Meng Gu led Chen Ruo Yu to the car park to get his car and laughed when he thought of the earlier situation.  “Chen Ruo Yu, ever since you became my girlfriend, your power has improved.”

“What do you mean by my power has improved?  I’ve always maintained my power.”

“Yes, yes.  It’s just that ever since you became my girlfriend, your power has become more evident.”

“Didn’t you see her stance?  What kind of manners does she have?  Dr. Meng, your vision is really bad.  No……your previous vision was really bad but now you have a very good vision.”  Chen Ruo Yu thought for a while and felt unhappy.  “Tell me, were you friendly with her and gave her a hint to let her think she can act arrogantly in front of me?”

“What do you think?”  Meng Gu said flatly.

“Okay, I will believe you for the time being.”  She looked at Meng Gu and said.  “Dr. Meng, when you are facing that ex-girlfriend of yours, you should show-off your pettiness, your poison tongue, and your hateful personality.  At the same time, keep on your guard and preserve your chaste image.”

“You really have such a high evaluation of me.”  Meng Gu pinched her cheek.  “Next time when you meet her, don’t bother about her and let her come to me with her questions.”

“Why?”

“What is why?”  Meng Gu said.  “Of course, this kind of thing is to be handled by men.  In fact, I had already told her very clearly and she didn’t pester me anymore.  Maybe when she saw you today she felt unhappy, so came to create trouble.  I will tell her again and forbid her to bother you.”

“No.”  Chen Ruo Yu twitched her mouth.  “Why should I give you an excuse to see her once more?”

“Hey, this isn’t an excuse, alright?

“Most probably she is unable to let go.  Every time she annoys you, you will look for her, then, she will always annoy you from time to time.  If you ignore her, she will not have any more excuse to act like this.”

“Then if she comes and looks for me, you must not lose your temper with me because I can’t tie down her feet.”

“If you tie her feet, she will think you are paying attention to her.  You are not to touch her, not even a finger.”  Chen Ruo Yu lifted her index finger and wagged it at him.  “Rest assured that if I lose my temper it will only be directed at her.  Even if I can’t out-talk her, I can still stare at her without speaking until she suffocates.”  She clenched her fists and also made a suffocating facial expression.

She made Meng Gu burst into loud laughter.  “Chen Ruo Yu, I really had underestimated you in the past.”

“Of course.”  She lifted her chin proudly.   “In any case, you must be clear of your standpoint.  Your words and deeds must be self-disciplined and you must not give her any hope.  If you can do this, I will consider you as qualified to be my boyfriend.  I will not blame you for her personal behavior.” 

Meng Gu did not smile and just stared at her.  Under his gaze, she blushed and said.  “What is the matter?  Quickly, start the car.”

Meng Gu pulled her head over and kissed her on her lips.  Then he started the car and asked her.  “Where do you want to go?”

She looked around and felt reassured that no one had seen them kissing.  She thought for a moment and said.  “Going out will mean spending money.  If we go to your home, you’ve to send me back later and you will have to make two trips.  Then it’s better to go to my house.”

“Then why did you come and pick me up?  After I am done, wouldn’t it be better if I go to your place directly?”

“But I want to pick you up.  After working so hard, the minute you come down you’re able to see me.  Isn’t that good?”

Meng Gu studied her deeply.

“What are you looking at?  It is very convenient for me to come by bus and anyway, I don’t have anything to do.  When you reach my place, you can have a drink of water and take a rest.  We can discuss your naïve express delivery matter and then you can go home and sleep early.”

“Can I not go home?”

“No.”  Chen Ruo Yu blushed.

Meng Gu looked at her several times while he drove his car.  He could not help but pinched her cheek and her face turned redder.  When she swatted away his hand, he laughed. 

Suddenly, a string of numbers rolled out from his mouth and Chen Ruo Yu frowned.  ‘What is that?”

“The password for my bank card.”

“If you place your card with me, how are you going to use your money?  Shall I save up for you every month?”

“If you want to do it that way, it is alright.”

“What do you mean ‘it is alright’?”  Chen Ruo Yu said.  “If I don’t save it for you, you will not have money to spend on food, your phone bill will be unpaid, the electricity bill will be unpaid and you can’t buy anything.”  Her little chin lifted.  “If you say a few good words to me, I will consider giving a higher limit every month.”

Meng Gu laughed.  “My phone bill is linked to this card and the monthly payment is automatically deducted.  When I go shopping, I use my credit card.  Now when you buy anything, you can use your credit card.  Are you not aware of that?”  He used the tone like he was teaching a child.  “My credit card is also linked to this card and it is also automatically deducted every month.  Then the cash part, I have online banking.  I can withdraw cash from this card to another card, so it is okay if you hold on to this card.”

Chen Ruo Yu was dumbfounded.  “Since you have already completed the preparation for the transfer of property, then why did you give me this empty card?” 

