Chapter 20 She didn't eat much; it wasn't to her taste...
"I'll wait for her for you, it's no trouble at all. I just happen to have a project to take care of. When she arrives, I'll call you... okay?"
Jiangshan is actually nearing its limit.
She suffers from blood deficiency, and her energy and spirit are already far inferior to those of ordinary people. Even if she usually likes to stay up late, her heart starts pounding wildly when she scrolls through her phone until midnight.
When she feels chest tightness and shortness of breath, she usually puts down her phone.
She's still not putting down her phone; she's just putting on a brave face.
After all, she was about to have her period, and she was conserving her energy to prepare for it.
Already lacking in energy and blood, she was even more powerless to cope with the double drain on her energy and blood from staying up late.
Jiang Shan squinted, lost in thought.
If I don't pick up Chen Feng on time, Mom will start nagging again.
However, Zhu Meng is always reliable, so it shouldn't be a problem to trust him a little this time, right?
After all, Zhu Meng is her boss. It wouldn't be appropriate for her to refuse him again and again, would it? The main reason is that asking him for help could indeed lighten her burden. At this point, continuing to be polite would only lead to further losses. It would be better to comply respectfully.
"Okay, thank you so much, Zhu Meng."
Almost the instant he uttered those words in a daze, Jiang Shan closed his eyes, tilted his head, and fainted.
Zhu Meng reached out and caught her head.
After staring at Jiang Shan for half a minute, Zhu Meng slowly rested her head on his shoulder, gently picked her up, and his heart began to ache before he even took a step.
She... is so thin.
He cooked three dishes and a soup, but she didn't eat much. Was it because she didn't like it?
But then she told him it was delicious.
He pulled the blanket from the bed and covered Jiang Shan up tightly. Zhu Meng slowly stroked her cold hands, his brows furrowing into a small knot.
Oh dear, what should we do?
"Ding-dong." Zhu Meng didn't know how long he had been staring at Jiang Shan, but suddenly, in the quiet of the night, he caught the sound of the doorbell.
Jiang Shan frowned, as if he was about to be woken up.
Zhu Meng rubbed her hands together.
"Wait a moment before getting up, I'll go open the door."
The moment he stepped out of the bedroom door, the calm and collected look on his face turned into a low-pressure icicle.
He really wanted to see which relative was so arrogant that they would ask a girl to pick them up from the airport dozens of kilometers away in the middle of the night.
Zhu Meng opened the door with a creak and met a pair of shifty, triangular eyes.
The two men locked eyes, and Chen Feng inexplicably felt as if he were being watched by wild beasts in the mountains. He swallowed hard.
Zhu Meng noticed the suitcase behind Chen Feng, with a snakeskin bag hanging on it. It must have been quite heavy, but he put his hands in his pockets and showed no intention of helping Chen Feng with his luggage.
...Adult male?
If he weren't here, wouldn't Jiang Shan be sharing a small rented room of just over forty square meters with this adult male, a lonely woman and a lonely man?
His future mother-in-law and father-in-law are really carefree.
Chen Feng felt a little uneasy under Zhu Meng's gaze. His eyes darted around before finally settling on something in the air. His voice was so soft it was almost a mosquito's buzz: "You are...?"
Zhu Meng let out a cold laugh.
He crossed his arms and asked, "And who are you?"
Zhu Meng's "you've come to the wrong door" attitude left Chen Feng completely bewildered. Chen Feng opened his social media app and checked the address Jiang Shan had given him twice, his hands sweating as he gripped the suitcase handle.
This is Jiangshan's rented room, right? But isn't Jiangshan supposed to live alone? Why... is there a man here!
This guy is so fierce!
"Wishing you...wishing you good fortune."
Jiang Shan came out in slippers and saw the two of them at each other's throats, or rather, Zhu Meng's one-sided crushing situation.
She selectively ignored Zhu Meng's face, which was as dark as the bottom of a pot, and the subtle aggression emanating from him, assuming he had mistaken her for someone else. She moved forward to introduce him: "I forgot to mention, this is my cousin, Chen Feng."
"Oh—cousin."
Seeing that Jiang Shan was going to politely help Chen Feng carry his bag, Zhu Meng frowned, then took it first, saying, "Then come in."
One second he was being sarcastic to Chen Feng, who slunk in, but the next second his mood brightened, and he smiled at Jiang Shan.
"The people have arrived, you should go and rest."
Jiang Shan nodded and groggily climbed into bed.
Zhu Meng followed him in, carefully tucking Jiang Shan's blanket in before tiptoeing out.
With a "snap," Jiang Shan's bedroom door slammed shut, and Zhu Meng's smile vanished, replaced by his usual inscrutable indifference.
He frowned as he looked at Chen Feng, who stood in the center of the living room, looking bewildered.
"There's no bed for you, go sleep on the sofa."
