Chapter 47

Chapter 47

◎ It's the character for 'Meng'. ◎

Ren Suiyi swatted Jiang Baixi on the back of his head with the hand not holding the steering wheel.

The slap made little sound, and from where Meng Qi was sitting, it seemed no different from a playful scratch. It felt more like flirtatious banter than a reprimand. Meng Qi averted his gaze, no longer paying attention to the two of them.

The slap successfully shut Jiang Baixi up. Ren Suiyi naturally took over the conversation, continuing to answer Meng Qi, "I went to discuss a business deal at an office building near Xinyu. Bai Xi is a law student, so I brought him along to look over the contract."

A law student, no wonder he's so quick-witted and sharp-tongued. That's just par for the course for him. Meng Qi nodded, then curiously pressed further, "Did you close the deal?"

The answer seemed obvious. After all, Ren Suiyi possessed the "protagonist's halo" and was also the second young master of the Ren family—a double buff! A small business deal should have been a piece of cake for him. Meng Qi felt he had probably asked yet another pointless question.

"The contract had loopholes; the deal fell through," Ren Suiyi said.

He said it lightly, as if a failed business deal was nothing more than discarded scrap paper to him, not affecting him in the slightest.

But Meng Qi was shocked. "Huh? They dared to scam you?"

They probably truly didn't know how to write the words "protagonist's halo"...

Ren Suiyi said with a laugh, "Is it not normal to deceive me? Not everyone knows me. Without the Ren family name behind me, I'm just an ordinary person."

That was true too. Meng Qi nodded again.

Xiao Yueya broke in urgently from the side, even raising her right hand like a primary school student asking a question in class. "What's ordinary about Mr. Ren? People as handsome and distinguished as you are rare. In my opinion, those who deceive you either have poor eyesight or something wrong with their brains."

Following Xiao Yueya's words, Meng Qi looked at Ren Suiyi: distinct features, a sharp jawline, dignified and imposing, neither humble nor arrogant, outstanding and extraordinary, neither boastful nor self-deprecating... Even setting aside the high-spec settings this book gave Ren Suiyi, he was no ordinary person.

He felt like nodding again. Meng Qi blinked.

"Thank you for the kind words, Teacher Xiao. If everyone I meet in the future could have your discerning eye, business would be much easier to conduct," Ren Suiyi said with a smile playing on his lips. Then, his smile faded, his eyes turning sharp as he continued, "Unfortunately, matters in the business world cannot be judged by common sense. Everything revolves around profit. Handsomeness is probably the most useless... hmm, advantage? Weapon? Or perhaps you could call it a bonus point."

Xiao Yueya probably didn't quite understand the meaning of Ren Suiyi's latter words. She looked somewhat confused, her hands gripping the back of the driver's seat as she tilted her head in thought.

At that moment, Jiang Baixi reached out and flicked the red ornament hanging below the rearview mirror inside the car, summarizing coldly, "Money is the real hard truth."

This time, Meng Qi nodded without hesitation.

He had seen too many examples of people or things being measured by money. He had long known that in most cases, what Jiang Baixi said was indeed the truth.

During those days when he went scavenging with his grandparents, the three of them would always pack plenty of food and water before heading out. Because in their "tattered clothes," they had no "right" to enter others' shops to eat or drink, let alone borrow a corner to rest. They would be driven away. Those with better attitudes would tell them, "There's no room in the shop, please look elsewhere." Those with worse attitudes would directly shove them, spewing foul language like, "Stinky beggars, get lost! What bad luck! How dare you show your faces here?"...

Even though the clothes they wore were always washed clean, carrying the unique scent of laundry soap;

Even though they weren't stinky beggars but hardworking people who, like everyone else, earned their living with their own hands;

Even though his grandparents were old, their legs and feet were frail, and he was young and could do little, few people took pity on them.

Sometimes reality was just that cruel. Money was the real hard truth.

Thinking of his grandparents, his mood uncontrollably sank again. The beautiful scenery flashing by outside the window seemed to turn gray and bleak, losing its appeal for Meng Qi... He felt even more nauseous.

Ren Suiyi noticed the change in Meng Qi's complexion through the rearview mirror and instantly furrowed his brows, his face full of concern as he asked Meng Qi what was wrong, if he was feeling unwell somewhere.

Meng Qi wanted to answer Ren Suiyi with 'I'm fine,' but as soon as he opened his mouth, he first let out a 'urgh' sound, nearly vomiting right there in Ren Suiyi's Maybach. Scared, he immediately covered his mouth and took deep breaths. Once the nausea passed, he said, "It's nothing. Maybe I'm carsick."

"Carsick? You've never been carsick before."

There was still quite a distance to their destination. Ren Suiyi jerked the steering wheel, finding the nearest exit ramp to leave the elevated highway. As soon as the car descended from the highway, he slowed down, frequently checking the side mirrors. It seemed he intended to pull over.

Meng Qi quickly said, "No need to stop. Keep going. I can tough it out."

"Tough it out my ass. Suffering for the sake of suffering?" Jiang Baixi retorted.

Xiao Yueya also advised him, "Pull over first to see what's going on. You wouldn't get carsick for no reason. Maybe there's another cause."

