“So, was it a misunderstanding or not?”
After fiercely striking her son’s buttocks more than a dozen times, Liu Ruoxi had vented a portion of her anger. She let out a cold laugh and questioned him.
“It was… it wasn’t…” Yang Haoran hurriedly changed his tune: “My fault… it was all my fault… I won’t dare to do it again.”
“Won’t dare? Is there a single day when your courage isn’t overwhelming?” Just talking about this made Liu Ruoxi angry. Early in the morning, she had already encountered such an annoying matter. She delivered another sharp slap to his buttocks, releasing her pent-up fury.
“You’re still hitting me…” Yang Haoran felt utterly wretched, on the verge of tears. “You’ve vented your anger, you’ve hit me, Mother dear. Could you possibly let go of my hands?”
Yang Haoran’s face was pressed against the floor. The cold sensation matched the chill in his heart, which felt utterly desolate.
Hearing this, Liu Ruoxi still felt unresolved inside, but after a moment’s thought, she snorted coldly and released his hands.
“Mom, you know martial arts?”
Yang Haoran’s face parted ways with the beloved floor. He climbed to his feet, rubbing his still aching buttocks a few times, yet his expression showed no trace of concern. Instead, he fawned over his mother with a flattering tone as he asked.
Seeing her son’s cheeky, grinning face, Liu Ruoxi felt that she had been too lenient with her beating earlier. Her expression was unfriendly as she said: “No, I don’t. Get lost. Seeing you irritates me.”
“Then how did you just… that thing…” Yang Haoran waved his arms and legs about, mimicking the scene from moments ago. He hadn’t even had time to react before his mother had pinned him down like a criminal.
“I said I don’t, so I don’t. What are you shouting about?” Liu Ruoxi was in no mood to explain anything to him and impatiently cut him off. “Get out of here. Don’t bother me.”
Just then, a voice reached both their ears.
“What was that noise just now? Ruoxi.” Yang Wenfu, who had been in another room and heard the slapping sounds, had walked over.
He hadn’t witnessed the earlier events, but seeing his wife’s unhappy expression now, he assumed his son had done something wrong again to upset her. He looked at his son, who was pretending to be innocent, and stepped in as a peacemaker. Frowning, he said, “Haoran, apologize to your mother? You’re always fooling around and causing trouble, never letting anyone rest easy.”
His father’s sudden appearance gave Yang Haoran a start, but judging by his father’s expression, he probably didn’t know what had just happened. Seizing the opportunity to back down, he bowed to his mother and said, “Mom, I was wrong.”
Looking at his son, who couldn’t even apologize or bow properly, Yang Wenfu sighed inwardly. He was a steady and stable person by nature, yet his son’s temperament didn’t take after his at all.
Liu Ruoxi glanced at Yang Haoran, then at her husband, who didn’t even know what had happened, feeling somewhat complicated. She gave a faint “Mmm” in response.
Some things are better kept hidden from him forever.
After Mother finished preparing breakfast and brought it over, the family gathered around the table to eat.
Yang Mengyao shot a glance at her brother. Seeing him eating his breakfast quietly and properly, she found it strange. Usually, her brother was the most talkative at the table. His current demeanor seemed like that of someone guilty over having done something wrong.
After breakfast, Yang Wenfu took his briefcase and left for work.
He was a department manager at a company that was neither large nor small. Because he was steady-natured and highly competent, the boss thought highly of him and entrusted him with many tasks. He was usually quite busy at the company.
Yang Wenfu followed his usual routine, clocking in at the company. After the beep sounded, he walked into the simply decorated, spacious, and bright open-plan office hall.
The hall was arranged with rows of cubicle-like workstations partitioned by panels. An employee sitting at one of them, eating a fried dough stick, looked up and noticed Yang Wenfu had arrived. He called out a greeting.
“Good morning, Manager Yang.”
“Mmm.”
“Good morning, Manager Yang.”
“Good morning, Manager Yang.”
This greeting caught the attention of other employees, who also offered their salutations. While they might not have the chance to butter up the leadership, they still had basic political awareness.
