Chapter 2 First Meeting: "I am your arranged husband"
02
The smell of disinfectant was one of the few scents Meng Yao liked; it was cold, yet it gave her a strange sense of peace.
Grandma Meng Xiangque was moved to a private room, which was spacious and bright, with a small patch of greenery visible outside the window. It was a world of difference from the old ward that was crammed with six beds and where it was difficult to even turn around.
This was the first coin Lin Tianhai received after fulfilling his promise, thrown into the deep pool of her life, stirring up indescribable and complex ripples.
A small pot of pothos sat on the windowsill, its emerald green leaves stretching out tenaciously; it was brought over by Meng Yao from the old ward.
My grandmother was a refined and dignified person. It seemed that no situation would push her to the brink. Even in the most difficult times, she always made sure to live a vibrant life.
At this moment, Meng Xiangque was sitting on a half-raised hospital bed, with a pair of thin silver-rimmed reading glasses on his nose. He was flipping through a newly published magazine, his fingertips thin and withered. Monitoring equipment was hanging beside him, but the force with which he turned the pages was steady and powerful.
Even though she looked sickly and haggard, the only thing that seemed to prove her condition was not optimistic was the oversized striped hospital gown she was wearing.
She still retained the composure and sharpness of a top actuary in the industry. Hearing Meng Yao's footsteps, she took off her glasses and smiled, "Yao Yao is here. Why are you here so early today?"
"I'm graduating soon, so I have fewer classes."
Holding a few fresh lilies she had brought along the way, Meng Yao placed them in the glass vase by the bedside as she spoke, skillfully replacing the somewhat droopy bouquet from the day before. A delicate fragrance immediately filled the air.
She gestured to her grandmother with a hint of pride, "Aren't these flowers beautiful? I brought them especially for you; their scent makes me feel good."
Do you think I need one or two bouquets of flowers from you?
Meng Xiangque suddenly complained, speaking clearly and gently, with the tone of an old-fashioned intellectual: "You're so busy with your studies, what are you doing here every day? The environment here is good, and the caregivers are very attentive. Everything is fine with me, but you keep running around, and you're falling behind in your studies."
"Mmm, okay, okay..."
Meng Yao gave a perfunctory reply, subtly changing the subject: "How are you feeling today? I had the doctor switch your medication to imported ones, are you having any reactions?"
"What kind of reaction can there be? It's the same old story: the indicators are improving, rest and keep a good mood," Meng Xiangque said casually, his gaze following Meng Yao. "Seeing you makes me unhappy; your face is almost paler than mine. What time did you stay up last night? I already told you I'm not doing that live stream anymore. I can support myself by taking on a few accounting students and running a class..."
"Oh dear, my great actuary," Meng Yao finally couldn't stand her nagging anymore, and leaned closer, her heart filled with despair, tightly grasping her hands: "Can you please give up this idea? You're a patient now, where do you want to open a class? A hospital? Get well first before you think about supporting me..."
"You little rascal..."
Meng Xiangque reached out to pat her head, but she turned her head away. Just as he reached out his other hand, Meng Yao nimbly took a step back.
Grandma was eventually amused and playfully tapped Meng Yao's nose through the air: "I just think your job is unreliable. Can you stop it? You're always singing and performing. How much money can you make? There are so many shady people online. Don't hang out with them."
"They're happy to give me money, why can't I make money?"
Meng Yao avoided talking about her specific job. Her grandmother was a very conservative person. Although she knew that Meng Yao was making money by doing live streaming, she only thought that she was singing and chatting to earn some living expenses.
However, Meng Xiangque remained suspicious of her work and tentatively asked, "Why are you so eager to work? Don't you have enough money?"
"That's enough," Meng Yao said, picking up an apple and peeling it. "Now we have medical insurance and money from Lin Tianhai. You're doing me a favor by not worrying about anything. Just relax and be a good old lady and get better."
Meng Yao had always been in charge of the money, and Meng Xiangque had no idea how expensive the illness was, let alone that Meng Yao was now playing a controversial role on the internet and facing a lot of malicious insults.
She was only thankful that Meng Yao hadn't been defeated by her sudden serious illness and was still working hard to prepare for the postgraduate entrance exam and plan her future.
This is what makes her most gratified and excited right now.
"Always so glib, I wonder who she inherited that from..."
But as if suddenly remembering something, Meng Xiangque paused for a moment, then sighed, "If there's still enough money for treatment, we should cut ties with the Lin family. The thing I regret most in my life is being blind enough to agree to be with him and your mother. Now, although he deserves to pay for it, debts of gratitude are the hardest to repay. I can never forgive him. This money is a liability. If you don't have much left, I won't get treatment; I'll keep it for you. I'd rather die at home than..."
