My Marriage Partner is a Crazy Mermaid - Chapter 16

“Stay away from her.”

Xie Yuhan stared at her, warning her word by word.

In these few years in Qingcheng, no one’s gaze had ever exerted such pressure on Liang Xiao. It was dangerous, yet Liang Xiao enjoyed it.

“That won’t do. She’s my employee now; how can I stay away?”

“Cheng-ge, go find her and have her come over,” Xie Yuhan instructed the person behind her without turning her head.

“Yes, Miss.” The bodyguard handed over a phone. “The phone was buzzing just now; it should be a WeChat message.”

This phone was for her private number. Usually, no one contacted her except Xie Jiaming, and when he did, he would call in a simple and crude manner; he rarely sent WeChat messages.

Xie Yuhan was somewhat curious. She took the phone and opened WeChat as Xu Cheng left the private room.

“Are you at Qing Yise?”

The message came from an unfamiliar contact, but Xie Yuhan knew who sent it. The name was an emoticon followed by the English letters ‘kk’.

Xie Yuhan narrowed her eyes at the chat box as if looking at Meng Ke herself. She mechanically tapped out two words.

“Come here”

Meng Ke was waiting in the coffee shop, bored, when her WeChat pinged twice. she unlocked it instantly to check. One message was from the group, and the other, surprisingly, was from Xie Yuhan.

“I heard Xie Yuhan is looking for trouble with the Cheng family.”

[Come here.”

Meng Ke: “…” What is with this inexplicable command? ‘Come here’? To where? Say it clearly!

After ranting frantically in her head, she clicked on the group message.

“The Cheng family? What happened? Why? Give me the details.]

“Your new wife”

“Fortune Comes” has withdrawn a message.

“The Xie family has been too flashy these last few years. A tall tree attracts the wind; there are always people who find her an eyesore. Last month, around the time you just got back, a few projects didn’t go smoothly. It seems it was traced back to the Cheng family.”

The Cheng family actually dared to snatch business from the Xie family; they really must be tired of living. Meng Ke clicked her tongue and silently offered a prayer in her heart. Based on the character settings in the book, whatever the outcome for the Cheng family, there probably wouldn’t be a Cheng family in Tan City anymore—though their projects were all in Qingcheng.

As Meng Ke was pondering this, a man in black entered the coffee shop. He was tall and lean, blocking the light for a second. Meng Ke caught a glimpse out of the corner of her eye. Huh? The bodyguard.

No wonder Xie Yuhan’s message was so simple and direct; the bodyguard was already on his way.

“Hi, Big Brother Bodyguard,” Meng Ke waved. “I didn’t think we’d meet again.”

“Miss Meng, the Young Lady invites you over.”

“My name is Xu Cheng.”

“Got it.”

Meng Ke followed Xu Cheng eastward down the corridor. There were a few scattered restaurants, but none had many customers. “Is everything here custom-made?”

“Yes.”

The owners of the shops on the ninth floor were all affiliated; only the managers or other distinguished VIPs had keys. Ordinary people couldn’t enter at all. These shops only operated for custom orders.

At the end of the hall, Xu Cheng knocked and pushed the door open directly. Liang Xiao was standing by the door. Upon seeing Meng Ke, she placed a hand lightly on her shoulder and leaned into her ear to whisper: “I’ll wait for you in the car.”

Meng Ke hadn’t expected to see Liang Xiao here. In her surprise, she overlooked the unusual intimacy in Liang Xiao’s tone. Was Liang Xiao actually negotiating a partnership with Xie Yuhan? How do they know each other? What’s their relationship?

Meng Ke was filled with question marks, but before she could ask, Liang Xiao slipped away very quickly.

Xie Yuhan watched her, her expression far from pleasant. She spoke to her in an extremely cold and hard tone: “Come over.”

Cheng Muyuan had been forgotten in the corner for a long while. Unable to withstand the psychological pressure any longer, he asked weakly, “I’ve said everything I should. Perhaps I should head back first and let Miss Xie attend to her business?”

He wiped the sweat from his forehead, his hands dropping to pinch the hem of his clothes.

“Don’t be in such a hurry, Mr. Cheng.” Xie Yuhan rested her hands on her wheelchair and moved forward. “When you take something of mine, you always have to leave something behind, don’t you? What do you think you’d like to leave behind?”

Xie Yuhan’s words scared Cheng Muyuan so much he was on the verge of kneeling. He began explaining incoherently.

“I didn’t take it. I really didn’t. That project had nothing to do with me. I have no idea what happened. That day the boss called me and told me to stall Mr. Xie for two days. That was all.” “I didn’t mean to hold up the contract for that long.”

He had blocked a project in Qingcheng. He had received instructions to stall the contract for two days, but then a problem arose with the material audit two days later. He was also anxious and ran around to resolve it, but a week had passed by the time it was settled. For a family conglomerate like the Xie family, a week’s loss was not a small amount. Cheng Muyuan was also panicking. He had only meant to stall for two days; who knew he’d be that unlucky?

