After fiddling with the equipment for a while, Gu Jingcheng simply took off his coat and handed it to Meng Yao.
“You eat first. No one’s used this private room in ages, so let me fix things up a bit.”
Meng Yao obediently accepted his coat and sat on the sofa, watching him bend down one moment and lower his head the next. The lines of his side profile were smooth and handsome. His loosened tie hung carelessly against his chest, revealing pale skin and the faint outline of his collarbones.
She secretly sighed inwardly.
Luckily, she had spirit spring water to improve her complexion. Otherwise, this young master’s skin would actually be fairer than hers!
The large screen flickered twice before finally lighting up.
Gu Jingcheng let out a breath of relief, pulled off his tie entirely, and tossed it onto the coffee table before sitting beside Meng Yao.
“Liu Junning really made this junk setup,” he casually complained.
The two sat very close together. Combined with the dim and ambiguous lighting, Meng Yao felt slightly uncomfortable and quietly shifted farther away. She handed him the popcorn in her hands.
“Is he your friend?”
Gu Jingcheng didn’t take it and instead motioned for her to keep eating.
“Yeah. My university classmate. He later went overseas to study, and after coming back, he opened this weird half-Western half-local place. When his dad found out, he nearly skinned him alive.”
Meng Yao almost laughed hearing that.
Rows of song selections appeared on the screen. Gu Jingcheng casually picked one and pressed play. Soft music slowly filled the room.
Meng Yao felt this music was completely different from anything she had heard before. She couldn’t explain exactly how it was different, only that it sounded much better than the music she usually heard outside.
The lighting was dim, the music romantic, and a faint ambiguous atmosphere lingered between them.
Gu Jingcheng carefully glanced toward the girl beside him.
Meng Yao hugged the bucket of popcorn, eating small bites. Her cheeks puffed slightly as she chewed, and her eyes sparkled brightly in the darkness.
Gu Jingcheng’s gaze followed those glossy lips, and he suddenly felt his self-control being severely tested.
Feeling uncomfortable under his stare, Meng Yao lightly kicked his leg.
“Weren’t you going to sing for me?”
“Oh. Right.”
The man snapped back to reality and hurriedly turned to find the microphone, his movements looking slightly awkward.
Gu Jingcheng chose a simple and cheerful song. As the melody began, he slowly followed the rhythm and started singing.
It was Meng Yao’s first time hearing someone sing properly right in front of her—not the kind of shouting people did toward crops in the fields.
She became completely entranced.
So someone could sing this beautifully.
Gu Jingcheng’s face remained partly hidden in the darkness. His Adam’s apple bobbed gently as he sang, while the overhead lighting made his features appear even sharper and more striking, like a movie star from a magazine.
Meng Yao’s heart pounded wildly.
Meanwhile, back at the Meng household, the atmosphere in the living room was heavy and oppressive.
The moment Meng Yu returned home, she immediately told her parents that Meng Yao was being kept by a wealthy man.
The two instantly asked for leave from work and rushed home.
Zhao Meilan frowned deeply, worry covering her face.
“Yuyu, is what you said true? You really saw your sister…”
Halfway through speaking, she immediately shook her head again.
“I don’t believe it. I watched Ah Yao grow up. There’s no way she would do something like that!”
Meng Zhihong lowered his head, both hands clutching his hair as he sat silently.
“Mom, I know you don’t want to believe it. I don’t want to believe it either, but I really saw it!”
Meng Yu pulled the hairpin from her pocket and placed it before them.
“Father, Mother, I found this in Sister’s room today when I went to get a textbook. I once heard the second aunt from that nouveau riche family in the village mention this brand before. Something this small costs at least over two hundred yuan!”
“She only sells vegetables a few times a week. How could she suddenly make over two hundred yuan?”
Meng Zhihong looked up at the hairpin, his expression gradually turning serious.
It was true that Meng Yao hadn’t asked him for living expenses in a long time. Several times when he asked whether she still had money, she always said yes and claimed she had earned quite a lot from selling vegetables recently.
Zhao Meilan clearly thought of the same thing.
