Chapter 194 - "Shu Yan is my friend and that will not change." (2)
“I’ll pass.” Shu Yan quickly shook her head. What would be the one reason she’d want to attend a banquet at some wealthy family? So others could ogle her? It was never her intention to be associated with the wealthy; as such, she as not interested in attending their banquet. “Just look at my face. I hardly even want to leave my house right now; never mind about attending a banquet.”
Hu Ruiyang seemed to just have noticed about her face. “What happened there?”
“Nothing much. I had my spots removed with laser. I am going to take off now if there is nothing else. I still have to go and pick up my children.” Shu Yan did not plan to continue to engage with Hu Ruiyang. It was too tiring.
Hu Ruixue would normally always ask Shu Yan to stay to dine together but she didn’t today. She only walked Shu Yan to the elevator.
“I apologize. My big brother is not always like this. He sometimes overreacts when it comes to my matters,” said Hu Ruixue apologetically.
“It’s alright. You are you and he is he. I am befriending you and going into business with you.” Shu Yan’s subtext was that she was aware of Hu Ruiyang’s probe and, though she was annoyed at his behavior, she was not annoyed at Hu Ruixue.
After Shu Yan had taken off, Hu Ruixue immediately stopped smiling and went back inside her office with a dark face. “Big Brother, what is your intention?”
Hu Ruiyang was still smiling. “I’ve already said, I happened to be in the area and wanted to see how’s your company is coming along and see if I can offer you any suggestions.”
“Shu Yan is gone already. I am your sister; I know you. Why are you doing this? I trust that Shu Yan’s information had long since been on your office desk. She is just a woman who shares the same experience as me.” Hu Ruixue paused for a second. “Big Brother, Shu Yan and I are friends and I don’t want to lose this friend because of your issues.”
“I am concerned about my own sister is all.” Hu Ruiyang gave Hu Ruixue an unjust look. After a short while, he said, in resignation. “Alright. I wanted to see what kind of a person your partner is.”
“What do you mean by that? She’s a woman who came to City Nan to start her life afresh with two children. What is so suspicious about that?” Hu Ruixue frowned.
“You told me that she’s someone who barely attended a few years of grad school. How is it that she is so literate? She even wrote proposals that had impressed the elites in the advertising industry.” Hu Ruiyang believed in geniuses but he didn’t believe in geniuses with no trainings.
“From what we have learned about her. She never graduated grade school and had been helping out in her family’s farm. She stayed behind in the village with her children even after she had gotten married. So, how did the proposal come about? You really think someone who had never left the village and uneducated could come up with something like that?” If it wasn’t for all the inconsistencies with Shu Yan, Hu Ruiyang would never have come today.
“Can’t she just be a genius? Perhaps she had always had this idea but was just being limited by her environment? Or that she had achieved enlightenment after her divorce. You can’t possibly tell me that this Shu Yan is fake?” said Hu Ruixue, somewhat flustered.
“Xiao Xue, know that I only have your best interest in mind. If she has any ulterior motives, you will be the one hurt in the end. I just don’t want you hurt,” said Hu Ruiyang.
“With my best interest in mind? You’ve been saying that since I was a kid. Because of that reason, I have never had any friends, let alone anyone of the opposite gender. That was the reason that I had fell for Zhang Baizong and insisted on marrying him. Partly because I liked him but another part was that I only wanted to rebel. Big Brother, I am 27 years old already and a mother. You need to stop treating me like I am a three-year-old child. I am capable to telling right from wrong.” Hu Ruixue was so emotional that there was tears in her eyes. “Shu Yan is a friend of mine and that will not change.”