Chapter 173: No Answer, No Problem
In the early morning light, tinged with a hint of dawn, Yang Chen woke up to find Liu Mingyu sitting at the bedside, already dressed and tidying her long black hair, elegantly coiled atop her head.
Seeing Yang Chen sitting up shirtless, Liu Mingyu, who had just experienced a night of intimacy, wasn't particularly embarrassed. She smiled tranquilly at him and said, "I read in some magazines before that in these situations, men do the heavy lifting while women enjoy themselves. Watching you sleep so deeply, I now believe it's true."
"Doesn't it hurt?" Yang Chen glanced at her strangely. They had been quite passionate last night.
Shaking her head, Liu Mingyu joked self-deprecatingly, "I'm already an old woman, what's there to hurt?"
"I happen to like 'old women,'" Yang Chen said earnestly.
Liu Mingyu chuckled and patted the sheets. "Alright, get up. This hotel has a buffet breakfast. Let's eat and then head to work."
A little while later, the two of them arrived at the hotel's buffet restaurant. The breakfast spread at Maple Inn was quite extensive, offering a variety of both Eastern and Western dishes.
Yang Chen grabbed four tea eggs, a large bowl of millet porridge, two baskets of steamed dumplings, two plain steamed buns, along with a plate of vegetables and another of fruit, and eagerly dug in.
Liu Mingyu only took a plate of vegetable salad, dressed with honey mustard dressing, a typical choice for a young girl.
Finding her choice somewhat strange, Yang Chen frowned and said, "Eating a plate of salad so early in the morning isn't enough for energy. And you don't need to lose weight. Have something else."
"The salad dressing is sweet, so it has calories. And besides, even if I don't need to lose weight, I still need to maintain my figure," Liu Mingyu explained.
Yang Chen shoved one of his peeled tea eggs onto her plate. "As someone who's touched every inch of your body, I'm telling you, you need to gain a little weight."
Blushing furiously, Liu Mingyu looked around to make sure no one heard before admonishing him, "What nonsense! I already told you yesterday, after it's all said and done, you're you, and I'm me. Don't interfere with each other. Besides being colleagues, we have no other relationship!"
"Can yesterday's you and today's you be the same? Can yesterday's me and today's me be the same for you? Do you know if there's anything different about you now compared to yesterday for me?" Yang Chen asked pointedly, staring at Liu Mingyu.
Liu Mingyu fell silent, unable to find words to respond.
"Some things, you can't just say with your mouth and expect them to happen. If you can't do it, I certainly can't," Yang Chen said earnestly.
Liu Mingyu lifted her head, picked up the silver fork in her hand, stabbed into the tea egg, lifted it up, and took a bite, chewing as she said, "I surrender to you. Can I eat now?"
"That's more like it," Yang Chen chuckled, taking a big bite of the steamed bun.
But before they could eat much, a familiar voice, tinged with surprise, sounded behind Yang Chen.
"Mr. Yang?" Yang Chen turned around to see the woman who had suddenly appeared in the restaurant, a bit surprised. "Miss Tang?"
It was Tang Wan, whom he had met two days ago during the bank robbery, though she seemed to have changed her hairstyle. Her wavy long hair was now straightened and neatly combed behind her head. She wore a tight black suit with a deep neckline, revealing a light yellow bra underneath, exuding a fashionable aura that concealed her true age.
"What a coincidence, are you also staying at this hotel?" Yang Chen asked.
Tang Wan walked up, her gaze sweeping over Liu Mingyu sitting across from Yang Chen, with a hint of meaning in her eyes. She smiled and said, "Mr. Yang, you really forget your benefactors. Didn't you and Miss Mo play at my club before? Didn't you notice that the name of this hotel is exactly the same as the name of my club?"
Only then did Yang Chen remember Tang Wan's private super club, which indeed was called "Maple Forest." "Miss Tang's business seems to be everywhere. Are you here for work?"
Tang Wan shook her head with a smile. "Just happened to come here this morning to inspect. Didn't expect to run into Mr. Yang. And who might this beautiful lady be?"
