Chapter 74 Are We Reconciled?
During the week Jiang Ranxu disappeared, Meng Weishen realized something: he didn't know how to fall in love, but he knew how to solve problems. Perhaps he could apply that same problem-solving approach to love.
No matter how difficult the problem is, it can be solved step by step using basic formulas. However, the problem setters often set misleading conditions in difficult questions, and once you are led by the nose, you will follow the wrong path and end up in a dead end.
As the question setter, Jiang Ranxu must have reached a certain level of evil, setting up countless misleading conditions for him in the question. He had to actively eliminate these misleading conditions, and even repeatedly try to figure out the question setter's intentions, in order to finally get the correct answer.
Jiang Ran's preface was simply the most difficult topic Meng Weishen had ever encountered in his life.
The time since moving out hadn't affected Meng Weishen's relationship with the house; he and his old friend still knew each other intimately. He took a hot bath in the tub, retrieved his pajamas from the closet, and lay down on the right side of the bed in the master bedroom, leaving the left side for Jiang Ranxu.
Meng Weishen had been preoccupied with his relationship problems lately, and his work schedule had been delayed. He settled in for the moment, and while Jiang Ranxu was still showering, he found a comfortable spot at the head of the bed, propped his computer between his legs, and began to work urgently.
Jiang Ranxu arrived. He leaned over to him, half his knees propped up on the side of the bed. He took his left ring finger and bit it between the silver wedding rings, forcing him to stop typing.
"You only pay for the second bedroom, why don't you sleep in it?"
Jiang Ranxu was misleading him again. Meng Weishen retracted his finger, showing no intention of moving away. He said shamelessly, "I have to keep an eye on you. What if you vomit again tonight?"
"As long as you stop asking me about my parents, I won't vomit."
Meng Weishen hadn't figured out how to answer this question yet; he had to act carefully. He simply frowned, saying nothing more, and continued writing code.
Jiang Ranxu didn't ask for his opinion, and threw away his computer without permission. He stretched out his waist and occupied the space between his chest, abdomen and legs.
What happened? Meng Weishen quickly stroked Jiang Ranxu's back, but he wasn't satisfied with that. He reached under the hem of his loose T-shirt and, starting from his lower abdomen, planted a stream of delicate kisses. Meng Weishen shuddered, subconsciously tightening his abdominal muscles.
Jiang Ranxu said, "I'll charge extra rent, so you can sleep in the master bedroom tonight."
"I want to sleep in the master bedroom every night."
Meng Weishen hugged the other person's neck tightly and immersed himself in the night of reunion.
Tonight seemed no different from the countless nights they had spent together. But when Jiang Ranxu left his body, a huge sense of panic overtook him again.
Jiang Ranxu took him to wash, but Meng Weishen still hugged him tightly in vain, leaving teeth marks and kiss marks on his neck, arms and chest, but the marks soon disappeared with the running water.
Meng Weishen kissed him and asked, "Jiang Ranxu, are we reconciled? Will you disappear again tomorrow? Will you drive me away again?"
The bath light made his eyelids burn, and red spots appeared in his vision, like the overexposed scene in an old photo. Jiang Ranxu's face also became unreal.
He repeatedly asked, "Will you?" Jiang Ranxu finally answered, "No. Whether we get divorced or not, I won't disappear, nor will I drive you away. You can come to me anytime, even after the divorce."
——
Meng Weishen finally understood why companies so often hired single, unmarried young men as their nuclear-powered donkeys. Once married, one had to deal with the chores of life. After spending time with the husband, one had to spend time with the family dog. How could one possibly work 24/7 for the company like before marriage?
He hadn't played with Qin Shi Huang properly recently, and he felt guilty. Even in his dreams, he could sense Qin Shi Huang's earnest call. The next day, he opened his eyes early, sprang to his feet, and prepared to join the 10km dog walk.
Jiang Ranxu grabbed him from behind: "Wait a minute. What are you going to do?"
Meng Weishen said honestly: "Go walk the dog."
"You're not allowed to go." Jiang Ranxu said to him fiercely, "The moment you open your eyes, you think about that stinky dog you raised. You actually want to move back here for the dog, right?"
"...Okay. I'll go later then."
Meng Weishen felt a chill on the back of his neck and shrank back into the quilt, not daring to move.
He vaguely sensed that Jiang Ranxu had undergone some subtle changes since he moved back home. To find out what exactly these changes were, Jiang Ranxu had become a bit fierce, a bit cold, a bit arrogant... maybe more than a bit.
But Jiang Ranxu is still Jiang Ranxu, and he still likes Jiang Ranxu very much.
Jiang Ranxu hadn't let him go yet, and he came to touch him again quietly:
"If your stinky dog and I both fell into the water, who would you save first?"
"You. Beagle can swim." Meng Weishen hurriedly expressed his loyalty.
"I can do that, too."
"Save you too." Otherwise, who knows who will be drowned!
Jiang Ranxu paused for a moment and touched his cheek with the back of his hand as a reward for answering the question correctly.
"Wake up, I'll teach you how to make kelp soup for breakfast. Your soup is terrible."
