Chapter Forty-One: He Was a Man Who Inspired Reverence and Awe

When Chen Yang heard this, his heart skipped a beat. Then a thought struck him: Did I get into a woman's car? Could it be that I got into Xiao Rongfei's car and my mother-in-law saw me?

Chen Yang immediately laughed and said, "Yes, Mom, you really have quite the sharp eye."

"Don't give me that cheeky grin," Han Qin shot him a piercing look. "I saw you at the entrance of the Left Bank Café with a rather sultry woman. What's going on?"

"Mom, what could possibly be going on? Do you really think I would sneak around behind Mu Xue's back with another woman? Do you honestly believe I'm that charming?" Chen Yang replied with a laugh.

He found his mother-in-law's logic amusing—on one hand, she thought he was utterly useless, and on the other, she suspected that a goddess-like woman such as Xiao Rongfei would be interested in him. Her train of thought was certainly unique.

"Quit dodging the question. Who was that woman? She looked positively scandalous," Han Qin pressed.

Chen Yang thought for a moment, then decided to scare her: "Mom, she's one of my major clients. I only got in her car because I needed to go somewhere and she happened to be heading in the same direction. She's an influential figure in Linhai. If she heard you calling her scandalous... well, let's not imagine."

But Han Qin was not one to be easily intimidated.

Despite his explanation, she wasn't convinced and continued to interrogate him: "Is she really your client?"

Chen Yang burst out laughing. "Mom, she's not my client at all. She's the woman I'm having an affair with behind Mu Xue's back. Do you believe that?"

Han Qin's brows immediately knitted together.

Chen Yang spoke with such confidence because, in reality, although Xiao Rongfei treated him with great respect, his mother-in-law had no idea. In her eyes, he was still just a good-for-nothing delivery boy who would never amount to much. He doubted she'd ever believe he was involved with someone like Xiao Rongfei. After all, stories of wealthy beauties falling for penniless nobodies were rare in real life.

Sure enough, Han Qin didn't believe him. Her expression turned cold. "Next time I talk to you about something serious, cut out the jokes."

"Mom, you were the one doubting me. If you hadn't suspected me, I wouldn't have made that joke," Chen Yang replied, still grinning.

Han Qin thought for a moment, then, on a whim, looked at Chen Yang and said, "That's not good enough. Do you have her phone number? I want to call her and check for myself. I don't believe a word you say."

Chen Yang quickly took out his phone and sent a hurried text message to Xiao Rongfei: "My mother-in-law will call you soon. Just say you're my client. Please."

Then he found Xiao Rongfei's number, dialed it, and handed the phone to Han Qin. "Mom, her surname is Xiao. She's President Xiao. Go ahead and talk to her."

Han Qin gave Chen Yang a long, searching look and took the phone.

Soon, Xiao Rongfei answered softly, "Hello?"

Han Qin took a deep breath before saying, "Hello, President Xiao? This is Chen Yang's mother-in-law. My surname is Han."

"Oh, hello, Auntie Han. Is there something I can help you with?" Xiao Rongfei replied promptly.

Han Qin said, "It's nothing much. I just heard from my son-in-law that you're one of his major clients, so I wanted to call you and hope you'll look after him in future."

"Don't worry, Auntie Han," Xiao Rongfei assured her.

After that, Han Qin felt there was nothing more to say, so with a polite goodbye, she hung up.

Chen Yang, standing to the side, found the whole exchange between his mother-in-law and Xiao Rongfei rather amusing. Perhaps his mother-in-law was simply too idle these days and needed something to occupy her. The phrase "making trouble out of nothing" really did ring true.

When Han Qin finished the call, she returned the phone to Chen Yang. He took it and chuckled, "Mom, is there anyone else you want to call?"

Han Qin shot him a glare. "Stop that cheekiness."

Chen Yang only laughed harder. "Mom, you really are something. You always think I'm just a delivery boy, yet you suspect I might be involved with a beautiful CEO. I really can't figure out how your mind works."

Han Qin was a bit annoyed. She had planned to find fault with Chen Yang tonight, but once again, he had managed to defuse the situation so easily. This son-in-law of hers was becoming more and more impressive.

At nine in the evening, Chen Yang and Qin Muxue were lying in bed, ready to rest.

Chen Yang realized it had been a long time since he and Qin Muxue had had a proper conversation, so he seized the opportunity and asked, "How's the company doing these days?"

