Chapter 174: Boredom Sets In

Yang Chen had expected a storm or at least a chilly reception after being caught with Liu Mingyu. But to his surprise, he found himself relatively unscathed. The reason was simple: the long-awaited autumn fashion show of Yu Lei International had officially commenced. Concurrently, there was an exhibition and exchange meeting for other fashion products as well.

Lin Ruoxi simply had no time to bother with him!

The entire vicinity of the Central Sea International Convention and Exhibition Center was adorned with Yu Lei's iconic advertisements, showcasing the beautiful faces of the company's women, causing envy among countless ordinary people as well as employees and bosses of other companies.

As a member of the Public Relations Department, Yang Chen, who was the most leisurely among them, had to bite the bullet and do some work in such a labor shortage. However, his tasks were relatively light; he only had to assist a few beautiful presenters in translating the conversations with partners from some minor language-speaking countries. For Yang Chen, using his mouth was acceptable, especially when he heard various familiar foreign accents, evoking a hint of nostalgia.

The highlight of the exhibition was President Lin Ruoxi's keynote speech. As Lin Ruoxi, dressed in a black professional suit with a white shirt and a pink flower pinned to her chest, took the stage, the mix of astonishment and applause from the audience created a peculiar atmosphere.

In fact, although Lin Ruoxi garnered attention from various sectors of the fashion industry as the president of Yu Lei International, her reserved personality and conservative personal life meant that there was scant information about this beautiful female president in the public domain.

Several entertainment media outlets had previously published some reports about Lin Ruoxi's private life, but these attempts were swiftly countered. It was rumored that this woman, whose assets were estimated in the billions, directly acquired those tabloid media outlets and integrated them into Yu Lei's fashion publishing empire.

After that, few media outlets dared to spread information about her without Lin Ruoxi's consent. After all, gossip magazines and tabloids operated on a small scale and couldn't withstand the pressure from big capitalists. As for those large state-owned media outlets, who would want to offend a mysterious and formidable female capitalist?

Therefore, most of the people present were seeing Lin Ruoxi for the first time, and the appearance of her ethereal beauty on the big screen left a deep impression on everyone.

Lin Ruoxi's gaze swept across the vast venue, as cold as usual, showing no hint of warmth or gentleness just because the audience consisted of clients and business partners. However, there wasn't much discontent among the attendees; after all, Lin Ruoxi's power was undeniable. To put it bluntly, money talks! Even if she came across as "snooty," it was with reason, especially considering how stunning she looked.

"Today, I stand here for the first time as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Yu Lei International, delivering my inaugural speech as the company's president."

As the hall fell silent, Lin Ruoxi began in a clear voice, "I'm not one for eloquence, and I'm not one to enjoy reading scripts written by others, so I'll keep it short."

"For the past few years, the vast majority of our business collaborations, aside from a few key negotiations in which I personally participated, have been handled almost entirely by the Public Relations Department and various department heads."

"Many of you present here today, as well as those who couldn't make it, have harbored doubts and speculations about my personal style, believing that I do not respect inter-company cooperation. I've taken the stage today specifically to dispel this misunderstanding. The reason I don't participate in those activities is simply because they don't suit my temperament. I'm not good at socializing or communicating with people."

"But every contract submitted has been meticulously reviewed and revised by me personally, with the aim of maximizing mutual benefits. I believe companies with experience in cooperation would understand this."

"For those who cannot understand, you are free to choose to terminate our cooperation. But if your company chooses to harm the interests of the majority due to my personal reasons, I believe such a decision would not be in line with the interests of the team."

"Now, I announce that the cooperation projects of this exhibition will, as usual, be handled entirely by the personnel of our Yu Lei Public Relations Department, with the Market Department providing assistance in execution. The meeting will be chaired by our Vice President and former head of the Public Relations Department, Miss Mo Qianyi. Thank you all."

After Lin Ruoxi finished speaking, she bowed slightly and then promptly walked off the stage, disappearing from sight.

Her speech was so brief that it left everyone in a daze, not even giving the audience below a chance to applaud.

It wasn't until Mo Qianyi reluctantly smiled and walked onto the stage, clearing her throat into the microphone twice, that the audience below realized that the president's speech was already over!

Standing at the entrance of the exhibition hall alongside a group of beauties from the Public Relations Department, Yang Chen watched as the girls, mesmerized and enchanted, finished listening to Lin Ruoxi's "cool" speech. Even some of the guests inside were applauding and praising, though Yang Chen couldn't figure out what they were praising.

Puzzled, he asked the person next to him, Zhang Cai, "Hey, can that be considered a speech? What do you all like about her?"

Zhang Cai rolled her eyes at him. "You don't understand. That's charisma. Our President Lin has always been like that!"

"I heard that when President Lin took office, she only said one sentence at the board meeting," a gossip-loving girl whispered.

The other girls also clamored to ask which sentence it was. The girl, satisfied with the attention, cleared her throat and said, "I heard from senior colleagues that President Lin, knowing that many elders of the board and key personnel in the company doubted her leadership abilities, said just one sentence at the meeting, 'Those who want to stay, stay. Those who want to leave, don't let the door hit you on the way out.'"

