"Clang..."
The cup in her hand slammed against the table, making a sharp, jarring sound.
Ning Yuan's mind was buzzing.
A numbing sensation ran through my heart, a feeling like...
An inexperienced thief, on his first attempt to steal someone's treasure, stumbled upon the owner returning home.
Her pale face alerted the three shrewd individuals present that something was wrong.
Cha Meiling sized up the girl sitting opposite her; she looked very young.
Her small round face, nose, and mouth resembled her godmother, Wen Huifang.
But those bright, round eyes with long eyelashes and slightly deep-set brows...
They're practically identical to the men of the Ning family.
The men's eyes are a bit narrow and long, naturally alluring, and each one is dashing and debonair.
The thin girl's eyes appeared round and large, likely due to long-term malnutrition, yet the overall shape was remarkably similar to others.
Her gaze swept over Ning Yuan's long, jet-black, curly hair—hair that looked like it could be used in a shampoo commercial without even needing a perm…
Cha Meiling looked at Ning Bingyu. His short hair was combed back, with curls on the sides of his forehead, making him look both refined and modern.
Everyone assumed it was styled and permed by a professional hairstylist, but she knew it was natural.
Therefore, the petite girl in front of you is most likely your missing younger sister.
She just naturally looks young, which is why she looks at most sixteen or seventeen years old.
but……
Cha Meiling smiled and looked at Ning Yuan: "What, does this Miss Ning recognize me? I am Cha Meiling, but—"
She sat down, raised an eyebrow slightly, and joked, "My brother and I aren't married yet, so I can't be called your wife. You can call me Miss Cha."
Ning Yuan was startled and only came to her senses under the gaze of the three people.
Realizing she had been so shocked she had lost her composure, she felt that no amount of explanation could adequately address these three shrewd individuals.
She lowered her eyes, and after a long while, she said in a strained voice, "Someone... mentioned you to me, so I remember your name..."
Over the past two years, she has honed her impromptu speaking skills through doing business.
Once you've prepared a vague excuse at the beginning, you can quickly organize your thoughts into a coherent sentence.
Ning Yuan paused for a moment, then said softly, "I was just so shocked by my sister-in-law's beauty that I didn't know the rules of the Hong Kong government and called her by the wrong name for a moment."
Such an ambiguous answer leaves one with many doubts.
But so what?
Everyone present was intelligent; no one would necessarily demand an answer at a time like this.
After all, what can they do if I insist on saying this?
Cha Meiling and Ning Bingyu exchanged a glance, both seeing suspicion in each other's eyes.
But, as expected, no one asked any further questions.
Cha Meiling, representing Ning Bingyu, said with a smile, "Ms. Ning, you flatter me."
Rong Zhaonan looked at Ning Yuan, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes, but he was already used to her sudden 'unusual' behavior.
He secretly took her cold, stiff little hand under the table, interlocked their fingers, and said gently—
"It's not cheap here, but Young Master Ning is always generous. His famous dishes include roast pigeon, Portuguese chicken, baked crab shell, oxtail soup, steak, chicken steak... What would you like to eat?"
Ning Yuan felt her slender hand firmly holding hers.
His palms were burning hot, and the blood flowed slowly through her veins to her heart.
Even the soul slowly warms up.
She said softly, "I want to cook...pigeon and oxtail soup."
Ning Bingyu glanced at Rong Zhaonan, and a strange look flashed in his eyes at the familiarity between him and Ning Yuan.
But he didn't show it on his face. He smiled slightly and instructed Vivian, "Order one of each of the dishes that Anan mentioned earlier."
Vivian nodded immediately: "Yes, young master."
Cha Meiling, who had been paying all her attention to Ning Yuan, was taken aback when she noticed Rong Zhaonan.
Although the man in front of her was dressed in ordinary clothes, she was struck by his cold, sharp, and beautiful eyes.
Suddenly, I remembered that this man named Rong Zhaonan was the military person I had seen at the Yangcheng State Guest House that day.
She didn't know why, in that fleeting glimpse, she hadn't even gotten a clear look at the other person's face.
But I remembered those eyes; I recognized him at first glance.
Cha Meiling frowned slightly, puzzled as to why she was paying so much attention to this mainland man.
Although the other party was born with a stunningly handsome appearance that could dominate the battlefield, his aura was anything but ordinary.
But she'd seen plenty of handsome men.
Even Anderson is as handsome as a top Hollywood actor.
She couldn't help but clutch her chest, a strange, familiar feeling spreading through her heart.
It's like she had a very deep connection with this person, she should know him... but today is at most the second time they've met.
Ning Bingyu noticed that his fiancée's expression had suddenly turned strange, and her face had turned as pale as Ning Yuan's.
He raised an eyebrow slightly: "Sixth Sister?"
