Chapter 14 (2/2): Meng Chu’s Reckoning
Meng Chu had only seen Cheng Jinyu in news reports before, never in person.
Seeing him suddenly now was utterly shocking.
Cheng Jinyu, who had been standing silently at the doorway observing Meng Chu, finally spoke softly: “Meng Chu.”
He knew her name?
Meng Chu was slightly surprised, then immediately realized he probably knew more about this blind date arrangement than she did.
Composing herself, she politely invited, “Please come in.”
Cheng Jinyu looked down at her intently, making Meng Chu slightly uneasy under his gaze.
He was really too tall.
Standing opposite him, she estimated he was a good twenty centimeters taller than her.
Definitely over 185cm.
“Oh, slippers,” Meng Chu suddenly remembered.
Since Xue Yi often had guests over, she kept plenty of spare slippers at home.
Meng Chu found him a brand new, unworn pair.
After he changed shoes and entered,
Meng Chu asked, “What would you like to drink?”
At her hostess-like demeanor, Cheng Jinyu finally asked, “Is this your home?”
Meng Chu raised an eyebrow.
With patience, she said, “This is Professor Wen Chengdong’s place.”
Cheng Jinyu nodded slightly, seeming to confirm he hadn’t come to the wrong place.
Meng Chu had initially felt somewhat nervous.
But upon realizing it was Cheng Jinyu, she completely relaxed instead.
This should just be a formality.
“Would you like some water?”
Meng Chu took a bottle of mineral water from the refrigerator.
Fortunately, Xue Yi always prioritized quality of life—the mineral water at home was imported.
It shouldn’t be considered mistreating this CEO.
Having no ulterior motives toward Cheng Jinyu, Meng Chu naturally felt at ease.
But when Cheng Jinyu lightly twisted the bottle cap without opening it to drink, instead turning to look at Meng Chu and suddenly saying, “You…”
He seemed to have something to say but hesitated.
Seeing him so hesitant, Meng Chu considerately said, “It’s alright, don’t be nervous.”
Cheng Jinyu raised an eyebrow, his usually aloof and cold demeanor gaining a touch of liveliness.
Meng Chu said, “Let’s sit for a while, then we can each go home. If you’re really in a hurry, you can leave now. Later, you can just say you didn’t take a liking to me.”
After she finished speaking, the man who had already been sitting on the sofa suddenly looked up, staring straight at her.
Seeing him like this, Meng Chu thought she might have said something wrong.
She could only patiently explain, “Blind dates are inherently a process of mutual selection.”
“Blind date?”
He softly repeated the words.
Meng Chu thought, just as expected.
He probably knew nothing about this besides her name.
But the next moment, she heard him speak again.
“How do you know I don’t need it?”
Meng Chu: “…”
In the silence between them, Cheng Jinyu said coolly, “Isn’t this a blind date? Why is it ending before it’s even begun?”
Meng Chu: “…”
If it had been anyone else today, Meng Chu might have actually started.
But sitting before her was Cheng Jinyu.
The publicly acknowledged golden boy.
Her intentions for the blind date weren’t pure-how could someone like him possibly agree?
“If we’re not going to have a blind date, perhaps we should first openly discuss our expectations for a partner.”
Suddenly, Cheng Jinyu looked at her and spoke again.
Why was he testing her now?
Meng Chu felt today’s events were somewhat absurd.
But he continued to look at her straightforwardly, as if genuinely waiting for her answer.
Meng Chu was a stubborn person by nature.
As the saying goes, she couldn’t stand being provoked.
Fine, since it’s a blind date anyway, she might as well speak her mind.
Seeing he showed no intention of speaking first, Meng Chu thought for a moment and said,
“You already know my name is Meng Chu. ‘Chu’ means ‘first,’ commemorating that my parents were each other’s first love. Unfortunately, that love didn’t last a lifetime. My father had an affair when I was in middle school-the other woman was pregnant with his child, and my mother chose to divorce.”
