Chapter 16

Meng Zhengrong couldn’t be bothered to say anything more to Xu Yuan at this point. He didn’t reply to her messages, and seeing her smiley face emoji made him annoyed.

As for Xu Yuan, she hadn’t received any messages from Meng Zhengrong since then, and she felt relieved. She began chatting with her colleagues about gossip.

“One time during my interview, I happened to meet President Meng, and I thought he looked very serious back then,” Li Yan, a newcomer in the finance department said. She had a lively and outgoing personality and could chat with Xu Yuan easily. “Xu Yuan, is President Meng just as serious in private?”

At first, everyone was unsure about how to address Xu Yuan. Some straightforward colleagues even called her “Madam Meng,” and Xu Yuan corrected them multiple times before they finally agreed to use her first name. Now, they could call her by her name comfortably.

Li Yan’s question drew everyone’s attention to Xu Yuan, even sister Zhou couldn’t hide her curiosity.

Xu Yuan thought for a moment and replied, “He’s not exactly serious, but he’s not too lively either.”

Meng Zhengrong was like an ordinary person and Xu Yuan believed that. They appeared to be as ordinary as anyone else.

Everyone felt comfortable discussing Meng Zhengrong since Xu Yuan didn’t seem to mind. They opened up the conversation further, “So, was it President Meng who pursued you? I bet he’s a romantic type when it comes to dating, right?”

Meng Zhengrong was the true CEO, and as for whether he was dominant or romantic only Xu Yuan knew. Dating a handsome and wealthy CEO would make any girl’s heart race.

This question puzzled Xu Yuan because she had no idea about the dynamics between the original host and Meng Zhengrong. However, what she knew was that they were not familiar with each other before marriage.

After some contemplation, Xu Yuan answered, “Actually, we had an arranged marriage, as you all know. So, it’s not a matter of who pursued whom.”

The colleagues in the finance department didn’t expect such a straightforward answer. Although they knew about their arranged marriage, they expected some romantic stories to be spun for the outside world. 

Li Yan, always good at lightening the mood, rested her chin on her hand and said, “I’ve always dreamed of being in an arranged marriage with someone from a wealthy family.”

Ordinary people don’t typically use the term “arranged marriage” for their weddings, but as far as Li Yan understood it, arranged marriages were usually for merging two prominent families.

Xu Yuan chuckled. Her other colleagues joined in. “I always thought someone as beautiful as you, even in an arranged marriage, might have secretly captured President Meng’s heart, and then…” A bespectacled female colleague started but trailed off. The rest of her imagination was left unsaid, but in her fantasy, Meng Zhengrong had secretly loved Xu Yuan for years, used various methods to get close to her, and was planning to spend a lifetime with her due to their arranged marriage.

This imaginary scenario was incredibly unrealistic but incredibly appealing to others. The more improbable it seemed, the more people yearned for it. Several female colleagues were moved by this romantic fantasy.

Xu Yuan didn’t bother explaining, as she didn’t believe Meng Zhengrong had any romantic feelings for her. 

Although she hadn’t experienced any romantic feelings in her past life, she had observed the emperor’s supposed true love. She had spent years studying the emperor’s gaze, and while she wasn’t trying to establish a good relationship with the concubines, she at least wanted to understand who the emperor’s favorite was.

Meng Zhengrong’s gaze toward her had nothing to do with affection.

But she didn’t expect him to have any feelings for her. To Meng Zhengrong, she was his nominal wife, so he would treat her with more patience and respect than other women. But talking about love and affection was still too early.

For her, he was her nominal husband. She had accepted the original host’s fate, and she liked the peaceful life they were living now. Whether she loved him or not was another matter entirely.

In any case, they were more like maintainers of this marriage, protectors of a relationship where both knew their roles. They were the maintainers of this union, a more stable relationship than a simple partnership.

Xu Yuan understood this better than anyone else.

On this Friday, as soon as work was over, Meng Zhengrong came to the finance department. While he had been coming to pick up Xu Yuan almost every day lately, his presence still made her colleagues nervous for a while.

