Meng Jingwei shrugged helplessly, "I'm tens of thousands in debt, so treating you to this meal is already the best I can offer."
It was only because her adoptive parents repeatedly asked her to treat Qing Muye to a meal that she would. Every cent spent on Qing Muye felt like a waste!
"Perhaps, you could consider working off your debt with your body."
Qing Muye sat opposite Meng Jingwei, legs crossed, leaning back against the booth, a cold smile on his thin lips.
Meng Jingwei glanced at him with cool eyes and handed him the menu, "Lord Qing, order quickly, eat quickly. I have other things to attend to."
Qing Muye didn't even look at the menu and gestured to the waiter.
The waiter approached and asked politely, "What would the two of you like to order?"
"The most expensive single person set meal, fifty portions."
The man said to the waiter in a relaxed tone.
Hearing his words, Meng Jingwei immediately got angry, "Fifty portions? Do you plan to bury them with you?" Even he couldn't eat that much.
"The hospital experts are attending to your father's illness. One set meal each is hardly excessive."
Qing Muye was determined to extort Meng Jingwei. His words were so seamless that even Meng Jingwei couldn't fault them.
"How much is the most expensive single person set meal?" she asked in exasperation.
"Our most expensive single person set meal is 288 yuan per portion."
"288?"
Fifty portions would be over fourteen thousand yuan. Meng Jingwei felt a surge of anger, but she didn't dare offend Qing Muye. After all, she was dealing with a man of immense power. If she displeased him, the medical fees at Shengde Hospital could easily be ten times higher.
She took a sip of the plain water on the table to calm herself before asking, "Do you offer discounts for members?"
"This set meal does not qualify for any discounts."
"Go ahead and prepare it. And bring me another pot of hot water."
Meng Jingwei had no appetite and just wanted a pot of plain water to cool her temper.
A moment later, the waiter came to Meng Jingwei, stating that since she had placed a large order, she had to pay before the food was served. Tears welling up, she paid over ten thousand yuan.
Holding the receipt, Meng Jingwei walked up to Qing Muye and said, as calmly as she could, "Lord Qing, dinner has been served. Please enjoy, I'll be leaving now."
With that, she turned and left.
"Try walking out."
Qing Muye calmly sipped his plain water. His single sentence immediately dispelled Meng Jingwei's intention to leave.
"You..." You rascal!
Meng Jingwei, unable to quell her anger, sat opposite him and fiddled with her phone. Just then, Qing Muye's phone rang. She heard him say, "Xuanmei Western Restaurant, Liji Road, hmm." Meng Jingwei wasn't paying attention and didn't think anything of it.
As she scrolled through her phone, she suddenly saw news about a "heavy reward for pregnancy" scam. The young woman had a flash of inspiration, glanced at Qing Muye sitting opposite her, and a plan formed in her mind.
They sat in silence for half an hour, until the arrival of a third person broke the tense atmosphere.
"Brother Muye, what are you doing at this kind of place... Meng Jingwei?"
As Qing Muye's fiancée, Li Yun'er had called to invite Qing Muye for dinner, and he had mentioned he was in the vicinity. Upon entering the ordinary Western restaurant, Li Yun'er even thought Qing Muye had given her the wrong address. Who knew how furious and jealous she was when she walked in and saw Meng Jingwei sitting opposite Qing Muye!
Meng Jingwei tilted her head, looking at Li Yun'er, who was dressed in a princess gown, lightly made up, and possessed an elegant demeanor. She felt an intense disgust. She even wondered if she would one day hate herself when she looked in the mirror, given her current aversion to Li Yun'er.
"Sit." Qing Muye gestured to the seat beside him.
Li Yun'er smiled gently and walked over to sit next to Qing Muye, "Brother Muye, why are you with Jingwei?"
"She invited me for dinner and specifically asked you to come." Qing Muye was telling a blatant lie. However, in Li Yun'er's ears, it took on a different meaning. That is, Meng Jingwei was deliberately trying to seduce Qing Muye, but since Qing Muye was engaged to her, he had called her over.
"Why did Jingwei suddenly think of inviting us for dinner?" she asked, a proper smile curving her red lips.
Meng Jingwei disdained to play pretense and stood up, "I'm going to the restroom." When she came out of the restroom, she bumped into Li Yun'er at the public sink. To be precise, Li Yun'er was waiting for her.
She turned on the tap to wash her hands and, through the mirror, saw Li Yun'er standing behind her, "If you have something to say, say it."
"Meng Jingwei, do you still have the face to say what you've done?" Li Yun'er grabbed her and said angrily, "Brother Muye and I are already engaged. Please don't shamelessly act like a homewrecker and seduce him, okay?"
"What did you say? Say that again?" Meng Jingwei stood in front of her, feigning composure and asking.
"If you're not a homewrecker, what are you? Don't think I don't know that you've despicably climbed into Brother Muye's bed and are carrying his child!" Facing Meng Jingwei, Li Yun'er could not remain calm. Perhaps it was because Meng Jingwei had a face identical to hers that made her feel insecure from the bottom of her heart, leading to her loss of control.
"Very good." Meng Jingwei laughed instead of getting angry.
"What are you laughing at? You want to hit me? I'm telling you, Brother Muye is outside. If you dare to hit me... Ah...!" Before Li Yun'er could finish speaking, Meng Jingwei, gathering her strength, slapped her hard across the face, "Stop treating everyone like an idiot every day. The Hilton incident, you think I don't know? I just didn't want to bother with you."
With the slap, Li Yun'er swayed to the side, her head hitting the sharp corner of the wall with a cry.
"Ouch, why are you hitting her?"
"What's going on?"
"Ouch, her head is bleeding, call an ambulance quickly."
...
It was peak dinner time, and the restaurant was quite crowded. Seeing this scene, the onlookers pointed fingers at Meng Jingwei and some even cursed her. Soon, the commotion attracted Qing Muye.
"What's going on?" The man pushed through the crowd, glanced at Li Yun'er, who was sitting on the ground with half her face bloody, and shot a cold gaze at Meng Jingwei, "What did you do?"
Meng Jingwei, whose anger had been suppressed for a long time, could no longer bear it. She sneered, "Can't you see what I did? When you send your fiancée to the hospital later, remember to also get your eyes checked and see how to treat poor eyesight!"
"Wuwu... Brother Muye..." Li Yun'er got up, pulled Qing Muye, and threw herself into his arms, sobbing, "Wuwu... I just reminded her not to linger too long and to go back to the hospital to see her hospitalized parents, who knew she would hit me, wuwu..."
"Tsk tsk tsk, her parents are hospitalized, and she's still out having fun."
"Unfilial daughter."
"Alas, it's a sin from a past life to have such an ungrateful child."
"Yes, yes."
"She's not only ugly but also malicious."
...
The crowd was in an uproar, whispering amongst themselves. But because they were so close, their words reached Meng Jingwei's ears word for word. However, she was already accustomed to the ignorant gossip of the crowd and naturally paid them no mind.
"If anything happens to her, I will make you pay!" Qing Muye bent down, scooped Li Yun'er into a bridal carry, and strode out of the crowd, leaving the restaurant and heading straight for the hospital.