News that Meng Yan had spent seven million at an auction to buy a pink diamond spread through the circle.
“Second Young Master Zhao is really willing to spend that much money on a pink diamond for her?”
“That’s strange. She bought the pink diamond, so why haven’t we seen her showing it off? Such a perfect chance to flaunt their love.”
“Exactly. Why has there been no movement since she came back from America? That doesn’t fit someone’s style.”
“Could they have had a fight?”
“That pink diamond isn’t worth seven million dollars at all. I think she’s just putting on airs.”
“Isn’t that the truth? She doesn’t have much ability herself, but she cares so much about saving face.”
Meng Yan had indeed been severely scolded by Meng Zhenhua.
That day on the ship, she had gone to Zhao Yunrui to make peace. No matter what she said, he was only willing to help her pay half the money. Forced into a corner, Meng Yan could only temporarily misappropriate funds from the company’s foundation.
Naturally, this matter could not be hidden from Meng Zhenhua, and it sent him into a towering rage.
“I put you in charge of the foundation to build up your image, not so you could embezzle public funds!”
“Was this diamond something you absolutely had to buy? You’re already twenty-four, not fourteen. Can’t you use your brain a little?”
“Do you not have enough jewelry at home? Every year on your birthday, I let you pick one piece yourself. Yaoyao has never received treatment like that, and you’re still not satisfied!”
“I heard you even fought with Zhao Yunrui. If you ruin this marriage, I’ll match Yaoyao with Zhao Hesong. See for yourself what you want to do!”
Meng Yan had never seen him this furious before. She stood there, not daring to make a sound, her fingertips clenched tightly.
Meng Shuyao absolutely could not be with the eldest young master of the Zhao family. What right did an illegitimate daughter have to climb over her head?
Meng Zhenhua was so angry he kicked over the trash can by his feet.
Lin Peilan hurried over to soothe him. “Calm down. The doctor said you need to take care of your health and not get too emotional.”
Meng Zhenhua’s expression was dark. “Sooner or later, they’ll anger me to death.”
Lin Peilan patted his back. “Don’t say things like that. Zihao and I can’t be without you.”
Meng Zhenhua sat down and steadied his breathing.
Lin Peilan poured him a glass of water and took the opportunity to say, “It’s not that I want to criticize you, Yanyan, but you really shouldn’t have done this. Your father is already exhausted from worrying about the company every day. You should let him have some peace of mind.”
Those words were clearly meant to fan the flames.
Disgust flashed through Meng Yan’s eyes, but she could only lower her voice and show weakness. “Dad, I know I was wrong.”
“What use is knowing you were wrong now? How are you going to make up the more than twenty million?” Lin Peilan thought for a moment. “In my opinion, why not sell that pink diamond? Isn’t it the same if you switch to a cheaper diamond ring? That would solve two problems at once.”
“No.” Meng Yan blurted it out.
Lin Peilan frowned. “Why not?”
Meng Yan said, “If I resell it now and people find out, it’ll be the Meng family’s face that gets lost too.”
She would definitely be ridiculed by everyone in the circle.
“So you know it’s humiliating!” Meng Zhenhua could no longer suppress his temper. Furious beyond control, he said, “I’ll help you make up the funds, but from now on, I won’t give you another cent. You’d better take care of yourself. If there’s a next time, don’t bother coming back to this family!”
Meng Yan’s fingertips trembled as she gripped the corner of her clothes tightly.
-
May was the busiest time at school. It was the month when courses ended, and assignments and exams piled up.
Meng Shuyao only occasionally sent Pei Yuzhou messages to make her presence known. They were nothing more than asking whether he had eaten or whether he was busy with work.
Unfortunately, the man on the other end was too aloof. If he could reply with one word, he would never use two.
She scrolled through their chat records from the past few days. They were so simple they could not be any simpler.
Meng Shuyao: “Good morning, Mr. Pei.”
Pei Yuzhou: “Mm.”
