Chapter 48: The Second Young Madam's Wisdom

After more than twenty years of working in wealthy households, Auntie Qi could not help admiring Kong Lingxin’s wisdom after witnessing her performance that morning.

Auntie Qi hurried over to Peng Nan and said in a loud voice, “Doctor Peng, please tell me which hotel the Second Young Master is staying at.”

Peng Nan shot Auntie Qi a furious glare and cursed inwardly, If I ever become the mistress of this villa, you’ll be the first person I fire!

At her age, Auntie Qi naturally understood the meaning behind Peng Nan’s eyes. She raised her head and continued smiling at Peng Nan, as though replying, You can talk about that after you manage to become the Meng family’s young mistress!

In the end, Peng Nan could not bring herself to turn down money. She gave them the name of the hotel and the room number.

When Auntie Qi returned to the dining room and reported everything to Kong Lingxin, Kong Lingxin’s appetite and mood suddenly seemed to improve. She asked the servant to bring her another bowl.

Only then did she say to Auntie Qi, “Auntie Qi, go deliver the clothes. There’s no need to report every little detail to me.”

Carrying the clothes, Auntie Qi went with the driver to the five-star hotel. After asking at the front desk and learning that the Second Young Master had not yet checked out, she took the elevator to the floor where the presidential suite was located.

She rang the doorbell for quite some time before finally waking Meng Zexiao from his sleep. Assuming that Peng Nan had come again, he stormed toward the door, ready to drive her away. But when he opened it, he found his own housekeeper standing outside.

He asked in surprise, “Auntie Qi, why are you here?”

“You’re awake, Second Young Master. The Second Young Madam asked me to bring you some clean clothes.”

Meng Zexiao stared at the neatly folded clothes in Auntie Qi’s hands and asked, “How did the Second Young Madam know I was staying here?”

“Doctor Peng went to tell her first thing this morning. She certainly seems to care about you.”

Auntie Qi placed particular emphasis on the words “seems to care,” and Meng Zexiao took the clothes from her.

“Go back and tell the Second Young Madam that I’ll return home after I take a shower.”

After Meng Zexiao closed the door, he unexpectedly felt a little uneasy. He had no idea what Peng Nan had said to Kong Lingxin.

The changes taking place in his heart seemed unbelievable even to him. How could this be happening? Could his friends really have been right last night? Had he changed from a cold, domineering man into a lovesick young man who wanted to fall in love?

The clothes he had worn the night before had all been thrown into the trash. Perhaps he simply hated the fact that Peng Nan had touched them and did not want her scent lingering on him.

When he returned home, Kong Lingxin was in the courtyard, watching the gardener trim the lawn and flower beds. After hesitating for a moment, Meng Zexiao walked over to her and asked, “What did Peng Nan say to you?”

Kong Lingxin glanced at him indifferently. “What do you think she would say?”

Meng Zexiao frowned as he looked at her. “Nothing happened between us last night.”

Kong Lingxin showed no reaction. She walked over to one of the gardeners, picked up the hose from his hands, and began watering the plants as though nothing had happened.

Meng Zexiao had always been treated like royalty. Yet lately, he kept suffering setbacks whenever he was around Kong Lingxin, and it left him feeling thoroughly uncomfortable.

Fortunately, Auntie Qi arrived to smooth things over. “Second Young Master, you drank quite a lot last night, so your stomach must be uncomfortable. You should have breakfast first. The Second Young Madam specifically instructed the kitchen to prepare millet porridge for you. She said it would be good for your stomach.”

Hearing this, Kong Lingxin could not help admiring Auntie Qi’s talent for putting things pleasantly. The millet porridge had clearly been prepared because Kong Lingxin herself wanted some. Before Auntie Qi returned with the clothes, she had not even known that Meng Zexiao had gone out drinking the previous night.

Meng Zexiao turned and walked into the house. Auntie Qi followed behind him and said, “Second Young Master, I’ll go to the car and bring back your clothes so they can be washed.”

“Throw them away.”

Kong Lingxin could not help pausing in the middle of her work as she watched Meng Zexiao’s retreating back. A faint ache rose in her heart.

But she was not hurting because of Meng Zexiao. She was hurting because of the money.

The suit Meng Zexiao had worn the day before had been prepared by Kong Lingxin. She had not recognized the brand at first, but after marrying into the Meng family, she had made a point of studying luxury brands.

If she remembered correctly, the outfit Meng Zexiao had just thrown away was worth more than two hundred thousand yuan.

Kong Lingxin muttered under her breath, “What a spendthrift! That suit alone would have covered two nights of Peng Nan’s fee.”

Once inside, Meng Zexiao noticed several bottles filled with roses. Seeing that his gaze had been drawn to them, Auntie Qi said, “After the Second Young Master left yesterday, the Second Young Madam asked me to find some vases and put these roses in them. There’s salt in the water, so they should last for several days. Oh, and the Second Young Madam arranged these herself. She even pricked her hand on the thorns.”

Meng Zexiao knew that much of what Auntie Qi said was meant to comfort him, but he chose to believe it anyway. Perhaps people in love sometimes could not help deceiving themselves.

For the first time, millet porridge appeared on the breakfast table at the seaside villa, and Meng Zexiao was certain that Kong Lingxin had instructed the kitchen to prepare it. Ever since he had moved there, breakfast had always been Western-style. In the past, he had never asked about Kong Lingxin’s preferences, nor had he cared to know them. She had always accommodated him when it came to food.

Paired with spicy cucumber and pickled vegetables, the millet porridge unexpectedly gave Meng Zexiao a hearty appetite. Could this be what it meant to love someone and everything connected to them? In the past, Kong Lingxin had catered to Meng Zexiao’s preference for Western breakfasts. Now, in order to please Kong Lingxin, Meng Zexiao was willing to switch to a Chinese breakfast.

Like Kong Lingxin, he drank two bowls in one sitting. After he had eaten his fill, he asked Auntie Qi, “What did Peng Nan say when she came here?”

Auntie Qi reported everything that had happened that morning, truthfully and without altering a single detail.

Meng Zexiao knew her well. On some matters, she might exaggerate out of consideration for his relationship with Kong Lingxin. But whenever something involved a decision he needed to make, Auntie Qi would never conceal anything from him.

After hearing the whole story, Meng Zexiao was even more impressed by Kong Lingxin. He had never imagined that the woman he had married would handle a mistress even more skillfully than his own mother.

But he had done nothing with Peng Nan. If Kong Lingxin paid her one hundred thousand yuan, would that not imply that something had happened between them the night before?

By nine o’clock, the sun had grown rather fierce. Kong Lingxin returned to the house and found Meng Zexiao apparently waiting for her in the living room.

When he saw her come in, he said, “Thank you for everything you did for me.”

Kong Lingxin wore the same indifferent expression as before. “You’re welcome.”

Although Meng Zexiao had been mentally prepared for it, hearing those three words still made him feel strangely uncomfortable. His domineering nature immediately resurfaced.

“Nothing happened between Peng Nan and me last night!”

“Oh, is that so?” Kong Lingxin said. “Then there’s no need to pay her the one hundred thousand yuan.”

Meng Zexiao had indeed thought that giving Peng Nan the money would imply that something had happened between them. But when Kong Lingxin said it aloud, the whole matter suddenly sounded rather strange.

For a moment, he did not know how to continue.

In the end, he said nothing more. He picked up his briefcase and left for work.

Watching his slightly lonely retreating figure, Kong Lingxin felt none of the happiness she had expected.