Chapter 5: Am I That Unpresentable?  

“Now, come with me to the civil affairs bureau to get our marriage certificate.”  

…  

The next morning, when Tao Wanxing woke up and saw the daylight outside, she was startled. She quickly jumped out of bed, dressed, and rushed out of the bedroom.  

Meng Chu was wearing gray loungewear, holding a cup of soy milk as he stepped out of the kitchen. His hair wasn’t styled, lying messily on his head, yet his sharp features seemed inexplicably softened, as if the aggressive man from yesterday wasn’t him at all.  

“I took the day off for you. You can go back tomorrow.”  

Tao Wanxing’s heart skipped a beat. “You personally asked for leave for me?”  

Meng Chu thought of her question last night—*Are you regretting it?*—and gave a faint “Mm.”  

“Come eat breakfast.”  

Tao Wanxing’s mind blanked for a second. After hesitating a few moments, she asked, “Who did you ask for leave from?”  

Meng Chu sat down leisurely before finally lifting his gaze to meet hers. His sharp eyes seemed to pierce through her thoughts.  

“Am I that unpresentable, Tao Wanxing?”  

“Or is it actually *you* who regrets it?”  

“Too late.”  

Tao Wanxing shivered under his gaze, feeling unbearably uncomfortable yet with nowhere to hide.  

“I… I don’t.”  

Meng Chu: “Good.”  

“Drop those thoughts of yours sooner rather than later.”  

Tao Wanxing pulled out a chair and sat down.  

The warm porridge in front of her smelled delicious, but she had no appetite.  

“Then how are you going to explain this to your elder brother, my sister, your uncle, and your grandfather?”  

Meng Chu didn’t answer.  

With a stretch of his long arm, he could easily touch her forehead.  

He had served in the military and grew up in a military compound, often thrown into training camps. His palms and fingertips bore thin calluses—rough yet warm.  

She didn’t dare move.  

The man frowned slightly. “Still a little feverish. Eat first, then take your medicine afterward.”  

Tao Wanxing: ?  

The man’s slender, jade-like fingers adjusted the gold-rimmed glasses on his nose. “You soaked in cold water last night and developed a fever in the early hours. I gave you medicine.”  

Tao Wanxing: “????”  

She had a strong suspicion she’d passed out, because she had no memory of it.  

No wonder she’d felt a little dizzy when she woke up earlier. But she rarely got sick, so she hadn’t thought much of it.  

Just as she was thinking this, she sneezed.  

Meng Chu added, “If I catch you doing this again, don’t even think about bathing alone.”  

Even without looking at him, Tao Wanxing could imagine his expression—brows tightly knit, staring at her with displeasure.  

She lowered her head, scooped a spoonful of porridge into her mouth, and nearly buried her face in the bowl.  

*Not letting me bathe alone? What, does he want to join me?*  

The sudden mental image of that blood-pumping scenario made her already flushed face burn even hotter.  

She only managed a small bowl before setting down her chopsticks. Meng Chu said, “Leave it. I’ll wash it later.”  

Tao Wanxing bit her lip. “I’ll do it.”  

Otherwise, she wouldn’t feel at ease.  

Since when did the esteemed Governor of Cloud Province, the most favored second son of the Meng family in Jingzhou, become so effortlessly skilled at washing dishes and cooking?  

“You have a fever.”  

Meng Chu’s tone was firm.  

Tao Wanxing didn’t argue further. After all, her words had never carried much weight.  

Meng Chu watched her retreating figure as she headed back to the bedroom, his gaze dark and brooding, like the calm before a storm.  

“I’ll handle the family matters.”

Tao Wanxing paused in her steps—was this a response to what she had said earlier?

She gave a soft “Mm” in reply.

Entering the bedroom, she buried herself under the covers.

The chimes of WeChat notifications sounded.

She glanced at her phone—it was a message from her sister.

A heaviness settled in her chest as she opened it.

Her sister had first questioned why she had hung up the phone. When she received no reply, she had sent several voice messages this morning.

Tao Wanxing tapped on the last one.

“Xingxing, have you seen your second brother in Cloud Province?”

