Not Free for a Relationship
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After Yang Chen left, Lin Ruoxi and Li Jingjing played with the children for almost an hour, before President Cha urged the young kids to obediently have their meals.
Lin Ruoxi and Li Jingjing could finally leave. Although they were reluctant to do so, their body strengths were limited being women. After saying goodbye to the president, they left the orphanage together.
Outside the building, Lin Ruoxi said, “Jingjing, I’ll send you home. The sky has gotten dark.”
Smiling, Li Jingjing shook her head and said, “No need, Sister Ruoxi. I live very near, it doesn’t take much time to walk home. You’ll reach home much later than I do. You should drive home immediately.”
Lin Ruoxi knew that Li Jingjing lived rather near. Nodding, she said, “Then do you want to have dinner together?”
“I bought some groceries yesterday, they aren’t used up yet. I think I’d prefer eating at home. Sister Ruoxi, do you want to go to my place? My culinary skill is respectable,” Li Jingjing suggested.
Lin Ruoxi’s eyes shone. “Jingjing, are you good at cooking?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Can you… teach me? I can pay for the ingredients,” Lin Ruoxi said.
Curious, Li Jingjing asked, “Sister Ruoxi, didn’t you mention that Wang Ma was really good at cooking?”
“Yeah, but… but I don’t want to be seen by the detestable fellow,” Lin Ruoxi said embarrassingly.
Li Jingjing lowered her head and kept quiet for a while. She said, “Alright, but Sister Ruoxi will have to invite me over to your place after you learn how to cook. Treating me a meal you make yourself will act as a small gift to me as the young master.”
Lin Ruoxi nodded happily. “Sure! But you’ll need to teach me properly. I really know nothing at all.”
“Deal!” Li Jingjing offered her pinky.
Lin Ruoxi smiled sweetly and made a pinky promise with Li Jingjing. The two of them laughed together like little girls.
At the same time, Yang Chen actually didn’t go home for dinner. Bored, he was walking on the quiet streets at Dongcheng District.
On this day, he met Yang Jieyu in the morning and Li Jingjing later in the afternoon. He felt like there was a huge rock pressing on his heart. Having no appetite, he informed Wang Ma before he went walking alone in the city.
Since he wasn’t having a good mood, Yang Chen naturally didn’t want to visit the irritable night markets. He picked an old street with the least people. It was a place where the old civilians in Zhonghai stayed in. At night, it was so sparse that only a few residents would pass by from time to time.
The cold wind in the dark poured into Yang Chen’s collar, which he didn’t mind at all. Walking slowly at a badly lit street alone, one would think that he was a homeless folk unless observed closely.
Just as Yang Chen’s mind went blank, his phone suddenly vibrated in his pocket. Taking it out, he saw that it was a phone call from Mo Qianni.
Ever since they came back from Sichuan, this workaholic who was as crazy as Lin Ruoxi hadn’t contact Yang Chen. Although they would stick to each other privately, she would ignore his presence in the company, making Yang Chen feel rather helpless.
Picking up the phone call, Mo Qianni’s intimate and teasing sound resounded. “Lover, where are you?”
Listening to her flirting, Yang Chen smiled as he leaned on a utility pole before taking a deep breath of the cold air.
“In your heart.”
Mo Qianni got into silence for a while before bursting into laughter. “What should I do? You make me have the urge to ignore everything and contribute my body to you.”
Yang Chen’s eyes shone. “Really? Don’t just get the urge, put it into practice.”
“Then tell me a few more urging lines and I’ll put it into practice,” Mo Qianni said in discompliance.
“Madam, lines like that can only be said when love is concentrated. How do you expect me to say so many of them out of thin air?” Yang Chen said, depressed.
Mo Qianni laughed. “Alright I’ll stop joking around. I have something serious to ask you.”
How are you joking when you talk about something this significant?! Yang Chen thought.
“What is it?”
“We’re getting near the end of the year. Where will you be going for the company’s year-end trip?” Mo Qianni asked.
Yang Chen thought for a while. He said, “The people from human relations department helped me register already. I remember it’s… Why?”
Mo Qianni said regrettably, “Everyone from finance department is going on a local trip. It’s sad that I can’t follow you there.”
Yang Chen snickered. So she called me just for this.
“What? Are you really happy that no one will be keeping you from messing with the women there?” Mo Qianni asked angrily. She wasn’t too happy when she heard Yang Chen’s laughter.
“What are you thinking about? Am I that thirsty?”
“Yes!” Mo Qianni exclaimed confidently.
Yang Chen almost choked himself as he couldn’t speak a word.
Mo Qianni heard that Yang Chen wasn’t talking. Faintly, she said, “Actually, it’s not my problem if you want to mess with them. Being an outsider myself, extending my arms that far out is meaningless. I only said it casually. If you really do it, the only thing I can do is to bear with it.”
Yang Chen’s nerves got a bit tense. He consoled, “Why do you say it that way? Being taken care of by my Little Qianqian is my honor. I’m really happy in my heart.”
“Is it true?”
No it’s fake… he thought. But he said, “Of course! Do you expect me to lie to you?”
After chatting with Mo Qianni for a very long time, he finally managed to please the madam and ended the call.
Yang Chen felt that trying to please women can be really tiring. He didn’t feel like eating earlier, but his stomach was growling after the phone call.
Looking at the surroundings, Yang Chen saw that most stores were closed already, except for a few small restaurants which looked dirty and displeasing. As he continued down the street, he found a trolley stall at an intersection of the streets.
