Yang Cheng had already guessed that things wouldn't end so easily, but he didn't expect Lin Ruoxi to ask to see him so soon, and she even brought Zhao Hongyan along. He couldn't help but feel uneasy. Although nothing really happened between him and Zhao Hongyan, they had kissed and hugged. He couldn't just wipe his mouth and say that nothing happened, right?
He gave the nervous Zhao Hongyan a comforting smile, and the two left the scene together. As for the Yu brothers, although they were gritting their teeth in anger, they couldn't do anything about it.
Five minutes later, Yang Cheng brought Zhao Hongyan to the CEO's office on the top floor. It was Yang Cheng's second time coming to this place. Although Zhao Hongyan had been in Yu Lei for more than three years, she had never been here before. Although there were still traces of tears on her face, she couldn't care less at this moment and looked around curiously.
"Don't be nervous, just sit there."
Lin Ruoxi calmly walked over from the water dispenser at the side of the office. In her hand was a glass filled with steaming hot green tea. The color was delicate, and the fragrance assailed her nostrils. Even from afar, she could smell the natural aroma of tea.
Before Lin Ruoxi could put the teacup on the mahogany coffee table in front of the sofa, Yang Cheng smiled and stepped forward to take it.
"How can I? The CEO personally made the tea, I'll do it myself …"
Lin Ruoxi ignored him and walked straight past Yang Chen, causing him to miss his target. She walked straight to Zhao Hongyan and smiled at her. Her smile was like a sunny day after the snow had cleared up and the flowers bloomed in spring.
"This is this year's new West Lake Longjing tea. You're someone who knows tea, so I gave it to you to drink. I wouldn't be willing to give it to just anyone." Lin Ruoxi winked at Zhao Hongyan and put the teacup in front of her.
Zhao Hongyan was flattered and stood up. Her pretty face was flushed, and it wasn't clear if she was excited or shy. "General Lin, you're too polite. I … I'll be embarrassed …"
This scene made Yang Cheng a little depressed. Why couldn't this woman smile brightly at her husband?
Lin Ruoxi walked lightly back to her seat and sat down leisurely. She didn't seem to be in a hurry to ask what happened today. Instead, she looked at Zhao Hongyan and asked, "Hongyan, if I remember correctly, you've been in the company for more than three years, right?"
Zhao Hongyan was sitting on the soft sofa. When she heard Lin Ruoxi's question, she recalled how Lin Ruoxi called her a tea lover. Her eyes were filled with disbelief. "Boss Lin, you know me?"
"As long as you're an employee of the headquarters, I know everyone. Although I can't communicate with you often because of work, as long as you're my employee, I'll recognize you." Lin Ruoxi said softly.
Not only Zhao Hongyan, but Yang Cheng, who had just sat down, was also stunned. One had to know that there were at least four to five hundred employees in the headquarters of Yu Lei International. Under the circumstances that they almost didn't interact with each other, Lin Ruoxi actually recognized all of them. Looking at the way she treated Zhao Hongyan today, it didn't seem like she was talking nonsense. It seemed that to be able to control such a fashionable aircraft carrier at such a young age, this woman's inner thoughts were far more terrifying than imagined.
Zhao Hongyan was obviously very excited. Like most of the other female employees, she also had feelings of admiration for Lin Ruoxi. At this moment, when she realized that her idol actually knew her name and knew some of her background, she was like an excited bird. Her gloomy mood was swept away, and she smiled. "I really didn't expect General Lin to recognize small employees like us. It seems that nothing in the company can be hidden from General Lin …"
"You're a little special. Actually, I've seen you before you entered the company." Lin Ruoxi said.
"Before I entered the company?" Zhao Hongyan obviously couldn't remember.
Lin Ruoxi hesitated for a moment, then said in a clear voice, "Your father, Mr. Zhao, makes delicious glutinous rice balls. I used to buy them often."
Zhao Hongyan revealed a look of realization, but at the same time, she felt that it was unbelievable. "General Lin, you … like to eat glutinous rice balls?"
She didn't expect that the elegant and refined female CEO would like that kind of snack.
"Your family runs a glutinous rice ball shop?" Yang Cheng also asked in surprise.
Zhao Hongyan nodded and said with a little pride, "Our family's glutinous rice ball shop has been passed down for several generations. The taste is very authentic, and it can be considered as a long-established glutinous rice ball shop."
