Chapter 2 Love at First Sight

Chapter 2: Love at First Sight

The magic circle appeared in midair.

Meng Shu dropped out of the sky.

He landed right on a flowerpot, the ceramic pot smashing on impact.

Meng Shu grabbed his butt, sat up, totally confused, his back against the wall, looking around, clueless about where he was.

Looking around, it seemed like he was on some random person's balcony. He'd just fallen out of the sky and smashed the flowerpot with his ass.

He got up sheepishly, noticing the flower in the pot was a goner—petals everywhere, stems snapped.

Rubbing his butt, Meng Shu still hadn't wrapped his head around this crazy situation.

If he remembered right, he'd just met a homeless guy, gotten dragged into a public bathroom, and recited some weird-ass spell…

So what the hell was he doing here?

For a second, Meng Shu couldn't make heads or tails of it. He wandered around the tiny balcony in a daze.

The balcony was split by a glass door. On the other side, a tall, lean figure rushed over and yanked the door open.

The guy stepped in, looked at Meng Shu's face, then glanced down at his flowerpot, his face instantly darkening.

“Who the hell are you?”

Meng Shu stared at him, totally stunned.

He'd never seen anyone this good-looking.

High cheekbones, a straight nose bridge—the sharp ridge cast a deep, dramatic shadow across his face.

It was a gloomy, cold face with sharp features, sharp eyes that gave off a kind of aloof vibe.

Broad shoulders, narrow waist, long legs—he was built like a clothes hanger, making anything look good. He didn't wear any flashy accessories, just pure, natural cleanliness that fit right in with the plants on the balcony.

He wore a simple white T-shirt, showing off a hint of delicate collarbone.

The furrowed brows when he was mad, the slightly annoyed eyes, the tightly pressed lips…

In trendy terms, Meng Shu fell for him at first sight.

Way too handsome.

In almost thirty years of life, Meng Shu had never been so stunned by someone's looks that his legs turned to jelly.

He could clearly hear his own heartbeat and couldn't help but swallow. “I, uh, you…”

Before he could finish, the guy across from him frowned in annoyance. “I don't give a damn who you are—get the hell out of my house!”

Meng Shu thought, how can someone look this good even when they're pissed?

The next second, he saw a line of text pop up above the guy's head—

“Romanceable Character: Ling Qingjue”

“Current Affection: 0”

Meng Shu rubbed his eyes, but the text still didn't disappear.

He opened his mouth, not believing his eyes. “Ling Qingjue…?”

Hearing this, Ling Qingjue's frown deepened as he checked Meng Shu out. “You know me?”

So that was really his name!

Meng Shu was even more freaked out. He slapped his own face hard—it hurt, so it wasn't a dream.

Had he time-traveled?

And what was up with that text above Ling Qingjue's head?!

“Uh, my name's Meng Shu…”

Meng Shu was usually fearless, always acting like he didn't give a damn in front of anyone.

But this sudden rush of feelings caught him off guard. For the first time, he felt awkward, rubbing his hands together like a little kid. “I don't know why I'm here either…”

Ling Qingjue let out a cold laugh. “Don't know? The balcony's on the second floor, the glass door's locked. How else could you have gotten up here except by climbing?”

Meng Shu pointed at the sky, dead serious. “I could've also fallen from the sky.”

Ling Qingjue's face was blank.

Meng Shu felt wronged. He sensed Ling Qingjue thought he was crazy. He'd finally met someone he liked, and it had to start off this awkwardly?

Falling from the sky—how weird did that sound!

Sure enough, the next second, Ling Qingjue's pale, thin lips spat out, “Falling from the sky—why didn't it kill you?”

Meng Shu: “…”

“Move.” Ling Qingjue shot him a cold glare. That glare made Meng Shu's bones tingle; instead of being scared, he felt a bit elated.

Ah, was this what it felt like to have a crush?

Meng Shu obediently stepped aside.

Ling Qingjue brushed past him, crouched down to check the flowerpot, then stood up, his gaze like a solid object, piercing into Meng Shu's body.

“Pay for my flower,” Ling Qingjue said. “Or I'll call the police.”

Meng Shu quickly nodded. “I'll pay, I'll pay! How much? I'll pay you right away!”

He didn't want to make this pretty little thing angry.

He was about to die anyway; he'd give this beauty whatever he wanted.

Ling Qingjue stared at him without moving, his gaze sweeping over Meng Shu's slightly pale cheeks. The warm sunlight made his skin look extremely fair, like finely carved jade.

He did look decent, at least.

“One hundred thousand.”

“…How much?” Meng Shu's smile froze. “How much did you say?”

“One hundred thousand.” Ling Qingjue repeated firmly.

Meng Shu could afford the hundred thousand—his bank balance happened to be exactly that amount.

He just couldn’t figure out how a single potted plant could be worth a hundred thousand.

His face must have given it away, because Ling Qingjue said coldly, “This is a Resurrection Magnolia I imported from another region. I’ve been growing it for over a year, and it just bloomed.”

Meng Shu had never even heard of that flower, but the moment he heard “over a year,” guilt immediately set in. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to.”

“I don’t want your apology. Just pay for it.” Ling Qingjue was as cold and resolute as his name suggested.

Meng Shu was gutted.

He couldn’t bring himself to say no, so he muttered under his breath, “Is it really that expensive?”

Ling Qingjue said, “I’ll give you a discount. Pay me ninety-nine thousand nine hundred ninety-nine yuan and ninety cents.”

Meng Shu was stunned by this gorgeous man’s cheapness. “Only ninety cents off?”

Ling Qingjue sneered, “Because I want to kick you.”

He took a deep breath, holding back the urge to kick Meng Shu out the door. “Pay up. Now.”

On their first meeting, Meng Shu didn’t want to sour things with this gorgeous guy, but a hundred thousand for a potted plant was just too absurd. He still wanted to save a little nest egg for himself!

He planned to look up the plant’s price online, and pay Ling Qingjue ten times the original cost.

He patted his pocket but couldn’t find his phone.

All of a sudden, Meng Shu froze.

His body felt a lot lighter.

Ever since he got sick, his body had been getting stiffer and stiffer. Now even walking was hard, and he could easily trip and fall.

What was going on?

“Hey.” Ling Qingjue snapped him out of it, arms crossed, looking pissed. “No money? Then write an IOU.”

Meng Shu snapped back to reality, too flustered to dwell on these strange changes, and forced a stiff smile. “Can you knock it down a bit more?”

Ling Qingjue raised an eyebrow, giving him a long, hard look.

Then he decisively pulled out his phone and started dialing the police. “Let’s go to the station.”

“No, no, no—” Meng Shu tried to stop him, but the moment his dirt-stained palm touched the other’s arm, he was shaken off.

“Don’t touch me!” Ling Qingjue hissed like an angry cat, full of wariness toward this stranger, instantly baring his claws.

His pupils suddenly dilated, his eyes like emerald gems, gleaming in the morning light.

But no matter how angry the kitten got, its owner would only think it was being cute.

Meng Shu looked at him with adoration, “Don’t be mad. I’ll pay you, okay? I just can’t find my phone. Once I do, I’ll transfer the money right away.”

Ling Qingjue, taller than him, looked down into his eyes, his gaze dropping coldly, showing no mercy: “Go explain it to the cops.”