The partnership eventually proceeded, and just as Cheng Muyuan had begun to relax, he heard the Xie family had lost business in Tan City. His intuition told him the two events were linked. Before he could figure it out himself, Xie Yuhan had come knocking.

“What benefits did they give you?”

“Twenty million.”

Ten million a day—it was indeed worth the risk.

“Transfer forty million to me within these two days, or give me a project of equal value. Otherwise, I’ll just seize it.”

When it came to playing with capital flow, the Cheng family probably wouldn’t last a day.

“Of course, of course.” Cheng Muyuan didn’t hesitate for a second and agreed immediately. Money wasn’t important; besides, only forty million was already considered letting him off cheap.

Having agreed, he asked, “Then can I go now?”

“Master Cheng came all this way; won’t you have a drink before going back? People might think I’m a poor host.” Xie Yuhan pushed her wheelchair to the table and picked up a glass. “I propose a toast to Master Cheng.”

How could Cheng Muyuan dare to refuse? He quickly picked up a glass. “Bottoms up.”

Xie Yuhan took a sip and tapped the row of glasses filled on the table. “Finish these, and you can go.”

Cheng Muyuan looked at the table—at least twenty glasses, all between 30% and 40% alcohol. Finishing this would kill a man, wouldn’t it? But for the interests of his family, he gritted his teeth and poured them into his mouth, one glass after another.

Meng Ke stood in the corner of the room. Xie Yuhan moved her wheelchair further inside; the space within was large and the lights were brighter than outside.

“Stay away from Liang Xiao in the future.”

“Why?”

“Why? Why did you tie her tie for her?”

“How did you know?”

“It was obvious she rarely wears suits. That tie was a mess. She couldn’t tie it herself, and by the time she did, the negotiation would have been over.”

“It didn’t mean anything else.”

“Why look for work with her?”

Why else? Because she didn’t know how to do anything else, and because she wasn’t born with a silver spoon in her mouth.

“I studied it abroad. I don’t know how to do anything else.” Fortunately, the original owner really had spent time doing related charity work while dumped abroad. Xie Yuhan wouldn’t suspect her.

“You said you wouldn’t interfere with my work,” Meng Ke tried to reason with her. “Understood,” Xie Yuhan replied gloomily.

With her around, Liang Xiao wouldn’t do anything to her. It was just annoying to have someone else coveting her things—even if it was just Liang Xiao being provocative.

“Stay here tonight.”

Two days had passed. Xie Yuhan had tested it last time; each contact with Meng Ke could sustain her for about half a month. But this time, to find clues, she had used her talent once. It had consumed a lot of energy, and her body was becoming unstable again. Since Meng Ke was here, she didn’t need to make a special trip back to Tan City.

“Not today. I have things to do.”

“Liang Xiao?”

“We still have to go back…”

Seeing Xie Yuhan’s expression grow darker and darker, Meng Ke’s voice slowed until she simply swallowed the rest of her words. “I still have work to handle.” Her bird was still waiting to be fed.

Xie Yuhan remained silent and did not answer. Meng Ke observed her expression cautiously, unable to tell for a moment if she was still angry. Xie Yuhan seemed to really dislike Liang Xiao. The frustrating part was that she didn’t know the nature of their relationship or what had happened between them.

Meng Ke didn’t know how to soothe Xie Yuhan’s temper. But she hadn’t even passed the trial period for her new job, and she didn’t want to blow it like this.

“Is work… that important?”

“Yes.”

Xie Yuhan didn’t want to make things complicated, so she said straightforwardly, “Hold me.”

Meng Ke: “???” Is this atmosphere appropriate? Just… hold her? Is this how she talks after too many business negotiations? Why does it sound so stiff? What is she trying to do?

“W-Why?”

“Do you think I need a reason for the things I do?”

Looking at her state—unflinching and cold—Meng Ke realized the question was redundant. It was getting late, and Meng Ke didn’t dwell on it too much. She walked to the side of the wheelchair, braced her hand against it, slipped one arm around her shoulders, and pulled her into a hug.

A scent of fresh sea salt drifted from her, like a sea breeze. Meng Ke had thought she was just completing a task, but the person in her arms felt real. From long periods in a wheelchair, her frame was thin; holding her felt as light as a layer of paper.

Through the fabric of their clothes, she could still feel that Xie Yuhan’s body temperature was lower than a normal person’s.

“Why are you so cold? Are you sick?”

“A side effect.”

Jumping into the sea has this kind of side effect? After releasing her, Meng Ke asked, “Is that enough?”

Xie Yuhan closed her eyes, feeling the restlessness in her body gradually subside. She nodded. “It’s enough.”

“Then I’ll head out first.”

Xie Yuhan didn’t react. Meng Ke glanced at her twice and walked out. Once she passed the inner door, she pressed her hand against her chest, trying to soothe the heart that was beating violently in her ribcage.