Jiang Ruoqi hurried away, walking briskly in her heeled short boots. The hard soles tapped on the concrete floor, producing a faint clicking sound that was almost lost in the noise, but it quickly faded into the distance.
Duan Jinchen spaced out for a moment, then straightened up and resigned himself to checking the shoot's progress.
Jiang Ruoqi was right—most of the day had passed, and they were indeed wrapping up. Their marketing colleagues were already standing by, waiting for the models to remove the accessories.
The samples were boxed up, ready to be sent back to the office.
Since the remaining details didn't require him, Duan Jinchen followed Jiang Ruoqi's example and got ready to slip away.
He pulled a pair of over-ear headphones from his bag, hung them around his neck, and toyed with the key to a certain luxury car with the double R logo.
He deliberately slowed his pace. After all, Jiang Ruoqi had just left, and if he ran into her... it wouldn't be a big deal, but he had just formed an alliance, and then immediately slacking off would make him feel a rare pang of guilt.
Unfortunately, he had overestimated Jiang Ruoqi's speed.
Jiang Ruoqi had gone to the restroom to touch up her makeup, which delayed her, resulting in them arriving at the parking garage almost simultaneously.
When Duan Jinchen saw her figure from behind, he immediately turned to face the wall. He quietly put on his headphones, pulled up his collar, and put on the attached hood, burying half his face in the collar in a futile attempt to disguise himself.
In the empty underground garage, the sound of high heels was conspicuous.
Duan Jinchen thought for a moment, then pulled off one side of his headphones to listen for her footsteps and avoid her. But among the rows of cars, he got more and more lost, almost ending up right in front of Jiang Ruoqi.
This was a rare moment of embarrassment for Duan Jinchen. He ducked behind a commercial vehicle and saw Jiang Ruoqi walking toward a car diagonally across from him.
It wasn't a ride-hailing car. It was a black E-Class Mercedes, with a young man in the driver's seat.
Duan Jinchen mused.
The company hadn't provided Jiang Ruoqi with a car. As someone who had just returned to the mainland and was basically based in Gangcheng, if she was renting and moving, she must have found a local friend.
A friend... or a boyfriend?
Duan Jinchen quietly pulled out his phone, intending to snap a picture for future leverage against Jiang Ruoqi. He didn't like being controlled; even as a child, he had never submitted to his father, so why would he easily yield to Jiang Ruoqi?
But when the camera focused on her radiant, unexpected expression—the one that had instantly hidden all traces of work fatigue—Duan Jinchen froze, feeling like he had a problem.
The phone instantly felt hot in his hand. He fumbled to put it back in his pocket, accidentally bumping into the car key that was also there.
Not far from him, a luxury car honked and flashed its lights loudly, startling Duan Jinchen into quickly turning away.
As for what he heard last, only a faint echo of "...Master Meng, sorry to keep you waiting" reached him after being distorted by the parking garage's acoustics.
Someone was fleeing, while Jiang Ruoqi, with a bit of guilt, got into Meng Shang's car.
Meng Shang took Jiang Ruoqi's coat and said softly, "Not long. I just arrived a moment ago."
Jiang Ruoqi settled into the passenger seat, retrieved her coat and bag, placed them neatly on her lap, and buckled her seatbelt.
The car's heater was at a comfortable temperature. Meng Shang was wearing a smoke-gray half-turtleneck sweater, and despite its cool color, it gave off a warm feeling. Jiang Ruoqi thought that if she hugged him, it would feel nice to wrap her arms around his waist.
Jiang Ruoqi never hid her interest in Meng Shang, so when she met his gaze—he was watching her every move from getting in to buckling up—she was not the one to feel embarrassed.
"I overestimated the shoot's progress. I thought starting at nine would finish by one, but it dragged on until now."
Jiang Ruoqi sighed and checked the time: 3:20 PM. There were still eight hours and forty minutes left of the weekend, and she had a mountain of things to do.
She rubbed her aching temples, unable to suppress her annoyance, and let out a small complaint: "I'm so tired. I want to sleep!"
