After that, the journey to Haicheng was silent, as was the drive from the city to the Meng family's residence in the suburban districts on the other side of Haicheng.
"We have arrived," the chauffeur wearing the sunglasses turned his head back to remind them as he parked in front of a huge iron door.
Throughout the entire trip, Meng Ting had been daydreaming. However in the end, he was still awake. In contrast, Meng Zhong had originally been prepared to be annoyed to death from questions, but ended up falling asleep midway during the journey due to boredom.
Meng Zhong and the chauffeur lao Wang both though that this young master Meng Ting was a bit special.
As for Meng Ting himself, he did not know nor care how they viewed him. He subconsciously touched the bridge of his nose, yet did not feel the metal framed glasses he had worn in his past life which had made him appear more astute. He lowered his hand, clenching it into a fist before releasing it once again.
After they alighted from the car, Meng Zhong led Meng Ting into the European styled manor. A large fountain could be seen upon entering through the entrance, and flowerbeds and groves could also be discerned with a broad sweep. Bypassing the fountain, they directly faced an enormous five-storey building. This was the house where Meng jia lao¹ lived in.
[1]家老: (old) a senior in one's household.
Since this was in the suburban districts of Haicheng, it clearly indicated Meng lao yezi's status in the city as he was able to monopolise such a large manor.
Meng Ting glanced around for a few seconds then retrieved his gaze. This was the second time he had visited the Meng family's house, but even if it was his first, he would not stare curiously like an outsider for more than three seconds.
His collected demeanour caused Meng Zhong to feel somewhat helpless. The first time he had been received by Uncle Wen into the Meng manor to work, he had exclaimed in admiration for nearly half a month before slightly calming down. Yet, Meng Ting who was not only a country bumpkin in name but in reality as well had only looked around briefly as if it was nothing much.
Meng Zhong clicked his tongue, this foolish boy! Without seeing Meng Ting's appearance, Meng Zhong once again silently cursed him.
As for Uncle Wen who had contacted Meng Ting previously, he had been notified by the guard at the entrance when their car had reached the gate of the Meng residence. He walked out from the side of the flowerbed towards Meng Ting before stopping three steps before him. Initially, Meng Zhong had intended to take Meng Ting and look for him.
Meng Zhong shot Meng Ting another glance, then looked over at Uncle Wen, "This the young master Meng Ting."
Hearing this, Uncle Wen swept his gaze over Meng Ting's body and face. Without revealing any hints of his state of mind, he lightly nodded. Meng Zhong bowed and left, demonstrating a kind of extraordinary respect for Uncle Wen.
While Uncle Wen surveyed Meng Ting, Meng Ting was also studying him as well. Meng Ting identified that before reaching the age of forty to fifty, Uncle Wen appeared to be somewhat solemn. This was something which Meng Ting had intentionally told himself to observe. Otherwise, it was very possible that he would treat Uncle Wen with the same disregard he had given Meng Zhong.
However, his observation was useless. He was indeed worthy of clearly understanding his own aptitude, but in the end, what was the use of being able to discern the age and a bit of the other man's obvious temperament? Meng Ting mulled over it again, and decided that there was no use.
"Please, this way." While speaking to Meng Ting, the serious expression Uncle Wen had faced Meng Zhong with dispersed and became gentle and considerate, "Seventh young master is the same as the other young masters, you may call me Uncle Wen."
"Oh." Meng Ting bowed his head and responded. He retrieved his measuring stare and thought that this Uncle Wen was also very strange. It had not even been two seconds, yet he had unexpectedly changed his temper.
Meng Ting had previously thought that the other man was very grave, but at this moment, he dimly felt that he had been defeated. He once again gave himself the label of being unable to correctly perceive people. It was better that he obediently waited to be married off.
Towards Meng Ting's indifference, Uncle Wen did not expose anything of his true state of mind. He continued to lead Meng Ting towards the main residence. He was actually bringing Meng Ting to meet the Meng lao yezi who had just woken up from his afternoon nap.
As an illegitimate child who had been brought home, the first person he must see would naturally be Meng lao yezi. This could be considered an acknowledgement of his identity. If he made a favourable impression, then Meng Ting's treatment at the Meng family would definitely be different.
In the past, the one person Meng Ting had met upon entering the Meng family's residence was him. Afterwards, he had not met any of the other Meng family members as he had always been kept in the private laboratory of the Meng family. Although, it was possible that he had once seen other members at their base of operations or at university; it was just that he did not know any of them, and was unable to recognise them.
