Chapter 39.2

It wasn’t that she was particularly interested in Meng Zhengrong’s past. After all, as he said, as long as the past didn’t disturb the present and future, it was just the past, nothing to talk about.

Rather than discussing Meng Zhengrong’s past, Xu Yuan and Yuyu were just chatting over dinner, and this topic happened to come up.

“Well, I remember the Wang family girl. But it’s nothing much, she’s married now. I heard it was a forced marriage. In a fit of anger, she married her backup at the time. This caused quite a stir in the industry.”

“Forced marriage?”

“Actually, it’s understandable. At that time, Mr. Meng was probably around your age and probably hadn’t thought about getting married. He probably wanted to enjoy life for a few more years, so how could he agree to marriage? That woman is doing quite well now, her child is already in kindergarten.”

“Okay.” Xu Yuan smiled noncommittally.

Yu Yu knew Xu Yuan wouldn’t mind. “One thing I really admire about Mr. Meng is that even though he’s had quite a few relationships, he has cut ties cleanly with each one.”

Perhaps sensing that her earlier comments were inappropriate, Yu Yu did her best to defend Meng Zhengrong, saying, “Besides, I haven’t heard anything about him messing around, he’s just been dating seriously. If things don’t work out, he breaks up. For someone in this industry, that’s pretty good. It’s better than Chen Hao, who has no money, no ability, and is two-timing.”

Chen Hao’s worst trait wasn’t cheating, it was getting involved with his girlfriend’s best friend, which was just double the disgust.

Xu Yuan thought Yuyu made a good point and nodded in agreement.

No one had the right to demand that Meng Zhengrong remain chaste before meeting her; who would have thought they would end up together?

Wait, that’s not right. Why would she think of using the term “remain chaste”?

Why was she having such thoughts?

Xu Yuan looked at Yuyu, who was happily eating, and felt a bit lost for a moment.

After finishing their meal, it was already past five. Yuyu, feeling no fatigue due to adjusting to the time difference, insisted on dragging Xu Yuan out for shopping.

The shopping mall was a bit far from where they were, so they decided to take a car.

Since Yuyu knew Xu Yuan had driven here, she didn’t drive herself.

The driver was diligently on duty. As soon as Yuyu opened the car door, she saw a box on the back seat and curiously asked, “What’s this?”

Seeing it made Xu Yuan feel a headache. “Cherries and bird’s nest.”

“Is it for me?” Yuyu looked at Xu Yuan with anticipation.

It was normal for Yuyu to think that way, especially since they hadn’t seen each other in a long time, and she had brought this in her car…

Xu Yuan thought it would be most appropriate to give the cherries and bird’s nest to Yuyu. She couldn’t possibly take these things home. If Meng Zhengrong asked about it, she would have to make up a lie. In this matter, she felt it was not good to deceive Meng Zhengrong, but throwing away the cherries and bird’s nest felt wasteful.

Thinking this, Xu Yuan nodded. “Yeah, it’s for you.”

Yuyu was momentarily touched and hugged Xu Yuan. “You really care about me, knowing I love cherries and specially bought them for me, and knowing I’ve been working hard lately, you even bought a bird’s nest to nourish me. If you were a guy, I would definitely marry you.”

Xu Yuan felt a bit guilty upon hearing this.

Indeed, these things were given to her by someone else. She was just passing them on to Yuyu because she didn’t want to get rid of them, yet Yuyu thought she bought them specially for her…

Xu Yuan ultimately decided that since she had some health supplements at home, she would pick out some to give to Yuyu. That would be her true intention.

Shopping with two women could be a terrifying affair. They could shop all day and not feel tired.

Yuyu hadn’t been shopping in a long time and wished she could drag Xu Yuan out to shop until the next morning and keep going.

Around nine o’clock at night, Meng Zhengrong, seeing that Xu Yuan hadn’t returned, lay on the bed alone and felt bored. Finally, he gritted his teeth and dialed Xu Yuan’s phone number.

Xu Yuan was in the store trying on clothes with Yuyu. “Is something wrong?”

