“Dad…… Why are you here……” Li Jingjing softly greeted.
Old Li stood up from on the staircase with a cigarette in his hand. He had been silently smoking alone, seemingly worried about something.
“I came to take a look because I was worried about you.” Old Li kindly smiled towards Li Jingjing, then turned to Yang Chen and said, “Little Yang, it has been a long time since we last met.”
Yang Chen could tell that Old Li wasn’t very comfortable, and was able to figure out what the problem was. With a smile he said, “Yeah, there have been many things happening these days, I still go to the market to buy breakfast, but never bumped into you.”
Old Li nodded, and hesitantly glanced at the two of them, “What did… the two of you go out to do?”
“Dad, Big Brother Yang brought me out to buy some furniture, and is here to take a look at my house.” Li Jingjing explained, “Don’t overthink this.”
Old Li sighed, “Jingjing, don’t blame me for being nosy. Your mother’s mood hasn’t been good these days. It’s fine that you moved out to live alone, but you can’t just ignore her words. The matter of finding a mate is not a joke.”
Li Jingjing lowered her head and remained silent.
Yang Chen knew that those words were actually directed at him, but Old Li was giving him face by tactfully suggesting that he should leave Li Jingjing alone.
“Little Yang, don’t blame me for blabbing off, Jingjing is my one and only daughter.” Old Li had a grave expression as he said, “I heard Jingjing mention that you’re already married, so you should also pay attention to your image. If the two of you get too close, it would be detrimental to the both of you.
Yang Chen nodded in understanding, seeing the pale-faced Li Jingjing, he felt helpless inside.
In the end, he hadn’t been able to properly assimilate into society. As parents, how could they possibly allow their only daughter to be together with a married man? She was still so young, so beautiful, and so pure.
He constantly simplified matters too naturally, and often neglected the feelings of ordinary people.
In this situation, he indeed shouldn’t make this any more difficult for Old Li and his wife. Perhaps keeping some distance from Li Jingjing would be advantageous to everybody.
“Jingjing, it’s good enough for me to know that your home is safe, I’m going to leave now. Listen to your dad and don’t keep your mother on the edge.” Said Yang Chen.
Li Jingjing’s eyes reddened as she faintly replied, “Okay.”
Yang Chen didn’t linger on, after greeting Old Li, he left the apartment building.
On the way back to the company, Yang Chen thought of the time when he had just came back to the country. The scenes of happy interactions with Old Li and his family flashed past, and he felt guilty towards them. Thus, he made the decision to avoid taking the initiative to contact Li Jingjing for the sake of the old husband and wife.
When he returned to the company, his colleagues in Public Relations were overwhelmed by work. Even the most relaxed of the ladies were engrossed in work or constantly making phone calls as they forced themselves to speak gently to customers.
Yang Chen suddenly felt that he was quite out of place. It was fine on days where everybody weren’t too occupied, but during a busy period like this, it was awkward for an unoccupied person like him.
Yang Chen walked to his booth and turned on the computer. After playing for some time, Zhao Hongyan who sat the closest to Yang Chen placed a document on his table and said, “Yang Chen, help me pass this document to Mingyu-jie who’s in the office. I’ve got to see a client now, thanks!”
After saying that, Zhao Hongyan who wore a red dress picked up her briefcase and hastily ran out.
Yang Chen helplessly smiled, then picked up the document, walked to Liu Mingyu’s department head office, and knocked on the door.
“Come in.”
Yang Chen opened the door. This was the first time he had entered this office since Mo Qianni left this office. The person who now sat on that chair was now Liu Mingyu.
Seeing the poor Public Relations employee who was bullied by Department Head Ma become an executive of the company made Yang Chen lament how quickly time passed.
Liu Mingyu was currently facing the computer screen, and rapidly typed on the keyboard. Seeing Yang Chen enter, she was rather surprised, but immediately followed up with a gentle smile.
“Hongyan asked me to give you this, she was rushing to meet a client.” Yang Chen placed the document on the table.
Liu Mingyu nodded, “Thanks.”
Yang Chen saw that she was busy, so he turned around to leave, but just as he was about to exit the room, Liu Mingyu called out to him.
“Yang Chen, can you help me with something?” Asked Liu Mingyu.
“Of course, I have the most free time in this department.” Yang Chen said with a smile.
Liu Mingyu pursed her lips and rolled her eyes at him, “It’s like this, this afternoon, I plan to go to the autumn fashion show’s venue to meet with the person in charge on the Donghua Science & Technology’s side. The models from various companies are already getting familiarized with the runway. I need to verify the venue’s level of completion, and take a look at the runway, can you go there with me?”
Although she was already at department head level, Liu Mingyu didn’t buy a car for herself. On one hand, she had to deal with her expenses at home, and on the other hand, it was better to just take a cab than drive in Zhonghai.
Naturally, Yang Chen didn’t mind. Although he wasn’t clear as to why Liu Mingyu wanted him to go with her, it was better for him to be a chauffeur than to stay in the office as an out of place employee.
Chapter 173-2: Wasted time
After Liu Mingyu packed up, the two left the office, and headed for the Zhonghai International Exhibition Centre which the company had rented for the autumn fashion show.