Liu Mingyu, who had noticed Tang Wan's arrival early on, didn't expect this woman, who seemed like a graceful lady, to actually know Yang Chen. It wasn't until Tang Wan greeted Yang Chen with a smile that Liu Mingyu felt a sourness in her heart. After all, Tang Wan's face, figure, and demeanor surpassed her own by far. Especially that kind of grace, nobility, and elegance, qualities that couldn't be cultivated without being born into a wealthy family.
She's really a flirt who leaves her mark everywhere, but unfortunately, women have no resistance against him.
However, Liu Mingyu thought of herself as a woman who had an extramarital affair with him, even inviting him to have relations. She felt resigned; why should she be jealous? If she knew that Yang Chen's "unfortunate wife" was her own immediate superior, the respected and idolized CEO, she reckoned she would faint.
After Liu Mingyu had come to terms with this, she smiled warmly and extended her hand to Tang Wan, "I'm Liu Mingyu, Yang Chen's colleague."
"Pleasure to meet you, Miss Liu. I'm Tang Wan," Tang Wan also shook hands graciously.
Yang Chen felt a strange atmosphere in the eye contact between the two women, but as a man, he couldn't discern their respective thoughts.
After exchanging a few polite words with Liu Mingyu, Tang Wan turned to Yang Chen and said, "I didn't get the chance to thank Mr. Yang properly last time. Please do me the honor of accepting my invitation for a meal next time."
"That's not necessary, Miss Tang. You're a busy person, and besides, it was nothing," Yang Chen felt awkward being around Tang Wan, given their failed attempt at a relationship. He still had some psychological shadows from that.
"For Mr. Yang, it may be nothing, but for me, it was a matter of life and death. If I had been persecuted by those criminals that day, I wouldn't be standing here today. Please don't refuse," Tang Wan said firmly.
Yang Chen felt awkward refusing again, so he reluctantly agreed.
Tang Wan had to continue inspecting various aspects of the hotel, so she left first. After Yang Chen finished breakfast with Liu Mingyu, they left the hotel as well.
On the way to the company, Yang Chen bought a bunch of breakfast. It wasn't until they were almost at the company that Liu Mingyu asked, "Did you save President Tang's life?"
"Yeah, just dealt with a few petty thieves. It wasn't a big deal," Yang Chen casually replied.
Shouldn't there be a follow-up to the hero saves the beauty plot? After a moment's hesitation, Liu Mingyu couldn't help but ask, "Is Miss Tang also in that kind of relationship with you?"
"What kind of relationship?" Yang Chen asked, turning his head while driving.
"Just, you know, our kind of relationship," Liu Mingyu's tone was hesitant and ambiguous.
Yang Chen smirked, "Our relationship? I recall someone saying before that besides being colleagues, there shouldn't be any other relationship."
Liu Mingyu clenched her teeth in frustration, "Forget it if you won't answer!"
"Put away your curiosity. If I say I have no feelings for Miss Tang, that would be impossible. But we really just know each other," Yang Chen replied.
Liu Mingyu sighed silently in her heart. This man was astute when he needed to be but clueless at other times. Didn't he realize that Tang Wan's feelings for him weren't just limited to "just knowing each other"?
As the car entered the underground parking lot of Yu Lei International, to avoid suspicion and unnecessary public scrutiny, Yang Chen parked the car on the top floor where there were fewer parked cars.
But as he and Liu Mingyu got out of the car, Yang Chen suddenly felt a chill run down his spine. He turned around and saw the elevator doors at the entrance to the company building slowly closing.
This wasn't the focal point of the issue; the crucial part was that the figure standing inside the elevator was none other than Lin Ruoxi, pristine as an untouched ice sculpture!
Yang Chen watched helplessly as the elevator doors closed, but Lin Ruoxi's icy, piercing gaze made his heart race.
Damn! Talk about bad luck! How did he end up sharing the top floor with this girl, especially at this moment when she happened to see him and Liu Mingyu getting out of the car?!
Thinking about how he had spent the night out for no reason yesterday, only to be caught today arriving at work with another woman, Yang Chen felt a headache coming on. All the effort he had put into comforting Lin Ruoxi over the past couple of days had gone to waste.
Seeing Yang Chen standing there with a wry smile, Liu Mingyu asked with confusion, "What's wrong?"
Yang Chen snapped out of his thoughts, put on a composed smile, and replied, "Nothing much. I'm just contemplating the future development of the company. You know how seriously I take my work."