Chapter 3
"Shen Jianhe?" Han Meng was taken aback.
Who is Shen Jianhe? He is the male protagonist of the original novel "The Melodious Sound Remains the Same". His identity is set as the only son of a warlord. He has a domineering and arrogant personality. He is definitely a proud son of heaven. How could he possibly do such a despicable conspiracy!
Although this is a tragic novel, and the male protagonist has some personality flaws, he is generally quite upright in his behavior, judging from the overall plot.
You've got it wrong, haven't you?
"Seeing is not necessarily believing. If you don't believe me, you can ask Madam Wang next time you have the chance."
Lu Jinxian's expression was indifferent. When he caught sight of his servant finding him out of the corner of his eye, he asked the servant to call two rickshaws.
He sat in the rickshaw, propped his face up with one hand, revealing a small portion of his fair arm, and smiled at Han Meng, saying, "Miss Han Meng, you are not as spoiled as the rumors suggest. But if you are really smart, remember to keep your eyes open when making friends."
"Thanks for reminding me. You're not like the rumors..."
Before she could finish speaking, the other person and the servant had already driven away in a rickshaw.
Actually, Han Meng wasn't just being polite; she genuinely thought he was very intelligent and, if he had a healthy body, he would definitely be an outstanding person.
*
The Han family was a prominent and wealthy family. Han Meng only needed to state her identity, and the driver knew how to get there. After arriving at the Han family mansion, Han Meng carefully memorized the address of the mansion.
The mansion enjoys a superior location, within ten miles of bustling areas, including the Han family's teahouse, Shili Xiangfang, yet the surrounding environment remains quiet.
There was a servant on duty at the gate. As soon as she knocked, the servant opened the door to greet her.
Moreover, this servant was a handsome young man with delicate features, pleasing to the eye.
As she walked inside, Han Meng silently observed her surroundings, her expression calm on the surface, but her heart was pounding with excitement—was this the world of the rich?
The spacious courtyard was planted with many beautiful flowers and plants, and the paths leading into the room were paved with pebbles. When she entered the bedroom, she saw the kind of classical furniture that could only be seen in Republican-era TV dramas, and a delicate crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling.
It was absolutely stunning.
I casually opened the exquisite little box in front of the dressing table, and it was filled with real gold, silver and jade.
She had to admit that Han Xianfei was at least materially good to his daughter. If she had grown up in such an environment, she might have been even more spoiled than the original owner of this body.
"Miss, Master wants to see you." Yu Zhi, the original owner's personal maid, called from outside the room.
Han Meng's heart skipped a beat. She was almost blinded by the wealth before her. Today, she had disrupted Wang Chunshan's birthday banquet, and it was very likely that the cooperation between the two families would be canceled. Her cheap father would probably be angry if he found out.
However, after taking a step out, he immediately stepped back and glanced at the wardrobe.
Just to be on the safe side, it's better to wear something thicker; it'll make you a little more resistant to being hit.
She opened the wardrobe and was hit with another blow.
However, the maid's voice urged her from outside. Afraid of keeping Han Xianfei waiting, Han Meng casually threw on a gray-brown mink coat and hurriedly went to see the other party in the front hall.
"dad."
Han Xianfei looked up and was startled when he saw her outfit: "Why are you wearing winter clothes in the middle of summer?"
Han Meng lowered her head guiltily, and as she sat down on the other side of the sofa, she replied, "Ah... I just have a cold and I'm a little cold."
"You need to take good care of your health. If you become unwell, how will you continue the Lu family line?"
Han Meng: "..." Luckily I didn't drink any water, otherwise I would have spat it out by now.
She said softly, "Dad, nothing happened between me and Young Master Lu. We don't even know each other. You can't force a relationship."
As the saying goes, sincerity is the greatest weapon.
