Chapter 35

Chapter 35

◎ Don't You Two Start Arguing! ◎

Apparently, Ren Suiyi was waiting downstairs, while Gangzi brought up the fruit wine and went upstairs with him. After that, Meng Qi truly blacked out. Probably as soon as he entered the house, all he could think about was that bed, and nothing else registered.

Perhaps the noise of Meng Qi getting up woke the live-in housekeeper. Not long after, she knocked softly on the bedroom door and asked, "Young Master, are you awake?"

Meng Qi's gaze drifted toward the door following the housekeeper's voice, and he answered vaguely, "Auntie, I'm awake. I'll be out soon."

"Alright, alright. I'll go warm up the chicken soup now. It'll be ready to eat by the time you come out."

"Mhm."

Meng Qi responded while walking toward the bathroom. When he looked up at the mirror above the sink, he was startled. Reflected in the mirror were another pair of big, puffy eyes. Ugh, seriously? Meng Qi rinsed his face with cold water for a while, finally getting some of the swelling to go down. As he washed, he thought he really shouldn't drink too much. That stuff is mostly water; of course, you'd be puffy after sleeping.

Besides, while he liked that woozy feeling from last night, the nausea and feeling sick to his stomach upon waking up this morning were absolutely awful. He didn't like that at all.

Meng Qi shuffled out of the bedroom dejectedly, one hand rubbing his empty but constantly gurgling stomach, the other massaging his throbbing forehead. He looked utterly pathetic.

The live-in housekeeper was really worried by how out of it he looked. Setting down the dishes, she hurried over to steady him, anxiously asking where he felt unwell.

Meng Qi winced but shook his head. "It's nothing, Auntie. It's from drinking too much last night. Not a big problem."

"Last night, you locked the bedroom door as soon as you went in. I couldn't even get in to bring you hangover soup. If you had drunk a bowl of it before bed, you wouldn't be feeling so terrible today," the housekeeper said while helping Meng Qi to the dining table. She pulled out a chair for him to sit, then pushed a bowl of clear, de-greased chicken soup in front of him. Worriedly, she added, "Next time you're drunk, don't lock the door. Not long ago, the news reported a case of someone choking to death on their own vomit. That's so dangerous!"

"Ugh..." Meng Qi turned his head and gagged toward the floor. When he turned back, he was green around the gills and his voice was weak, "Auntie, please don't talk about that right now, ugh... I'll be careful in the future, ugh..."

"Heaving like that? You might have upset your stomach. Quick, drink some hot chicken soup to warm it up." The housekeeper was extremely anxious, almost wishing she could pour the soup down his throat.

Doing as she said, Meng Qi picked up the chicken soup and took a few sips. Miraculously, the annoying gurgling in his stomach settled right down, and his stomach felt instantly better. He couldn't help but take sip after sip, quickly finishing the bowl.

The housekeeper didn't relax until she saw Meng Qi finish the soup. Then she said, relieved, "It's good you can keep something down. It means it's not too serious. You know, some people can't eat properly for several days after getting drunk. It looks miserable."

Meng Qi nodded, shuddering at the thought.

But just as he started feeling a bit better, the housekeeper dropped another bombshell. "Young Master, I must say, you really should thank Young Master Ren properly. Luckily, he reminded me that you had been drinking, and drinking a lot too. Otherwise, how would I have thought to add mustard seeds and jackfruit to the chicken soup to help with the hangover and settle his stomach?"

What does Ren Suiyi have to do with this?

"Young Master Ren? He came?" The chopsticks reaching for a soup dumpling froze mid-air as Meng Qi asked the housekeeper in surprise.

"He came home right after you last night. You didn't know? After returning, you went straight to the bedroom. Young Master Ren and his driver, that Gangzi, waited in the living room for a good half hour."

"What were they doing? Just sitting there?"

"Probably worried you might have an accident. They left after confirming you were really okay."

"What accident could I have? Could I really choke to death..." Meng Qi found it utterly absurd.

The housekeeper hesitated before replying, "But there really are cases of choking to death. What if... Young Master Ren would be held responsible."

Meng Qi: ...

After finishing the meal, Meng Qi went to the library to meet up with Kuang Hui and the others. During their study session, he realized the library wasn't a great place for their one-on-one study sessions. Speaking loudly wasn't allowed, and whispering made them feel like they were doing something wrong. The experience was poor, and the learning effectiveness was greatly reduced. It wasn't even as effective as him reading in bed.

After careful consideration, Meng Qi decided to convert the game room in the book's "Meng Qi's" house into a study.

Unexpectedly, the first one to jump out in opposition was Kuang Hui!

Upon hearing Meng Qi's idea, he immediately glared at Meng Qi, bristling. "If you dare touch it, I won't tutor you anymore!"

"Huh?" Meng Qi looked at Kuang Hui, a big question mark hanging over his small head.

Kuang Hui pouted, his face full of displeasure. "We finally have a good place to play games. How can you bear to dismantle it? Where will I go if I want to pull an all-nighter gaming again someday?"

"An internet cafe?" Meng Qi suggested tentatively.

That was the only place he could think of for all-night gaming, because before he came into this book, He Cong often went to internet cafes near the school for overnight gaming sessions, commonly known as "bao su" (overnight packages).

Of course, he himself had never been, so he didn't know what the environment inside an internet cafe was like or how the gaming experience was. Therefore, he didn't understand why Kuang Hui got so angry when he mentioned "internet cafe." Kuang Hui's face almost matched his fiery red hair color, and his mouth was pouted so high you could probably tether an ox to it.

Feeling awkward, Meng Qi asked back, "That's not okay, is it?"

