Chapter 24: Dragged Back Into a Horrifying Dinner
Qian Meng was on the verge of going down to search for the car. As she turned around, she saw the butler standing at the door. She glared at the man, knowing that he had stalled her until the Bai family arrived.
Well, if they wanted to play it that way… Even the servants were getting more audacious as the days went by.
A minute later, an older gentleman slid out of the car, himself. She found herself staring. She had never met these people before, but she had seen them vividly in the dream. She remembered their faces and their voices. She felt a cold shiver run up her arm as they came near. She slid to the side, starting to walk away and away from the three people who were close to her.
She was almost scared to talk to them. As if, somehow, talking to them would solidify that her dream had been real. Which was not possible. She'd looked at all sorts of mentions of such things. Some called it a psychic dream, others called it reincarnation or transmigration. Then there were sceptics. She sided with them. Apparently, she had seen these people in the passing some time in her life. The human brain stored the faces of people they didn't know and refined and reused them in dreams. In her case, it had been her gut putting faces to the people.
She had not searched them up or spoken to them before, but her imagination had led her to this. With this in mind, she didn't want anything to do with these people.
"Yun Qian Meng?" a male voice called her. She froze in place for a fraction of a second before starting to walk away again. The man frowned lightly and shouted her name again.
This time, Qian Meng couldn't pretend that she hadn't heard Bai Ye Qing. She turned around with a perturbed expression. "Are you calling me?" she asked haughtily.
Maybe her behavior was as repulsive to these people as it was her 'family.' But then again, these people wanted her for her money and not her behavior. They would grit their teeth and live with her as long as she benefited them.
Bai Ye Qing raised his eyebrow and gave a sincere smile. "Yes," he confirmed slowly. "Where are you going?" he asked. His voice was conversational and familiar. He acted as if they had spoken several times before and were comfortable around one another.
"Do I know you?" she retorted, her eyebrows scrunched together as she tried to shake the man away.
"Bai Ye Qing," he announced, taking a couple of steps towards her so that he was standing right in front of her. He extended a hand, waiting for her to take it and shake it. Qian Meng looked at his hand in distaste and held her arms firmly at her side.
"I still have no clue who you are," she said promptly. The cold air around her had everyone in their sight holding their breath. This young miss really knew how to make people's blood boil. The butler, who was standing at the magnificent door, whispered something to a younger man.
The boy scurried away, going inside immediately, presumably to inform Yun Sui Bo.
"The man who is irrevocably in love with you," Bai Ye Qing sighed. He looked at her with those dreamy eyes girl speak about so frequently. They had no effect on Qian Meng. She forced herself not to roll her eyes (a habit she would have to break soon or her eyeballs would roll back into her skull).
"There are a lot of those on the planet. I'd get tired if I had to keep track of each and every one of them." She gave him a fake smile and was about to walk away when another voice stopped her in her tracks.
"Are you Meng Meng? You look so beautiful in reality. I almost couldn't recognize you." The older woman sighed. Chen Yue, her name was… all from the dream. Bai Ye Qing's mother. Qian Meng turned to look at the moment, ill-concealed horror in her eyes reflecting what she felt at hearing her name butchered in such a fashion. "How come you are leaving? I am Chen Yue, Bai Ye Qing's mother. I've wanted to meet you for a very long time. Come and bring me to your home."
Like hell, she would. She was acting all sweet and considerate, but in reality, this woman was hellbent on forcing Qian Meng into a corner so that her son could scoop her out and keep her chained to his side. She wouldn't let that happen.
Bai Ye Qing gingerly grabbed her bicep and coaxed her towards the house. Despite her struggles, he kept pulling her in.
"What do you think you are doing?" Qian Meng hissed. It was in these moments, she wondered why she hadn't learned martial arts or worked out her body enough to have some strength and shake people off.
"Taking you to dinner," he said coyly.
Qian Meng let out a harassed sigh as she let him lead her into the house. The butler stood by, acting like he hadn't seen anything as Chen Yue, too, grabbed onto Qian Meng's arm and rushed her in.
Qian Meng involuntarily looking at Bai Ye Qing's father who looked just as helpless as her. He gave her an apologetic smile. She bowed her head in acknowledgment and turned back to the front.
Jiang Xin was standing at the head of the living room, beaming from ear to ear when she looked at Chen Yue and Bai Ye Qing. Qian Meng could see the wheels in her mind turning as she schemed.
Finally, the two strangers let her arm go and Qian Meng bounced away quickly, taking Qing Yuan's side. Her brother stared at her in horror. "Why didn't you leave?" he whispered, his head turned towards her and his looking away.