Listening to what Lin Ruoxi said, she wanted to drink the medicine already!
Yang Chen suddenly got stiff for a while before slowly putting the bowl back on the table. Bitterly, he said, “Of course not. My dear Babe Ruoxi, come over and drink it quickly. You’ll be awarded one rice ball for every mouth you drink. This way, it won’t taste bitter anymore.”
Lin Ruoxi walked down from upstairs and lifted the soup bowl up. The corner of her lips moved. She seemed like she was restraining from smiling. “Are you trying to trick a child? I’m not a three-year-old anymore. What’s the big deal of drinking medicine?” she said.
Grinning, Yang Chen said, “You’re a child in my eyes. You’ll always be a child in this life.”
Displeased, Lin Ruoxi said, “What are you talking about? It’s not like you’re older than me.”
“I’ll protect you like a child. Isn’t that great?” Yang Chen asked.
Lin Ruoxi’s cheeks suddenly turned pink. “I don’t want to talk to you. Nothing serious comes out from your mouth,” she said.
Wang Ma who had finished her medicine was elated when she saw these young people together. Smiling, she returned upstairs.
Lin Ruoxi lowered her head and forced a mouthful of soup down. Before drinking for a second time, she frowned and spit out her tongue as a result of the bitterness.
Yang Chen couldn’t help but to laugh. He untied the plastic bag and took out the freshest glutinous rice ball before passing it to Lin Ruoxi.
Lin Ruoxi looked at the rice ball eagerly. She couldn’t resist the temptation after all. Receiving it from Yang Chen, she quickly took a bite, but felt like she would lose face. As she chewed, she explained, “It’s just that I don’t like to waste food. I’ll finish these since you bought them.”
“I know, I know. We’re a thrifty family,’ Yang Chen said certainly.
Lin Ruoxi mumbled, “It’s best that you know,” before proceeding to drink the medicine as she ate rice balls.
When she finally finished the medicinal soup, she devoured the entire box of rice balls as well. Yang Chen felt that if there was a competition for eating rice balls, Lin Ruoxi could at least enter quarter finals.
Carrying the empty bowl, Yang Chen walked to the kitchen before starting to wash the pot that he used to simmer the medicine.
Lin Ruoxi stood beside the door of the kitchen, staring at Yang Chen’s back while he worked. Suddenly, she felt that her heart was nice and warm. The more she gazed at Yang Chen, the more she wanted the moment to last longer.
When Yang Chen finally finished washing the dishes and turned around, Lin Ruoxi suddenly noticed that she was doing something inappropriate. Quickly, she turned around and acted like nothing happened.
Yang Chen asked, “Babe Ruoxi, aren’t you going to rest?”
“Yes… I… I have something to tell you,” Lin Ruoxi said. She immediately thought of an excuse she could use.
“What is it?” Yang Chen asked.
“You heard what I told Yanyan earlier. It’s a dinner event taking place on next Friday. I want you to go with me,” Lin Ruoxi said.
Yang Chen got astonished. According to her understanding towards Lin Ruoxi, she wouldn’t participate in events like this often. She didn’t even have to entertain her customers.
Lin Ruoxi said, “I know what you’re thinking about. Back then, I didn’t really attend events like this, but it’s different now. Although it doesn’t really matter if I show up there, you can get to know a lot of people that are helpful for your future development in Zhonghai if you agree to go.”
Shocked, Yang Chen thought, so she’s trying to get connections for me, that’s why she wants me to go.
“I think there’s no need for that. I’m living quite comfortably now. I don’t hope to get how high of a wage. It’s tiring enough for you to take care of Yu Lei International. If I still go and find more things to do, life would be meaningless,” Yang Chen said.
Lin Ruoxi said calmly, “Since you know that I’m tired, why can’t you help me shoulder some stress for me? The men from other families are all working hard. Why are you always so free? And how do feel so at ease doing so?”