The last few times Meng Yao brought her meals, there had even been meat dishes included. She had genuinely believed Meng Yao was making money from selling vegetables.
Seeing her parents’ devastated expressions filled Meng Yu with satisfaction.
Meng Yao, Meng Yao…
Let’s see how Father and Mother deal with you this time!
Suddenly, Meng Zhihong let out a long sigh, his shoulders slumping lower and lower. Tears also began forming in Zhao Meilan’s eyes.
Without warning, Meng Zhihong started violently slapping his own face.
“It’s all my fault! All my fault! If I weren’t so useless, Ah Yao wouldn’t have…”
Both Zhao Meilan and Meng Yu were startled.
Zhao Meilan quickly rushed over to stop him, her voice already trembling with sobs.
“Don’t get so worked up first! Let’s wait until Ah Yao comes back before saying anything, alright?”
Meanwhile, Meng Yu continued fueling the fire from the side.
“Father, Mother, even though Sister made a mistake, we still need to stop things before they get worse and give her a chance to correct herself!”
“I haven’t told anyone else about this. We absolutely can’t let the Gu family find out, otherwise Sister’s reputation will be ruined! How will she ever get married then?”
Meng Zhihong suddenly shoved his wife aside, furious and disappointed.
“What marriage?! After doing something like this, I have no face left to see the Gu family! She doesn’t need to get married anymore—she can stay at home forever!”
Meng Yu secretly curled her lips upward smugly before quickly suppressing the smile.
But Zhao Meilan became angry instead. Rarely raising her voice at her younger daughter, she snapped,
“Wasn’t your sister doing this for the family? Since you saw it happen, why didn’t you stop her instead of letting her go?!”
Meng Yu became speechless.
“I… I didn’t think…”
Defeat filled Meng Zhihong’s eyes.
“How am I supposed to explain this to the Gu family? Just a few days ago, I even wrote asking them to set a wedding date, and now Meng Yao does something like this!”
“I’ll… I’ll write the letter right now and cancel the engagement!”
But Zhao Meilan immediately disagreed.
“No! We’ll wait until Ah Yao comes home first! I believe Ah Yao must have her reasons. She’s always been such a good child… How could she possibly…”
Deep down, Zhao Meilan simply couldn’t accept this reality.
The family fell into heavy silence.
Only Meng Yu eagerly waited for Meng Yao to come home.
She could hardly wait to see how Meng Yao planned to explain herself.
It was already past five in the afternoon when Meng Yao finally began heading back from the county town.
Gu Jingcheng looked reluctant to part with her.
“Let me take you home. It’s getting late now. Driving will be much faster—you won’t have to walk.”
Meng Yao felt both tempted and worried.
At this hour, the village horse cart had already stopped running. If she walked home, it would probably be completely dark by the time she arrived.
But what if villagers saw them together?
“I’ll only drive you to the village entrance. I won’t go inside. I promise nobody will see us, okay?” Gu Jingcheng assured confidently.
He truly wanted to boldly drive her all the way home, but the engagement still hanging over him left him lacking confidence.
Just wait.
Once he settled the engagement matter, he would immediately go to her house and formally propose marriage!
“Alright then. Be careful. The moment I say stop, you stop immediately. We absolutely can’t let anyone discover this.”
Gu Jingcheng agreed and began driving while she guided the way.
“Does your family control you very strictly? Or is your father really fierce and won’t let you date?” Gu Jingcheng casually asked while driving, secretly gathering information for dealing with his future father-in-law later.
Remembering that Gu Jingcheng still didn’t know her surname was Meng, Meng Yao felt now still wasn’t the right time to confess everything.
For now, she decided to let him keep driving.
She answered vaguely,
“They’re a little strict, but it’s alright. My parents aren’t fierce.”
The two chatted along the way, and very quickly, the car reached the entrance of Meng Family Village.
By now, the sun had already set, and darkness had fallen outside.
The moment Meng Yao recognized the familiar village entrance, she hurriedly said,
“Stop! Stop!”
Quickly unfastening her seatbelt, she spoke hurriedly,
“It’s fine now. I’m here. You should hurry back.”