NOVEL NEXT Chapter 23
Don’t Call Me That
Meng Haotian looked at Meng Nianyao without blinking, and Meng Nianyao met his gaze. After a long moment, she smiled slowly. “Meng Haotian, do you think I’m foolish?” After saying that, she turned around and left. She had taken only two steps when Meng Haotian caught up to her and attempted to pull her back. After last night’s events, Meng Nianyao was on her guard, so she quickly turned away when Meng Haotian approached her.
After last night, Meng Haotian was certain that Meng Nianyao still deeply loved him. He called out in a low and hoarse voice, “Honey…”
“Don’t call me that. It’s disgusting!” Meng Nianyao retorted, her voice choked with emotion. Meng Haotian looked up and saw Meng Nianyao crying, which filled him with hope. He tried to grasp Meng Nianyao’s hand again. “Honey, I know I was wrong. Can you give me a chance to make amends?”
Meng Nianyao lowered her head, allowing her tears to roll down her cheeks to conceal the disgust in her eyes.
Meng Haotian said many things, but Meng Nianyao remained silent. After a while, Meng Nianyao felt that it was enough, so she nodded.
Meng Haotian was relieved to finally get a response. He said, “Honey…”
“Don’t call me that.” Meng Nianyao suddenly raised her head.
Meng Haotian was taken aback. “Alright, I won’t call you that. Nianyao, you haven’t had lunch, have you?” he inquired gently. “This restaurant is delightful. Shall we go back and eat?”
Meng Nianyao’s patience had reached its limit. She was afraid that she couldn’t keep up the act any longer, so she shook her head. “No need. I’ll leave first.” After saying that, she exited the dining room.
Once they were outside the restaurant, Meng Haotian chased after her. “Nianyao, I know you haven’t forgiven me. I also understand that until you grant me your forgiveness, you won’t be mine, but…”
“What do you want to say?” Meng Nianyao stopped him in his tracks.
“What’s your relationship with the man from last night?” Meng Haotian asked.
Meng Nianyao stared at Meng Haotian for a long time before she suddenly smiled. “What do you think my relationship with him is?”
Meng Haotian’s face revealed a hint of sadness. “I only know that his surname is Gu. He seems to have a high status. You…”
“You think I’m involved with him?” Meng Nianyao inquired.
“No,” Meng Haotian replied. “You wouldn’t.”
Meng Nianyao snorted and didn’t say anything more. She hailed a taxi and left. When she returned to the hotel, Gu Wencheng had already come back. He was seated in the living room, working on his laptop. When he heard her voice, he glanced up at her. “Where did Mrs. Gu go?”
“I was just out for a walk,” Meng Nianyao replied as she went to the bathroom to wash her hands. She used plenty of hand sanitizer to cleanse the hand that Meng Haotian had touched.
She didn’t know when Gu Wencheng had come over, and Meng Nianyao almost collided with him when she stepped out of the bathroom.
“I thought you’d be a while,” Gu Wencheng commented, offering a faint smile. Meng Nianyao glanced at him but didn’t say anything.
Over the next two days, Gu Wencheng left for work early and returned late. One day, as Meng Nianyao was about to go to sleep, she received a call from Ping Yang. He sounded quite agitated. “Lady Boss, are you at the hotel? I forgot to take a document. Can you help me deliver it to the Nancheng Business Center?”
“Of course.”
Ping Yang hung up the phone and looked at Gu Wencheng. “About half an hour.”
Gu Wencheng grunted, turned his pen in his hand, and gazed out of the French window. Twenty-five minutes later, Gu Wencheng and Ping Yang left the lounge. Meng Nianyao got out of the taxi and accidentally bumped into someone as she checked the time. The documents she was holding fell to the ground. The other person squatted down to pick up the documents and apologized.
“I’m fine.”
Gu Wencheng was in the monitoring room and observed the situation. He stood up expressionlessly and left the monitoring room.
After a while, Meng Nianyao knocked on the door. Ping Yang opened it. The moment she entered, she sensed that the atmosphere in the lounge was somewhat tense. She looked at the two of them and inquired, “Did something happen?”
Ping Yang didn’t say anything. Gu Wencheng looked at Meng Nianyao and smiled. “Mrs. Gu, are you planning to go shopping today?”
Meng Nianyao sensed something was amiss with Gu Wencheng’s behavior but couldn’t quite pinpoint it. She nodded and replied, “Yes.”
“Where are you headed?”
“It should be somewhere nearby.”
“Indeed?” Ping Yang, please don’t inconvenience yourself.”
“It’s no trouble at all,” Meng Nianyao reassured. She handed the document to Ping Yang and said, “You guys go ahead. I’ll leave first.”