Chapter 149

Chapter 149

◎ I don’t think so, big brother! ◎

After much persuasion, they finally saw off the warm-hearted Grandpa Geng. Meng Qi stood there, awkwardly explaining to Ren Suiyi, “People here are really enthusiastic, especially some of the older folks, and… you know how it is.”

“Know what?” Ren Suiyi snapped back. He seemed genuinely clueless about what Meng Qi had left unsaid. His sharp eyes, like an eagle locking onto its prey, stared at Meng Qi, pressing for an answer, making Meng Qi’s scalp tingle and his discomfort grow. He couldn’t help but take a small step sideways.

Though uncomfortable, Meng Qi could understand why Ren Suiyi asked that way. Ren Suiyi didn’t have many warm-hearted elderly people around him, and even if he did, they probably wouldn’t dare to casually play matchmaker for the Young Master Ren. So, despite the discomfort, Meng Qi answered Ren Suiyi’s question earnestly, without brushing him off. “It’s just that they like playing matchmaker for the younger generation. They hope others will be like them, able to have four generations under one roof and enjoy grandchildren in their old age.”

He had put on such a flattering smile—could Ren Suiyi please stop scaring him? He hadn’t committed any unforgivable sin to deserve the cold shoulder, Meng Qi thought anxiously.

“So you’ve been going on blind dates all this time, haven’t you?” A new question rang in his ears. Meng Qi’s smile stiffened at the corners. Ren Suiyi even reached out and turned his shoulders, using his mental pressure to suppress him, grinding him down in various ways…

I mean, can we not break character? Go and grind down Jiang Baixi instead. Please ignore me, Meng Qi sighed, continuing to think. Judging by the frequency of being set up every ten days or so, it wasn’t wrong to say he’d been on blind dates all this time. But every time, he declined as much as possible. For those he couldn’t avoid, he’d come up with various reasons to sidestep any chance of a second meeting after the first. How should that be counted?

In short, all in all, he had been on blind dates… So hesitantly, he replied, “I guess so.”

“You guess so? Is that your answer, Meng Qi?”

This answer was like poking a hornet’s nest. Ren Suiyi was so furious he ground his teeth. His hand gripping Meng Qi’s shoulder suddenly tightened, hurting so much that Meng Qi nearly bit through his molars. With a hiss, he jerked back. Ren Suiyi then switched from squeezing to rubbing, but his face was still dark enough to write calligraphy on. His voice was laced with icy shards. “While you were gone, everyone searched for you like crazy. They couldn’t eat, couldn’t sleep, couldn’t focus on their own things. They worried you’d have an accident, that you’d suffer, that they’d be one step too late to save you… But look at you! Living like a fairy here, going on blind dates all the time?! Great, absolutely great. You haven’t wronged yourself at all. Are you building a harem, Young Master Meng?”

What kind of talk was that?

A five-good youth dedicated to public welfare was being called a lecher—could anyone take that?

Meng Qi’s speechlessness soared like a rocket. He first rolled his eyes to the sky, then forcefully shook off Ren Suiyi’s hands. Laughing in anger, he corrected Ren Suiyi, “Bro, first of all, people only go on multiple blind dates if the first one doesn’t work out. I was just going on blind dates, not dating around. I wasn’t messing around with women! Secondly, I didn’t even want to go on those blind dates. I had no choice but to go because I couldn’t refuse. In this matter, I’m the victim too, okay? Be reasonable!”

“I… you…” Ren Suiyi’s punch had hit cotton. His speechlessness surpassed Meng Qi’s, and he laughed even louder than Meng Qi. “Haha, not bad. You sure know how to pick out the key points.”

Meng Qi gave a dry laugh and played along. “You pick up things like that after being a teacher for a while.”

Ren Suiyi was once again amused by Meng Qi in exasperation.

But after this bit of banter, Ren Suiyi’s expression cracked. His face changed quickly, turning from cloudy to sunny in the blink of an eye. If you looked closely, you could even see faint rainbows in the depths of his eyes. He held back a smile and raised a hand to ruffle Meng Qi’s hair, softening his voice to apologize. “Alright, I’m sorry. I misunderstood you just now. I owe you an ap—”

A protagonist’s apology was a rare thing, right? Who wouldn’t accept that?!

Meng Qi was about to arrogantly say, “Fine, I’ll be magnanimous and forgive you,” but before he could get smug, Ren Suiyi suddenly fell silent. Then his brows visibly furrowed again, and his face darkened again, making Meng Qi nervous. He thought, What now? What did I say wrong again?