A chorus of admiring sighs erupted from the group of girls. Yang Chen began to understand that Lin Ruoxi's work style couldn't be comprehended with conventional thinking. Otherwise, who could handle it?

Before long, Mo Qianyi had begun speaking on the stage about the actual situation, and other Yu Lei staff and executives had started to busy themselves.

Yang Chen was planning to sneak out for lunch when his phone rang. Opening it, he saw that it was a sudden text message from Lin Ruoxi, asking him to meet at a high-end hotel near the exhibition center.

It was the first time Lin Ruoxi had ever texted him. Even when she was cold, she would usually make a phone call. Yang Chen wondered if she was still angry or had been holding back her anger all along.

But since he had to go, he went. Seeing no reason to delay, he drove around and eventually arrived at the entrance of the hotel attached to the venue.

Entering the beautifully decorated lobby, he spotted Lin Ruoxi sitting on a sofa in the corner, waiting for him. As he entered, she picked up her purse and walked slowly toward him.

"Xu Zhihong invited me to a private dinner to celebrate the successful hosting of the exhibition, and I couldn't refuse, so I brought you along," Lin Ruoxi said lightly, her mood unreadable.

It had been a while since Yang Chen had dealt with Xu Zhihong, and he almost forgot about the guy. Xu Zhihong was becoming more and more unscrupulous; last time, he even sent assassins, without even offering an apology. Now, he was inviting them to dinner again. Did he think everyone was a fool?

After a moment of contemplation, Yang Chen extended his arm and gave Lin Ruoxi a meaningful smile.

Lin Ruoxi hesitated for a moment before finally holding onto Yang Chen's hand, leaning in close but with her face turned away, not looking at him at all.

As they walked toward the reserved private room upstairs, Yang Chen asked, "Ruoxi, darling, you have assets worth hundreds of billions. Why don't you hire a few bodyguards? What if you run into kidnappers?"

"As long as I keep a low profile and appear less in public, no one will recognize me. My grandmother never hired bodyguards, and neither will I," Lin Ruoxi replied.

Yang Chen agreed with her reasoning. He patted his chest and said, "Don't worry. If anyone kidnaps you, I'll rescue you."

Lin Ruoxi gave him a cold glance. "With all the other women you have outside, will you be able to?"

Yang Chen felt a lump in his throat. It was as he expected; she had been holding a grudge all along!

Sheepishly smiling, Yang Chen had no choice but to retreat for now. It was better to wait until she cooled down before trying to be obedient.

As they reached the door of the private room, a familiar figure stood there as always, with disheveled hair, scruffy beard, and wearing a suit that looked like it had seen better days, smiling eagerly and gesturing to invite them in.

"Miss Lin, Mr. Yang, our young master has been waiting for you for quite some time," the familiar figure said with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes, casting a keen interest on Yang Chen.

Yang Chen knew that news about Hong Kong must have reached their ears, so it was natural for the familiar figure to be particularly interested in him.

As the two entered the room, Xu Zhihong was busy adjusting a large LED TV. On the screen was the situation inside the exhibition center.

"Ruoxi, Mr. Yang, welcome," Xu Zhihong greeted with a smile, showing no signs of embarrassment at Yang Chen's presence.

Lin Ruoxi simply nodded and took her seat, quietly watching the screen on the TV. Even though they had left the exhibition center, Lin Ruoxi was still concerned about the situation inside.

Xu Zhihong was well aware of Lin Ruoxi's preferences. He didn't rush to have the waiter bring the dishes but instead kept Yang Chen waiting on the side while he discussed the situation of the exhibition and the follow-up projects with Lin Ruoxi.

Lin Ruoxi became serious when discussing work and spoke with Xu Zhihong, albeit intermittently. Because he didn't understand these business matters at all, Yang Chen could only sit on the chair and daydream. Judging from the situation, Xu Zhihong seemed to be planning to ignore him for a while.

Yang Chen smirked, then directly slapped the tabletop with his palm, "Mr. Xu, you guys continue talking. Can I order some snacks? I'm bored sitting here."

Xu Zhihong, having been fooled by Yang Chen before and being extra cautious now, politely asked, "May I know what Mr. Yang would like?"

"Just bring me a bottle of ordinary domestic red wine and some caviar. We can start the meal after you finish your discussion. How about that?"

Red wine and caviar were hardly considered high-end. Domestic red wine cost at most a couple of hundred yuan, and caviar, though once considered a luxury, was now widely available. Anything containing fish roe was deemed caviar.

"Feel free, Mr. Yang," Xu Zhihong generously replied and then ignored Yang Chen.

Lin Ruoxi looked disappointedly at Yang Chen. She had hoped to provoke him by engaging in a conversation with Xu Zhihong, encouraging him to participate in business discussions or to realize his inadequacy and start learning some theoretical knowledge. But apparently, a bottle of red wine and a plate of caviar outweighed such valuable knowledge and experience in Yang Chen's eyes.

Yang Chen happily signaled a waiter to bring a bottle of red wine and a plate of caviar, then sat back to enjoy them alone.

At that moment, Xu Zhihong unintentionally glanced back and immediately sensed that something was amiss.