"Mr. Zhao is also a master of traditional tea art. I've drunk the Huangshan Maofeng and Biluochun that he brewed. His techniques and skills are the most orthodox tea ceremony. This is actually almost extinct in Hua Xia, but it's preserved in Japan that's more complete. It's a pity that people nowadays only pay attention to those superficial tea arts, and don't know how to appreciate the most authentic tea ceremony. "Lin Ruoxi said with admiration and regret.
Zhao Hongyan became more and more excited. "I really didn't expect General Lin to know so much about our family. He even knows about my father …"
"That was already many years ago. Speaking of which, I'm two years younger than you. When I went to buy glutinous rice balls, I was still in high school. Because my high school was very close to your family's glutinous rice ball shop, I often went there. After the rice balls were cooked, your father would even make tea for me. Occasionally, I would see you helping out in the shop. But I'm sure you don't remember it, but I've always remembered the scene in your shop. I think your family is very happy. Father, mother, daughter, boy, that should be your brother. They all helped to make and sell glutinous rice balls in the same shop. It was a happy and harmonious life. It felt very good. "Lin Ruoxi's eyes revealed a little yearning, and her words were soft and sincere.
Zhao Hongyan also felt a little nostalgic. She smiled and said, "Yeah, I was still in college at that time, so I would help out in the shop when I had time. Later on, I didn't go much when I started working. In fact, I always complained about my father at that time. I clearly didn't know how to make glutinous rice balls, but he insisted that I learn. Now that I think about it, I'm quite happy."
Listening to the two women talking one after another, Yang Cheng couldn't help but admire Lin Ruoxi's conversational skills. At this moment, Zhao Hongyan had obviously let go of her tense nerves and began to talk to him.
"How's Old Mister Zhao recently?" Lin Ruoxi asked.
Zhao Hongyan's originally bright and beautiful face showed a touch of sadness. She forced a smile and said, "Not very good. He has been hospitalized since last year."
"Hospitalized?" Lin Ruoxi thought about it. "Can you tell me more about it? I haven't seen him for a long time."
Zhao Hongyan picked up the teacup on the table and took two sips of the hot tea. Then she said, "My father was found to have kidney failure. He has been doing dialysis treatment. His health is very bad. Because of that, the family business has been handed over to my brother, and the business is not doing well."
"I'm sorry." Lin Ruoxi said apologetically and subconsciously looked at Yang Cheng.
Yang Cheng saw it and spread out his hands, indicating that he didn't know about it before. He didn't mean to let her ask such a sad topic.
Lin Ruoxi thought about it and asked, "Hongyan, was the person on the first floor today your husband?"
"Yes, General Lin." Zhao Hongyan nodded sadly.
"What was the reason why he did that?"
Zhao Hongyan sighed and told what happened in the bar last night, but naturally, she hid the part where she was harassed by Yu Hui. Although it wasn't her fault, it was also disgraceful.
After listening to it, Lin Ruoxi asked Yang Cheng, "Yang Cheng, is that true?"
Yang Cheng nodded of course.
"But why did you kiss Hongyan?" Lin Ruoxi immediately asked again. In fact, it was "kiss", but Lin Ruoxi was ashamed to say that word.
"Uh …"
Yang Cheng was speechless for a while, and Zhao Hongyan beside him also blushed. Being asked such a question in front of her face, she felt her face burning, but at the same time, she was looking forward to how Yang Cheng would answer.
Lin Ruoxi's eyes were as cold as a scalpel that cut open a person's heart, as if telling Yang Cheng, "Don't lie to me."
Obviously, whether it was official or private, Yang Cheng kissed Zhao Hongyan in front of everyone, which made Lin Ruoxi very dissatisfied, but she didn't show it too excitedly.
Yang Cheng smiled embarrassedly, "That Yu guy insisted that I have that relationship with his wife. I said it's nothing, but he didn't believe me. He was so determined to give me a woman, I can't say that I really don't want her, right? Isn't that a blow to Hongyan's self-confidence? A beautiful woman, her husband doesn't want her, and I don't want her either, it's so hurtful! "
"So you kissed her. Have you ever thought that if everyone saw that scene, what would happen to the two of you in the future?!" Lin Ruoxi was going crazy. This man actually opened his mouth with such a shameless reason!