For the sake of his own poor heart, he had to find a way to send this moody monster away as soon as possible.

Another cool breeze blew. This time, Meng Qi didn’t shiver or sneeze, but a withered leaf spiraled down and landed on his shoulder. Ren Suiyi’s gaze was drawn to the leaf for a split second. When Meng Qi turned his head to look, Ren Suiyi had already raised a hand to brush away the mischievous leaf.

That leaf seemed to have come specially to divert Ren Suiyi’s firepower. After it was flicked away, Ren Suiyi’s brows relaxed a little. Though his forehead was still slightly creased, his face had cleared. As he adjusted Meng Qi’s suit collar, he asked, “You said you weren’t dating, so what about Xiao Yueya? Why did that old man say your girlfriend is Xiao Yueya?”

“You still remember her?” Meng Qi was surprised. Ren Suiyi had only met Xiao Yueya once, and he still remembered her months later.

Ren Suiyi raised an eyebrow. “You don’t have many female friends. It wasn’t hard to remember her.”

“Oh.” So that was it. Meng Qi nodded. Wanting to avoid further complications, he decided to tell the truth. “Because I didn’t want to go on blind dates, I asked her to pretend to be my girlfriend.” He sighed heavily again, looking up at Ren Suiyi. “But as you saw, it didn’t help much. The old man has his own logic, and I couldn’t argue with him. In the end, I ended up owing Xiao Yueya a favor for nothing.”

He wondered if he’d ever get the chance to repay that favor. He had promised Xiao Yueya a big meal when they got back to the capital. Meng Qi pressed his lips together, silently praying that with Elder Dong’s help, he might live long enough.

After hearing his explanation, Ren Suiyi’s expression softened again. Seeing that the tips of Meng Qi’s ears were red from the wind, he pressed his palm against them, warming them up. At the same time, he stepped closer to Meng Qi, blocking the cool wind from all directions.

Meng Qi shook his head uncomfortably.

Ren Suiyi held tight. No matter how much Meng Qi shook, his ears remained firmly in Ren Suiyi’s palm. Ren Suiyi looked sideways into Meng Qi’s eyes and asked in a low voice, “So you’ve been in touch with Xiao Yueya all this time?”

Meng Qi shook his head. “No. I didn’t contact anyone after I left the capital. Before that, I hadn’t even contacted Dong Jiaming and the others. The reason they found this place was because… because Li Qingjiang is Dong Jiaming’s cousin, a blood relative. I only contacted Xiao Yueya once.”

“Why?” Meng Qi’s ears were getting warm, so Ren Suiyi slid his hand down to Meng Qi’s shoulder and guided him forward.

They had already wasted a lot of time. They needed to hurry up and catch fish, or they might not make it for lunch.

Ren Suiyi’s question was brief, but hard to answer. Whether he was asking why Meng Qi left the capital or why he hadn’t contacted anyone, the answer was the same.

Meng Qi walked a few steps with his head down, following Ren Suiyi’s pace. A voice inside kept telling him, “It’s not time yet, not time yet…” Finally, he decided to listen to his heart and mumbled to Ren Suiyi, “Bro, I don’t want to say.”

At that answer, Ren Suiyi’s steps faltered for a moment. Meng Qi’s heart tightened. Bracing himself for the storm, he instinctively closed his eyes, guessing whether Ren Suiyi would first curse him out or first crush his shoulder.

But neither of the things Meng Qi imagined happened.

Ren Suiyi’s sigh dissipated in the wind. The next second, a low, resigned voice reached Meng Qi’s ears with the cool breeze. “If you don’t want to talk, then don’t. Since I’ve already found you, nothing else matters.”

The heavy stone in Meng Qi’s heart fell.

“But I hope you remember that I will always be the one you can trust the most. If someday you want to talk, I hope you’ll tell me first.” Ren Suiyi’s big hand covered Meng Qi’s cheek and pressed his head gently onto his shoulder. He continued, “Brother Yiyi’s shoulder is always here for you to lean on.”

What else could he say except thank you?

Whether it was reliable or not was another matter, but with the protagonist’s words, his safety level should be boosted by a few levels, right?

At that moment, to be honest, Meng Qi was very grateful to Ren Suiyi.

It turned out he was grateful too early.

A few minutes later, the two finally arrived at the small river. They had come right after breakfast, which was early, but someone had arrived even earlier. When they got there, a girl with a long ponytail was already crouching by the riverbank.

Meng Qi muttered toward the girl’s back, “Lü Mei?”

Ren Suiyi asked with his eyes, “Where is Lü Mei?”