Yang Chen didn’t know what do say. It was true that he was someone who relies on the woman at home, and do nothing to help out if he was looked by the society. He lived at his wife’s house, drove his wife’s car and his wife even arranged his job for him—he wouldn’t get fired when he did nothing in the company.
Lin Ruoxi felt that her words hurt Yang Chen’s dignity. She said apologetically, “I’m not saying how bad you are… I just feel that you certainly are competent enough to achieve more. Why do you only want to rely on your wife? I don’t expect you to conquer the world or be much impressive. I just hope that one day, I can pass the company into your hands… I’m not a woman with a strong heart to run an enterprise. If I could, I would’ve stayed at home all day and lock myself. I don’t want to spend so much effort on those people. Just like the gamble I had with my seniors, to be honest, even if I wasn’t the CEO of Yu Lei International, I’d still be unwilling to work at Changlin Media. Sitting at my position, I need to take too many people into account, even if my heart wasn’t willing to. I hold way too many responsibilities… Do you understand what I mean?”
Yang Chen nodded. Smiling, he said, “Alright, I understand. I’ll listen to your arrangements. I’ll follow you there.”
Inheriting Yu Lei International? Of course, Yang Chen wouldn’t do that for sure. However, if he rejected Lin Ruoxi earlier, their relationship which had improved slightly would worsen again.
Elated, Lin Ruoxi said, “You don’t have to feel too pressured. Just do it slowly. This event is organized by the second biggest clan in Zhonghai, Liu clan. Their main business is Jade Clouds Corporation. Although they aren’t as significant as Yuan clan, they can still be considered a major clan in Zhonghai.”
Liu family? Jade Clouds Corporation? Yang Chen suddenly thought of the fiancé of An Xin, the one who argued with him at the police station back then. Isn’t he the young master of Liu clan? If I recall correctly, his name should be Liu Yun.
Yang Chen didn’t expect Liu clan to be this powerful. He finally understood why An Xin’s father wanted to push his daughter to marry Liu Yun so much.
“It’s a charity auction dinner. There will first be a prom, then there’ll be an auction. It’d held at Jade Clouds Hotel owned by Liu clan. Almost every successful businessman and influential government members will be there. This time, you’ll just go there to let people recognize your look. It’ll help you substantially,” Lin Ruoxi further explained.
Yang Chen nodded. He said, “With you, I think getting to know people wouldn’t be tough.”
Lin Ruoxi understood what Yang Chen was saying. It was true that she appeared very seldomly in the public. A lot of people had only heard of her name, but hadn’t had a chance to meet her in person. Her appearance would undoubtedly welcome lots of interactions with the guests.
“Don’t think about it too much. I just want you to do stuff seriously. One day, there’ll be people trying to get near you,” Lin Ruoxi said.
“It’s just that I dislike my woman being displayed in the public,” Yang Chen said before winking at Lin Ruoxi.
Lin Ruoxi gave him a death stare. “Can’t you get serious for a moment?”
“Where am I not serious at?” Yang Chen asked sadly.
“You aren’t serious everywhere!” Lin Ruoxi said angrily before putting on her rabbit-head slippers and sprinting upstairs.
After tidying up everything, Yang Chen didn’t plan to attend work today. He went up to his own room as well.
After switching his computer on, Yang Chen took a cigarette out and lit it up. Various expressions showed up in his eyes. Finally, he took a deep breath, as if he made a major decision.
Clipping the cigarette with his mouth, Yang Chen’s hand quickly moved on the keyboard. He typed in a random web address which was encrypted.
After pressing the ‘Enter’ key, he got connected to a video call.
The profile of the other side appeared. It had an image of a soaring blu eagle.
System: “Connecting…”
After waiting for around a minute, the image of the blue eagle disappeared when it got replaced by the face of a western white guy which looked handsome and strong.
There was a tatoo on the guy’s face which looked like a code. His pair of green pupils looked like leopards constantly looking for preys. On top of his brown hair, he wore a western officer hat.
