Marriage Seduction Addiction

Chapter 230 Nature

If it's just a broken cup, it doesn't seem to mean anything.

However, the next moment, Tang Xu heard Tang Lan's low cry of pain on the other end of the phone, followed by another distant exclamation: "Madam, you're injured..."

If you have nothing to hide, you wouldn't smash a cup just because you heard a name. And after smashing the cup, an adult wouldn't panic to the point of cutting themselves.

Tang Xu listened quietly to the commotion on the other end, and finally asked, "What's wrong? Are you alright?"

"It's nothing, it's nothing," Tang Lan quickly said. "It was just a slip of the tongue..."

Hearing her slightly weak voice, Tang Xu paused for a moment before saying, "It's good that you're alright. By the way, I was just chatting with Mr. Meng, and we mentioned that when you were young, someone painted a portrait of you amidst roses, but Mr. Meng couldn't quite remember who painted it, so he thought he'd call to ask you."

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone before Tang Lan's voice came through again, "You... how come you're with him?"

"We met by chance," Tang Xu replied. "I didn't expect it to be an old friend of yours, so we arranged to have a meal and chat."

"Yaoyao..."

Tang Lan seemed to want to say something, but she only called out to her once, and it seemed difficult for her to say the rest.

The next moment, Meng Liancheng, who was sitting opposite Tang Xu, smiled and extended his hand, "I'll talk to her."

Tang Xu readily handed over the phone.

"Xiao Lan, it's me." Meng Liancheng smiled and said to the person on the other end of the phone, "What else could this be but fate? I saw Tang Xu yesterday, and she even gave me a ride. I didn't even remember that she was your daughter. I only remembered in the evening, so I quickly made an appointment with her for dinner today."

After hearing what the person on the other end of the phone said, Meng Liancheng couldn't help but chuckle softly and said, "We had a very pleasant chat. As expected of your daughter, she has just as much charm as you did in your youth. When I look at her, I often feel as if I'm transported back to the past, as if I'm seeing you again."

Tang Xu stared intently at Meng Liancheng on the other end of the phone. Even though she couldn't hear what Tang Lan was saying on the other end, she didn't want to miss a single change in Meng Liancheng's expression.

Meng Liancheng was more stable than she had imagined.

Whether speaking or listening, he always smiled, remained composed, and his eyes seemed to overflow with tenderness.

Just like when he was with Madam Long yesterday.

Therefore, his appearance still made Tang Xu feel uncomfortable.

"When will you have time to come back to Huai City again? Let's get together." Meng Liancheng said to Tang Lan, "I believe Tang Xu is also looking forward to seeing you."

The person on the other end of the phone said something else, and after a short while, Meng Liancheng smiled and returned the phone to Tang Xu.

Tang Xu put the phone back to her ear and softly said "Hello".

Tang Lan's voice trembled slightly on the other end of the phone, she simply called out, "Yao Yao..."

"Hmm," Tang Xu responded, then asked, "Is there anything else you want to tell me?"

Then, Tang Lan fell silent once again. She seemed to have a thousand words to say, but she didn't know how to start.

Tang Xu quickly added, "If there's nothing else, I won't bother you any longer. Goodbye."

"Yaoyao, don't—"

Tang Lan's voice could be faintly heard over the phone again, but Tang Xu had already hung up.

Meng Liancheng chuckled softly as he watched her movements before asking, "What's wrong? Are you angry with your mother?"

"How do you know?" Tang Xu asked.

Meng Liancheng said, "You didn't call her 'Mom' once during the entire phone call, nor did you laugh. You didn't even save your mother's phone number."

Tang Xu didn't answer him, but just took a couple of sips of the soup in front of him before quickly changing the subject: "This restaurant is indeed very good, the food is delicious."

Meng Liancheng smiled slightly and did not ask any further questions.

After the meal, Meng Liancheng seemed quite satisfied with the meeting and even planned to invite Tang Xu to have dinner together again next time.

"Of course, if you have time." Tang Xu neither refused nor gave a clear answer.

After leaving the restaurant, Tang Xu drove home.

The journey was smooth, and my phone didn't ring again.

It's clear that what Tang Lan didn't finish saying wasn't that important.

Perhaps, not saying it made her feel more at ease.

When the car reached the entrance of the Yujingwan parking lot, Tang Xu suddenly realized something, decisively turned the car around, and drove towards Qiushuitai once again.

On a bright and sunny Sunday, Yan Shiyu was surprisingly at home.

