Praise You

Dian Chen had just finished the interview and returned to the president's office, where he saw Secretary Ma already waiting.

A few days ago, a best-selling author of economic books contacted the President's Office. While writing the book, he also used his influence to plan a documentary. He carefully selected several entrepreneurs in Ancheng and sincerely hoped that the new helmsman of Shen Group would be available for an interview.

Dian Chen's schedule was packed, and all matters, big and small, were left to Ji Quan to take care of. When she reported the itinerary, she could clearly sense his displeasure. "Why didn't you report it in advance?"

Ji Quan replied, "This was a plan that was decided a month ago. I asked for your permission at that time, and you were busy contacting Jiutao Village on poverty alleviation matters."

The implication is that he was so focused at that time that he automatically ignored important information.

Si Dian'an has always kept a low profile. Some media outlets these days are prone to quoting him out of context to generate buzz. With his shallow roots within the Shen family, he didn't want to be in the spotlight and give them room for criticism. However, the matter had already been settled, and he couldn't break his promise, so he had no choice but to meet him first. Fortunately, the bestselling author was a former newspaper reporter, well-versed in conversational tactics, and had promised to submit the original footage to the Shen family's publicity department for approval before release. As a result, the two sides had a pleasant conversation.

"What's the matter?" He glanced at Secretary Ma.

When Secretary Ma saw Ji Quan, he remained silent and followed him into the president's office.

Shen Yan leaned back in the stately and spacious leather seat, took out his phone, checked the latest news, and asked casually, "Have you found any results on the matter I asked you to investigate?"

"Not yet." Secretary Ma couldn't grasp his emotions, so she read his expression and said, "However, something happened recently at Jiaxin Supermarket, which is under the Anshang Group."

Chen Dian didn't take it personally. With online shopping booming, traditional supermarkets would eventually be eliminated if they didn't position themselves correctly. Therefore, they were no longer under the group's key control. He didn't understand why he had to bring up such a trivial matter.

The boss's schedule was accurate to the second. Secretary Ma sensed his impatience and got straight to the point. "The process isn't important. It's just that the small supplier involved is named 'Long'."

Chen Yan suddenly stopped what he was doing, looked up at him, and asked in a deep voice, "Which long?"

Secretary Ma looked at his expression and thought that he was in a good position this time. He couldn't help but straighten his back a little, "That dragon, descendants of Yan and Huang, descendants of the dragon."

Chen Yan'an's dark eyes looked over, gleaming with a cold starlight. He asked slowly, "Is it the man we met in Jiutao Village?"

Secretary Ma almost wanted to call the boss smart, "Yes."

"Long?" He pondered for a moment, then spoke again, his voice becoming cold and serious. "Is he marrying into the family?"

"???" Secretary Ma was confused by his boss's train of thought and had to tell the truth, "I haven't found out yet."

"She—what did she say?"

"Miss Ye asked if it would be convenient for you to meet."

"You decide on a place and bring her over."

"This..." Secretary Ma was embarrassed. "She said she was in the coffee shop downstairs from the group, otherwise there would be no need to meet."

For a long time, there was no reply from the other party.

Secretary Ma waited, feeling a cold sweat breaking out. Damn it! His tone was too forceful, almost like he was forcing the emperor to abdicate. His fault was that he had gotten too carried away earlier. Serving the emperor is like serving a tiger; he should always be on guard.

Ha, Shen Yan suddenly smiled. His smile neutralized the coldness and seriousness of his facial features, and he became gentle and affectionate. "When to meet is also decided by her?"

Secretary Ma smiled and said, "Is ten o'clock tomorrow morning okay?"

Chen Di'an said, "I understand. Ask Ji Quan to adjust the already scheduled itinerary."

"Okay." Secretary Ma internally wiped his sweat. Perhaps Miss Ye was so comfortable with her boss that he could tolerate such an offense. After waiting for a while and receiving no further instructions, he prepared to leave.

"Wait a minute," Chen Yan stopped him and glanced at his phone, "Her contact information—"

"Oh, yes." She had almost forgotten that Ye Yuanyin had changed his phone number after the divorce and had completely lost contact. Secretary Ma couldn't help but remind her, "Aunt Yang said that Professor You invited Miss Ye to his villa in Beishan yesterday."

"I know." Aunt Yang had already tipped him off. Secretary Ma thought the boss was the boss, so calm and composed. As he was about to leave, he suddenly heard another sneer, "He's so good at taking advantage of loopholes. Is he born in the Year of the Dog?"

Well, it’s still sour after all.

*

That night, Ye Yuanyin opened the last package his mother had sent him before she passed away.

The box was empty, save for a crudely crafted amulet. The boxy lucky bag, when pulled up with a string, became a fan-shaped ingot. Untying the string revealed some insect repellent wormwood inside, its flavor long gone due to age.

