Chapter 189

Chapter 189

◎Where's Your Husband?◎

Meng Qi couldn't wait to tell Wang Boyuan the news that Ren Suiyi had proposed to him.

Here, in his heart, Wang Boyuan was his closest family without blood ties—the dual anchor of his familial and friendly affections. Having been proposed to by the person he loved and likely soon entering the marriage hall, such good news deserved to be shared with his family at the first opportunity.

Wang Boyuan was probably eating, because Meng Qi first heard the clatter of knives and forks against a porcelain plate, followed by Wang Boyuan's seemingly surprised voice, "You said yes to him?"

The honey in Meng Qi's heart hadn't fully melted yet, still very sweet. He hesitated slightly before replying, "I didn't say yes right away."

Wang Boyuan chuckled, then asked, "So how long did you make him wait?"

"Three... five minutes. I thought it over for five minutes." Meng Qi blushed.

Wang Boyuan seemed to know Meng Qi's words were exaggerated, deliberately teasing him, "Oh～that～long～huh? Did the guy surnamed Ren get scared by your hesitation?"

Meng Qi rubbed his nose awkwardly, about to say no, when he suddenly heard another person's voice on Wang Boyuan's end, the tone full of grievance, "Don't keep saying 'the guy surnamed Ren,' okay? I'm also surnamed Ren."

Ren Suiwu?! That *is* surnamed Ren...

Caught off guard, Meng Qi instantly forgot his embarrassment and asked in bewilderment, "How are you with Brother Wu?"

Hadn't Ren Suiwu been called back for a mission not long ago? He was back in Beijing that quickly? What kind of mission was so urgent that he had to be recalled...

Wang Boyuan replied nonchalantly, "Yeah, ran into him by chance, having a meal together."

"How did he come back so soon?" Meng Qi voiced his doubt. Last time when Qi Yun followed him on a mission, the two were gone for half a year. Such an urgent mission only taking a few days seemed too unreasonable.

Wang Boyuan said succinctly, "Mission accomplished successfully, so he came back. Said the military gave him leave." The next sentence was directed at Ren Suiwu: "Hey, how many days did your boss approve?" Ren Suiwu said a number, and Wang Boyuan turned back to Meng Qi. "He got fifteen days off, plus the unused family leave from last time, this time he can take over a month off in a row... I'm so envious."

Meng Qi, who had once aspired to be an excellent corporate drone, was also envious. "Well, his boss is pretty humane."

Wang Boyuan didn't comment directly on that. "There are still more good people in the world."

But Meng Qi couldn't agree with that.

Because since childhood, he had encountered far more bad people than good. It was only after coming here that things changed. Up to now, he had only met one bad person—Li Jinqiu.

Oh, and Li Jintong could be considered half good and half bad. Her existence didn't alter the ratio of good to bad people.

Meng Qi's silence made Wang Boyuan immediately think of his past. To avoid upsetting Meng Qi, he proactively changed the subject. "Did the guy surnamed Ren buy you a diamond ring? How big is it? Take a photo and let me see."

Well, if Wang Boyuan hadn't mentioned it, Meng Qi wouldn't have thought about diamond rings, gold rings, or gemstone rings at all. He didn't care about that. He'd even be okay with buying one for Ren Suiyi, or neither of them buying anything.

So he answered nonchalantly, "He didn't." Then, excitedly, he added, "But he bought me a yard full of Great Sage Equal to Heaven statues! The tallest one is over two meters, and it can talk! I'll send you photos later—I took so many."

Wang Boyuan naturally knew how obsessed Meng Qi was with the Great Sage, but he still found it hard to believe, teasing him, "Have some ambition, Mengmengqi. A few Monkey King statues bought you off? People would laugh."

"Tch," Meng Qi dismissed. "Let whoever wants to laugh first buy me a Great Sage over two meters tall. Diamond rings are nice, but I don't care about them. The Great Sage may be humble, but he's my heart's treasure. Brother Sui's gift hit the spot. I'm happy, and I'm willing."

Wang Boyuan chuckled upon hearing that, seeming to pick up a cup and take a sip of a drink, maybe alcohol. Then he set the cup down and spoke to Meng Qi in a deeply gratified tone. "You've changed a lot, Mengmengqi. The old you always lived in others' eyes, worrying about this and that, afraid to express yourself freely. You lived wearily, very... unfree. But now you're braver, more confident, more carefree. Brother Boyuan is genuinely happy for you."

Wang Boyuan's words were sincere, and Meng Qi was deeply moved. Not knowing how to express his feelings, he paused, holding the phone silently.

Then Ren Suiwu's voice came through again, puzzled. "Is the Meng Qi you know the same one I know? Hasn't he always been known as the 'Little Tyrant of the Meng Family'? How can he be someone who's afraid to express himself? Do you have some misunderstanding about him?"

Meng Qi's heart skipped a beat, his little heart instantly jumping to his throat.

Wang Boyuan gave a light "hmph" and said irritably to Ren Suiwu, "Whether I misunderstand or not, it's none of your business. You've got five minutes left, just eat your meal."

Meng Qi: ...

After that, he really didn't hear Ren Suiwu's voice again, probably focused on eating.

Meng Qi couldn't help but inwardly complain that his worries were in vain.

Soon, Wang Boyuan hung up actively, arranging the next call time with Meng Qi.

Meng Qi, who hadn't had his fill of conversation, couldn't help inwardly blaming Ren Suiwu for interrupting. If he hadn't barged in, he wouldn't have felt unsatisfied. After hanging up, he was still very excited and had to find other ways to release the dopamine rushing through him.

