Chapter 14 Little brother, do you like me? ...

Like her, Li Qinghe was also dressed formally, a fitted black suit that made him look calm and refined, which suited his status.

After the two were seated, the waiter bowed and asked if they could have their food served. Only then did they realize that their parents had made such thoughtful arrangements that they had even ordered the food for them.

Li Qinghe asked for a menu and handed it to Shen Mengqing in a gentlemanly manner, saying, "Miss Shen, please take a look and see if there's anything you'd like to add."

Shen Mengqing glanced at the menu and saw that the current portion sizes were enough for them. She wasn't a picky eater, so she shook her head and pushed the menu back.

After the waiter left, Li Qinghe formally introduced himself according to the blind date procedure. He said with a smile, "I was quite surprised when my dad told me you worked at Yusheng. I'm very familiar with your CEO Yu's son. I'll introduce you to him if I have the chance."

Shen Mengqing almost laughed; this was the second time someone had tried to introduce her to the chairman's son.

She took a sip of juice and replied, "Well, we're quite destined to meet. I was the one who signed the contract between Yusheng and your company."

Li Qinghe raised an eyebrow, asking with some surprise, "You signed it? Were you the one who liaised with Guo Bin?"

Shen Mengqing said awkwardly, "It was me. I hope that incident didn't have any impact on you. I heard that President Guo was fired."

Li Qinghe didn't speak, leaning back in his chair and thinking with his eyes down. After a while, he looked up and said, "Of course it's not a problem. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." Shen Mengqing raised his glass and extended it to Li Qinghe, saying, "No matter what, I'd like to toast you to thank you, Mr. Li, for choosing to renew your contract with us and for punishing that scumbag."

Li Qinghe clinked glasses with her, the tea in their cups swaying slightly, and his smile was as warm as a spring breeze:

"No need to be so formal. Also, don't call me General Manager Li, just call me Li Qinghe. This isn't a business dinner."

Li Qinghe is easygoing. Shen Mengqing was initially a little nervous in front of a big client, but as they ate and talked, she gradually relaxed and began to treat Li Qinghe as a friend of the same age.

As the meal drew to a close, the sound of pattering water gradually came from outside. It turned out that a heavy rain had started outside, and a curtain of water flowed down the transparent glass window. The night view outside the window was blurred as if the colors were being diluted by the rain.

Li Qinghe took a sip of water and said regretfully, "I was planning to invite you for a walk along the river to help you digest your food, but it seems we can't go."

"Driving on a rainy night is quite tiring, so I'll just take a walk to digest my food," Shen Mengqing joked.

Li Qinghe readily agreed: "You're right."

When it came time to pay the bill, Li Qinghe strode over and paid first, refusing Shen Mengqing's request to split the bill.

He held the elevator door open for Shen Mengqing, followed her inside, and said, "Please come back to Beicheng if you have the chance."

Shen Mengqing stopped insisting: "Okay, you can pick any restaurant with an average cost of less than four figures per person."

Li Qinghe: "Then I'll have to look within your budget."

As the elevator screen displayed the floor number, it kept decreasing. Just as they were about to reach the parking lot floor, Shen Mengqing suddenly received a text message.

These days, why do people still send text messages? Could it be that she just finished a blind date and now she's getting another one? She clicked on it and saw it was from a familiar number.

"I'm at the M Hotel in Chucheng, 1916."

Almost instantly, Shen Mengqing's heart stopped, feeling as if her brain had been turned into mush by those words, and her eardrums were ringing.

Chu Cheng M is the five-star hotel where the Western restaurant is located. Just then, the elevator doors opened with a bang, and Li Qinghe behind her was waiting for her to walk out first.

Shen Mengqing stepped aside, turned her head and said, "I still have things to do here, you can go first."

Li Qinghe paused for a moment, then walked to shoulder level with her and said, "Do you need my help?"

"No need," Shen Mengqing replied quickly.

Li Qinghe was slightly puzzled, but still said goodbye to her.