This is so embarrassing.

“This is not an empty card.  There is money inside.  Isn’t it true that women say controlling a man’s financial resources is like controlling the source of his life?  This is my source of income, are you not touched?  Of course, you must not make any amateurish investment or anything similar.  This is considered as my private savings and I will explain to you after we are married.”

Chen Ruo Yu did not care about his ‘private savings’ but she had to pick on him for other things.  “If you had not handed this card over to express delivery and gave me a fright, I will probably be a little touched.”

“I particularly wanted the express delivery to send it to you to give you that surprise effect.”

“How is that possible?  I was already scared to death, okay?  Don’t you have any financial security awareness?”  Chen Ruo Yu reacted at this time and changed to another topic.  “Wait a minute, which woman told you that ‘controlling financial resources is like controlling the source of a man’s life’?”

“I don’t remember who said it.  It could be one of my buddies.”

“Wait, this kind of inferior comparison can only be concocted by you men.  Men think they know a woman’s heart very well but in actual fact, we women are dignified and simple.  We don’t think of such meaningless things.”

Meng Gu snickered.  “I thought you will appreciate this kind of comparison which is so lively.  Initially, someone who is dignified and simple told me that a woman’s dignity should be as hard as a man’s second brother.  I feel her comparison is excellent and very cute.”

Suddenly Chen Ruo Yu froze and her face turned red.  He actually dug up the old stories and narrated them.  This is really not giving her any face at all!

Meng Gu looked at her and flashed his white teeth when he grinned.  “Why are you blushing?  Haven’t you heard of this as well?”

She held her breath and said loudly.  “Even if this comparison is very lively, you still should not have handed your life-line* over to the express delivery to be sent to me!”

(命根子 – Life-line here means MG’s family jewels or life-source.)

Meng Gu was stunned.

Suddenly she realized she had said something wrong and quickly added.  “I mean your bank card……..”

Meng Gu laughed.  “Chen Ruo Yu, are you going to make me laugh to death?”

She blushed and did not know what to say.

He continued to laugh.  “You’re right.  This kind of thing, I must hand it over and place it into your hands personally.”

She continued to blush.  “Hey, don’t say any more indecent words.”

“What is so indecent about giving you my bank card?  What do you think I will personally hand over to you?”

Ah, ah, ah……..Chen Ruo Yu’s mind was in a mess.  The expression on her face made Meng Gu continued to laugh endlessly.

Chen Ruo Yu turned her head sideways and decided to ignore him.

Suddenly Meng Gu stopped the car at the side and she turned her head to look at him in surprise.  “What is the matter?”

Meng Gu coughed and said.  “Just to let you conduct an examination on me…….”

Chen Ruo Yu opened her mouth and smoke started to twirl up from her head.  Then Meng Gu said. “Take out the bank card.”

He pointed his finger towards the outside of the car and when Chen Ruo Yu followed the direction of his finger, she saw an ATM machine by the side of the road.  She knew she was being teased again by him.  She turned around and gave his arm a few fierce hard slaps. 

Meng Gu laughed.  Chen Ruo Yu lifted her eyebrows and said.  “Tell me your password again!”

After he told her, Chen Ruo Yu threw him a glance and grabbed her handbag before getting down from the car. 

She will take a look!

She felt a little nervous when she inserted the card into the machine.  It was not because of the amount of money in the card, it was that her relationship with Meng Gu had become closer a few points.  She turned her head around and glanced at Meng Gu who was hugging the steering wheel and smiling at her.

Chen Ruo Yu blushed again.  She bit her lip and felt a little shy.  Carefully, she punched in the password for the bank card and then glanced at the amount of money in the card.  Quickly, she withdrew the card and ran back to the car holding the card in her hand.

“Are you satisfied?”  Meng Gu was still smiling.

Chen Ruo Yu gave him two more punches and said.  “There is so much money inside the card.  I will kill you if the express delivery had lost it.”

“If it is lost, I’ll just make a report.”

“Hey…….”  He really made her mad.  He still did not know how to repent and his attitude is so sloppy. 

“Okay, okay, I had always said that every time the focus you are able to grasp is very weird.  If it was any other woman, she would have been so touched that she would have pounced on me and given me a kiss.”

She glared at him and he immediately changed his words.  “Ah…….I’m not interested in other women’s kisses.”

Chen Ruo Yu twitched her mouth and put the bank card into her wallet.  “Confiscated.”

“Okay.”

“Let it keep my wallet warm.”

“Okay.”

“I won’t spend your money needlessly.  I will only keep it for you.”

“It doesn’t matter.  What other expensive items will you be willing to buy except for durians?”

“Don’t provoke me.  I am easily encouraged.”  Chen Ruo Yu threatened.

Meng Gu smiled and asked.  “Chen Ruo Yu, do you know why I gave you my bank card?”

‘Make me happy, make me touched……..’ 

