Chapter 46.1

Xu Yuan wasn’t lying—she really wasn’t feeling well. At first, she managed to hold on, driven by her concerns. But now, seeing that she and Meng Zhengrong had reconciled, the tension she had been carrying finally eased, leaving her feeling utterly exhausted and weak.

Meng Zhengrong, though eager to continue their conversation, saw that Xu Yuan wasn’t pretending. With only worry left in his heart, he quickly helped her leave the rooftop.

The rooftop had been hot, and the sudden transition to the building’s cool, air-conditioned interior caused goosebumps to immediately rise on Xu Yuan’s arms.

Meng Zhengrong settled Xu Yuan in a quiet corner of the company, then hurried to the finance department to grab her bag and phone. He initially planned to take her home right away to rest, but as he neared her, an idea struck him. He paused, turned on his heel, and took the elevator to the Public Welfare Project Department.

In the Public Welfare Project Department, the other employees were diligently tracking project progress. Fang Mingyang, though his fingers were tapping on the keyboard, was lost in thought.

The first person to spot Meng Zhengrong entering the office was Xiao Pan. She immediately stood up, almost bowing, “Hello, President Meng!”

The others turned to look as well. Meng Zhengrong smiled at everyone, his gaze lingering on Fang Mingyang for a few seconds before he addressed the room, “My wife isn’t feeling well today, so she won’t be coming in this afternoon. She asked me to inform you all.”

There was a moment of stunned silence before Xiao Pan, the quickest on her feet, responded, “Understood. The manager should take care of her health. We’ll handle the work.”

Meng Zhengrong nodded and smiled, “Alright then, I won’t keep you from your work. I’ll be off.”

“Take care, President Meng!”

After Meng Zhengrong left, the employees sat down, and one of the girls patted her chest, saying, “Oh my gosh, that scared me to death.”

Even though Meng Zhengrong had been smiling and chatting with them, his presence still made everyone feel pressured.

“President Meng is such a good man! When he called the manager his ‘wife,’ it was so swoon-worthy!”

“Yes, yes, and he even came personally to tell us.”

While everyone was talking, Fang Mingyang remained silent. He looked at the lunchbox on his desk, feeling a heavy weight in his chest, as if he couldn’t breathe.

He didn’t understand why he felt this way. It was normal for her not to want him to keep bringing the white fungus soup, yet he couldn’t control himself.

As Meng Zhengrong went to find Xu Yuan, he was in a great mood. He even smiled at the managers he passed, which made them shiver, fearing they had made some mistake.

From what had happened yesterday and today, it was clear that Xu Yuan cared about him—more than he had imagined.

That was enough for now. At this stage, Meng Zhengrong didn’t want much.

After watching a movie yesterday, he had a new understanding: whether or not their feelings were mutual, perhaps loving someone starts with accepting that the other person might not love you as much, and that one day, they might not love you at all.

Though he wasn’t overly generous, he wasn’t petty either. As long as Xu Yuan had a place for him in her heart, no matter how small, he could accept it.

As for Fang Mingyang, he was just an extra in their story.

He believed Xu Yuan knew how to handle it from here.

When Meng Zhengrong reached Xu Yuan, she was sitting with her head down, lost in thought. On a whim, he took out his phone and snapped a photo.

He still didn’t quite understand the depth of his feelings for Xu Yuan, but that didn’t matter. Life isn’t a math problem that requires a precise answer to get points. As long as the two of them were happy, that was enough. Who cared about love or affection? As long as it felt right.

Meng Zhengrong walked over to Xu Yuan and gently pressed down on her head. She looked up and asked, “Why did you take so long?”

“Was it really that long?”

Xu Yuan nodded, “Yes, several people have already passed by and greeted me.”

“Let’s go home, have a meal, and rest. I’ll have the kitchen make some old hen soup to nourish you.” Meng Zhengrong helped Xu Yuan up, and they walked to the elevator together.

Xu Yuan glanced at the mirror in the elevator. She and Meng Zhengrong were leaning against each other. Although neither of them was smiling, their expressions looked content. Her dark circles couldn’t be concealed, and she indeed looked tired. He wasn’t much better off, but after the ordeal of the previous night, she believed the distance between them would only grow closer.

“Did you really stay up all night?” Meng Zhengrong asked curiously once they were in the car.

His thoughts were strange now—on one hand, he felt sorry for her, but on the other, he wanted to know how she spent the night missing him, the more detailed, the better.

Xu Yuan glanced at Meng Zhengrong. Although she had slept for a few hours, she could clearly sense that he seemed to hope she hadn’t slept at all.