Meng Qi was in a difficult position, unable to speak the truth. He couldn't very well say it was all because Ren Suiyi was wearing that weird-smelling perfume, could he? That would be asking for trouble...

Before the car came to a complete stop, he quickly rolled down his window all the way. Taking a deep breath of the air laced with car exhaust outside, the urge to vomit did indeed lessen considerably. So he continued to urge Ren Suiyi, "Don't stop. I really feel much better."

Ren Suiyi didn't listen to him, insisting on pulling the car over to the roadside. Then he turned around to stare at him, his tone full of worry, a deep frown forming between his eyebrows. "Really okay? Is that stomach bug from last time not fully recovered yet? Should we go to the hospital?"

Meng Qi really didn't want to go to the hospital again. The smell of disinfectant wasn't much better either. So he firmly shook his head and refused, "No!" and insisted he really felt much better—not nauseous, not dizzy, and his complexion had even improved.

Although, as Meng Qi said, his complexion had returned to normal, Ren Suiyi was still hesitant. Jiang Baixi made a "tsk" sound, reached out to flick the red ornament again, and as it resumed swaying, he opened the passenger door and got out. Then he opened the door on Meng Qi's side, gesturing for Meng Qi to get out, saying, "The passenger seat is yours. Don't get carsick."

Meng Qi: ...

Xiao Yueya: 0

Meng Qi refused, "I don't..."

Before he could finish the sentence, Jiang Baixi pulled him out of the car. Then Jiang Baixi sat down in Meng Qi's spot, forcing Meng Qi to take the passenger seat.

Meng Qi: ...

Could this get any more melodramatic?! This plot! And Jiang Baixi's weird idea!

Finally managing to endure the awkwardness and fasten his seatbelt, and as Ren Suiyi started driving again, Meng Qi heard Jiang Baixi's voice once more.

Jiang Baixi asked nonchalantly, even nudging the seat under Meng Qi's butt with the tip of his shoe, "Hey, not carsick anymore, are you?"

He was never carsick to begin with...

Maybe it was just too much nervousness... Even the nausea was gone now...

So embarrassing. How mortifying. Meng Qi himself wanted to find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

Ren Suiyi promptly stepped in to scold Jiang Baixi, "Alright, stop bothering him. You stay put quietly."

But the corners of his mouth were upturned.

Seeing this made Meng Qi even more exasperated, wanting to roll his eyes.

However, after all this commotion, the car finally fell quiet—and remained quiet for quite a while—until Meng Qi, staring at the swaying red ornament ahead, began to feel drowsy.

Seeing this, Ren Suiyi turned up the temperature inside the car and said to Meng Qi, "I'll drive slower. You take a nap."

It wasn't fast to begin with; any slower and they'd really be moving at an ox-cart's pace. Would the Maybach even agree to this...

Meng Qi pushed himself up on the seat, then rubbed his face, using the chance to chase away some of the sleepiness. Forcing himself to stay alert, he said to Ren Suiyi, "Drive normally. It's not that far anymore. I'll sleep when I get home."

Jiang Baixi nudged Meng Qi's seat again with his shoe. "Usually, all we hear on the road is you blabbering non-stop. What's wrong today? Did I hit your mute point?"

Do you have any common sense? On whose butt is the mute point located...

"Ate too much, don't want to open my mouth, afraid I'll vomit all over the car," Meng Qi replied listlessly.

"How delicious could that lamb hot pot be, to make you eat like that?" Jiang Baixi's voice dripped with disdain, aimed right at Meng Qi.

Meng Qi wanted to tell Jiang Baixi that this was his first time eating lamb hot pot in his life. Having nothing to compare it to, he simply felt it was the most delicious lamb hot pot in the world—so delicious that he even wanted to pack some to take back for his grandparents to try.

But he could only sigh and said glumly, "Don't go changing their recipe. I don't want to never taste such delicious lamb hot pot again."

"You're nuts," Jiang Baixi looked completely fed up, probably still annoyed that Meng Qi was so clueless. With his arms crossed and legs folded, he glanced at the scenery outside the window for a moment, then kicked the seat under Meng Qi again and continued, "Forget about the recipe for now. Can you at least replace that ugly hanging ornament in Brother Sui's car? It's faded to hell from the sun, it's hideous."

Meng Qi was puzzled. This was Ren Suiyi's car—what did it have to do with him whether it was replaced or not? Unless he was the one who hung it...

Ah, it hit him. In all likelihood, this was probably hung by the "Meng Qi" from the book.

Then it likely wasn't a mountain, but the character "Meng."

Xiao Yueya guessed right.

Meng Qi didn't dare to look into Xiao Yueya's eyes, as he couldn't explain his complete ignorance about the ornament. He remained silent for a while before answering Jiang Baixi's question, "Next time. I'll replace it when I find something nicer."

Then he sighed and looked out the window.

He used to always hope to return to the real world, but that was completely unrealistic. Now, he finally had something else to look forward to—the upcoming holiday. He planned to use this break to distance himself from everything related to the "Meng Qi" in the book.

Holiday! Come quickly!

He never wanted to live this on-edge life again.