"Have you already paid for the hotel?" he asked. Qian Meng shook her head.
"Why? Will you offer me to stay at your property?" she rolled her eyes. "That's too close even for us."
"Well, I did spend the night with you less than four days ago. The property is big enough that we won't see each other but small enough that we can meet and talk about your full plan for 1314." These were excuses Qian Meng realized.
"What is it that you want to talk to me about, Mo Qingchen? Stop following me around and tell me." She crossed her hands over her chest and tapped her feet.
"I haven't decided how to tell you yet, so you'll have to put up with me for a bit more," he explained. His brows furrowed. "Are you coming or not? That hotel will cost upwards of twenty thousand dollars without taking into consideration the cost of room service and tips."
She could spare the money but she could also buy shares with it. She pretended to be stupid and nodded. "I also want to see what kind of property you have in the city. It's not easy getting hands on something good here. The market is saturated right now." Mo Qingchen smirked.
"Get your luggage ready. We'll leave in twenty minutes." He waved at her as he followed the bell boy away.
"Where are you going?" she shouted.
"I'll wait in the lobby. Come down fast. I'll leave otherwise..." She could hear the amusement in his voice but had to bite down her remark.
Hello, she could afford the best services. She was gracing his house with her presence on his request and he was pretending to give her the cold shoulder. He better stop pretending with her.
The problem was, Qian Meng couldn't make Mo Qingchen wait for long. Her bags had already been packed. She only needed to change out of her clothes and go downstairs. She huffed in irritation as she lugged her luggage to the elevator. She had a bad habit of pulling her own luggage. Something about handing her bags to others made her uncomfortable.
The elevator dinged as she reached the ground floor. When she came out, she saw a flurry of people from the party leisurely sitting around in the lobby. As she pulled up to the front desk and spoke to them, a representative from the conference came up to her.
"Ma'am, will you be leaving, as well?" she asked. Qian Meng nodded with a polite smile.
"Thank you for taking such good care of me. As usual, I enjoyed this conference thoroughly. Hope we can meet again next year." The conversation lasted for a couple of minutes. When Qian Meng looked over to Mo Qingchen, she chuckled.
He was leaning against the wall with his foot crossed over the other. He glanced at his expensive watch frequently and shook the tall plant away, whenever a leaf touched his arm. Overall, it was the sight of someone impatiently waiting for you to finish.
A bubble of warmth appeared in her heart and she suppressed it immediately. It seemed Mo Qingchen had been right. Whenever someone gave her the least bit of affection, she wanted to run to them and be good to them. That was indeed a dangerous quality to have.
- - - - -
"Welcome back, Sir," an older gentleman with a posh accent greeted them at the door. "Miss Yun," he added smoothly, making her name sound elegant. She had a lot of servants at the family home, but none of them seemed to act this... sophisticated.
Mo Qingchen nodded his head as swiftly as he walked past the man, without so much as glance his way. Qian Meng, on the other hand, smiled at the man.
"Welcome, Miss Yun." He bowed.
She chuckled at how formal he was being. Just like a butler... and then she belatedly remembered that he was a butler. Her family didn't have the more western take on the term, so she had forgotten how they behaved.
She looked up at the building and eyed it with envy. The two-floor ostentatious luxury apartment building was indeed prime real estate.
She hadn't seen much of it but at the top two buttons in the elevator, the Mo family logo was engraved. She snorted at the sight, earning a glare from Mo Qingchen who was standing beside her.
"Seriously, did you have to put this here? Whose idea was it?" she asked, pressing on the buttons herself to check.
"My father," he said without emotion. "He's the kind of person who likes to show off everything he has." After three heated phone calls on the drive to the property, Mo Qingchen was a tad bit testy.
Qian Meng took a moment to soak in the grandeur of the entrance alone. The butler had run off after Mo Qingchen and she was left to her own devices.
Before she could even take a step, a chiming voice erupted behind her. She spun around and focused on the source of the sound. It was coming from a computer screen embedded in the wall next to the front door.
She made her way over to the display. The word 'lobby' blinked on the monitor and a man's face filled the screen. There was some communication between two people and Qian Meng watched in fascination. She didn't press any of the buttons surrounding the display. Instead, she went to find Mo Qingchen, walking through the foyer without hurry.
It led to a massive living area, stunningly decorated. It wasn't a surprise. She would have to ask Mo Qingchen for the contact information of the interior decorator. Such decoration could multiply the price of the property. She was surprised to find how unique the layout was.
As someone who invested heavily in real estate, she understood this space well. There was a distinctive Greek touch to the place. The mystical and enchanting atmosphere was unlike what she had imagined a place where Mo Qingchen would live. The panoramic glass walls revealed a view of the city so strikingly picturesque that she found herself walking towards it and soaking in the view.
For all those who are wondering: yes, I have been out of my element for a while. But this story was contracted recently. And no, I won't go premuim just yet.
To celebrate, though, I was thinking about streaming my writing session on Discord. Tell me if what is something you want. (Sneak peaks for future chapters guaranteed.)
Don't forget to smash that vote button!