"I know." Han Xianfei gave a bitter smile, his eyes filled with guilt as he looked at Han Meng. "But there's nothing we can do. Someone is definitely trying to frame you and our family. Those people hiding in the shadows must have more tricks up their sleeves. If the two families don't announce the engagement soon, the whole city's newspapers will be publishing stories about your affair! And since you're a young woman, you'll suffer far more malice than Lu Jinxian!"
Han Meng was skeptical, but quickly came up with an excuse, bringing up the original owner's love for the male lead: "But I can't just get married like this. Everyone in this city knows I like Brother Shen. If I suddenly get engaged to Lu Jinxian, what will outsiders think of me? What will the Lu family think of me?"
"Alright, stop talking. This marriage must go through! What's there to complain about if you marry into the Lu family? Although I have a grudge against Mr. Lu, I've taken care of things for you. They won't mistreat you."
Han Xianfei stiffened his neck, no longer looking at his daughter, the teacup in his hand trembling incessantly, as if he was trying his best to restrain something.
Han Meng stopped refuting.
She herself had never had much interaction with the role of "father," and the book didn't describe Han Xianfei much, as if he were just a background character for the villainous female supporting character. So she didn't know how to get along with Han Xianfei as a father and daughter.
During the conversation just now, she could vaguely sense that Han Xianfei was helpless. For a moment, she almost thought that he was doing this for the child's good, but his approach was so forceful that it made her very uncomfortable...
Perhaps he wasn't entirely motivated by profit; otherwise, there would be plenty of other options for business marriages, and he wouldn't have chosen the Lu family, with whom he had a very poor relationship.
"Don't run around tomorrow, just stay home obediently. The Lu family will come to propose marriage." After saying this, Han Xianfei got up to attend to other matters without even glancing at Han Meng.
*
Han Meng did not want to have a direct conflict with Han Xianfei, but she could not just make an engagement decision so casually.
Regardless of whether the original owner will return or not.
She felt that both she and the original owner of this body had the right to freedom of marriage, rather than being forced to be bound to someone else.
However, Han Xianfei was right about one thing: the villain behind the scenes came prepared, and the news of her and Lu Jinxian spending the night together quickly spread.
On the day the Lu family proposed marriage, Han Meng hid in the street and heard a newspaper vendor shouting, "Newspapers for sale! Newspapers for sale! The Han family's daughter is alone in a room with the son of her sworn enemy! Shameless!"
Without even glancing elsewhere, she walked into the Treasures Building with her hands in her pockets. It was a high-end antique shop.
She used to like this kind of thing but couldn't afford it, but now she can finally indulge herself openly. She was so happy that she walked with her feet light on the ground, unlike the other customers in the store who walked with a bit of an air of self-importance.
The store had good items, both the replicas and the genuine articles were quite good, and there was a wide variety of them. However, she came alone and couldn't carry too much stuff, so she only browsed the small items section.
She fell in love with a piece of jade at first sight. It was a crystal-clear piece of mutton fat jade, but it had a small black spot in the middle. However, she didn't think it mattered because the jade had been polished into the shape of a tiger, and the small black spot was positioned to serve as the tiger's eye, which was quite cute.
"Shopkeeper, please pack this up for me."
"Young lady, you have good taste. This jade is the work of a master craftsman, but it's not cheap." The old shopkeeper smiled, finished fiddling with his abacus, and stated the price.
She didn't know how to use an abacus, but she glanced at it while paying and roughly understood what it meant.
"A defective product is always a defective product. No matter how brilliant it is in other aspects, as long as there is even a small flaw, the whole piece of jade is ruined," a man walked over and inexplicably pointed out.
Speechless at the other person's tone, Han Meng turned around and asked, "Who are you?"
The other person said dismissively, "Han Meng, are you pretending not to know me? Haven't you written most of the love letters I've received over the years?"
"Shimizu River?"
"Yes, I'm here to buy a gift for someone, a beautiful jade for a lovely lady." Shen Jianhe pointed meaningfully to the jade pendant he had chosen, which was flawless, and looked very proud.
