Chapter 17 She understood his sharpness and compassion
She seemed to have only heard the name "Lingling".
The beauty's chair is carved with lotus blossoms, the wood is soaked with the dampness of the morning mist, and the rising sun seems to arrive a beat late.
After a long while, Jin Zhao finally remembered the first half of the sentence.
"No, I won't." She quickly looked away.
Dragonflies skimmed the surface of the lake, as if startled by the coldness of the water, and hurriedly flew away, fluttering their wings.
“Is that so?” Meng Yanxi stared at Jin Zhao. “But I bet you wouldn’t do that. You’re much kinder than me.”
Jin Zhao wasn't sure if Meng Yanxi was praising her. After all, the first time he spoke to her in a long sentence, he said that kindness was a noble virtue, but she didn't deserve it.
“That’s probably because,” Jin Zhao said honestly, “even if I did that, I wouldn’t be able to borrow 2.5 million. Even if I did, I probably wouldn’t make 5 million. I’m more likely to lose 5 million. No, if I leverage it, I might lose 10 million. I’m more likely to lose 10 million.”
Meng Yanxi suddenly chuckled softly, seemingly finding one of her words amusing.
The young man leaning against the beauty's armrest was even more beautiful than the beauty herself. His smile spread across his cool and aloof eyes, reminiscent of lotus and magnolia blossoms just beginning to bloom on branches in early spring—stunning and graceful, yet restrained.
Jin Zhao was a little stunned.
Meng Yanxi then added insult to injury: "It might be more than 10 million; the loss could be even greater."
Jin Zhao: "..."
What exactly is she fantasizing about his mouth?
Si Tian and Luo Heng went to pick winter plum blossoms, and the sound of their banter drifted from the neighboring courtyard. Having already handed in his class notes, Jin Zhao planned to go find Si Tian and the others.
“That woman’s surname is Xu, and she’s a minor celebrity,” Meng Yanxi suddenly spoke up. Meeting Jin Zhao’s stunned gaze, he explained, “She’s my dad’s girlfriend.”
Jin Zhao had no intention of listening to his family affairs, but her legs seemed to be unable to move. There was an emotion in Meng Yanxi's eyes that she couldn't describe, one she had never seen before.
Meng Yanxi: "You should have heard that two years ago, she pursued my dad relentlessly for almost a year and even made it to the trending topics several times."
Upon hearing this, Jin Zhao vaguely recalled: "She was very young."
“Yes, he’s 20 years younger than my dad.” Meng Yanxi’s peach blossom eyes were dark. “He’s in the prime of his life, but at the same time, he’s impatient and can’t hide his greed and ambition. Have you ever heard of being praised to death?”
How could Jin Zhao not have heard of him?
She was the most direct victim.
When Lin Yao and Jin Wenhui first got married, she was only in sixth grade and didn't understand anything. Lin Yao had a sweet tongue and would always smile when she spoke. She went to great lengths to coax and spoil her. Jin Zhao once liked her very much, but it was only after being betrayed, suffering losses, and seeing bloodshed many times that she learned to protect herself.
"Did she flatter you to death?" Jin Zhao asked.
“No, I’m praising her to the point of ruin,” Meng Yanxi said objectively. “I like to strike first and I don’t like to be passive.”
Jin Zhao: "..."
"To be honest, she was very sincere in pursuing my dad. Sincerity is the easiest way to win sincerity, so I wasn't surprised that my dad fell for her. At first, she was quite cautious with me and my sister. Every time I asked my sister to call my dad away from her, she never complained. But people are always greedy. If you tolerate too much, you will eventually want to get your money back with interest. It's just that this process takes time, so I helped her out."
"Later, when my sister called again, I would stop her from leaving, and my dad wouldn't leave immediately; later still, I took the initiative to back down and told my dad not to delay her business because of me." Meng Yanxi smiled faintly, "I let her get benefits little by little, and over time, she really took advantage of me. As if to prove in advance that she was more important than me, she chose my birthday to invite my dad to a neighboring city."
"Is it your birthday?" Jin Zhao murmured.
"Yes, the day before yesterday, Friday. I heard there was an awards ceremony in a neighboring city that day, and my dad booked a diamond ring and a hotel in advance."
Jin Zhao lightly bit her lower lip, her teeth grinding her lips until they turned white.
The familiar experience brought out the pain in her eyes.
Meng Yanxi: "She has a younger brother who is the same age as me and studies at No. 1 Middle School. He is a good person, which is different from me."
Jin Zhao looked into his eyes, and when he said he wasn't a good person, she finally found the right word to describe the emotion in his eyes—a faint sense of madness.
Meng Yanxi: "On Sunday night, I asked him to come out and play basketball, and he knocked me down."
"Did he bump into you?" Jin Zhao subconsciously looked at his ankle.
Meng Yanxi laughed, a laugh that was incredibly irritating: "Who knows if I bumped into someone or not? Anyway, I fell down and ended up in the hospital."
"..."