Xu Yuan was actually a smart person. Her previous obliviousness in matters of the heart was simply because she hadn’t thought things through—or perhaps, she didn’t want to. But now that she had figured it out, she could be a good wife and girlfriend, and she would also think of ways to make him happier.

“Mm, I didn’t sleep the whole night,” Xu Yuan deliberately emphasized the words “the whole night.”

Meng Zhengrong felt both heartache and joy. He pretended to grumble, “If you were so worried, why didn’t you call me earlier? You could’ve had a good night’s sleep if you had.”

Xu Yuan had some idea of what he was thinking, so she responded, “I was debating whether or not to call…” This was the truth. She paused and added, “Besides, even if I called earlier and found out where you were, I still wouldn’t have slept well.”

Hearing this, Meng Zhengrong was overjoyed. He couldn’t believe that he was hearing such words from Xu Yuan—it was practically a historical moment!

What Meng Zhengrong didn’t realize was that this was just the beginning. Once Xu Yuan’s mind opened up, she truly became very clever.

Seeing Meng Zhengrong’s obvious happiness, Xu Yuan thought to herself, this is probably why sweet words are necessary. Although many times sweet words have a mix of lies in them, seeing the other person’s undisguised joy when they hear those words, she couldn’t help but feel happy as well.

Whether the words were true or false didn’t really matter anymore. What was important was that the good mood between them in that moment was real, and that was enough.

Meng Zhengrong, trying to contain his happiness, asked, “Is that so? Then why didn’t you rest at home today? Why did you come to the office?”

He had imagined one thing, but hearing her say it out loud was something else entirely.

He just wanted to hear how much she cared about him.

“I called but you didn’t pick up, I sent you messages but you didn’t reply, so of course, I had to come to the office to find you and properly apologize.” The atmosphere earlier hadn’t been right for an apology, and Xu Yuan knew very well that she was in the wrong in this matter. No matter when they discussed it, her reasoning wouldn’t hold up. “I’ll find a way to transfer him to another department. This requires your cooperation and help. Zhengrong, I swear, apart from you, I’ve never thought of having feelings for anyone else.”

This was the absolute truth. She didn’t really understand feelings, nor was she willing to spend much time on them. She had to admit that if Meng Zhengrong hadn’t been her husband in name, she probably wouldn’t have fallen for him. In this regard, she was incredibly lazy.

She had never thought about divorcing Meng Zhengrong. She had once considered developing feelings with him, but things never went as planned. If in the past she had followed the trends, now she was only doing it for genuine feelings.

She didn’t know what love felt like, nor did she know what would happen after she truly opened her heart to Meng Zhengrong. But life is full of uncontrollable events, and this one wasn’t any different.

Since that was the case, if he wanted it, she would give it to him. There was nothing wrong with that, right?

Meng Zhengrong was deeply moved by her words, though he didn’t show it on his face. “Actually, it’s not your assistant that I’m bothered by—not from the start.”

This was natural, and it was something he needed to emphasize. Otherwise, if Xu Yuan thought he was a petty man who could get jealous over a little assistant, it would be too unfair.

His age and experience had taught him to be more tolerant of Xu Yuan in many matters. He wasn’t like a young boy who would be jealous of anyone and everyone.

“Mm.” Xu Yuan nodded, “It’s my fault for not handling my relationship with my subordinates well, and for caring too much about him. Don’t worry, it won’t happen again.”

There was no need to explain her reasons or struggles; it was better to just let this matter pass.

After all, she had come to understand that some people simply weren’t replaceable. If her cousin knew that she had let a face affect her life, he wouldn’t be happy either.

As for Fang Mingyang’s difficulties, she believed that everyone encounters hardships for a reason. What others can do is give encouragement, but the path they walk is ultimately their own.

She only needed to focus on walking her own path and living her own life well.

Meng Zhengrong didn’t want to dwell on this matter either. With situations like this, it was important to strike a balance—not too much and not too little.

Being overly concerned and relentless would wear down Xu Yuan’s patience and damage their relationship. On the other hand, if he didn’t care at all, it would torment him, and she wouldn’t understand what mattered to him.

“Yesterday, I was also wrong. I didn’t listen to your explanation and just left, didn’t come home the whole night, and didn’t even call you. I won’t let that happen again.” Meng Zhengrong now realized that he had overreacted yesterday. In hindsight, it was easy to accept everything. They hadn’t been married for long, and even now, he still couldn’t figure out what kind of feelings he had. Her lack of passion towards him was understandable.

If they allowed this matter to leave a scar and create conflict, it would be a great loss.

And so, with this mutual understanding between Meng Zhengrong and Xu Yuan, the matter was taken up heavily but put down lightly.