Chapter 131: Senior Brother

"Who's there?" "Yang Chen?" Yuhui and Zhao Hongyan turned to see Yang Chen suddenly appearing, but their moods completely shifted!

"It's you?" Yuhui remembered this man was sitting with Zhao Hongyan at the same table. After a moment of slight panic upon seeing Yang Chen, he immediately calmed down.

Zhao Hongyan quickly buttoned up her clothes and, taking advantage of Yuhui's distraction, hurriedly ran behind Yang Chen.

"Were you eavesdropping on our conversation?" Yuhui's face turned ugly as he stared at Yang Chen with cold eyes.

"Your voice is so loud, it's hard not to hear. Although, I don't really enjoy listening to you talk." Yang Chen chuckled.

Yuhui glared fiercely at Yang Chen. He knew this situation was ruined; after all, he couldn't do anything with Zhao Hongyan in front of another man. But the resentment in his heart grew deeper. With a meaningful glance at Zhao Hongyan, he snorted coldly and left the parking lot on his own.

Zhao Hongyan finally breathed a sigh of relief and forced a smile, "Thank you."

"Should I drive you home?" Yang Chen felt that with everything that had happened, leaving Zhao Hongyan alone to continue drinking was simply tormenting her.

Zhao Hongyan shook her head, "No need, I'll drive back by myself. I just want some time alone."

Yang Chen nodded. Although he understood a bit about Zhao Hongyan's family situation, he was just a colleague at most, maybe a slightly better friend, and he had no reason or qualification to intervene in her personal matters.

"Don't do anything foolish. If there's a problem, there's always a way to fix it," Yang Chen said with concern.

Zhao Hongyan's eyes reddened slightly, feeling Yang Chen's sincere concern. She said with some emotion, "Don't worry, I'm not a child anymore. In fact, I've figured out many things. What will come, will come. That's it then, goodbye..."

"Goodbye."

Watching Zhao Hongyan's somewhat lonely figure walk towards her Toyota, Yang Chen felt quite moved.

Every family has its own difficulties. Compared to Zhao Hongyan, perhaps his relationship with Lin Ruoxi wasn't too bad.

It reminded him of an old saying, life is like wrestling, if you can't resist, then just enjoy it...

After seeing Zhao Hongyan off, Yang Chen returned to the Blueberry Bar. Liu Mingyu and a few other women had almost finished drinking, their laughter was infectious.

Seeing Yang Chen return but not Zhao Hongyan, Liu Mingyu, who was still somewhat sober, asked, "Where's Hongyan?"

"Oh, she had some urgent matters to attend to, so she went back first and asked me to tell you," Yang Chen replied.

Liu Mingyu asked thoughtfully, "Nothing serious, right?"

"Nothing at all." Yang Chen smiled, picking up the drink he hadn't finished earlier and raised it to his female colleagues. "Let's finish our drinks first, wishing our Minister Liu a successful career."

"Cheers!" The women all raised their glasses, giggling happily. After all, they were a group of women, and by around ten o'clock in the evening, they dispersed to go home. Yang Chen had originally been worried that these women might be in danger driving home, but as soon as they stepped out of the bar, each one seemed to have transformed, bidding Yang Chen farewell with clarity and even cracking a few jokes.

Zhang Cai seemed to notice Yang Chen's surprise and smirked, "What's so strange about that? Don't forget our jobs. How could PR professionals not know how to drink? After entertaining clients with drinks, if we can't even drive ourselves home, then there's no point in being in this business!"

Yang Chen felt embarrassed. Due to not having done anything substantial at work, he had completely forgotten what his colleagues' professions were.

When Yang Chen drove back to the Longjing Garden Villa, he found that the lights on the first floor were brighter than usual. What surprised him was that there was a car parked by the roadside that clearly didn't belong to Lin Ruoxi; it was a black Acura MDX, a Japanese luxury car brand originating from the US. Although this car was a luxury vehicle, it was still imported in Feiyang; its price was not cheap.

Could it be that one of Lin Ruoxi's relatives had come to the house? Should he go in or not?

After a moment's thought, Yang Chen realized how foolish his question was. He wasn't someone whose appearance affected the public image. Why should he be embarrassed to meet someone?

Casually walking in, he saw a guest sitting on the sofa in the living room, but it wasn't the elder he had imagined; it was a young man wearing a Versace blue shirt.

With neat short hair, distinct facial features, a tall nose bridge, standing at least six feet tall, and healthy skin, he sat on the sofa with a straight posture, looking calm and composed. It was difficult to estimate the man's exact age.

At the moment, Lin Ruoxi and the man were seated facing each other at a ninety-degree angle on two separate sofas, with a pot of steaming hot tea on the coffee table between them, seemingly engaged in conversation.

When the door opened and Yang Chen entered the room, the man in the blue shirt furrowed his brows slightly but immediately revealed a hearty smile, stood up, and nodded friendly towards Yang Chen.

Since the man smiled at him for no apparent reason, Yang Chen couldn't be too impolite. He smiled back and asked Lin Ruoxi, who was sitting silently beside, "Who is this?"

