pjbooks 23. Unspoken Rules
23. Unspoken Rules
The two of them quietly finished their dinner at the table.
It was already 10 o'clock when a weather forecast popped up on his phone, reminding him that it would rain in ten minutes.
Gu Xinglan turned her head as if she had noticed something, and there were only a few waiters clearing the tables behind her.
"Sir, is there anything I can help you with?"
"Do you sell umbrellas here?" Gu Xinglan asked.
The waiter shook his head: "The hotel can provide you with a reservation service."
"Forget it."
The items he wants to order are definitely not something he can afford.
"I'll take you back." Meng Guanhe stood up and straightened his tie.
Gu Xinglan nodded quickly.
The original owner's rented house was too far from here, and the taxi fare would be a considerable expense.
"The production crew will be looking for you tomorrow, you don't need to come to work." Meng Guanhe handed his car keys to the waiter next to him.
The waiter saw the two overlapping "R" marks on the car key and carefully took it with both hands.
The piano music continued in the hall, and the pianist, who had been playing for an unknown amount of time, still stood ramrod straight.
As Gu Xinglan walked by, her eyes were filled with undisguised admiration.
In his chaotic past life, what he found most healing was the sound of the zither that rang out every night at ten o'clock.
He asked the owner of the instrument many times, but no one could tell him; some even thought he was crazy.
Because at 10 p.m., there was no piano music playing at the villa.
Gu Xinglan concealed the memories in her eyes.
Upon arriving at the hotel, a gust of wind rushed in through her collar, making Gu Xinglan shiver.
The originally loose sportswear was torn to shreds by the two Geng brothers, offering no protection against the cold wind.
Unfortunately, the sky was shrouded in fog, and the current gale seemed like the prelude to a downpour.
Gu Xinglan looked around but couldn't see Meng Guanhe anywhere.
He watched someone play the piano in the lobby for a while, and then the person disappeared without waiting for him at all.
Gu Xinglan sighed, gathered her clothes, and prepared to go to the bus stop.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a huge logo reflected in the hotel lights.
She was the internet celebrity who had asked him before if he wanted to film a short drama.
The two briefly met each other's eyes across a long staircase.
Suddenly, a warm sensation descended on her shoulder; Gu Xinglan was enveloped in a wave of men's cologne.
He immediately turned his head.
It is Meng Guanhe.
The person who had been nowhere to be seen suddenly appeared behind him and draped a dark blue suit jacket over his shoulders.
Without his jacket, Meng Guanghe's muscles were clearly visible through his white shirt.
Gu Xinglan's eyes held a strange look.
Then, Meng Guanhe went too far and put his hand on his waist.
Those eyes were incredibly gentle, a stark contrast to the bored look she had given him just moments before.
It felt like it was trying to meld him into his very bones.
Gu Xinglan looked away in fear.
"It's colder at night than in the morning, be careful not to catch a cold." Meng Guanhe's voice was magnetic.
He understood each word individually, but the combination was baffling. Gu Xinglan mentally prepared himself before forcing a polite smile: "Boss, what's this?"
"Get in the car first."
The hotel staff drove a black Rolls-Royce to the entrance.
The car paint shimmered and shone under the light, creating an indescribably beautiful effect.
Gu Xinglan was thus ushered to the car door.
The hand around his waist sometimes tightened and sometimes relaxed; was his waist made of putty?
When opening the car door, Meng Guanhe affectionately bent down to fasten his seatbelt.
After the two of them got into the car.
Gu Xinglan's face flushed, and she coughed, "Boss, who were you just now?"
The person in the driver's seat stared silently at the display screen on the back of the car, turning the steering wheel with his left hand and holding a cigarette between his right fingers. He said coldly, "Light me a lighter."
Gu Xinglan: ...
Was that all an act? Who were you putting on a show for so late at night?
The person in the driver's seat showed absolutely no intention of stopping the car or passing the cigarette butt to the back.
Gu Xinglan helplessly drooped her eyelids and could only unbuckle her seatbelt again, take out a lighter from the storage compartment in front of her, and kneel down to light the man's cigarette.
The image of the disdainful look on the face of the internet celebrity who had just been standing not far away, dressed in designer clothes, inexplicably popped into my mind.
"Dissatisfied?" Meng Guanhe raised his eyes.
Two lines of sight collided in the rearview mirror inside the car, and Gu Xinglan was the first to look away.
"I should be the one who's dissatisfied," Meng Guanhe muttered to himself as he drove his car onto the road, a cigarette dangling from his lips.
Gu Xinglan twitched her ears, her mind raced, and she automatically detected the change in the driver's seat's emotions.
Her professional instincts kicked in, and she immediately became gentle and mild-mannered. Gu Xinglan suppressed her dissatisfaction and said softly, "Boss, you must have your reasons for having such thoughts. Can you tell me why you are dissatisfied?"
The atmosphere inside the car became strange.
"Damn professional ethics," Gu Xinglan sighed inwardly, but could only grit her teeth and continue, "Maybe saying it will make you feel better?"
Receiving no answer, Gu Xinglan lowered her eyes and gripped the fabric on her knees with both hands.
The rearview mirror reflected a round head in the back seat, even the strands of hair exuding embarrassment.
Meng Guanhe glanced at it and then turned his gaze to the car window.
The car entered the intersection.
This is the busiest street in Wushui, where all the well-known international brands are gathered. With so many people and cars, the 90-second red light countdown feels incredibly long.
Meng Guanhe slowly released the accelerator and stepped on the brake, continuously pulling down the handbrake.
With his left hand lightly tapping the steering wheel, his thoughts drifted to the person in the back seat.
Can a person's personality undergo a drastic change within a few days?
He still remembers the image of that low-performing employee hitting him on the head with an ashtray.
"Why were you in that private room that night?" Meng Guanhe asked in a tone as casual as if he were talking about eating or drinking.
Private room?
System: [This system hasn't been active for a long time. Just wanted to remind you: On a dark and stormy night, inside a brightly lit building, a completely drunk person is throwing an ashtray at another completely drunk person.]
Gu Xinglan: ...Speak like a human being.
System: [The original owner only has fragmented memories of being forced to drink alcohol. This system can only provide a simple summary of the event: at the original owner's company party, the original owner thought the boss was trying to sexually harass her, so she smashed him with an ashtray.]
"I...I'm sorry?" Gu Xinglan's lips trembled, and a great panic welled up in her heart.
As soon as the system's electronic voice ended, gossip from my past life surfaced in my mind.
The Meng family had a heinous assassination case where the victim was hit on the back of the head by an ashtray, reportedly causing his brains to spill out.
He was also taken by Li Hetai to attend the funeral, but he was in a daze at the time and did not even know who had died.
But the timelines are different, so the incident is definitely not this one. However, I wonder if the person who died at the Meng family funeral is the same person who is driving now.
……
The person in the back seat felt extremely uncomfortable and kept glancing at his expression.
His face was pale and terrified, as if he had done something terribly wrong and was waiting to be punished.
Meng Guanhe, who was only sitting in the back seat, felt guilty.
"Where's your mouth? To speak."
System: [The system has detected that the character enhancement has had a negative impact on the host. This system can now offer you a credit service; choose any buff you like.]
"Lucky charm?"
System: [Cannot.]
"Um, are there any with fewer side effects?"
System: [Please describe in detail.]
How could he possibly describe that… Gu Xinglan blushed: “Isn’t an excessive body odor also a form of damage to the public environment?”
In a mere two seconds, Gu Xinglan, having nothing left to lose, defiantly said, under the gaze of the person in the driver's seat, "I thought you were trying to sexually harass...me that night?"