Old Dog
Chapter 10/15
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Lin Ruoxi murmured the poem as if she was talking to herself before closing the album calmly. However, her tightly sealed lips and terrible expression proved otherwise.
Yang Chen realized her reaction, and got an involuntary, slight twitch.
Lin Ruoxi indeed wasn’t the best person in terms of dealing with emotions, but it didn’t mean she was so clueless that she would fail to notice such obvious signs.
On the contrary, having been at a high position for years, she was able to grasp even obscure signs and perform analysis on a lot of things. Thus, when she saw these pictures and read the lines of poem, her imagination brought her much further than she could have been told.
However, people would sometimes choose to ignore certain things, or even deceive themselves from believing them.
Lin Ruoxi put the album back into the drawer. She remained quiet for a while, before turning her head to stare at Yang Chen with her ice-cold eyes. “Are you aware… aware of something that I am not?”
Yang Chen knew that Lin Ruoxi would ask him this question, as he had tried to stop Lin Ruoxi from flipping the album.
“What would I know? I don’t even understand the poems. Your question is so weird and random,” Yang Chen said with a smile. But deep down his heart, he was sighing, Even if I do know something, I very well can’t reveal it to you, not until it has been completely unraveled anyway.
Nothing good would happen should certain things be exposed. Regardless if one had to lie or not, they were best left unmentioned forever.
Ripples appear in Lin Ruoxi’s eyes, but she didn’t plan on asking more questions. She wasn’t one who would pester another person all day. Yang Chen wasn’t willing to confess the truth, so she wouldn’t force him into doing otherwise.
Guo Xuehua asked the two down for lunch from downstairs. Upon moving into this house, a lot of Wang Ma’s ‘missions’ had been taken over by her.
“Let’s go down.” Lin Ruoxi stood up first before leaving the room.
Yang Chen gazed upon the picture on the bedside table as he sighed, before following her downstairs.
The lunch was abundant as usual. Lin Ruoxi behaved as usual while she ate quietly, while the others chatted happily away. She was chewing her food slowly and calmly, and her anger wasn’t displayed for the slightest.
“Ruoxi, has something happened these days? Are you troubled by anything?” Guo Xuehua asked. Actually, she noticed that Yang Chen and Lin Ruoxi had kept something hidden from them. Although Rose rescued her this morning, while the assailant had been passed to the police, Guo Xuehua didn’t think he was just an ordinary robber. It also wasn’t possible that the person came for Guo Xuehua specifically, as no one was daring enough to provoke the Yang clan, while the ones who were wouldn’t resort to such amature means to do so.
As a result, it was most possible that Lin Ruoxi or Yang Chen were faced with enemies who intended to abduct her as their hostage. Guo Xuehua was clearly aware that the ‘postman’ tried to make her unconscious.
Both Wang Ma and Zhenxiu stopped eating. They had been discussing in the kitchen for a long time as they were worried about Lin Ruoxi and Yang Chen outside.
Lin Ruoxi wasn’t surprised by the question. “The company was faced with some difficulties, but they’ve been solved for now. The problems will come to an end within a few days. I have hired a security company, don’t worry about me Mom.”
“Sigh, so it’s the company again.” Wang Ma felt a heartache as she looked at Lin Ruoxi. “Miss, it must be so tough for you. Once Old Madam passed away and the company was passed down to your hands, I have never seen you live relaxedly. Problems have been popping out here and there. Now that the company is finally stable and established, so many troublemakers have surfaced to cause trouble. It is so hard to live nicely. No matter one is good or bad, someone will surely go against them.”
“Please be careful no matter what you do…” Guo Xuehua said as she felt sympathy. “You’re a girl who has just crosse her twenty mark not too long ago. You mustn’t feel good sitting at such a position.”
Lin Ruoxi held a complicated expression. Forcing a smile, she said, “It’s fine, I got used to it.”
“How can you be used to something like this? This is no different from a suffering,” Zhenxiu said as she pouted, although she had looked up to Lin Ruoxi all the while. “Sister Ruoxi, I think it’s better for you to pass the company to Brother Yang. You guys are married after all. Isn’t a man supposed to deal with stuff like this? You always wake up early and sleep late, you must be more tired than me preparing for the college entrance exams. This position of CEO doesn’t seem all that worth the title.”
“Little Kid, what do you know?” Yang Chen stared at Zhenxiu as he listened to her suggestion. While munching in the food he had in his mouth, he said loudly, “The CEO position of a multinational company isn’t one that can be passed on anytime. Are you trying to shut down Yu Lei or cause misfortune to me?”
“Brother Yang is so petty.” Zhenxiu pouted before saying, “You don’t even know how to console someone. Also, I’m not a little kid!”
“The suggestion of yours is painful to me. I feel an ache in my stomach, liver, and gum after listening to it,” Yang Chen said. However, he noticed that Lin Ruoxi was giving him a bone-penetrating, freezing-cold gaze. Thus, he smiled awkwardly before continuing his meal.
Expressionlessly, Lin Ruoxi said, “Don’t worry. Even if you want to become the CEO, I shall see to it that you won’t. So spare yourself the pain.”
This time, even Guo Xuehua wasn’t bothered to step in and help Yang Chen. He was dumb enough to think that Lin Ruoxi would actually pass the position of CEO to him. He didn’t even know how to say something nice to cheer his wife up. Dissatisfied, Guo Xuehua said, “Ruoxi works so hard every day, while you’re almost always free. Is there any point of arguing with Zhenxiu?”
