"Quickly hide in the trunk. It's not safe here! Don't move!" Yuan Meng wasted no time in shoving Luo Yishan from the back seat into the trunk. Then she hopped into the driver's seat and grabbed the steering wheel.
Come on! If Ling Qianchen saw her with Yishan, it would be a disaster!
Luo Yishan cursed in the darkness of the trunk, "You value your love interest over your friends!"
She really had made a bad friend!
Out of anger, she kicked the car hard several times to vent her frustration.
Watching the car shaking, Ling Qianchen, who was standing beside it, frowned in confusion. Was there someone inside...?
Just as he was getting more and more puzzled and his mind was starting to wander, Yuan Meng got out of the driver's seat.
She quickly walked up to Ling Qianchen, her eyes wide open. She exclaimed in a surprised and delighted voice, "Brother Qianchen, you've come to pick me up? I'm so touched!"
The cute tone gave the man goosebumps. He felt extremely uncomfortable and frowned in annoyance. "Stay away from me."
Yuan Meng pretended to be aggrieved and refused to back off. "I don't want to... I just want to be close to you." She leaned in.
Since Yuan Meng was so close, Ling Qianchen noticed that her face seemed to have become thinner, and it vaguely resembled Ai Yue's.
But it might just be an illusion. How could a person's face change so much in just a few days?
"Do you know Ai Yue?" Somehow, he blurted out the question.
Yuan Meng's heart skipped a beat. Had he seen through her?
After calming herself down, she shook her head. "I don't know. I've never even heard of the name Ai Yue."
"Do you have any other relatives?"
"I'm an orphan. I have no parents or relatives."
Hearing his continuous questions, Yuan Meng had a sudden thought. She realized that she couldn't let him keep asking like this, or more flaws would be revealed.
She decided to take the initiative. "Have you seen someone who looks like me? Where did you see them? Can you introduce me to them? I'm so curious to see how similar we are."
Ling Qianchen stopped asking. "...You're overthinking."
He must have guessed wrong. How could such a noisy woman be related to the cold and decisive Ai Yue?
They were like poles apart, with no connection at all.
He was too lazy to talk to Yuan Meng anymore. Just as he turned around to leave, the butler came out of the villa.
"Madam, please go inside first. I'll arrange for someone to clean the car."
As for the real reason for cleaning the car, the butler naturally wouldn't say that the madam thought Miss Yuan was inauspicious for going to the cemetery.
Even if he didn't say it, Yuan Meng probably guessed it, but she didn't say much. She just smiled. "Okay, then I'll trouble Uncle Butler."
It was just a car wash. There was no need to argue about it.
At this moment, she didn't realize that Luo Yishan was still hiding in the car.
As the butler led them into the living room, he took a few more glances at Yuan Meng today. The more he looked, the more he felt something was wrong. He couldn't help but be surprised. "Something's off. Madam, your face... It seems different from before. Am I seeing things?"
He stared at her for a few more seconds and still felt he wasn't wrong.
Hearing this, Ling Qianchen also stopped and took a few more looks at Yuan Meng. The more he looked, the more he felt it wasn't an illusion. Yuan Meng's face was indeed... a bit strange.
Yuan Meng suddenly felt very nervous. She touched her face and tried to laugh it off. "Ah... Really? Maybe I cried all night last night. I must have swollen up."
The butler observed her face carefully and hesitated. "...No, Madam. You've clearly lost weight. There's no swelling."
This was a bit like trying to cover up the truth. For a moment, Yuan Meng felt like she had been exposed, and she was in an even more embarrassing situation.
"I haven't eaten for a long time. I'm starving!" She came up with an even worse excuse. Then she blinked her starry eyes at the butler. "I'm so hungry that my stomach is flat. I've lost a lot of weight these days. I look haggard. Uncle Butler, is there anything to eat in the kitchen? I want to eat lotus cake, egg custard, and shrimp dumplings! I want to eat anything. Can you ask someone to make some food for me?"
To make her performance more convincing, she touched her stomach and looked at the butler pitifully, like a hungry little pet.
The butler was at a loss. He quickly forgot about it.
The next moment, he led her into the kitchen. "There's food. Madam can have whatever you want. I'll ask the servants to prepare it for you right away. I won't let you starve."
Then the butler turned around and told the cook to prepare delicious food to satisfy the madam. "Hurry up! Did you hear what Madam wants?"
Seeing this, Yuan Meng finally calmed down. Fortunately, she hadn't been exposed. She had managed to get away with it.
However, she didn't know that there was always a suspicious look following her.
Ling Qianchen felt more and more that there was a mystery about Yuan Meng, but he couldn't put his finger on it. He couldn't see clearly or guess.
After that, Yuan Meng quickly walked around the kitchen and took away a few freshly baked snacks.
The delicate snacks caught her attention. She wasn't hungry at first, but now she felt a bit hungry.
Sitting at the dining table, she smiled. "Uncle Butler is the best to me. These are all my favorites. Thank you, Uncle Butler."
These sweet words won the butler's favor. He had an even better impression of the madam.
"I'm glad Madam likes it. I'll go and check on the progress in the kitchen."
After the butler left, Yuan Meng buried herself in eating. Her true nature as a foodie was fully revealed.
And Ling Qianchen didn't follow.
After Yuan Meng finished a few plates of snacks, she felt a bit thirsty. She planned to go to the kitchen to get something to drink.
But as soon as she stood up, she felt something was wrong. She seemed to have forgotten something, but she couldn't remember what it was.
She glanced out of the window. When she saw her car being driven away, her eyelids twitched.
Oh no!
She remembered.
Luo Yishan was still in the trunk. How could she have forgotten about that?
But now the car was far away, and she couldn't go and get it back.
After pacing back and forth around the dining table for a while, she decided to let Luo Yishan fend for herself. After all, she had other things to worry about.
Yishan, Yishan, it seems you'll have to rely on yourself.
She was ready to be scolded by Luo Yishan later, but it shouldn't be too bad, right?