When Tang Xu entered, he was standing at the bar making himself coffee.

Their eyes met, and Tang Xu couldn't help but ask, "What are you doing at home?"

"Otherwise?" Yan Shiyu asked, "Where should I be?"

"Of course he should be at the company, in a meeting, or socializing," Tang Xu replied.

"How could there be a surprise?" Yan Shiyu replied.

Not knowing who gave whom this "surprise," Tang Xu slowly stepped forward and reached out to hug him.

Yan Shiyu casually picked her up and placed her on a high stool next to him. She said, "I just had a meal with Meng Liancheng."

"Hmm," Yan Shiyu responded only faintly.

"I also called Tang Lan," Tang Xu said. "He took the opportunity to say a few words to her."

"and then?"

Tang Xu reached out and took the coffee he had just made, took a sip, paused for a moment, and then slowly said, "I don't know what Tang Lan said to him on the other end, but when he was on the phone, I had a vague feeling that he was doing the same thing as me."

Yan Shiyu put away the coffee and looked at her quietly.

Tang Xu continued, "Just like how I deliberately mentioned his name to provoke Tang Lan, it seems he's doing the same thing... using me to provoke Tang Lan."

Just as she finished speaking, Tang Xu's phone suddenly rang.

She looked down and saw the unfamiliar number.

Tang Xu looked at it quietly for a moment, then chose to mute it and placed the phone next to her.

After such a long time, you finally called again. Did you finally make up your mind, or did you come up with some other excuse?
Meng Liancheng had said more than once that she was impatient, but at this moment, Tang Xu was not in a hurry at all.

Like this phone call in front of us, it might be more effective if she doesn't answer it.

Yan Shiyu glanced at the phone Tang Xu had tossed aside, then quickly reached out and pulled her towards the sofa in the center of the living room. "Meng Liancheng was indeed very popular with women when he was young," Yan Shiyu said, pulling up a photo from his email. "As for his specific relationship with Tang Lan, it's currently impossible to verify."

Tang Xu took the phone and saw a photo from a dance party many years ago.

In the photo, Meng Liancheng is in the center, his young and handsome face bearing a gentle and humble smile. He is surrounded by all sorts of beautiful women, who posed for the photo.

Tang Lan was among them.

She didn't stand next to Meng Liancheng, but rather in the second row, almost in the corner. Her slightly sad and bittersweet gaze wasn't directed at the camera, but rather at Meng Liancheng, the beauty in the center.

"When was this photo taken?" Tang Xu couldn't help but ask.

“A photo from the Meng family’s annual meeting twenty years ago,” Yan Shiyu replied. “At that time, Meng Liancheng had only been with the Meng family for a short time, but he had already secured several projects in succession. He was incredibly popular and even surpassed Meng Lianshan.”

“Twenty years ago, I was already six years old.” Tang Xu stared at the photo and said, “And she can still look at a man with such eyes in such a public place... It’s a skill to be able to live so freely and willfully.”

Before Yan Shiyu could say anything, Tang Xu had already shifted the focus and said, "With such strong work ability, Meng Liancheng must have caused some trouble back in the Meng family, right?"

Yan Shiyu nodded slowly and said, "Back then, it was almost a foregone conclusion that Meng Lianshan would take over the Meng family. However, after Meng Liancheng joined the Meng family, a group of people quickly changed their minds and supported Meng Liancheng taking over."

"What was his attitude?" Tang Xu asked, staring at the person in the photo.

“He repeatedly declined, but expressed his willingness to be Meng Lianshan’s deputy.”

"So humble," Tang Xu said, "that's just like the image in the photo."

"Due to the passage of time, this is all the information we can find for now. We will need to spend some more time to find the rest."

Tang Xu responded softly, still staring at Meng Liancheng in the photo, "This person's appearance when he was young is completely different from how he is now."

Yan Shiyu gently stroked her hair and asked, "So how do you feel right now?"

Tang Xu replied, "Perhaps it's psychological suggestion, or perhaps his appearance after lying down for eighteen years is unsettling... In any case, he makes me uncomfortable. Could it be that I already had a preconceived answer, so I'm viewing him with prejudice?"

To this, Yan Shiyu simply said, "Trust your own feelings."

Tang Xu continued to look at the photo, as if carefully comparing the changes in Meng Liancheng before and after.

But then Yan Shiyu added, "Or perhaps, this person has never changed from beginning to end; it's just that his true self has been hidden by his outward appearance."

Hearing this, Tang Xu felt a chill run down her spine and couldn't help but turn around to look at him.

