Xia Yan's feet finally touched the ground. She supported herself on Lu Zhengting's shoulder, bent over, and pressed a hand to her stomach—she was genuinely nauseous and uncomfortable. After a moment, she took a deep breath, tried to stand up straight, and saw that the anger on Lu Zhengting's face had been replaced by concern, which made her breathe a sigh of relief.
"Lu Zhengting, look at me like this. Can you really bear to nitpick over such trivial matters with me?"
"Trivial matters?" Lu Zhengting calmly stared at the pale, pitiful woman, not missing the flicker of cunning in Xia Yan's eyes.
"Yeah, you have no idea how terrifying your expression was when you first arrived. It made me—no, it made me and Zhan Meng too scared to speak."
"Too scared to speak? From what I saw, you two were chatting quite happily."
"That was all an illusion." Xia Yan squinted slightly, grinning at Lu Zhengting.
"Don't give me that cheeky smile. Tell me, why didn't you answer my calls?"
Hearing this, Xia Yan froze for a moment, blinked, and said, "You called me? I didn't know?" As she spoke, she quickly pulled her phone out of her bag, tapped the screen, and saw the missed calls. She waved it right in front of Lu Zhengting's face to prove she genuinely hadn't seen or heard them.
Lu Zhengting pursed his lips, wearing a faint, knowing smile as he mimicked Xia Yan's actions. He pulled his phone from his pocket, put on an air of nonchalance, and casually moved it around, leaving Xia Yan utterly confused. In just a moment, the phone in her hand started vibrating and ringing.
"Hmm, can't hear it?"
Xia Yan lowered her eyes, grateful she hadn't said she'd set her phone to silent. If she had, Lu Zhengting's move would have gotten her scolded on the spot. She stared elsewhere and said without thinking, "Maybe the restaurant was too crowded and noisy, so it's perfectly normal that I didn't hear it, right?"
"Hmm?" Lu Zhengting's voice seemed to come from his nose, the tone rising slightly at the end, making Xia Yan shiver involuntarily.
"I really didn't mean to ignore your call. Lu Zhengting, you have to believe me. Look at my face." Xia Yan quickly lifted her head, blinked at him, and curved her lips into a slight smile.
Seeing this, Lu Zhengting frowned and said softly, "Sleep crust?"
Xia Yan's face darkened, and she shot back, "You're the one with sleep crust! I'm telling you to see how serious and sincere my expression is."
"Cut it out. You were at the restaurant at 5:30? The company's surveillance already told me what time you left."
He checked the company surveillance? Xia Yan rolled her eyes. Seeing Lu Zhengting's expression turning serious again, she didn't dare keep up her playful act. After a pause, she said with utmost gravity, "I'm really upset right now."
Xia Yan's tactics were smooth as ever. Lu Zhengting furrowed his brow. "You're upset? Do you know that when you don't answer my calls, I go crazy?"
"Crazy? Then show me what crazy looks like."
"You woman..." Lu Zhengting's forehead seemed to streak with imaginary black lines, his tone both indulgent and helpless, even a little amused.
Xia Yan pouted and muttered under her breath, "You say you're crazy, but I don't see any sign of it. Would hanging out with Ke Yaru make you crazy?" "What are you mumbling about?"
"I'm saying I'm so touched."
"..."
Lu Zhengting was defeated by Xia Yan's words. Without caring whether she wanted to go with him, he took her hand and led her away from the restaurant entrance. Only then did Xia Yan realize they'd been standing at the door the whole time, spouting all that nonsense.
Xia Yan didn't resist, because she knew deep down that struggling and fighting back were useless against Lu Zhengting—they'd only result in him hoisting her over his shoulder again, like before. She kept her head down, letting him lead her without looking at the path ahead. She stopped when he stopped, walked when he walked, like a puppet on a string.
Back in the restaurant, with Lu Zhengting and Xia Yan gone, two people were left staring at each other. Zhan Meng was now full and satisfied, a far cry from before. Without needing Ning Xi to cook for her, she felt emboldened, glaring at him with no less intensity.
Ning Xi felt his eyes stinging from the stare. He blinked, rubbed them, pulled out the chair Xia Yan had just sat in, and looked expressionlessly at the serious Zhan Meng. "What are you throwing a tantrum about now?"
"Your tone is so annoying. I'm just hungry and came out to find food. Can't you see that? Do I need to spell it out?"
"My tone is annoying? And yours isn't?" Ning Xi fumed. He'd come out of goodwill to find this woman, only to face her sarcasm, and now he felt like turning around and leaving on the spot.
Zhan Meng seemed to read his mind. She pointed a finger at the restaurant's entrance and said leisurely, "Want to leave, right? Get up, turn a corner, walk straight to the door, and then the way out of the mall—I don't need to point that out for you, do I?"
