Chapter 253: Now Here

After discussing the cooperative investment project with Rose in the apartment, Rose finally decided to contact Wang Jie as soon as possible. However, before doing so, she needed to acquire a small to medium-sized entertainment company to justify the investment.

Regarding these matters, Yang Chen only played a coordinating role and wasn't willing to get deeply involved.

As daylight hours decreased in the winter, Yang Chen noticed the dimming sky and decided to drive back to the Longjing Villa.

As soon as he entered the door, Yang Chen was slightly surprised because he didn't see the usual sumptuous and steaming hot meals ready as before. The hall was empty and quiet, devoid of any human presence.

Yang Chen closed the door and walked upstairs, knocking on Wang Ma's door. The door opened, revealing Wang Ma wearing a thick coat, her face unnaturally flushed.

"You're back, Master, what time is it now?" Wang Ma asked.

Seeing Wang Ma's disoriented state, Yang Chen knew she must be ill and asked with concern, "Wang Ma, are you alright? You look like you've been sweating a lot."

"Ah, when you get older, you tend to get some minor illnesses. I'm not sure what happened, maybe I caught a chill tonight. I started feeling dizzy this afternoon and wanted to sleep. I took some cold and anti-inflammatory medicine to bring down the fever, but I probably overslept," Wang Ma sighed. "Master, why don't you call Miss and go out to eat tonight? I really don't have the energy to cook."

"Where's Ruo Xi?" Yang Chen asked curiously.

"Miss must be working in the study. Ah, she probably won't remember it's dinner time if you don't call her," Wang Ma sighed again. "Master, go call Miss. I'll go back to rest."

"Wang Ma, let me go out and get some food for you," Yang Chen said.

"No need, I can't eat right now. I'll be fine after a good night's sleep. I'm sorry to trouble you, Master," Wang Ma smiled reluctantly and closed the door.

Yang Chen sighed. Despite Wang Ma's good health maintenance, she was in her fifties now, and catching a cold wasn't a trivial matter.

He walked to the door of Lin Ruoxi's study, and indeed, light leaked out from under the door crack.

Lin Ruoxi had been working since he returned home and hadn't noticed that it was time for dinner.

"Knock, knock, knock, knock."

After knocking on the door, it took a while before Lin Ruoxi opened it.

She was wearing a long robe-style pink pajama, tied with a fluffy belt around her slender waist. Her hair was slightly messy from being loose for a long time in the study, and her face was flushed from lack of oxygen, her watery eyes blurred and charming.

"Have you had dinner?" Lin Ruoxi asked.

"It's dinner time, but there's no food," Yang Chen said.

"What do you mean?" Lin Ruoxi frowned.

After informing Lin Ruoxi about Wang Ma's cold and sleepiness, a trace of concern flickered in Lin Ruoxi's eyes. Immediately, she wanted to go and knock on Wang Ma's bedroom door.

Yang Chen grabbed her arm. "Don't disturb Wang Ma. Let's go out for dinner first."

"You go if you want to. I'm not hungry," Lin Ruoxi refused outright, pulling her arm free from Yang Chen's grip.

Yang Chen sighed. Since that day he had impulsively kissed her, their relationship hadn't been the same. "Even if you're mad at me, don't take it out on your own stomach. You've been working since you got back. How can you not be hungry?"

"I'm just not hungry," Lin Ruoxi replied coldly.

"Wang Ma needs medicine now. Let's go out for dinner and buy medicine for her. Don't you even have the thought to get medicine for Wang Ma?" Yang Chen tried a different approach.

Lin Ruoxi looked conflicted but eventually relented. "Wait five minutes. I'll change my clothes."

Yang Chen finally relaxed. There was no use arguing with this woman head-on; he had to be indirect.

Before five minutes had passed, Lin Ruoxi emerged from her room in casual winter attire. She wore a light purple fitted sweater, layered with a gray fringe scarf-style coat, and light-colored jeans. Her long hair cascaded down, and her complexion was as fair as snow, stunning to behold.

Yang Chen smiled and asked, "Aren't you cold in that?"

"Are we dining outdoors?" Lin Ruoxi countered.

"No, we're not," Yang Chen replied.

Lin Ruoxi said no more, walking to the door and changing into a pair of flat Nike shoes. Despite wearing flats, Lin Ruoxi's stature was still impressive due to her nearly 1.7-meter height.

In the garage, Lin Ruoxi asked Yang Chen, "Where are we going to eat?"

"Where do you want to go?" Yang Chen deferred to her preference.

Lin Ruoxi shook her head blankly. "I don't go out much. Anywhere is fine."

"I'll drive then. I'll take you," Yang Chen said.

Lin Ruoxi hesitated but nodded. "Just don't drive too fast."

Yang Chen indeed didn't dare to drive fast. Currently, their relationship was akin to a cold war. If he provoked Lin Ruoxi further, it might escalate into a protracted conflict.

The white BMW headed towards a night market street in the suburbs. Yang Chen didn't intend to dine at a high-end restaurant—not because he wanted to take Lin Ruoxi to more common eateries, but because he himself disliked the ambiance of upscale restaurants.

Lin Ruoxi gazed out of the car window at the bustling night market, lost in thought. To her, the people eking out a living at these night stalls seemed to live in another world altogether.

Here's the translation of the provided excerpt:

It wasn't an arrogant posture for Lin Ruoxi; for her, it was merely an instinctive feeling.

Yang Chen parked the car in a relatively spacious communal parking lot surrounded by brightly lit small restaurants. The air was filled with the savory aroma of food, causing saliva glands to accelerate secretion.

Lin Ruoxi was indeed a bit hungry, so she asked, "What are we eating?"