“My dad is a good father, I have to admit that no matter what. He was in a meeting at the time, but he rushed over as soon as he received the news. I could see the heartache in his eyes, as if he wanted to take my place. He sat by my bed and asked me if I was in pain, and I said no. She came to the hospital soon after. At first, she was actually enduring it, but perhaps my dad's anger towards her brother made her feel wronged, even though my dad is actually very good at hiding his emotions. To make matters worse, I secretly gave her a provocative look, and she finally couldn't stand my manipulative behavior. She lost her temper and accused me in the ward of doing it on purpose, that I orchestrated the whole thing and deliberately framed her brother.”
"Green tea?" This was the first time Jin Zhao had heard a boy use the word "green tea" to describe himself.
“I don’t think so.” Meng Yanxi seemed to have thought about it seriously for a moment before saying honestly, “I have a distant uncle named Meng Shiyan. He’s older than me in terms of seniority, but only a year older than me. Compared to him, I’m still far behind. He’s a real top-tier green tea bitch. I still have a lot to learn from him in this regard.”
Jin Zhao was somewhat disoriented.
Is this a quality worth competing for?
“I’ve said it before, my dad loves me very much. At least so far, my sister and I are still number one in his heart. Of course, he can’t stand someone hurting me and then ‘slandering’ me for staging the whole thing.”
Meng Yanxi raised her eyelids slightly and summarized succinctly: "They separated in the ward."
Jin Zhao didn't know what to say.
After a long pause, she asked, "Will they ever get back together?"
“I’m not sure. I can’t rule out that my dad was just being overprotective and acted impulsively. Once he calms down, he should be able to figure out what kind of person his son is,” Meng Yanxi said frankly. “So I took advantage of his momentary impulse to get the money from him to buy the diamond ring, so that even if he calms down later, he can at least understand one thing—that although his son is a scoundrel, he is really smart.”
Jin Zhao's feelings were somewhat complicated.
Although Meng Yanxi repeatedly said he wasn't a good person, and there was such a clear self-loathing in his eyes, at this moment, she longed for him.
Next door, Si Tian and Luo Heng's happy laughter drifted over the courtyard wall, mixed with Lu Jingyue's disdainful voice.
Others may not be able to empathize with him, but she can.
She understood his struggles, and she also understood his sharpness.
"Why are you telling me all this?" Jin Zhao asked softly.
Meng Yanxi leaned against the balustrade, tilting her head slightly to meet her gaze.
The morning mist by the lake dissipated slowly, casting a chill in his eyes.
"Who knows?" He smiled slightly. "Maybe he hopes you can learn from me and stop being weak. Or maybe he hopes someone can enlighten me."
"Conversion?"
Jin Zhao hadn't expected him to use such profound words.
"Well, after all, I've done too many bad things, and I'm afraid of the backlash."
"Why me?"
Meng Yanxi looked up at her: "You can dance on ruins, and you can feel compassion for the hardships of others even when you are in trouble yourself. You are the most compassionate person I have ever met."
Jin Zhao's eyelashes fluttered slightly.
The wind blew through the corridor, and the copper bells hanging from the eaves swayed, tinkling and ringing, carrying the cool fragrance of winter plum blossoms in their clear and melodious sound.
Jin Zhao lowered her eyes and gazed at him, then slowly said, "But Meng Yanxi, I feel that I can also understand your compassion."
Compassion is never weakness, nor is it shirking responsibility to maintain one's own innocence. Compassion means being ready to take up the sword at any time to protect and shoulder responsibility, even if one's own body is stained with mud.
*
On Monday, Meng Yanxi finally came to school for class.
Early in the morning, Jin Zhao walked into the classroom and saw several boys surrounding his seat, vying to ask him how he got injured and how he was feeling.
Meng Yanxi sat in the crowd, her voice light and aloof, saying that she had accidentally fallen while playing basketball.
The Meng Yanxi in the classroom was no longer the candor of the Meng family's Meng Yanxi. At least here, he wouldn't say, "Who knows if he bumped into me or not? Anyway, I fell down."
Jin Zhao felt as if she was carrying a secret in her heart. Strangely, this secret did not make her feel pressured. Instead, it was like a piece of white sugar hidden in her heart, melting away from time to time.
She walked past him.
A boy was standing in the aisle. Noticing her approach, he naturally stepped aside.
Meng Yanxi replied, "It's all done," her gaze passing over the boy blocking her way and following the direction he had walked.
Jin Zhao stared at his feet, returned to his seat, and heard Meng Yanxi's lies in his ears.
When it comes to lying, Meng Yanxi's morals are indeed quite low. His foot wasn't fully healed at all, yet he spoke as if it were the truth.
She noticed this yesterday at the Meng family's house. Although he pretended very well and was indeed very good at enduring pain, walking with an upright posture and steady steps, showing no signs of discomfort, he almost never stood up once he stopped; he would immediately sit down.
Yesterday at noon, Meng Shixu invited them to have lunch at her home. Before leaving, she overheard Meng Shixu muttering to him in a secluded corner, "You're all swollen, and you're still trying to tough it out? How can someone so young have such a deep mind? Will crying out in pain cost you a piece of your flesh?"