“Pluto, reporting from Sauron!” the guy said energetically with a strong British accent while his hand formed an accurate gesture of the noble. He looked at Yang Chen with utmost respect, his eyes looked like they were filled with fire.
Yang Chen involuntarily yearned at the past while he heard the same old voice. Using English, he said, “Sauron, long time no see. Is everybody doing well?”
“Except that all of us are missing Our Majesty Pluto, all of us are having a great time,” Sauron said. He seemed like he was smiling, but his face wasn’t cooperating, as if it was made using metal, looking rather weird.
Yang Chen breathed out some smoke. “Sauron, I told you a lot of times that you’re not my slave nor my servant. You’re my friend. Relax.”
Sauron grinned, revealing teeth that had turned black. “Your Majesty Pluto, I’m already very relaxed. You must understand that I’m giving utmost respect to someone who has helped me significantly. I guess my brothers and your other friends all have the same thought. Please believe that all of us are happy to be friend with someone as strong as you. But… this process is rather difficult. You never gave us time to get used to it.”
“Alright, alright. It seems like you’ve been spending too much time with the old man Constantine. You’re starting to get good at repeating words over and over again,” Yang Chen said.
Smiling, Sauron replied, “Ron is an interesting man, but he’s way too stingy. When I came back from Italy last week, he only gave me two bottles of Margaret from 1980s. I clearly saw that he salvaged some champagne from the 19th century.”
“Don’t you know what Ron’s life-long philosophy is?”
“I know. Money comes from savings! Sigh, I hope that even Satan can forgive this stupid old man. I bet even the devils detest his stinginess!”
“He’s a Catholic member. You don’t need to worry that the person you have faith in would dislike him,” Yang Chen said.
Sauron shook his head, saying, “No, no, no. Please believe me, Your Majesty Pluto, the fellow Ron is definitely a fake Catholic member. He’s very aware that he can’t get into heaven. His clothing can only be used to trick women who only know how to dress themselves up. In my eyes, they are no different from broken cloths. He even wants to earn the money from intercontinental missile. I’m very angry at this!”
Yang Chen couldn’t help but to laugh when he saw Sauron who was displeased. “You guys are still this interesting,” he said.
“Yeah, Your Majesty Pluto, although we all think that these are serious matters, you see them as interesting shows. Why did you go back to China? I hate countries where I need to get permission from before I play with machine guns,” Sauron said.
“Sauron, I don’t think any country can satisfy your hobby. So I don’t feel like explaining why I came back to China. I actually hope that you can help me. That’s why I find you today.”
Sauron’s eyes shone. “Your Majesty Pluto, are you finally going to draw out your devil claws again? Tell me, is it Middle East? North Africa? Or is it Amazon Rainforest? Damn it! My blood is boiling already! If there’s a naval battle, I guess I can send out a few nuclear submarines. These fellows are very powerful after being modified!”
Smiling bitterly, Yang Chen shook his head before saying, “Sauron, the world is really peaceful these years. I don’t hope to initiate a war myself.”
“Oh… I’m sorry. I forgot that Your Majesty Pluto has reached God Rank and can’t step in during times like this. Then may I ask what mission it is? My friends and I will be happy to serve you!”
“Thank you, Sauron. Actually, it’s nothing serious. I hope that you can send a team of ‘Sea Eagles’ to the central ocean of China. I need teammates who excel in disguise. Their power levels don’t have to be too high. Also, help me track down someone, but this is absolutely confidential. I’ll send the person’s information and contact details to you later,” Yang Chen said. He listed out all his requests directly.
Sauron greeted with a gesture used in the navy army. “I will accomplish the mission in glory!”
“Thank you,” Yang Chen replied before cutting the connection off. He then sent the prepared details over.
After getting this matter done, Yang Chen went back to his bed and wanted to take an afternoon nap. At this moment, his phone vibrated once again.