Cha Meiling and he are both leading figures of the next generation in their respective families, and they are used to keeping their emotions hidden.
Why did she suddenly lose her composure? Was it related to Ning Yuan? Or...?
He smiled at Rong Zhaonan, a sharp glint in his eyes: "What, Sixth Sister, do you know Anan?"
Cha Meiling was startled, but quickly composed herself and said calmly—
"I wouldn't say I knew him. The first time I went to the guesthouse to find my elder brother, I happened to see a gentleman getting into a military vehicle who looked somewhat like Mr. Rong."
Upon hearing this, Ning Yuan couldn't help but tremble in her palm. She suddenly looked at Cha Meiling. Had they met before?
But the next moment, her hand was gripped tightly by Rong Zhaonan's large hand.
He said casually, "Yes, that day I saw this young lady looking around at the entrance of the guesthouse. I was worried that she was an enemy agent spying on me with ill intentions, so I took a few more glances at her."
Ning Yuan, Ning Bingyu, and Cha Meiling: "..."
This handsome guy is so straightforward, he doesn't hold back at all. Has he never been beaten before?
Cha Meiling swirled the teacup in her hand, her expression indifferent: "Mr. Rong is really joking. Spies are either after money or power. Most people who want power are ultimately after money. I'm not that short of money."
Rong Zhaonan said coolly, "Oh, the guesthouse only receives distinguished guests, so it can be considered a semi-special unit. We have to be careful."
He looked absolutely infuriating.
Cha Meiling's eyes turned cold as she looked at Rong Zhaonan, feeling a strange unease that she couldn't understand.
She simply ignored Rong Zhaonan and instead smiled warmly and elegantly at Ning Yuan—
"I heard you were injured in the fire. I wonder if you're feeling better? I brought some things over, the best things for a girl."
As they were talking, Anderson brought over an exquisite fruit basket filled with various fruits, dried abalone, scallops, fish maw, and shark fin.
Ning Yuan glanced at it and knew that this was not the usual style of gift-giving in mainland China; it was clearly in the Hong Kong government style.
She nodded, not refusing: "Thank you, Ms. Cha."
Cha Mei-ling smiled and said, "It's also because I was in a hurry to go to the mainland. Otherwise, I should have brought more skincare sets to nourish the skin. The most important thing for us women is to take good care of ourselves."
She was friendly and chatted about casual things that women talk about, which made it easy for people to like her and get closer to her.
This is Cha Mei-ling's skill in navigating social situations.
Ning Yuan nodded absentmindedly and stood up: "Um, I'm going to the restroom."
After saying that, Ning Yuan turned and left the private room.
The person she saw on TV and in magazines appeared in front of her, and it turned out that they might even be "relatives" of her.
She is now filled with a thousand thoughts and countless questions, none of which she can answer.
There's no time to talk about these things.
Seeing this, Cha Meiling knew something was amiss, but the girl in front of her was unwilling to talk about it, so no one knew what was going on.
Having seen it all, she smiled calmly and leaned back in her chair: "This Miss Ning is quite interesting."
Taiping Restaurant, as the largest Western restaurant in Guangzhou, is unlike other state-owned restaurants.
It has a private restroom, and it also has a mirror and a sink.
Ning Yuan stood in front of the sink and splashed cold water on her face twice.
The cold water slid down my eyelashes, and my eyes became a little red and stinging.
She looked up at herself in the mirror; her face was pale.
Why is Rong Zhaonan's wife from his previous life now his elder brother's fiancée?
Marriages between wealthy and powerful families are unlikely to be dissolved unless there are major problems.
Just like the gossip I saw in my past life—
Who in Hong Kong and Macau doesn't know about the eldest daughter of the gambling king and the second son of the Hui family of the Hong Kong government? They clearly had their own loves, but in the end, the two of them held a wedding of the century.
Cha Mei-ling is actually a Hong Kong government official. I clearly remember the report saying that Cha Mei-ling's background was from Meizhou, Guangdong.
Because these days, it's almost impossible for children of high-ranking officials to marry someone with an overseas background.
How exactly did Cha Meiling marry Rong Zhaonan?
The close relationship between this older brother and the eldest daughter of the Cha family suggests that, unlike people in mainland China, Hong Kong residents are likely already intimate.
Did Rong Zhaonan know in his past life that Cha Meiling was the fiancée of the eldest son of the Ning family?
And... that strange blind date between Ou Minglang and her, he must have suspected at the time that she was the missing daughter of the Ning family.
But why did he never come to see her again?
In this life, she first went to the Ning family, and Ou Minglang could no longer give her an answer.
Ning Yuan rubbed her temples, which throbbed with pain; she was overwhelmed with a thousand thoughts and couldn't make sense of them.
She vaguely felt that her obscure and unnoticed self in her past life was somehow involved in the origin of all events!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
