"Will you refuse?" He put down his coffee cup.
He threw the question back at Meng Jiuyi, who was unaware of it.
She originally planned to finish these two surgeries and save up enough money for the surgery before stopping, but now all the money has gone down the drain.
She had truly made a name for herself with Chen Zhongli, and rather than living in constant fear, she might as well be tied to him.
Tan Yuchen had already calculated all of this clearly.
Moreover, he still has the evidence of her secretly filming, so Meng Jiuyi naturally doesn't think he will let her off so easily.
She hesitated for a moment, then, as if making a choice, picked up the long box, inside which lay a brown Parker pen.
I thought of what he meant by returning the item to its rightful owner.
"Could this pen belong to Chen Zhongli?"
"yes."
"So last night you took his pen while he was changing his suit?"
Meng Jiuyi was puzzled. "What are you trying to do with all this?"
If you took it, why return it?
Tan Yuchen said, "While returning the item to its rightful owner, I would also like to trouble Jiu Yi to retrieve the pen he is currently wearing."
So it was a packet swap?
Meng Jiuyi was puzzled. "A person like him must have thousands of pens. How am I supposed to know which one you need?"
"This brown Parker pen was a gift from his mentor, and he probably wouldn't take it off even if it were marinated in salt."
Meng Jiuyi stared at the pen; it did indeed show some signs of age. Remembering what he had said about it being marinated, she subconsciously wanted to bring it to her nose.
Tan Yuchen: "Smell it?"
Meng Jiuyi: "..."
She looked at him warily. This man had put a fake Parker pen in Chen Zhongli's suit, and now he wanted her to retrieve it? What had he put in that fake pen?
Tan Yuchen found it somewhat amusing to see her eyes dart around him for a moment, then gradually quiet down.
"Why didn't you ask? Jiu Yi is so smart, there's no way he wouldn't have guessed it."
Meng Jiuyi maintained her sweet, fake smile. "I really didn't expect that. I've never been very smart; I just wanted to live a few more years."
Tan Yuchen scoffed lightly.
Meng Jiuyi then asked, "But isn't this going to be too much of a fuss? Wouldn't it be easier to just find a pretty girl to approach Chen Zhongli?"
Tan Yuchen raised an eyebrow and just looked at her without saying a word, his eyes full of intrigue.
Meng Jiuyi felt extremely uncomfortable being stared at.
Why are you looking at me like that?
“Ordinary people don’t have the looks to make Chen Zhongli lose his mind; only someone as stunning as you could do that.”
Meng Jiuyi was completely bewildered when she was suddenly praised for her beauty.
She would be happy if someone else praised her like that, but it was this person in front of her that made her feel all prickly.
His gaze remained fixed on her face as he continued.
"You called me cousin last time, but now you keep calling me Third Young Master, isn't that too distant?"
That damn cousin.
Even when Meng Yintong went to the Tan family, he didn't give her a second glance. So what kind of cousin is she?
This man is too good at controlling relationships. The way he says these words carries an ambiguity, and even his unfathomable gaze makes people feel that he is naughty and have all sorts of wild thoughts.
Her ears inexplicably burned; she was less adept at handling relationships than he was.
"Now that I've asked all my questions, I should go."
Tan Yuchen made no attempt to stop him, and with his nod, Meng Jiuyi slipped away quickly.
What does he mean?
On the way back, Meng Jiuyi couldn't help but ponder his words and actions.
This man seemed dashing and irresponsible, which is why she dared to make a move on him back then. But after these few encounters, she felt that he was even more terrifying than a cunning fox.
Now he's subtly bewitching her with his words, could it be...?
Is she trying to have both money and sex?
Annoyance welled up in Meng Jiuyi's eyes.
Don't even think about it!
**
A week flew by, and Tan Yuchen didn't contact her again during that time. In addition, Meng Jiuyi was busy with work, and her vigilance gradually dissipated.
During this period, Jiang Zhou bought all the photos she had secretly taken. Meng Jiuyi asked for nearly 700,000 yuan, which was exactly the cost of the entire surgery.
I thought I would have to haggle, but the other party was surprisingly agreeable.
