Not Even At War
Yang Chen had merely spoken a few simple words, but it sent Rose who was feeling slightly nervous into a daze immediately.
They held onto each other for a long while before she finally parted from his embrace. In the darkness, Rose gazed at the man before her eyes with deep affection. She could feel a slight hoarseness in her voice as she asked softly, âYou⊠When you said you had to be back before 12 oâclock, was it really just for this?â
âWhat do you mean âjust for thisâ? This is a very important matter to me. It dawned upon me two days ago when I was driving. I had purposely scheduled it nicely so that I can come back. And I even scheduled for the time to get you a present. But now it seems like I can only give myself to you tonight as your present.â Yang Chen beamed at her.
Roseâs eyes became a little watery. When Yang Chen waited at the airport for such long hours, and when he tried so hard to rush back, she didnât know that he did it just to say these simple words of blessings to her.
In fact, ever since Yang Chen married Lin Ruoxi, Rose had never expected to get much of his time. But, even though she wouldnât say it, she still felt a little sad. Yet at this moment, every second that she had spent waiting for him had turned into sweet blissfulness.
âThank you. Even I had forgotten about it myself,â Rose murmured.
Yang Chen touched her face gently and said, âI met you when I first came back to the country. Until now, despite having many people whom I love and who love me too, the only birthday that I remember is yours. It is a day that I wouldnât miss for the world. After all, you were the one who accompanied me through my darkest days.â
âWhy are you saying such sad words? Donât think about those things anymore, okay?â Rose said gently and wrapped her hands around Yang Chenâs neck.
Yang Chen patted on her back and said, âThis is no big deal. But, why do you seem to have lost weight when Iâve only been away for a few days? Could it be that you missed me too much?â
âHmph, stop being so full of yourself,â Rose said. âThe atmosphere at home is a little awkward recently. Itâs all your fault, making things so difficult for Qianni. Because of that, I have been affected by her as well. I havenât been eating and sleeping much. Of course I would lose weight.â
Yang Chen was stunned, and then he sighed. âI have also been fretting over this matter. I plan to arrange a time to have a proper talk with my mother-in-law. But I will definitely not give up.â
Rose nodded. She thought of something, and asked curiously, âHubby, you said that you only remember my birthday. What about Ruoxiâs?â
Yang Chen touched his nose awkwardly and said, âAbout that, I donât know about the others, but I believe that Ruoxi dislikes having her birthday brought up.â
âHmm⊠Why?â Rose was baffled.
Yang Chen shrugged, âItâs a long story. Babe you should stop asking about it. Seeing that I came back from so far away just to wish you happy birthday, donât you have any gesture of appreciation?â
Rose was naturally aware of what he meant. She replied shyly, âLetâs not. Now Aunt Ma is also staying on this floor, and Qianni as well. They donât know that youâre back yet. It wouldnât be nice if weâre too loud and accidentally wake them up.â
Yang Chen smiled sneakily. âThis you can be rest assured. I guarantee that not a single soul outside the room can hear whatever is going on in this room.â
It was no joke. Even during his Xiantian Full Cycle phase, he could totally use his Xiantian True Qi to confine the sound waves within a certain area. Given his cultivation level now, such a trifle task was easier than flexing a single finger on his hand. It was merely a matter of whether he wanted to do it.
âReally?â Rose asked, her voice full of hesitation and doubt.
Yang Chen smiled. âWhy, it seems like Babe Rose is yearning for it too. Your face is filled with eagerness.â
âIâIâm not.â The queen of the underworld looked just like a little girl whose thoughts had been seen through. Her face was flushing.
Yang Chen couldnât care about all that. He just grabbed the silk blanket and pushed Rose onto the bed, pressing his body onto hers.
The silk blanket folded itself inside out while melodious cries echoed throughout the night.
The night sneaked away in their passionate love.
In the morning, when the sky had brightened up, Yang Chen pecked a kiss on Rose who was still half asleep before quickly sneaking from the room to where his car was parked.
Yang Chen didnât want his family to find out that he had spent the night in Roseâs room before coming home at such a critical period.