“For me, marriage isn’t important. I don’t believe in it, but I don’t reject it either. However, my mother firmly holds the belief that marriage is still preferable. She’s even become so anxious about it that it’s affecting her health. So whether it’s blind dates or marriage, I do it to make her happy. That’s what matters to me.”
“I really hope to find someone who can agree with me—a marriage where we each get what we need without being responsible for each other or having to deal with emotional demands.”
After she finished speaking, silence fell once more.
Yet the man sitting on the sofa at that moment had already grasped the underlying meaning of her words.
She didn’t believe in marriage but was willing to marry to ease her mother’s worries.
So she wanted a partner who wouldn’t fall in love with her.
And certainly wouldn’t expect her to invest time and effort into maintaining the relationship.
In short-don’t bother her!
After a long pause, Cheng Jinyu lifted his eyelids, his gaze cold and sharp.
“Are you sure you’re here for a blind date and not to reject people outright?”
Meng Chu wasn’t angered by his words.
Instead, she felt as if someone had directly voiced what was on her mind.
Her demands were indeed something most people would struggle to accept.
Rather than a blind date, it seemed more like she was deliberately offending people.
Softly, she said, “I don’t want to deceive anyone, so I prefer to be clear from the start.”
As for whether others were willing to accept it-that was their business.
“Now you can share your thoughts,” Meng Chu said calmly, looking at him.
Fair is fair-you take your turn.
Cheng Jinyu gazed at her but fell into silence.
Just as she thought he wouldn’t speak, he suddenly did.
“I believe in fate.”
Cheng Jinyu looked at her, his eyes inexplicably profound.
Mysticism?
Meng Chu couldn’t help but find it amusing.
She knew wealthy people tended to be superstitious.
Had some master told him he needed to go on blind dates recently?
If her reason for being here was absurd, his wasn’t any better.
@Infinite good stories, all on Jinjiang Literature City
The two of them, meeting for the first time, truly had nothing to talk about.
Fortunately, Cheng Jinyu’s phone rang, rescuing them from the awkward silence filling the room.
After answering with a few brief acknowledgments, he hung up.
“Sorry, I have to go,” Cheng Jinyu said coolly to Meng Chu.
She nodded in understanding.
But instead of leaving immediately, he suddenly added, “Let’s exchange WeChat contacts.”
Huh?
Meng Chu had already accepted that today’s inexplicable blind date would end without any progress.
Yet Cheng Jinyu had asked to add her on WeChat.
After a moment’s thought, she readily took out her phone.
Even if the deal fell through, goodwill remained.
This man was a renowned investor-maybe Star Origin would have a chance to collaborate with him in the future.
Meng Chu proactively opened her WeChat QR code for him to scan.
After doing so, Cheng Jinyu said quietly, “I’ve added you. Please accept.”
Once she confirmed the request, she noticed his WeChat name was simply “first.”
First?
Typical of a big shot-even his WeChat name had to declare supremacy.
She quickly saved his contact as “Cheng Jinyu.”
“I’ll go back and carefully consider your proposal.”
As Meng Chu lowered her head to type, Cheng Jinyu spoke again.
Meng Chu looked at him in surprise-what did that mean?
Was she now in a state of waiting for a second interview?
Suddenly, she felt that their conversation hadn’t been about something as simple as a blind date.
It was more like she had pitched an investment project to him, and he needed to decide whether to invest or not.
Though the two matters were worlds apart, the process somehow followed the same path.
Meng Chu also nodded calmly. “Alright, I’ll carefully consider your reasons as well.”
She had said it before-blind dating was a mutual selection process.
She needed to carefully consider him, and of course, she also needed to carefully consider this so-called “fate” reason of his.
At the very least, Cheng Jinyu left.
And after he was gone, Meng Chu didn’t want Xue Yi to go home and interrogate her about the blind date, so she left early as well.
* * * * * *
“Chuchu-jie,” Wen Yu’s anxious voice rang out again in the car.
Clearly, she had never experienced Meng Chu ignoring her before.
