Chapter 347: What's there to be angry about?

Yang Chen's outburst had no intimidating effect whatsoever. Instead, Lin Ruoxi, Huilin, and Tang Tang found it even more amusing, looking at him with mocking expressions.

Yuan Ye walked up, patting Yang Chen on the shoulder in resignation. "Brother Yang, what's there to be angry about? In terms of our relationship, since Tang Tang calls you 'Uncle,' doesn't that make her younger than me? I've never really minded."

"It's all over for me," Yang Chen muttered, feeling his sudden declaration of brotherhood with Yuan Ye had no impact. He waved his hand dismissively. "Looks like I have no rights in this house."

"You're just realizing that," Lin Ruoxi couldn't resist adding insult to injury, then turned away, uninterested in Yang Chen's sulking, and asked Yuan Ye, "You're the eldest son of the Yuan family, right?"

Yuan Ye seemed a bit nervous facing Lin Ruoxi, but he smiled shyly and replied, "Yes, I'm Yuan Ye. Hello, Ms. Lin."

Lin Ruoxi smiled faintly. "You don't need to be so nervous. You're Yang Chen's friend, so we're peers. You're not my subordinate."

"Before I came here, I heard a lot about Ms. Lin's achievements. My father often uses Ms. Lin's business operations as a template to lecture me. I've always admired Ms. Lin. I'm not good at business, so my dad always lectures me, saying if I had half of Ms. Lin's skills, he wouldn't worry about me for the rest of his life," Yuan Ye spoke sincerely, seemingly not exaggerating.

Lin Ruoxi was slightly surprised. Although she had met Yuan Ye briefly at the Liu family banquet before, she didn't expect Yuan Ye to praise her so highly in front of his son.

Tang Tang blinked her eyes, full of admiration. "So Sister, you're really amazing. Uncle Yuan rarely praises people!"

"Your father exaggerates. I'm not that amazing. Since you're here early to pay New Year's greetings, we haven't prepared much. Please have a seat on the sofa, and I'll make tea for you," Lin Ruoxi said, heading to the kitchen to ask Mrs. Wang for tea leaves and hot water.

Since they didn't usually drink tea at home, there was no water dispenser or similar equipment readily available, so they needed to boil some water specially for their guests.

Once Yuan Ye and Tang Tang were seated, Huilin joined Yang Chen at the table for breakfast. Seeing Yang Chen looking grumpy, she chuckled and said, "Big Brother Yang, don't be so petty. Tang Tang is obviously a straightforward girl. Just now outside the door, she even..."

Yang Chen blushed as Huilin trailed off, curious. "What were you going to say? Just say it."

"She mistook me for your wife," Huilin said, lowering her head and avoiding Yang Chen's gaze.

Yang Chen was stunned, realizing Huilin must have thought of the "task" set by Master Yun Miao. Thinking of that nun who had dumped her granddaughter on him without a word, Yang Chen was speechless. He smiled at Huilin. "Don't overthink it. Let's eat. Do you really think I'd get upset over something like this?"

"Oh," Huilin felt a little disappointed inside.

While Lin Ruoxi came out smiling with a kettle and Mrs. Wang to prepare tea for Yuan Ye and Tang Tang, Yuan Ye suddenly remembered something and nervously asked Lin Ruoxi, "Um, Ms. Lin, can I... can I..."

Seeing his flushed face, Lin Ruoxi gently interrupted, "Go ahead, I'm not a monster who eats people."

The tension between Lin Ruoxi and Yang Chen melted away, and Lin Ruoxi's face lit up with more smiles.

"Um, can I call you 'sister-in-law'?" Yuan Ye asked with a stiff smile.

In fact, before leaving home, Yuan Ye's mother, Yang Jieyu, had instructed her son. She wanted him to address Yang Chen as "big brother" and Lin Ruoxi as "sister-in-law." Yuan Ye found it a bit odd, but he figured his mother wanted him to treat Yang Chen as an elder brother and saw no issue with Lin Ruoxi being his sister-in-law, especially since she was one of the wealthiest women in Zhonghai. So he followed her instructions.

Upon hearing this title, Lin Ruoxi blushed deeply, her heart pounding. She glanced at Yang Chen, who was eating silently, wondering if he had instructed Yuan Ye to say that.

Mrs. Wang, on the other hand, couldn't stop smiling broadly. "Young Master Yuan, what's wrong with calling her that? It's so affectionate."

"Hehe, really?" Yuan Ye scratched his head foolishly. "Then I'll call you 'sister-in-law' from now on."

And that settled the matter.

Tang Tang, overhearing this, giggled to herself and then sweetly followed Yuan Ye's lead, calling Lin Ruoxi "sister-in-law"!

This made Lin Ruoxi even more tempted to flee the scene. Blushing to the roots of her ears in front of these two guests, she felt a mix of embarrassment and a strange sense of happiness. She couldn't quite explain it, but she found herself liking it.

Yang Chen, who was having breakfast, heard Yuan Ye's address and instinctively thought of something. His brow furrowed slightly with worry, but he didn't say much and continued eating quietly.

Yuan Ye and Tang Tang immediately warmed up to Lin Ruoxi, as if they had truly become family. They chatted with their new elder sister-in-law about what they usually did, how they met Yang Chen, and how their family was doing.

Lin Ruoxi didn't have many friends to begin with, and suddenly having two peers calling her "sister-in-law" and being so close made her feel a bit more lively.

Mrs. Wang watched with satisfaction as she smiled and went back to the kitchen to continue preparing food, planning for Yuan Ye and Tang Tang to stay for lunch.

Yang Chen, seeing Lin Ruoxi engrossed in conversation with the two youngsters, shouted out, "Wife, aren't you going to eat breakfast?"