Yang Wenfu smiled and nodded in response, then walked toward the corridor on the right. His office wasn’t located here. As a manager, he had his own private office.
A female employee in the hall watched Yang Wenfu’s retreating figure, a strange light flashing in her eyes. Without hesitation, she picked up a file from her desk and followed him.
Yang Wenfu walked to his office door, unlocked it with his key, and entered.
It was a spacious and bright office, furnished with a sofa, a cabinet, a coffee machine, and a desk with a chair and computer for work, giving it a very simple and minimalist feel.
He set down his briefcase but didn’t rush to start working. Before work, he liked to brew a cup of coffee to refresh himself.
Yang Wenfu took a light sip of his freshly brewed coffee as he turned on the computer, preparing to begin the day’s work. Just then, there came a knock at the door.
“Knock, knock…”
“Come in.”
Yang Wenfu set down his coffee and looked up.
“Manager Yang, this is the proposal that Xiao Chen worked on yesterday. Please take a look.”
A beautiful woman walked in, dressed in a black blazer and a form-fitting pencil skirt. Her slender legs, sheathed in flesh-toned stockings, were paired with black high heels.
“Leave it there. And button up your collar. This is the company, not a venue for dealing with clients.”
Seeing who it was, Yang Wenfu raised an eyebrow, especially noting that the top two buttons of her blouse were undone, revealing quite a view. The edge of a black lace bra was visible.
“Manager, doesn’t it look good?”
However, the woman showed no concern. Instead, she subtly used her hand to pull her collar open further, exposing a large expanse of snow-white, delicate breast flesh.
Seeing this, Yang Wenfu frowned slightly, feeling somewhat helpless. He had no choice but to address her directly by name: “Zhuang Hui, pay attention to propriety. I told you, that time was just an accident. I have a wife and children. You shouldn’t entertain any ideas about me.”
“Is that so? But I heard you say that you and your wife have had a long-standing strained relationship and have been giving each other the cold shoulder for a long time.”
Zhuang Hui pulled over a chair and sat down, crossing her beautiful legs and lightly twirling her fingers as she spoke, as if it were just a casual remark.
“That was in the past. Arguments and disagreements between husband and wife are normal.” Yang Wenfu explained.
Hearing this, Zhuang Hui looked deeply at the man before her. Although he was approaching middle age, Yang Wenfu could still be considered dignified and handsome, what one would call a attractive older man.
From their first meeting, Yang Wenfu’s rich, mature charm had attracted Zhuang Hui, who had just graduated from university and entered the workforce. She had been at this company for four years now, climbing her way up from a slightly inexperienced college graduate to gradually become the company’s social butterfly.
One month ago, at a company dinner party, Yang Wenfu had drunk too much. She deliberately steered the conversation toward the topic of family. Perhaps because he had been holding it in for a long time, or maybe because he was drunk, Yang Wenfu said some things that led Zhuang Hui to understand that he and his wife had been locked in a cold war for a long time.
In that moment, Zhuang Hui could no longer suppress the desire she had hidden in her heart. She wanted to have this man. So, after he was drunk, she helped him to a hotel room to rest and, while he was barely conscious, took the initiative to have sex with him.
Hearing Yang Wenfu’s words, Zhuang Hui suddenly realized something and asked: “Are you saying that you want to reconcile with your wife?”
“Why?”
Zhuang Hui found it somewhat difficult to maintain her previous composure.
She didn’t want to be a mistress. Her ultimate goal in all this was to marry the man before her. Manager Yang’s strained relationship with his wife had given her an opportunity to seize the opening and provided her with a self-justifying excuse.
“No reason.”
Yang Wenfu didn’t want to explain too much. He just wanted to quickly clarify the relationship with this woman in front of him.
As the company’s social butterfly for dealing with clients, being versatile and quick-witted were basic requirements. Zhuang Hui had merely let her emotions affect her thinking momentarily. Now, upon reflection, she figured out the reason:
“Oh~ I get it. It’s because of me, isn’t it? We had sex, you cheated, and now you feel guilty, is that it?”