Back at the company, Meng Lingyao entered the interview phase without pause, reviewing applicants who had applied directly and those recommended by Sun Feng and Qian Linhao.
He wasn’t very satisfied. They were either prone to exaggeration or talked big while saying nothing; their resumes were heavily padded.
Regarding the fact that the Meng Clan would be handed over to a stranger for management, Meng Lingyao was extremely cautious—after all, he had already suffered once.
The question of whether to promote from within or search from without constantly lingered in his mind. For now, he was searching for a needle in a haystack, hoping to see if he could net a whale.
Though the Meng Clan had stabilized, its foundation had been damaged. What the Meng Clan needed was not a caretaker manager, but a hunter who could tear into prey like a shark.
As it stood, these methods of finding someone yielded very little result.
Personnel for basic management positions were gradually filling up, and the company’s operations were running well.
Meng Lingyao tossed a resume aside with slight irritability. He had just finished an interview with a guy who was full of himself; the man’s thinly veiled contempt had annoyed him, so he dismissed him after a few perfunctory questions.
Qian Linhao, having seen the man out, noticed Meng Lingyao’s furrowed brows as soon as he entered. He offered a glass of freshly squeezed fruit juice. “Young President Meng, take a break first.”
“This one wasn’t right either,” Qian Linhao said, his tone more an assertion than a question.
Meng Lingyao took the juice, gulped down a few mouthfuls, and gave a sarcastic smile at the remark. “The Meng Clan is a small temple; it can’t house such a great Buddha.”
“That’s it for today. Why don’t you head home and rest, Young President? It’s been a heavy workload all day. This morning, the Madam sent someone with nourishing soup and specifically instructed me to keep an eye on you—don’t let yourself work late,” Qian Linhao said, lightening the mood. “Be a little compassionate toward me, Young President; don’t let the Madam keep nagged at me. Let me get off work early too.”
Meng Lingyao glanced at the secretary who was putting on a pitiful face and rolled his eyes quite unceremoniously. “Fine, off work. I’m leaving now. Brother Qian, you’re just tired of me.”
“How could that be? I wouldn’t dare!” Qian Linhao waved his hands repeatedly.
With Qian Linhao’s interruption, the irritability in Meng Lingyao’s heart mostly dissipated. It was true he hadn’t had time to spend with his mother lately—yesterday he only went back to secretly grab those documents. Today, he’d go home and accompany her.
Meng Lingyao granted Qian Linhao’s wish and left work early today.
Once he had seen Meng Lingyao off, Qian Linhao rubbed his neck. Clearly, the Young President’s mood was off today, his words sharp and pointed—evidently still affected by the morning’s events.
Even if the Young President didn’t say it, he must feel very stifled and miserable in his heart.
Qian Linhao hadn’t even been working on his own tasks for long after seeing his boss off when the front desk informed him that President Qi had arrived. He immediately rushed downstairs to greet him.
“He’s gone? Home?” Qi Zhongjing frowned, his tone low and not particularly friendly.
Qian Linhao maintained his smile, responding strictly by the book. “Yes, President Qi. The Young President went home early today. He is not in the company right now.”
So you’re late, sir. You have no idea how unwelcome you are.
From Meng Lingyao’s perspective, Qian Linhao felt the other man was kicking someone while they were down.
From Qi Zhongjing’s perspective, Qian Linhao felt the man was a total “love-brain.”
“Hmph, I see,” Qi Zhongjing grunted. He felt a wave of disappointment for coming to his wife’s company early to pick him up only to find the place empty. Naturally, he had no intention of making small talk with Qian Linhao; he turned and left, his back exuding a sense of bleakness.
He pulled out his phone. The message he had sent before coming to the Meng Clan still sat lonely in the chat box with his “dear wife”—the other party hadn’t even replied with a single punctuation mark.
Qian Linhao couldn’t help but feel that President Qi was acting strange. Was it just a delusion?
…
Meng Lingyao hadn’t looked at his phone at all. Once home, he habitually leaned back against the sofa, looking like he had no bones, grabbing a banana to munch on.
At home, he had no image to maintain. Lin Qingwan wouldn’t usually say anything, and given her heartache over her son working himself to exhaustion at the company, she certainly wouldn’t start now.
Even if Meng Lingyao lay with his lower half on the sofa and his upper half flopped onto the floor, Lin Qingwan would probably clap and say he was lying down well.
That was the extent of her doting.
With her son home, Lin Qingwan was happy; she even played some favorite classical music. She was busy all over the house—one moment supervising in the kitchen, the next chatting with her son. She seemed very energetic.
Meng Lingyao was happy to let his mother keep busy; being able to fuss about was a good thing.
The lazy young master, with his hair messy like an exploded bird’s nest, pulled out his phone intending to play a game he hadn’t logged into for a long time to brighten his mood.
Consequently, he saw the messages from his freshly minted so-called “newlywed husband.”
What trashy messages. Didn’t see them, not replying.
He directly cleared the messages from the notification bar and started playing his game without any burden.
After a lovely half-day of rest and a meal that suited his tastes, Meng Lingyao went out for a stroll to digest his food. Only then did he pretend to have just seen the messages someone had sent.
Ah, President Qi, I’m so sorry. I went home and didn’t see the messages you sent. If there’s something, notify me earlier next time.
