In the face of her rage, Yang Chenâs mind immediately went blank. All he could do was flail his arms and gape helplessly.
âItâs true that I have mistresses but sheâs not one of them⊠No! Uh, I swear Iâm not cheating on you⊠Iâm just⊠I⊠GodâŠâ
Yang Chen had no tears left to cry. How was he supposed to explain something like this to her?
It was evident that Lin Ruoxi had enough of his bullshit. Inhaling a deep breath, she left the table to run upstairs.
Guo Xuehua called after her but Lin Ruoxi ignored her. The door to the study was slammed shut.
Back at the dining table, Lanlan pouted her lips in an exaggerated childlike manner. She squealed, âBad uncle! You bullied mama!â
Min Juan hurriedly rushed over to calm the little girl, afraid that the child would tear the table apart.
Yang Chen paid no mind to the childâs babble. He grabbed a fistful of his hair out of frustration. He had completely lost his appetite.
âWhat the hell are you still here for?! Go explain yourself to Lin Ruoxi! Itâll be worse if you donât explain the situation well!â Guo Xuehua slapped her sonâs shoulder.
It made sense to Yang Chen, who then cautiously made his way to the study. He knocked on its door.
Lin Ruoxi gave no response. The only thing Yang Chen could hear from outside was her rapid breathing. She was still very angry at him
Yang Chen turned to look at his family members downstairs and threw his hands.
âI think Iâll wait till she calms down, I donât think she wants me near her.â
Guo Xuehua and Wang Ma looked at each other with a bitter smile. At this point, no explanation or reasoning would be of use. Yang Chen had a long record of faults, for him to receive Lin Ruoxiâs forgiveness was close to impossible.
There was still much to learn for these two adults. If Yang Chen really was up to no good with the girl, would he have rushed home for dinner in the middle of that? Once Lin Ruoxi has calmed down, she would better understand the situation. Therefore, there wasnât much to worry about. As long as he went to her and explained himself, the conflict could be resolved.
Dinner was cleared away. Thankfully, a good portion of it was finished by Lanlan so not much was wasted.
Yang Chen sighed wearily as he returned to his bedroom. Before he could take a bath and change into a set of new clothes, he noticed a call invitation had appeared on his laptop screen. It was Sauron.
That brought Yang Chen out of his daze, he scurried over to accept the call. Sauron had sent him plenty of information throughout the afternoon but he wasnât at home to receive it.
In no time, Sauron, who had on reading glasses, came to sight. He seemed to be preoccupied with some files.
Yang Chen was used to the red-haired manâs typical rugged appearance, the glasses on Sauron made him look sophisticated. It was weird. Without knowing it, Sauron had aged. It has been quite a while since their first meeting.
Finally noticing Yang Chen on his screen, Sauron lifted his gaze and gave the younger man a respectful nod. Sauron said, âYour Majesty Pluto, Iâve sent you all the information you requested about an ancient civilization untouched by mankind. We managed to find eight of them. You can find everything in your mailbox.â
Yang Chen nodded. âIâll give it a look soon. Thank you for your hard work. Did you face any problems?â
âNot really but Iâm very curious. Your Majesty Pluto, why did you require such information? Most of these places are very desolate and inhabitable. The only reason why the ancient civilization remains could survive this long was because of its inhabitable grounds. Any mortal who goes there is bound to die.â
Yang Chen laughed. âThatâs what Iâm looking for. Places like that are where Iâll be able to find something I want. Nevermind, itâs quite a long story. Iâll explain it to you next time. Iâll go give the information a read.â
Sauron wasnât a talkative person, he quickly bid farewell and disconnected the call.
Yang Chen hovered over the information he sent on the eight places. He clicked into it and started to read.
The information was very comprehensive, it took him quite some time to get to the end of it.
When he had finished, Yang Chen had made a decision on the first place heâd travel to. But before anything else, he needed to ask for Xiao Zhiqingâs opinion. The man quickly contacted Xiao Zhiqing.
Now that Xiao Zhiqing had dropped out of school, there wasnât much to do with all that new-found free time. It didnât take long for her to return his opinion.
Coincidentally, they both had chosen to cast aside the Everglades in the Southern United States, the Amazon basin, the Panama Forest and so on in favor of the extremely desolate Arnhem Land in Northern Australia.
Not only was the place devoid of mankind, but it also housed a fifty-thousand-year rich aboriginal civilization. As Xiao Zhiqing had mentioned, only a place that had birthed culture holds sufficient spiritual energy to give new materials for alchemy.
October was already right around the corner. With Australia situated in the Southern Hemisphere, the countryâs north was about to enter summer, especially savannah climate zones like Arnhem Land. Things would get difficult when the lack of water sources becomes a problem if they didnât take action soon.
Xiao Zhiqing was getting bored with staying home. With Yang Chen involved, there wasnât much to worry about her own safety, which helped fuel her interest.
