The Sickly Double Doesn't Want to Be Spoiled - Chapter 31

Chapter 31

After the ceremony ended, Meng Yuan remained dazed for a long time.

Was… was that a normal speech?

Why was it that in the few weddings he had attended in his previous life, the speeches of the newlyweds weren’t so… so solemn?

Fine, it was flamboyant.

Meng Yuan felt a bit lightheaded.

But Lu Cong seemed very satisfied.

He even took the lead in applauding.

Only then did thunderous applause erupt from below the stage. Meng Yuan forced out a smile but looked away, not daring to meet Lu Cong’s eyes.

After stepping off the stage, Qin Qing led Meng Yuan to change his clothes. In the lounge, Meng Yuan tied his tie, staring at himself in the mirror.

The previous suit had used a bowtie as decoration; now it was replaced by a silk necktie. The person in the mirror looked even thinner and more delicate.

Meng Yuan looked at himself, but his thoughts were entirely elsewhere.

Those few paragraphs of vows were still echoing in his ears, refusing to dissipate.

Even though he knew the speech was just something Lu Cong had found someone else to write, Meng Yuan still felt goosebumps all over; he was very unaccustomed to it.

He felt embarrassed, and he also felt the weight of those vows was too heavy.

With every sentence Meng Yuan had read out, his heart had accelerated a notch.

He felt lost and guilty because he couldn’t shoulder the burden of those vows.

He wasn’t very good at tying a tie; after fussing for a long while, he had instead made a mess of it.

Seeing this, Qin Qing wanted to step forward to help, but the door was pushed open.

Lu Cong had finished changing first. After waiting outside for a long time without seeing Meng Yuan come out, he simply went in to wait for him.

Meng Yuan was lost in thought and didn’t notice his arrival. Lu Cong assessed the situation and raised his hand to stop Qin Qing.

“You go out first,” he instructed Qin Qing in a low voice.

“Okay.”

Qin Qing responded and briskly left the room.

Lu Cong took a few steps toward the full-length mirror and reached out to snatch Meng Yuan’s tie. Meng Yuan finally snapped out of it and looked up at him: “When did you get here?”

“Just now,” Lu Cong said. “How can you space out even while tying a tie?”

Meng Yuan smiled helplessly: “I don’t know how.”

“I’ll teach you. Watch closely.”

Lu Cong looped the tie around Meng Yuan’s neck, slowed down his speed, and with a few flips of his long fingers, tied a beautiful Windsor knot.

“Did you learn it?” he asked.

Of course not.

Meng Yuan nodded, his face unchanging: “It’s too simple. I got it at a glance.”

He just said whatever came to mind.

Lu Cong saw through his lie at a glance and smiled without exposing him: “Rare for you to be this ‘smart.’ Let’s go, we have to go toast the guests.”

He bent his elbow, and Meng Yuan skillfully hooked his arm. Taking a deep breath, Meng Yuan re-entered battle mode.

“Let’s go!”

Inside the banquet hall, glasses clinked and the atmosphere was bustling.

The doors opened again, and the newlyweds walked out hand-in-hand like glue, causing the surroundings to quiet down slightly.

Meng Yuan took a wine glass handed to him by Qin Qing, mimicking Lu Cong as he clinked glasses with the guests.

There was no alcohol in his glass; it had been replaced with fruit juice that was a similar color to champagne.

After briefly toasting a few tables, his part of the work was basically complete.

“Tired?” Lu Cong’s voice came from beside him.

Meng Yuan turned to look at him.

Lu Cong was clinking glasses with a guest, wearing a standard social smile. His lips barely moved, yet his voice carried over.

“I’m okay,” Meng Yuan said.

He lowered his head and drank some juice.

He wasn’t actually tired; he was stifled.

The tightness in his chest was becoming more obvious, and his breathing couldn’t quite keep up. Meng Yuan quietly unfastened the top button of his collar and took several deep breaths, but it didn’t help much.

“Rest for a bit,” Lu Cong said. “I’ll take you over.”

Meng Yuan waved his hand: “It’s fine, I’ll go by myself. Don’t you need to keep hosting the guests?”