Meng Lingyao knew his tone toward Qi Zhongjing was sarcastic; even every character he typed carried that flavor.
The “resentful CEO” had also returned to his meticulously decorated home. Unfortunately, the housewarming he thought would be full of love with his dear wife was now just him, alone.
His phone, which he kept on and bright, had not popped up with any notifications from his special alert.
After finishing dinner in solitude, his entire being exuded a dejected aura. Staring at that bright red marriage certificate and the youth looking expressionlessly at the camera, his heart felt even more stung.
He got the certificate to live with the other person—why was it completely different from what he had imagined?
Ding-dong! As soon as the special message alert sounded, the man who had been looking out the floor-to-ceiling window at the street view snapped back to reality and grabbed the phone from the side table.
Which home did you go back to? Qi Zhongjing pondered his wording for a moment before typing.
At this moment, Meng Lingyao was in a pretty good mood, strolling in the garden and sitting on a rocking chair. Reclining under the warm lights and smelling the fragrance of flowers, he felt naturally healed.
My own home, of course. Meng Lingyao replied, feeling quite cheerful. Nonsense literature.
We are married.
He half-squinted his eyes at the message Qi Zhongjing sent, suddenly letting out a cold laugh.
He had actually forgotten about the deal with Qi Zhongjing. Was this an interrogation?
So eager to sleep with him that he’s expressing dissatisfaction already?
Oh. So?
Qi Zhongjing’s thumb paused on the screen, momentarily at a loss for words, not knowing how to reply.
We should live together. Qi Zhongjing replied after mulling over the wording.
He and Meng Lingyao weren’t on friendly terms right now. It was obvious the other party unilaterally loathed him; how could he achieve his goal without increasing that ill will?
【Understood. I will fulfill the terms of the transaction tomorrow. Give me the address.】 Meng Lingyao didn’t wait for Qi Zhongjing’s reply, having no interest in further small talk.
Since the other party was calling him out, he had to play this game with him—after all, the other person’s chips had already been handed over.
He had a spirit of contract.
Regardless of Qi Zhongjing’s reaction, Meng Lingyao put away his phone. His originally relaxed mood was suddenly overshadowed by gathering clouds.
He returned to the house and briefly told Mother Lin that he might be busy with work in the coming days and wouldn’t be back often. Mother Lin instructed him to take care of himself and not overwork. After a long back-and-forth with her, Meng Lingyao went to “complain” to his brother.
“Brother, that guy Qi Zhongjing is truly a dog. He couldn’t even wait a day to humiliate me…” Meng Lingyao ground his teeth and waved the message Qi Zhongjing had sent in front of Meng Lingsheng.
“Look, Brother, what kind of words are these! Acting all dignified but wanting the certificate just to sleep with someone—as if I don’t know what he’s planning! Truly a dog of a man!”
“I even suspected before that he wanted to use this certificate to annex the Meng Clan. It’s a good thing I didn’t fall for it; I prepared early and made an agreement.”
“I’m pretty impressive, right? I’m not that stupid anymore.”
As Meng Lingyao spoke, he began to laugh, proudly wanting his brother’s praise, but Meng Lingsheng remained with his eyes closed and no reaction.
Meng Lingyao’s smile stiffened. He rubbed his face and couldn’t resist reaching out to pull at Meng Lingsheng’s eyelids, trying to create the illusion that the other had woken up.
“Hey! Wake up, Brother!” He shouted into Meng Lingsheng’s ear. His “sleeping beauty” of a brother slept soundly.
“My first marriage… I just gave it away like that. Brother, I still feel a bit bad. I don’t know when that guy Qi Zhongjing will get bored of this game. It should end soon, though.”
“Speaking of which, he doesn’t know—I don’t mind at all. I even think I got the better end of the deal. After all, this bargain is incredibly cost-effective.”
I don’t mind at all, really.
Meng Lingyao said this again in his mind, reinforcing the thought and self-hypnotizing.
“I told Mom I won’t be back for a while. It would be great if you could wake up during this time to accompany her.”
…
The next day when Meng Lingyao went to work, Qian Linhao truthfully told him about President Qi coming by yesterday afternoon. Meng Lingyao just nodded to show he knew.
Qian Linhao didn’t poke at the Young President’s sore spot on this issue. In fact, since he knew the Meng Clan’s current stability was bought with something by the Young President, he already knew what attitude he should maintain.
The Young President certainly didn’t need his excessive concern.
The Young President’s choice was a forced one, and at the same time, Qian Linhao had no right to express an opinion on any of his choices.
To work silently and let the Meng Clan stand up again was what he should do right now.
To avoid being stood up again, Qi Zhongjing came to “intercept” him. This time Meng Lingyao was still at the company, and Qi Zhongjing walked into Meng Lingyao’s office with great bravado.
Meng Lingyao looked up and saw Qi Zhongjing entering. That tall, cold, and resolute figure was quite an eyesore. Truth be told, the moment he saw that guy, he blurted out: “What are you doing here!”
It carried the distinct feeling of “Why are you here again, like a ghost that won’t leave?”
Qi Zhongjing was thick-skinned. He didn’t have any negative emotions at all; instead, his lips curled slightly into a faint smile. His entire being exuded immense charm as he spoke in a low, gentle voice:
“I’ve come to take you home.”
The word “home” was drawn out slightly in his mouth, spoken with a particularly lingering tone.