It was a famous love song and she hadn't expected him to even listen to music at this point.
She forgot all about her emails and continued to watch him with a big smile on her face. He probably thought that she hadn't noticed his mumbled singing, but in reality, she found it adorable.
He said one particular sentence wrong and she interjected, grinning at him.
Mo Qingchen started laughing throatily as he looked over his shoulder at her. "Oh yeah?" he asked, obviously amused.
"Why are you laughing at me?" she asked, starting to laugh herself.
"Because you are cute."
She had to blush at that. "I had no idea you were so knowledgable about songs, though. This one is years old!" she commented as she watched him walk over with her mug of ice tea.
"My mom is a big fan."
Qian Meng nodded. "My nanny was a big fan."
"I remember listening to these songs with my mom when I was a kid," he responded kindly. Qian Meng smiled, taking the mug from his hand.
"I like imagining you as a kid," she said.
Mo Qingchen was a powerful man and it was difficult to imagine him as a child. It was a fun picture, though.
"Sorry to disappoint you: I was an ordinary child."
Qian Meng rolled her eyes. "I find that hard to believe." She took a sip of her iced tea and sighed contently.
"I think your perception of me is greater than that of the rest of the world," he said calmly.
"I don't think so," she countered. "I think your perception of yourself is detached from what people see. People from all over the world admire you and your tenacity. You're actually somewhat of a celebrity among entrepreneurs and investors. You have social media pages dedicated to the work you do. Are you familiar with that?"
She had actually looked at them quite a few times and scoffed at how he was worshipped before she got into a relationship with him.
He hummed. "Interesting."
"What is interesting?" she asked.
"Just a thought I had."
"And what is that?"
"I wonder how different the world would be if we all saw ourselves the way other people do. Through the lens of love, for example."
Qian Meng stopped sipping. Her first real impression of Mo Qingchen wasn't a great one. But the way she saw him now, she had never thought so highly of another person. She attributed that to simply getting to know him better, but maybe it was really because she saw him through a filter… through the tinted glasses of love.
Before she could give more thought, she was suddenly being turned around by Mo Qingchen. He took her hands in his and pulled her to the empty space in the room. And then suddenly, her body was against his. He held one of her hands in his while the other arm held her tightly around her waist. It took her a second to register what he was doing.
He was dancing with her.
She was so caught off guard that it took her a moment to move with him, placing her hand on his shoulder. She laughed as he spun her around the room, the whimsical music crooning around them.
"What are you doing?" she laughed.
"Dancing with my wife. The song is good and my wife loves to dance."
She yelped in surprise when he dipped her suddenly. Once she was upright again, he pulled her tight against his body.
"I didn't know you could dance," she whispered.
"I can't. This is a private showing," he teased. "But the song is a sad one, isn't it?"
"It is…" he agreed. "But we are both having a good morning."
"Yes, yes… we are," she answered, smiling up at him. He leaned down to kiss her and she smiled against his lips.
As they boarded the plane and sat in their seats, they talked. Mo Qingchen told her about the better memories from his childhood and Qian Meng told him stories from hers. He told her how he built his empire of wealth and power and she answered by telling him her experience. They took different approaches, but the end result had been rather similar.
They even talked about the future. He talked about investments that he wanted to make and the businesses he was interested in entering. Qian Meng spoke about her plans for 1314 and the different verticals of her company.
They dreamed bigger dreams for each other than they did for themselves, and Qian Meng wondered if he saw her through the same lens that she saw him through.
Love.
"Isn't that a huge risk?" Qian Meng asked at a particular idea of his. Her eyes remained fixed on him. "I know you have done it several times before, but entering an industry that is so dense already. Are you willing to risk failing? It doesn't worry you that you'll end up losing money?"
He smirked. "Risk is the fastest way to make money," he told her. "You take risks as well. But even if the market is dense, I am looking at disrupting it further. That is why I am confident in my business ventures," he said confidently. "It doesn't make me nervous because I am not investing money I can't live without." He looked at her slyly. "Moreover, my wife is so rich, why do I need to worry about not having money?"
Qian Meng giggled. "That's smart."
"I grew my wealth faster than others because risk and reward are part of who I am. It's what I do. It's how I made most of my money." Qian Meng nodded in understanding. "You place everything on the product and the customer. I look for opportunities. And I don't just practice my theory in business. I use them in my personal life as well."
Qian Meng looked at him in confusion. "How so?"
"Well, look at you."
"What?"