Yang Cheng looked at Zhao Hongyan, who was beside him, whose face was so red that juice was about to drip out. He rubbed the back of his head, "What else can I do? Her husband said that he wants to divorce her, I can't say that I want to divorce her, right?"
"You …" Lin Ruoxi had a belly full of anger, but she didn't know what to say.
Yang Cheng smiled mischievously, "General Lin is so concerned about my love life, I'm really flattered. On behalf of my wife, I thank General Lin for his love."
He did it on purpose! He deliberately angered me!
Lin Ruoxi's hands were clenched into fists and trembled non-stop. If Zhao Hongyan wasn't here, she really wanted to pick up anything on the table and smash this man to death!
"Yang Cheng, don't talk to General Lin like that. He's doing it for our own good," Zhao Hongyan suddenly advised, then looked at Lin Ruoxi with a complicated expression, "General Lin, I think this is all my fault. I shouldn't have gone to the bar. I lied to my husband first, otherwise, this wouldn't have happened."
Yang Cheng asked in confusion, "I've always been curious, why didn't you tell that guy that you were drinking with your colleagues at the bar?"
Zhao Hongyan was silent for a while, then said, "Actually, you saw it today. Yuguang is a very conservative and upright person. In his eyes, places like bars, nightclubs, and KTVs are all so-called 'social vermin'. Places where 'unrestrained men and women' go, the Yu family isn't allowed in."
"Isn't his younger brother there as well?" Yang Cheng frowned.
Zhao Hongyan smiled bitterly, "Yuhui is his biological younger brother, and I'm just his daughter-in-law. In the eyes of the Yu family, I'm just the daughter of a small shop owner with a lowly background. They're already doing me a favor by letting me marry into their family. How can they tolerate me going to nightclubs?"
Yang Cheng couldn't help but find it funny, "I didn't expect such people to exist in this society. Why do I feel like we've regressed to a feudal society?"
"Yeah, when I first married him, I wasn't used to it as well. I felt like I was an ascetic monk. Whenever I returned home, I would feel suffocated by the atmosphere. I've gotten better after a year, but I'm always afraid of going home. I feel like I can't get along with his family. There are too many things between us," Zhao Hongyan said dejectedly.
"Then why did you still marry him?"
Lin Ruoxi rolled her eyes at Yang Cheng. "It's because of your father, right? From what I know, kidney dialysis isn't cheap."
Zhao Hongyan was silent and nodded with difficulty. "Yes, my father and Yuguang's father are friends. When my father first went to the hospital, even though there was insurance to cover a certain amount, it still wasn't enough. At the time, Yuguang's mother took a liking to me and wanted me to be their daughter-in-law … Maybe other families didn't want their daughters to marry Yuguang, and their family didn't like me because I wasn't good-looking. In the end, they chose me and promised me to pay for most of my father's medical expenses. "
The truth of the matter was simple and tragic. A young and beautiful woman married an old-fashioned, stubborn man for the sake of her father's medical expenses.
"Do you love him?" Lin Ruoxi suddenly asked.
Zhao Hongyan was slightly stunned before she remembered who she was asking about. She smiled sadly and said, "General Lin, Yuguang and I have never dated. We didn't even communicate before I married him. I don't understand him and he doesn't trust me, so how could I love him? "
A marriage without love?
Lin Ruoxi quietly glanced at Yang Cheng. Coincidentally, Yang Cheng was also looking at her. Lin Ruoxi's heart raced. She quickly looked away and asked Zhao Hongyan, "What do you plan to do now?"
Zhao Hongyan shook her head blankly. "I don't know. Actually, I thought about divorcing Yuguang a long time ago. We're from different worlds."
"But what about your father's illness?" asked Lin Ruoxi.
Zhao Hongyan bit her lip. "I discussed it with my younger brother. We'll mortgage our family's shop and get a loan from the bank. We should be able to get a few hundred thousand yuan. That should be enough for my father's kidney transplant."
"If I said I'd give you five years of salary and bonus in advance, and you'd work here for ten years, would you be able to accept it?" asked Lin Ruoxi.
Zhao Hongyan suddenly raised her head. Her watery eyes were filled with disbelief and surprise. "General Lin … You're saying …"
Lin Ruoxi turned around and pressed a red button on the desk. She spoke into a delicate microphone. "Wu Yue, come in for a second."
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