Chapter 45.2

There’s a saying that’s very popular: whether man or woman, first a person, then a man or woman.

She is a person, and also a woman. She has a delicate side as a woman and cannot escape the emotional aspect of being human.

One must more openly accept that they can love and be loved. This is not weakness or incompetence but simply human nature when dealing with emotions.

After Xu Yuan thought everything through, her mood brightened considerably. Frankly speaking, it wasn’t difficult for her to appease Meng Zhengrong; the challenge lay in whether she should respond to his feelings.

Once she figured this out, everything became simple.

Xu Yuan took a car to work, just like before. After walking through the finance department, she arrived at the public welfare project department. Seeing the lunch box on her desk, she closed the office door, opened the lunch box, and immediately recognized it was a bird’s nest.

She really didn’t want to know what Fang Mingyang thought of her, nor did she want to prove anything.

At this point, she had to admit that Fang Mingyang, who looked just like her cousin, was nowhere near as important as Meng Zhengrong.

Xu Yuan closed the lunch box again, picked it up, walked to Fang Mingyang’s desk, handed it to him, and calmly said, “From tomorrow on, you don’t need to bring me the white fungus soup anymore.”

After saying that, she turned and walked out of the public welfare project department.

Everyone was busy working, and no one noticed this small detail. Fang Mingyang held the lunch box and realized she hadn’t eaten any. What did that mean?

No need to bring it anymore?

Had he done something wrong by making her bird’s nest?

But he had no other intentions; he simply wanted to thank her for her care!

Fang Mingyang felt a burning urgency in his heart.

==

Xu Yuan arrived at the floor where Meng Zhengrong’s office was located. The secretaries had a good relationship with her, and when they saw her, one of them stood up to greet her.

Although she was thinking about Meng Zhengrong, Xu Yuan didn’t forget to say hello to the secretaries, complimenting them on their beautiful makeup that day.

“President Xu, why hasn’t President Meng come in today?” one of the secretaries asked curiously in a low voice.

Xu Yuan’s position was at most that of a manager, but since it felt awkward to call her “manager” or “madam,” they jokingly referred to her as “President Xu.”

So Meng Zhengrong didn’t come to work today?

What on earth was he doing?

Xu Yuan maintained her composure and smiled as she said, “Um, he had something to deal with. I’m just here to grab a few things for him.”

No matter whether they had a fight or not, they couldn’t let outsiders know.

Xu Yuan made her way to Meng Zhengrong’s office without any hindrance, casually picked up a few things, and left.

Back in her office, Xu Yuan couldn’t focus on her work. She couldn’t help but wonder what Meng Zhengrong was up to.

Staying out all night was one thing, but now he hadn’t even come to work. Where could he have gone?

Xu Yuan really wanted to call Meng Zhengrong again, but then she thought about it: now that missed calls had prompts, he would see them and naturally reply to her. If he saw them and didn’t reply, what was the point of calling him again?

One thing was one thing; it was true that she was in the wrong regarding Fang Mingyang, and she should admit her mistakes without excuses or shifting the blame.

But what Meng Zhengrong did—staying out all night without informing her, without a single message—was that really right?

Xu Yuan felt like she had a split personality: one part said it was her fault, so his anger and staying out all night could be understood; the other part argued that no matter what happened, he should at least send a message to let her know he was safe.

Meng Zhengrong didn’t wake up until ten o’clock. He casually picked up his phone from the nightstand and looked at it.

There were three missed calls.

One was from his assistant, another from the office, and the last one was…

Meng Zhengrong rubbed his eyes in disbelief—one of the missed calls was indeed from “Wife”!

He carefully clicked on the call and confirmed it was Xu Yuan’s number. He felt relieved, and as soon as his heart settled, it leaped with joy.

She actually called him!

This meant she was concerned about him!

Meng Zhengrong looked at the time she called—around three or four in the morning—and his heart softened instantly.

Feelings are the most inexplicable things; it’s hard to understand why one likes another, and it’s equally baffling how small things can make one like someone even more.

That was exactly how Meng Zhengrong felt right now.

He found himself liking Xu Yuan even more.

He felt like hugging his phone and kissing it a few times. And when he saw her WeChat message, it felt like hitting the jackpot.

This feeling was something anyone who has liked someone would understand: waiting foolishly for their message, only to fall asleep in disappointment, and then waking up to find that person had sent a message—it could bring enough happiness to last the whole day!

Meng Zhengrong wanted to call Xu Yuan right away, but at the moment he dialed, he hurriedly hung up.

No, he couldn’t call her now.

Meng Zhengrong thought carefully about what their conversation would be like if the call connected.

For example—

“It’s me.”

“…Mm.”

“Well, I slept at the apartment last night.”

“…Mm.”

“I just saw the missed calls; I was sleeping at that time.”

“…Oh.”

The more he thought about it, the more he felt something was off. Whether there would be a big shift in their relationship depended on today. Xu Yuan called him and sent him a message, especially at that hour, which indicated that the incident from yesterday had a significant impact on her. Otherwise, how could someone who usually remained calm in any situation stay up so late?

This significant shift shouldn’t be calmed by such a mundane conversation; otherwise, he would have been angry for nothing. If he wanted their feelings to develop further, it might be a bit difficult.

Meng Zhengrong had great faith in Xu Yuan. He believed that after this incident, she would have no further involvement with Fang Mingyang, and what other opportunities would arise for their feelings to make a breakthrough?

There probably wouldn’t be any in the short term.

He couldn’t just be angry for no reason; all the negative emotions from last night weren’t for nothing, so he needed to gain something.

Meng Zhengrong didn’t waste any time. He quickly changed clothes, brushed his teeth, shaved, washed his face, and tidied himself up before heading downstairs.

During this time, he called his assistant. Since Xu Yuan had stayed up so late last night, she probably hadn’t gone to work today. If she hadn’t gone, he wouldn’t have gone to the office either, so he informed his assistant.

As he walked out of the elevator, he said to the assistant, “I won’t be going in today; I have some things at home. If anything comes up at the company, you can call me.”

The assistant acknowledged and then said, “Mrs. Meng came in today and told us you had something to deal with.”

This kind of thing still needed to be reported to the boss.

Meng Zhengrong paused in surprise, but his tone was calm. “She told you? That’s good.”

After hanging up, Meng Zhengrong couldn’t sit still any longer. Xu Yuan hadn’t slept much at all and had come to the company, so she must have wanted to see him. As it turned out, she had gone to his office to find him.

It seemed she cared about him more than he had imagined.

Hehe.