"You're crazy! Why don't you just buy a piece of glass? At least Chen Miaoyin's family could use it!"
The female lead is such an upright and kind person. She hasn't even fallen for Shen Jianhe yet, so how could she possibly accept his expensive gift?
However, mentioning Chen Miaoyin seemed to have touched a nerve with Shen Jianhe, and he raised his voice at Han Meng:
"You dare mention her again? You complained about her at the hospital before, and the director suspended her! You're so vicious, you're nothing like the Han Meng I remember from when I was a child!"
"I...I actually did something so outrageous? Where does she live? I'll go apologize right now!" Han Meng knew that the original owner had hurt Chen Miaoyin, but she didn't know Chen Miaoyin's appearance or specific address in her memories, so she had no way to comfort the poor female lead.
"Don't pretend. Once I tell you her address, who knows what you'll do!"
Han Meng curled her lips into a smile: "...Actually, you still don't know where she lives, do you?"
Shen Jianhe was hit where it hurt, and his anger flared up. Just as he was about to continue his outburst, the shopkeeper reminded him, "Esteemed customer, please don't disrupt our business. It's understandable that you two have a grudge, but please don't argue in the shop."
Han Meng turned around and walked away.
It's pointless to argue with a mentally ill person; she has plenty of money to spend.
*
"Newspapers for sale! Newspapers for sale! The young lady of the Han family is alone in a room with the son of her sworn enemy! Shameless!"
The newspaper sold very well today. The child shouted for a long time and his voice was a little hoarse, but he kept shouting and running around.
Suddenly, a small pebble appeared out of nowhere and tripped him.
Just as he was about to get up, someone took all the newspapers from his hands.
Lu Jinxian had handsome features, but perhaps due to years of illness, he carried a somewhat gloomy air about him. He threw several silver dollars in front of the child, and then tore all the newspapers to shreds.
"A journalist's pen can be just as hurtful as a sword. Children have such a long future ahead of them, so don't be their accomplices."
The newspaper-selling boy was stunned.
Lu Jinxian reached out to help the other person up, his tone indifferent: "Which publishing house is it? Take me there. The money I gave you could buy more than all of your newspapers."
...
Fengming Publishing House.
Lu Jinxian arranged to meet with the editor-in-chief.
The editor-in-chief already knew the guest's identity, and before the guest even spoke, cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
The tabloid only published this kind of gossip after receiving funding once, and it was really unlucky that it was caught by the person in charge on the very first day.
Lu Jinxian rubbed his forehead. "Ahem, could you please retract those messages?"
"To be honest, Mr. Lu, our newspaper was also acting on someone's behalf. We've been losing money for over half a year and are on the verge of bankruptcy, otherwise we wouldn't be..."
The editor-in-chief used his ultimate weapon: playing the victim.
Unfortunately, this approach was useless against Lu Jinxian: "How much is your newspaper worth?"
His words attracted the attention of the other employees around him.
Everyone looked at him with suspicion.
"You...you...you intend to acquire our newspaper?" the editor-in-chief asked in surprise.
Lu Jinxian shook his head and pondered, "No, I was thinking about how much money my dad and his family would have to pay if I died of depression and they smashed up this place."
Editor-in-Chief: !!!
Although many people have openly or secretly mocked Lu Jinxian for being sickly, the other members of the Lu family are known for their fighting skills; otherwise, they wouldn't have opened martial arts classes.
Besides, Lu Jinxian's health is so poor, he looks like he could be blown away by a gust of wind. If the Lu family really blames his death on the newspaper, then things will be terrible.
The editor-in-chief gave a sheepish smile: "Mr. Lu, you're so funny, haha."
So, shall we retreat?
"Withdraw! Withdraw! Withdraw! We must withdraw! Our newspaper has zero tolerance for rumors!"
"besides……"
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