Chen Feng nodded, looking aggrieved: "Okay, sure!"
Jiang Shan was completely unaware of the bloodshed outside. She slept soundly until dawn. She stretched and relaxed, then opened the door to wash up, only to be met with Zhu Meng's gentle gaze.
"I've made breakfast. I didn't know if you preferred Chinese or Western food, so I made two portions and they're in the microwave. You can choose whichever you like."
Jiang Shan nodded blankly.
They even have hot breakfast? She was originally planning to just grab some small bread rolls with a shelf life of six months.
Zhu Meng slowly and deliberately tied his tie, his long, slender, fair fingers occasionally brushing against his full chest. Although it was just a normal act of adjusting his clothes, Jiang Shan felt a surge of adrenaline.
She only saw Zhu Meng's thin lips open and close: "No need to order takeout for lunch, it's unhealthy. I'll come back at eleven to cook for you."
Jiang Shan rubbed his eyes and hummed twice.
Zhu Meng put on his leather shoes and was about to leave when he turned back.
He turned specifically to Chen Feng, his smile cold: "Oh, by the way, cousin, there aren't enough ingredients, so there won't be any for you at lunch."
Chen Feng nodded tremblingly. Zhu Meng had just stepped out the door when Chen Feng, with huge dark circles under his eyes and a bitter face, approached Jiang Shan.
"Cousin, who is this? What's your relationship with him?"
Jiang Shan coughed lightly twice.
"We're roommates... He and I are colleagues."
"Take my advice, stop living with him right now!" Chen Feng gestured wildly, speaking mysteriously. "Don't ask why, I've seen far more people than you've ever tasted salt. He's not the kind of guy you want to mess with."
Jiang Shan didn't take it seriously.
Zhu Meng is so young, yet he has managed to become the president of a listed company. Even if he has his own family support, he must have seen and knows a lot of tricks.
Why did she let Zhu Meng move in, knowing he was no pushover...?
She had carefully analyzed her and Zhu Meng's appearance, wealth, and physical condition, and found that Zhu Meng had no flaws in any aspect, while she herself was the one who was lacking in every way.
The main reason why people are harmed by others is that they have things that others don't, and others are jealous of them, so they will do anything to destroy them.
This is why, in court, it is necessary to assess from various aspects whether the plaintiff had a motive for committing the crime.
There must be a benefit involved for anyone to have any ulterior motives.
As for Zhu Meng, she really didn't know what he wanted from her.
...Could it be that empty compliment she gave, "Your cooking is really good"?
Jiangshan shrugged.
"You're overthinking it. He's a really nice person."
Chen Feng seemed about to say something, but upon hearing Jiang Shan's words, his eyes darted around, and his expression changed from serious to sly: "Oh~ why are you taking his side? Could it be that he's your boyfriend?"
Jiang Shan was baffled and almost blurted out, "What's it to you?!"
The exact nature of her relationship with Zhu Meng, and why Zhu Meng, despite his high net worth, still lives in such a small rented room, are all private matters between her and Zhu Meng.
Chen Feng is an outsider, what right does he have to interfere?
He still asked with that lewd expression.
Jiang Shan opened her mouth to curse, but then she thought of her family ties—mainly because Chen Feng would complain to his aunt, who was also her mother—so she managed to suppress her anger and only spoke slowly and deliberately.
"Cousin, don't make wild guesses. There is no improper relationship between him and me."
"You two... really have nothing to do with each other? That's so strange!"
Finally realizing that the cold-faced, stern man was just a tenant with no voice, Chen Feng suddenly relaxed and burst into laughter.
"Cousin, in your aunt's eyes you're such a well-behaved girl who's never been in a relationship! Who knew you'd be so promiscuous behind the scenes, hiding men in your rented apartment! Interesting, really interesting!"
Jiang Shan was really not comfortable with it.
She frowned and muttered a few sarcastic remarks: "In my mother's eyes, you're still a successful person with a six-figure monthly salary. Why are you staying at my house instead of a hotel?"
"Oh, you're being too sensitive." Chen Feng chuckled, putting his hand on Jiang Shan's shoulder and patting him twice. "Just kidding, we're family, don't be shy!"
As the two drew closer, Jiang Shan suddenly felt that the house was pitifully small.
The scent of the opposite sex instantly filled her nostrils, even more difficult to conceal than S-class pheromones from an ABO world.
Jiang Shan frowned subconsciously.
...Strange, when Zhu Meng was around, they were also a lone woman and a lone man, so why did she seem so at ease back then?
She subtly pushed away Chen Feng's hand from her shoulder and politely gave him the order to leave: "Cousin, pack your things and I'll take you to a hotel. This place is too small; it's not very convenient for you to stay here."
"Hey, no need." Chen Feng waved his hand, casually walking into the kitchen with his hands behind his back, like a leader on an inspection tour. "No rush, I haven't had breakfast yet!"
