Chapter 48 Part 1

That glance was really just an instant.

In the background, countless employees were filing past one by one. The employee restaurant wasn’t rowdy, bound as it was by the strict rules of a five-star hotel. Meng Ning had once tried to make her way over to Wen Zenian during a banquet, only to have a glass of wine spilled on her shirt by accident, forcing her to retreat empty-handed.

And now here she was, standing right beside Wen Zenian.

Wen Zenian had clearly been angry just moments before. But when she lifted her gaze to look at Meng Ning, she quickly and subtly adjusted her breathing.

“What’s the matter?” Her tone with Meng Ning was gentle.

In that instant, had she been hoping Meng Ning would say something?

Meng Ning gathered her thoughts and handed over the investor’s business card. “Eden’s looking for you.”

Was there a fleeting flicker of disappointment in Wen Zenian’s eyes?

She couldn’t tell.

Wen Zenian replied very calmly, “Alright.”

She stood up and smoothed the hem of her pencil skirt before saying to the Italian general manager, “I’ll take my leave.”

The towering six-foot-three man didn’t look pleased, but he nodded with restraint and politeness.

Meng Ning followed behind Wen Zenian. When they reached the restaurant door, Wen Zenian suddenly glanced back over her shoulder.

Meng Ning paused for a second before stepping forward.

A faint smile played at the corner of Wen Zenian’s eyes. “Aren’t you going to ask me what happened with the last page of the story?”

Meng Ning did want to ask, but not right now.

From the investor who’d been hastily summoned to the general manager with the sour expression, it was clear something had gone wrong at the hotel.

Shouldn’t Wen Zenian be rushing off to deal with it?

Heading out from the employee restaurant required passing through a connecting corridor, but Wen Zenian stopped by the window instead. Meng Ning followed her over. “Aren’t you going out? That investor’s probably waiting for you…”

“Are you in a hurry?” Wen Zenian, who had been standing with her arms crossed facing the window, turned her slender neck to glance at Meng Ning.

Meng Ning thought to herself: Is this about whether I’m in a hurry?

Wen Zenian turned her gaze back to the view outside. “If you’re not, then you can ask me about the sci-fi story right now.”

“Then,” Meng Ning steadied her nerves, “what’s going on?”

The whole situation felt utterly bizarre. The business world ought to be a ruthless arena of flashing blades and drawn blood, yet here was Wen Zenian dragging her to stand amid birdsong and fragrant flowers to discuss a sci-fi story that had nothing to do with survival.

Luxurious.

That was the sensation Wen Zenian always evoked in her.

With a casual wave of her hand, she kept all the storms and bloodshed at bay from people’s dreams.

Meng Ning stood at a slight angle behind Wen Zenian and watched as the corners of her lips curved upward. “I don’t know either.”

“Huh?”

Wen Zenian’s gaze flicked toward her from the corner of her eye. “The author doesn’t know either. When she got to the end, she had someone pass along a message that she hadn’t figured out the finale. The sales were poor, so she never bothered finishing it.”

“Do you get it now, Meng Ning?” Wen Zenian turned to give her a smile. Meng Ning had been tense up until this point, but now that they were standing so close, she noticed the slight upward flick of Wen Zenian’s eye makeup today. It lent her an air of enchantment—not seduction, but something mesmerizing.

The kind that bewitched the heart.

It was with that very smile that Wen Zenian told her, “The story you wanted to read doesn’t have an ending in this world. No one can tell you how it ends.”

“Then I need to get back to work.” She nodded to Meng Ning and walked away, her stilettos clicking on the floor.

It took Meng Ning a couple of seconds to collect herself before she followed. She saw the investor talking sternly to Wen Zenian. Wen Zenian remained utterly composed, waiting patiently for him to finish, catch his breath, and soften his expression. From the shape of his lips, it looked like he was saying to her, “My bad.”

Qi Xiao walked over to Meng Ning. “What took so long?”

“She was probably holding me back on purpose,” Meng Ning said. “Dragging out the timing.”

Wen Zenian was a master at playing with people’s hearts. Even her daily makeup perfectly matched the impression she wanted to create.

Her chat with Meng Ning about the sci-fi story had really been a way to let the investor work through his most intense emotions on his own.

And yet she had known full well that the story had no ending—and still shown those earlier pages to Meng Ning.

Deliberate? Or accidental?

As Meng Ning and Qi Xiao headed out together, Wen Zenian called from behind her. “Meng Ning.”

She walked over in her stilettos, the metal waist chain from last night cinched around her waist under her uniform.

Already done talking?

Meng Ning glanced behind her, but the investor was nowhere to be seen.

As Wen Zenian drew near, Qi Xiao very tactfully said, “Well, I’m on the first shift today, so I need to head out.”

“I just wanted to say I’m sorry.” Wen Zenian’s eyes, which seemed to shimmer with rose purple, looked at Meng Ning in the clear morning light. “About the sci-fi story—it’s on me.”

The tone she used was exactly the same as last night, when she’d held Meng Ning close and murmured reassurances in her ear.

She relished every one of Meng Ning’s emotions, because they were all thanks to her.

“Cara.”

Meng Ning arrived at the beach control room, and the captain walked over to her. “I’ll start gradually reducing your shifts so we can begin the handover.”

