Chapter 73

073

"Is that so? Can't speak anymore? Do you feel like you're good for nothing?" Mo Qianyi pressed on, her tone sharp.

"I won't argue with you about this. You can think whatever you want. Besides, it wasn't my choice to get married in the first place. Some things can't be explained in just a few words," Yang Chen said with a carefree smile.

Mo Qianyi immediately gritted her teeth, "I'm trying to motivate you to do better. You're not stupid; you're even smarter than most people. You can tell that from how you've learned so many foreign languages. But why can't you build a proper career like other young men and strive in the workplace? Do you want to rely on women for the rest of your life? Even if Ruo Xi is just using you as a front for other men, there will come a day when she won't need you anymore. What will you do then?"

"Living off women isn't so bad," Yang Chen nodded, somewhat moved. "I'm driving my wife's car and living in her house now. I think life is pretty good. If one day she doesn't need me around, I can go back to selling lamb skewers, which is fine too."

"You..." Mo Qianyi was furious. She had been trying to help him, but he acted as if it was all his due.

After a few deep breaths, Mo Qianyi felt her chest ease up a bit, but the more she looked at his face, the more it annoyed her. She called out to Aunt Xiang, "Aunt Xiang, bring us two bottles of baijiu, the high-proof kind!"

Aunt Xiang, who was cooking, responded with a smile.

"Baijiu? Is it sorghum wine?" Yang Chen wasn't very familiar with traditional Chinese liquor.

"Yes, if I don't drink, I'll be driven mad by you, this rascal!" Mo Qianyi glared at Yang Chen.

Aunt Xiang clearly knew that Mo Qianyi could handle spicy food and drink, so the dishes she served were all seasoned with red oil and chili peppers. The two bottles of unlabelled baijiu were clearly cheap but strong.

"Can you drink?" Mo Qianyi asked, raising her eyes after opening a bottle.

Yang Chen, smelling the alcohol, felt a bit dizzy. He had drunk a lot of foreign wines and often drank red wine, but he rarely touched this fiery sorghum wine. Seeing Mo Qianyi, this alluring woman, with a "I can drink a lot" attitude, he couldn't help but smile bitterly, "I'll drink a little, but I'm not used to it."

"Such a wimp," Mo Qianyi sneered, pouring a small glass for Yang Chen.

Aunt Xiang had to attend to other customers, so after a few words with Mo Qianyi, she went elsewhere. The two of them sat in a corner of the street stall, eating spicy Sichuan dishes and drinking fragrant sorghum wine.

As night fell, the lights along the riverbank twinkled.

The bright moon in the sky was reflected in the water, with stars dotting the sky and ripples on the river, like the Milky Way descending to earth.

The cool breeze made the noise less jarring.

Yang Chen, eating the spicy dishes and sipping the tongue-numbing wine, gradually felt the warm and lively atmosphere around him, and his heart felt particularly at ease, making him a bit lost in thought.

Isn't this the life I've always aspired to?

With wine, meat, and all sorts of people around, he could feel the wind, the swaying tree shadows, the sound of the water, and the chirping of insects. Everything seemed so beautiful and desirable.

After a long while, Yang Chen came back to his senses and looked at Mo Qianyi across the table, pausing for a moment.

Mo Qianyi had already finished one bottle of baijiu, at least half a kilogram. Her beautiful face was flushed, and her smooth, fair skin looked especially alluring under the light.

Her eyes were like a lake, shimmering as she stared at the dishes on the table, not touching them, but holding a glass of wine, as if in a daze.

"Enough, have you always drunk this much?" Yang Chen thought that for a woman, half a kilogram of high-proof baijiu was already a lot.

Mo Qianyi looked at Yang Chen with a slightly tipsy expression, shook her head, and said in a muffled voice, "There was no one to drink with me here before. I couldn't drink this much alone."

"Do you have no friends?" Yang Chen asked curiously.

Mo Qianyi chuckled, like a blooming red flower, "Do you think the friends of the International Public Relations Director of Yulei would like to eat at a dirty street stall?"

Yang Chen was silent. Indeed, with Mo Qianyi's current status, even if the people she associated with were not true friends, how would anyone from that circle come to such a noisy place for a meal? They would only think it was beneath them and embarrassing.

"In that case, I'm honored to be the first person to accompany you here for a meal," Yang Chen said, somewhat self-deprecatingly.

"And the first man I've invited alone," Mo Qianyi said playfully, "I don't go to meals with other men."

"Thank goodness it's a street stall. Otherwise, if we were seen in other places, I'd be the enemy of all men," Yang Chen said.

