Embarrassment
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Upon exiting the car, Yang Chen opened the door with his key before walking into the living hall. All of these were done in an incredibly quick manner.
Although he informed them that he would come home today, the two women who were watching television at home were surprised to see his sudden emergence.
However, Lin Ruoxi wasnât among them. They were Hui Lin and Wang Ma who were resting at home. The two were watching a Beijing opera, while Wang Ma was happily humming along.
Seeing that Yang Chen suddenly burst into the house, Wang Ma who was immersed in the TV show patted her chest while she scolded smilingly, âYoung Master, youâre causing too huge of a commotion. Youâre coming home like Sun Wukong causing a havoc in heaven.â
[TL note: Sun Wukong is a reference to the classical novel Journey to the West from the 16th century.]
Wang Maâs metaphor is so vivid⊠Nervously, Yang Chen looked around as he sweated. He asked, âWhereâs Ruoxi? She shouldâve come back ages ago. Is she still on holidays? Did she go to work again?â
Hui Lin felt weird that the first thing Yang Chen did upon coming home was asking for Lin Ruoxiâs whereabouts, while he was the one who brought up the divorce first. Why is he a husband who misses his wife now?
âElder Sister went to a small town to inspect a factory. She said there was a strike of workers,â Hui Lin said.
Yang Chen frowned. Factory? Strike?
Wang Ma sighed and said, âShe left less than an hour ago. Young Master, you wouldâve been able to see her if you came home earlier.â
Yang Chen vaguely felt that something wasnât quite right. Since Yu Lei International manufactured a broad range of products, naturally there were numerous factories. However, how was it possible that Lin Ruoxi, the CEO of Yu Lei, needed to personally inspect the lowest level of management?
âWang Ma, tell me what happened briefly,â Yang Chen said.
Wang Ma nodded, and explained the general situation to him.
A clothing factory among tens of other factories under Yu Lei International had delayed payments of wage distribution right before Chinese New Year.
The reason the factory gave was a lack of finance, since they had sustained losses this year. However, most employees refused to believe them, and started intercepting the management, in addition to causing problems to the leaders of the district.
Most of these employees were migrants who came to work in Zhonghai. They wanted to take bring money home for the festival. There was less than a month left until Chinese New Year started, while they hadnât received half of their yearly wages yet. This naturally caused them to stop working.
Lin Ruoxi originally didnât have to deal with this problem, but Yu Lei International started their year-end rotating vacation. The few managers of the marketing and human resource departments were coincidentally absent, while the others werenât qualified enough to deal with such issues.
The problem ended up being known to Lin Ruoxi. She pondered over the matter and eventually decided to go over personally to take care of the situation.
âActually, Miss Qianni said sheâd go there earlier, but for some reason Miss didnât want to stay at home, so she took up the task herself,â Wang Ma said helplessly.
Didnât want to stay at home?
Yang Chen smiled bitterly. Isnât she straight-up avoiding me since sheâs unwilling to see me? Furthermore, she was on her holidays recently, so she purposely looked for a reason to leave the house to stay away from me.
âDid she go alone?â Yang Chen asked.
âWho else could she have gone with? Miss said she could take care of it, so the other supervisors didnât dare to go against her will,â Wang Ma said.
Yang Chen felt rather anxious. His worry for Lin Ruoxi was far beyond what he expected. He couldnât even sit still currently.
The problem of hundreds of outraged factory employees on the lowest level wasnât something a young lady like her could deal with. The other party wasnât well-educated. They wouldnât reason properly. All they wanted was money, while nothing else could be discussed. If the problem were so easily taken care of, local government officials would have solved it long ago. Why would the headquarters be forced to send someone over?
Moreover, despite having an exceptional mind in the business world, her emotional intelligence was obviously low. Otherwise she wouldnât have to entrust the task of attending every social event to the human relations department, and she would have more than just a few friends. Dealing with the uneducated, violent people at a place full of sly acts was more difficult for her than to step into heaven.
The more Yang Chen thought about it, the more worried he got. He asked Wang Ma, âWhich district is Ruoxi going to?â
âOh, itâs Yuping District. Itâll take an hourâs time if you drive there from Zhonghai, but the roads arenât well-built, and there are many small villages. I bet youâll take two hours,â Wang Ma said.
Yang Chen stood up and said, âIâm quite worried about her. Itâs better that I follow her there to take a look. Wang Ma, donât wait for me for dinner.â
âBrother Yang, can I go as well? Iâm worried about Elder Sister as well.â Hui Linâs big, watery eyes were filled with concern.
Yang Chen thought for a while before shaking his head. âI wonât be at ease if Wang Ma is home alone. Itâs better that you keep her company. Youâre a lady after all, you wouldnât induce fear there even if you went.â
Hui Lin knew that what Yang Chen said was true. She couldnât just take out her sword and shout, âThe magnificent heroine is here, you shall all obey me.â Furthermore, she didnât bring her sabre with her when she left the mountain, so she didnât continue asking.
Yang Chenâs BMW had an inbuilt GPS system, while Lin Ruoxiâs car naturally had one as well. So Yang Chen wasnât worried that heâd fail to locate her. If he drove slightly faster, it was even possible for him to catch up to her.
Before leaving, he asked for the name of the factory. It was Yuping Garment. After typing in the address, Yang Chen departed immediately.
After around twenty minutes, he drove into the provincial roads of the outskirts. There were numerous intersections during the journey, so it was hard to drive fast. People and non-motor vehicles would cross the road often.