"You're doing it again!" Meng Yao glared at her.
Meng Xiangque remained silent, gave a cold snort, and turned his gaze away.
This is also what Meng Yao is most worried about.
Her parents divorced when she was less than three years old, and her mother fell ill and died the following year. Her maternal grandmother raised her single-handedly.
She was unaware of the grudges between the two generations. Honestly, she didn't feel the same depth of affection for that family, for Lin Tianhai, or even for her mother as she did for her grandmother. She only cared about whether her grandmother could survive.
To put it bluntly, she can't even take care of the living, let alone the grudges and grievances of the dead.
As long as her grandmother survives, forget about acknowledging a father; hatred and saving face are all nonsense to her.
The apple is peeled, round and glistening.
She handed it to her grandmother and clearly instructed her, "You should get well soon and watch me graduate, get a job, and start a family. That would be the best thing for you to do for me. I know how to manage the money."
“Sigh…” Meng Xiangque stopped arguing, knowing that he had made the topic too heavy. He held the apple but did not eat it immediately, his eyes were cloudy: “I just… don’t want you to spend your whole life on me.”
She was a strong-willed woman who spent her life as an actuary calculating risks and returns, but now she has become her granddaughter's biggest liability and source of risk. It would be a lie to say that she feels powerless and heartbroken.
Meng Yao could see that she was blaming herself again, and frowned: "You've already put in the effort, why think so much? If you don't want me to spend my whole life on this, just get better quickly."
"I am……"
"If you won't eat it, I will."
Giving her no chance to grieve any longer, in the blink of an eye, the apple in Meng Xiangque's hand was snatched into Meng Yao's mouth.
Taking advantage of the situation, Meng Xiangque pinched her cheek, making her cry out, "Ouch, ouch!" "I was wrong, I was wrong, here, have some, have some..."
Meng Xiangque pretended to be angry, let go of her hand and tapped her forehead hard: "With your bad temper, it's a wonder your boyfriend can put up with you."
Hearing her grandmother mention that fictitious boyfriend, Meng Yao's heart skipped a beat.
To explain her occasional late returns from live streams and her improved financial situation, Meng Yao fabricated a story about a stable, successful, and considerate boyfriend.
At this moment, she could only feign a mischievous smile and say, "There's nothing I can do. With such a pretty face, people will forgive me no matter what mistakes I make."
Meng Xiangque gave her a disapproving look: "Come on, how does he treat you? Why don't you bring him over for me to see?"
“His company is in a critical phase of its project, and he’s constantly flying around. How can he possibly have time to come to the hospital? He’s been asking about your condition every day. We’re not even married yet. I can’t expect him to come to the hospital every day and act like the perfect boyfriend, can I?”
Meng Yao casually brushed it off: "Besides, what's he doing here? Besides causing trouble, he can't exactly take a medical exam on the spot to treat you, can he?"
"What are you so busy with? We've been talking for so long, and I haven't even taken you out to play or picked you up from school... What's the use of just talking? Don't follow in your mother's footsteps."
Afraid that she wouldn't be able to hide it any longer, Meng Yao dragged out her words and quickly grabbed the backpack by the bed: "Okay, okay, I'll bring him over when I have time... I'm not going to say anything more, I haven't gone live yet today, you get some rest, I'll come see you again tomorrow!"
After saying that, she ignored the concerned eyes behind her and left the ward almost in a panic.
The live stream last night was exceptionally difficult.
Today, her look was modeled after Lin Yue's disastrous makeup and styling at her concert last month, which was ridiculed by many. The makeup artist recreated it exactly, with heavy foundation and exaggerated eyeliner that looked like a sticky mask, making it hard for her to breathe.
In her live stream room under the stage name "Yang Yiyao", the chat was as lively as ever.
[The cloned sheep only lived for six years. Trying to be clever like a human, are they desperate for fame? Isn't it disgusting that they're always copying our Yueyue?]
【Oh dear, there are so many funny pictures of your Yue-jie from her concerts going viral. Isn't the streamer prettier than your Yue-yue?】
[Isn't the comment upstairs hilarious? Can internet celebrities be compared to real stars? They plagiarize and then mock the actual celebrities.]
[This is Yangyang's live stream. Who's trying to get attention?]
Meng Yao selectively ignored them.