Before Lin Ruoxi could introduce him, the man with the clear voice spoke brightly, "My name is Zeng Xinlin. I was Ruoxi's university classmate. May I ask who you are, sir?"

What! He came to his house and yet he's asking who the male host is?

Yang Chen realized that this man wasn't as friendly as he initially appeared. His pride might even be higher than anyone else's. He casually took out the key to his villa, "Who do you think has the key to this house?"

Zeng Xinlin showed a sudden realization, "Could it be Ruoxi's older or younger brother? I haven't met him before. Pleased to meet you."

Seeing the genuine "fake" expression on Zeng Xinlin's face, Yang Chen finally realized that this guy had a thick skin, even thicker than his own. He furrowed his brows slightly, not bothering to pay much attention to him.

At this moment, Lin Ruoxi glanced faintly at Yang Chen and then turned to Zeng Xinlin, saying, "Senior Brother, he is Yang Chen, my husband."

Zeng Xinlin's expression changed slightly, but he concealed it calmly and smiled, "So you're Ruoxi's husband. Ruoxi, you're really something. Why didn't you tell me you got married? You made such a decision without waiting for me to come back. You didn't even give me a wedding toast."

Lin Ruoxi looked apologetic, "I'm sorry, we just got married recently, and I didn't have the chance to tell you. But we only got the marriage certificate; we haven't had the wedding yet. We'll invite you when the time comes."

"The wedding hasn't happened yet?" Zeng Xinlin's eyes sparkled with interest, and he said with some depth, glancing between Yang Chen and Lin Ruoxi, "That's good. Don't forget to invite me then. I must prepare a big gift. After all, our relationship is not ordinary."

Standing aside and listening to this conversation, Yang Chen felt uncomfortable. Not only did this guy not regard him highly, but why did he wait until you came back to get married? What does he mean by saying your relationship is not ordinary? Is there a difference between two kinds?

Understanding that this guy was another potential rival in love, Yang Chen didn't mince his words. He walked over to Lin Ruoxi and plopped down on the sofa where she was sitting. The sofa was bounced a few times before it settled.

Lin Ruoxi furrowed her brows slightly. She still wasn't accustomed to being so close to Yang Chen, so she moved slightly away from him.

This unintentional move was noticed by Zeng Xinlin, who then relaxed his expression as if he had understood something.

"Mr. Yang, don't you have a high position somewhere?" Zeng Xinlin asked politely as if nothing had happened.

Yang Chen poured himself a glass of water, took a sip, and said, "I don't have a high position. I just work for my wife at the company. I'm just a layabout."

Zeng Xinlin's expression became even more confident. He smiled and said, "That's also good. I hope to see Ruoxi every day in a place where I can see her. Thinking back to the three years we spent together in university, it's unforgettable to see Ruoxi often. It's probably fate."

"Senior Brother, it's all in the past. There's no need to mention it again. You mentioned earlier that you wanted to start a company when you returned to Zhonghai, right?" Lin Ruoxi sensed the awkward atmosphere regarding their conversation about relationships, so she subtly changed the topic.

Zeng Xinlin smiled calmly and replied, "That's right. Although the old man in my family wants me to take over the business back home, I plan to start my own entertainment and media-related company in Zhonghai. It happens to follow a similar fashion-forward route as your Yulei International. You must take care of your senior brother when the time comes."

"Senior Brother, you're more talented than me, so you'll definitely do well," Lin Ruoxi said calmly but sincerely.

"It's not necessarily true. Three years ago, you dropped out of school and became the CEO of Yulei, embarking on the path of business. As for me, I was sent to the southwest by the old men in my family to serve in the military. These past three years, I've been completely idle, just managing those soldiers and cannons. I've forgotten everything I learned before," Zeng Xinlin sighed.

Lin Ruoxi fell into some reminiscence. "I heard some classmates say you enlisted in the army, but I didn't believe it. I didn't expect you really went."

Zeng Xinlin's eyes revealed a hint of nostalgia. Squinting his eyes, his naturally masculine face exuded even more charm under the light. "Ruoxi, you don't know. Although our country seems peaceful and prosperous now, the border has always been unstable. Take the past three years of my life in the southwest, for example. There were at least five or six hundred days of friction and conflicts with those neighboring countries. It's hard to say how many people died, but being hit by bullets was commonplace."

The roaring battlefield, the lingering smoke of gunpowder—these were naturally unfamiliar to Lin Ruoxi, who had grown up in a metropolitan area. Yet, soldiers, with their iron will, often invoked admiration, even in the coldest of hearts. Despite her aloofness, she couldn't help but ask curiously, "Senior Brother, is the situation really that chaotic in the southwest? Did you really go to battle?"

Sitting beside Lin Ruoxi, Yang Chen was surprised to find her interested in such matters. He couldn't help but smile bitterly. What's the point of such things?

Just thinking about warfare made Yang Chen feel restless. He wanted to pull out a cigarette to smoke, but he found that his pocket was empty. With a sense of frustration, he sat on the sofa, continuing to listen to Zeng Xinlin's solemn narrative.