Chapter 17 Marionette
The wind chimes at the door rang crisply.
Fan Shengmei had just scooped a spoonful of cake and hadn't put it into her mouth when a bony hand pushed an eight-inch royal chocolate cake into her sight.
The gilded tray was decorated with raspberries and gold foil, and was even more exquisite than the signature model that she had hesitated to order just now.
"Birthday?" A deep male voice sounded.
Fan Shengmei looked up and saw Meng Yanchen, who was wearing a casual white polo shirt and his hair was not fully combed up. He looked a little different from his usual elite image in a suit and tie, and he looked more approachable.
"Mr. Meng?"
"Eat this."
Meng Yanchen glanced at the palm-sized cake in front of her, "Yours is too small. It doesn't look like a birthday cake, it looks more like afternoon tea."
Fan Shengmei recognized that this was a limited edition priced at 6888 in the store. She didn't even dare to look at it twice when she bought the cake.
"Would you like to eat some?" Fan Shengmei asked softly, staring at the cake that was big enough for ten people to share.
Meng Yanchen glanced at his watch and said, "No sweets after three o'clock."
"That......"
She paused, "This cake from this shop cannot be returned. Since it's a gift to me, can I handle it myself?"
Meng Yanchen made a gesture to ask for permission.
I saw her taking more than a dozen photos of the cake, and then quickly operated on her mobile phone to ask the clerk to rewrap it for her.
Meng Yanchen sat opposite her, drinking coffee silently, and suddenly remembered a sentence he had read in a book before: the poorer a person is in some aspects, the easier it is to show off.
Therefore, he always felt that the so-called sharing of life in the circle of friends more or less contained an element of showing off.
Twenty minutes later, a girl in a Lolita skirt rushed into the store.
"Are you going to resell 'Starry Sky Dream'?"
“Brand new and untouched.”
Fan Shengmei opened the box and showed it to her. "I took it out less than an hour ago. The original price was 6888. I listed it for 6500, but since you're so cute... take it for 6000!"
Without saying a word, the girl quickly took out her cell phone to transfer the money, as if she was afraid that Fan Shengmei would regret it.
"It's my birthday today, I want good luck."
Fan Shengmei scanned the code to receive the payment and waved her phone at Meng Yanchen, "Thank you, Mr. Meng, for the red envelope."
Meng Yanchen raised his eyebrows, "Is this the form you like?"
"As people grow older, they gradually lose their sense of ritual for birthdays and anniversaries."
She continued digging into her 28-yuan cake. "It's just the obsession of never having it that drives people into some strange behaviors, or the repetitive persistence that slowly forms a habit."
Meng Yanchen's fingertips paused slightly on the table.
Isn’t his twenty years of persistence in Xu Qin just a habitual protection?
What he thought was deep affection might, in the eyes of others, be just a morbid obsession with the word "unable to obtain".
Fan Shengmei was unaware of this and ate the cake on the plate with satisfaction.
"Today's obsession has been fulfilled. The remaining 6,000 yuan makes me much happier than if I had eaten it."
"You like money so much?" Meng Yanchen suddenly spoke, his eyes behind the glasses scrutinizing.
“Who wouldn’t like that?”
Fan Shengmei scooped a spoonful of cake and said, "You're so rich, but you still work overtime until the early morning. Don't you like it?"
He tapped the table lightly. "Have you ever considered that it's rude to sell a gift in front of the giver?"
"I asked for your opinion, and you said I could handle it however I wanted."
Fan Shengmei was straightforward. "The purpose of giving gifts is to make the other person happy. I'm happier after selling than after eating, which means your gift was a success."
Meng Yanchen raised his eyebrows, "Then I'll just give you the money?"
“Happier.”
Fan Shengmei's eyes lit up, "It saves the middlemen from making a profit from the price difference."
Meng Yanchen took a sip of coffee and sneered,
"You're quite direct."
“It’s human nature.”
Fan Shengmei shook her fork. "Going against human nature is unscientific."
Thinking of Xu Qin and the scene when she broke up with her family because of choosing Song Yan, she said,
"I don't like French food, I just want to eat the food he cooks, is that okay?"
Meng Yanchen raised his lips in a bitter smile.
"Yes, not everyone would choose bread."