“Since you don’t want to return to Jingzhou, staying in Cloud Province isn’t bad. Should I ask your second brother to help you transfer to a different position?”

She didn’t just know about him.

She had even ended up in bed with him.

And gotten a marriage certificate, making them legally married!

If her sister found out, she didn’t know whether she’d praise her for being bold or scold her for being shameless.

Back when Tao Wanxing had still liked him, she had thought none of that mattered.

But the moment she heard him promise Zhu Yan that he would marry her, she had a sudden awakening.

Yes, their statuses were never meant to intertwine.

He and Zhu Yan were a perfect match.

So she had urgently changed her college application preferences and quickly found an excuse to move out of the Meng family home.

She hadn’t even seen him one last time.

Instead, she had hidden away at Cloud Province University.

In all these years, she had never returned to the Meng household.

She figured the Meng family wouldn’t bother mentioning a poor relative like her who had come from the countryside seeking shelter.

So she had warned her sister never to bring her up in front of the Mengs either.

Her sister, assuming she had been mistreated by the Mengs, never again suggested she return to their home.

She only visited Tao Wanxing during holidays.

After some thought, Tao Wanxing sent a voice reply.

“Jie, I told you—don’t mention me in front of the Mengs.”

The response came instantly.

“Alright, alright, I know. I didn’t bring you up, I’m just worried about you.”

The click of the front door unlocking made the tension in her chest ease.

Thankfully, he wasn’t home today.

Drowsy and lightheaded, she drifted back to sleep.

She dreamed of Meng Chu at twenty-four.

Dressed in training gear, his buzz cut accentuating his sharp, handsome features.

She had heard he was back on leave and rushed over joyfully to see him, only to find him with Zhu Yan. She hid behind the door.

Zhu Yan clung to his arm, coquettish and persistent. Meng Chu, towering at 1.9 meters, slouched slightly to accommodate her, his eyes filled with tenderness.

“Will you marry me once you retire from service?”

Meng Chu answered without hesitation, “Yes.”

“Why bring this up so suddenly?”

Zhu Yan: “It’s all because of that little girl in your family. People outside are practically calling her your child bride now.”

Meng Chu’s brows furrowed. “She’s just a kid. And she’s my sister-in-law’s younger sister. Since my sister-in-law has always been good to me, I’ve looked after her when it suited me.”

His tone made it sound like she was nothing more than a stray cat or dog he’d idly petted on the roadside.

Zhu Yan seemed surprised by his response, her eyes suddenly alight with amusement as she looped her arms around Meng Chu’s neck and leaned in.

Tao Wanxing fled in a panic.

So this was how he truly saw her.

Something inside her shattered.

No one would ever know.

The turmoil she had endured alone in that moment.

Sensing something on her face, she instinctively swatted at it, her fluttering eyelids snapping open.

Her gaze locked with Meng Chu’s.

His expression was cold, his eyes icy.

“Tao Wanxing, is this how you take care of yourself when living alone?”

“I thought you were more capable than this.”

Tao Wanxing: “…”

She lowered her eyes, her lips twitching slightly. “Thanks to Governor Meng’s blessings, I’m still relatively healthy.”

Meng Chu’s expression darkened instantly, but seeing Tao Wanxing’s pale face, he ultimately said nothing more.

As he removed the towel from her forehead, Tao Wanxing finally realized she was in a hospital.

“How did I get here?”

Meng Chu sneered, “You passed out and crawled here in your dreams.”

Tao Wanxing: “…”

Alright, she got it—he was the one who brought her here.

She really was something. In just the time it took him to attend a meeting at work, she had managed to burn up with fever, her face flushed red, unresponsive to calls.

He had rushed her to the hospital immediately.

“If it weren’t for me, would you have burned up at home with no one noticing?”

“I’m sorry…”

“Enough.”

Meng Chu cut her off.

“Just rest.”

“I’m fine.” Tao Wanxing clutched the blue-and-white striped hospital sheet beneath her, speaking with difficulty. “You… you should go.”

In the short time since she had woken up, two colleagues had already come by, lingering nearby.

She was afraid.