Chapter 18

At this moment, the elevator doors opened, and they reached the first floor. However, Chen Hao seemed frozen in place, as if his feet were nailed to the floor, and he didn’t step out of the elevator. Internally, Meng Zhengrong was quite satisfied with the situation, but he maintained his composure and asked, 

“Sir, aren’t you getting out?”

Xu Yuan also glanced at Chen Hao briefly before quickly looking away. 

Chen Hao suddenly snapped out of it, stumbled out of the elevator, and stared at the slowly closing doors. Xu Yuan never looked at him again.

Meng Zhengrong was quite pleased. If it weren’t for the change in his style over the years, he might have even started humming. He liked people with an attitude. Xu Yuan completely ignored Chen Hao in front of him, not even sparing him a glance. This was precisely to his liking.

The two of them arrived at the parking lot, and Meng Zhengrong’s steps were light and cheerful. Even Xu Yuan, who had been lost in her thoughts earlier, noticed that his mood suddenly soared.

Meng Zhengrong placed the bags in the car’s backseat, locked the door, and a genuine smile appeared on his face that he hadn’t had time to hide.

Xu Yuan had initially wanted to ask him what was going on, but when she saw his expression, she decided to hold back her curiosity. There was no need to ask when he was in such a good mood. 

Meng Zhengrong now found Xu Yuan extremely pleasant to look at. His tone had softened considerably, and as they stood by the elevator, he asked gently, “Should we go buy shoes or handbags first?”

Shoes and handbags were located on different floors.

Xu Yuan replied, “Let’s buy shoes first.”

“Alright,” Meng Zhengrong nodded agreeably.

As they reached the third floor, they started shopping. Shopping could be quite exhausting, and finding what you wanted wasn’t always easy. They chatted while browsing, and Meng Zhengrong, surprisingly, didn’t show the slightest impatience. This was a novel experience for him.

“Do you feel comfortable working at the company these days?” Meng Zhengrong asked.

He had been keeping an eye on Xu Yuan’s every move during this time. He originally thought that she would resist working, but to his surprise, she was diligently and seriously working every day. Considering her position in the finance department and the fact that she wasn’t in a high-ranking role, it was actually quite awkward. However, she had managed to maintain good relationships with her colleagues. Most importantly, she was exactly as he had hoped—she got along well with Sister Zhou. Her relationship with the finance manager was average at best. Although the manager tried to establish a better rapport with her, she didn’t respond much.

Sometimes Meng Zhengrong wondered if he had underestimated Xu Yuan from the beginning. Could the current situation be a mere coincidence? It seemed more like a deliberate effort. Xu Yuan had managed to handle her relationships with each colleague in the finance department in such a short time, and her calculations were spot on.

The current Xu Yuan was entirely different from the image he had of her. However, he couldn’t deny that he liked her better this way, even though she had lost some of her previous innocence and liveliness.

Innocence wasn’t a bad thing at all. In fact, it was a valuable quality in a woman. However, whether it was for Meng Corporation, the Meng family, or himself, they all needed a woman who could manage the situation.

Xu Yuan found Meng Zhengrong quite talkative. He had asked her this question several times during this period, and it was getting repetitive. However, she couldn’t ignore him, especially with his handsome face, so she replied obediently, “It’s still good, quite nice.”

Meng Zhengrong counted on his fingers. She had replied with “It’s still good” in three words every time he had asked before, but today her answer had six additional words…

Seeing that she had been exceptionally well-behaved today, he decided to go against one of his principles as a boss and probe a bit deeper.

“Sister Zhou told me that you learn things very quickly. So, do you want to continue working in the finance department in the future?”

Xu Yuan had long considered this question. Did she want to stay in the finance department indefinitely?

Her ambitions and goals went far beyond just staying in the finance department. She wanted to acquire more and more knowledge. Meng Corporation was a leader in the industry, and she had the opportunity to learn from it. Even if circumstances underwent earth-shattering changes someday, the knowledge she gained would be a wealth that no one could take away.

Well… at the moment, her thoughts were centered around starting her own company.

To be honest, she wasn’t particularly interested in Meng Corporation because it belonged to the Meng family, and the relationships there were incredibly complicated. Even with her status as the boss’s wife, and even if Meng Zhengrong was willing, how much real influence could she have in Meng Corporation?

