Chapter 84: Chapter 82: A Lone Man and a Solitary Woman

A sleek Ferrari shot out through the crowd like an arrow, moving at breathtaking speed. Li Ruo kept turning her head to gaze out of the window. All the while, she pressed a hand over her chest, where the V-shaped neckline revealed nearly a third of her ample fullness, fair, flawless, and as luminous as jade. Her cheeks had remained flushed the whole time. The instant Ye Chen had bumped into her just now, the hot breath he exhaled against her chest had sent a strange numbness through her entire body. For that reason, she did not dare face him directly.

Ye Chen knew he had accidentally taken advantage of Li Ruo, so he did not dare make a sound either. The two of them stayed silent all the way, and the more silent they were, the more awkward it became.

The car soon arrived at Green Manor, a government reception hotel among the finest in Jiangbei City, with a very Western-sounding name. Its interior blended Eastern and Western styles, and the hotel stood on the coast of Jiangbei City, backed on one side by the shoreline and facing, on the other, lush, verdant mountains.

In front of Green Manor was a spacious parking lot. As soon as the security guard saw the car arrive, he hurriedly opened the gate. The car slowly entered. Ye Chen jumped out, then tossed the keys to the guard. Glancing at Li Ruo, he saw that her expression had seemingly calmed again. She smiled sweetly at him, then came forward and linked her arm through his, saying, "Come on, we should go in."

"Fine, then let the storm come harder," Ye Chen said with a nod.

Li Ruo could not help a laugh, then gave him a mischievous look. "Is coming here with me really that frightening?"

"It's more than frightening," Ye Chen said irritably, glancing at her. "Tonight the people attending are probably all some of Jiangbei City's most famous figures. If they see you and me here together, they’ll probably want to swallow me whole."

"Heehee, then just stand obediently by my side. I’ll protect you," Li Ruo said, looking at him with deep affection.

Ye Chen froze. Seeing that loving gaze, he hurriedly looked away, afraid of getting lost in it. He was a man who knew his limits. Before recovering his memories, he would absolutely not touch any woman, not even in matters of feeling. So he did not dare meet Li Ruo’s eyes.

Li Ruo gave a soft huff. "You bad boy, you have to stand properly beside me! Do you hear me?"

"Why?" Ye Chen asked in surprise. "There are so many beauties inside. What if someone tries to make a move on me?"

"That won’t do either. Remember this: you are my slave. Hmph, you must obey your master’s orders at all times," Li Ruo said with a wicked little smile.

Ye Chen looked at her and groaned, "Sigh, fine, I admit defeat."

"Hmph!" Li Ruo immediately lifted her brows, her face lighting up with delight. She linked arms with Ye Chen and made a dazzling entrance.

Li Ruo’s arrival naturally drew every eye. She wore a glittering black evening gown, and her pair of snow-white, proud, upright peaks instantly made every lady present feel inferior. The black gown ended at mid-thigh, revealing a pair of translucent, flawless jade legs like a masterpiece of creation. Those legs were smoother and more delicate than the stockings worn by the women there. Beneath them were crystal high-heeled sandals, and ten jade-like toes painted with pink polish, making it almost impossible to look away.

Thunderous applause erupted.

Li Ruo’s arrival instantly captured everyone’s attention. All the men present felt honored merely to exchange a few words with her. The host, Zhang Kaiguo, stepped forward at once, applauding as he walked toward her with a smile. "Rumor has it that Jianghuai City is home to a remarkable beauty. Seeing you today, the reputation is well deserved!"

"Hehe, Secretary Zhang, you flatter me far too much," Li Ruo replied neither humbly nor arrogantly, a confident smile in her eyes.

"Not at all, not at all!" Zhang Kaiguo chuckled, then looked curiously at Ye Chen beside her. "President Li, won’t you introduce him?"

"Oh, he’s my friend. I invited him here today to keep me company as my dance partner. Secretary Zhang won’t mind, I hope?" Li Ruo said quickly with a smile.

"Not at all. If he’s President Li’s friend, then he’s naturally my friend too!" Zhang Kaiguo laughed heartily. "President Li, we have many guests today, so please make yourself at home. If you need anything, just say the word. I’ll take my leave first."

"All right, Secretary Zhang, please go ahead and attend to your duties," Li Ruo said with a nod.

Afterward, Zhang Kaiguo turned and left immediately. The moment he was gone, flies, mosquitoes, and cockroaches all swarmed over at once. Each and every one of them seemed eager to glue their eyes to Li Ruo’s chest.

"Hello, President Li, I’m the head of human resources at Golden Source Group!"

"President Li, I’m the head of business operations at Great Development Group!"

Some people frantically tried to stuff their business cards into Li Ruo’s hands. Faced with the crowd jostling for position, Li Ruo frowned at once. Ye Chen stepped in front of her, taking the business cards as they came while refusing on her behalf. "Everyone appreciates your kindness, but President Li is not the focus here today. Please conduct yourselves properly!"

"Hmph, what mongrel is barking here!" a young man in a white shirt sneered from behind.