When they arrived at the exhibition centre, the project leader of Donghua Science and Technology, Zhang Ming was already waiting at the door. This was a handsome middle-aged man who stood at 1.8m tall, wore a white shirt, and gave off the impression that he was an executive-level white collar worker.
When Zhang Ming saw Liu Mingyu, he was strangely excited, but when he saw Yang Chen who was together with Liu Mingyu, his expression changed.
Liu Mingyu hinted to Yang Chen with her eyes, and Yang Chen understood what was going on in a flash. The reason why she had him come with her was because this man was up to no good. Liu Mingyu had apparently become a lot more careful after experiencing that incident with Department Head Ma.
“Miss Liu, you’re truly a model for managers, it’s unexpected that you would personally come here to inspect the place this late.” Zhang Ming extended his hand to give Liu Mingyu a handshake.
Liu Mingyu gave him a smile as formality, and lightly shook his hand, “The runway for the models absolutely mustn’t have any problems, and it must also go along well with the decorations. Before looking at the result, I can’t be at peace.”
Zhang Ming sensed that Liu Mingyu’s guard was up, and his expression turned from bad to worse. He forced a smile and made a welcome gesture, leading Liu Mingyu and Yang Chen into the venue.
Once they entered the exhibition centre, the strong light effects made Yang Chen feel like he was in a fantasy movie set. On the well defined runway, lines of tall models wore ordinary clothes as they practiced their catwalk as their last bit of practice before the show.
As the model firms are on the international level, many models on the catwalk were westerners who had blonde hair and blue eyes, which made Yang Chen reminisce. After all, an overwhelming majority of his years were passed with seeing western women.
Donghua Science & Technology’s Director Zhang Ming knew that he didn’t have a chance to become closer to Liu Mingyu today, so he gave some excuses and left. Liu Mingyu went a circle around the exhibition centre with Yang Chen, then sighed in relief and said with a smile, “Looks like everything is alright. The stage and lights are at the quality we expected, this project can basically be reported as completed to the higher ups.
“Aren’t you going to interact with the models?” Asked Yang Chen.
Liu Mingyu said with a queer smile, “It’s you who wants to interact with them, right? I noticed that your eyes keep peeking towards the models, men are indeed no good.”
“I am purely admiring the way they catwalk. Admiring beautiful things can’t be a bad habit, right?”
“I hope that’s the case, otherwise, I’d be wrong about you.” Liu Mingyu looked at him with distrust and said, “Don’t chase away the wolf and end up letting the lion in.”
Yang Chen smiled, “Even if I’m a lion, you wouldn’t let me in, right?”
Liu Mingyu blushed as this question was rather ambiguous, so she changed topics, “Honestly, sometimes I envy those models who could always walk with such confidence and look so free.”
“They’re all lacking boobs, what’s there to envy?” Yang Chen grumbled.
“Lacking boobs?” Liu Mingyu couldn’t help but laugh and said, “The reason international models don’t have large breasts are so that it’s easier for them to wear different fashion designs. Being criticized by you, they sound like pitiful airport runways.”
[TL: Airport runway is a derogative term for labelling flat chested women]
“They’re all bones, I don’t feel anything when I touch them.” Yang Chen’s interest remained dull.
“You say it like you’ve touched them before.” Liu Mingyu rolled her eyes at him in disdain.
Yang Chen chuckled. How could he not have touched them before? He had even touched quite a number, but there was no point saying it.
“Honestly, rather than envying their jobs, how about envying the fact that they could freely express the beauty of young ladies……” Liu Mingyu seemed slightly bewitched as she looked at the models on the catwalk, and said, “I don’t mind if you laugh hearing this. In another two years, I’d really be hitting my thirties. Yet, I’ve never even worn any sexy clothes. I’ve never had a complete romantic relationship, and there’s no need to mention those crazy and exciting things young people do nowadays…… Sometimes I think about it, and realize that I just drifted through the years.”
“Don’t you have a boyfriend that has been with you for years?” Yang Chen remembered Liu Mingyu mention before that she had a boyfriend who hadn’t returned from the army.
Liu Mingyu showed a sad smile, “Yeah…… We knew each other during our college days, he told me to wait for him before he went to the army, but ever since he enlisted, he never contacted me again. Some of my friends say that if it were them, they’d have “defected” a long time ago, but I’m afraid that someday he returns and says I betrayed him, so I never looked for another boyfriend. Actually, though I think of him occasionally, nowadays I sometimes can’t even remember what he looks like…… Am I being too silly?”
Yang Chen felt that it was a waste for Liu Mingyu. After all, with her looks, it was too costly to waste so many years of her youth to wait for a man who might not ever return. However, this was her private matter and it wasn’t good to say too much, so he said, “I think it’s fine as long as you think it’s worth it.”
“Is that so……” Liu Mingyu lightly smiled, “That’s true.”
As it was pretty late, Liu Mingyu suggested, “Since you worked hard as my driver and helped me block a housefly, I’ll treat you to dinner.”
“Where?” Yang Chen was also feeling hungry.
“Our usual place.” Liu Mingyu said with a wink.