"Hahaha, as expected of my little Weiwei, so smart, you guessed it was me right away. Tell me, with you being so smart, what am I supposed to do?"
The words were spoken with a laugh, but Meng Jingwei could feel a chilling, sinister aura even through the phone.
"Speak your mind. I don't like beating around the bush."
Knowing the other party's identity, Meng Jingwei wasn't particularly surprised.
Ever since Xiao Cheng had made a move on her last time and was beaten soundly by the elder Chen Tou who rushed over, she knew Xiao Cheng would seek revenge.
It was only a matter of time.
What was bound to come had finally arrived.
"I'll give you an address, come over, let's meet." Xiao Cheng said to her calmly. After speaking, he added, "You must come alone. If Qing Muye finds out, I'll kill Lin Meng!"
"Okay. I agree."
Meng Jingwei agreed to his terms without hesitation.
"So straightforward. I like Weiwei's straightforward nature, too bad... too bad you're not my woman." Xiao Cheng sighed again.
For some reason, when Meng Jingwei heard Xiao Cheng say this, her heart sank, and a wave of inexplicable sadness washed over her.
When she first met Xiao Cheng, he was a spoiled rich kid, disliked by the Xiao family.
Later, during their interactions, she found Xiao Cheng to be a good person.
But who knew that in just one year, so much could change between them.
She could only sigh at the unpredictable nature of life.
After hanging up the phone, Meng Jingwei returned to the ward and told Shi Ran, "Lin Meng had something sudden come up and went back to her hometown. I'm counting on you to look after the little one here. But, if you have something to do, you can go. The child is in the ICU, and the nurses are watching. Don't worry too much."
"Oh, I see, that's good. You scared me to death," Shi Ran trusted Meng Jingwei completely and didn't suspect anything after hearing her say that.
After briefing Shi Ran, Meng Jingwei immediately left the hospital and took a taxi back to her apartment.
But as she arrived at the entrance of her apartment, she was surprised to see Qing Muye's car parked outside.
Meng Jingwei's eyebrows furrowed slightly as she looked at the man leaning against the car door, smoking with his head down.
His silhouette inexplicably caused a sharp pain in her chest.
She didn't know when Qing Muye had arrived, but from a distance, she could see a pile of cigarette butts at his feet, indicating he had likely been there for a long time.
Meng Jingwei clutched her phone, feeling very uneasy.
In the end, she turned and left.
Although she was with Qing Muye, she didn't want to rely on him for everything; it would make her seem like an idiot, dependent on a man, and unable to show any of her own value.
On the roadside, Meng Jingwei hailed another taxi and headed directly to the location Xiao Cheng had arranged.
She had originally planned to drive her own car, but with Qing Muye there, driving her car would have alerted him.
Upon arriving at the destination, Meng Jingwei called Xiao Cheng, "Where are you?"
The taxi driver glanced around. "Miss, are you sure your friend is here? It's a desolate place, you need to be careful."
On the other end of the line, Xiao Cheng chuckled. "Did you come alone? Why did you take a taxi, you wouldn't have called the police, would you?"
"No!"
"Go a kilometer south."
"Okay." Meng Jingwei replied and said to the taxi driver, "Master, drive another kilometer south."
The car slowly drove off and soon arrived at a cluster of abandoned buildings.
There were five tall buildings, each dozens of stories high, all unfinished, without even exterior walls painted.
Meng Jingwei got out of the car and left.
She continued to speak with Xiao Cheng on the phone as she made her way to the destination.
Following Xiao Cheng's instructions, she went to the 33rd floor of the last abandoned building.
Panting, she climbed up and saw Xiao Cheng sitting by the window from afar. Lin Meng was tied to a chair, her mouth taped shut, completely unable to speak.
Meng Jingwei had always been in good physical condition, but after being tossed around by Qing Muye, her strength hadn't fully recovered.
Even climbing the stairs left her breathless.
She looked at Xiao Cheng. He used to be handsome and well-dressed, but now he was casually wearing a trench coat, covered in the white dust of the unfinished building, completely unfazed.
On his handsome face, there was a clear, hideous scar from where she had cut him that day.
Meng Jingwei knew that Elder Chen Tou had dislocated his arm and broken his leg that day.
But how had he managed to get to the 33rd floor now?
He must have had accomplices.
Meng Jingwei's mind raced, but she maintained a calm facade and stood aside, looking at Xiao Cheng. "Long time no see."
If their relationship were still as close as before, she would have said, "Happy New Year!" and given him a hug.
But now, that was impossible.
"Yes, long time no see. It's been over a year, so it's indeed been a long time."
Xiao Cheng sat sideways by the window, which lacked glass, making it incredibly dangerous to fall.
But he sat there leisurely, smoking, exhaling rings of smoke, lost in thought.
"Let Lin Meng go, she's innocent. I can be your hostage."
In fact, Meng Jingwei knew very well what Xiao Cheng wanted her to do today.
Because...
By offending her, Xiao Cheng had also offended Qing Muye, and Qing Muye had been relentlessly suppressing the Xiao Group.
The Xiao Group had recently encountered cash flow difficulties. Many small factories had been sold off or mortgaged.
However, the financial deficit still couldn't be covered.
Banks, sensing Xiao's financial crisis, were unwilling to grant further loans to the Xiao family.
The Xiao family was on the verge of collapse.
If he hadn't been driven to desperation, Xiao Cheng wouldn't have resorted to such extreme measures!
"Let her go?"
Xiao Cheng frowned. "Let her leave, and then she can go and tip someone off?"
"If I really wanted to tip someone off, I would have contacted the police before coming here. Would I have waited until now?" Meng Jingwei scoffed. "From the day I met you, I have been completely honest with you. Don't you believe that?"
"Completely honest?"
Xiao Cheng, looking out the window, slowly turned his head, his gaze falling on Meng Jingwei. "Is that so? When you were sleeping in Qing Muye's bed, were you also honest with me?"
This...
Meng Jingwei had no reply.
It was true.
Initially, at Qing Muye and Li Yun'er's engagement banquet, she was taken to the lounge by Qing Muye, and they ended up having relations.
At that time, Xiao Cheng had called, questioning what she was doing.
Meng Jingwei had not told him the truth.
"Are you trying to twist words?"
Anyone with a normal mind wouldn't bring up such things in the open.
As they spoke face-to-face, they seemed to treat Lin Meng, who was beside them, as if she were invisible.
"You were the one who talked about honesty with me."
Xiao Cheng threw away his cigarette, stubbed it out with his leather shoe, and then pointed at his leg. "This leg is all thanks to you."