Chapter 203: Was he a step too late?

Chapter 203: Was He Too Late?

After clocking in at the TV station, Wen Jin called Meng Qinghe back.

The other end answered very quickly; perhaps they had been waiting for this call ever since they sent the message.

Considering the unusual timing of his message, Wen Jin was also somewhat concerned:

"Have you encountered some difficulties?"

Meng Qinghe hesitated for a moment, "Yes..."

Looking at Meng Qinghe's family background, although they were not extremely wealthy, they were still a respectable and well-to-do family.

He was excellent and gentle, and his life was peaceful.

There aren't many difficulties that give him a headache.

Apart from--

His grandmother suffered from Alzheimer's disease.

At this moment, Wen Jin had already guessed why Meng Qinghe was so eager to find her at five in the morning.

Her words carried a hint of probing, as if she were afraid of touching on someone's sore spot:

"Is it related to your maternal grandmother?"

There was a two-second silence on the other end of the line, followed by a low, husky laugh.

Meng Qinghe's gentle tone betrayed his exhaustion, "Today, it seems there's nothing I can hide from you."

His voice was low and he sounded somewhat haggard. "Grandma hardly recognizes anyone anymore. She's hardly ever lucid. Last night, she suddenly put on her clothes and headed towards the sea, saying she was going to find her daughter. I..."

Meng Qinghe's voice choked with emotion.

“She said she wanted to stay with her daughter. To persuade her grandmother, everyone made up a lie, saying that her daughter had not died at all… Because of this lie, her grandmother has been sitting since dawn, waiting for us to bring her daughter back.”

He had a deep bond with his maternal grandmother.

Meng Qinghe had a younger aunt who died young. She was swept away by a giant wave and drowned in the sea when she was surfing in her twenties.

That became a lifelong worry for my grandmother.

As his memory fades, the memories of his deceased youngest daughter become increasingly clear.

Wen Jinye happens to look somewhat similar to her.

This was also the main reason why Meng Qinghe was willing to take on Wen Jinye through Tang Man's introduction.

Wen Jin also met her maternal grandmother once.

At that time, she was seeing patients in Meng Qinghe's clinic when her grandmother became confused and ran away from home.

I don't remember anything else, except for the place where my eldest grandson works.

When Weiwei was helped into the examination room by the on-duty nurse, the nurse looked embarrassed and hadn't had a chance to explain anything.

But then the old woman, who was not in her right mind, suddenly burst into tears.

Her gaze fell deeply on Wen Jinye.

Tears welled up in my eyes.

But they dared not blink.

It was as if they were afraid that the person in front of them would disappear in the blink of an eye.

The old man walked over with faltering steps.

Her aged, withered hands cupped Wen Jinye's cheeks. "My dear, you are my dear."

"Promise Mom you won't go surfing anymore, okay?"

It was around that time that Wen Jin also found out.

She bears a resemblance to Meng Qinghe's deceased aunt.

Later, my grandmother regained consciousness.

She still held Wen Jinye's hand tightly, unwilling to let go.

"Xiao Wen, you really are just like my little girl. Let Grandma see you one more time, because Grandma will never see my little girl again."

...

On the other end of the phone, Meng Qinghe hesitated.

"I wanted to ask you if you would like to have a meal with my grandmother."

“I know it’s a difficult request to have you play the role of a deceased person… Now, if you really are very reluctant to do this, you can refuse me. I don’t want to bother you unless absolutely necessary.”

Wen Jin doesn't care about avoiding anything.

Friendship has always held a very important place in her heart.

She is willing to do anything she can for the people around her.

Besides, it's just having a meal with the elderly.

However, Wen Jin hesitated, "Can I really fool my grandmother? If she finds out that I'm not the person she really wants to see, won't her emotional backlash cause her even more harm?"

No, it won't.

Meng Qinghe's sadness flowed and spread in her melancholy voice, "Grandma doesn't recognize anyone now. She doesn't remember me either. The fact that she mistook you for someone else when she was confused last time shows that in my grandma's eyes, you really look a lot like my aunt."

"But I'm sorry to trouble you."

"No trouble at all. Around what time?"

Meng Qinghe said, "I just put Grandma to sleep. Can I pick you up after you get off work?"

*

Wen Jin also did an interview in the afternoon.

By the time I got back, organized and imported the materials, it was already more than ten minutes past the end of the workday.

During the interview, Wen Jin would also silence her phone, and she has been so busy that she forgot to turn it off.

The message from Meng Qinghe was sent half an hour ago:

I'm waiting for you in the TV station parking lot today.

Perhaps knowing she was busy, Meng Qinghe didn't call again.

Wen Jin quickly typed a reply:

Sorry, I've been organizing the materials, I'll be right back.

Now that the rush hour has passed, Wen Jin clocked out and went downstairs, the journey was smooth.

"Now, I am here."

As she hurriedly walked out of the TV station building, Wen Jin looked up at the sound and saw Meng Qinghe standing by the car waiting for her.

Wearing a gray turtleneck sweater paired with a casual polo collar jacket, he looked refined and gentle.

Wen Jin stepped forward as well, her breathing slightly disordered from her quickened steps. "Sorry to keep you waiting."

She glanced at her watch. "Will this make Grandma's meal too late?"

"Won't."

Since returning from Hong Kong, they have both been busy with their own things, and this is the first time they have met.

Wen Jin's half-down ponytail was a little messy from running around all afternoon, with a thin strand of hair falling down her forehead and brushing against her eyelashes.

Meng Qinghe subconsciously reached out his hand.

But Wen Jin had already casually tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

His hand, which had been suspended in mid-air, paused for a second, his fingertips trembling, before finally landing on the small bag slung over Wen Jinye's shoulder.

Wen Jin was taken aback for a moment but quickly realized, "No need, I can do it myself."

"Let me do it," Meng Qinghe teased gently. "Now you're the elder."

This joke instantly dissolved the slight estrangement between the two who hadn't seen each other for several days.

Wen Jin smiled, pursing her lips.

"Will you call me 'Auntie' at the dinner table later?"

A fleeting glint of cunning beneath her long eyelashes momentarily captivated Meng Qinghe.

Her radiance made even the most desolate autumn day lose its bleakness.

But she would only give him such radiance when she knew he had no feelings for her whatsoever.

If Wen Jin also knew that beneath his dignified and refined exterior lay such feelings for her, how far should she retreat from the safety line?

Meng Qinghe restrained all thoughts that shouldn't have crossed his mind.

Make a joke in the most natural tone:

“Grandma doesn’t even recognize me anymore, so please don’t make things worse.”

Meng Qinghe opened the passenger door behind him and gestured for him to get in. "Special guest actor, please get in the car."

No one noticed that there was a silent, ordinary, black minivan parked opposite this car.

The air inside the car was so still you could hear a pin drop.

Through the dark, privacy-protected car windows, the outside scenery was clearly visible.