However, none of this was important to him. He had already decided to walk the path of a waste used for marriage connections.
Contrary to what had been expected, Meng Ting was not nervous and did not ask countless questions, causing Uncle Wen to view him more highly. It did not matter whether Meng Ting was deeply shrewd or not, his self-restraint was nevertheless worthy to be admired.
They entered through a side door as it was not necessary to walk upstairs. He led Meng Ting through the hall and they came out from a small door. There, Meng Ting saw an old-fashioned house with a courtyard situated at the back of the European styled manor. They went inside, and Meng Ting was led into a study room filled with the fragrance of tea.
This was indeed different to the luxurious and imposing study room which Meng Ting had met Meng lao yezi in during his past life. This should merely be the place where Meng lao yezi would read and spend his leisure time. From this, it could be seen that his attitude and treatment towards Meng Ting was completely different in both lives.
In his past life, Meng Ting could be considered to have some usefulness, but the present him was only a beautiful flower vase who relied on his appearance. With the distinction made clear, there was nothing to be baffled about.
After entering the study room, Meng Ting was silent for a long period of time. The reason was simple; Meng lao yezi's eyes were closed and Meng Ting was unable to discern whether he was really asleep or just pretending to in to deliberately give him the cold shoulder.
As for Uncle Wen, he had stopped outside the door of the study room and only allowed Meng Ting inside.
Meng Ting's eyes swept over the body of the old but still vigorous Meng lao yezi, then retrieved it in a well-behaved manner. The people in Meng jia lao's residence were not ones who he could analyse and cut a judgement with only a few glances. It was better that he did not rely too much his first impressions of others.
After no less than twenty minutes, Meng lao yezi finally opened his eyes. His eyes scanned Meng Ting's clothes and appearance, his gaze inscrutable. Meng Ting was unable to distinguish whether he was pleased or angered.
"You are Meng Ting?"
Upon hearing this, Meng Ting raised his head and nodded. He did not hesitate or seem to hold any resentment or indignation, and his calmness caused Meng lao yezi to give him another glance. After nodding, Meng Ting once again lowered his head.
Meng lao yezi did not intend to discuss anything with Meng Ting, and Meng Ting also did not know what he could say to Meng lao yezi. During the half an hour in which he had entered the study room to when he left, Meng Ting had only nodded and unexpectedly did not even say a single word.
In regards to what Meng Ting had spoken about to Meng lao yezi, Uncle Wen did not have any desire to probe into it. He proceeded to lead Meng Ting back to the front of the residence and they ascended to the third floor. Uncle Wen brought Meng Ting to a room furthest west and said, "This is your room."
Meng Ting then pushed open the door and realised that it was bright and spacious suite. There was an independent bathroom, and there was even a walk-in closet and a game room. In all the places that Meng Ting had lived in, his grandmother's house could be considered pretty good. However, that did not even compare to one percent of this suite.
Meng Ting walked inside and touched the bed, feeling somewhat dissatisfied with it. "It's too soft, can I have the bed exchanged with something harder?"
Towards everything else, Meng Ting would ignore without exception. He only attached great importance to the bed. The reason why Meng Ting was so anxious to get married was also because he wanted to allow his mind to rest in ease and experiment whether it was possible for him to experience a peaceful sleep in this lifetime.
Towards every of Meng Ting's reactions, Uncle Wen received it in a well-mannered way. He nodded, "Of course."
However, after leading Meng Ting to this suite, he did not have any intention of leaving yet. He continued to say, "This is the old residence, so the gongzi², madames as well as the young miss and the other young masters do not live here. They usually only return to this residence once during the weekends. Three days later, I will take you to meet them. The two lao furen³ are also not present at this time, and will return around evening. If you would like to meet them, I can arrange it for you."
[2] 公子: (honorific) in this context, it is used to refer to Meng lao yezi's sons. Please comment if you have an appropriate English equivalent TT – TT
[3] 老夫人: translates literally to 'old madame'.
Meng Ting hesitated for a moment then shook his head. Just like in his past life, he did not wish to interact too much with the Meng family members. It could also be said that his innate temper rejected excessive social contact with other people. This was even more severe in regards to the Meng family, causing himself to feel that he should just drop this matter.
"When can I start my classes?"
