Under the moonlight

"How come I never noticed before that you're so brave! That's Jing Hong, he's involved in organized crime outside of school, aren't you afraid?" Looking at Huang Meng's serious eyes, Zhao Meng asked impatiently, but he didn't want her to see how eager he was to know the answer.

“I’m scared, but it’s precisely because I know what he does that I’m even more afraid that you’ll really be stabbed to death by him.” Huang Meng finished speaking, her chest rising and falling slightly.

Zhao Meng looked at her, his eyes filled with surprise and a hint of heartache. "Are you stupid? There were so many people passing by on their way to work, even though you were selling vegetables on the roadside. You could have called security first..."

"I didn't think that much at the time. Do you know that you were covered in blood and they were still stabbing you with knives? Do you know how scared I was that you would die if I stabbed you again!" Huang Meng interrupted Zhao Meng and said excitedly. Her voice was unconsciously loud, and even the guests next door secretly looked in their direction.

After Huang Meng finished speaking, she realized that she seemed to have lost control of her emotions. Suddenly, she lowered her head in embarrassment, her cheeks flushed.

Chen Zhi looked at her, then at Zhao Meng. He stared at Huang Meng quietly. Suddenly, Chen Zhi felt a bit superfluous. He looked around and muttered to himself, "Hey, where did all the waiters go? I'll go check!" Then he quickly slipped away.

After Chen Zhi left, Zhao Meng reached out and tugged at Huang Meng's shoulder. "What's wrong? You're so tough, you even dared to stand in front of a knife, and now you're shy?"

"No, I didn't." Huang Meng moved her body aside to avoid his hand.

Zhao Meng was secretly pleased with her appearance. He smiled and whispered in her ear, "You don't? Then why is your face so red?" He looked at her with a smile in his eyes.

Huang Meng wanted to argue, but suddenly looked up and saw his face right in front of her, looking at her with a gentle smile. Huang Meng looked away uncomfortably, picked up the cup but found it was empty, and put it down awkwardly.

"Huang Meng, actually, from the very first day you came to the company, I knew that you were Huang Meng, the one who could laugh heartily with her friends, the one who bravely stood in front of me, the one who, when I was lying on the table in anger, thought I was crying and came to comfort me, but was scared away by my shout and never spoke to me again after that, right?"

"Later, we were in the same class in the same middle school. I thought I should try to ease the tension between us, at least let you know I wasn't a fierce person. So, I would always intentionally or unintentionally hang around in front of you, trying to persuade the homeroom teacher to let me sit next to you, thinking that sitting together would make you feel my kindness! But you still didn't like to talk to me, so I kept bothering you, making you copy my class notes, making you do my English homework, and sharing an earphone with you. Hey, do you remember when you were in middle school you said you liked that guy, Wilber Pan? I even seriously told you, 'I wish I were Wilber Pan,' why didn't you realize that?"

Zhao Meng placed his hands on the armrests of Huang Meng's chair, as if he were holding her in his arms, and looked up at Huang Meng, who was sitting upright.

Huang Meng seemed stunned by his words. Her mind kept repeating and echoing every word he had said, but she couldn't believe the conclusion her brain was drawing. Did he like her? No, did he already like her before?!

Huang Meng looked at his eyes full of tenderness, but didn't know how to speak. Everything happened too fast. It was as if she had been put on pause. The Zhao Meng in front of her gradually overlapped with the Zhao Meng in her mind. For a moment, a question popped into her mind: Is the person in front of her still the same person from before?

Seeing her dazed expression, Zhao Meng knew this couldn't be rushed. He reached out and pinched her cheek, then turned around and looked at her, saying, "Have you finished eating?" Huang Meng seemed like a robot that had suddenly frozen and then suddenly returned to normal. Only after hearing this did she react, "Yes, yes, I've eaten, I've finished eating."

Chen Zhi walked over and said to Huang Meng with a smile, "How is it? Have you eaten?" He spoke to Huang Meng, but his eyes glanced at Zhao Meng.

“Okay, that’s fine, let’s go.” Zhao Meng ignored him and said to Huang Meng, “I’ll take you back.”

Huang Meng was about to refuse, but Chen Zhi continued, "Yeah, it's hard to get a taxi here. It's only 8:30 now, which is when traffic is congested."

"Okay, then." Huang Meng didn't refuse anymore. Chen Zhi had driven himself here, and he would drive himself back. Before leaving, he invited Huang Meng and Zhao Meng to get together again on the weekend. Huang Meng thought that she should be free on the weekend, and Xu Ao would be working overtime these days, so she agreed.

Throughout the journey, Huang Meng kept looking at the scenery outside the window. Zhao Meng also tacitly kept quiet and didn't speak to her. She knew that this girl was sometimes very brave, but at other times, she was like a quail, very timid. She had finally managed to coax her to her side, and she couldn't be too hasty and scare her away again.

The car quickly came to a stop in front of her residential complex. Huang Meng seemed to be lost in thought, and only after the car stopped did she say absentmindedly, "We're here so quickly."

"What, you think it's too fast? Then I'll go slower next time." Zhao Meng said, smiling at her.

Huang Menghua didn't have time to say anything, she quickly unbuckled her seatbelt and jumped out of the car. She always felt that being by his side was testing her mental and physical strength, and she was also afraid that her defenses would break down.

"Then I'll head back first. You, drive carefully." Huang Meng didn't wait for Zhao Meng to get out of the car before jogging away.

Zhao Meng watched Huang Meng flee like a rabbit and couldn't help but find it amusing. Was he really that scary? However, today's meal was indeed worthwhile. Although she didn't say it explicitly, it was clear from her eyes and expression that she liked him, or at least the former him. As for the current her, he could only take it one step at a time. The hunter had no shortage of patience.