Previously, the CEO rarely visited the finance department throughout the year. Now that they saw him every day, they couldn’t help but feel a mix of envy and unease. However, only they knew how it felt to see the big boss so frequently.

“Aren’t you finished yet?” Meng Zhengrong came to the door of Xu Yuan’s office. Even though the door was open, he politely stood at the entrance and knocked.

Xu Yuan looked up from her pile of documents. She checked the time and saw that it was already past five. She neatly organized her desk and replied, “Just give me a moment. I’ll be ready soon.”

She didn’t consider herself dumb. With the original host’s body and some familiarity with the financial documents, she found it relatively easy to go through the materials. Besides, even though she was not officially in charge of finance, the people in the palace who managed this area had always been eager to please her. So, she was no stranger to financial matters.

After Xu Yuan finished tidying up, she followed Meng Zhengrong as they prepared to leave. Before they left, Meng Zhengrong bid farewell to Xu Yuan’s colleagues, “You all should go home early and have a good weekend. Your health is more important than work.”

Sometimes it was like this. Even though everyone knew the boss was just saying it, hearing these words made them feel better both physically and mentally.

Once they left, Xu Yuan’s colleagues started discussing among themselves.

“You know, I’m starting to think that Xu Yuan might actually have better conditions than President Meng…”

“Right, right! I feel the same! She’s down-to-earth, hardworking, beautiful, and the Xu family is not inferior to the Meng family. It almost seems like President Meng climbed up.”

“Climbed up? Well, maybe not, but these two seem really compatible. Looks, height, family background—they match well. Hey, hey, hey!”

Unfortunately, what they didn’t know was that the perfectly matched couple sat separately in the car just like before, each occupying their own side, and there was hardly any conversation during the ride.

Xu Yuan was busy reviewing the materials she had seen today, while Meng Zhengrong was contemplating what to do tomorrow. Saturday was approaching, his work had temporarily come to a halt, and he had some free time. He wondered if he should take Xu Yuan out, but he had kept a low profile for so many years that he wasn’t sure where to go anymore.

That night, Xu Yuan lay in bed with the desk lamp still on. Her eyes were closed, and her mind was filled with pinyin and financial data. This way, she wouldn’t think about the person lying next to her.

As for Meng Zhengrong, he was thinking about matters of intimacy between a man and a woman while lying.

Meng Zhengrong wondered how he had thought back when they got married. On their wedding night, seeing Xu Yuan sitting silently on the bed, he could sense that she was still quite apprehensive. However, getting intimate with someone who had no emotional attachment, what was that all about?

In matters of intimacy, men and women had completely different attitudes. Men could separate love from physical intimacy, but it was much more challenging for women.

In Xu Yuan’s case, as long as she wasn’t willing, Meng Zhengrong had no interest in pursuing it further. It just wasn’t enjoyable for him.

Even now, Meng Zhengrong still holds this perspective. He wasn’t impatient and preferred to wait until she was willing. He had his pride, and if their physical intimacy was only due to their marital relationship, he would rather abstain.

It would harm his self-esteem.

However, if only men could control their thoughts in this matter, it would be much easier. Not initiating intimacy was one thing, but whether one wanted to or not was a different matter.

Although they had entered into a political marriage, Meng Zhengrong didn’t just marry anyone. He chose someone who met his aesthetic standards. After all, if he didn’t even like looking at her, how could they have a successful marriage?

In terms of appearance and physique, Xu Yuan met the definition of a goddess in many men’s eyes.

As he thought about it, Meng Zhengrong’s body inexplicably heated up. Although he was covered by a blanket, he had a physiological response that he couldn’t easily suppress. Furthermore, Xu Yuan still had her eyes closed, but his body’s reaction was making Meng Zhengrong feel increasingly restless.

Unable to endure it, Meng Zhengrong threw off the blanket and rushed to the bathroom. He turned on the cold water and took a cold shower, not even considering taking a warm one.

It had to be said, taking a cold shower was truly effective. The heat in Meng Zhengrong’s body quickly subsided.

Hearing the sound of water from the bathroom, Xu Yuan opened her eyes and thought, “He’s almost asleep, and now he’s taking a shower again. He must really be sick…”