To his surprise, Lu Cong looked at him with a smile and a bit of helplessness on his face. He leaned close to Meng Yuan’s ear and whispered: “I want to slip away, too.”

Meng Yuan: “…”

Strange. Wasn’t this the kind of occasion where Lu Cong was most in his element?

Meng Yuan even felt that Lu Cong liked these kinds of occasions, as they allowed him to display his extraordinary status and high emotional intelligence to the greatest extent. How could Lu Cong pass that up?

But since Lu Cong had taken the initiative to ask to leave, Meng Yuan had no reason to force him to stay.

The two smiled and bid farewell to the guests, leaving together.

Just as they turned around, a waiter suddenly appeared out of nowhere and bumped squarely into Lu Cong.

Lu Cong took a half-step back, and the waiter fell to the ground.

He wasn’t carrying a tray or a wine glass; he wasn’t there to deliver water. It was unclear how he had suddenly appeared.

Meng Yuan was also startled. He instinctively looked at Lu Cong and was pulled behind Lu Cong’s shoulder.

A small smudge of dust had stained Lu Cong’s cuff.

The whole room went silent.

The waiter’s face turned white instantly. He scrambled to his feet and bowed hurriedly: “I am sorry, Mr. Lu! I didn’t mean to, I really didn’t mean to…”

He was almost crying and begging for mercy, but Lu Cong never spoke.

Meng Yuan silently inspected Lu Cong’s body. Aside from that bit of dust on the cuff, nowhere else was soiled.

It was just a tiny bit of dust; it shouldn’t be a big problem.

But the atmosphere at the scene took a sharp turn for the worse. There were curious gazes watching, and others carefully avoiding the scene.

It was for no other reason than that Lu Cong’s reputation in these circles was truly not very good.

Having occupied a high position for a long time and never having experienced poverty or cold shoulders, he was always surrounded by countless people flattering him. This resulted in him having very low empathy.

He couldn’t fathom the hardships of anyone else’s life; he only focused on his own feelings.

To have such bad luck befall him at his wedding banquet was enough to make him feel deeply insulted.

As for whether that waiter did it on purpose or not, he wouldn’t care.

The surroundings were already filled with eyes waiting for a “good show.”

But Meng Yuan didn’t know this. He reached out and gently pulled Lu Cong’s sleeve, whispering in his ear: “How about we let it go?”

Lu Cong didn’t respond. He first looked down at his sleeve, then looked at the waiter.

His expression was very calm.

Just when everyone thought he was going to make trouble, he simply smiled slightly.

“It’s fine,” Lu Cong said. His voice wasn’t loud, but everyone could hear him. “Just an accident. No need to be nervous.”

The waiter froze.

Everyone in the room also froze.

Meng Yuan let out a sigh of relief, lowering his head as the corners of his mouth turned up slightly.

He knew that Lu Cong only looked fierce, but he wasn’t truly that cold-hearted.

As long as it wasn’t intentional sabotage, he generally didn’t bother to pursue matters.

“Go back to work,” Lu Cong said.

The waiter seemed to have never expected him to be so easy to talk to. Tears froze on his face. After several seconds, he suddenly gave a deep bow as if receiving a general amnesty and stumbled away.

The music started up again, and the banquet continued.

A small interlude wouldn’t affect the atmosphere. Everyone returned to their places, though they were a bit bored because they didn’t get to see the “good show” they expected.

…

Returning to the lounge, Meng Yuan ate a bit of food to fill his empty stomach. Finally, he felt better, no longer constantly cold and breaking out in cold sweats.

Lu Cong entered a while later, having changed into a new suit.

Meng Yuan was slightly stunned. He thought that while the tiny bit of dust wasn’t much, it was soiled after all, so it was normal for Lu Cong to change. He didn’t ask further.

“Do you want to eat something, too?” he asked Lu Cong.

After a busy day, Lu Cong was indeed a bit hungry. He thought for a moment and pulled out a chair to sit down: “Fine, I’ll have a little.”

Meng Yuan smiled and proactively found a pair of clean chopsticks to hand to him: “Eat. I’ve only had a few bites. Over here, over here, and that piece.”

He pointed: “I haven’t touched those.”