Hearing this, Ning Xi slammed his hand on the table with a loud bang, startling the waitstaff and customers who'd been watching. They all flinched involuntarily. But Zhan Meng didn't budge, her expression unchanged, as if she completely disregarded the anger radiating from him.
After a moment's thought, Zhan Meng suddenly slapped her palm down on the table, springing to her feet. She glared at Ning Xi. "Slamming the table? Anyone can do that. You think that scares me?"
"You—"
"You what, Ning Xi? If you want to leave, I won't stop you."
Hearing this, Ning Xi looked at Zhan Meng's utterly serious face. He thought about her irrational behavior, how he didn't owe her anything, yet always ended up being led around by her. Then he realized he'd practically become the cat "Mengmeng" she called out countless times a day—always at her beck and call...
Thinking it over, Ning Xi felt how pathetic he was, and his anger surged a few notches. He decided to leave, standing up without even glancing at Zhan Meng.
Zhan Meng stared blankly as he turned to go, then slammed the table again with a "smack," startling the waiter once more.
"Ning Xi, get back here! How can you just leave like that? I'm not done talking."
At this, Ning Xi, still facing away, smirked slightly. Yeah, this woman must want to apologize, to win him over. With that thought, he put on a stern face, turned around impatiently, and stared coldly at Zhan Meng. "What else do you have to say?"
"Ning Xi, you haven't paid the bill yet. Settle it before you go."
Ning Xi frowned deeply, demanding angrily, "Zhan Meng, can't you see I'm really mad right now?"
"Oh, I see. You're really mad. But I'm mad too."
"You're mad? What do you have to be mad about? I came looking for you out of kindness, and you give me the cold shoulder?"
"Of course I'm mad," Zhan Meng said seriously.
Ning Xi thought for a moment, unsure what she was angry about, so he walked back, sat down, and fixed his gaze on her. "Then tell me, what are you mad about?"
"I'm mad at you, you know? As a man, you're flirting around everywhere, and I can't stand it."
Ning Xi looked at her, not angry but amused. "I'm flirting around? You can't stand it?"
"Yeah, even a car crash can spark something. You're telling me it's not?"
Car crash? Ning Xi replayed her words in his mind. The only car crash was the one between her and Xia Siyue. He roughly understood that "flirting around" referred to Xia Siyue, and his mouth twitched. "Me and Xia Siyue, flirting? That woman Xia Siyue clearly looked like she wanted to beat me up."
"She's not here, so of course you can say whatever you want. Forget it, I'm done talking. Go pay the bill. I'm going home."
"Home? That dump you call home? I haven't even complained about it—"
"A golden nest or a silver nest is no match for my own doghouse. And let me tell you, if dogs knew you were badmouthing their homes, watch out—they might come after you." Zhan Meng slung her bag over her shoulder, glanced dismissively at Ning Xi, snapped her fingers to call the waiter, and pointed at Ning Xi. "He's paying."
With that, Zhan Meng smiled at Ning Xi and walked away without looking back.
Ning Xi was dumbfounded by her behavior. He'd never met a woman as unreasonable and self-righteous as Zhan Meng, and the worst part was he couldn't figure out what was going on in her head. He looked away, saw the waiter standing quietly nearby, and let out a long sigh. Wasn't he supposed to be angry? Here he was, the third young master of the Ning family, reduced to this state. He handed his bank card to the waiter, paused, and rubbed his lips with his finger. How did he put up with Zhan Meng? Probably because of her top-notch computer skills.
Zhan Meng entered the elevator and pressed the button for B1. She unexpectedly saw Xia Yan and Lu Zhengting still standing by the car, talking about something. She pursed her lips—she didn't want to get involved in that drama. She turned around; her car had been picked up from the repair shop earlier that evening, so she needed to head in the opposite direction from where she'd parked. Going that way would work but meant a detour. Thinking about the extra walk, she decisively headed toward Xia Yan's direction, which was a straight shot.
Xia Yan spotted Zhan Meng first, saw her dangling her keys from her middle finger and occasionally swinging them. She was about to greet her—after all, they'd just eaten together—but Lu Zhengting grabbed her hand. "Shut up."
Zhan Meng caught a glimpse of the scene from the corner of her eye and didn't care at all. It saved her the trouble of saying hello. She knew Lu Zhengting didn't like her, and that was fine—she didn't like him either. He was as cold as an ice sculpture, no fun at all. An image of Ning Xi's cheeky grin popped into her mind, and she nodded to herself. Yeah, Ning Xi was more fun.
Xia Yan looked at Lu Zhengting, puzzled. "What are you doing?"