“That’s right, that’s right!” Meng Zhuxi nodded vigorously, on the verge of crying with joy.

Wuwuwu, finally someone could clear her name.

Wang Nan looked at Jin Zhao. “Why didn’t I hear you mention this before?”

Jin Zhao smiled at Wang Nan, revealing two white, pointed little canine teeth that added a touch of playfulness to her beauty. “Didn’t it not scratch me? If it does next time, I’ll come complain to you.”

Who could resist a beauty’s smile? Wang Nan was disarmed at once, pointing at her as she laughed and scolded, “You’d better hope for something good for yourself.”

Because Jin Zhao testified that she had encountered that stray cat, proving it wasn’t secretly kept by Meng Zhuxi, Meng Zhuxi was spared a demerit in the end. But after all, it was because of her that the cat had smashed the exhibited ceramics, so she still had to bear the compensation.

This exhibition was prepared for the school anniversary, every piece a fine product, especially the three borrowed from the Suiyi Art Museum. Without even calculating, it was clear that Meng Zhuxi would have to pay a huge sum.

But Jin Zhao wasn’t worried for her. To her brother, this amount of money was a drop in the ocean.

♥︎ ྀི◟ ͜ ◞♥︎ ྀི◟ ͜ ◞♥︎ ྀི

It was a drop in the ocean, but Meng Zhuxi was still terribly uneasy. After leaving the counselor’s office, the siblings walked in silence all the way. Meng Yanxi didn’t speak, and Meng Zhuxi naturally didn’t dare say anything either, shrinking back as she followed behind him, pretending she didn’t exist.

In the past, even when she caused the tiniest bit of trouble, Meng Yanxi would lecture her. Although he never hit her, his mouth was vicious enough that she worried one lick of his lips could poison her to death. This time, suddenly making him pay such a large sum—big capitalists might have plenty of money, but they weren’t fools. If he didn’t scold her to death, it would be strange.

Meng Zhuxi followed behind Meng Yanxi out of the building. The sun was blazing hot, and she didn’t even dare open an umbrella, only kept her head lowered.

The Maybach had been baking in the parking lot all morning. When the door was opened, the metal handle scorched the man’s palm. Meng Yanxi turned around and suddenly noticed the sister trailing behind him.

“What are you following me for?” Meng Yanxi asked in surprise. “Don’t you have class?”

What class… Meng Zhuxi cautiously reached out to tug at her brother’s sleeve, and as soon as she opened her mouth, apologies spilled out without cost. “Brother, I was wrong, I really was wrong. Don’t be angry, don’t ruin your health getting angry. If it really won’t do, I can kneel down—how about you hit me a few times to vent your anger?”

Meng Yanxi looked at her thoughtfully.

The sun poured down from above, scattering fine light and shadow across his superior features—more pleasing to the eye than the artworks in a museum.

Meng Yanxi rubbed her head. “You didn’t do anything wrong. No need to apologize. Feeding small animals is a good thing—if you want to feed them, then feed them.”

Meng Zhuxi: “?”

Had Meng Yanxi been possessed? Was this really her brother?

“Go back to class.”

Today’s Meng Yanxi was so easygoing it felt unreal. Meng Zhuxi felt like she was dreaming, dazed and muddled, and attentively opened the car door for him. “Brother, get in.”

Meng Yanxi held the car door with one hand and reminded her, “When you go back, remember to thank the teacher who lied for you.”

“Lied?” Meng Zhuxi was shocked. Her big peach-blossom eyes stared blankly at her brother. “You’re saying that beautiful teacher lied? She actually never saw that cat at all?”

“Otherwise?”

“Then how did she know what the cat looked like?”

Meng Yanxi let out a scoffing breath. “What cat doesn’t have round eyes, soft fur, and pointy claws? What’s the difference between that and telling you you’ve seen a person with two eyes, one nose, and one mouth?”

Meng Zhuxi blinked at a loss, then asked again, “But she also said the cat on Third Road was skinny.”

“The ceramics exhibition was on Third Road. The culprit who smashed the place would naturally be on Third Road—what, do you think it sprouted intelligence and committed the crime from afar?” Meng Yanxi looked at his sister like she was an idiot. “As for being skinny, a stray cat so hungry it pounces at people—does it even get the choice to be fat?”

Meng Zhuxi: “……” Right, this tone of voice was her brother.

Meng Yanxi got into the car. As the tinted window slid down, he reminded her once more, “Remember to go thank her. Don’t forget.”

When it came to sweet talk and being likable, Meng Zhuxi was naturally gifted. But considering the other party was a teacher, she still humbly sought her brother’s advice. “Then should I bring her something? Fruit? Milk tea?”

Meng Yanxi propped his elbow against the car window. After a long moment, he didn’t speak. Those striking peach-blossom eyes lowered slightly.

“Bring her a card. I think she likes cards.”

Meng Zhuxi: “?”

♥︎ ྀི◟ ͜ ◞♥︎ ྀི◟ ͜ ◞♥︎ ྀི

Jin Zhao only had classes first and second period this morning. After picking up the exam papers, she went back to the Foreign Languages College office and graded the five papers.

She didn’t want the students to have to retake the course. She recalculated the objective and subjective scores over and over, and in the end, with all the strength of nine oxen and two tigers, she finally dragged all five students up to sixty points.