Meng Zhengrong wanted to say, “Look at what time it is, and you still haven’t come back,” but the words just wouldn’t come out. Instead, he asked, “What are you up to?”

“Shopping.”

“Oh, when will you be home?”

Xu Yuan glanced at the time and felt it was still early. “A bit later, I’ll hang up if there’s nothing else.”

Meng Zhengrong replied with a slight disappointment, “Oh,” and listened to the busy signal on the other end of the line, feeling very dejected.

He started to hope that Song Yu would win Yuyu back so that she wouldn’t always be competing with him for Xu Yuan’s attention whenever she had free time.

“What’s wrong? Is Mr. Meng urging you to come back?” Yuyu leaned over to ask with a smile.

“No.”

“Anyway, today is your time to spend with me.”

Just then, Xu Yuan’s phone beeped with a new message—it was from Meng Zhengrong: “Do you want me to come pick you up?”

Xu Yuan had been responding faster and faster lately, adapting more to her current life. “No need, I have a driver.”

Meng Zhengrong replied, “It’s already past nine, almost ten. The driver should be off work by now.”

Actually, Meng Zhengrong just wanted to remind Xu Yuan that it was getting late, and he was still waiting at home for her to return.

Xu Yuan replied, “Aren’t the drivers at home on standby 24 hours a day?”

Meng Zhengrong felt frustrated.

This was partially his own fault. One time, he and Xu Yuan were out having fun, and as it got late, he wanted to stay longer because the atmosphere was so nice. Xu Yuan had asked a similar question back then, and Meng Zhengrong had replied that the drivers at home were on 24-hour standby and were paid several times more than regular drivers, so their service would naturally be more attentive.

Yuyu wasn’t someone who didn’t know the score. She understood that Meng Zhengrong was urging Xu Yuan to come home, so after a while of shopping, she announced she wanted to go back. Xu Yuan walked her downstairs and waited until Yuyu sent a message saying she had safely entered her house and locked the door before leaving.

Little did she know that while sitting in the car on her way home, her phone rang—it was Song Yu calling.

Xu Yuan felt reluctant to answer his call. Although she didn’t know what he wanted, it felt strange and gave her a bad vibe.

Still, since Song Yu was Meng Zhengrong’s friend and her colleague at work, she hesitated for a moment before answering.

Sitting on the couch, Song Yu cautiously asked, “Xiao Yuan, you didn’t forget about the cherries and bird’s nest, right?”

Xu Yuan thought to just tell him the truth; it was better than leaving it ambiguous and creating tension. “No, I don’t like cherries. Meng Zhengrong also bought me a lot of bird’s nest, so I gave them to my good friend.”

Song Yu felt that Xu Yuan’s words were somewhat odd.

She clearly knew about his relationship with Yuyu, so why did her words imply some misunderstanding?

The cherries and bird’s nest were meant for Yuyu…

He had thought it would be fine if Xu Yuan liked them and ate some.

But now it sounded like the cherries and bird’s nest were meant for her??

Song Yu calmed himself down, patted his cheeks, and thought that he had just been under too much pressure lately to have such thoughts.

“Okay.” Regardless, it was still going to Yuyu, so he felt better. “Xiao Yuan, I’ll treat you to a meal another day.”

Song Yu thought Meng Zhengrong was being ridiculous; Xu Yuan was clearly helping him!

Xu Yuan’s expression was complicated. She hadn’t minded when Song Yu called her “Xiao Yuan” before, but hearing him say it today made her feel uncomfortable, so she directly said, “Um, you can just call me by my full name from now on.”

“Why?”

“Just call me by my full name, it’s better that way.”

Although Song Yu found this strange, since she had brought it up, and after all, she was Yuyu’s best friend, it wouldn’t be a problem to call her by her full name. “Alright then.”

“If there’s nothing else, I’ll hang up now.” After thinking for a moment, she added, “It’s getting late, Meng Zhengrong and I should sleep.”

“Okay.” Song Yu felt a bit defeated as he realized his feelings for Xu Yuan were being dismissed.

**