She opened the door and walked in, beckoning to Xiao Cheng who was standing at the door. "Come in."
Xiao Cheng surveyed the living room. The decor was simple, but the living room wasn't very large, and the dim, warm lighting made it feel quite cozy.
"It's nice, very cozy."
He said, walking into the living room and sitting on the sofa.
"It'll do."
Meng Jingwei closed the door, took out a bottle of red wine from the wine cabinet, and her face lit up with a mischievous grin. "I secretly swiped this from Qing Muye. He said this bottle is quite old."
Earlier, at Nightfall Apartment, she had seen this vintage bottle on Qing Muye's wine rack and had quietly placed it in her bedroom, intending to drink it.
However, she had an argument with Qing Muye and ended up taking it with her when she left the club.
She shook the bottle in her hand. "Let's drink it."
She liked drinking because she used to drink with her master, who always liked to drink with her.
Over time, her alcohol tolerance became quite good.
But Meng Jingwei hadn't realized that due to various pressures in the past few months, she had been drinking a bit too much.
Xiao Cheng took the bottle of red wine from Meng Jingwei and examined it carefully. He couldn't help but chuckle. "This wine, I'm afraid, cannot be drunk."
"Ah, why? Isn't it just a bit old? I have a good tolerance, I can handle it."
"The wine isn't fake, but this bottle of DRC is a 45-year-old vintage. Someone bought it at a Sotheby's auction in New York in 2018 for a staggering 3.9 million yuan. It was likely later gifted to Qing Muye."
Upon hearing this, Meng Jingwei, utterly dumbfounded, stammered, "How much? 3.9 million? What kind of wine is it, that it's so expensive?"
She knew that some aged wines were more expensive, but she never imagined they could be this costly.
"This bottle was produced in 1945. The reason it fetched such a sky-high price is that it was made from the last grapes of the DRC vineyard after World War II, with only 600 bottles produced. It was imbued with historical value, which caused its price to soar."
Xiao Cheng guessed that Meng Jingwei wouldn't know the background of this bottle of red wine, so he explained it to her.
He happened to be present at the Sotheby's auction in New York in 2018.
"Holy cow, that's so expensive!"
Meng Jingwei couldn't help but curse.
She quickly reached out and snatched the bottle of red wine from Xiao Cheng's hand. "A 45-year-old wine, without decanting, it's simply undrinkable. Let's not drink it, let's not."
She carefully hugged the bottle to her chest, then couldn't help but curiously examine the red wine, muttering softly, "How can it be so expensive? No wonder the bottle looks so old. It's fine, if we let it sit for a couple more years, it'll probably appreciate in value."
But…
That wasn't the point.
Meng Jingwei suddenly realized. She had only "taken" a bottle of wine from Qing Muye, never imagining it would be a priceless treasure. Would that scoundrel Qing Muye call the police?
Her heart sank, and she immediately looked at Xiao Cheng, asking, "Grand theft, how many years do they sentence you for?"
Xiao Cheng, with perfect understanding, glanced at the red wine in Meng Jingwei's hand and instantly grasped her meaning.
After a moment of hesitation, he replied, "Nearly 4 million yuan falls under an extraordinarily large amount, punishable by more than ten years of imprisonment. If the circumstances are severe, it could be life imprisonment. Additionally, property confiscation might also be involved."
"Ten years?"
Meng Jingwei was utterly petrified. She couldn't help but swallow hard. "That's terrifying. Thankfully, I didn't drink it."
She immediately put the red wine back into the wine cabinet and said to Xiao Cheng, "It's too late, I won't keep you. You should hurry back, and I also have... I need to sleep."
Meng Jingwei wanted to say "I have something to do," but to maintain her dignity, she didn't dare to say it directly.
"Mm, alright. Get some rest early then."
Xiao Cheng's original intention was just to see if Meng Jingwei actually lived here, but he hadn't expected her to be genuinely living there.
This surprised him greatly.
...
Thirty minutes earlier, Qing Muye, at Nightfall Apartment, stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, his phone clutched in his hand.
The screen displayed a number, Meng Jingwei's.
He hesitated for a long time before dialing.
After a moment, he turned and walked to the wine cabinet, opened a bottle of red wine, and poured a glass. With his slender fingers, like fine jade, he raised the wine glass and elegantly took a sip.
However, as he looked up, he inadvertently noticed that the expensive bottle of red wine on the wine cabinet was missing.
Qing Muye's movements froze, and his gaze deepened.
At that moment, he seemed to have found a reason to contact Meng Jingwei.
He picked up his phone and dialed Meng Jingwei's number. After the call connected, he immediately hung up. After much deliberation, he chose to call the police.
The phone rang a few times, and a voice answered, "Hello, this is the 110 police reporting center."
"I want to report a crime. Someone has stolen my wine."
"Wine? What wine?"
"A bottle of 1945 Romanée-Conti, worth 3.9 million yuan."
"Understood. Where do you live? We'll send officers to take a statement."
After the police officer inquired about the address, they immediately dispatched to Qing Muye's apartment. After a series of questions, the target was eventually narrowed down to a woman named 'Meng Jingwei'.
"Mr. Qing, this matter will require some time. We currently do not know where Meng Jingwei lives. Once we locate her, we will promptly notify you to come to the police station."
The police officer who took the statement said to Qing Muye.
Unexpectedly, Qing Muye replied, "No need. I know where she lives."
Thus, after Meng Jingwei saw Xiao Cheng off, she was in the process of applying a facial mask when her door was knocked.
"Who is it?"
She mumbled, shuffling in her slippers to the door. "Xiao Cheng, why are you back ag..."
She had expected it to be Xiao Cheng, but when she opened the door, she saw several police officers standing there.
Meng Jingwei was stunned at first, then silently "cursed" Qing Muye's entire ancestry.
"He's truly a dog, doesn't do anything decent!"
She had originally planned to return the wine to Qing Muye the next day, but she hadn't anticipated him calling the police so quickly.
Indeed, man proposes, but heaven disposes.
"Hehehe, officers, I... I want to report a crime." Meng Jingwei immediately turned the tables and said, "I was just about to wash my face and head to the police station."
The three police officers at the door looked at each other, their expressions varied.
The officer in charge, with a dark complexion, sternly questioned, "What do you want to report?"
"Wait a moment."
Meng Jingwei scurried back to the living room, retrieved the bottle of red wine from the wine cabinet, and said, "Here, it's this bottle of red wine. It's a gift from my godmother's grandson. He told me this bottle was only worth ten thousand yuan, but my friend just told me it's worth four million. I seriously suspect my godmother's grandson is trying to frame me."
"He's always been unhappy that godmother likes me more. He gave me a bottle of the world's only DRC, and said it was worth a hundred thousand. If he reports me to the police later for theft, I'll be in jail for the rest of my life. Officers, I am a law-abiding citizen."
She spoke volubly and eloquently.
However, her words failed to convince the police.
After all, the person who had reported the theft was the future heir of the prestigious Qing family in Lancheng, Qing Muye!