Jiang Ranxu wouldn't allow him to contaminate the stove. This time, Meng Weishen had an easy task: he just stayed in the kitchen and watched as Jiang Ranxu heated up the wok. He first sautéed the minced meat, adding ginger to remove the fishy smell. Then he added the leftover kelp from yesterday, sautéed until fragrant, and then added water to cover the dish. Before serving, he sprinkled it with chopped green onions and drizzled it with sesame oil.
Most importantly, don't be tempted to add in some netherworld ingredients, like sea cucumber.
Meng Weishen had earned a delicious bowl of kelp soup for breakfast without much effort. Even when cooking vegetarian dishes, the meaty texture of minced meat was essential. The shredded ginger dispelled the fishy smell of grease, while the chopped green onions brought out the umami of the kelp, creating a rich, salty, and savory flavor that satisfied both his tongue and his stomach.
During breakfast, Jiang Ranxu was brooding over his dark cuisine. "Who on earth would put a whole sea cucumber in kelp soup? Who taught you that?"
"My mom said you can put sea cucumbers in any dish; they're nutritious."
"Your mother is a descendant of Cthulhu, dedicated to making seafood rule the world." Jiang Ranxu tested his learning results. "Have you learned it now?"
Meng Weishen's mind said he had learned it, but his hands said, "Don't be so confident, buddy." He thought for a moment and replied, "Just learn slowly. Anyway, as long as you are here, I can drink delicious kelp soup."
Jiang Ranxu smiled, then suddenly stabbed him: "What will you do after we divorce? Will you starve to death?" The other man stroked the ring on his ring finger, "It's quite pitiful when you think about it."
"Don't even think about divorcing me."
"I thought you would say you wouldn't starve to death."
"I won't starve to death either. But we won't get divorced, so the premise doesn't hold." Meng Weishen finished his kelp soup. "I'm going to walk the dog now and will be back in two hours. You have to wait for me."
——
Because of the bad things of divorce and breakup, Meng Weishen has been taking leave more frequently recently, and he almost used up his entire annual leave at the beginning of the year.
He always felt guilty when he went to Kuang Jia to ask for leave, especially since there was a devil standing in the other party's office - his divorce lawyer (the breaking-up version).
Fortunately, Kuang Jia was in a good mood. Meng Weishen sat in on her conversation with Li Yingxuan. She had won her divorce case in the first instance, and the division of property was satisfactory. However, her ex-husband had appealed, and she and her lawyer were discussing strategies for the second instance.
Meng Wei thought to himself, marriage is just a matter of getting a certificate, but divorce is so troublesome that it has been dragging on for half a year and still can't be completed.
He changed his mind and thought that if Jiang Ranxu asked for a divorce again, as long as he didn't agree, they wouldn't be able to get divorced for a year or two. So he felt a little happy again.
"Wesley, what are you laughing at?" Kuang Jia asked him, "Do you have something to talk to me about?"
While his leader was happy, Meng Weishen seized the opportunity to ask for leave.
Kuang Jia didn't object: "Why are you asking for leave again? You've already lost all your annual leave. A few days of paid leave is fine, but you have to ensure that the project is completed on time."
Meng Weishen stole a glance at the icy-faced Li Yingxuan and summoned all his acting chops: "Well... I'm also divorcing my boyfriend. There's a lot of joint property that's hard to sort out, and I have to go back to Haidian to fight him for it. We also have a dog together, and I plan to steal it during the workday."
Kuang Jia was startled: "No, when are you going to get a divorce? How long have you been married? A year?"
"...It's hard to explain. Anyway, I really shouldn't have gotten married so impulsively. Only after we got married did I realize we were not a good match at all. I really regret it now. I didn't listen to my lawyer and now I'm suffering."
Kuang Jia didn't know the truth either, so she turned to Li Yingxuan for help: "Lawyer Li, what happened to Wesley? Didn't you help him check it?"
Li Yingxuan gritted his teeth and scolded him, "Ignore him. You'd be crazy to believe he'd get a divorce."
"Wesley's not that old, so it's normal for him to be struggling with the idea of divorce," Kuang Jia said. "It's not a good thing for him to keep taking leave. If the project doesn't keep up, I won't be able to meet the client's expectations. Lawyer Li, for the sake of our company's revenue, can you help Wesley come up with a solution?"
Of course, Li Yingxuan had to give Kuang Jia some face and didn't get angry on the spot. But after they left the office together, once out of Kuang Jia's sight, Li Yingxuan no longer paid any attention to him.
Meng Wei shamelessly chased after him:
"Lawyer Li, please help me again. I still need to investigate the situation. President Kuang has spoken, right? For the future of our company..."
Li Yingxuan scolded him, "Wesley, stop pestering me. I really have nothing more to say to you. Even if you told me there's a beauty who looks like Fan Bingbing and is determined to marry you, who's never been in a relationship, owns eight courtyard houses near Tiananmen Square, will do all the housework for you without asking for a dowry, and is willing to give birth to eight sons and a daughter for you, I would only wish you a quick spot on the top of the bookstore's front page."
Meng Weishen paused, his mind raced, and he came up with a new idea for solving the problem.
He chased after him again: "Siheyuan... Yes, we are going to investigate Siheyuan!"
"No, don't drag me along. Breaking into someone's house will only land you in the detention center."
"Let's not go to a private house, let's go to the church. The church where Jiang Ranxu and I exchanged rings." Meng Weishen said, "Let's go to the church to find his mother."
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