Uncle Wen paused for a moment, which was something that rarely occurred, before understanding the meaning behind Meng Ting's words.
"If you wish, you may begin tomorrow."
Just as Meng Ting looked like he was going to nod in agreement, Uncle Wen sighed lightly. Meng Ting did not understand why he sighed, and could only listen to his following words, "You have only recently come back and do not need to be so anxious. Rest for a few days, you can take your classes next week."
Meng Ting nodded, and Uncle Wen bowed then departed.
However, not long after, a few other people came by to change Meng Ting's bed. Even then, he was unable to sit down on his new bed and was taken ahold by the stylists and tailors who came after one another in succession. They tidied up his hair and arranged his clothes, devoting themselves to turning Meng Ting into a genuine flower vase.
After taking care of him from head to tail, they personally witnessed the blossoming of Meng Ting's beauty. A few of the servants and masters⁴ were even momentarily stunned.
[4] 师傅: refers to qualified workers, and refers to the stylists and tailors.
Although the skin of the other Meng family members were considered to be quite good, they were not as delicate as Meng Ting's. The somewhat seductive feeling caused by his peach blossom eyes was further enhanced under the intentional adjustment of the stylists.
Without needing to speak any words, Meng Ting was like an exquisite painting merely by just standing there. It was a beautiful scene that caused others to be unable to move their eyes away.
Meng Ting turned to scan himself in the mirror. His hair was messier and his clothes were clean and tidy. As for anything else, he was truly unable to recognise.
In regards to the silence and awe of the others, Meng Ting also did not have any particular feelings. Barring the fact that he was unfamiliar with these people, even when it was those fellow students who had been Meng Ting's classmates for three years facing him, the silences occurred often as well.
Everyone proceeded to retrieve their thoughts, with the stylists and tailors departing first while the servants tidied up his room. Finally, there was peace and quiet for Meng Ting.
While Meng Ting was fiddled around with by these people, one of the lao furen who was not at the old residence, Feng Zejiao, was currently in a flower arrangement room, meeting with the Yan family lao furen, He Wan. Although she was referred to as the lao furen, He Wan was actually a generation younger than Feng Zejiao. It was only that her eldest son became the one in charge of their family early so she was promoted from being a furen to being the lao furen.
He Wan's head was lowered as she examined the materials given to her by Feng Zejiao. Inside, there were a few photographs. From the appearance, it could be seen that they were actually of Meng Ting. One of the pictures was taken when he had first entered highschool. His face was delicate and refined, yet the expression in his eyes was an indescribable kind of dull feeling. Indeed, Meng Ting conformed with her standards of a daughter-in-law. They couldn't be too unsightly, but neither could they be too intelligent.
Meng Ting fitted the requirements perfectly, good looking yet foolish.
"His age is quite young," muttered He Wan. It was true, Meng Ting's birthday was in May and there was an entire year before he would reach the age of eighteen, which was the legal age for a person to get married.
Upon seeing He Wan speaking like this, Feng Zejiao knew that this matter was more or less going to be completed. She lightly replied, "He had just returned to the Meng family and has not settled yet. He should be around eighteen."
Meng Ting only had a residence permit for his grandmother's house. Since he had now been taken back to the Meng family, his permit would naturally have to be revised. Rather than changing it, it would be better to pretend he was an unregistered resident and set up a completely new permit. When that moment came, it would be a simple matter to change one of the number's for Meng Ting's age.
Hearing this, He Wan nodded lightly, "Do you have any more recent photos? I'll bring them back to show Sui er. If he has no complaints, then this matter will be thus settled."
Feng Zejiao smiled and sent a text over to Uncle Wen. Not long after, a new picture of Meng Ting was transferred to her phone.
The photograph was taken during the moment when Meng Ting had suddenly raised his eyes in astonishment, and his excessive beauty was enhanced again by two percent. Without looking at the previous photographs, it was difficult to discern that Meng Ting was a person whose aptitude was slow-witted like this.
However, after seeing the experiences Meng Ting had to go through since childhood, He Wan was also able to understand that with this kind of stupidity and limited talent, Meng Ting was unable to be changed or saved.
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The author has something to say:
In the modern era, men getting married has already been accepted by the law. Moreover, the main character can't wait to be married; the reason is that he wants break away from the Meng family and experience what it feels like to be able to sleep peacefully.
Yan Sui: I can satisfy all of that for you.
Meng Ting: ...