Even Xue Yi, sitting in the passenger seat, couldn’t help but turn to look at Meng Chu.
Finally snapping out of her thoughts, Meng Chu raised her head slightly and met Xue Yi’s gaze.
Seeing this, Xue Yi smiled apologetically and explained,
“Chuchu, don’t blame me for arranging this without telling you. Professor Han and I just happened to chat about this casually. At the time, I thought of setting up a meeting at my place so it would seem like a coincidence— less blunt and awkward than a formal blind date. Who knows, you young people might have hit it off right away.”
“But then Professor Han’s son had something come up and couldn’t make it. She only called me when I was already outside. Later, I figured since I hadn’t mentioned it to you beforehand anyway, I might as well pretend it never happened.”
Xue Yi grew increasingly awkward as she spoke.
“Who would’ve thought we’d run into her today and she’d bring it up again?”
“Li Huaiqian didn’t come that day?” Meng Chu asked softly.
Xue Yi lowered her voice.
“Exactly. Professor Han had originally asked her son to come to my place, but he didn’t show up. But this was the only time I ever arranged something so ridiculous without telling you. Chuchu, please don’t be mad at me.”
Meng Chu shook her head. “I’m not.”
Because she had already done something even more absurd.
So, Li Huaiqian hadn’t come that day—it was Cheng Jinyu who had shown up instead.
Perhaps Cheng Jinyu had originally gone to the Wen residence for a visit.
Xue Yi really hadn’t mentioned the blind date to her, but Wen Yu had accidentally found out and called Meng Chu to tip her off.
So when Cheng Jinyu appeared, Meng Chu had instinctively assumed he was there for the blind date.
It really had been her misunderstanding from the start.
But…Why hadn’t Cheng Jinyu explained or denied it? Why???
Even later, when they got married, he had known the whole time that it was all a misunderstanding.
Yet he had let that misunderstanding escalate to this point.
After piecing everything together, Meng Chu found herself growing calmer instead.
“Uncle Wen, could you pull over? There’s something I need to take care of right away,” Meng Chu said calmly.
The driver, Wen Chengdong, was surprised.
“Right now?”
“Yes, right now. It has to be dealt with immediately.”
Her tone was unusually composed.
Xue Yi was equally shocked.
Meng Chu quickly reassured her, “Auntie, this has nothing to do with you. It’s a personal matter of mine. And I’m not angry with you—I know you arranged this for my sake.”
Xue Yi could barely muster a smile now.
Still, Wen Chengdong pulled over by a bus stop.
Before getting out, Xue Yi couldn’t help but remind her, “Be careful.”
Once they had driven off, Meng Chu immediately took out her phone and dialed a number.
That belonged to Cheng Jinyu.
After waiting a few seconds, the call connected.
Meng Chu got straight to the point: “Where are you right now?”
“Right now?”
Cheng Jinyu’s voice lowered slightly on the other end.
“At the company. Is something wrong?”
“I’ll come to your company now. See you soon.”
Meng Chu spoke calmly before hanging up.
She then entered Cheng Jinyu’s company address into a ride-hailing app and called for a car.
Meanwhile, in the meeting room, Cheng Jinyu, who had just ended the call, sensed an impending storm in Meng Chu’s few short sentences.
The others in the meeting room had already fallen silent the moment Cheng Jinyu answered the phone.
Compared to the attendees from other companies involved in the investment project, the employees of Yunji Capital were even more surprised.
After all, everyone knew that President Cheng despised taking calls during meetings.
No matter how busy the project managers were, their phones had to be on silent during meetings.
Cheng Jinyu himself always led by example-so why had he made an exception today?
“Continue.”
Cheng Jinyu set his phone back in place and spoke quietly.
As the others resumed their discussion, he stared at the data displayed on the screen in the meeting room, an inexplicable thought surfacing in his mind.
This was the first time Meng Chu had openly expressed her emotions toward him.
She was angry.
And she was coming to the company to confront him.
Cheng Jinyu knew exactly what awaited him next.
But for the first time, he truly felt the reality of being married.