Tired.

After uploading the grades to the system, sending them for review to the college teaching secretary, and repackaging the papers into the document envelope for archiving, it was already 11:15 by the time she finished everything. She had a lunch appointment with her aunt at twelve—going over now was about right.

Jin Zhao headed toward the west gate, booking a Didi on the way. She deftly canceled all the expensive car types, leaving only the cheapest discounted express car, and could even use a 50% off coupon—happy.

Probably because it was so cheap, it took a full six minutes before a driver accepted the order. By then, she had already reached the west gate.

Jin Zhao held a small floral umbrella and waited for the car beneath the plane trees.

Outside the west gate was a waterway. The main road at the entrance looked flat, but it was actually a bridge. Plane trees stood on one end, and on the other end of the bridge, by the roadside, a black Maybach was parked.

For the sake of his sister’s face, whenever the school called in parents, Meng Yanxi always drove over himself, never using a driver.

He sat in the driver’s seat, expressionless, looking straight ahead. The midday heat was stifling; two buttons of his shirt were undone, and his sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, revealing solid forearms. Because he exercised year-round and had low body fat, veins coiled across them. Resting casually on the steering wheel, they were devastatingly sexy.

The traffic light ahead turned red, then green, then red again, over and over. Streams of cars passed by his side again and again. His car was parked by the roadside, unmoving.

Jin Zhao played with her phone as she waited for the ride.

The driver had come all the way from four kilometers away. Whether it was because the road was too congested, there were too many red lights, or simply because the fare was too low and he didn’t really want to come, she had already been waiting by the roadside for more than ten minutes.

Jin Zhao suspected it was the latter and called the driver.

On the phone, the driver said he was about to arrive and asked whether she was holding a small floral umbrella and standing under the plane trees. Jin Zhao said yes. The driver said he’d be there after crossing the traffic light.

The numbers ticked down—10, 9, 8… 2, 1—and the red light turned green.

The Maybach that had been parked by the roadside the whole time finally started up and merged into the traffic.

Jin Zhao was a little nearsighted, though not by much. She cared about her appearance and usually refused to wear glasses. She lifted the sun umbrella slightly, squinting as she looked at the oncoming stream of cars, trying to find the one she had ordered by its license plate.

Her phone chimed once, and she lowered her head to look at it.

Her aunt had sent a voice message. She casually tapped into WeChat.

At that moment, a black sedan stopped in front of her. With a “click,” the car unlocked.

Jin Zhao naturally pulled open the rear door and got in, tapping open her aunt’s voice message at the same time—“Lingling, your uncle and I suddenly have something to take care of. We might be ten minutes late. If you arrive first, go ahead and order.”

Jin Zhao closed the door, and the black sedan glided smoothly forward.

She lowered her head, holding her phone, just about to reply when another call came in. Jin Zhao answered it.

From the phone came the unmistakably loud voice of a middle-aged man, tinged with irritation and a baffled, half-laughing disbelief: “I say, miss, how on earth did you dare? The car you got into—that was a Maybach, worth over ten million!”

A statement without context. Jin Zhao froze. “Huh? What?”

“I’m saying you got into the wrong car! You ordered my car. I was honking like crazy behind you—didn’t you hear me?”

Jin Zhao turned around and sure enough saw a black sedan following behind. Because it couldn’t keep up with the speed, in just the span of a few sentences it had been left far behind, able only to keep honking wildly to get her attention.

Jin Zhao immediately turned back and looked toward the man in the driver’s seat.

“Hello, you—”

She had just opened her mouth when the man holding the steering wheel leisurely glanced at her through the rearview mirror.

Caught completely off guard, separated by the thin surface of the mirror, Jin Zhao once again met those sparse, cold peach-blossom eyes.

Something lodged itself in her throat in an instant, and Jin Zhao fell silent.

On the phone, the driver’s voice grew louder and louder, coming through the earpiece: “Miss, what’s going on with that car you’re in? Why is it going faster and faster? Did you run into a bad person? Do you want me to help you call the police?”

The ride-hailing driver was alert and righteous, sensing something was wrong, and kept stubbornly chasing after the Maybach. Unfortunately, his will was willing but his strength insufficient—before long, he was about to be completely shaken off.

Jin Zhao came back to her senses and hurriedly said, “No, no need, it’s fine. He’s my friend. Thank you, sir. I’ll cancel the order on my end—sorry for the trouble.”

She hung up the phone, and the car fell into silence.

Meng Yanxi had only looked at her that one time through the rearview mirror. After that, he withdrew his gaze and focused on the road ahead, not saying a word.

Jin Zhao awkwardly pinched her phone, her fingers turning pale from unconscious force.

She was seated on the right side of the back seat. From this angle, all she could see was the man’s clean, sharp jawline and his right forearm, the sleeve of his shirt rolled up.

Cool, pale, lean muscle; smooth, powerful lines; a large hand gripping the steering wheel, veins extending from his forearm across the back of his hand.

Outside the window, plane trees slipped past one after another, the sunlight glaring and scorching.

She suddenly remembered that she had just said Meng Yanxi was her friend. In truth, they could hardly be called friends. At most, they could only be considered former classmates.

A school had allowed two people from different worlds to meet briefly…