Through the earphones, Wang Qiang was still haunting the backstage monitoring room, giving instructions: "Xiao Meng is in good form today, keep this pace! Don't rush to deal with the comments, keep them hanging, drag out the time, and add another song by Lin Yue."
Meng Yao forced a smile and continued to joke around in front of the camera, dealing with the colorful messages scrolling rapidly across the screen, feeling as if an invisible hand was squeezing her stomach.
She finally made it to the end of the live stream, cut it off, and stared at the screen mechanically and numbly, as if all her strength had been drained away, before slumping into her chair.
Through his earpiece, Wang Qiang was still excitedly sharing with the operations team around him: "See! This is the key moment. We need to push for an extra half hour like today. The revenue has increased by almost half. Tomorrow, we'll add another joint platform activity!"
Meng Yao was too lazy to argue, so she closed her eyes and pretended not to hear: Anyway, she wouldn't let Wang Qiang push his luck no matter what she said. If she wasn't in the mood tomorrow, she would still end the broadcast and leave when the time came.
Wang Qiang quickly came to her live stream room to find her, intending to invite her and several other operators to do a live stream to review the performance.
But the words in her earpiece made Meng Yao very uncomfortable, so she chose to ignore them and continued to rest her head against the back of her gaming chair with her eyes closed.
Wang Qiang wasn't annoyed, nor did he force her. He turned around and called the others into the conference room.
She was so tired that after everyone left, she slumped onto the table and drifted off to sleep.
When she woke up and went outside, most of the lights in the company were off.
The surroundings were silent. She raised her head blankly, a red mark on her forehead from being pressed against the table, and much of her makeup had been smudged off.
I checked my phone again: it was already 9 p.m.
School access control!
She woke up from her dream in an instant and immediately got up and ran towards the elevator.
Stepping out of the office building's revolving door, the cold night wind sent a shiver through her, instantly clearing her head. She walked briskly, rubbing her arms as she searched for her electric scooter parked by the roadside.
"Miss, Miss...Miss Meng!"
A call from behind interrupted her thoughts. She turned around and saw two tall men in black suits standing not far away, like two walls.
"You...you called me?" Meng Yao looked bewildered and pointed to herself in confusion.
“Yes, Miss Meng,” one of them, whose tone was more gentle, spoke first, “The boss has been waiting for you to get off work for a long time. Please let us take you there.”
After saying that, the two of them decided to walk over.
"Don't come any closer!" Meng Yao panicked as the burly man, who seemed to be coming from nowhere, was about to approach.
It was the middle of the night, and there was no one around. She hadn't brought many self-defense tools with her today, so she didn't dare to act rashly. While calmly taking a step back, she fumbled for pepper spray in her bag: "Who are you? What do you want?"
The two women stared at each other in bewilderment for a moment. The man who had spoken earlier continued to explain politely, "Miss Meng, don't panic. Our boss's car is parked on the side of the road. If you're worried, we can lead the way."
"Boss? What boss?"
Meng Yao was on edge, and all sorts of bad thoughts flashed through her mind: she had heard before about cases where overly aggressive fans from company live streams had come to her in person, could it be that she had encountered the same thing today?
The three of them stood there awkwardly in a stalemate, when suddenly the person who had been silent gestured to her side: "The driver is coming."
Following the trail, Meng Yao saw two cold white beams of light suddenly illuminate the distance, and a black Bentley Mulsanne that had been parked on the side of the road slowly drove toward her.
Meng Yao froze. The two men quickly walked over to greet her, and after opening the back door, a man got out of the back seat.
He was still wearing a sharp, impeccably tailored dark suit, which accentuated his broad shoulders and long legs. His cold, handsome face appeared somewhat blurred in the backlight of the car headlights, but his imposing aura remained undiminished.
Meng Yao's eyes widened. He had stopped a few steps away from her, his gaze calmly fixed on her face, which was filled with vigilance and exhaustion, as if he hadn't seen her tense and wary expression.
“Miss Meng, it’s me who’s looking for you,” he said, his voice elegant yet cold, deep and steady.
He couldn't discern any particular emotion, yet strangely, he deflated the tense atmosphere from before.
Meng Yao's mind went blank because his appearance and aura were so outstanding that she recognized him almost immediately the moment he approached.
But because everything happened so suddenly, she didn't know what to say for a moment and could only stand there dumbfounded.
Seeing that she didn't react, he paused, then smiled slightly: "I thought Uncle Lin had already told me. It seems I still need to introduce myself."
Those deep eyes appeared exceptionally clear in the dim light, and he spoke each word clearly: "Hello, I am your future husband in a marriage alliance, Fang Huaixu."
A note from the author:
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