Chapter 237: Straightforwardness

The next day, Yang Chen finally returned to his routine at work. After a leisurely morning, he had lunch with Zhao Hongyan and Zhang Cai in the employee cafeteria. Liu Mingyu had been promoted to department head, and although she wasn't too keen on it, she had to join the other senior executives in the designated dining area as it was customary in the company.

Since Zhao Hongyan became single again, she had managed to resolve her family issues and had been in a good mood ever since. Despite having her salary halved, she wasn't the type to live paycheck to paycheck, so it didn't affect her much. She was chatting and laughing with Zhang Cai, and their lunch extended quite a bit longer than usual.

Yang Chen, focused on eating, noticed after a while that the two women had barely touched their food. He couldn't help but smile wryly and said, "If you want to chat, you can do it back in the office. Eating like this, you'll waste your whole lunch break and miss out on your nap."

"Hmph, only you get to take naps. We're busy working in the office," Zhang Cai retorted, clearly unhappy.

Zhao Hongyan then picked up a chicken drumstick from her plate and put it on Yang Chen's plate. "Just eat, will you?"

"I've had enough, you should eat it yourself," Yang Chen replied.

"Do you really want me to take it back? Just eat it," Zhao Hongyan rolled her eyes at him and continued her conversation with Zhang Cai.

These small, everyday moments of warmth in his daily life brought Yang Chen a lot of comfort, so he didn't say anything more to the two women and focused on finishing his meal.

Back in his office, Yang Chen noticed that Yuan Ye had sent him a message on QQ.

This guy is recovering pretty quickly, Yang Chen thought, and opened the chat window.

"You can go online now?" Yang Chen asked.

Yuan Ye sent back a laughing emoji, "I'm still in the hospital, but the Wi-Fi is pretty fast. I was bored and thought I'd play some Warcraft with you."

"You've got a gunshot wound to the chest. Did the doctor say it's okay to play games?" Yang Chen was worried that the wound might reopen.

"Don't worry. The doctor said as long as it's not strenuous physical activity, it's fine. I don't know how, but once they took the bullet out, my wound started healing faster than usual. The doctor was surprised at how fast I was recovering. They said I should be fully healed in less than a month," Yuan Ye said in a cheerful tone.

Yang Chen smiled to himself. It seemed that the surge of energy from the Wan Nian Yan Sheng Jing (Eternal Life Sutra) that he had left in Yuan Ye's body was effective. Due to his unique constitution, he couldn't gauge how effective the Sutra was for normal people, but it appeared that it significantly accelerated their healing process.

Since Yuan Ye had no problem, Yang Chen, who was bored, played a few rounds of games with him online.

After more than two hours, Yuan Ye said, "I'm a little tired since I'm still recovering from my illness. Let's call it a day for today. I need to handle some matters for the club."

"Take care then, I'm going to take a nap."

Before Yang Chen could log off, Yuan Ye suddenly sent a message, "Wait a moment, my mom is beside me. She wants to talk to you."

"Your mom?"

Yang Chen hesitated. Yuan Ye's mother was naturally Yang Jieyu, the woman who made him uneasy and whom he preferred not to think about too much.

"My mom wants to invite you for a cup of coffee and ask you something. Is that okay? If you're not willing, it's fine too. She's just curious about you. You know, I don't have many friends, and you helped me this time, so she hasn't properly thanked you," Yuan Ye said.

Yang Chen thought for a moment and felt there was no reason to refuse. "Okay, what time and where?"

"It's at the Blue Dream Café near Yulei. You should pass by there on your way to and from work. Let's meet there in an hour."

Yang Chen indeed knew that café. It had a great location, but because of its high prices, it didn't have many customers.

After agreeing to Yang Jieyu's invitation, Yang Chen felt a bit nervous. He didn't know what she would say to him, feeling a mixture of fear and anticipation, his emotions complex.

After quietly staying in the office for half an hour, Yang Chen set off for the Blue Dream Café.

Because it was in the city center, parking was inconvenient, so Yang Chen didn't plan to drive there. He could directly take a bus from the Yulei bus stop outside the company, a ten-minute journey.

After a five-minute wait, a red bus covered in advertisements stopped. Since it was after lunchtime, many white-collar workers were returning to the office, so the bus was quite crowded, with no seats available, and the standing passengers packed throughout the bus.

Yang Chen didn't mind; after spending so much time in the country, he had experienced the population issues of the sweltering summer.

Boarding the bus, he took out a wad of cash from his pocket, extracted two bills, and inserted them into the cash box before walking into the crowd of standing passengers.

Because he was getting off in two stops, Yang Chen positioned himself near the back exit.

Gripping a handrail, he wrinkled his brow at the stuffy air inside the bus, feeling somewhat regretful. He might as well have walked; after all, the temperature wasn't too high, and he wouldn't have sweated much.

Just as Yang Chen was feeling frustrated, a clear voice beside him said, "Big brother, are you feeling uncomfortable? Am I squeezing you?"

Yang Chen turned to see a petite young girl, around eighteen or nineteen years old, with long, black hair hanging down to her shoulders. Her fair skin and delicate features, especially her large eyes and finely arched eyebrows, gave her a charming and pitiful look as she glanced at him apologetically.