Judging from how well Yang Chen knew Lin Ruoxi, he guessed that she definitely didnât dare to drive so quickly. This made his chances of catching up to her higher.
However, Yang Chen still underestimated the âfateâ between him and Sister Lin.
After around fifteen minutes, Yang Chen entered a rural area at the edge of Zhonghai. In front of a small supermarket, Yang Chen suddenly noticed that Lin Ruoxiâs red Bentley was parked there.
Yang Chen parked his car at the front of the supermarket. He got down from his car and searched the surroundings, but failed to locate Lin Ruoxiâs figure.
As he was planning to ask around in the supermarket, a tall lady making a phone call whose black hair was scattered on her shoulders walked out from there. She was wearing a beige British-style coat and holding a brown Gucci handbag.
Yang Chen revealed a bright smile as he discovered the familiar, incredibly cold face, before waving at Lin Ruoxi.
Lin Ruoxi was talking on phone while frowning slightly. When she noticed Yang Chenâs sudden appearance, she almost forgot to speak as her body stiffened.
After a few seconds, Lin Ruoxi ended the call before walking towards Yang Chen without speaking a word. She was staring at Yang Chen, as if trying to study something.
Yang Chen was rather confused when he was gazed upon. Smiling awkwardly, he said, âAlthough I donât think Iâm ugly, I donât feel that Iâm very handsome as well. Iâll feel proud if you look at me like this.â
Lin Ruoxi utterly ignored Yang Chenâs joke. Coldly, she asked, âWho asked you to come here?â
âWifey Ruoxi, how can I be at ease when youâre dealing with this group of men in a small townâŠâ Yang Chen said honestly.
âMr Yang, please mind your words. Whoâs your wife now?â Lin Ruoxiâs cheeks were just like frosts, while her gaze acted like a knife which pierced through Yang Chenâs face. âAlso, whether or not I can deal with them is none of your business. Weâre merely a married couple tied by contract. Weâre getting divorced in a few monthsâ time, you better keep your distance from me. I donât want to see you.â
Yang Chen felt embarrassed, but didnât get angry. This was what he expected. Directly, he asked, âArenât you going to Yuping District? Why did you stop here?â
âMind your own business. You may go back now, Iâll deal with my own problems,â Lin Ruoxi said before turning around and walking back into the supermarket.
Yang Chen felt rather helpless. He walked around the car and immediately found out the problem. One of the front tyres of the Bentley was pierced by a nail!
Something like this was inevitable on the roads of a suburb. No wonder Lin Ruoxi couldnât continue her journey anymore.
Although Bentley couldnât be considered an extremely rare car, its wheels still couldnât be repaired by just any mechanic. Moreover, even a motorcycle repair shop wasnât necessarily present at the small village they were in.
Yang Chen rushed over and asked Lin Ruoxi, âHave you contacted the repair shop yet?â
Although Lin Ruoxi wasnât willing to entertain Yang Chen, she wasnât an unreasonable and insane woman. So when Yang Chen asked a serious question, sheâd answer him. Coldly, she said, âWu Yue already sent someone over to load the car.â
âHow about you? After the car is brought away, are you going to stay here?â
âIâll ask someone to pick me up,â Lin Ruoxi replied coldly.
âWhy do you want to ask someone else? Iâm here already,â Yang Chen said.
âI want to get to Yuping.â
âIâll bring you there. I can be your mini assistant in addition to a part time bodyguard. You know that I can fight very well, those people wonât be able to get near you.â Yang Chen winked at Lin Ruoxi.
Lin Ruoxi pondered his suggestion for a while. She didnât plan to forgive Yang Chen so quickly and break the ice. However, sheâd be lying if she said she wasnât afraid to head to a low-level factory to face thousands of employees. Lin Ruoxi was certainly worried about the a violent outbreak.
Even when Lin Ruoxi thought Yang Chen wouldnât be too big of a help, two people were still stronger than one. If Wu Yue wasnât on her holidays, Lin Ruoxi would definitely bring her along.
âThis is only because you want to go. I didnât force you to come with me,â Lin Ruoxi added. She didnât want Yang Chen feel that she needed company.
Yang Chen smiled in his heart. Sheâs still holding onto her pride. He said, âYeah, thatâs right. Iâm going as an employee of the company, and not because of personal matters. Is Boss Lin satisfied now?â
Lin Ruoxi knew that her thoughts were exposed. Blushing, she snorted coldly and turned her head away to cover her awkwardness.
However, after she put up the act, her stomach started rumblingâŠ
Lin Ruoxi pressed onto her belly hurriedly. She immediately flushed, causing her face to be so red that water threatened to burst from thereâŠ
Damn it, damn it! Why do I have to embarrass myself in front of this fellow so many times in a row?!
Yang Chen was stunned as well. He immediately knew that Lin Ruoxi didnât have lunch before leaving the house. Seeing her gloomy look, he smiled and said, âWhatâs there to be shy about? Even if youâre a CEO and a beauty, youâre still a human being after all. Everyone has to eat, otherwise their stomachs would shout. This is the same logic as any human being would fart.â
Lin Ruoxi bit her lower lip tightly, and acted as if she heard nothing. However, she felt rather relieved in her heart. She had never felt this much shame in front of a guy. Her attempts on covering her malfunctioned tyre and pride were exposed, while her stomach was so hungry that it growled⊠It was too pathetic.
Yang Chen didnât laugh at her. Something like this which was insignificant to others would be taken seriously by Lin Ruoxi whose self-esteem was high, especially in front of him. Therefore, he smiled relaxedly and said, âLetâs go inside the supermarket and get some food.â
Read c345 here.