Meng Shuyao: “What is Mr. Pei doing?”
Pei Yuzhou: “Busy.”
Meng Shuyao: “Have you had dinner?”
Pei Yuzhou: “No.”
Meng Shuyao: “Are you still not done?”
Pei Yuzhou: “Mm.”
Meng Shuyao: “When will you come to Chicago next time?”
Pei Yuzhou: “Depends on work.”
Meng Shuyao: “All right, then remember to rest. Don’t tire yourself out too much.”
Pei Yuzhou: “Mm.”
Over three days, he had replied with a total of eight characters.
Later, Meng Shuyao really could not hold back and asked him, “Is your input method broken?”
Pei Yuzhou: “?”
Meng Shuyao: “Can it only type three characters or fewer?”
Pei Yuzhou: “What do you want to say?”
Meng Shuyao lay on the bed, her chin resting on her pillow. After thinking for a moment, she typed two lines.
“I want to hear you speak.”
“And I want to see you.”
Pei Yuzhou: “Keep wanting.”
Meng Shuyao silently put down her phone and let out a long sigh.
He couldn’t be flirted with at all.
A knock on the door suddenly sounded.
“Yaoyao!”
It was Winnie’s voice.
Meng Shuyao got up from the bed and went to open the door. “What’s wrong?”
Winnie anxiously showed her the phone. “Yaoyao, someone on the school forum is spreading rumors that you’re being kept by a rich man.”
Meng Shuyao was completely confused.
Someone had taken a photo of her getting out of a Cullinan and posted it anonymously: “Pure and innocent department beauty being picked up and dropped off by a luxury car worth tens of millions, suspected to be in a relationship.”
There were hundreds of comments below, and quite a few were maliciously steering the narrative.
“Isn’t this Elara, the talented girl from the art department? She has a boyfriend?”
“Looks like he’s a top-tier tycoon.”
“For a luxury car of this level, the owner has to be at least fifty or sixty, right?”
“If that’s the case, he might not be her boyfriend. He might be her lover.”
“No wonder no one can win her over. So she likes men who drive Cullinans.”
“Pure and innocent is just a persona.”
Winnie was indignant. “What a load of nonsense. They’re making things up out of thin air. Just because they have mouths, they start spreading filthy rumors about a girl. Isn’t that disgusting?”
“Can we contact an administrator to delete the post?” Meng Shuyao usually did not browse the forum, and her social circle at school was simple. She had never imagined that she would become the subject of other people’s speculation and gossip.
“I’ve already reported it. Let’s see how they handle it tomorrow.” Winnie complained, “These people really have nothing better to do. What does it have to do with them? Every single one of them is acting like their pride got hurt.”
Meng Shuyao did not pay it any attention, nor did she want to prove herself.
She thought the matter would die down after a few days, but reporting it was useless, and the post could not be deleted.
At this time, something happened to Mia as well. She beat up two men, and the other party called the police and had her taken to the station.
Meng Shuyao and Winnie rushed over at once to find out what was going on.
The officer said she had used a beer bottle to injure someone’s arm. It counted as intentional assault, and the circumstances were serious.
Meng Shuyao asked, “Can we see her first? We want to understand what happened.”
Although Mia had a rather impulsive personality, she was definitely not someone who would randomly attack others.
The officer flatly refused. “We haven’t finished questioning her yet. You can’t see her.”
Winnie could not understand. “Why can’t we see her? You’ve already had her in there for half a day. We should at least have the right to know what’s going on.”
The other party’s face was stern, his tone impatient. “It’s not your place to question how we police handle matters.”
“But…”
Meng Shuyao stopped Winnie in time and gently shook her head.
There was no benefit in clashing head-on with the police.
Winnie had no choice but to give up.
After leaving the station, she still could not swallow her anger. “What kind of police are they? Their attitude is terrible, and they’re not following normal procedure. Nothing’s going to happen to Mia in there, is it?”
Meng Shuyao was worried too. “Let’s find someone and ask what happened first.”