Extreme Pampering
Chapter 118 She is celebrating Meng Qiming’s birthday.

Chapter 118: Chapter 118 She is celebrating Meng Qiming’s birthday.

After realizing that Meng Qiming was entertaining the thought of proposing to her, Shen Zhiyi decided she needed to find an opportunity to have a serious talk with him. She really felt nothing for Meng Qiming, and since he was intent on marriage, it would be wrong to let him waste his time on her.

So, after finishing her work, she called Meng Qiming to arrange a talk.

"Zhiyi?" Meng Qiming clearly hadn’t expected her to take the initiative to call him and sounded pleasantly surprised. "Do you need something?"

If she needed his help, he would be more than happy to offer it.

"I have something I’d like to discuss with you," Shen Zhiyi glanced at the time; it wasn’t too late. "Can we meet now?"

Meng Qiming was a decent person and treated her well, so Shen Zhiyi wanted to show him the respect of speaking in person.

"Right now?" Meng Qiming hesitated slightly. "I’m sorry, Zhiyi, I can’t make it today. How about tomorrow evening? I will send you the meeting address then."

"Okay," Shen Zhiyi agreed.

The next day, she specifically cleared her evening schedule and asked Meng the director for time off.

When she requested the leave, Director Meng seemed to ask casually, "Do you have plans tonight?"

He was Meng Qiming’s father but seldom mentioned his son, so Shen Zhiyi wasn’t on guard. "Yeah."

Director Meng smiled. "With my son?"

"I am supposed to meet him," Shen Zhiyi replied, slightly surprised. "Did he tell you?"

"No need for him to tell me, I would have guessed it anyway. Today, well," Director Meng waved a hand dismissively, "go on, and you don’t need to come in so early tomorrow. It’s fine if you stay out a bit late."

She received a call from Pei Yu as she was leaving the set.

"Have you had dinner?" Pei Yu casually ticked off a few items on the menu, handed it to Qin Fang seated opposite him, and asked with an affectionate and natural tone that kept drawing glances from Qin Fang.

"Not yet," Shen Zhiyi planned to find somewhere to eat after her meeting with Meng Qiming; it was just a talk and shouldn’t take too much time.

"Shall I order takeout for you?"

"No need."

Shen Zhiyi said, "I’m not on set right now."

The appetizer salad arrived, and Pei Yu glanced up, "You finished work early today, are you home? Is it okay if I come to see you?"

Qin Fang had just picked up his utensils when he heard this and looked incredulous.

No way, Brother Pei was about to leave him here and go to Shen Zhiyi?

"Don’t," Shen Zhiyi rejected him. "Please don’t come."

With her rejection, Pei Yu’s eyes dimmed, and after a moment of silence, he continued, "About what I said last time... did I scare you? I’m sorry, you can pretend I never said it."

He had regretted those words the very day he said them. Waking from a dream at night, he dreamt she had rejected him mercilessly and even severed all ties with him as a result. Pei Yu’s heart raced in anxiety, and the more he thought about it, the more impulsive he felt he had been.

Pretend he never said it? Without realizing it, Shen Zhiyi furrowed her brows slightly upon hearing this. She didn’t respond to Pei Yu’s comment but instead said, "I’m not at home right now."

"Hmm," Pei Yu didn’t cling to the previous topic. "Have you gone off to take care of other appointments?"

Another call came in, and Shen Zhiyi offhandedly said, "I have something to do."

She said, "I’ll hang up first."

Pei Yu looked at the disconnected call screen and sent Secretary Qin a message, inquiring about Shen Zhiyi’s plans for the day.

She quickly received a reply, she had no activities today other than filming.

"Brother Pei," Qin Fang, completely ignored, sought acknowledgment, "you’re pursuing her a bit too closely."

In fact, what he wanted to say was that he thought Pei Yu was being quite clingy, but he didn’t dare use that word to describe him.

Pei Yu paid no heed to his words and dialed Director Meng’s number.

Not in the mood for small talk, he got straight to the point, "She’s not on set?"

"Nope," Director Meng, focused on the scene, multitasking, "She asked for leave."

Asked for leave?

Pei Yu frowned, "What did she go do?"

"She went on a date," Director Meng, watching the monitor, suddenly realized he was talking to Pei Yu and said with a hint of pride, "You didn’t know? Today is my son’s birthday, she naturally went on a date with my son."

Heh, looks like he’s got to compete with his son now.

Pei Yu hung up the phone without a word.

Qin Fang swallowed his food, watching Pei Yu suddenly ordering several bottles of alcohol, felt at a loss, and slowly put down his knife and fork.

This... well, he might as well drink along.

Zhiyi arrived at the address Meng Qiming had given her, someone led her directly to the top floor, and as soon as the private room door opened, a stream of chatter and laughter revealed it was clearly the scene of a gathering.

Thinking she had walked into the wrong place, she was about to turn back when Meng Qiming came out from inside, "Zhiyi!"

It was a private gathering, and he was dressed casually and acted more freely, smiling as he greeted, "You’ve arrived."

Zhiyi had wanted to talk to him about personal matters, thinking it would just be a quick meeting between the two of them, but to her surprise, he had actually invited her to a gathering, "Mr. Meng, can we chat somewhere else?"

"Of course," Meng Qiming pointed in a direction, "Let’s go chat in another room inside then."

However, they had only taken a few steps when a group of men surrounded Meng Qiming, clearly very close to him, with the man closest to him sporting shoulder-length hair, exuding an artistic vibe.

"Where are you running off to, Qiming? Today’s your birthday and the bros made time to celebrate for you, you can’t just leave us behind."

Although the man addressed Meng Qiming, his gaze was taking in Zhiyi, he assumed understandingly, "Oh, eager to meet a beauty, aren’t you?"

Because they were close, such teasing was acceptable, Meng Qiming said helplessly, "Don’t talk nonsense, Zhiyi is my friend, she has something to discuss with me."

"What could be so urgent that it can’t wait?" the man laughed, inviting, "Miss Shen, are you here to celebrate Qiming’s birthday as well? Perfect, let’s all have fun together."

Zhiyi only then realized from his words that today was Meng Qiming’s birthday and this was clearly a private gathering with his friends. She was clueless when she came, not even bringing a gift.

Meng Qiming looked over with hopeful eyes, "Zhiyi, can you stay for a while?"

Considering it was his birthday celebration, and she had come empty-handed, she felt embarrassed to decline, and as everyone persuaded her together, Zhiyi took a seat, unable to reject Meng Qiming in front of everyone.

Putting personal connections aside, he was still the CEO of CN and she had a professional relationship with him, it was only right to show him respect and courtesy.

But by staying, it was no longer appropriate for Zhiyi to discuss private matters with Meng Qiming, so she decided to sit for a while and find a chance to leave, hoping to reschedule some other time.

"Zhiyi," Meng Qiming, persuaded to have a few drinks, slightly tipsy, "I’m sorry for taking up your time."

He admitted frankly, "I’ve long wanted to invite you to my birthday celebration, but I guessed you would refuse, so I didn’t inform you in advance, sorry."

"Mr. Meng," Zhiyi hadn’t wanted to discuss matters with him today, but now that he’d broached the subject, she didn’t want to put it off any longer, "Please stop wasting your time on me."