Lin Ruoxi, casually responding while chatting with Tang Tang, said, "You eat by yourself."

Yang Chen rolled his eyes, feeling a bit annoyed that after just one night, he was already being "banished to the cold palace" again.

However, before he could take another bite of his bun, the doorbell rang again.

"Seriously? What's going on, is someone else here to pay New Year's respects?" Yang Chen exclaimed, looking towards the bewildered Yuan Ye and Tang Tang. "You two didn't conspire with someone to disturb my breakfast, did you?"

"Big brother, how could we be so bored?" Yuan Ye chuckled helplessly.

Huilin stood up and said, "I'll go and open the door," then hurried to the front door and swung it open.

But as soon as she opened the door, Huilin seemed to freeze in place, as if she had seen something incredibly surprising that left her speechless.

All eyes turned to see a tall figure dressed in a tight black leather jacket, handsome with short black hair and fair skin, walking into the house.

The man's gaze was intense, as if his eyes could pierce into anyone's soul, exuding a presence like an unparalleled sharp sword, dazzling everyone in the room.

Even more unexpectedly, following behind him was a cold and elegant woman in a light-colored trench coat with her long hair flowing loosely—Cai Ning.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't stop him from coming here to find Huilin," Cai Ning said helplessly.

Everyone present recognized Cai Ning and knew she was the young lady of the Cai family with a distinguished background. The question now was who this man was, to make her say she couldn't stop him?

"Why are you here?" Huilin finally managed to utter a few words as she looked at the young and handsome man, her voice soft and melancholic.

There was a hint of madness in the man's eyes as he replied passionately, "Huilin, why are you here?"

"What does it matter where I am to you?" Huilin retorted softly, seemingly not wanting to see this man. She turned to leave.

But the man's hand shot out like lightning, gripping Huilin's arm tightly. "Huilin! I won't let you leave me again!"

"Why do you think you have any right to control me, Yang Lie?!" Huilin seemed to be getting angry too, her strength increasing as she tried to break free from Yang Lie's grasp.

However, Yang Lie's grip was like that of a tiger's jaws, and no matter how hard Hui Lin struggled, she couldn't break free. You see, Hui Lin had practiced martial arts since she was young. Although her skills were not yet fully developed, she had received the true teachings from Master Yun Miao. Even if dozens of ordinary men were to exert their internal strength, they wouldn't match up to her as a woman. But now, in Yang Lie's hands, her strength seemed insignificant!

"You are the woman I, Yang Lie, like. Naturally, I must take care of you!" Yang Lie asserted domineeringly. Then he turned to the others present, looking down at everything like a creator surveying his creations.

"No matter who you are, what relation you have with my Hui Er, I must take her away from here today," Yang Lie declared, intending to immediately lead Hui Lin away.

Knowing she couldn't escape, Hui Lin turned her head and cast a pleading gaze towards Yang Chen, who was standing at the table with a bowl in his hands. Her eyes were filled with sorrow and anxiety, so pitifully clear.

Yang Chen sighed inwardly. He had found Yang Lie's behavior strange at first, but now was not the time to dwell on that. Hui Lin had a good relationship with him, and she was also the sister of Lin Ruo Xi by blood. How could he allow her to be taken away by a man who simply "liked" her?

If this happened to Lin Ruo Xi, wouldn't almost every man on the street want to take her away?

"Let go of Hui Lin," Yang Chen said to Yang Lie, who was about to leave.

Yang Lie paused, turned to Yang Chen, while Hui Lin's face lit up with joy. She knew that while she couldn't match Yang Lie, Yang Chen was undoubtedly a force to be reckoned with.

"Why should I?" Yang Lie sneered contemptuously.

Yang Chen set down his bowl and chopsticks, standing up with a frown. "You think you're powerful enough that no one can stop you from doing what you want, right?"

"Isn't that..." Before Yang Lie could finish, he suddenly felt an overwhelming pressure engulf his entire body, even disrupting his breath and internal energy!

This was...

Before he could think further, almost instinctively, Yang Lie released his grip on Hui Lin's hand and mobilized all his available energy to strike forward! Yet, he found himself completely powerless!

Feeling a seemingly gentle force pass over his body, Yang Lie's body was involuntarily pushed out of the door by what felt like a condensed mass of energy.

Yang Lie spun a few times, releasing the energy from his body. Cold sweat dripped from his forehead as he suddenly looked up to find a man who had already placed himself in the spot where Yang Lie had stood, now shielding Hui Lin behind him.

Yang Chen's cultivation breakthrough into the ninth level of the Grand Completion realm had made him vastly different from before. His terrifying strength left Cai Ning completely stunned beside him. Though she couldn't gauge exactly how strong Yang Chen was, she could clearly feel that he was much more formidable than when she had last seen him in action.

However, Cai Ning finally confirmed that Yang Lie was slightly stronger than herself. If she had been in his position just now, it would have been impossible to dissipate such overwhelming power with just a few spins.

Nevertheless, what did that matter? Faced with this man referred to as "God," it seemed there was always a need to look up to him.

"Who are you exactly? How could there be someone like you in Zhonghai?" Yang Lie seemed incredulous, turning to the silent Cai Ning. "Huayu, who is this guy?"

"He's the person you thought was just 'all talk' and 'not as good as his reputation'," Cai Ning replied calmly.

Yang Lie squinted. "So you're the one I heard about, doing a lot of things for the Dragon Group in the Zang District. Tianlong said you were quite something. Looks like you really do have some skills."

Yang Chen was somewhat surprised. Yang Lie seemed to sense a huge gap in strength between them, yet he didn't appear to fear him much. Was it blind arrogance or some other reliance? Yang Chen couldn't quite understand.