You Are Not Successful
After getting into the car with her mentor Chris following behind her, Lin Ruoxi started the engine and left the airport.
Chris sat in the pa.s.senger’s seat. He said guiltily, “I’m very sorry, Lin. I didn’t expect to have caused so much trouble upon my arrival. I will apologize to your husband.”
“Nevermind.” Lin Ruoxi’s eyes were still reddish, although her emotions had calmed down now. She said nonchalantly, “You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“But…”
“Chris, the reason why I asked you here is to let you enter the company as the Human Resources Department Director. You don’t have to bother yourself with my family and marriage matters,” Lin Ruoxi said.
Chris sighed and nodded his head with a bitter smile, saying, “Alright. To be honest, I’m very curious about that man. How did the two of you find each other? No matter what, I only wish for you to have a long and happy life with him. After all, I can tell that he cares a lot about you.”
Knowing that she couldn’t deny it, Lin Ruoxi just snorted softly and said, “Chris, please say no more. I have a complicated relations.h.i.+p with him. And if following me sneakily and sounding out his distrust in me publicly without even getting his facts right are also counted as caring about me, then I would rather do without it.”
“Well Lin, there might be many matters that I have no knowledge of. But there is one thing I can be sure of. That is, the conflict between you and your husband is not solely his responsibility. You have a part in it too. As your teacher, I have to admit that you are extremely intelligent in both your studies and your career, so much so that you make me feel ashamed. But in every other emotional aspect you are not successful. You should learn from my wife Jennifer,” Chris said, shaking his head.
Lin Ruoxi frowned and glanced at her teacher, “Why?”
“You know what? Just half a year ago, I had a very intimate lover. I often lied to my wife Jennifer to be with my lover,” Chris said, looking slightly embarra.s.sed. “Unfortunately, my wife caught me with her in a shopping mall one day. And she figured out what was happening immediately.”
Lin Ruoxi showed a look of shock in her eyes. She forgot about her pain momentarily, and continued listening to Chris’s story.
Chris sighed, “I thought that I was doomed then. I thought that my public figure would crumble from this one incident. As I saw Jennifer approaching, even my hands and legs were trembling, and I almost fainted. I was worried that she would cut her ties with me right there and then. That would be terrible… The US reporters would definitely write this: Well-known human resources professor Chris Vanderloo Auerbach was caught red-handed in his extramarital affair. Then the court’s summon would follow, and my reputation would crumble apart.”
Lin Ruoxi just listened in silence. She couldn’t imagine that her own teacher was also a man like this. But he was her teacher after all, and he was a senior to her, so she couldn’t say anything about it.
Chris touched his chin and said with a guilty smile, “But, things did not end up like what I had imagined.
“My dear Jennifer walked over gracefully and stopped before that woman and I. She smiled like she had merely b.u.mped into a friend and said, ‘Our children have always thought of you as a n.o.ble father. And I have always believed that you are the best decision I have ever made. We’ll be waiting for you to come home for dinner, and I’ll make you your favorite cheesy chicken salad.’
“Lin, you know something? I felt extremely ashamed right then. I realized how difficult it was to express my love towards Jennifer in words. She is truly a wife that I can’t reject. I broke up with that woman immediately and never contacted her anymore. Until now, I still have a good relations.h.i.+p with Jennifer. And this time, she didn’t even hesitate to accompany me to stay in China again.”
Lin Ruoxi tightened her grab on the steering wheel and smiled bitterly, “Is that so? That is really good.”
Chris smiled and said, “I’m telling you this story because I hope for you to have a happy marriage too. You are, after all, the student whom I’m the proudest of.
“Lin, actually what a man needs is so little compared to what a woman needs. Women think that men are not romantic enough, not thoughtful enough, or not loyal enough. But in fact, all a man needs is just for the woman to give him face.”
“Face?” Lin Ruoxi repeated after him, murmuring.
“That’s right. Regardless of the circ.u.mstance, whether it’s in public or before their family, men don’t want to lose their faces. Don’t ever think of making a man surrender to you in public. That is unrealistic. Well, that is unless the man has absolutely no face. Just like what my wife Jennifer did—in front of the public, even though she found out that I was having an affair, she still protected my pride. Her actions made me feel extremely grateful to her, and it awakened all my love towards her.
“Trust me, Lin. You husband loves you very much. I am a man. I can tell that. And the most irresistible thing that you can do for a man who loves you is to be forgiving towards him.
“As long as you treat him better before others, for example, in front of colleagues or in front of your parents, and make him feel that he’s being respected, it will be enough for him. Whereas when the two of you are alone together, he would never be upset with you no matter how much you pick on him. Paradoxically, you can have the actual say in this way.” Chris raised his brows and smiled. He continued, “Just like me right now. Jennifer has taken all my money away and rendered me penniless. But I am still a happy man regardless.”