"Exactly. The master hasn’t spoken, yet the dog has started barking first," another young man wearing gold-rimmed glasses added with veiled mockery.

Ye Chen cast a cold glance at the two of them. Looking at the young man in the white shirt, he pointed at his nose and laughed icily. "The head of business operations at Great Development? Look at that miserable state of yours. Send that brat Flame Not Second over here to talk to me. Damn it, with a coward like you. You think wearing a white shirt makes you a white-collar worker? Then if I wear a gold shirt, does that make me gold-collar? ... You think I don’t know you’ve got impotence and premature ejaculation now? With a frame under ninety jin, even a gust of wind could blow you over..."

The white-shirted man’s face shifted between pale and dark under Ye Chen’s abuse, because Ye Chen had hit the mark too accurately. If he had never seen this guy before, he might have thought Ye Chen had investigated his entire background.

The man with gold-rimmed glasses hurriedly said to the white-shirted man, "Minister Liu, let’s not stoop to the level of such people. Ill-educated people are truly terrifying!"

"Oh ho..." Ye Chen immediately turned his attention to the man with the gold-rimmed glasses. He put his hands on his hips and stepped forward, sneering coldly. "You have education? Then tell me, where did you graduate from?"

"Hmph, I’ll tell you. I graduated with a master’s degree from Fortstan University in the United States!" the gold-rimmed-glasses man said with a cold laugh.

"Hmph, you think just because you toss out a name nobody has heard of, that makes you impressive?" Ye Chen said with a crooked smile. "As far as I know, Fortstan University stopped admitting Chinese students many years ago. What puzzles me is how you got in. Oh... I remember now. Fortstan has a school in Florida that specifically recruits students from China. Unfortunately for you, that’s a fake school. In plain terms, its diploma isn’t officially recognized by the United States. Understand?"

"You... you’re talking nonsense!" the man said at once, shaking his head. He had not reacted immediately to Ye Chen’s words, but the school he attended really was in Florida. Could it truly be a fake school? Panic rose in his heart.

Ye Chen laughed coldly. "Nonsense? Whether I’m talking nonsense or not, you know it best yourself. From the tremor in your fingers and the look in your unfocused eyes, I can already see the fear in your heart. Why are you afraid? Hmph, there is only one truth: your academic credentials are forged, or they were never officially recognized by the United States in the first place!"

"You’re spouting garbage. Don’t believe a word this man says!" The man with gold-rimmed glasses finally panicked.

At last, the white-shirted man recovered his wits. He grabbed the man with the gold-rimmed glasses and said, "Don’t talk to people like this. Otherwise, the only person humiliated will be ourselves!"

"Damn it, and you dare talk to me about character!" Ye Chen sneered, pointing at the white-shirted man as he mocked, "You bastard, at ten you were still wetting the bed. At twelve, you started secretly peeping while your mother bathed. At sixteen, you drugged and raped a female classmate. You want to talk to me about character? You’re the kind of trash who not only reneges on chess moves, but after raping the girl seated next to you, still had the nerve to frame someone else? You’re a waste of money just by staying alive, and a waste of land when you die. People like you, if the wind blows, you obstruct the air; if the rain falls, you pollute the water; if lightning strikes you, you waste electricity. If I were you, I’d smash my head and die already!"

The white-shirted man had already been unable to bear it after Ye Chen’s earlier insults. Now, under this fresh barrage, his chest turned tight, a sweet taste rose in his throat, and he spat out a mouthful of blood before collapsing to the floor, unable to rise, his straight legs twitching twice.

"Damn, he got cursed to death?" someone nearby stared in shock.

"Bad news, call an ambulance!" The crowd around them hurried into action. Soon, an ambulance screamed in, loaded the blood-spitting man aboard, and screamed away again. It was all over in the blink of an eye. The hotel staff quickly cleaned the blood from the floor, and everything returned to normal. Everyone sighed in amazement; they had not expected matters to turn so completely around so abruptly, as though they had all been dreaming.

"You troublemaker..." Li Ruo glared at Ye Chen. "You never make things easy for me!"

"Heh heh, I’m helping you, aren’t I?" Ye Chen grinned.

"Yes, you helped me all right. Now no one dares come near me. They look at me as though they’ve seen a plague god," Li Ruo said with a faint, teasing smile. Ye Chen knew she was not really angry; on the contrary, she seemed quite delighted. He laughed. "Isn’t that exactly what you wanted?"

"Hmph!" Li Ruo gave a soft snort.

At that moment, a peerless beauty in a black lace dress and a short skirt, with a black hat on her head and a delicate, petite face, walked toward Li Ruo and Ye Chen.

"Sister Yan!" Li Ruo exclaimed, looking at this stunning woman with delight. Ye Chen, too, was drawn to the woman he was seeing for the second time. It had to be said: if a woman like this walked down the street, she would inevitably cause countless accidents and bring traffic to a halt. What first captured one’s attention was her pair of expressive eyes; at a glance, they were large, lively, and seemingly able to speak.