The boy laughed nonchalantly: "It won't cost me a piece of flesh, but limping will look ugly. Losing a piece of flesh is fine, but looking ugly is not."
Meng Shixu was so angry that he wanted to beat him up, but he couldn't do anything about it. In the end, he had Meng Yanxi personally see them off.
The foot injury will take some time to heal, but fortunately it didn't break any bones or tendons. Meng Yanxi recovered relatively quickly, and by April she was able to go back to the playground to play basketball.
Every Sunday, he would take Meng Zhuxi to Jinghong Dance Class.
Although the little girl is lazy and doesn't like hard work, she is just as smart as her brother, has a high level of comprehension, and learns everything quite well. Teacher Yu Yu also praises her highly.
Meng Zhuxi was also good at getting people to talk. She would always look at Teacher Yu Yu with her beautiful big peach blossom eyes and ask sweetly, "Why hasn't Sister Jin Zhao come to class? When will Sister Jin Zhao come?"
At first, Teacher Yu managed to brush it off, but later, unable to withstand the girl's persistent advances, she reluctantly told the truth: "She probably won't come again."
Meng Yanxi, who was waiting for her younger sister to finish class, raised her eyelids slightly.
“Her current private lesson card was actually bought for her by her mother. Her father doesn’t really approve of her learning to dance. Over the years, she has been saving money and now she only has two lessons left on her card. She should…” Teacher Yu paused and said softly, “She probably doesn’t want to use up this card.”
Meng Yanxi put away her phone and got up to go to the front desk.
The consultant teachers and class teachers at a dance school are different. Class teachers, like Yu Yu, are only responsible for teaching, while consultant teachers, like Xiao Feng, are similar to salespeople, whose main responsibility is to develop and maintain clients.
Teacher Feng was always exceptionally attentive to important clients, smiling broadly as she led Meng Yanxi to a table and poured him tea. Teacher Feng also happened to be the consultant in charge of Jinzhao; her downside was that she talked too much and was quite noisy.
Before the other person could continue rambling on, Meng Yanxi cut straight to the point: "Do you have any lucky draws or prize draws lately? Like, if a winning student gets 30 free private lessons?"
Teacher Feng was dumbfounded.
What kind of extravagant event is this? He's never heard of it before, and I bet even the boss has never heard of it.
"No, I haven't heard of it," Teacher Feng said with a conservative smile.
Meng Yanxi didn't say anything, but lowered her eyes, opened her phone, and immediately transferred 20,000 yuan to him via WeChat.
Teacher Feng: "?"
Meng Yanxi: "Now that we have it, remember to notify the client."
Teacher Feng: "...Which client?"
Meng Yanxi: "Jin Zhao."
-----------------------
Author's Note: Meng Shiyan is the male protagonist of the novel "Things Are Getting Better," which is also available for pre-order. If you're interested, please visit my author page and add it to your favorites!
Straightforward girl x Green tea childhood friend / Boy secretly loves girl
——
Song Ying never dreamed that she would end up with Meng Shiyan.
The two met by chance when they were young, but they were essentially completely unrelated.
Meng Shiyan was born into privilege, possessing superior looks and immense power; his greatest achievement in life was spending money.
Song Ying is obsessed with studying fortune-telling instructions and tries every means to get DeepSeek to tell her how to become rich overnight.
No need to work, no need for capital, no side effects, money comes from all directions, and it would be best if you could even find a romantic partner.
DeepSeek told her to go find Doubao.
After flirting with her crush for half a year, Song Ying finally decided to confess her feelings. On the day of the confession, Meng Shiyan drove her there, and it started to drizzle.
Song Ying: "It's a natural progression, a good omen!"
Meng Shiyan glanced at her expressionlessly: "Ying, fire. Water overcomes fire, so that man is your nemesis."
Song Ying called him a jinx.
Before the confession could even begin, Song Ying started arguing with Crush.
Meng Shiyan tried to mediate the fight, but was pushed to the ground by the scumbag. Glass shards cut his finger, which angered Song Ying so much that she broke off all ties with the scumbag on the spot.
Outside the pharmacy, Meng Shiyan let Song Ying tie his fingers into a bow, his expression remorseful: "I'm sorry, it's all because of me. I'll make it up to you."
Song Ying said, "No need, it has nothing to do with you."
Meng Shiyan suddenly leaned down and kissed him, repeating, "I'll make it up to you."
*
After the two got together, Song Ying recalled Meng Shiyan's actions and felt more and more familiar with them, but she couldn't quite put her finger on why.
Until one time when we were eating hot pot, the TV in the neighborhood shop was showing an idol drama. It was a scene where a scheming female supporting character was trying to break up the male and female leads, and the second female lead was pretending to be pushed to the ground by the female lead.
Song Ying suddenly realized and slapped her thigh.
When men become "green tea" (a manipulative woman), life gets better!
#Why did the childhood sweetheart defeat the newcomer?
#Because my childhood sweetheart is both competitive and manipulative^_^
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