Jinzhi: "You like me, don't you?"
He looked at me helplessly, as if some hidden thought had been exposed.
After a while, he finally forced a bitter smile and said, "I just don't want the young lady to think that I have ulterior motives, that I'm the kind of person who desires you."
I clicked my tongue in annoyance and leaned over to kiss him again.
"Why are you so foolish, brother?"
"Is it possible that I desire you too?"
When I was four years old, I envied Lin Liuliu for having an older brother to protect her, so I begged my parents to give me a brother as well.
My mother laughed and comforted me, saying, "If we have another child now, it will be a younger brother."
I cried and insisted on having an older brother, so they took me to the orphanage.
Meng Jinzhi was the brother I chose for myself there.
He was five years older than me. By the time I started elementary school, he was about to graduate, yet he still came to pick me up every day without fail.
As my parents' careers flourished and they became increasingly busy, it was Meng Jinzhi and Aunt Liu who took care of me.
When I was eleven, I failed to get the role of Snow White in a play and cried at home.
In the end, Meng Jinzhi put on the Malicious Queen's dress and acted out a Snow White scene with me at home.
During the year of the college entrance examination, Meng Jinzhi went to Beijing to attend the best university.
I cried for several days at home. Meng Jinzhi almost changed his major for me, but my mother stopped him.
She said, "Xi, you're almost fourteen; you're not a clueless child anymore. You should understand what this means for Jinzhi."
I cried and said, "But you said he is my brother."
"He is your brother, but not your servant. You should respect his life."
At that time, I had just entered my rebellious teenage years, and I was not willing to listen.
It seemed that from that moment on, I no longer called Meng Jinzhi "brother," but provocatively addressed him by his name.
Even so, he just smiled tolerantly and said, "Whatever the young lady calls me, I will be happy."
Returning to my memories, I noticed that Meng Jinzhi's ears had turned red all the way to his neck: "…Don't call me that."
I squinted my eyes: "Why not? I called you that so many times when we were kids. I want to call you brother. Come on, tell me, do you like me?"
He swallowed hard twice and ultimately resigned himself to nodding.
Then he said softly, "I never thought about it."
"What didn't you think about?"
His gaze fell on my lips, gradually becoming a bit tender and heated: "I never thought the young lady would notice me—"
—It was as if the moon, hanging high in the sky, was willing at some moment to cast its light upon me.
I cupped his face: "Then how many more times do I need to kiss you for you to believe this, brother?"
He leaned in and brushed his lips against my fingertips.
"That's enough."
As soon as Meng Jinzhi and I returned to the house, my dad called him into the study.
My mom sat in the living room, poured a cup of tea for me, and then asked, "Are you really sure you won't soften your heart towards Fu Yan?"
"He is going to target our family, how could I possibly let him go?"
Having suffered the destruction of my family, still holding onto old feelings for the culprit, is nothing more than a plot forcefully set by people.
My mom sighed in relief, "I'm just a bit worried. After all, you seemed like you couldn't live without him before."
"I was young and naive, unable to see people clearly."
I said softly, "Fortunately, there is a chance for redemption..."
Everything is not yet irretrievable like in a dream.
In the following month, I found myself running to Fu Yan's studio every day, watching his expression grow graver by the day.
At first, he still had the energy to argue with me, retorting my merciless sarcasm one by one.
But soon he became too busy.
His collaboration with Lu Zhou hit a snag.
This was not five years later when they had not yet established an unbreakable friendship by dividing the Meng Family.
Moreover, what they were planning together was a project with extremely high returns but also extreme risks.
Fu Yan could never understand that it was precisely because he spent that afternoon at my house and my dad casually hinted at his approval of him as the successor of the Meng family.
On the other hand, my parents would not budge on the project he used as bait, no matter how much he tried to entice them.
In his words, it seemed they had already sensed his ulterior motives.
The already sensitive Lu Zhou began to harbor doubts about Fu Yan.
He went to Fu Yan for confirmation and tentatively asked him what was said that day at my house with my dad, wondering if he had accidentally exposed anything.
Fu Yan naturally denied everything.
The more he denied, the more Lu Zhou began to suspect that he had turned against him.
Fu Yan could not learn about the next steps of the plan from him, and the resources that Lu Zhou had originally arranged for his studio were also withdrawn.
He could no longer receive help from me, and his career was momentarily at a standstill.
"I have been observing at the company for quite some time and have basically confirmed that Lu Zhou has indeed placed personnel internally, particularly in the crucial financial system."
After returning home in the evening, Meng Jinzhi informed us in the study that the company's accounts had started having issues three months ago.
"Their actions are very covert. If we hadn't detected it, within half a year, the Meng's cash flow would be in a state of rupture and unable to circulate."
This coincided exactly with the timing of my family's bankruptcy in the original text.
"A thousand-mile dike collapses from an ant's nest. If it weren't for Xi's reminder, your mom and I might have really taken a hard fall with Lu Zhou."
My dad sighed deeply, patted my shoulder, and his gaze gradually sharpened. "However, it's time to close the net."
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