Listening to his words, Lin Ruoxi felt as though a string was being plucked at in her heart. She bit her lips and thought, It seems like… it is true that I have never given Yang Chen face all this while. Even in front of his mother Guo Xuehua, I haven’t been nice to him.
Chris sighed and said, “To be honest, I’m very embarra.s.sed to be telling you all these. But I hope they’ll be useful to you.”
Lin Ruoxi responded and said, “Although it’s very complicated, I still want to thank you. From now on, I hope that you’ll pay more attention to your work.”
Chris laid out his hands in resignation.
At the same time, traffic was busy outside the airport.
After standing for a very long time at the airport exit, Yang Chen touched his face and let out a long sigh before he got back into his car and drove away.
He drove aimlessly on the highway for about an hour before he gradually cooled down. Yang Chen laughed at himself mockingly. He then drove onto an exit, planning to head for the company.
Although he had not yet figured out how to solve the awkward situation that he was currently in, Yang Chen did not intend to just remain in such low spirits.
However, unexpectedly, he had brought his car into a familiar area. He ended up at the west district market.
He used to sell mutton skewers in this area for more than half a year. Revisiting the place, Yang Chen had mixed feelings. When he was still in the public relations department at Yu Lei International, he had also visited this area to buy breakfast for his female colleagues. But now, it had already been months since he had last been here.
Most of the hawkers who were now working there were no longer familiar faces, even though the streets still looked the same.
Yang Chen slowed down and took a turn at a corner, driving into the bar street.
It was still broad daylight so not many people could be seen on the street. Most of the bars were still closed.
As his car pa.s.sed by the bar where he first met Lin Ruoxi, Yang Chen stepped on the brakes and took a few close looks at it. Then, he just shook his head and smiled bitterly. This was the place where his incredible life for the past year started. Now that he felt as if this life was about to reach its end, he had coincidentally returned to this place once again.
Yang Chen continued driving forward. He drove to somewhere near the dangerous little house where he used to stay in, only to realize that the building had already been removed. In its place stood a new condominium building that was still under construction.
Yang Chen stopped by the side of the road to gather the thousand and one thoughts he had running through his head. Finally, he seemed to have come to a resolution. Clenching his teeth, Yang Chen turned the car around and drove towards the city center.
Due to a traffic jam, it was already noon by the time he reached Yu Lei.
Yang Chen parked his car and took the lift straight up to the CEO’s floor. He ran to Lin Ruoxi’s office and knocked on the door, but no one replied.
Scanning briefly using his sense of awareness, he realized that there was not a single soul in the office. No wonder Wu Yue did not come running to stop him.
Yang Chen scratched his head in puzzlement. He went to the floor below and asked the first female secretary that he spotted, “Where has Boss Lin gone to?”
That female staff seemed to recognize Yang Chen. She replied respectfully, “Boss Lin is having a meeting in the conference room. It should be ending some time soon.”
Yang Chen was stunned, thinking, Meeting? She still has the mood for a meeting?
He knew that Lin Ruoxi was always capable of keeping her emotions in control. But he didn’t expect her to be capable to such an extent.
Yang Chen felt insignificant compared to her. She was no longer just a workaholic. Ruoxi was more like a woman with multiple personality disorder, treating her relations.h.i.+p and work separately.
When he reached the corridor outside the conference room, he b.u.mped into a group of executives who happened to be walking out of the room.
In the lead of the group were Lin Ruoxi and Chris. And beside them stood Mo Qianni whom he had been thinking about. Also with them were Liu Mingyu, Li Minghe, and a few others.
The moment they saw Yang Chen who was standing in the corridor like a guardian, they stopped in their steps.
Mo Qianni wore a complicated look on her face, whereas Liu Mingyu looked surprised. Meanwhile, Wu Yue furrowed her brows in despise.
Lin Ruoxi was in the midst of explaining some matters to Chris. Upon seeing Yang Chen who had suddenly appeared, she evaded her gaze a little. She couldn’t pretend that she hadn’t seen him in such a circ.u.mstance, but she didn’t know what to say.
Unaware of the situation, Chris greeted Yang Chen in a friendly manner, “Hi, Boss Lin’s husband. It has only been a while. We run into each other again. Are you alright?”
Boss Lin’s husband?
Every single executive present heard his words, loud and clear. Immediately, Wu Yue, Li Minghe, and the rest who had been in the dark widened their eyes in shock.
Lin Ruoxi was fl.u.s.tered, realizing that the secret that she had never disclosed to others had been revealed in such an abrupt manner.
As for Mo Qianni and Li Mingyu, a bitter smile started to form on their faces.
Chris picked up on the shock and puzzlement that came from the people around him. Awkward, he let out a stiff smile. A blind man could’ve seen the trouble he caused from a mile away.