Chapter 42: Self-Centered

Wan Si was struck with alarm. She had only come here to do her job properly, and she had received no training as a community mediator before starting. With her limited experience, how could she possibly offer Meng Zexiao any constructive advice?

However, considering her current circumstances, if she didn't want to turn her back on a high salary, she had no choice but to bite the bullet and feed Meng Zexiao a line of nonsense—and it had to be nonsense delivered with a certain level of sophistication.

"Actually," Wan Si said, "the Second Young Mistress is only twenty-one; she has a very youthful heart. I suggest that, Mr. Meng, you should treat her as you would any twenty-one-year-old girl. They say a twenty-year-old girl is like the most delicate and beautiful flower; only when she receives a man's tender care will her blooming period last longer."

Meng Zexiao glanced at Wan Si and said, "I am already taking good care of her. If she doesn't eat properly, I find ways to make her eat—"

As he spoke, Meng Zexiao’s voice clearly lacked conviction; it was obvious that he only got her to eat by threatening her.

"But taking care of her doesn't mean satisfying her every demand! For example, she says she wants to return to university to study. This would expose her to the public eye, increase her chances of meeting all sorts of people, and make her social circle less pure. That is why I will not let her study!" In just a few seconds, Meng Zexiao had returned to his self-centered way of thinking.

Hearing Meng Zexiao put it this way, Wan Si felt a sense of pity for Kong Lingxin. Nevertheless, she said, "Mr. Meng, you are not wrong to look at this from your own perspective, but I think it would be best if you communicated more with the Second Young Mistress. Explain to her your reasons for refusing her request to study or other things. In a relationship, the best way for two people to get along is through mutual respect."

Respect? Meng Zexiao pondered the word. It seemed that in the nearly thirty years of his life, the word "respect" had never appeared in his dictionary. It had always been that whatever he felt should be, must be.

Meng Zexiao was unsure if he could manage that, but he continued to ask Wan Si, "Besides respect, what else do I need to do?"

Wan Si replied, "Right now, the Second Young Mistress seems to have a knot in her heart—a knot that cannot be easily untied. Therefore, I suggest that you try your best to find out what this knot is. Only by untying it can you ensure she speaks freely with you. People in love should essentially have no secrets from one another."

Meng Zexiao nodded. "That makes sense."

Wan Si added, "Furthermore, I suspect that her inner knot might very well be related to her miscarriage. You should try to comfort her; children can be had again, and after all, both you and the Second Young Mistress are so young. Besides, your sister-in-law has not yet given birth, so the pressure on you two shouldn't be that great."

For some reason, Wan Si’s mouth had betrayed her, and she mentioned Yang Shanshan. After saying it, she lowered her eyes, not daring to meet Meng Zexiao’s gaze, as she knew that what Meng Zexiao detested most was employees gossiping about his family’s private affairs.

To Wan Si's surprise, Meng Zexiao did not seem angry at all; it was as if he hadn't heard the latter part of what she said.

He stated, "You’ve done quite well. However, there is one thing: from now on, whenever you go out with the Second Young Mistress, regardless of what happens, you must report to me immediately! Do not wait until I call you to tell me!"

Wan Si, of course, knew that Meng Zexiao was referring to the incident with Liu Lin and Yuan Chuchu at the café-bookstore. Hearing this and connecting it to the suspicious timing of Meng Zexiao’s call, she realized everything—Meng Zexiao must have had someone tailing her and the Second Young Mistress.

She should have realized it sooner!

Wan Si’s heart skipped a beat, but she calmly said to Meng Zexiao, "Mr. Meng, I will be careful in the future! I actually intended to report today’s events to you in person upon my return, as I was afraid some things could not be clearly explained over the phone. Besides, I felt that calling you while I was with the Second Young Mistress would make her resentful. It would make her think you sent me to accompany her just to monitor her. After all, even people who love each other deeply need their own space and, even more, need to feel trusted by their partner."

As she spoke, Wan Si felt relieved that her explanation had been airtight.

Meng Zexiao looked at Wan Si but said nothing. In truth, he was waiting for her to recount the details of Kong Lingxin having a meal with Liu Hanyi.

Wan Si could not fathom Meng Zexiao’s mind, but she felt the best thing to do now was to report the day's events truthfully.

"Today at the café-bookstore," she said, "after the Second Young Mistress was bullied, it was thanks to the help of Secretary Liu Hanyi that she wasn't taken to the police station. Afterward, to thank him for his assistance, the Second Young Mistress and I had lunch with Secretary Liu. However, throughout the entire process, the Second Young Mistress didn't say much to him; it was all just polite small talk. I feel that the Second Young Mistress and Secretary Liu are people from two different worlds, so you shouldn't feel any sense of crisis, Mr. Meng."

Meng Zexiao let out a soft "Hmph." As the dignified Second Young Master of the Meng family and a rising young talent in City B with a net worth in the billions, he disdained comparing himself to Liu Hanyi.

However, whenever they attended the same event, the admiring gazes of the women present were always split down the middle. Women couldn't help but compare the two, making it difficult for them not to be measured against each other.

After a long while, Meng Zexiao said, "Fine, I understand. You may leave."

After Wan Si left, Meng Zexiao leaned back in his comfortable executive chair. He thought about what Wang Qi had told him after returning from the south, which only made him more intrigued by Kong Lingxin.

Wang Qi had spent two days in the south investigating, but the news he brought back was not significantly different from what they already knew; it was just that some details were clearer.

Wang Qi said that while Kong Lingxin was in the south, she happened to meet a high-ranking monk who lived in seclusion amidst the bustle of the city. This monk had offered guidance, saying that Kong Lingxin was a woman destined for great things and should not be confined by trivial matters.

After hearing Wang Qi’s report, Meng Zexiao was furious. Did this so-called high monk think that he was a "trivial matter"?

Just as he was about to say he would go and settle the score with this monk, Wang Qi informed him that the centenarian monk had passed away the day after Kong Lingxin left.

People generally have a fear of the unknown. Although Meng Zexiao had always operated with a fearless attitude, the coincidence of the monk's death made him hesitate, and his desire to uncover the truth wavered.

Seeing that it was almost time to leave work and his tasks were complete, Meng Zexiao left the company.

On his way home, he had his driver pull over at a flower shop. Since he was going to be in a relationship, he couldn't avoid using roses as a prop.

Nine hundred and ninety-nine roses. The generous customer made the shopkeeper beam with joy. After the shopkeeper and his staff carefully packaged them, they helped Meng Zexiao load them into his car.

As he walked from the shop to his limited-edition Bentley, the handsome and dashing Meng Zexiao caught the eyes of every woman on the street—what kind of woman could possibly be worthy of such devotion from a handsome, wealthy man willing to go to such great lengths for her?