Qin Muxue replied softly, "It's going alright. Much better than before."

"Isn't it true that ever since I secured that ten million sponsorship for you, your company has just kept improving?" Chen Yang said with a grin.

Qin Muxue looked at him helplessly. She felt he was shamelessly praising himself, but when she thought about it, he wasn't wrong.

She glanced at him again and said, "You really do love to toot your own horn, don't you?"

Although it was true that after Chen Yang brought in the ten million sponsorship, her company had indeed been doing better, she didn't want to admit it too easily for fear Chen Yang's pride would soar even higher.

Chen Yang didn't mind. He kept smiling. "It's the truth. I'm your company's lucky charm."

"You're getting worse at bragging," Qin Muxue said with a look of disdain.

Chen Yang continued cheerfully, "At least I have the credentials to back it up, don't I?"

"You really are something," Qin Muxue said, exasperated.

At that moment, a gust of cold wind blew in through the window. Chen Yang, wanting to tease her, said deliberately, "Oh, it's so cold. It's much warmer with two people under the same quilt."

Qin Muxue immediately shot him a glare. "Don't get any ideas. Now is not the time."

Chen Yang kept up the act, "Oh, it's so cold, so cold."

Qin Muxue rolled her eyes. "If you're cold, there's a thick quilt in the closet. Go get it yourself. Enough, I'm going to sleep now."

With that, she pulled the covers over herself, closed her eyes, and went to sleep.

Chen Yang glanced at her and thought to himself, You're my wife. Sooner or later, I'll win you over completely, and then we'll have a chubby little son to play with.

In the blink of an eye, the night passed.

The next morning, as soon as Qin Muxue arrived at the office and sat down, Huang Youlong rushed in, looking anxious. "President Qin, bad news. Our company is being sued."

"Sued?"

Qin Muxue's brow furrowed at once. Although disputes were common in business, this was the first time her company had been taken to court.

She quickly asked, "What happened? Who's suing us?"

"It's Jinfu Trading Company. They're suing us over more than half a million yuan's worth of cotton-padded jackets we sold them. They claim the cotton inside is all shoddy. I just took a team over to inspect the batch at their company, and sure enough, the cotton was problematic. We've been duped," Huang Youlong reported.

Qin Muxue immediately asked, "Where did those jackets come from?"

"From the Beifang Garment Factory in Xinhai City. They're one of our major suppliers. But when I called Director Sun over there, he flatly denied that those jackets came from their factory and even said that, since we're slandering them, they might end all cooperation with us," Huang Youlong said helplessly.

Qin Muxue grew anxious. "But are you certain those jackets came from Beifang Garment Factory?"

"Absolutely. No doubt about it. But Beifang is an old player in this industry and has a lot of connections. If things escalate and it goes to court, it’s going to be a huge hassle," Huang Youlong replied.

"So what do you suggest?" Qin Muxue asked, exasperated.

Huang Youlong frowned. "I think we should keep negotiating with Beifang, but also compensate Jinfu Trading for their losses, to minimize the impact."

Qin Muxue thought his suggestion was reasonable. Compensating Jinfu Trading wasn't a problem, but if Beifang Garment Factory refused to admit they supplied the bad cotton, and then used their connections to suppress her small company, it would be a nightmare.

She felt a pang of distress, asking, "What if Beifang refuses to admit it? What if things get so tense that we fall out completely?"

Huang Youlong looked helpless. "There's nothing we can do. I don’t think Beifang will ever admit it. We’ll have to resolve this through legal means."

Qin Muxue's face grew grave. "How much will this cost us in the end? Our procurement staff really dropped the ball—didn’t they check the goods from Beifang before accepting them?"

Huang Youlong sighed. "Maybe we’ve worked with Beifang too long, and our staff let their guard down."

Qin Muxue was both frustrated and distressed. Frustrated because she knew this would keep her busy for a long time, and distressed because of all the money involved. For a small company, every penny was hard-earned. And this mess was going to cost plenty.

She couldn’t think of any better solution, so she said to Huang Youlong, "Mr. Huang, I’ll have to trouble you to handle communications with Beifang. Do your best to resolve this amicably."

Huang Youlong nodded earnestly. But deep down, he had another idea he hadn’t voiced.

He knew there was someone who could solve this.

Yes, that person.

The one he respected from the bottom of his heart.

He was sure that person could resolve it.

Absolutely certain.