Stars and Buns
Park’s Residence, in the guestroom on the second floor.
After stepping out from the shower, Lin Ruoxi proceeded to blow-dry her luscious locks and crawl into bed in her cotton sleeping pajamas.
Taking notice, Yang Chen promptly scampered into the bathroom and took a shower. Hastily, he dried himself up with a broad smile stretched across his face, plans of showcasing his great ‘performance’ in bed vigorously lurching in his head.
Although he already got down to business with Li Jingjing, it was inadequate for Yang Chen’s satisfaction. Moreover, Lin Ruoxi was clearly still unhappy and upset at him, and Yang Chen strongly believed that if he could perform better in their marriage, everything would progress much smoother.
Just as he was about to hop into bed, however, Lin Ruoxi snapped her head toward him with a cold stare that seemed to pierce through his very soul. “Get off.”
“Huh?”
“I said get off,” Lin Ruoxi articulated each word distinctively, her tone so empty and devoid of feelings. “Do not come into bed without my permission.”
Hearing these firm, unarguable words, Yang Chen slapped on a sorrowful expression and slowly backed off the bed. He fell to his knees on the floor.
“Dear, don’t be so ruthless. Look, I’ve even knelt in front of everyone for you. You can’t just treat me like this forever.”
“Was it even on my command? I told you to get up but you didn’t seem to want it. What now, have I wronged you by asking you to sleep on the floor?”
Yang Chen could not find the words to counter her statement, so he just put on an innocent face and laid down on the floorboards.
Seeing that Yang Chen had stopped trying to defend himself, Lin Ruoxi snorted coldly and turned around. With one swift movement of her wrist, she flicked off the bedside lamp and climbed into bed to sleep.
Yang Chen tossed and turned on the floor for no less than an hour. Before he realized it, dawn had approached. Despite that, he still could not sleep.
In reality, he did not think that Lin Ruoxi was stepping over the line. As a matter of fact, he had even prepared himself for this cold war. Furthermore, he was ultimately grateful that Lin Ruoxi did not ignore him the way she did in the past.
On the contrary, after a thorough reflection of today’s events with a calmer mind and soul, he found that Lin Ruoxi’s arrangements for Li Jingjing warmed his heart.
Although the decision was made behind his back and something did happen between him and Li Jingjing, Lin Ruoxi remained rational and restrained herself from unleas.h.i.+ng her anger. Moreover, she even let Li Jingjing return to Zhonghai in peace to take care of Old Li and his wife.
Thinking of that, he felt his wife was getting more and more generous, be it genuine or forced. Apart from feeling grat.i.tude and guilt, Yang Chen could only strive harder to obey her instructions as much as he could and make her happy when they were together.
Lin Ruoxi’s tendency to take care of the other women made it all the more necessary for him to care for her more.
As his train of thought persisted, Yang Chen slowly crawled to Lin Ruoxi’s side of the bed and knelt on the floor.
The faint starlight shone in through the window and landed on the woman’s delicate face.
Lin Ruoxi’s raven hair resembled a layer of black satin clinging to her forehead, accentuating her prominent features and eliciting a fairy-like air to her sleeping face.
Her cherry blossom lips were slightly puckered in her sleep from the way her face was pressed against the pillow. The artistic arc lingering on the corners of her lips brought out its tenderness and grace without fail.
Her lush eyelashes quivered lightly along with the imperceptible movements of her eyelids. A beguiling fragrance escaped through her nose and mouth with every breath, so warm and refres.h.i.+ng as they invaded his nostrils.
As he watched quietly, Yang Chen foolishly reached out with his palm and caressed his lover’s cheek tenderly as if it was some fragile porcelain.
A silky touch pulsed through his fingertips.
Lin Ruoxi’s dainty nose twitched and her eyelids gradually fluttered open, revealing a pair of limpid irises, an enigmatic glimmer manifesting at the bottom of those deep pools of honey.
“Why are you awake? Couldn’t sleep well?”
Lin Ruoxi glanced at the man lying on the edge of the bed with his face inches from hers and murmured, slurring her words, “How long have you been looking…”
Yang Chen grew silent and said after a moment of pondering, “About ten minutes, I guess.”
“Was it enjoyable?”
“Very.”
A beautiful curve appeared at the corners of Lin Ruoxi’s mouth in what seemed to be a smile.
Yang Chen did not retract his hand. Instead, he continued to stroke Lin Ruoxi’s face adoringly.
Yang Chen could not conceal the emotional sigh that escaped. “Ruoxi, sometimes when I look at you, it feels as if time is an unrealistic concept. It feels as if someone as charming as you would disappear in a flash. The illusions that only materialize because of the obvious reason before my eyes. It’s just that I was curious about your true self. This is why I’ve always been discreetly watching you since the beginning. Now, after spending so much time with you, I finally have an idea of how truly dazzling you are. That’s why I sometimes feel like you’re very far from my reach. I’m scared. I’m terrified that you will suddenly vanish I’m also afraid that you are merely a star in the night sky, nowhere to be found after a twinkle or two, despite your breathtaking beauty.”
Listening to the man’s heartfelt confession, Lin Ruoxi started to tear up.
She pursed her lips briefly and began softly, “If you could treat me seriously at all times, that would be best…”
Yang Chen could not stifle his laugh. “I’ve always been serious. It’s just that you never believe that I’m serious.”
