My Villainous Persona Collapses as My Family Reads My Mind - chapter 17

Meng Zhiyi had lunch at the Shen Family home and accompanied the Shen Matriarch for a stroll in the garden to help with digestion, not insisting on her task during this time.

Instead, because of the Shen Matriarch’s kindness, Meng Zhiyi found herself growing fond of the old lady and was happy to keep her company in conversation.

After they had wandered for a while, Shen Que contacted Meng Zhizhou to resolve the photo issue, then came over to fetch Meng Zhiyi so they could leave together.

Just before leaving, the Shen Matriarch took Meng Zhiyi’s hand warmly and said, “If anyone ever bullies you, just come to Grandma Shen, alright?”

A soft warmth filled Meng Zhiyi’s heart, and she nodded sweetly.

“From now on, you can come to the Shen Family whenever you wish. You don’t have to wait for Xiao Que.”

Meng Zhiyi replied, “Okay.”

After saying goodbye to the Shen Matriarch, Meng Zhiyi left with Shen Que for the Meng Corporation building.

Once in the car, Meng Zhiyi finally opened the gift the Shen Matriarch had asked Shen Que to give her.

Inside the bag was a delicate jewelry box. She opened it carefully to find a pale purple jade butterfly pendant.

Meng Zhiyi’s eyes sparkled, and she couldn’t help but hold it in her palm, admiring it fondly.

While they were stopped at a red light, Shen Que glanced over and saw the joy on her face, thinking she must really like the present.

But the next moment, he heard Meng Zhiyi muttering to herself:

*This jade pendant is so pretty, it must be worth a lot.*

*Hehe, I’ll take it to the shop tomorrow and see what it’s worth.*

Shen Que: “…”

He began to wonder if the Meng Family hadn’t given Meng Zhiyi any spending money-why did she sound so strapped for cash?

After thinking it over, Shen Que tested the waters by asking, “Are you short on money?”

“Yeah.” Meng Zhiyi, her mind filled with ideas of how much the jade pendant might sell for, replied without thinking.

Hearing this, Shen Que tightened his grip slightly on the steering wheel. Remembering Madam Meng’s attitude toward Meng Zhiyi earlier, he could already tell what her situation at the Meng Family was like.

Before Shen Que could say more, Meng Zhiyi carefully put the pendant back in its box and asked, “Why do you want to know?”

Shen Que glanced at the jewelry box in her hands. Noticing his gaze, she instinctively hid the box behind her back.

“This was a gift from Grandma Shen. Don’t even think about taking it from me!”

As she spoke, the light turned green. Shen Que took his eyes off her, started driving again, and said, “You do realize it’s a gift from Grandma Shen-just don’t go selling it behind her back.”

Meng Zhiyi: “…”

*Seriously? Is it really that obvious I want to sell the pendant?*

Reading her expression, Shen Que continued, “Your thoughts are written all over your face. If I ever see it at an auction, you know what’ll happen.”

Meng Zhiyi narrowed her eyes and asked with curiosity, “What’ll happen?”

Shen Que pressed his lips together, his mind racing.

Given Meng Zhiyi’s current focus on her tasks, he naturally couldn’t mention any consequence that would work in her favor.

So he simply said, “If you sell the pendant, don’t expect Grandma Shen to ever give you another gift.”

He was using money as leverage.

Sure enough, Shen Que’s move hit Meng Zhiyi right where it hurt.

For someone as money-obsessed as her, that was the worst possible outcome!

“Don’t accuse me! I never planned to sell the pendant!”

Meng Zhiyi immediately hugged the box tightly to her chest.

*Damn, threatening me with that? Well, you’ve just played right into my hands!*

*Fine, I won’t sell it for now. But when I’ve finished all my tasks, it won’t be up to you anymore.*

Shen Que drove on with a straight face, the corners of his lips lifting unconsciously, though he kept his voice cool. “It’d better stay that way.”