Ren Suiyi had rushed out again after breakfast. Qu Liang and Zhao Zheyuan had gone to the beach to play tennis. Now, only Meng Qi was left in the villa—oh, and over twenty Great Sages keeping him company, but they only knew that one marriage proposal line and nothing else. And he was still in an excited state, with no one to chat with, which made him feel lonely, lonelier than ever.

Was this the difficulty of going from luxury to frugality?

In the past, he occasionally felt lonely for various reasons, but it usually lasted no more than ten minutes before he could conquer that draining emotion and focus on the present. The reason for his good grades was largely due to this self-control: he was very good at managing his emotions, never letting himself drown in excessive sadness or excitement for more than ten minutes.

But now, clearly, that was no longer the case. He seemed to have lost that emotional control. Even though over an hour had passed since Ren Suiyi asked him if he was willing, he was still very excited, and the excitement showed no sign of waning.

Worst of all, whenever he got excited, the little one inside got excited too, kicking and pounding his stomach like a punching bag, making him miserable.

For the first time since becoming pregnant, he truly felt the trouble pregnancy brought him, and also truly felt the little one's existence—Ren Shian. He wasn't a figment; he was quietly growing under his belly, unnoticed, and had grown into a little person who could be in sync with him and interact without barriers.

Meng Qi gently stroked his belly, wanting to chat with Ren Shian, but at the same time, he heard someone shouting his name from outside the villa's iron fence gate, along with another person shouting "Brother" in his direction.

It was Jiang Baixi and Meng Kaize!

Why were they here?!

Startled, Meng Qi instantly lowered his hand, calmed his heart, and walked over to open the door. As soon as the iron fence gate opened, Meng Kaize tried to jump on him like before.

In the past, that would have been fine, but now it was a big problem. He might end up keeling over before Li Jinqiu even came for him. So he took two steps back to dodge Meng Kaize, making a blocking gesture with one hand while firmly protecting his abdomen, his face showing difficulty as he refused Meng Kaize's closeness.

His action hurt Meng Kaize badly. The boy's eyes instantly reddened, his mouth puckered, and within two seconds, he burst into tears. "They said you left home because of me. Is that true, brother? Do you not like me anymore either?"

Who spread such a rumor? Such an injustice. Meng Qi's heart ached at Meng Kaize's crying. He quickly stepped forward to hug him, patting his back and explaining, "That's all nonsense. I didn't leave because of you."

"Really? You're not just trying to comfort me?" Meng Kaize stopped crying because of Meng Qi's words, but still sobbed as he pressed for confirmation. He was genuinely heartbroken.

Meng Qi replied with absolute certainty, "Of course it's true. No need to fool you."

At that point, Jiang Baixi also patted Meng Kaize's back, smiling as he asked him, "Are you relieved now? Your brother really didn't leave because of you, and he hasn't stopped liking you."

Meng Qi couldn't tell if Ren Suiyi had informed Jiang Baixi about Li Jinqiu's ambitions, but he could see that Meng Kaize was completely unaware of all this. Although he hadn't expected Jiang Baixi to bring Meng Kaize to his doorstep, putting him in a passive position, he figured it was best to continue keeping Meng Kaize in the dark.

With that in mind, Meng Qi decided it would be easy to become more passive if they continued the conversation. So he took Meng Kaize's hand, cheerfully pointed out the yard full of Great Sage statues to him, and asked if he liked them.

Meng Kaize sniffled, disinterestedly saying, "I like Iron Man."

Well, each generation has its own preferences. Meng Qi understood, so he pointed to a large empty space nearby and said to Meng Kaize, "Tomorrow, I'll set up some Iron Man statues for you over there." Then he turned to Jiang Baixi. "Who do you like? Want me to set up some for you too?"

Compared to the beaming Meng Kaize, Jiang Baixi seemed indifferent. He shook his head, not very interested. "Why would I put what I like in your home? If you feel the yard is too empty, why not put up a statue of yourself?"

Hey...

Meng Qi was about to say he wasn't famous enough to put a statue of himself—that would be narcissistic—but Meng Kaize, after hearing Jiang Baixi's words, immediately asked unhappily, "Then this isn't my home either, so I can't put what I like?"

Jiang Baixi patted Meng Kaize's head like a child and said to him, "Your surname is Meng, and your brother's surname is also Meng. How is it not your home? Put whatever you like. Your brother won't throw it out."

Meng Qi: ...

Children have short attention spans and are easily distracted by new things. Before long, Meng Kaize was having a blast, seemingly forgetting the purpose of his visit. Of course, it's also possible that his purpose here was just to relax. Meng Qi stood aside, watching him play happily, feeling conflicted. He didn't know whether this kid would side with his uncle or his brother when he and Meng Kaize finally confronted each other.

Meng Qi couldn't bear to let Meng Kaize make such a choice. For now, the best way was to keep it from him forever.

But could it really be done?

"You're not old, but the wrinkles on your forehead are like an old man's. Isn't that ugly?" Jiang Baixi reached out his index finger and pressed it on Meng Qi's brow, using some force to try to smooth out the frown.

Jiang Baixi pushed Meng Qi off balance, making him step back and frown even deeper.

Jiang Baixi quickly reached out his other hand to grab Meng Qi's arm, steadying him in place, and complained, "I just touched you, and you're about to fall. Are you trying to pull a scam?"

Meng Qi: ...

Then he looked Meng Qi up and down, left and right, and said with disdain, "How did you get so fat? Are you the only one who took 'gaining weight for winter' seriously?"

Meng Qi: ...

Seeing that the huge villa was empty except for Meng Qi, he said helplessly, "Where's your husband? Is he really fine with leaving you all alone at home?"

Meng Qi: ...