Yang Chen pointed to the nearest restaurant with a sign saying "Crayfish". "Have you had that before?"

"Crayfish? What's that?" Lin Ruoxi really didn't know.

"Well, today I'll take you to try it," Yang Chen said, grabbing Lin Ruoxi's hand and heading towards the restaurant.

Lin Ruoxi followed along, shaking off Yang Chen's hand with some effort. "Just walk, why are you holding my hand?"

"I'm afraid you'll be abducted by bad guys. Haven't you noticed there are so many people coming and going here? It's dangerous for a pretty girl like you," Yang Chen said.

"Nonsense, I'm not a three-year-old child," Lin Ruoxi said, but she didn't have enough strength to break free and ended up following Yang Chen into the restaurant. Inside, there were three small tables. After Yang Chen found a window-side seat and sat face-to-face with Lin Ruoxi, a young female server with an accent in Mandarin approached and asked what they would like to order.

After looking at the menu, Yang Chen ordered two servings of crayfish, several side dishes, and a bowl of pickled vegetable soup, instructing them to serve quickly.

As Lin Ruoxi listened to Yang Chen list the dishes, she was puzzled. She had been secretly learning cooking from Li Jingjing these days, but she hadn't heard of any of the dishes Yang Chen mentioned. Curiously, she asked, "Are those dishes delicious?"

"If they weren't delicious, why would I order them?" Yang Chen chuckled.

Lin Ruoxi fell silent and started looking around the whole small restaurant. The old wooden tables and chairs, sewage and garbage everywhere on the tiled floor were very unappetizing to her. She couldn't understand why this guy didn't choose a nicer place.

Before long, two large plates of fiery red crayfish were brought over.

Lin Ruoxi stared blankly at the spicy scent emanating from them. The crayfish were grilled with various sauces, bright red and bizarre in appearance. Even when she ate Australian lobster, it was always served as sliced meat. She had never seen a whole crayfish like this before.

Yang Chen skillfully peeled open the crayfish shells and took out the meat with his hands, enjoying it. Seeing Lin Ruoxi still hesitant and frowning at him, he asked in surprise, "What's wrong? Don't you like crayfish?"

"Well, how do you eat this?" Lin Ruoxi asked.

Yang Chen was momentarily taken aback. "Just watch how I eat and do the same," he replied.

"Don't you think it's dirty to eat directly with your hands?" Lin Ruoxi found it hard to accept.

"How else would you eat it then, without using your hands? Maybe with your toes?" Yang Chen chuckled helplessly.

"At the very least, use a pair of plastic gloves, the sterilized kind," Lin Ruoxi insisted.

Yang Chen laughed. "This isn't a five-star restaurant. Just manage with what we have. Don't be too picky, our esteemed President Lin. Surely you can handle peeling crayfish?"

Lin Ruoxi was furious. If it weren't for this guy bringing her to such a place, would she have to stare helplessly while unable to eat?! She gritted her teeth and decided to pick up a crayfish with her hand, attempting to imitate Yang Chen.

However, the crayfish shell wasn't smooth. Lin Ruoxi's delicate finger got pricked by a sharp part of the shell. She quickly put down the crayfish and examined her finger, finding that the shell had punctured the skin, causing it to bleed. The spicy oil from the crayfish exacerbated the pain when it came into contact with the wound, almost bringing tears to Lin Ruoxi's eyes.

Seeing this, Yang Chen immediately grabbed a few napkins, saying with a wry smile, "Why are you in such a hurry? Take it slow."

Feeling aggrieved, Lin Ruoxi felt like she had encountered the worst luck in several lifetimes. Why did she have to meet such a guy? A peaceful dinner in a quiet restaurant would have been sufficient. Now she was suffering in this shabby place.

As she thought about it, her eyes turned red, almost shedding tears.

Yang Chen felt sorry for her, but also found the situation amusing. Lin Ruoxi's expression, silently enduring the suffering, was truly rich and colorful.

"Forget it, stop peeling. Go to the restroom and wash the wound clean of the spicy oil," Yang Chen suggested.

Lin Ruoxi stood up silently, wrapping her finger with a napkin, and walked to the small restroom in the corner.

About three minutes later, Lin Ruoxi returned with clean hands. The wound was small, and the bleeding had stopped.

As she returned to her seat, Lin Ruoxi, whose complexion wasn't great, unexpectedly noticed that her empty plate now held a small pile of crayfish meat. It was white, tender, shell-free, and glistening with sauce under the light, looking quite enticing.

Seeing her return, Yang Chen placed a piece of freshly peeled crayfish meat into Lin Ruoxi's plate and said with a smile, "I made sure not to touch the meat with my fingers while peeling it. It should be quite clean. Have a little taste. If you don't like it, you can give it to me. You can eat when the other dishes arrive."

Lin Ruoxi looked at her plate full of crayfish meat and the pile of crayfish shells in front of Yang Chen. All the dissatisfaction she had felt towards Yang Chen just moments ago, even the lingering barrier between them over these past few days, suddenly dissipated into thin air.

Noticing her lack of response, Yang Chen asked with some concern, "Why aren't you eating? You really don't want to? It actually tastes quite good."

"Yang Chen," Lin Ruoxi looked at him with a complex expression and said, "Has anyone ever told you before that you're a fool?"

Yang Chen paused for a moment, shook his head, "No."

"Well, now someone has. You're a fool," Lin Ruoxi declared.

With that said, she sat down and, under Yang Chen's bewildered gaze, proceeded to devour the crayfish meat on her plate with great relish.

Yang Chen watched her in a daze for a moment, then chuckled and shook his head.