‘In order to increase my self-confidence?’

‘In order to let you merge into my life?’

Meng Gu looked at her.  “Chen Ruo Yu, someone warned me that there is a great difference in our lifestyle, our taste in life and our consumption habits.  This hidden danger must be eliminated, right?”  He reached out and touched her head.  “Since you are holding my finances, you will have to help me with my daily necessities.  My usual hand cream, my clothes and pants, the food that I like to eat, and my usual drinks…….you have to take care of them, do you understand?”

When she imagined this kind of life, she started to blush again.  She did not have a lot of money and she had lived on a tight budget.  She had thought of giving him a gift and wanted to buy something special for him.  But after serious observation, she could not afford to buy things that he was accustomed to and it was inappropriate to force him to use something that she could afford. 

So, all she could do was to keep herself neat and clean as not to let him lose face.  Every time when she came out to meet him, she would try her best to change into her better and newer clothes.  She also used make-up and made herself a little brighter and a little more beautiful.  She wiped her shoes clean and ironed her clothes flat not for vanity but just to narrow the gap between the two of them.

In fact, to have a relationship with him, she had thought a lot.  Although he likes her, it was absolutely not for her external appearance.  If both of them were to be together in the future, she had to work hard to adapt to his environment.  She was not so naïve to think that the love of Cinderella and Prince Charming would end with the Prince and Cinderella wearing tattered clothing and holding a gray broom living in happiness for the rest of their lives.  She also knew that she had to retain the qualities that the Prince likes about her.

She is still Chen Ruo Yu but she hopes she can become Dr. Meng’s Chen Ruo Yu.

It was just that she did not expect her Mr. Tyrannosaurus who was cold and looked cool would be like her, working hard to narrow the gap between them.

Chen Ruo Yu squinted her eyes and smiled, then leaned over and placed a kiss on Meng Gu’s face.  “Dr. Meng, work harder.  A little bit more, and I’m certain you will be mine.”

Meng Gu also squinted his eyes and smiled evilly.  “If you want to ensure that I am yours, it is so simple……..”

Before he could finish his indecent sentence, he received a punch.

 

This night, Meng Gu stayed at Chen Ruo Yu’s place until very late.  Of course, they did not do anything ‘erotic’ or improper but it was just that Meng Gu refused to leave, making himself busy with talking and messing around.

Chen Ruo Yu told him about Lu Bao Ni’s matter and also said that if both of them became a pair, then it would be easier for her to explain to her family. 

He was not interested in the feelings of other people.  Instead, he seized the opportunity to discuss with Chen Ruo Yu about both of them meeting their parents. 

“We should do this.  These few days, let’s find a time to meet my parents and have a meal together and then I will go back with you during the Spring Festival to meet your parents.”

“This is too fast.  We’ve not been in a relationship for very long.”

“You’ve already confiscated my finances, and you still claim that meeting my parents is too fast?”

“They are two different things.”

“They are the same thing.  This is not too fast.  After meeting our parents, the Spring Festival will soon come to an end and it will be time for your house lease to expire.  You can move in to live with me.  After a while, if you don’t have any objection to our life together, and you’re satisfied with my performance in bed, we can get married.  This arrangement is really good.”

Chen Ruo Yu began to blush again.  “What is this talk about the bed?  You are starting to talk indecently again.”

“This is not indecent.  This is a serious matter.”

“Your meaning is that since we have tried it, and if we don’t have any objections, we can get married, right?”

“Right.”

“Is this considered a marriage proposal?”

“Yes, if you think so.”

“I still feel it is too fast.”

“No.  Obviously, we are taking it step by step.”

“What if I am not satisfied with your performance in bed?”

“Chen Ruo Yu, are you trying to encourage me?  You can question me on anything but you’d better not have doubts about this, otherwise, I won’t be able to control myself and prove it to you directly.”

Chen Ruo Yu blushed and hugging her pillow, she stepped back.

When Meng Gu saw her useless expression, he got angry.  “Hurry, let’s meet our parents.  After meeting the parents, then it is considered our marriage is sealed.  Then it will be righteous for me to have you.”

“What do you actually think of the whole day from morning to night?”  Chen Ruo Yu gave him a kick.

“The same thoughts of what men will think about.”  Meng Gu said without a tinge of embarrassment.

She twitched her mouth.  “I still want to wait for the Spring Festival and ask my parents for their views.  Let me prepare them first and then I will arrange for you to meet them.  After you have met my parents, then only I will meet your parents.”

“Why must it be in this order?”

“I want you to be sure first.”

Meng Gu glared at her. 

She must think her parents are wolves, tigers, and leopards*.  Does she think that he will retreat when he meets them?

(Wolves, tigers, and leopards here mean fierce and dangerous people.)

But Chen Ruo Yu did not expect that they would not meet the parents from either side first.  The first set of parents she actually met was Zhou Zhe’s parents.