I was busy cooking my dinner when I got a sudden call from someone.

"Eh… who calls me at this time? Shi Qiang?" I thought as I wiped my hand and checked the caller. Turned out, it was a new number that was not registered in my contact. I frowned, thinking this might be a scam, "Is this another one of those insurance calls again?"

Click.

"Hello, who is this?" I asked as i continued preparing the vegetables.

"Ying Jie~ This is Meng Bao\'s new phone number, please don\'t block me again now, pleaseeeee…"

I was stifled when I heard Meng Bao\'s voice again on the phone. His voice sounded so sweet, like honey glazed on my phone. But at the same time, I had the feeling that he only did this as an act, or at least, he only did this to people he actually liked.

\'Does this mean… Meng Bao actually like me for real?\'

Honestly, that question had been haunting me for the whole day after I kicked Meng Bao away. Because Meng Bao looked so sincere when he confessed to me, like a teenage boy falling in love heads over heels. But at the same time, because I already knew what happened before, it only added fuel to the fire. I couldn\'t believe that his sincere eyes were genuine.

Because he said he loved his childhood sweetheart, then he said in the office that he had found a woman that could fill his empty heart, and now, he said he loved me? How could someone be so indecisive and unscrupulous to love three women at the same time!

I sighed, put down the phone, and turned on the speaker while cutting the vegetables for my dinner.

Meng Bao continued talking while I ignored him, "Ying Jie, what are you doing right now? Are you cooking for dinner? I heard the sound of you cutting up some vegetables."

"I am," I replied curtly. I wasn\'t really in the mood to cater to Meng Bao\'s attention-craving right now. However, the more I talked with Meng Bao, the more I realized that Meng Bao was really like a boy trying to do anything to get someone\'s attention.

As if he didn\'t have that much attention when he was a kid. Mr. Yang Zhuhuo often talked about his son. He often said that he had been showered with a lot of money and attention, especially by his mother, to compensate for the fact that they had been too busy when they were younger.

So I guessed that Yang Menghuo, or Meng Bao, actually had a perfect childhood. He didn\'t lack money, and he didn\'t lack love from his parents.

But why did he still act like a kid trying to get a girl\'s attention?

Did he do this with every woman he \'fell in love\' with?

Meng Bao was seemingly disappointed because I didn\'t answer his question. He asked again, "Ying Jie, don\'t ignore me ah… Meng Bao is calling you right now."

I sighed again and poured the vegetables on the soup, "What do you want?"

"I… uhm… I just want to hear your voice…" Meng Bao admitted. This time, it was me who frowned.

"We had just talked literally a few hours ago. So why do you need to hear my voice? I\'m not a diva or anything, so I cannot sing a good song lullaby for you."

"Your voice is like a gentle caress in my heart, Ying Jie…" Meng Bao suddenly said. "I don\'t know, but whenever I heard your voice, I feel like my ears, and my heart had been tickled by the angel..."

I stopped stirring the soup as I heard such cringy and corny pick-up lines. Seriously, he needed to work on this skill.

"Stop saying cringy stuff! You\'re not making it any better!" I yelled. "Try better at your pick-up skill!"

"Eh, I\'m just saying the truth, Jie…" Meng Bao said. "Thinking about you once or twice a day is not enough, Jie. Because you keep giving me this sense of warmth and longing that I want, so I keep coming back to you whenever I feel tired."

I gulped after Meng Bao said that. Still, it was a cringy thing to say. It was way too sweet that I couldn\'t help but cringe even more. But before I said anything, Meng Bao continued with his shamelessness.

"Jie, are you cooking something delicious today? Ah, what am I saying? I know that you\'ll always cook something delicious. Can I come? I would be the happiest man on earth if you allowed me to come and eat!"

"What are you saying! I already kicked you out a few hours ago, and now you want to return?!"

"W—Well, it has been few hours since I thought you\'d accept me back…" Meng Bao reasoned. "Don\'t worry, Jie. I will sort out my problem as soon as possible."

"Meng Bao! You\'re not my boyfriend, and you\'re not my husband! So why would you come to my apartment?!"

"Ah, so, can I be your husband—"

Click

I hung up the call and stomped back to the kitchen. Seriously, that man was weird. He was so clingy, but at the same time, he could act like a total mafia lord in a movie. Like a flip of a coin, the Meng Bao that I saw in the office and the Meng Bao who came to my room and also called me just now, they were like two different people.

\'Can someone change that fast?\' I pondered.

I continued cooking, and after I finished, I served the dinner on the table. I didn\'t cook much, but it should be enough for me. At least it should be until I heard my phone rang again.

I rolled my eyes and picked up the call, "Yes, Meng Bao, what is it again?"

"Ying Jie, are you not mad anymore?"

"I\'m not mad at you, Meng Bao. I just… I don\'t know why you keep pestering me!" I yelled at Meng Bao. But when I hear Meng Bao whimpered after that, I felt bad immediately.

"O—Okay, you act like a baby, you know that, right?" I complained. "Meng Bao, I\'m not mad at you, but you should sort your own problem first before you return to me. I have a lot of things to do!"

\'Including searching for a new rental boyfriend to meet my parents,\' I said in heart.

"But, Jie… I smelled the food that you cooked just now. And my stomach is grumbling…" Meng Bao said.

"Huh? What do you mean?" I asked. I looked around and got creeped out, thinking that Meng Bao might have been hiding somewhere in my house like a horror movie villain. I looked up to the ceiling and was surprised by my own lamp.

"How could you smell my dinner?" I asked warily.

I didn\'t expect the handsome and cute Meng Bao could be a crazy stalker and villain.

\'Did he finally realize my identity as his dad\'s secretary? Did he feel too ashamed that he wanted to kill me?!\'

"Mmn, I can smell it, Ying Jie. Because I\'m still outside…"

"HUH!?"

"Yes, Jie… I\'ve been outside your room here since hours ago. I\'m so tired and hungry, Jie. Are you cruel enough to abandon this poor Meng Bao? Wuwuwu…" Meng Bao sounded so pitiful, complete with that fake crying.

My big sister instinct awakened immediately. I got panicked and rushed to the door. I opened the door and saw a handsome man, sitting in front of my door, dramatically fiddled with the dirty welcome mat in front of my door, like an abandoned child who just wanted to eat.

Except, the abandoned child actually had a face of a supermodel who should be on the billboard and the true nature of a mafia-like businessman, who did many unscrupulous methods to gain his interest.

Meng Bao looked up, and when he saw me, his downcast eyes brightened, "Ying Jie!"

"You really stayed here the whole time?!" I yelled at him.

"Y—Yeah, my house is far from here, and I thought, I\'d just stay for dinner, maybe Ying Jie will accept me again after few hours…"

"How could—I\'M NOT EVEN MAD AT YOU!"

"But you kicked me out…" Meng Bao pouted. "Can I just stay for dinner, please? Do you really want to see me crying because I cannot eat?"

"You just pretend—GOD, YOU\'RE SUCH A BIG BABY!" I yelled at Meng Bao, who still tried to look pitiful. I took a deep breath, \'It\'s okay, Shi Ying. Meng Bao is a bit weird, but at least he\'s not a stalker that actually moves nearby to stay close to me, right?\'

\'It\'s not that bad. He\'s just a bit… attention-seeking.\'

After I calmed myself down, I looked at Meng Bao and clicked my tongue, "Fine, come in, let\'s have dinner together."

Meng Bao sprung up from the ground, and his face cheered up again, "Thank you, Jie!"