Chapter 56: I’ll Go Pick Up Mister For You
On a workday, Meng Shuyou returned to the art gallery to get busy.
After attending a friend’s wedding, Madam Kasa came back and asked her, “Elara, is the guest satisfied with that painting of yours?”
Meng Shuyou shook her head helplessly, not knowing how to talk about this matter.
Madam Kasa was puzzled, “Where was she dissatisfied? I saw the painting and the photograph; the fidelity is eighty percent.”
Meng Shuyou tidied up the easel, “Maybe it didn’t meet her expectations.”
She came deliberately to look for trouble; no matter what the painting turned out like, she would find fault.
Madam Kasa comforted her, “Forget it, don’t overthink it. All kinds of guests exist. I’ve encountered weird ones before too, who said the portrait I painted was too blurry and unattractive, when he didn’t even understand what an oil painting was.”
Meng Shuyou smiled, “Yeah, I’m not taking it to heart.”
“Actually, I’ve always wanted to paint one for Kerwin, but he never gave me the opportunity.” Madam Kasa looked regretful, “Maybe you’ll have the chance later to have him model for you.”
Meng Shuyou didn’t even dare think about it, “He’s too expensive; I can’t afford him.”
Mister Pei’s time is precious; how could she dare to delay him.
Madam Kasa laughed, “Then just keep him in your mind and paint him like that.”
Meng Shuyou had had this idea before, but she could never see through those eyes of his; they were always profound and inscrutable.
Pei Yuzhou was on a business trip these past two days; that day he still hadn’t agreed on whether to take her to Madame Isha’s private banquet or not.
Before bed that evening, Meng Shuyou sent him a message: ‘Mister Pei, have you decided? Are we going to Italy?’
On the other side.
Pei Yuzhou had just finished working, closed his computer, picked up his mobile phone and glanced at it, then replied with three words: ‘What’s the rush.’
Meng Shuyou was of course anxious; next week was the banquet, and he still hadn’t decided, keeping her hanging, ‘Then when are you coming back?’
Pei Yuzhou leaned his neck back, loosely reclining against the chair back, ‘Miss me coming back?’
Meng Shuyou: ‘Yeah.’
Pei Yuzhou saw through her, ‘You’re just saying it with your mouth.’
Meng Shuyou retorted, ‘No way, I mean it in my heart too.’
Pei Yuzhou exited the chat interface and made a telephone call, instructing: “Cancel the other itineraries; schedule the airplane to Florence on the 7th.”
Mark: “Yes, sir.”
For Miss Meng, he was making exceptions again and again.
Meng Shuyou wasn’t sleepy yet; she lay on the bed and scrolled through the group chat.
That group of idle young ladies in Bin City; nothing in the social circle escaped their mouths when it came to the latest gossip.
‘Why has Miss Meng the eldest been so quiet lately?’
‘I heard she had a fight with Second Young Master Zhao. I went to the boutique to buy a bag a couple days ago and the sales assistant told me.’
‘They’re not even married yet and already fighting nonstop; if they do get married, how would life be.’
‘A woman like Meng Yan, whoever marries her home won’t have peace.’
‘This time it seems pretty serious; maybe this marriage won’t happen.’
‘Then she’d be a joke.’
‘I heard from my dad that the Meng Family has a project with fund turnover issues; the company is in a mess right now.’
‘The Meng Family originally wanted a marriage alliance with the Xu Family, but now the Xu Family is avoiding them like the plague.’
‘I’m really curious; is Meng Shuyou really President Meng’s biological daughter? No matter how much he cares about benefits, he can’t marry his own daughter off to someone surnamed Xu, right?’
‘The Meng Family favors sons over daughters; daughters aren’t valuable, so of course he’ll trade her for benefits if he can.’
‘Having a dad like Meng Zhenhua is really rotten luck.’
Meng Shuyou just found out; no wonder the Meng Family hadn’t come to trouble her lately—they were too busy with their own problems.
