Always by your side

Ch 30. There is no goodbye

Lan Xichen POV

Past

The sound of laughter and voices from the living room wakes me up, and I try to disentangle myself from the beautiful man by my side. But unfortunately, it doesn't work, and I end up waking up a grumpy Jiang Cheng. We put our pants back and go to the other room only to find a drunk Meng Yao trying to accommodate a drunk Nie Mingjue on the couch. 

"Again?" asks Cheng

We have seen Nie Mingjue drunk four times in the last seven months. For a dedicated artist, this attitude was out of character.

I sit in the chair in front of Nie while Jiang Cheng and  Meng Yao go to the kitchen. They come back with three glasses of water and a towel. Then, I offer the glass to Nie Mingjue. He hesitates for a moment, drinks the content, and sighs. Then, he crouches on his knees and says, "He is dating someone else". 

"Good, you should do the same," says Cheng. I look at Mingjue. He laughs and says, "She is very famous, and some fans took and leaked some photos of the two together so that the paparazzi found out about their romance."

Suspicious.

Meng Yao takes the empty glass and offers him a towel. Later, he pulls a chair and sits next to me. Jiang Cheng does the same.

Meng Yao sighs. "He dared to appear in the photoshoot of a new series that he was filming two weeks ago and claimed that he wanted to talk about things. Mingjue didn't go with him, and we sneak out of there using another entrance."

"Why didn't you tell us before?" I ask

"He didn't let me", answers the short man at my left. But then, although he hesitates for a moment, he replies, "that will be the third time that the bastard has done that after their breakup."

"Look, you don't need to tell us the reason for the breakup, but what Cheng says is true, that romance was doomed, so it is better if you start seeing other people or keep with your work. No matter what he is up to now, you have your things to do. I will call your brother" I am about to call, but Nie Mingjue stops me. "No, I don't want that he sees me like this."

He goes back to the couch, and after some small talk, Nie Mingjue fell asleep. I return the glasses to the kitchen while Meng Yao and Cheng keep chatting. I am listening to them but don't show my face.

"Did you find a place to move after Lan Xichen's graduation?" asks Meng Yao

"Yes, it is between my parent's house and Lan's resort. We agreed that after our marriage, no one would have an advantage over each other at work, and if we can work together, we will do it," answers Cheng. This boy.

"I will be giving back this apartment and moving out to a smaller place after graduation. However, I am not sure what I will do," answers Meng Yao.

"What do you mean?" replies Cheng

Meng Yao ponders for a moment, "I have a business degree, but my brother has taken control of our father's company after the bastard passed away three months ago. He gave a small fortune to each of his brothers and sisters, so I plan to open my own company. As for Mingjue, he doesn't need me."

"There is something that I wanted to ask you," says Cheng looking at him attentively ", and I have waited for a long time to collect my thoughts because I don't remember it well". 

He pauses and plays with our engagement ring "four years ago, we were at the party where my sister got engaged. You were there with Lan Xichen and Nie Mingjue, and I remember that before I went to drink with Xichen, you were there talking to him. I didn't hear what you said, but you were pleading something. What was it?"

"Does it matter?" asks Meng Yao

"It matters because, according to Xichen, you changed. Also, it was a bit strange that you tip me over Nie Mingjue before," states Cheng.

Meng Yao laughs and says, "I don't think it matters anymore because he is happy with you now, and I am leaving this apartment in a couple of weeks." 

I retreat my back to the wall. I am sorry, Ah-Yao.

Ah-Cheng rolls his eyes and shakes his head. "On the contrary, I think it is important. It matters now more than before" he approaches Ah-Yao, holds his hand, and says, "I wish you the best in the future and if you ever need anything, just let me know, and I will do my best to help you. Also, it would be best if you went to our wedding. So it is going to be a double ceremony."

Meng Yao winks at him, and they both smile. I enter the room with some refreshments, and later we go to sleep again. As I embrace my man, I whisper, "I love you", and close my eyes.

Two weeks later, we packed our things and left the house where I lived during my university years. Meng Yao is also ready. After we gave the keys to our landlord, he hugged us and said "goodbye."

Cheng replies, "between friends, there are no goodbyes, only see you later", and we take our car to our new home to start our life together.

Lan Zhan POV

Present

"I am sorry for not coming before" I bow to the lady in front of me. She smiles and replies, "I am ok, but it will be better if you take your godson out sometimes. He liked to play with your boy when younger."

After chatting with Jiang Yanli for a moment, I go to Jin Zixuan to interview Meng Yao. At the same time, my son entertains Jiang Yanli and Jin Ling, and Wei Ying and Jin Zixuan run a security check to ensure the protection of the vault.

I brought him some food that Jiang Yanli gave me for him, and we started a conversation that I should have had long ago.

"Why did you help us back then?"

"I mostly wanted to gain your uncle's favour and protect Nie Mingjue. Also, I thought that maybe it would give me bonus points with your brother if one-day things got bad with Ah-Cheng. So of the three, I got a favour from the cops, but Mingjue died, and in the end, Jiang Cheng gained Xichen's love. So in reality, I didn't do much."

"Not much?" I ask

He sighs. "Yeah, it was me, the one who gave an initial tip about Wen Chao, but the ones that collected all the evidence were Wen Ning and his sister. However, I was paid to identify the gangsters that visited the bar often. I decided to quit Wen Ruohan after what happened to Wei Ying in the club. It was enough to make me feel sick and avoid them entirely."

"Thank you," I say

He shakes his head. "I am not sure if what I did afterwards was right or wrong."

"Pretending to be dead wasn't ok. You know that the government might present charges," I reply

"Not that" he pauses and looks at the floor. "When your brother called to tell us what happened with Wei Ying, I spilt everything to Nie Mingjue, and he broke up with Wen Ruohan immediately. Their fallout was so awful, and the way we avoided Ruohan might have put him in alert, but I didn't want to have my friend involved with that guy any longer."

Indirectly, he might have indeed caused the tragedy that brought my son to my life, but I can't lead that train of thought. 

"I don't blame you, The ones at fault are in jail now, and I intend to keep them there."

I was about to hand him a glass of water when the lights went out. He is here. Let the show begin.

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I hope you like this chapter. Sorry for the late update.

Meng Yao of this story isn't a good guy, but he isn't evil either.