Fan Shengmei didn't care. "That only means that person isn't hungry enough. Only after filling their stomach can they be qualified to make a choice."
"What if it were you, how would you choose?"
Fan Shengmei blinked her eyes, thought for a moment and said,
"I choose the bread I like."
This answer was very cunning. Meng Yanchen did not delve into it. He just took a sip of coffee and looked meaningfully at the remaining cake in front of Fan Shengmei.
“So, not all expensive cakes will be chosen.”
Fan Shengmei smiled and said generously, "It can only mean that this person is not worthy of it, is allergic, or... is still at the stage of not being full, and is trying to use this more expensive cake to exchange for more small cakes."
Obviously, this answer comforted Meng Yanchen very much.
He chuckled softly, and his phone vibrated at this moment.
Xu Qin’s message popped up:
[I received the cake and I love it~ But why didn't my brother come in person? Are you busy?]
He took a quick glance and locked the screen.
When he looked up, he found Fan Shengmei staring at him.
"What's wrong?"
"You have something to do, so please leave first, Mr. Meng. Thank you for the birthday gift, and thank you for spending my birthday with me."
The sincere thanks, when heard by Meng Yanchen, turned into an unpleasant order to leave.
He took a deep breath and smiled defiantly.
"not busy!"
Then he raised his chin towards the cake on Fan Shengmei's plate and said, "Go on!"
Every second that followed was very uncomfortable for Fan Shengmei, but she just gritted her teeth and ate the cake bite by bite under Meng Yanchen's gaze.
"Have you finished eating?"
Meng Yanchen stood up and said, "Let's go."
"Huh? Where are you going?"
"Buying gifts."
He adjusted his glasses, looking serious.
“The process cannot be omitted.”
Fan Shengmei widened her eyes, "There's really no need..."
"Eat cake, receive gifts, this is the process."
Meng Yanchen frowned slightly, as if discussing the flaws in the financial statements.
"You have to finish what you start. I won't be able to sleep if I don't finish half of it."
Fan Shengmei was speechless.
It was the first time she saw someone treating birthday celebrations as a project process and executing them so meticulously.
"What do you like? Jewelry or bags?"
"actually......"
“Cash is not recommended.”
He interrupted her, "It lacks monumentality."
Fan Shengmei had no expectation of gifts at the moment. Her eyes were filled with the desire to get off work quickly. She casually pointed to a boutique nearby.
"Let's go with this one."
This is a very ordinary boutique, which is full of handicrafts.
She was strolling around absentmindedly when she suddenly noticed Meng Yanchen's eyes fell on a marionette.
It was an exquisitely crafted nutcracker with several thin golden threads trailing behind it.
"That's it."
Fan Shengmei reached out to take it, but Meng Yanchen grabbed her wrist.
"No, change it."
"Why?"
Fan Shengmei was puzzled, "Didn't you let me choose for myself?"
"I don't like it." His voice became a little colder.
Fan Shengmei brushed his hand away and insisted on taking down the puppet.
"This is my gift, I just like it."
The puppet swayed in her hands. "Look, how delicate it is."
Meng Yanchen's glasses reflected a cold light, "No one wants to be treated as a puppet."
"But there are no such strings,"
She gently plucked the golden string behind the puppet. "It's just a pile of scrap wood."
Meng Yanchen was stunned.
Fan Shengmei suddenly pulled the silk thread, and the puppet actually did a playful dance.
"It can only come alive if someone guides it. Maybe it won't tell the exact story it wants, but at least it has grown flesh and blood, and will slowly develop a soul."
She looked up at him and said, "This isn't called manipulation, it's called guidance."
Meng Yanchen's pupils contracted slightly.
For many years, Xu Qin has been saying that Fu Wenying is controlling their lives and that she wants to escape from this home.
He was caught in the middle and gradually came to accept the pain of being manipulated.
But they forget that it is the so-called "manipulation" that makes them look like what they are today.
Suddenly, Fan Shengmei had already taken the puppet to the cashier and smiled at him.
"Mr. Meng, please pay the bill."
When checking out, the clerk smiled and asked, "Do you need it wrapped? I can write a greeting card."
"Pack me another set!"
Meng Yanchen took the pen, glanced at Fan Shengmei who was answering the phone at the door, and wrote on one of the greeting cards,
[To the puppet with a soul——Meng Yanchen]
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