Two Faced Lover - Chapter 70

70: Unexpected Encounter

Since the release of the promotional stills for Assassination and the magazine photos of Qin Zhizhen wearing the Four Seasons collection designed by Meng Xuran, Moment’s reputation had been growing day by day. Just before the company’s Spring Festival holiday, Meng Xuran secured another deal and was suddenly notified to travel to Beicheng to discuss custom dress matters with the second daughter of the Jiang family.

The situation was urgent, and Meng Xuran left in such a hurry that she completely forgot about the phone call she’d made home a couple of days prior, during which Meng Yao had mentioned she would bring Xiaoman and some New Year’s goods over before the holiday.

On the eve of New Year’s Eve, with no overtime work, Bo Mingyan first stopped by the supermarket. White Bluetooth earbuds were tucked into her ears as she listened to Meng Xuran excitedly gossip about the two daughters of the Jiang family in Beicheng:

“I heard the real Jiang family daughter was lost by a nanny when she was little. The Jiang family’s madam was depressed all the time, so her husband brought another child home. Now that the real one has returned, they’re just raising both. This time, it’s about designing dress for their birthday banquet. They’re so difficult—those two young ladies have already rejected several of my proposals.”

Meng Xuran paused, sighed, and then lazily complained, “Tsk, if they weren’t so pretty, I wouldn’t have taken this job.”

Bo Mingyan was holding two toothbrushes of the same style but different colors. At these words, her lips pressed into a straight line, her fingers tightening slightly around the transparent packaging. Her tone was unreadable as she asked, “Who’s pretty?”

As an unapologetic admirer of beauty, Meng Xuran’s voice lifted with enthusiasm when talking about attractive women. She actually pondered for a moment before answering, “Hard to say. One is glamorous and aloof, the other is cool and delicate. Personally, I prefer the latter’s looks.”

Bo Mingyan couldn’t visualize the other person’s appearance based on those four words, but that didn’t stop the pang of jealousy. She mimicked Meng Xuran’s earlier tone with a “Tsk,” then casually repeated, “You personally prefer what, hm?”

If Meng Xuran couldn’t detect the warning and sourness in those words now, she’d have to be a block of wood.

She hurriedly soothed, “Personally, I like you the most~”

Bo Mingyan let out a sound from her throat—somewhere between a light hum and a soft laugh.

“Manman~” Meng Xuran’s voice was laced with obvious amusement as she asked directly, “Are you jealous?”

Bo Mingyan didn’t respond. She placed the couple’s toothbrushes back on the shelf.

On the other end, Meng Xuran turned her head to gaze out the car window at the streetlights and trees flashing past. The alternating light and shadow flickered across her face, and when it dimmed, her reflection appeared faintly on the glass.

When her eyes unfocused, her silhouette on the window slowly morphed into Bo Mingyan’s likeness in her mind.

Bo Mingyan’s mixed-ethnic features were strikingly three-dimensional. Without her glasses, her deep-set eyes and high nose bridge gave her a sculpted beauty with a hint of sharpness.

When she wasn’t smiling, she exuded an intense sense of distance. And when she was sulking, she seemed even more aloof and unapproachable.

Meng Xuran remembered a few days ago, after returning from a business trip, she had received a bouquet of roses from a collaborator. Bo Mingyan had seen it but said nothing, though her expression had darkened noticeably.

That day, even the high-end design team—who often joked that Bo Mingyan was a cold beauty on the outside but a sweetheart underneath—hadn’t dared to provoke her.

But Meng Xuran wasn’t the least bit intimidated by Bo Mingyan’s dark moods. In fact, she loved them. Because in those moments, Bo Mingyan wasn’t wearing her usual mask of gentle indifference.

Not only did she love it, but she also took shameless advantage of it, pestering and teasing Bo Mingyan to admit she was jealous. Eventually, the silent Bo Mingyan would relent under her antics, sealing her lips with a kiss, her slender fingers threading through Meng Xuran’s dark hair as she kissed with restrained yet involuntary passion.

Finally, in a voice both suppressed and low, she would murmur between their tangled, damp lips, “Having a girlfriend who’s so irresistible makes me both happy and unhappy. Does that count as jealousy?”

Hearing such words from someone as seemingly indifferent as Bo Mingyan was especially heart-fluttering.

On the other end of the phone, someone was speaking to Bo Mingyan, though she didn’t seem to respond. The voice was too faint to make out clearly. Meng Xuran’s ears perked up, and she snapped back to reality, steering the conversation back on track.

“Compared to my girlfriend, they’re both lacking,” Meng Xuran declared, her voice tinged with pride. “My girlfriend’s looks are on another level. It’s such a pain—I have to fend off not just men but women too. Was someone just hitting on you?”

Bo Mingyan’s expression softened slightly, no longer as tense as before. With a touch of haughtiness, she replied, “Hitting on me? It was just a yogurt promoter. Do you want some?”

“No,” Meng Xuran licked her lips, her tone dripping with implication. “I’d rather drink something else that’s sour.”

The reference to who had just been sour was unmistakable.

Bo Mingyan cleared her throat awkwardly.

Bathed in the flickering light, Meng Xuran curled her lips into a smile and sighed languidly, “Manman, I miss you.”

She didn’t need to see Bo Mingyan to imagine how vividly her expression would shift at those words.

With the New Year approaching, the supermarket was packed, bustling with noise that faded like receding tides, leaving only Meng Xuran’s soft voice in her ears.

Bo Mingyan’s footsteps halted. After a brief pause, she turned her cart around, backtracked to the toothbrush aisle, and placed the couple’s set into her cart before asking, “Will you be back today?”

“Hmm~” Meng Xuran paused meaningfully, her previously bright tone dipping lower. “Hard to say.”