She immediately regretted not asking for more money, but given Tan Yuchen's cunning, there was no guarantee he wouldn't cause trouble for her later because she had asked for an exorbitant amount.
The next day, Meng Jiuyi went to the hospital to pay for the surgery, which was scheduled for two weeks later.
Meanwhile, her annual leave was over, and she had to go back to work.
She studied marketing in college and after graduation joined the planning department of Dasheng Media, a relatively large entertainment media company in the industry.
This job looks glamorous on the surface, and you can get close to celebrities while working. Many people applied for it because of this gimmick, but many left within six months.
In short, little money and a lot of work.
Having just finished organizing a movie promotion event, Meng Jiuyi and her colleagues were exhausted after unloading the exhibition boards.
Taozi, a colleague in the same department, complained, "Jiuyi, I really admire you. You're so tired, but I've never heard you say a word."
Meng Jiuyi rubbed his shoulders wearily.
"Complaining is useless; if they hear it, they'll dock your pay."
"I'm definitely useless, but you've worked as a print model and run a hot pot restaurant before, which made money much faster. If all else fails, you could become an actor or do live streaming. I don't understand why you're doing this?"
Meng Jiuyi said helplessly, "The hot pot restaurant went out of business, and my family has explicitly forbidden me from showing my face in public."
Peach asked in surprise, "Your family isn't royalty, are you?"
"Not royalty, but they have the airs of royalty."
Meng Jiuyi readily agreed, saying, "Everything has two sides; our work still has many advantages."
"for example?"
"For example, if I'm a fan of celebrities, I can work to get myself some perks."
She spoke with such conviction that her facial expressions were more vivid than ever before.
Peach wants to say that she is bombarded with her looks every day, and that those celebrities are not that great-looking.
"By the way, I just overheard the leaders talking to the publicity department on the phone. The publicity for Wang Ru's new movie is about to start, and it just so happens that we're in charge of organizing it."
Seeing that Meng Jiuyi didn't react, Taozi pulled out a photo to show her, "You don't know? She's a very popular young actress recently. She's already moved from TV dramas to movies and is doing very well."
The photo shows a delicate and charming face, so heavily edited that not a single wrinkle can be seen.
Meng Jiuyi stared at it for a few seconds, the subtle fluctuations hidden beneath her thick eyelashes disappearing very quickly.
"I know her; she's my idol."
On her way home, Meng Jiuyi received a call from her landlord, who said that the tenant wanted to come and see the house, but she was out of town and couldn't come back, so she asked Meng Jiuyi to help receive the tenant.
During her university years, Meng Jiuyi rented a two-bedroom apartment. Over the years, her roommates have changed one after another. She found moving troublesome and since there hadn't been any major problems, she continued to live there.
Not long after I got home, the doorbell rang.
When Meng Jiuyi opened the door, a girl with short, ear-length hair was standing outside. She introduced herself as Wen Qi and looked to be about the same age as Meng Jiuyi.
Meng Jiuyi offered her shoes to change into, and she said.
Don't you remember me?
Meng Jiuyi was taken aback.
“We’re from the same school. I’ve run into you before. I’m from the Light Industry College.”
"Feel sorry."
Meng Jiuyi smiled, defusing the awkwardness of not remembering.
She took Wenqi inside for a tour. The room wasn't spacious, but it was clean.
While inspecting the kitchen, Wen Qi discovered that the gas wouldn't light, and upon asking, she learned that the valve wasn't even turned on.
"If you don't even use gas, how do you cook normally?"
Meng Jiuyi pointed to the induction cooker next to him.
"I usually get off work late, so I only use the rice balls to cook in the morning. I eat lunch and dinner at the company."
"And what about taking a bath?"
Meng Jiuyi's eyelashes fluttered slightly.
"The company has a gym, and I usually take a shower after exercising before coming back."
Wen Qi had no suspicions and didn't ask any more questions.
She opened the valve to check the gas, and as soon as she turned the knob, a blue flame instantly ignited, causing Meng Jiuyi's heart to tighten.
As the flames grew larger, the blue turned crimson, leaping and expanding wildly before her eyes, and her palms began to sweat.
Meng Jiuyi didn't linger and went outside to wait for her.
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