Qi Xiao looked upset right away. “If Cara’s leaving, who’s going to cover her shifts?”

The captain replied, “Our staffing levels are sufficient for now. If we run into any scheduling issues after that, we’ll apply to corporate for new hires next quarter.”

Qi Xiao grumbled, “Who else can lifeguard as well as Meng Ning?”

Sometimes, she even felt like Meng Ning had some innate intuition for danger. Whether from the watchtower or the control room, Meng Ning was always the first to spot someone in trouble.

Once the captain had left, Meng Ning smiled and reassured Qi Xiao. “The Earth keeps spinning no matter who leaves, right?”

Qi Xiao muttered, “I’m just gonna miss you—can’t you tell?”

Just then, a teammate came to fetch Qi Xiao for her first shift on the watchtower.

Meng Ning patted Qi Xiao’s shoulder. “We’ll talk more back at the dorm tonight.”

After work, Meng Ning got called aside by the captain to go over the shift schedule, and when she finally returned to the dorm, Qi Xiao was propped up against the headboard, playing a game on her phone.

Spotting Meng Ning, she shifted position, flipping over to lie on her stomach as she kept playing.

Meng Ning found it amusing, like watching a kid throw a tantrum. She sat down on her own bed across from Qi Xiao’s and pulled a packaged bag of butter cookies from her pocket, setting it on Qi Xiao’s bed.

“You treating me like a little kid?” Qi Xiao had just lost a round; she sighed and sat up to tear open the bag.

These were homemade butter cookies from C Hotel’s pastry chef, often given to guests with children. Qi Xiao loved them. Meng Ning had spotted some in the captain’s office and brought a pack back for her.

Meng Ning’s phone rang at that moment.

She glanced at it and picked up. “Hey, Song Xiao.”

“Mm, good. Thanks.”

She hung up, and Qi Xiao shot her a look, nose wrinkled and eyes narrowed. “Song Xiao already found places to view that fast?”

Meng Ning was planning to sublet her little room after leaving her job.

She smiled reassuringly at Qi Xiao. “Isn’t that a good thing? I’m about to go traveling.”

“Travel, travel.” Qi Xiao’s cheek bulged with cookie as she spoke. “How much have you saved up over these five years?”

“Enough for this trip, at least.”

“And after that? You coming back?” Qi Xiao crossed her legs a little tighter, turning serious. “I’m glued to C Sea Island for life, you know. Once your money runs out, if you wanna come back to the lifesaving team, the captain will definitely hire you again.”

“Not sure if there’ll be openings by then.”

“Don’t give me the runaround.” Qi Xiao glared at her. “I want a straight answer.”

The corners of Meng Ning’s lips curved upward. “Mainly, I just haven’t thought that far ahead.”

“You’re way too laid-back.” Qi Xiao sighed again. “No wonder you believe in Buddha.”

Meng Ning stood up. “Take your time eating. I’m going for a swim.”

The sea at night always brought a sense of tranquility, as if you could dive in and never have to come back out. The water started off cool against the skin but grew warm after a while, enveloping your arms and ankles like a gentle embrace.

As Meng Ning rose from the waves, she caught sight of a vague silhouette on the beach, and her heart skipped a beat.

But as she straightened up and walked toward it, her vision cleared, and she laughed at her own overactive imagination.

There was no one there—just some jagged rocks that happened to cast such an eerie shape.

Who had she been hoping it might be? Wen Zenian?

How could someone from her dreams ever make sense of the dream itself?

She had once believed that Wen Zenian really liked her. Then she’d decided Wen Zenian just wanted to control her emotions.

She dried her hair with a massive beach towel and gazed off toward the hotel’s main building in the distance.

Wen Zenian’s every action was so effortlessly casual, as if she no longer had any need for Meng Ning to visit her suite.

The next morning, after training, during breakfast time, Qi Xiao looked like she had something to say but hesitated.

“Out with it.” Meng Ning sliced into a pancake and nudged the honey to one side—it was too sweet.

“I heard Gwyneth’s departure date has been confirmed.”

Qi Xiao watched Meng Ning’s knife and fork closely, but her movements didn’t falter for even an instant.

“Oh.” Meng Ning looked up with a perfectly natural smile. “When?”

“This weekend,” Qi Xiao said. “The day we have off.”

“Oh.” Meng Ning nodded.

“Don’t play it cool. Oh what?” Qi Xiao grew a little urgent. “Once she leaves, you two won’t have any more chances to meet.”

Meng Ning’s smile remained quiet and serene.

Qi Xiao realized what she’d just said and let out a sigh.

What she’d said—”Once she leaves, you two won’t have any more chances to meet”—already seemed to define the tone of their relationship, even before the question of liking or not came into play.

When all was said and done, Meng Ning figured the outcome wouldn’t differ much either way.

Whether she liked Wen Zenian or not, or whether Wen Zenian liked her—based on everything else Wen Zenian did, she clearly had no intention of altering her course for any such “like.”

And that was enough.

Once their lives went their separate ways, what could sustain a rootless “like” like some tree without soil? Meng Ning didn’t delude herself about her own appeal. She knew full well that she was selfish, cowardly, and lacking in ability—powerless against so many things.

She couldn’t make any more promises that “everything would work out.” She couldn’t bear to look into another pair of eyes full of trust in her.