Yang Chen used to eat these kinds of spicy and deep fried foods often. Although they weren’t the most hygienic, they were really affordable and diverse. He really liked them.
At this moment, there weren’t many customers in front of the trolley stall. There were three plastic stools and a box of strong liquor of an unknown brand. During a cold day like this, eating snacks and drinking liquor seemed like a good choice.
“Sir, what do you want to order?” The voice of the stall owner was crisp. It was a young girl.
Yang Chen pulled a stool over and didn’t pay much attention to her. When he raised his head, he almost burst into laughter.
“Why is it you, Little Girl?”
The girl in front of his eyes was the one who pickpocketed him in the bus during the day. It was unexpected that she would set up a stall to sell snacks. The oil barrel she carried around this morning was really used for her business.
When the girl saw Yang Chen, she got shocked for a moment. Cautious, she said, “Uncle, are you stalking me?”
“Why would I stalk you, to bring you to the police station? If I wanted to, I would’ve done it this morning. I was just walking around with my hungry stomach and bumped into you coincidentally,” Yang Chen said as he took out a skewer of spicy seaweed before chewing away. “It tastes rather good. Since we are acquaintances, can you give me a discount?”
“One skewer will be one buck,” the girl said mercilessly.
“Kiddo, can you not be this stingy while you run your business? You should give discount when it’s necessary,” Yang Chen said smilingly.
“I said that I’m not a kid. Uncle, eat if you want to. Stop talking nonsense. Leave if you don’t want to. Leave the money for the seaweed before that,” the girl said unhappily.
Yang Chen felt that this girl was really interesting. Born with bright skin, she was petite and cute. The expression she gave when she talked brought the taste of chilli peppers, especially when she stared at Yang Chen with her black, reflective, huge eyes. It was rather pleasing.
“Alright, alright. I want to eat, okay? You still hold such a bad attitude when I give you money,” Yang Chen complained before taking out a small bottle of liquor from the box. Happily, he got himself a plastic cup and filled it up.
“5 bucks for one bottle,” the girl said.
Yang Chen shook his head smilingly and took a few more skewers of other snacks in front of her. As he picked his food, the girl would report to him the cost of each item.
After eating more than ten skewers of food and drinking two mouthfuls of liquor, Yang Chen felt warmth in his stomach. Looking at the girl who was frying a type of white and red food which seemingly included spicy sauce and cabbage, sniffing at the sour and hot smell that got blew over, he asked curiously, “What are you frying?”
“Frying rice cakes,” the girl replied without raising her head.
“I tried fried rice cakes before, but I haven’t seen anything quite like this,” Yang Chen said.
“This is Korean style fried rice cakes. My mom taught me how to make this dish. I included cabbage and Korean hot sauce,” the girl said.
Yang Chen asked smilingly, “Is your mom a Korean?”
The girl raised her head. Under her thick curved brows, it could be seen in her eyes that she was irritated. “Uncle, you talk too much. Can’t my mom be a Korean?”
Yang Chen raised his hand with a smile, saying, “It’s not what I meant. I was wondering why you didn’t look quite like a Chinese. You exert a different aura. So you’re a half-breed of a Korean.”
“Humph! Half-breed, aura, Uncle, you’re really good at talking. Doesn’t the Chinese love to call Koreans sticks? How can I have an aura?” the girl asked with a smile.
“Don’t stereotype. At least I know that Koreans treat the elders with respect. Little Girl, why are you always so fierce towards me?” Yang Chen asked smilingly.
The girl gave him a death stare. “Let me tell you one last time. I’m not a little girl. I’m 20 years old already!”
“Alright, alright. I’ll call you a small lady,” Yang Chen said with a bitter smile.
“Are you seeing me as a prostitute? Although I don’t have money, I’m poor, I won’t ever betray my body!”
“Then what should I call you?” Yang Chen asked helplessly.
The girl took a deep breath. She seemed to have gotten annoyed by Yang Chen. “Call me Xu Zhenxiu. You can call me Ah Xiu.”
“Ah Xiu? Not good, it’s not cute enough. I’ll call you Zhenxiu. Your name sounds very Korean, did your mom give it to you?”
“Yes…”
“I’m Yang Chen. You can call me Uncle or Yang Chen,” Yang Chen said smilingly.
The corners of her lips suddenly moved. She seemed like she wanted to laugh but couldn’t. “Uncle, did I ask for your name? Why do you take so many initiatives? Don’t think that I don’t know what you’re trying to do. I’ve seen too many men like you. Are you trying to pick me up? Let go of that thought. I’m very busy now. I’m not free to get into a relationship with Uncle who has nothing to do all day. Continue eating if you’re still hungry. Leave if you’re done. Don’t burden my business.”
This lady was really straightforward. Although she looked very pretty, Yang Chen didn’t have any interest in her. He just enjoyed listening to how she talked. Smiling, he said, “Zhenxiu, I indeed have nothing to do, but I definitely don’t have that type of interest in you. It’s just that I had been in a bad mood today, but I feel much comfortable now when I talk to you for unknown reasons. I won’t burden you, you may continue what you’re doing. Hehe…”
Zhenxiu couldn’t do anything to Yang Chen. She shook her head as she sighed. As she continued putting a heck lot of hot sauce into her Korean rice cakes, she suddenly frowned as she looked at the area behind Yang Chen.