"Is that bad? I think the food here is much better than in those five-star hotels." Mo Qianyi smiled, looking quite happy.

Yang Chen nodded. Although it was spicy, the food here had a more authentic taste, which he liked.

As they were talking, Mo Qianyi's phone on the table vibrated. She picked it up gracefully, saw the number, and her smile froze for a moment before she answered the call.

"Mom... Yes... I know, I'll go... Okay... Take care of yourself..."

After hanging up with a calm face, Mo Qianyi threw the phone aside, picked up the wine glass, and finished the remaining baijiu in one gulp.

Yang Chen watched the scene, puzzled, and asked, "Was it your mom's call?"

Mo Qianyi looked at him and nodded, "Didn't you hear?"

"Is there something urgent?"

"No."

"Do you need help?"

"No."

"You don't look too good."

"You're so annoying!" Mo Qianyi frowned, somewhat impatiently.

Yang Chen smiled awkwardly, "I'm full. How about you?"

"Let's go if you're full." Mo Qianyi didn't linger, got up, and left her seat, picking up her belongings.

Although Aunt Xiang kept refusing, Mo Qianyi still paid and even slipped a few hundred yuan notes to her, saying it was for her child. Aunt Xiang seemed to know Mo Qianyi's stubborn nature and finally accepted it.

The two walked back to the parking lot. Mo Qianyi seemed distracted and walked ahead without saying a word.

When they reached the car, the gravel ground under the dim streetlights looked quiet and vast.

Suddenly, Mo Qianyi turned around, her watery eyes fixed on Yang Chen. In the darkness, her beautiful face looked a bit weary.

"What's wrong?" Yang Chen felt something was off with Mo Qianyi, but he couldn't guess what was on her mind, so he just stayed silent with her.

"Can I hug you..."

"What?"

In response, Mo Qianyi stepped forward and opened her arms for a full embrace.

Yang Chen didn't try to avoid it. When Mo Qianyi's cool, smooth arms wrapped around his neck, a sweet scent mixed with the smell of alcohol wafted over, and he could clearly feel the soft, round, and elastic fullness of her chest against his.

After a brief hesitation, Yang Chen sighed, opened his arms, and gently hugged Mo Qianyi's back, caressing it a few times.

The two of them, under the night sky, looked like a loving couple, sweetly embracing in the deserted outskirts, enjoying a rare moment of intimacy.

"Actually, you can talk about your problems. Maybe I can help, like I did today," Yang Chen said.

Mo Qianyi's head rested on Yang Chen's chest, and she rubbed it slightly, saying in a muffled voice, "Don't say anything, don't ask anything. Just let me hug you for a while, just a while..."

In a daze, the embrace seemed to last a long time, but when they separated, it felt like only a brief moment had passed.

Mo Qianyi smoothed her hair, her face slightly flushed, and looked at Yang Chen shyly, "Thank you. Let's go back."

"Being hugged by a beautiful woman, I'm the one who benefits."

"I know you didn't have those thoughts," Mo Qianyi glanced at Yang Chen's lower body, "unless you can't."

Yang Chen's face froze. It was hard to be a pure man these days. This woman was too bad, actually paying attention to his physiological changes!

After getting back to Yulei International in Mo Qianyi's car, Yang Chen said goodbye to her and drove to the hospital. Although Lin Ruoxi had given up on her father Lin Kun, he still needed to tell her about Lin Kun's condition.

It was already past ten o'clock when he arrived at the hospital. The halls were empty except for the on-duty nurses and doctors. When he reached Lin Ruoxi's room, he saw the light was on, thinking she was awake, but when he entered, he found she was already sound asleep. She was lying on her side on a pillow, holding a book about the market economy. She was wearing a loose blue and white striped men's pajama top, and her messy hair covered half of her face, revealing a rare gentleness.

It was hard to imagine that such a young woman was the CEO of a famous listed company, bearing the heavy responsibility of thousands of employees worldwide on her slender shoulders.

Thinking about this, Yang Chen felt a deep admiration for his wife.

Feeling the cold air in the room, Yang Chen noticed that Lin Ruoxi had fallen asleep while reading and was exposed to the cold. He was worried she might catch a cold again.

After a moment's thought, Yang Chen quietly walked to the bed, gently lifted Lin Ruoxi's head, and carefully removed the high pillow, letting her rest on the lower pillow.

Then, he pulled the blanket up to her shoulders, tucking it in carefully to ensure no cold air could get in.

At that moment, Lin Ruoxi opened her eyes sleepily and looked at Yang Chen with a complex expression.

Even just looking at her, Yang Chen could feel the clarity and depth of her eyes, which made him stand there, lost in thought.