He pulled the car into the garage, as though he had just come back from the airport.
After entering his own house, Yang Chen bumped into a most familiar scene. Wang Ma was walking out from the kitchen with a bowl of porridge in her hands. And at the dining table, Guo Xuehua and Zhenxiu were already seated having their breakfast.
All three of them were startled when they saw that Yang Chen had come back so suddenly. Their startled expressions soon turned into happy smiles.
âThis child. Why have you suddenly appeared? You came back in a morning flight?â Guo Xuehua quickly asked.
Thick-skinned, Yang Chen nodded his head and said, âI have settled my matters anyway, so I decided to come back earlier. By the way, why donât I see Ruoxi?â
Yang Chen looked around him but failed to see Lin Ruoxi anywhere. It was still too early for work.
Zhenxiu pouted and said, âBrother Yang is such a good husband. The moment you come back youâre already thinking about Sister Ruoxi. You didnât even greet us.â
Yang Chen walked towards her and pinched Zhenxiuâs tender cheeks. âYouâre the only one with so many opinions. Whereâs your Sister Ruoxi?â
Zhenxiu broke free of Yang Chenâs hold and pointed at the staircase, saying, âIsnât she coming down right now?â
Lin Ruoxi was slowly walking down the stairs from the second floor.
She was not in her usual formal office suit today. Instead, Ruoxi was wearing an ivory dress. A light yellow ribbon-knotted leather belt wrapped her waist. And she wore a bright yellow knitted short-sleeve blouse over her dress, bringing out a bright mood.
Lin Ruoxi looked like she had cut her hair slightly shorter. Her silky black hair was wavy at the ends instead of straight. It added a mature sense of charm to her originally clean and beautiful demeanor.
Although they had already lived with each other for a year, Yang Chen was still captivated by her appearance as he was lost in his thoughts.
He finally gulped when Lin Ruoxi reached the last step of the stairs, rebuking himself in his mind that he was indeed a beast.?
No wonder so many people hated me for marrying Ruoxi. I am indeed like a pig that wasted a nice and clean cabbage.
âMy wife, Iâm back.â Yang Chen approached her and smiled, trying his best to please her.
Lin Ruoxi acted like she hadnât seen a thing. With the fragrant breeze that she carried, she walked straight past Yang Chen.
Yang Chenâs smile now faced nothing but empty air. He froze in his motions, looking just like a statue.
Lin Ruoxi pulled a chair and sat down quietly. She smiled gently at Guo Xuehua and greeted her good morning. Then she smiled at Zhenxiu and started having her breakfast.
Yang Chen turned around with his brows wide apart, looking downhearted and in a struggle.
Guo Xuehua and Wang Ma could only give him a helpless look, whereas Zhenxiu was covering her mouth snickering, as though watching Yang Chen hit a wall was her special hobby.
âBabe Ruoxi.â Yang Chen perked himself up and made a dash for the seat next to Lin Ruoxi. He smiled shyly after sitting down and said, âDid you miss me? I missed you when I was in Beijing. You might not know, but I encountered some matters and was feeling pretty frustrated. At that time, I thought, you could help me come up with a solution if you were by my side. Guess what happened.â
Yang Chen said a great deal. Upon finishing, he looked at Lin Ruoxi with anticipation.
But Lin Ruoxi behaved as though she had not heard a single word, like every word he said had been perfectly blocked. She continued eating her breakfast in grace, as though Yang Chen who sat right next to her was nothing but air.
Yang Chen let out a bitter sigh. Although he already knew that Lin Ruoxi would give him an attitude, what he received was much worse than he anticipated. Lin Ruoxi wasnât even putting up a âwarâ.
A breakthrough point is needed in order to resolve any problem. Yang Chen was now in a situation where he had a whole load of energy yet nowhere to unload it on.
He had prepared a great number of explanations and words to please her beforehand. However, now it seemed like it was all for naught, for he couldnât even find a window of opportunity for talking.