However, the Meng Family had operated stably for so many years; Meng Zhenhua was cunning and cautious in the business world—how could they face fund issues this time?
She couldn’t figure it out, but for her it was good news; it would be best if the Meng Family and Xu Family fell out.
The big stone weighing on her heart was temporarily lifted, allowing her to breathe.
Meng Shuyou made a video call to Aunt Xue again.
It was around nine in the morning domestic time.
She picked up on that side.
Meng Shuyou looked at the background on the screen, “Aunt Xue, are you out?”
“Yeah, I brought Xiao Man to the park for a walk. It’s not good to stay cooped up in the hospital room all day.” Aunt Xue said while flipping the camera, “We just ran into a stray kitten; Xiao Man is feeding it bread here.”
Shu Man squatted by the flower bed, watching the kitten eat, and mimicked its meow, “Meow…”
Meng Shuyou suddenly recalled her childhood; she and her sister often used to pack up leftover food from home and go downstairs to feed stray cats.
Her older sister had liked cats since she was little, but the family conditions were average—not suitable for keeping pets, so she never had the opportunity.
Back then, she had said full of longing: “When I can earn money on my own later, I’ll definitely keep a kitten; every day when I get home, I can hug it and play.”
As for Meng Shuyou, she wanted to keep a puppy and take it out for walks every day.
Such simple wishes had now become luxuries.
“Yaoyao, how’s the internship going? Smoothly?” Aunt Xue asked with concern.
Meng Shuyou gathered her thoughts, “Yeah, I’m doing pretty well here.”
“That’s good; focus on your work with peace of mind.” Aunt Xue said, “Xiao Man is getting better too; she occasionally says a word or two, not completely refusing communication.”
“But she gets scared as soon as she sees Meng Yan and hides behind me.”
Meng Shuyou frowned tightly, “Has Meng Yan come to trouble you again?”
“Not recently.” Aunt Xue looked down at Shu Man, “I’m almost always by her side, not giving anyone the chance to hurt Xiao Man.”
“You’ve worked hard, Aunt Xue.”
“No need for that; back then if you hadn’t helped me, my daughter and I would have been cornered by the creditors.”
“I didn’t help much; let’s not talk about that.”
They chatted about other things for a bit, then ended the video call.
Meng Shuyou put down her mobile phone and went to sleep.
–
The weekend was relatively busy, with quite a few guests coming to see the paintings.
Today three paintings were sold; some purely liked the artwork, others were collecting art.
The guests chatted happily with Madam Kasa.
Meng Shuyou, as the assistant, accompanied them, handling printing and signing contracts, packaging paintings, and stayed busy until evening before seeing off the last two guests.
Madam Kasa glanced at the time; it was already eight o’clock, “Elara, you worked hard today; go back and rest early.”
Meng Shuyou had finished her work and picked up her bags, “Okay, I’ll head out first.”
Madam Kasa waved her hand, “Yeah, go on.”
The driver was waiting nearby the art gallery.
Meng Shuyou walked over, opened the rear car door, and got in.
The car started.
Night had fallen thickly; colorful lights from the streets on both sides flashed past the car window.
A telephone call came in; the driver connected his Bluetooth headphones and answered.
Something was said on the other end, and the driver replied: “Yes, sir.”
After the call ended, Meng Shuyou asked aloud: “Was that Mister Kerwin?”
“Yeah.” The driver took off his headphones, “Sir is at a banquet social engagement and asked me to pick him up.”
Meng Shuyou thought for a moment, “How about I go pick up sir for you.”
The driver didn’t dare, “Miss, that wouldn’t be appropriate; this is my job—how could I let you do it.”
“No problem; I won’t let sir blame you.” Meng Shuyou made up her mind, “Send me the address; I’ll drive over.”
The driver had no choice.
Miss Elara was sir’s person; if she wanted to pick him up, he as an outsider couldn’t stop her.
