"Hiss..."
"Oh dear, what's wrong?" Madam Qing asked with concern.
To avoid worrying her, Meng Jingwei lied, saying she had fallen and cut her arm on a sharp stone.
Madam Qing was deeply distressed. She pulled Meng Jingwei to sit on the sofa and chat.
"You're a young lady, you need to be careful. It wouldn't be beautiful if you were left with a scar," Madam Qing patted her hand and said earnestly.
"Don't worry, Grandma. I'm fine," Meng Jingwei smiled.
Madam Qing chatted with Meng Jingwei about everyday matters, very casually.
"In a few days, Grandma will introduce you to someone."
"Who?"
"Mu Ye's seventh uncle. He'll be back from abroad in a few days. You two should get acquainted, after all, he's your seventh uncle."
Madam Qing mentioned the seventh son of the Qing family and added, "Old Qi isn't much older than Mu Ye, but he has a very sharp business mind. I'll consider letting you gain experience by his side then."
"Ah? By… by seventh… seventh uncle’s side for experience?" Meng Jingwei couldn't understand.
Feeling a bit thirsty, Meng Jingwei picked up a cup of lukewarm water from the table and took a sip.
Beside her, Madam Qing's voice sounded again, "Old Qi is steady, handsome, and still single. Although you can't be with Mu Ye, I want to introduce you to Old Qi."
"Pfft… cough, cough, cough…"
Meng Jingwei, who was drinking water, was so startled by Madam Qing's words that she spat out the water she was drinking and started coughing.
Madam Qing immediately grabbed several tissues for her and murmured, "You're so grown up, and you still choke when you drink water."
"Cough, cough, cough… I… cough… I’m fine, I’m fine."
Meng Jingwei wiped her mouth with the tissues, waving her hands repeatedly. "I’m fine. Grandma, what were you saying?"
"I told you before that I wanted to introduce you to a good match. Old Qi is back, so it's perfect timing to introduce you two."
Madam Qing was introducing her to Meng Jingwei.
At this point, Meng Jingwei truly understood Madam Qing's intention.
She figured Madam Qing liked her quite a bit, and even though she couldn't be with the engaged Qing Mu Ye, it didn't stop her from having a "blind date" with the Qing family's seventh son!
If this worked out, she would be Qing Mu Ye's… aunt?
My goodness, isn't this a bit too hasty?
"Grandma, no, no. How could I be worthy? Let's forget about it."
Meng Jingwei refused decisively.
"Forget about what? If Grandma says it's okay, it's okay. This matter is settled for now."
Madam Qing didn't give Meng Jingwei any chance to refuse, directly finalizing the matter.
Although Meng Jingwei felt a bit helpless, she didn't say anything further.
Meng Jingwei spent the entire day with Madam Qing, but Qing Mu Ye didn't appear again.
It wasn't until after dinner that Song Ci drove Meng Jingwei back to her apartment at the Night Scene Club.
After getting out of the car, Meng Jingwei called her adoptive parents in the underground parking lot. After inquiring, she was relieved to know they were safe.
Upon returning to the apartment, Qing Mu Ye wasn't there.
He didn't come back that night.
Meng Jingwei still slept very late. The next day, she got up early, washed up, changed her clothes, and went downstairs to eat.
By ten o'clock in the morning, she went to the pawn shop.
"Hello, I want to pawn something."
Meng Jingwei handed a ring to the pawn shop attendant.
The man behind the counter took the ring, looking at it, and asked, "Do you have the receipt for buying the ring?"
"No."
"This ring looks new, why do you want to pawn it?"
"Of course… I'm broke."
Meng Jingwei felt that the pawn shop attendant was asking pointless questions. She looked at the man and asked, "How much can this ring sell for?"
"Where did you get the ring?"
"A friend gave it to me."
"How much did it cost?"
The other party asked again.
Meng Jingwei knew their tactics. She knew that once she stated the price, they would bargain it down. So, she found an excuse and said, "The ring was a gift from someone else, how would I know? But if you look closely, it has my name engraved on it."
The other party took the ring and looked at it with a magnifying glass. He frowned and said, "Please wait a moment, I'll get the boss to take a look."
Then, the man went inside.
Not long after, the pawn shop owner came over and asked again, "Miss, are you sure this ring belongs to you?"
"Aren't you stating the obvious?"
She directly slapped her ID card onto the counter and pointed to her name, saying, "See? Meng Jingwei, this is my ID! Are you buying it or not? If not, I'm leaving."
"Hehehe, yes, yes, yes, we'll buy it."
The owner took one look and confirmed it was her ring. He smiled and extended his right hand, opening five fingers, "This much for you."
Five thousand?
"Only this little? Boss, are you trying to rip me off? Don't take me for a fool!"
"This… hehehe, well, how much do you want then?" the other party asked.
Meng Jingwei thought for a moment, "You should at least give me a round number."
"This… hahaha, alright, alright, a round number it is. You're a straightforward lady. Old Mo, go get a hundred thousand yuan." the proprietor said.
"What? A hun… "
A hundred thousand?
Meng Jingwei froze on the spot.
Her round number was ten thousand, but the other party offered a hundred thousand.
Meng Jingwei suddenly felt something was wrong, wondering if the ring was very expensive.
Both people at the pawn shop had examined the ring, so there shouldn't be any problems.
Finally, Meng Jingwei said, "Forget it, boss, I'm not selling it anymore. Please give it back to me."
She asked the owner to return her belongings and took the ring to Xiao Cheng's Junlin Company.
In the president's office, Meng Jingwei pushed the door open and saw Xiao Cheng engrossed in his work. "Hey, Second Brother, I'm back."
She knocked on the door and called out.
Xiao Cheng looked up, saw Meng Jingwei, and stood up. "Xiao Wei Wei, when did you get back?"
"Uh… today, I just got back today."
Meng Jingwei was afraid that if she said she returned yesterday, Xiao Cheng would question why she hadn't called him.
"I was planning to handle the last bit of business and pick you up from the hospital, but I didn't expect you to come back on your own." Xiao Cheng walked up to her, lifted her right hand, and asked, "How are you feeling?"
"I'm very good, just a little bit of pain left."
Meng Jingwei smiled, then took the ring out of her pocket. "Here, I'm returning this to you."
Seeing the ring she held, Xiao Cheng's brow furrowed. "Didn't you say you were going to sell it? Why are you returning it to me now?"
Meng Jingwei looked down at the ring in her hand, which sparkled like stars. After a moment's hesitation, she came up with an excuse. "It just didn't sell. My name is engraved on it, and I went to a pawn shop, but they didn't want it."
Meng Jingwei didn't want to accept such a valuable item, so she stuffed the ring into Xiao Cheng's hand.
Xiao Cheng looked down at the ring in his hand, mused for a moment, and put it away. "Since they didn't want it, I'll keep it then."
He pulled open a drawer and casually tossed the ring inside, feigning an indifferent demeanor.