The girl wore an old brown coat and tight black jeans, with a large plastic bucket-like object in front of her, similar to a container of cooking oil.

Although the girl had a delicate and charming appearance, her attire clearly marked her as a migrant worker, and there was a faint smell of food emanating from her, causing most people to take a glance and then keep their distance. Yang Chen smiled and shook his head, "No, I just feel a bit stuffy. It's not your fault."

The girl nodded timidly, "Oh, I'll move the bucket away a bit."

Thinking Yang Chen was uncomfortable because of her bucket, the girl shifted the white bucket slightly to the side.

"Oh no! My pants!" A heavily made-up office lady happened to be standing nearby. Her light yellow pants brushed against the bucket, leaving no visible marks, but she exploded in anger, berating the girl, "You little brat! Where did you come from? Who lets wild children like you bring things onto the bus so carelessly?! Can you afford to compensate me if my pants get dirty?! You unlucky wretch!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."

The girl trembled in fear, repeatedly apologizing and bowing her head to the woman. However, when the bus braked slightly, the girl accidentally knocked her head against the nearby handrail!

"Ow—"

The girl winced in pain, holding her head, her eyes reddening as if she might burst into tears at any moment.

"Serve you right! You dirty thing, touching my pants! They cost thousands, can a sour girl like you afford it?!" The office lady seemed extremely annoyed, taking her frustration out on the girl, hurling more insults.

Yang Chen sighed silently, then gently pulled the girl's arm, saying, "Come closer to me and stand behind me."

The girl hurriedly shook her head, "No, big brother, you were feeling stuffy to begin with. I'll just stand here."

"If you touch someone's pants again, they might stab you with a knife. Come over here," Yang Chen insisted, pulling the girl closer to himself and bending down to move her heavy bucket to his feet.

The girl glanced gratefully at Yang Chen, repeating "thank you" numerous times.

Yang Chen smiled gently. "Why are you carrying so much oil? Are you using it for cooking?"

A slight blush appeared on the girl's fair cheeks as she murmured, "I'm using it for a small business. There's a cheap oil shop over there, so I take the bus to buy it."

"Oh, it's not easy for you to start a business at such a young age," Yang Chen remarked.

"Yeah," the girl replied softly, her expression somewhat dim, no longer speaking.

Turning his head back, Yang Chen's lips curved into a playful and helpless smile.

After about five minutes, the bus stopped at a station. The girl bent down to pick up the oil bucket and waved to Yang Chen, "Big brother, thank you. I'm getting off here."

"Oh, I'm getting off too." Yang Chen followed the girl off the bus.

As there was no one else at the stop, Yang Chen and the girl walked to the roadside. The bus slowly drove away.

Seeing Yang Chen following her off the bus, the girl's face turned slightly awkward. She smiled faintly and asked, "Big brother, are you also getting off here? Where are you going?"

"Are you going in the opposite direction of wherever I'm going?" Yang Chen asked with a smile.

The girl's face turned pale, and her previously timid and innocent smile disappeared, replaced by a somewhat cold and helpless expression.

"Mister, you're quite clever," the girl suddenly changed her tone, speaking directly.

Yang Chen reached into his pants pocket and lightly flipped it. Underneath the pocket, a hole was revealed.

"Little sister, can you return my money and phone? I'm in a hurry, so I won't cause you any trouble," Yang Chen said with a faint smile.

The girl was straightforward, reaching into the pocket of her large coat and taking out Yang Chen's phone and a stack of cash, handing them over to him.

"So straightforward?" Yang Chen was somewhat surprised, accepting them while asking.

The girl snorted softly, "You saw through me on the bus. Since you didn't turn me in to the police, I owe you. Now I'm returning what I took from you, and we're even."

"Wow, little sister, you're quite adorable," Yang Chen found this girl quite interesting.

Earlier on the bus, after testing Yang Chen's sympathy and receiving disdain from others, the girl proactively approached Yang Chen. Then, through skillful means, she discreetly cut open Yang Chen's pocket and stole his cash and phone. All of this was supposed to be a perfect scheme, but unfortunately for her, Yang Chen's senses were much sharper than the average person, and he easily noticed the girl's true intentions.

"Don't call me little sister. I'm already twenty years old. According to the law, I can get married. Let me ask you, did you know I was a pickpocket from the beginning?" The girl was clearly puzzled by her failed attempt and asked in confusion.

Yang Chen shrugged and winked at her. "It's a secret."

"Tsk, suit yourself. Farewell, old man!" The girl remained straightforward, wasting no time. She turned away, lifted the large bucket of oil, and walked away briskly. She didn't seem to struggle at all with the weight of the bucket, indicating that her behavior on the bus was indeed an act.

Watching the girl walk away, Yang Chen smiled knowingly. The world was full of diverse and fascinating people, and if you interacted with them more, you would always discover interesting things.

With only ten minutes left until his appointment with Yang Jieyu, Yang Chen didn't let this little incident delay him any further. He quickly headed towards the Blue Dream Café.

About two minutes before the appointed time, Yang Chen entered the café punctually and asked the waiter. Sure enough, Yang Jieyu had already reserved a table.

Yang Chen walked to the southernmost window of the lavishly decorated café. Yang Jieyu, dressed in a stylish and youthful deep red blazer, white blouse, sat there early, gracefully sipping on the fragrant coffee.