Yang Chen scratched his head and said with a bitter smile, âRuoxi, I know that you must hate me right now, but we have to communicate about our issues. We canât just keep them to ourselves.â
Lin Ruoxi suddenly raised her head, but she was looking at Wang Ma. âWang Ma, cook noodles tomorrow. Iâm getting slightly sick of having porridge every day.â
Yang Chen almost plunged himself head first onto the floor. Although he was the one at fault, but this state of ignoring was too thorough.
Wang Ma darted a look of sympathy at Yang Chen, but still she replied smilingly, âSure, Miss. Iâll cook your favorite green mustard noodles for you tomorrow.â
Lin Ruoxi nodded her head in reply. She then put down her chopsticks, stood up and grabbed her bag, saying, âI donât have much of an appetite. Iâm off to work.â
âYou only ate so little. Do you want to bring some food with you to the office?â Guo Xuehua asked worriedly.
Lin Ruoxi shook her head lightly before turning around and walking out the door.
Yang Chen was contemplating whether to block her at the door so that this woman would have to talk to him. But the sense of guilty in him made him think twice about doing something that might further annoy Lin Ruoxi.
After witnessing her beautiful figure leave the house right before his own eyes, Yang Chen scratched his head bitterly and released a long sigh.
Guo Xuehua finally stared at Yang Chen now, saying, âYou rascal, how could you create so much trouble in so few days? Serves you right that Ruoxi is ignoring you the way she is. No matter who it was, they would be enraged. Ruoxi is being so calm. Itâs really tough on her. When will you finally reign yourself in?â
Yang Chen asked in surprise, âMom, you know what happened?â
âOf course.â Guo Xuehua rolled her eyes at him. âYour maternal aunt called and told me everything. How glamorous you are, making such a huge commotion the moment you reached Beijing. I was still worried that you wouldnât do well because of your personality. I didnât expect the Li and Tang clans to come to your aid as well. Your maternal aunt even said that the Yang clan has a successor now. She said that I gave birth to such a good son. I canât even go one second without worrying.â
âMaternal aunt? Where is this coming from?â Yang Chen was shocked.
âYali, Guo Yali,â Guo Xuehua sighed speechlessly. âWhat you did in Beijing, I got to know about it even before Ruoxi did. To think that that Jiang Shan from the Cai clan is so unscrupulous to even call Ruoxi. But you honestly deserved it this time. This time you have to think of a way to talk to Ruoxi. Mom canât help you.â
Yang Chen didnât know whether to cry or laugh, finding out that Yong Yeâs mother was behind this. He had totally forgotten that he had met the Li and Guo couple. Maternal auntâhe would never have expected such a term to appear in his past twenty years of life.
Now that he actually had all these family members and relatives, it had changed his life completely. However, there was no shortage of troublesome issues as well.
Zhenxiu asked out of puzzlement, âAunt Guo, whatâs the matter?â
Guo Xuehua pressed her finger on Zhenxiuâs forehead and said, âYou little girl, finish your meal quickly and go to school. Donât poke your nose in adultâs issues. Your National College Entrance Examination is coming soon. You have no time to be a busybody.â
Zhenxiu pouted, but she stopped asking.
Wang Ma hesitated for a while before saying warmly, âSir. I donât really know what happened again this time. But it seems like you have pushed Miss to a new level of anger. Whenever you had arguments in the past, at least she would give you a much colder attitude. But this time, she isnât even reacting in the slightest. The more she acts in this way, the more it makes us worry.â
Yang Chen could also feel his scalp going numb because of what was going on this time. This situation was way scarier than a cold war.
Yet, in such a short while, Yang Chen didnât know what he could do that would ease Lin Ruoxiâs anger while not provoking her further at the same time. He could only curl his lips and say, âIâm also going off to work first. Iâll think about how to resolve this.â
Guo Xuehua quickly said, âSon, are you going to skip your breakfast as well?â
âRuoxi said that she had no appetite. If I still have the appetite to eat, wouldnât that make me heartless?â Yang Chen said and left the house.
Watching Yang Chen leave, Guo Xuehua sighed and murmured, âYou have always been a heartless person indeed.â