"Since you don't want me to play games at your house, why did you have to come bother me in the first place? Bothering me is one thing, but then pushing me away harshly after I got used to it. Do you think that's okay?" Kuang Hui was first furious, then asked Meng Qi with a resentful look, finally turning into a self-questioning answer full of melancholy. "Whatever you say goes. After all, it's your game room, not mine."

Meng Qi: ...

How could he refute that?

Dong Jiaming rubbed the top of Kuang Hui's head, laughing and scolding, "Being mischievous again." Then he turned to Meng Qi and said, "Don't mind him. Change it if you want. It's a good opportunity to control his gaming time. He's been playing a lot recently; I think his eyes are about to give out."

Meng Qi shifted his gaze to Kuang Hui's eyes, wanting to see what "about to give out" eyes looked like, and happened to meet Kuang Hui's dazed stare.

Probably because Kuang Hui didn't expect Dong Jiaming to betray him again. This time, it took him even longer to react. Then he jumped up at Dong Jiaming. "I'm so disappointed in you, Mingming! You always oppose me. Are you even my brother anymore?!"

Dong Jiaming blinked. "Of course."

"Of course my foot! I think you're a mole planted beside me by someone else, specifically sent to annoy me."

"Would a mole constantly worry about your eyes? Hearing you say that, I'm really hurt."

When Dong Jiaming said this, he frowned tightly, looking very serious, emitting cold air all around. Whether it scared Kuang Hui or not was unknown, but it certainly scared Meng Qi, who was watching the spectacle nearby.

Meng Qi was really afraid these two would become sworn enemies because of him. That would be a huge sin on his part. Scared, he quickly stepped forward to act as peacemaker, standing between Kuang Hui and Dong Jiaming, urging, "Alright, alright, don't you two fight. The game room isn't something to be changed on a whim. I'll think about it some more. Maybe there's a better solution."

"What's there to think about? Change it now, immediately. I'll contact a renovation team for you... So it doesn't remain an eyesore for certain people." Kuang Hui said angrily.

Meng Qi: ...

In an instant, Meng Qi understood how difficult it was for Wang Boyuan to act as peacemaker between him and He Cong. This simply wasn't a job for humans. If you also have a friend around you who's used to being a peacemaker, please treat him well. He puts in a lot for the harmony of a small group.

Meng Qi didn't know whether to laugh or cry, feeling very weary. "I've thought of another good place we can use for studying. The game room really can stay. So let's drop this topic. Tomorrow, we'll move to my dorm."

The book's "Meng Qi's" dorm is a single room! It has a desk, air conditioning, and a small fridge stocked with various drinks. Isn't that the perfect study sanctuary? The only problem was that since coming to this world, Meng Qi had only slept there one night, so his impression wasn't deep. Otherwise, he would have remembered it sooner, and today's argument wouldn't have happened.

After speaking, Meng Qi looked intently at Kuang Hui, hoping he would calm down. As long as his anger subsided, Dong Jiaming's anger would mostly disappear too.

Although he didn't know where this conclusion came from, Meng Qi firmly believed it.

Kuang Hui snorted twice, seemingly quite reluctantly, and said, "Fine then. We'll go to your dorm tomorrow."

Relieved, Meng Qi then looked anxiously at Dong Jiaming. Dong Jiaming lifted the corner of his mouth and nodded at him. "Okay."

The conflict was resolved on the spot.

But Meng Qi still stole several glances at Dong Jiaming, thinking that people who command authority without anger are like gods. One is him, another is Ren Suiyi—both are big shots who can freeze the whole world just by cooling their expressions a little. Really scary...

Speaking of which, when will he ever learn and master this skill?

Speak of the devil and he appears—just as Meng Qi thought of Ren Suiyi, his phone vibrated. Opening it, he saw a message from Ren Suiyi: "Your mom, Aunt Jia Qing, is over at my place. Want to come see her?"

Meng Qi replied to Ren Suiyi: "I'll pass."

He didn't want to see Jia Qing, but it wasn't because of Ren Suiyi, nor was it because he didn't know her well and feared exposing himself. Rather, he knew that in the book, "Meng Qi" had always avoided meeting his biological mother.

The name "Meng Qi" in the book was given by his biological mother, Jia Qing, which says a lot about how she felt about him from the start.

Jia Qing and Meng Zhenchao’s marriage was a product of a family alliance. The novel mentioned that before marrying Meng Zhenchao, Jia Qing already had someone she loved. Forced by circumstances, she married Meng Zhenchao. Although Meng Zhenchao treated her well, she could never forget her beloved, leading to a joyless marriage filled with constant melancholy. After giving birth to Meng Qi, her depressive symptoms worsened. She paid no attention to the book’s "Meng Qi," and once, in a distracted moment while bathing him, she nearly drowned him in the bathtub.

When his efforts kept getting nothing in return, Li Jintong seized the opportunity to step in. Later, Meng Zhenchao divorced Jia Qing despite family pressure, married Li Jintong, and Jia Qing went to France alone—it was said her beloved was studying there at the time.

Although the book’s "Meng Qi" was too young to remember Jia Qing’s neglect, maybe some part of him remembered anyway. As he grew up, he refused to get close to Jia Qing. She tried several times through acquaintances to meet him, but he never agreed.

Meng Qi, now living in this world in place of the book’s "Meng Qi," didn't want to go against the original’s wishes by meeting the woman who had never shown him a day of maternal love.

He firmly believed that if the Meng Qi from the book were living in the real world in his stead, he wouldn't go against his wishes to seek out the couple who had abandoned him either.