She was still dressed in sharp professional attire, but her tone was soft, almost like she was acting cute. It made Meng Shang, who was driving, involuntarily curl his lips.
"Old Zhang's place is cleaned up well. A simple tidy-up and it's ready to live in. Don't worry, I'll help you."
"Master Meng, your words are so husband-like... no, I mean, they really move me!"
Meng Shang licked his lips and let out an almost inaudible breath.
But Jiang Ruoqi's eyes sparkled, and she probed again, "Since it's such a great kindness, Master Meng, do you need someone to repay you by offering themselves as a wife?"
...
Need. Badly.
Meng Shang's breath caught, and he almost thought his ulterior motives had been exposed.
He urgently needed a romantic partner, or more precisely, a wife willing to enter into a marriage with him in a short time.
Jiang Ruoqi was interested in him. Meng Shang had sensed it the first time they met.
Meng Shang felt the same—his fondness for Jiang Ruoqi was genuine. But the distance had made him suppress those feelings before leaving Gangcheng.
It was just a fleeting encounter.
While Meng Shang hesitated between sticking to love-based romance or finding someone reliable for a quick marriage to fulfill his seriously ill grandmother's wish, this very person, as if to save him from his dilemma, had suddenly come to Xinhai.
To work. To settle down.
As she had said, they met again.
Moreover, he was her only acquaintance in Xinhai.
A "familiar face" from a single encounter, yet with a strong sense of fate.
He didn't know if Su Yansheng had mentioned his situation to her, but Jiang Ruoqi was his best choice without compromising his principles too much.
But choosing marriage not out of natural love, but to fulfill his own selfish desires—that was a somewhat scummy reason, and it made him hesitate.
After all, Jiang Ruoqi didn't seem like someone who would accept the shackles of marriage.
"Where did this 'Master Meng' come from again?" Meng Shang kept his eyes on the road, choosing to change the subject again.
"From Mr. Meng Shang's side job as a driver, Master Meng." Jiang Ruoqi's voice rose at the end. "I've called you that a few times already, and you just noticed now? Master Meng's skill at changing the subject isn't great, and you're clearly rejecting me."
Jiang Ruoqi shrugged, as if not complaining: "Well, it seems offering oneself as a wife isn't something people want these days."
At an intersection, the light turned red. The car ahead tried to run it but failed, slamming on the brakes and stopping over the line, causing the car behind—driven by Meng Shang—to brake suddenly as well.
Jiang Ruoqi lurched forward due to inertia, then was pulled back by the seatbelt. The metal brooch on her collar pinched her chest painfully.
She looked down to rub her chest, and at the same time, Meng Shang looked down at her.
The car was silent for only a moment before Meng Shang's voice came, quiet and deep: "I've read Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio. The foxes that come to scholars usually want something."
"...And you?"
Jiang Ruoqi looked up in surprise, her gaze traveling upward from his lean waist, to his forearms gripping the black steering wheel—muscular with visible veins—and finally landing on his well-defined face.
Meng Shang's brow was slightly furrowed. He liked to look people in the eyes when he spoke, and even when faced with an uncertain response, he never averted his gaze. He was looking at her now, his eyes appearing a translucent light brown in the sunlight.
What was he trying to see in her? Appreciation or infatuation?
Jiang Ruoqi thought that although she was indeed interested in Meng Shang, given their current circumstances, "suitable" was a more appropriate term.
"Me? Of course I want Master Meng's good looks." Jiang Ruoqi made a dramatic gesture, then tossed the question back: "After leaving Gangcheng, I couldn't stop thinking about you. Otherwise, I wouldn't have agreed so readily to transfer back."
Meng Shang was momentarily speechless.
The insincere flattery was spot on, but it revealed nothing of her true feelings.
"Offering oneself as a wife is supposed to be for repaying a favor, isn't it?" The car ahead started moving, and Meng Shang stepped on the accelerator. "How come it sounds like I'm being devoured and taken for everything."
Jiang Ruoqi, sitting in the passenger seat without the worries of driving, spoke bluntly: "Or you can choose one. Master Meng, would you rather be devoured or taken?"