Jiang Shan frowned and followed him in, just in time to see the "leader" fiddling with the microwave with one hand and lifting the lid of the pot with the other.
The warm aroma of breakfast wafted over, and her eyes widened slightly.
Zhu Meng is too modest. He prepared far more than two breakfasts.
The Western-style dishes included milk, eggs, and sandwiches, while the Chinese-style dishes were equally impressive, featuring meat buns, steamed dumplings, and pumpkin millet porridge—enough for five people.
As for this skill... it's no exaggeration to say that you could open a breakfast stall.
Chen Feng happily took out the tableware from the sterilizing cabinet, picking up a bun here and a bowl of porridge there like a bee collecting honey.
He didn't forget to tease Jiang Shan: "Cousin, your roommate is a good man, you should marry him soon!"
Jiang Shan couldn't help but roll her eyes at his retreating figure.
What are these men thinking about all day long?
A woman is first and foremost a person, and only secondly a woman.
To realize one's personal value, one should contribute to the country and society, not find a man to marry, quit one's job, and stay at home to be a stay-at-home wife and mother.
In the time it took her to roll her eyes, Chen Feng had already taken a large portion of her breakfast.
Jiang Shan frowned as he counted the items, then slowly sighed.
Forget it, it's just giving Chen Feng two meat buns, three eggs, five steamed dumplings, and a bowl of millet and pumpkin porridge.
She doesn't eat much; she can get full from the leftovers.
Jiang Shan stirred the golden millet in his bowl with a spoon, glanced at Chen Feng across from him who was wolfing down his food while watching short videos on speakerphone, and inexplicably found himself unable to eat.
The food on the table was, as always, Zhu Meng's cooking standard: light, but delicious.
But when the person across the table changed, she suddenly lost her appetite.
In the cramped 40-square-meter rented room, the unwashed sweat emanating from Chen Feng was finally fully exposed under the daytime temperature of over 30 degrees Celsius.
Jiang Shan used all his willpower to avoid covering his nose.
Sigh, let's get Chen Feng to the hotel quickly so he can take a shower; the smell is really too strong.
"Chen Feng, where is the hotel you booked?"
Jiang Shan ate only half a bowl of porridge before feeling extremely full. The faint smell of sweat in the air was much stronger than the emetics in the hospital. Just a light sniff made her stomach churn.
She quietly put down her spoon, pulled herself back, and tried to alleviate her nausea by increasing the distance: "I'll take a taxi, and I'll take you there after you've finished eating."
Chen Feng buried his head in his bowl, slurping down the porridge: "No, I'm not going to the hotel!"
"……What?"
For a moment, Jiang Shan thought he had misheard.
“I told you, I’m not going to the hotel.”
Chen Feng smacked his lips, chewing on bits of pumpkin as he replied, his eyes showing obvious impatience towards the host who had taken him in and given him a delicious breakfast.
Having witnessed countless arguments between his parents since childhood, Jiang Shan is more sensitive to changes in tone and expression of others than the most sophisticated detector.
Seeing the roguish smile on Chen Feng's lips, a vague unease rose in her heart.
"Why not go? Wouldn't your hotel booking be a waste?"
"Tsk, I didn't even book a hotel, what's there to stay in?" Chen Feng shrugged. He was clearly a working adult, but he looked more like a delinquent than a high school student cranking a motorcycle.
"I heard from my aunt that you lived in S City for a few years and are quite familiar with it. So, I'll let you arrange where I eat, where I stay, and where I go for fun."
Jiang Shan's head was buzzing.
"If you're not staying in a hotel, where are you going to stay for the next few days?... Even if you want me to help you plan your itinerary, you should discuss it with me first and then book a hotel near the attractions each night!"
"Well, didn't I just say that?" Chen Feng shook the toothpick holder on the table, took out a thin, yellow wooden toothpick, and picked at his front teeth that were covered in pumpkin puree.
He picked his teeth and hummed, "Cousin, I have a full ten days of vacation. You should take a look and see where we can go to have fun so as not to waste it... Oh right, don't forget to add Disneyland. The main reason I came here is to go to Disneyland."
"Chen Feng, we haven't finished our last conversation yet, stop changing the subject."
Jiang Shan was not feeling well, and she was holding back a lot of anger. Her heart and lungs ached slightly. She spoke with a cold face, trying to cover up her lack of energy, but she was still a little out of breath.
She took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.
"Please explain yourself clearly. You're a perfectly capable man, yet you deliberately didn't book a hotel and are using the excuse of visiting S City to stay at my house for ten days. What do you mean by that?"
Chen Feng crossed his legs and put his smelly feet on the table that Zhu Meng had wiped with a rag early that morning.
"So what happened?"
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Author's Note: I just realized I set the posting time wrong, it's private now [crying emoji]
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