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Chapter 1/8. Read 35 chapters early: Patreon
The series of seemingly plain words had stunned the previously smiling Yang Chen. He remained silent for a moment while his face was filled with bitterness and helplessness.
“It’s my fault. I know that I’m very shameless,” Yang Chen mocked himself before raising his head, “I know that you’ve been wronged, so there’s more reason for me to refuse the divorce. I’ll definitely make up for the damage I gave you, and bring you a lot more happiness after that.”
“Your kind of happiness? Humph. I don’t need that. Happiness is you never disturbing me again,” scoffed Lin Ruoxi. It could be seen that her eyes were a little watery.
Yang Chen shook his head. “No, I’ll treat you well, but making up for it and you having your meal are two separate matters.”
“Y—you’re a liar!” Lin Ruoxi was extremely pissed. Her words earlier had proven to be ineffective.
Yang Chen shrugged his shoulders. Smiling, he said, “How about this? Babe Ruoxi, if you give me a kiss, I’ll leave immediately and stop asking you to eat.”
Lin Ruoxi’s cheeks instantly blushed upon listening to him. She dared not look at him in the eyes. Clenching her teeth, she said, “Why should I? How is this different from blackmail?”
“Tsk, tsk. How is the wife kissing her spouse considered blackmail?” Yang Chen pouted his mouth as he shook his head.
“This. Is. Blackmail.”
Yang Chen scratched the back of his head and said, “Alright then. Either start eating or give me a kiss. Which of the two will you pick?”
“Why should I be the one to make such an unfair choice?” Lin Ruoxi felt an intense headache. Why is he being so unreasonable?! she thought.
Yang Chen kept quiet. He used one of his arms to hold onto the backrest of Lin Ruoxi’s swivel chair, and the other to press on the office table. Leaning his body downward, he placed his face incredibly near to that of Lin Ruoxi.
Lin Ruoxi panicked, blushed, and widened her huge, watery eyes when she felt Yang Chen suddenly come near her face. Her breaths quickend.
“W—what do you think you’re doing?! Don’t do anything reckless!” Lin Ruoxi yelled hurriedly. She avoided looking into Yang Chen’s eyes by turning her head away, and tried her best to stay as far as possible.
Yang Chen stopped leaning forward when he reached a distance. Instead, he silently stared at Lin Ruoxi’s face from the side. Her crystal-white skin and extremely delicate face contours appear astonishingly elegant in the dimly lit room.
“Ruoxi, we’ve known each other for almost a year already, haven’t we?” Yang Chen whispered.
Giving no reply, Lin Ruoxi felt that her heart was pumping exceptionally fast. She felt a slight itch when the hot breath of the man hit on her cheek.
“This is my first time looking at you this clearly. The side of your face is no different from the front; it’s really beautiful, especially when it was shone upon by the light. The lines are indeed perfect,” Yang Chen said with a faint smile.
Lin Ruoxi felt heat on the back of her ear. Being praised for her appearance by the man this frankly and closely, she didn’t know how she was feeling. Her heart was a little numb and the feeling was indescribable.
After a long time, Yang Chen smiled slightly, as if he had thought of something interesting.
Lin Ruoxi couldn’t hold her curiosity back. Softly, she asked, “What are you smiling about?”
“I actually have other conditions for you if you don’t want to kiss me,” Yang Chen said in contemplation.
Lin Ruoxi who had her head lowered bit her bright red lip in silence. She was obviously listening, and even looking forward to it a little.
Yang Chen’s gaze turned unusually gentle, as if he was covered by haze. He then asked, “Dear, do you want to eat or give me a kiss?
“Do you want to eat or sleep with me?
“Do you want to eat or give birth to a child for me?
“Ruoxi, do you want to eat or… stay with me until both of us turn grey and old?”
Silence filled the entire room. It was pin drop silent.
The moment seemed to be frozen utterly. The atmosphere in the office was so thick that it’s occupants would find it hard to breathe. Lin Ruoxi couldn’t listen to any other sound. The words spoken by Yang Chen echoed in her mind repeatedly. A child? Getting old together?
How does the man’s brain work? How is any of them related to this ordinary dinner?! Also, who in the world would sleep with him?!
Lin Ruoxi stood up from her seat violently and turned around, avoiding to look at Yang Chen. Pressing against her chest with her arm, she was worried that her heart wouldn’t be able to take it. It was indeed pumping too quickly. Subconsciously, she wiped the corners of her eyes using her other hand and felt moisture. After a while, when she finally calmed down, she said, “Are you crazy? No, you’re a madman to begin with. I don’t want to argue with you. Isn’t this just dinner? You don’t have to talk about so much nonsense.”
As soon as Lin Ruoxi finished speaking, she silently walked to the dishes with her head lowered, trying her best not to look at Yang Chen’s strange smile. Taking the bowl served with rice and chopsticks, she started chewing the food in small portions.