“That person washing clothes over there might be Lü Mei. I haven’t seen her for a while, so I’m not sure.” Meng Qi leaned close to Ren Suiyi and answered in a low voice. After all, if he couldn’t recognize her right away, it would be awkward if she heard.

Ren Suiyi nodded, lifting his gaze to look at the girl with the long ponytail who was rinsing clothes in the river.

Hearing the noise behind her, the girl turned around. She saw Ren Suiyi first, with no change in expression. But when she saw Meng Qi, her face immediately lit up with a smile, and her voice was very crisp, like a lark. “Teacher Ran!” she called happily.

Meng Qi waved back. “It really is you, Lü Mei. What a coincidence. Not at work today?”

“My little nephew is celebrating his one-month today. Relatives are coming over for the feast. I was afraid my mom couldn’t handle it, so I took the day off.” Lü Mei stood up, wiping her hands on the hem of her clothes.

Meng Qi smiled and offered his congratulations.

“If you’re free, Teacher Ran, you should come to my house too. My mom specially hired a chef. There’s that tofu fish soup you like so much.” Lü Mei happily invited Meng Qi.

Meng Qi was about to decline, but Ren Suiyi spoke up first, asking Lü Mei, “How do you know he likes fish soup?”

Lü Mei’s gaze shifted to Ren Suiyi. She bit her lower lip lightly, a hint of shyness flashing across her face. “Everyone around here knows Teacher Ran likes fish soup. It’s not just me.”

Meng Qi explained, “The kids at school are like little loudspeakers. I have almost no secrets here.”

Ren Suiyi hummed in acknowledgment and then fell silent, standing by as a background figure.

Meng Qi seized the chance to decline Lü Mei. “It’s Monday today, so I’m pretty busy at school. I won’t come over. Please send my regards to sister-in-law. I’ll have Yang Miao bring over my gift money at noon.”

Hearing that, Lü Mei stepped forward, looking distressed. “No need, no need. Teacher Ran, you don’t have to give any gift money. You’ve already done so much for us. How could we take your money… I shouldn’t have invited you. It makes it seem like I’m asking for money.”

Meng Qi naturally knew that Lümei said that on purpose—the complaint was fake, and the real intention was not to let him spend money. So he didn't keep pushing the gift money thing and changed the subject, asking Lümei, "The river water is so cold, why did you come here to wash clothes?"

"I'm washing my little nephew's diapers. He poops and pees so many times a day; washing them at home uses too much water, so I first rinse them twice in the river. When I get home, I'll scald them with hot water and that'll do." As she spoke, Lümei turned around, bent down to pick up the plastic basin on the ground, then stood up again and said with a smile, "I'm done rinsing. I'll head home now—my mom is waiting for me to dye the red eggs."

The custom of dyeing red eggs for a baby's full-moon celebration was the same as in the real world. Before coming here, Meng Qi had eaten red eggs delivered by neighbors many times. Hearing Lümei bring up that term suddenly hit him with nostalgia, and he stood there dazed, his mouth instinctively recalling the taste of red eggs. He didn't snap out of it until Lümei was far away and Ren Suiyi, stone-faced, patted his shoulder.

"She likes you." Ren Suiyi stated this conclusion matter-of-factly.

Meng Qi awkwardly scratched the back of his ear. "Maybe... maybe, but I clearly told her I have a girlfriend..."

Ren Suiyi glanced sideways at Meng Qi.

Meng Qi quickly added, "A fake girlfriend."

The corner of Ren Suiyi's mouth twitched, so slightly it was almost imperceptible. Then he casually asked Meng Qi, "Lümei was one of your blind date candidates, right?"

Meng Qi paused a beat, then answered honestly, "...Yes."

Ren Suiyi pressed on calmly, "She's so beautiful—did you fall for her?"

"What's with all these random questions? What does one thing have to do with another?" Meng Qi glared angrily at Ren Suiyi. "Of course not. I'm not that shallow."

"In the past, you would have said, 'Of course not, I only like Brother Yiyi.'" Ren Suiyi reached out to smooth Meng Qi's hair, rumpled by the cold wind.

Meng Qi's breath hitched, but he quickly forced himself to stay calm and said, "...You said it yourself—that was the past. The current me doesn't like anyone."

"But the current me likes the current you. Even though this liking came late, I don't think it's too late. So, Meng Qi," Ren Suiyi looked seriously at Meng Qi, his voice extremely gentle, each word seductive, "why don't you reconsider our relationship? I don't believe you've completely stopped liking me in such a short time."

Meng Qi: ...