Yang Chen felt gloomy. Ruoxi has indeed mentioned about passing the company to me, he thought. This made him develop an involuntary fear towards the idea.
After eating for a while, Yang Chen planned to refill his bowl with rice, but the old-fashioned bell of the house rang.
“Someone’s here?” Wang Ma looked nervous. “Could it be another bad person in disguise?”
“Wang Ma, no one would use the same trick twice regardless of how dumb they are,” Yang Chen said with a smile.
“Still, be careful,” Guo Xuehua said as she gazed upon Yang Chen.
Yang Chen understood what Guo Xuehua meant. All the other people in the house were women, so it was most appropriate for him to go have a look. Moreover, Guo Xuehua also knew that he had extraordinary fighting skills.
Yang Chen put down his bowl and chopsticks before walking out of the house.
A black, extra-long Cadillac was parked quietly by the entrance, attracting quite a lot of attention from passersby, while the people who came weren’t any strangers, but his ‘close relatives’.
Dressed in rather formal clothing, Yuan Hewei and his wife Yang Jieyu were standing outside the steel door, smilingly waiting for Yang Chen to open it.
Ever since the incident at the Cai’s residence, Yang Chen hadn’t met Yang Jieyu again. Now that their sister-in-law Guo Xuehua moved to Zhonghai, the two should certainly pay her a visit more often. However, they were really cautious people. They were aware that visiting Guo Xuehua often was no different from going against Yang Pojun’s will.
Thus, they had never come here before. Yang Chen heard from Guo Xuehua that they had kept in touch on the phone, but didn’t expect them to come over today.
“Judging from your expression, you don’t look like you’re ready to welcome your aunt and uncle.” Yuan Hewei asked with a smile.
“Yang Chen isn’t unhappy about it. He probably didn’t expect us to come,” Yang Jieyu complained.
Yang Chen opened the door and made a gesture to welcome them inside as he said, “This house belongs to Ruoxi. The seniors helped us move over here. Actually, since I’m living in a female dorm, it makes no difference what I say.”
As they chatted, Guo Xuehua who realized the arrival of Yuan Hewei and Yang Jieyu quickly came out to welcome them. Smiling, she said, “Wei, Jieyu, why are you guys free to visit at this hour?”
Yang Jieyu hugged Guo Xuehua lightly. The two were obviously really close. Smiling bitterly, she said, “Sister-In-Law, aren’t you asking the obvious this way? Yu Lei is facing such a major challenge. We wouldn’t want to sit idly by as our niece’s company falls into ruins. We’re here to discuss something with Ruoxi.”
Guo Xuehua and Wang Ma paled after listening to her, before looking at the expressionless Lin Ruoxi strangely.
They heard that Lin Ruoxi was facing an issue, but they didn’t expect it to be so serious that Yu Lei was on the brink of collapse!
Yuen Hewei and Yang Jieyu finally realized that Guo Xuehua was unaware about it after looking at her reaction. Thus, they looked at Lin Ruoxi apologetically.
Lin Ruoxi shook her head to imply it was fine. “Let’s come inside and have a seat. We’re still having lunch now. Have you two eaten yet?”
The two looked at each other as they felt confused. Now that the shocking news of Yu Lei had spread all over the world, they didn’t understand why Lin Ruoxi was still calmly having lunch at home, being the CEO of this company.
Was she confident, or had she accepted her fate?
After they got themselves seated on the redwood buckskin sofa, Wang Ma made some tea in the kitchen and served each of them, with the atmosphere still being slightly tense.
Yuan Hewei looked at the porcelain tea cup he was holding before looking at Lin Ruoxi. “May I call you Ruoxi?” he asked.
Lin Ruoxi nodded her head slightly.
Yuan Hewei was aware of Lin Ruoxi’s well-known cold personality, so he didn’t mind the discourteous reply. He said, “Ruoxi, do you know who made Yu Lei fail to obtain loans from the banks?”
“I don’t know yet,” Lin Ruoxi answered honestly.
Yang Jieyu looked at Lin Ruoxi’s elegant and charming face. Worried, she said, “This child is still so calm at this moment. Why is it that the person who is involved is less nervous than the people who are not?”
Lin Ruoxi kept quiet as she took a sip of red tea.
“Do you still remember Zeng Xinlin who had died in front of your house?” Yuan Hewei asked before looking at Yang Chen.
“I do.” She seemed to have noticed something while a light flashed in her eyes.
Yang Chen who was sitting on another sofa asked, “IHas the old dog been lured here after the puppy has been killed?”
Yang Jieyu said, “Zeng Mao is the former clan master of the Zeng clan after all, and the leader of the country’s state council. Why did he suddenly become an ol—old something… It sounds so terrible.”
Guo Xuehua who was listening to the conversation felt shocked. “What? Are you really referring to Zeng Mao from the Zeng clan? His grandson was… was…”
“That’s right, Sister-In-Law. He was killed by your baby son Yang Chen in front of his house door,” Yuan Hewei said with a helpless smile.
Guo Xuehua had her eyes widened in shock as contemplation surfaced in her eyes.
Yang Chen wasn’t bothered about it, and didn’t care about how Yuan Hewei found out about this. The Yuan clan was the number-one clan in Zhonghai after all, they certainly had abnormal influence and power. He was just wondering if he should take care of the root of the problem. Thus, he asked, “Erm… where is he? Where is Zeng Mao right now?”