The three brothers’ gazes immediately fell upon Qing Muye. They saw the man standing ramrod straight, one hand resting on the table, the other, bandaged, clutching chopsticks. With a crisp *snap*, the chopsticks broke, sending them into a stunned silence, afraid to even breathe.
Meng Jingwei, however, acted as if she hadn't noticed anything. “Oh dear, Qing Muye, how did your chopsticks break? Tsk, tsk, this Yipin Pavilion is just terrible, utterly useless. A pair of chopsticks, perfectly fine, how could they just snap like that.”
As she spoke, she took the broken chopsticks from Qing Muye’s hand and tossed them into the trash can.
Then, she picked up a fresh pair of chopsticks from the table and handed them to him. “These are good ones. Hurry and eat, or you’ll starve later, and where will I get my free lunch?”
Her words were brazen, deliberately meant to provoke Qing Muye.
The other three glanced at Meng Jingwei, then at Qing Muye, feeling that Meng Jingwei was exceptionally unrestrained. Yet, the man who was usually stern and unsmiling kept indulging her.
It was like Zhou Yu fighting Huang Gai, one willing to strike, the other willing to be beaten.
Qing Muye put down his chopsticks, his appetite vanished.
When he didn’t touch his food, the other three also silently put down their chopsticks, remaining quiet.
Meng Jingwei, eating heartily, chewed her food and looked at them with confusion. “Why aren’t you all eating? Do you think Yipin Pavilion’s food is too bad?”
“Not hungry, hahaha, no appetite.”
“Mm, same as Lao Han, no appetite.”
“I ate too much at noon, I’m too full.”
…
The men offered perfunctory excuses.
Meng Jingwei held her chopsticks, picked up a soup dumpling, and took a bite, sucking on the broth. She tilted her head, gazing at Qing Muye, who remained as still as a sculpture of ice, her clear eyes filled with a complex emotion.
No appetite?
Since they truly had no appetite, she would just eat alone.
Thus, Meng Jingwei became a one-woman eating show, enjoying the feast by herself, her mood exceptionally joyful.
When people are hungry, their mood sours, but after eating their fill, their mood is somewhat relieved.
Only after she had eaten half of the dishes under their watchful eyes did she put down her chopsticks, pull out a tissue to wipe her mouth, and let out a rather ungraceful belch.
“Burp~”
The awkward sound echoed in the ward. She gave an embarrassed smile, “Sorry, I ate too much.”
The men’s surprised gazes swept over Meng Jingwei, and then they collectively turned to look at Qing Muye.
It was as if they were saying: The woman you like is truly different.
So rugged~~
So savage~~
So… intense~~
They had seen plenty of typical dignified and elegant women, and clearly favored this kind of ‘fresh and refined’ type.
Sensing the peculiar glances from his brothers, Qing Muye shot them a cold glare, a hint of warning in his eyes, scaring them into looking down at their phones, lowering their presence.
Having eaten her fill, Meng Jingwei stood up and looked at the table laden with leftovers, feeling a bit of regret. “Look at you all, such spendthrifts. The country advocates thrift and diligence, and you’re wasting food like this. Aren’t you afraid of being struck by lightning?”
The pot fell on their heads without them even sitting near it.
Lu Yanming looked innocent. “I already said I wasn’t hungry.”
Han Yu rubbed his nose. “I’m a vegetarian.”
Tang Si glanced at Lu Yanming and Han Yu, his gaze mournful, as if to say: You’ve said it all, what else can I say?
His mind raced, and he finally said, “Now that you mention it, I am a bit hungry. Perfect timing to eat something.”
However, as soon as he finished speaking, three voices chimed in unison…
“Finished!”
Qing Muye, Han Yu, and Lu Yanming commanded, looking at him with ‘entrusted responsibility’.
Meng Jingwei nodded in full agreement. “Xiao Si, look at you, you’re so skinny, just skin and bones. I bet you’re the least favored one in those wealthy families from the novels. Your parents dote on your brother, don’t love you, and mistreat you, starving you into this state, right?”
She automatically conjured up scenes from those melodramatic CEO novels she’d read, where there’s always an unloved, pitiful character.
Tang Si’s mouth twitched. “Heh heh, Little Pepper, you can really imagine things. With your talent, it’s a shame you don’t work at a marketing company.”
“Going to a place like that would be using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.”
She knew Tang Si was teasing her, but she just smiled. “Hurry and eat. Don’t waste anything. I ate a bit too much, I’m going to take a walk.”
With that, Meng Jingwei rubbed her distended stomach and walked out of the ward, intending to stroll outside.
Seeing her leave, Tang Si slammed his chopsticks onto the table. “Big Brother, Second Brother, Lao Han, are you guys going too far?”
“What does it have to do with us? It’s Meng Jingwei who’s bullying you.”
“Mm, Big Brother is right.”
“A’wei told you to eat, it’s for your own good.”
The last sentence was spoken by Qing Muye. After he finished, his eyes, the depths of which were inscrutable, fixed on Tang Si for a moment. The complex gaze sent shivers down Tang Si’s spine.
“Ahem, Second Brother, don’t look at me like that. I’m really not interested in women like Little Pepper, truly, truly.”
As a man, his intuition was sharp.
With just one glance, he knew what Qing Muye was thinking.
Tang Si explained with extreme self-preservation.
“Eat.”
Qing Muye withdrew his gaze, picked up his chopsticks, and, completely unbothered by the leftover food on the table, began to eat.
This action utterly shattered the three brothers’ worldview.
They knew the Qing Muye they knew was extremely germaphobic and would never eat anyone else’s leftovers, yet he had made an exception for Meng Jingwei.
Meanwhile, Meng Jingwei was strolling down the corridor. Feeling bored at the end, she decided to head down the stairwell.
As she walked, she descended four floors.
At this point, she heard voices from the stairwell one floor below…
“Junlin Company has already been acquired by your brother. You will return to work at Xiao’s directly after you are discharged!”
The deep, resonant voice belonged to Xiao Cheng’s father, Xiao Qitian. Meng Jingwei recognized it immediately.
“On what grounds?”
Xiao Cheng, leaning against the wall, erupted in anger. “Junlin Company is a company I built myself. On what grounds do you say you’ve acquired it? Xiao Qitian, do you think just because you’re my father, you can do whatever you want?”
“What kind of company is that? Its annual revenue is only tens of millions. It’s just a small-scale operation. Do you plan to be mediocre your entire life? You’ve completely disgraced my name, Xiao Qitian!”
“If you think I’m a disgrace, then you can announce to the world that you are severing your father-son relationship with me, Xiao Cheng.” He sneered. “Isn’t that what you’ve always wanted?”
“You shut your mouth!”
Xiao Qitian roared. “Do you think I *want* to manage you? If it weren’t for your deceased mother’s sake, I wouldn’t bother with a scoundrel like you!”
“I, Xiao Cheng, have hands and feet. I don’t need you to manage me.”
“You can’t even protect your own sister. What good are hands and feet? You’re a useless piece of trash! You caused trouble with your own actions and even implicated your sister, causing her legs to be injured by the Qing family. What face do you have to keep living!”