Yang Chen closed his laptop then sighed. Though Lin Ruoxi was still angry at him, he still needed to inform her about his departure. He needed to emphasize that he was bringing Xiao Zhiqing on the journey too.
No matter what Lin Ruoxiâs response was, he couldnât be too accommodating of her. This was beyond just her.
He allowed his mind to wander into a mess. Yang Chen stripped naked and went into the shower. Perhaps it would be best for him to be clean before dealing with Lin Ruoxi.
Meanwhile, in Lin Ruoxiâs study.
Wang Ma placed a plate of nicely peeled fruits on Lin Ruoxiâs table. The womanâs face was devoid of any emotion.
âMiss, are you still angry?â
Lin Ruoxi lifted her head and pouted. âWang Ma, donât even try to help that bastard! The more you spoil him, the less he cares about this family!â
Wang Ma only returned a sad smile. âThatâs not it. Miss, Iâm on your side but what Sir said was no lieâŠâ
Lin Ruoxi didnât look too happy. âHow would you know, Wang Ma? Without us knowing it, he had silently made his way into the pants of those coquettes back then. He even had a way to end up in bed with Qianni and Mingyu under my careful watch.â
Wang Ma had found her rants funny but the older woman held back her laughter. Wang Ma harrumphed. âAbout the girl he mentioned, he had played no part in her interest in him. I just couldnât spill the beans just now. It was too embarrassing to say aloud. That dayâŠâ
Wang Ma recalled the misunderstanding between Luo Xiaoxiao and Yang Chen of that fateful day.
Lin Ruoxi listened attentively. Immediately, she was flooded with regret. âWang Ma, why didnât you say this during dinner?!â
âIâŠâ Wang Ma was sheepish. âWell, it had to do with faces and buttocks. Lanlan was there too, how could I say those in front of her?â
âJeez, this girl has no shame.â Lin Ruoxi raised a brow in displeasure. Though so, her eyes were filled with unconcealed remorse.
She knew she had blamed Yang Chen wrongly. After the rage, Lin Ruoxi finally thought it through. If Yang Chen really had something going on with the girl, he wouldnât have left halfway to come home for dinner.
The more she thought about it, the more she was embarrassed. But she just couldnât put down her ego to ask for Yang Chenâs forgiveness.
Wang Ma saw through her woes, she smiled. âMiss, thereâs no need to overthink. Just go apologize to him.â
âI⊠Iâm not planning to apologize. Hmph, he has bullied me way too many times before. What damage would one misunderstanding on my part do to him?â Lin Ruoxi remained firm.
Wang Ma sighed. âHonestly, Miss, in a union, thereâs nothing more precious than a man who can tolerate you unconditionally. Sir is a good man. Itâs not that he is no match for you when it comes to disagreements, but he lets it go because he loves you. Sometimes, you should control your temper.â
Those words struck Lin Ruoxi hard. She could feel her cheeks burning up, her heart was a mess. The younger woman quickly placed her pen down and stood up from her seat for the door.
âWang Ma, you can go watch some TV. Iâll go tuck Lanlan inâŠâ
As she spoke, Lin Ruoxi started to head over to the bedroom in quickened steps. Obviously, she was trying to run from the conversation.
Wang Ma extended a hand to stop her to no avail. She looked down at the fruit platter that was now wasted while shaking her head in defeat.
Entering her bedroom, a soundly asleep Lan Lan came to sight.
Deep in sleep, the child was extremely adorable. Lin Ruoxi suddenly recalled that Min Juan had mentioned that Lanlan could go for a few days without a single wink of sleep back then. Weirdly, after she had begun to sleep with her, Lanlanâs sleep schedule was like that of a regular child.
Min Juan had teased the possibility of Lanlan harboring fear over her. Perhaps fear was what put the child to sleep.
Despite that, Lin Ruoxi had always felt this inexplicable feeling that Lan Lan was only able to relax and be in peace around her, which was why the child was more willing to give in to slumber.
Of course, this was something Lanlan couldnât answer. A child had no reserve over their urges. If they wanted to sleep, they would sleep. If they wanted to eat, they would eat.
Lin Ruoxi came to the side of the bed to land a loving smooch on her daughterâs forehead.
Lan Lan began to smack her lips sleepily. She seemed to be enjoying a sweet dream, looking so cute nestled in her blankets.
âSilly girl, of course, you would be dreaming of food. Mama is afraid youâre going to be so chubby if this goes on.â Lin Ruoxi thought to herself as she continued to stare at her little adorable face.
Silently, she exited the room. Lin Ruoxiâs mind was plagued with the question of how she should dissolve the tension between her and Yang Chen. She was well aware of how unreasonable she was being. She hadnât given him a chance to explain himself and accused him of cheating.
Unknowingly, she reached the end of the second-floor corridor. Pushing open the glass doors, she went to the balcony.