In the last second before the elevator doors closed, he looked at Shen Mengqing. She was staring intently at her phone, her expression seemingly...with a hint of barely perceptible anticipation?

He had never seen her with that expression before tonight.

...

As Shen Mengqing stepped out of the elevator, her high heels left small paw prints on the soft carpet, only stopping in front of the apartment with the number 1916.

Without hesitation, she raised her hand and gently knocked on the door.

Within seconds, the door was opened a crack.

The person inside only showed half their face. After recognizing her, they opened the door completely.

The room was colder than the hallway, and a cool breeze blew in from inside to outside. Shen Mengqing looked up at Yu Xin, surprised at how haggard he looked.

His hair hung down in a mess, his face was ashen, his sharp facial features were sunken, and his eyes were moist. Shen Mengqing almost wondered if he had been crying.

Yu Xin stared at her, looking her up and down, and said calmly, "Do you know when I sent the message?"

“Two minutes ago,” Shen Mengqing said accurately.

Yu Xin raised the corner of her eye and asked her, "You live downstairs?"

Shen Mengqing laughed twice: "I was just upstairs having dinner..."

She felt a bit thirsty and had a strange feeling of being caught cheating.

Yu Xin turned and went into the room. He had only taken a few steps when he started coughing violently. His back swayed violently, like a leafless tree about to be broken by a strong wind. He had to hold onto the wall with his right hand to steady himself.

Shen Mengqing rarely holds grudges; she honed her skills at work. Even if she had a disagreement with someone the day before and they argued heatedly, she could still address them as "brother" or "sister" without making a fuss the next day.

Seeing Yu Xin like this, her heart had already softened a bit. She entered the room, casually put down her bag, and frowned as she asked Yu Xin, "Why are you so sick?"

After that argument, Yu Xin caught a severe cold not long after returning home, probably from sleeping on the sofa and getting chilled. He had a high fever for two days, initially taking some capsules at home without much concern. However, the fever persisted and his cough worsened, so he couldn't bear it any longer and went to the hospital. He only recovered slightly after several days of intravenous drips.

As he walked out of the hospital that day, he received a travel advisory text message on his phone.

He bought a ticket to Chu City while he had a high fever.

"How did you know my home is in Chucheng?"

Shen Mengqing filled a kettle with water from the sink and boiled it, then asked Yu Xin, who was sitting on the sofa by the window.

Yu Xin's voice was hoarse, and after coughing, it had a rough, gritty quality: "Your phone number is displayed."

No wonder Shen Mengqing's phone number hadn't changed since high school; it was unexpected that it would come in handy now.

She braced herself against the table with her hands behind her back, her skirt pressing against the edge of the table, and said, "Aren't you afraid that I bought the number and ended up emptying the place?"

Yu Xin's eyelids drooped, and it was hard to tell if they were closed or if he was looking at the carpet. He looked sickly and said, "Don't worry, I just had an IV drip. I have plenty of antibiotics in my body, enough for me to make a round trip."

Tch, so stubborn. Who asked you that?

Shen Mengqing snorted inwardly.

"Besides, if I really go to the wrong place, I can just call you and buy another ticket to come find you."

Shen Mengqing had a clear mind, a mirror polished to a shine, and with a sharp slap, he revealed Yu Xin's true form.

A smile curved her lips: "You wanted to see me that much?"

Yu Xin glanced at her coldly, but said nothing.

Shen Mengqing took a few steps forward and walked up to him. Yu Xin's legs were wide open, and Shen Mengqing stood with his legs together between his knees, his hands supporting him on the back of the sofa behind him, his elbows resting not far from his face.

Her shawl slipped down a bit, revealing her rounded shoulders like pearls and her deep collarbones. The fabric of her skirt rubbed against Yu Xin's trousers, one black and one white, one cold and one pure.

With her head lowered, the tip of her nose was only a few centimeters away from Yu Xin's eyes, and she could see clearly even how many eyelashes he had.

"Little brother, do you like me?"

A note from the author:

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Actually, Xinzi just had a persistent cough and was too tired; her body wasn't really weak. (Explanation)