“I’ll just eat. Don’t say disgusting stuff like that,” Lin Ruoxi said coldly as she recovered her expressionless face.
Yang Chen didn’t want to expose anything. Happily sitting on Lin Ruoxi’s huge leather seat meant for the CEO, he started staring at the woman slowly chew her food.
Lin Ruoxi felt that Yang Chen had his gaze fixed on her face. She almost blushed again, and felt both sweetness and sourness in her heart. She was completely unaware of what she was eating. All she wanted to do was finish the meal as fast as possible to fill her stomach and forget about the man’s existence.
However, the quicker she ate, the more likely it was for her to choke on it.
Lin Ruoxi finally realized that she choked on the food. Placing the chopsticks down, she patted her chest in vain, appearing to be in pain with her brows furrowed.
“Drink some soup. Dumbo, no one asked you to eat so fast.” Yang Chen stood up and scooped some soup into her bowl.
Lin Ruoxi rolled her eyes and drank a few mouthfuls of soup before finally clearing her throat. She blushed out of awkwardness, but she managed to become less nervous after that.
“You’re the one who’s dumb,” Lin Ruoxi said in dissatisfaction.
Yang Chen laughed and said, “I called you a ‘dumbo’. That doesn’t mean you’re dumb. That means you’re cute.”
Cute?
Since young, Lin Ruoxi was never privy to praise like that. She found it hard to accept the compliment, so she rolled her eyes at Yang Chen again before ignoring him and continuing her meal.
In fact, Lin Ruoxi had indeed gotten hungry after working for the entire day. She only lost her appetite because of the stress from work. Since she could no longer work now, when she started eating, she naturally couldn’t get full by having just a little food.
When she almost finished her meal, she suddenly thought of something. “Yoo Yeonhee’s concert will take place in Zhonghai tomorrow night. She’s a superstar with a business partnership with us after all. We have to show up at the event.”
Yang Chen was a little stunned. Fronwing, he asked, “What? That woman’s concert? Hasn’t she always tried to foil our plans? Why should we watch her concert? It’s best if she messes that up.”
Lin Ruoxi looked at Yang Chen helplessly. “It’s no secret that she holds a measurable amount of dislike for us. But we still have to give way when we’re in public. When doing business, no matter how much we hate each other, as long as they remain profitable, it’s best for us to stay polite. Also, Yoo Yeonhee’s background and agency are both extraordinary. We can’t leave her aside completely just because she doesn't get along well with us. We just have to show up at the venue. We can slip away when the concert starts.”
Yang Chen knew that Lin Ruoxi was right. Speaking from a business perspective, they definitely didn’t have to bother arguing with Yoo Yeonhee.
“Alright, I’ll listen to my wife’s arrangement and go then.” Yang Chen giggled.
Lin Ruoxi acted like she had seen nothing when the fellow behaved light-heartedly again.
As she ate, Lin Ruoxi seemed to have made a resolute decision. “A few days later, I’ll go to Paris with you.”
“What?!” Yang Chen doubted his hearing.
“I said I’ll go with you to attend the Paris Fashion Week,” Lin Ruoxi spoke softly, as if she was reluctant. “I was pondering over the matter earlier. I’m worried that you may mess things up and destroy the company’s reputation, so I’ll go with you. Otherwise I just know you will find a way to get into trouble once again.”
Yang Chen chuckled. Cheerfully, he said, “You can just be honest with me. Paris is actually a good place to go on honeymoon with your husband, you need not use work as an excuse. I know that Babe Ruoxi actually likes me very much.”
Lin Ruoxi was frustrated. The fellow was indeed overly thick-skinned. Why is someone like that my husband? Lin Ruoxi sighed in her mind. At the same time, she got really full from eating.
“I’m full now. You may leave now. I want to start working,” Lin Ruoxi said after putting down the bowl and chopsticks.
“Why are you full so quick? Eat more. There’s still a lot of meat,” Yang Chen said as he pointed at the dishes.
Lin Ruoxi squinted her eyes and shot an ice-cold gaze at him.
Yang Chen felt a chill up his spine. Smiling stiffly, he stood up and allowed Lin Ruoxi sit on the chair, before proceeding to keep the bowls and other stuff.
When Lin Ruoxi returned to her seat, she retrieved the documents snatched away by Yang Chen earlier and started reading seriously, instantly casting Yang Chen aside.
Yang Chen sighed slightly. Smiling faintly, he cleaned the table and quietly left the room. He knew that Lin Ruoxi might really explode if he had stayed any longer. On the bright side, he wasn’t worried anymore as the woman had finished her meal. At least she didn’t have to suffer from hunger.
After Yang Chen closed the office door, the place fell into silence once again, as if everything that had taken place just now was just a dream.
A while later, Lin Ruoxi raised her head and stared at the closed door before getting lost in thought.