Meng Zhiyi let out a little snort, turned to look out the window, and said nothing more.
An hour later, the two arrived at Meng Corporation.

Because Meng Zhiyi was the true heiress of the Meng Family, the photo incident inevitably implicated the company. At this moment, Meng Zhizhou was in a meeting discussing solutions to the issue.

When the Assistant informed him that Shen Que and Meng Zhiyi had arrived, Meng Zhizhou signaled for the meeting to pause and got up to leave the conference room.

At the office door, Meng Zhizhou saw the two standing side by side.

Shen Que was refined and noble, while Meng Zhiyi was radiant and dazzling. For the first time, Meng Zhizhou felt that his little sister did have some charm.

“Eldest Brother.” Meng Zhiyi stood next to Shen Que, grinning at Meng Zhizhou.

Meng Zhizhou’s expression was cold. Seeing that she was completely unaffected by the photo incident, he let out a laugh of exasperation. “You can still smile.”

“Of course I’m happy to see my dearest Eldest Brother.” Meng Zhiyi pouted, appearing obedient on the surface, but secretly gloating inside.

[Of course I have to smile. If conditions allowed, I’d even set off fireworks to celebrate.]

[Someone’s helping me attract hatred, and I can just lie flat and complete my tasks. What a festive occasion.]

[And this is just the beginning. There’ll be plenty of tears from you all in the future.]

Shen Que and Meng Zhizhou both listened without changing their expressions, neither revealing that they could hear Meng Zhiyi’s inner thoughts.

However, from Meng Zhiyi’s inner voice, both men confirmed that this incident was not orchestrated by Meng Zhiyi herself, but that someone was manipulating things behind the scenes.

Shen Que vaguely suspected who it was, but had no direct evidence.

He turned to Meng Zhizhou and said gently, “President Meng, I have information on the blogger who first exposed the photos. Grandmother’s intention is to sue each of them for malicious defamation. I wonder what President Meng intends to do?”

Meng Zhizhou temporarily set aside the information he’d gleaned from Meng Zhiyi’s inner voice and focused on solving the immediate problem.

He didn’t answer Shen Que right away, but instead led the two into his office.

After seating them, Meng Zhizhou took out a thick stack of documents and handed them to Shen Que.

“These are the files on the rumor-mongers that I had them compile. Everything is here.”

Meng Zhiyi looked at the documents on the table, which were almost as thick as a Xinhua Dictionary, and a shadow crossed her face.

[Alright, alright, you’re quick to act. Planning to make an example out of them, huh?]

[Song Wei probably never imagined that by trying to mess with me, she’d end up in such a mess herself.]

[I’m a bit curious-if Shen Que finds out Song Wei is involved, how will he protect her?]

Meng Zhizhou silently looked at Shen Que, his gaze probing.

The name Song Wei was not unfamiliar to him; in the past, every time Meng Zhiyi had a breakdown, it was because of this person.

As for the rumors about Song Wei and Shen Que, Meng Zhizhou had always remained silent.

He knew very well that for people with backgrounds like theirs, marriage was never simple.

The entanglement of interests was too complicated to unravel, so there was rarely pure love in wealthy families.

Therefore, Meng Zhizhou didn’t care that Shen Que, despite being engaged to Meng Zhiyi, still had another woman in his heart.

To put it bluntly, Meng Zhizhou didn’t care much about this little sister.

But that was before.

Ever since he could hear Meng Zhiyi’s inner thoughts, he had started to pay attention to her, intentionally or not, and naturally began to care about her affairs.

Shen Que still didn’t know that Meng Zhizhou could hear Meng Zhiyi’s inner voice just like he could, and didn’t think much of his gaze.

Looking at the documents on the table, Shen Que said thoughtfully, “President Meng, I have a rather presumptuous request.”

Meng Zhizhou: “Go ahead.”

Shen Que: “If we find out who is truly behind all this, could you let the Shen Family handle it?”