Chapter Fifty-Three: My Wife, Untouchable

Su Xiaoling was stunned for quite a while before she finally came to her senses. When she did, her face immediately showed clear displeasure. “What do you know? Are you really that knowledgeable?” she snapped.

Chen Yang merely smiled, saying nothing more. He had no patience to argue with a woman like her. He lifted the lingzhi mushroom and looked at Han Qin. “Mom, do you trust me?”

Su Xiaoling saw Chen Yang actually dare to touch the lingzhi she’d bought for thirty thousand yuan, and became even more anxious and upset. “Put down my lingzhi, you’ll dirty it! You can’t afford to pay for it if anything happens.”

“Shut up,” Chen Yang retorted, his distaste for Su Xiaoling obvious. He was acting for Han Qin’s sake; he wouldn’t let her keep stirring up trouble.

Su Xiaoling’s eyes blazed with anger.

Han Qin now looked at Chen Yang seriously and asked, “If I take the medicine Dr. Sun prescribed, I really can’t have such strong tonics anymore?”

Chen Yang’s expression turned helpless. “Mom, it’s basic science. You’ve already taken the potent Qi Pills, and now you want to drink lingzhi soup? Are you trying to overwhelm your body?”

Han Qin thought it over and realized Chen Yang was right. Just moments ago, she’d been delighted when Su Xiaoling brought the lingzhi, but now she saw it was an oversight not to consider this.

With that in mind, Han Qin gently said to Su Xiaoling, “Xiaoling, I’ll keep your lingzhi for now. Once I’m discharged, I’ll make soup with it.”

Su Xiaoling replied in earnest, “Aunt, this was bought for you. You can enjoy it whenever you want.”

“Chen Yang, give me the lingzhi,” Qin Muxue interjected.

She stepped in to prevent any further conflict between Chen Yang and Su Xiaoling over the lingzhi. She truly couldn’t bear to see another quarrel between them.

Chen Yang smiled and handed the lingzhi to Qin Muxue. As he did, he noticed Qin Muxue deliberately avoiding his gaze—a small detail, but it spoke volumes. Chen Yang sensed that perhaps Qin Muxue was troubled about something, something she didn’t want to share with him.

Afterwards, Chen Yang and Qin Muxue stayed in the hospital room until after nine o’clock before heading home. On the way back, Qin Muxue remained distracted, clearly preoccupied. Chen Yang tried to ask, but Qin Muxue insisted nothing was wrong, so he stopped pressing.

The next day, Chen Yang went to work at Huading Company as usual. The North Suburb project was proceeding in an orderly fashion. One by one, partner companies signed agreements with Huading.

Chen Yang remained in the background, leaving all negotiations to Shen Donghua. Despite that, the North Suburb project continued to be the hottest topic in Linhai.

As time passed, Chen Yang noticed Qin Muxue seemed increasingly troubled. Every time he saw her, she seemed weighed down by worries. Not wanting to pretend nothing was happening anymore, one evening after work, he returned home to find Qin Muxue there. He called her to sit with him on the sofa, his expression serious.

“Wife, these past few days you’ve been clearly troubled. I respect your privacy, so I haven’t pushed you to talk. But surely you’ve noticed it yourself—you’re anxious every day, pretending nothing’s wrong, but I can see through it. Tell me, what’s really going on?”

“Nothing, really,” Qin Muxue insisted.

Suddenly, Chen Yang gripped her shoulders, his gaze intense. “You can’t keep hiding it. If you won’t tell me, I’ll have to investigate. I can do that, but I’d rather not, because I don’t want to invade your inner secrets.”

Qin Muxue looked at him, conflicted. After a moment, she sighed, a look of sadness on her face. “Chen Yang, do you know why I didn’t want to tell you? It’s because I don’t want you to be hurt.”

“You don’t want me to be hurt?” Chen Yang couldn’t help but laugh. He thought to himself, back when I spent five years delivering takeout, didn’t I suffer enough setbacks? What could possibly hurt me now?

With a small smile, he said, “Go ahead, tell me. Let’s see if it can really hurt me.”

Qin Muxue rolled her eyes. “I’m being serious with you.”

Chen Yang grinned, “So am I. You’re not joking, and neither am I.”

Qin Muxue stared at him for a while, perhaps moved by Chen Yang’s earnestness. She finally nodded in resignation. “Alright, since you want to know, I’ll tell you.”

“Before I married you, it wasn’t as if no one pursued me. The one who left the deepest impression was a man named Gao Zixiang. Of all my suitors, his family was the wealthiest, and he spent the most on me. I liked him well enough, but nothing serious ever happened between us.”

“Later, under my uncle’s insistence, I married you. But just a few days ago, right after my mom was hospitalized, Gao Zixiang suddenly showed up, wanting to rekindle things with me.”

“He said he came to Linhai with a lot of money to partner with Huading Company on the North Suburb project. He wanted me to join him. I refused, but he keeps calling these days, disrupting my work and life.”

“To be honest, Chen Yang, if I hadn’t married you, I probably would have worked with Gao Zixiang. I don’t know if you understand the Huading Company’s North Suburb New City project—everyone wants a share. It’s a project worth billions, and even a small piece would mean a lot of money.”

“But because I had a bad experience with Gao Zixiang before, I never agreed. These past few days, that’s what’s been on my mind.”

“Uh...” Chen Yang listened attentively to Qin Muxue’s story, then couldn’t help but smile. He thought to himself, Muxue, do you realize your husband is the chief manager of the North Suburb project? Who partners and who doesn’t—it’s all up to me.

As for that Gao Zixiang or Li Zixiang, in my eyes, he’s nothing more than a pile of dung.

Chen Yang finished his thoughts and chuckled at Qin Muxue. “So, this is what you’ve been struggling with lately?”

“Yes,” Qin Muxue nodded gravely.

Chen Yang paused, then suddenly took Qin Muxue’s hand. “Wife, your ability to resist the lure of so much money and refuse to work with Gao Zixiang shows you truly care about me.”

Qin Muxue shyly withdrew her hand. “As long as you know.”

Although Chen Yang had done many things lately that amazed her, having him hold her hand always felt strange, a little awkward.

Chen Yang didn’t mind, and continued smiling, “Muxue, there’s no need to worry. Sometime soon, I’ll make time to meet this Gao Zixiang.”

Qin Muxue quickly protested, “You’d best not go. Gao Zixiang is very wealthy. If you meet him, you’ll only make yourself uncomfortable.”

Chen Yang couldn’t help but laugh. “Wealthy? How wealthy could he possibly be?” He thought to himself, Wealthy? No matter how much money he has, can he have more than me?

Qin Muxue didn’t want to joke with him. “Just listen to me. I won’t work with him, and you shouldn’t go see him either.”

Chen Yang agreed, “Alright, alright.” But in truth, he had no intention of listening. He was determined to meet Gao Zixiang.

Qin Muxue, worried he’d change his mind, emphasized, “I’m not joking. Don’t go see him.”

“Okay, I promise,” Chen Yang said with a smile.

As Chen Yang and Qin Muxue were chatting and laughing, a blue Porsche Cayenne pulled up stylishly in front of Qin Muxue’s villa, coming to a neat stop. From the car emerged a tall and sturdy young man, hair slicked back, holding a bouquet of ninety-nine fresh roses, his face radiant with a smile.

He walked to the door and knocked twice. Chen Yang and Qin Muxue opened the door together.

As soon as Qin Muxue opened the door, the man presented the bouquet to her. “Muxue, your home was hard to find, but I managed. Fresh flowers for a beautiful woman—these ninety-nine roses are freshly picked from the rose farm. Beauty, please accept them.”