She couldn’t be the ultimate decision-maker. Just thinking about it was uninteresting.

In her previous life, in a time when gender roles were so rigid, she had climbed to such a position. If she hadn’t been held back by her gender, if she had been a man, even if she entered government service, she wouldn’t have been inferior to others. So now, in this era, which was so much more favorable than her previous life, she naturally wanted to achieve something remarkable.

“No, I don’t want to,” Xu Yuan replied very honestly.

Meng Zhengrong was satisfied with this answer. He had already told Sister Zhou that the position of the Finance Department Manager was hers and wouldn’t be given to anyone else. Sister Zhou had been reassured by this, and he trusted her judgment. By giving her control of the finance department, he was able to put his trust in her.

“Alright, when Sister Zhou returns from maternity leave, you can decide which part of the company you’d like to manage.”

He couldn’t reveal more than this, and his words were meant to assure Xu Yuan that as long as she patiently waited for Sister Zhou’s return, he would definitely provide her with a position equivalent to or even higher than that of the Finance Department Manager.

It was quite a coincidence that Xu Yuan found Meng Zhengrong to be quite perceptive. Upon hearing his words, she was extremely satisfied.

This was exactly the result she wanted.

As they continued to chat, the two of them arrived at a store. Xu Yuan’s mind was immediately captivated by the displayed shoes.

Initially, the shoes here seemed strange, but as time went on, they started to appear beautiful. Whether they were flats, high heels, or high-heeled sandals, they all looked exceptionally nice when worn.

Even though Xu Yuan had never worn high heels before, it didn’t prevent her from liking these shoes. She tried on several pairs of flats and then couldn’t resist asking the sales associate to bring her the two pairs of high heels she had set her eyes on early. The heels on these shoes were particularly high, and that’s how high heels were. Before trying them on, women often thought they could handle them, even run in them, but once they actually put them on, it was inevitable that they would wobble while walking.

After putting on the high heels, Xu Yuan felt like she was almost two meters tall, but when she took her first step, she almost stumbled.

Meng Zhengrong had been keeping a close eye on her. When he saw her unsteady gait, he quickly approached her. Coincidentally, as she was trying to take a step, she accidentally bumped into his arms.

Being in his wife’s embrace, if he remained indifferent at this moment, Meng Zhengrong would really start to question his orientation.

Meng Zhengrong didn’t know what kind of perfume she had sprayed, but it had a very faint fragrance. Even when walking beside her, it was barely noticeable. However, when he held her like this, he could smell a subtle, pleasant scent, much like the fragrance of cloves that used to fill his grandmother’s room when he was a child—a faint and very pleasant smell.

She was neither short nor tall, and her height matched his perfectly. All she had to do was tilt her head slightly, and she could lean on his shoulder.

Meng Zhengrong stared into her clear eyes and, almost involuntarily, pulled her closer by the waist, making them even closer.

Xu Yuan felt incredibly embarrassed and felt like she was suffocating.

Originally, she wanted to push him away, but when she thought about the presence of other people, combined with his current expression, she felt extremely flustered.

What was wrong with this person??

Shouldn’t he let her go quickly? Did he expect her to forcefully push him away?

But… she didn’t dare!!

In the end, it was Meng Zhengrong who snapped back to reality. He quickly released Xu Yuan, cleared his throat, and then pretended as if nothing had happened as he said to her, “Are these shoes comfortable for you?”

Xu Wan wanted to be indifferent, but she just thought about it. She shook her head and decided to cooperate with Meng Zhengrong, “It’s not very comfortable. It’s too high.”

“I think so too.” Meng Zhengrong nodded, turned around and said to the shopping guide: “That’s it for these shoes, swipe my card.”

Xu Yuan blinked her eyes. Hadn’t she just said that they weren’t comfortable because the heels were too high? Why was he buying them now?

Was this person possibly crazy? 

Meng Zhengrong’s mind was actually in complete chaos at this moment. He had no idea what he was saying because when he held her, they were too close, and he distinctly felt that a certain part of her was pressing against his chest.

Ahem, ahem…

It seemed like his wife was quite well-endowed. Ahem.