Lu Cong looked at him, his brow arching slightly: “What does it matter if you touched it? It’s not like you and I didn’t just ‘eat each other’s mouths’ a moment ago.”

Meng Yuan: “…”

“Do you have to say it so bluntly?”

His expression was dazed, and the tips of his ears were actually a bit red. The more Lu Cong looked, the more amused he felt. “Shy?”

“?”

Meng Yuan slammed down his chopsticks, looked away, and let out a laugh: “How could that be?”

He folded his arms: “Impossible.”

“I just feel, I feel…”

“Feel what?” Lu Cong pressed. “Feel that I have no shame?”

Meng Yuan pursed his lips and buried his head in poking his rice: “I didn’t say that.”

Lu Cong laughed, looking like he was in an excellent mood.

Suddenly, Meng Yuan looked up again, staring at Lu Cong with a gaze that was extremely innocent yet full of scrutiny.

Lu Cong was startled by his gaze: “What is it?”

“How come I don’t remember a requirement to ‘eat mouths’ in the contract?”

Lu Cong: “…?”

As they faced each other, Lu Cong was stumped by the question for a split second.

He put down his chopsticks, placed his hands on his knees, tightening and loosening his grip repeatedly, then asked Meng Yuan back: “Wasn’t it you who ‘ate my mouth’ first?”

Vibrate, vibrate!

The phone rang.

Lu Cong stood up after answering a call.

“I have something to do and need to step out for a bit,” he said. “You rest here first. After this, you don’t need to go back out to socialize. I’ll come pick you up when things wrap up.”

Without checking if Meng Yuan heard clearly, he turned and walked straight out.

Leaving Meng Yuan behind, staring blankly at his back.

…

It took Meng Yuan a good while to think of a rebuttal, but Lu Cong was already long gone.

He realized in hindsight that he had lost another round in the battle of wits.

How was it that he could never win an argument against Lu Cong?

He slumped uselessly onto the sofa and lay down dejectedly. Even before falling asleep, he was still replaying the scene, swearing that next time his brain would turn faster and he definitely wouldn’t lose.

He slept like this for two or three hours. It wasn’t a restful sleep, and he woke up with a bad headache.

In winter, it gets dark early. Meng Yuan pulled back the curtains and saw that it was almost completely dark outside.

He rubbed his temples and sat up. His chest felt tight, and he felt like throwing up.

The food he had eaten earlier didn’t seem to be digesting well; it felt heavily blocked in his chest. Meng Yuan endured it for a while before heading to the bathroom with a frown.

But he didn’t throw up.

He leaned over the sink and retched for a while, but nothing came up. It only left him dizzy with blurred vision and an even tighter chest.

Meng Yuan closed his eyes, pressed his hand to his chest, took a deep breath, and slowly let it out. After repeating this several times, he felt slightly better.

The lounge was too stuffy; it was making him dizzy.

He sent a message to Lu Cong saying he was awake and ready to go home anytime, then put away his phone and went out to get some air.

Although the central air conditioning was also running in the hallway, it was better than the lounge. Meng Yuan walked slowly, taking a few deep breaths, and that feeling of nausea finally subsided a bit.

The hallway was empty. Turning past a narrow glass walkway ahead on the left led to the hotel’s rooftop viewing deck.

The night view from there should be quite spectacular.

Meng Yuan quickened his pace, passing an inconspicuous trash can by the wall.

Suddenly, his footsteps stopped. A few seconds later, he turned back.

In the trash can, clear as day, was the suit Lu Cong had changed out of.

The brand new, expensive suit that had only been worn once was discarded in the trash can like worthless junk.

Meng Yuan looked at it blankly, feeling a moment of daze.

He picked up the suit from the trash can. The small smudge of dust on the cuff was almost invisible now.

In fact, a light brush would have cleaned it completely.

Yet, it was still thrown away in its entirety.

There was no expression on Meng Yuan’s face. He just stared absently at the garment, appearing somewhat lost and a bit shocked.

This garment, this sleeve stained with just a tiny bit of dust was something the former couldn’t have bought even if he worked for a whole year without eating or drinking.

But as it turned out, it could be discarded so easily.