Bo Mingyan froze, her gaze dropping. “But everything’s settled, isn’t it?”

She didn’t know Meng Xuran was currently in the car on her way home, stifling a laugh.

After composing herself, Meng Xuran kept her tone deliberately vague. “Who knows if there’ll be more changes?”

Bo Mingyan let out a disappointed “Oh.”

Xiaoman hadn’t been brought back from Meng Xuran’s family home yet, and with Meng Xuran away, she realized tonight would be another long, sleepless night.

In a home filled with Meng Xuran’s presence, she would miss her all the more.

It was strange.

She had spent years adapting to and even learning to enjoy solitude. Yet in just half a year of living with Meng Xuran, she had reverted to square one.

But then Meng Xuran’s voice came through the phone again: “Finish your shopping and head back soon, okay? Otherwise, your girlfriend might start fermenting vinegar too.”

Bo Mingyan’s thoughts scattered instantly. Her fingers tapped rhythmically against the cart’s handle as she pushed it toward the checkout, answering obediently, “Got it, ancestor.”

Meng Xuran adored the term, laughing in delight.

Since she was driving, Meng Xuran didn’t want to distract Bo Mingyan further, so they ended the call.

After parking, Bo Mingyan carried her bags into the building.

At the elevator, an elegantly dressed middle-aged woman stood waiting. She was clearly someone who took great care of herself, with gentle eyes and refined poise. In one hand, she held a long cat carrier (too low to see inside), and in the other, several heavy-looking bags that strained the veins on the back of her hand.

Bo Mingyan glanced briefly before standing two steps away.

Meng Yao checked the elevator’s descent, then glanced at Bo Mingyan and struck up a conversation. “How’s the property management here?”

Bo Mingyan replied politely, “Not bad.”

Seeing that Bo Mingyan wasn’t as cold as she appeared, Meng Yao nodded. “The neighborhood’s nice too, right?”

Bo Mingyan agreed. “It is.”

“My daughter bought a place here, but this is my first time visiting. I’m either busy or just too lazy to come.” Meng Yao set down the cat carrier to rub her sore hands. “She’s got a partner now and doesn’t even care about her mom anymore. She’s not even coming home for New Year’s! I figured I’d drop by—mostly to check out this partner of hers.”

Bo Mingyan blinked slowly. “That’s fair.”

Encouraged by the agreement, Meng Yao looked at Bo Mingyan like a kindred spirit. “Right? She doesn’t even want me to meet them! How’s that acceptable? I’ve met more people than she’s had hot meals—I need to vet this person properly!”

Bo Mingyan nodded as Meng Yao rambled on.

The cat in the carrier let out a few soft, coquettish meows—eerily similar to Xiaoman’s.

When the elevator arrived, Meng Yao hurriedly gathered her things but struggled with the load. Without a word, Bo Mingyan picked up the cat carrier and carried it inside.

“Thank you,” Meng Yao said, following her in. “It’s heavy, right? This cat’s built like a pig.”

The description reminded Bo Mingyan of Xiaoman, so she replied, “It’s fine. Ours is pig-like too.”

“Really? What kind of cat do you have?” Meng Yao asked.

“A black one.”

“Oh, what a coincidence! Ours is black too—a Bombay, I think?”

Bo Mingyan swiped her access card and pressed the floor button. “Which floor are you going to?”

Meng Yao glanced at the panel, her eyes settling on the illuminated “27.” She smiled. “Another coincidence! My daughter’s on the 27th floor too.”

Each floor had two units separated by a long hallway, their doors tucked around corners so residents rarely crossed paths unless they sought each other out. Bo Mingyan didn’t think much of it.

On the 27th floor, Meng Yao managed to gather all her belongings this time without burdening Bo Mingyan.

As Bo Mingyan turned toward her door and entered the first three digits of her passcode, she heard a series of “meows” behind her.

Soon after, the woman’s voice drifted over from near the elevator: “Oh hush, you’ll see your mom soon. Let Grandma check the messages—which unit was it again?”

Bo Mingyan’s fingers curled slightly, but she ignored it and finished entering the code.

The door beeped and unlocked.

As she stepped into the entryway and turned to close the door, she instinctively glanced back. The woman was still by the elevator, but before Bo Mingyan could process it, she was suddenly lifted off the ground.

Her heart skipped a beat as she was perched atop the shoe cabinet. A soft gasp was swallowed by a pair of lips, her grocery bag thudding to the floor and muffling the initial, most shameless sounds of their kiss.

The hallway’s motion-sensor light cast an amber glow, stretching a dim strip of illumination into the entryway.

Meng Xuran braced one hand on the shoe cabinet and cradled Bo Mingyan’s head with the other, kissing her lips with unrestrained hunger.

She wanted to melt all her longing into this embrace.

And since neither of them was in a special period right now, she was determined to finally make Bo Mingyan hers.

The kiss was so deep and relentless that Bo Mingyan couldn’t even find the breath to remind Meng Xuran the door was still open.

Then, a deliberate cough shattered the moment. Meng Xuran finally pulled away, and Bo Mingyan turned her head to catch her breath.

Meng Xuran glared irritably toward the sound—only to freeze in shock. “…Mom?”

Bo Mingyan’s heart lurched. She followed Meng Xuran’s gaze.

In the hallway, Meng Yao took two deep breaths, squeezed her eyes shut, and looked heavenward as if she couldn’t bear the sight.

The entire way here, she’d been mentally preparing to confront the woman who’d charmed her precious daughter into throwing caution to the wind.

Turns out, her pig had been the one to ravage someone else’s prized cabbage.

Author’s Note:

Meng Piggy: …Oink oink…