“Nonsense,” Lin Ruoxi grunted, sulking.
Yang Chen chuckled, “Honey, are we cool now? I saw you smile.”
Lin Ruoxi rolled her eyes at him and did not deny. Her silence seemed to represent a silent affirmative.
Yang Chen raised an eyebrow and said, “Should I do something extra to show you how serious I am?”
“What is it?” Lin Ruoxi’s curiosity was piqued. She was hoping for the man to sweet-talk her more.
All of a sudden, Yang Chen let out a wicked cackle. “It’s three more hours till sunrise. Since we are both awake, why don’t we take advantage of the darkness of the night?!”
The cordial and sweet atmosphere that Lin Ruoxi had put herself in before this was immediately overturned. It felt as if she was just tossed into a pile of bulls.h.i.+t!
The woman was so infuriated that she sprang up, grabbed a pillow with both hands, and sent it flying at the man!
“Yang Chen, go to h.e.l.l!”
The night closed in an endless cacophony of hostile curses and soul-wrenching shrieks.
Yang Chen naturally failed to fire the bullets he had previously stocked up as he wished.
Fortunately, Lin Ruoxi had temporarily untangled the knot in her heart amid the quarrel. It was not the first time she was exasperated about his love affairs. Besides, this was not a woman who popped out of nowhere. It was Li Jingjing, whom they had known from long ago, so it was easier for her to accept it.
The next morning, Park Cheon dropped by the hospital for a review checkup. The doctors were all shocked, claiming that it was a miracle they witnessed.
Park Cheon’s body condition was as optimal as a st.u.r.dy middle-aged man, nothing like an old man who had just recovered from major surgery!
After learning the news, Park Cheon was confident that he could still head the Starmoon Group for another ten years at least. Of course, the family handover ceremony would still commence as planned and the company would be pa.s.sed down to Zhenxiu in the end.
After all, stepping down and being a chairman while also training Zhenxiu to manage the Starmoon Group was Park Cheon’s deepest desire.
It was one more week away from the grand handover ceremony to be held in November. The entire Starmoon Group and the Park family were organizing every little detail of the event and arranging intensive preparations.
After Li Jingjing returned to Zhonghai, Park Cheon did not bother getting Zhenxiu another private tutor. Instead, he sent her to Ewha Women’s University to study with the other young ladies in Korea, hoping to expand Zhenxiu’s social networks locally.
As the future heir of the Starmoon Group, even if Zhenxiu did not want to interact with others, people would still strap on a brave face and grovel at her feet.
However, Zhenxiu was not interested in befriending girls who only cared about status and wealth. She would rather spend most of her time strolling around with Eunjung, her personal maid, or shopping around the university.
Since Lin Ruoxi and Yang Chen were still in Seoul, Zhenxiu seized the opportunity to drag them out during the weekends to go sightseeing.
Just a day before the handover ceremony, the three of them visited a Korean family restaurant at Eunjung’s recommendation. They were all surfeited by seafood and other expensive foods, so they went and tried some ordinary light dishes.
Lin Ruoxi was particularly fond of the kimbap, probably because it resembled glutinous rice b.a.l.l.s. Lin Ruoxi held the kimbap in both hands as she nibbled away like a chick pecking rice.
Yang Chen could not tear his eyes off the woman as she ate. It was such a rare sight to see her savoring her meal this way and it was overwhelmingly adorable to him.
“Honey, come closer.” Yang Chen hooked a finger at the woman, motioning for her to move closer.
Seeing the unnatural smirk on Yang Chen’s face, Lin Ruoxi grew suspicious of the man, thinking he might have a corrupt plan in mind.
For the past couple of days, she had not allowed Yang Chen to sleep on the bed. Lin Ruoxi felt like this guy must have been holding back too much and wanted to kiss her in the restaurant.
Thinking as such, Lin Ruoxi’s cheeks instantly flared up and she whispered, “I don’t want to. I know you are planning something bad, right? There are so many people around, don’t you feel the least bit embarra.s.sed?”
Yang Chen did not know whether to cry or laugh. He scooted over and reached out, carefully swiping off a grain of rice stuck to the top of Lin Ruoxi’s upper lip.
“You’ve got rice in your face from the kimbap and you still have the time to fantasize about all this nonsense. If your fans at the office find out about this, they would probably start spitting blood. I’m having rice and you think of yourself as an edible rice ball? Mistaking that I have ill intentions… Tsk tsk, this shows that the problem’s with you. Were you expecting me to kiss you?” Yang Chen teased with a mischievous wink.
Lin Ruoxi flushed crimson with embarra.s.sment. How she wished she could dig herself a hole and hide! In addition, Zhenxiu and Eunjung were trying to fight their giggles in silence.
But it had to be this way. It had to be her who overthought matters. Lin Ruoxi felt the bucket of fury in her heart tip over and did not stop the pout forming on her lips. Her brows furrowed strongly in vexation.
Seeing that expression on her face, Yang Chen could not help but laugh again. “To think that I could not wrap the head around the fact that Lanlan treats you as her mother. Your pouty face looks exactly like the little fat girl. Both of you have buns as faces! Haha!”
As she watched Yang Chen gasping for air from laughing too hard, Lin Ruoxi finally lost it and harshly threw the kimbap in her hand at Yang Chen!
“You b.a.s.t.a.r.d Yang Chen! You’re sleeping outside tonight!”