Yan Shiyu met her gaze, seemed to pause for a moment, and then said, "You see, I harbor even greater malice than you."

Tang Xu gently shook his head and said, "There is no bottom to the evil in human nature, and anything is possible. Therefore, we should not overestimate anyone's nature."

After a long silence, Yan Shiyu finally asked, "Then how do you assess my true nature?"

Tang Xu tilted her head slightly to look at him, as if she had been studying him carefully for a long time, before finally speaking: "The experimental data is not enough yet. We need more time to accumulate experience before we can draw a final conclusion."

Upon hearing this, Yan Shiyu didn't say anything, but simply took her hand, gently placed it to his lips, and kissed it.

……

For the next three days, Tang Xu stayed at Qiushuitai.

Three days later, Yan Shiyu left Huai City for a business trip to New York, while Tang Xu remained at Qiushuitai.

Compared to her previous frenzy and dedication, she seems to be gradually returning to a normal rhythm of life.

Although the answers to some things have not yet been revealed, she has plenty of time. She is willing to discover the truth step by step, or let the fox show its tail on its own.

She knew she couldn't rush things.

When you get anxious, everything falls apart.

So she gradually resumed a stable routine, going to and from get off work as usual, and patiently waited for progress.

With the weekend and the Qingming Festival holiday in between, Tang Xu finally returned to Yujing Bay and took Song Luobai to see Song Yuting and Qin Yun on Qingming Day.

Song Luobai was actually somewhat resistant to this, probably because she hadn't yet recovered from that immense pain and was therefore unwilling to face it.

After presenting the flowers, he told Tang Xu, "I'll wait for you in the car," and then turned and ran down the mountain.

Tang Xu didn't press him. She quietly cleaned around the tombstone and placed the fruit and food she had brought in front of it.

She was concentrating on arranging things when a pair of black athletic shoes suddenly appeared in front of her. Tang Xu looked up and saw Meng Liancheng again.

Meng Liancheng, dressed in a solemn suit, his face still pale, looked at her with a smile, "I saw you from afar and thought it looked like you. I wasn't mistaken."

After saying that, he looked at the tombstone in front of him again, "This is... your father's grave? Why are you all alone here?"

Tang Xu tried his best to hide the turmoil of discomfort in his heart. He put down the fruit, clapped his hands, stood up, and said, "I didn't expect to meet Mr. Meng here. Are you also here to sweep the tombs?"

Meng Liancheng nodded and said, "My parents are also buried in this cemetery. It's a pity that my parents passed away one after another in the past eighteen years without my knowledge. Now, if I want to talk to them, I can only come to this place."

“How can one not feel regret when a loved one passes away?” Tang Xu replied. “My father had a heart condition and was in a coma for a long time. He was finally rescued and stabilized, but then he suddenly passed away… Mr. Meng, my regrets are probably no less than yours.”

Upon hearing this, Meng Liancheng nodded slightly and said, "That's true. After all, your father is still so young. Anyone would find it hard to accept."

Looking at the sincere regret in his eyes, Tang Xu was speechless for a moment.

"Are you almost done?" Meng Liancheng asked again. "Since we've run into each other so coincidentally, how about we grab a bite to eat together?"

Before Tang Xu could answer, she suddenly heard a cold, icy voice from behind Meng Liancheng: "Excuse me."

Upon hearing this voice, Tang Xu subconsciously frowned.

Meng Liancheng turned slightly to the side and saw Jiang Muchen, whose face was cold and stern, standing behind him.

However, he didn't seem to recognize Jiang Muchen. After a slight smile, he said "Excuse me" and indeed took half a step back.

However, when he saw Jiang Muchen take only half a step forward and stand in front of Tang Xu, he seemed a little puzzled and looked Jiang Muchen up and down.

Jiang Muchen turned to look at him, his gaze dismissive and extremely arrogant.

Tang Xu's gaze fell directly on Tan Siyi, who was standing behind Jiang Muchen.

Tan Siyi held a bouquet of flowers in her hands, nodded slightly to Tang Xu, and then bent down to put the flowers down.

"Take it away!" Tang Xu said in a slightly hurried tone, "My father doesn't need the flowers you sent."

Upon hearing this, Tan Siyi froze, unsure of what to do.

Jiang Muchen reached out and took the bouquet of flowers, bent down and placed it in front of the tombstone, then straightened up and looked at Tang Xu, saying, "Even if you say you don't want it, he might still accept it."