Ye Yuanyin stood up, opened the window and looked out. The leaves outside were lush and green, a vibrant burst of emerald green hitting his face. The person he cherished was gone, and even the beautiful scenery was meaningless.

Outside the door, Qin Ling, who had something to ask of her, was still being attentive. "Ayin, what are you eating tomorrow morning? Just ask, and I'll buy you whatever you want."

Ye Yuanyin thought that if they met, she might not even be able to eat dinner tomorrow. Thinking of this, she unconsciously clenched the amulet in her hand.

*

Ji Quan had a gloomy face from the beginning and started scolding whoever he caught.

The assistants all stayed away, no one wanting to rush into this bad luck. Secretary Ma knew why she was angry. One person's love for another is like a cough, difficult to conceal. It is not something that can be controlled by effort.

Arriving at the coffee shop, Ye Yuanyin was sitting at a seat by the window, looking outside with his head tilted up. His slender neck and straight shoulders formed a beautiful arc. It was a beautiful picture, but it made people feel inexplicably sad - like being hanged before execution.

"Ms. Ye." Secretary Ma called her.

Ye Yuanyin turned his head and stood up politely.

Chen Yan's gaze cast a fine net over her. The lush green leaves outside the window reflected her fair, clear face, like spring water, like emerald jade sinking into milk, warm, soft, and bright. It was hard to understand how someone so quiet and reserved could so harmoniously blend the two qualities of austerity and brilliance.

Ye Yuanyin smiled at him and said frankly, "Sitting here and looking up at the Shen's building, I have a deeper understanding of the gap between us. I used to be unconvinced when others said I was marrying above my station, but now I fully understand."

If a person tries to make an objective and fair evaluation of another person, it means that she is at least trying to turn off the emotional filter and trying her best to separate and cut off the lives that the two people once briefly overlapped.

Chen Yan Anwei frowned invisibly.

Ye Yuan explained the purpose of his trip to him in a businesslike manner, "Qinling... Oh, that's the person I met in Jiutao Village a few days ago. He's my family."

She briefly explained the whole story. "He was certainly wrong in this matter, and we're willing to accept the penalty. We're deeply sorry for the losses inflicted on the consumers, and we'll compensate them, but I don't think it's necessary to impose a criminal penalty. If possible, could you ask the supermarket to be more flexible?"

Yan Jing felt that the woman before him was strange, so strange that she was completely different from the person in his mind. "It's really unreasonable. I will tell you."

"Thank you." Ye Yuanyin breathed a sigh of relief, her earlier awkwardness leaving her. She turned around and handed over the tea gift box she had prepared long ago, saying, "This is the new tea harvested from Jiutao Village this year. It's a small token of our appreciation. Please don't despise it."

It was irritating for him to hear her keep saying "we". When did she and another man become "we"? If they were "we", then what were he and her?

He took the exquisite square wooden box with an expressionless face. Originally, Ye Yuanyin held the bottom up before handing it to him, but when Chen Yanan took it, he inertia moved it from the bottom. When their hands touched, he felt a greasy feeling in his palms.

She quickly pulled her hand away.

He looked down and saw that she was wearing a small square watch on her slender left wrist, with a black leather strap, simple and elegant. But the silver bracelet she always wore was gone. Sediment An was puzzled, wondering how could she take something off so easily that she had worn it since she was a child? He asked, "Where's your bracelet?"

It wouldn't have mattered if he didn't mention it, but once he asked, she froze.

Blood gushed out, her pulse pounded like a drum, and then it felt like a fire burned across her face, leaving no grass behind. That bracelet, in the Shen family mansion, had been crushed and deformed by her uncle's restraints as she struggled mightily, and it had been lost since it fell.

His throat seemed to be blocked by the bubbles from the carbonated drink. Ye Yuanyin's dark eyes were filled with endless shame and anger, and even his voice was awkward. "Lost it."

She turned and was about to leave, but Chen Di'an quickly grabbed her shoulders and pulled her back, "Yin Yin."

"Don't touch me!" Ye Yuanyin shook his hand away in response to the pressure. Her pretty face turned as cold as an ice knife and frost sword. She emphasized again, "Don't touch me."

Her expression finally lost its coldness and numbness, instead becoming rosy and radiant with anger. Only then did Shen Yan feel that the familiar person he once knew had returned a little. But the current situation was even more confusing than when he had just taken over the Shen Corporation. "You—what's wrong with you?"

"Mr. Shen, you and I divorced three years ago. 'Divorce' means that we have no relationship at all, legally or emotionally. 'No relationship' means that if I owe you a favor today, you can ask me to do something in return tomorrow, or you can take back the help you just gave me."

Sediment An asked the question that had been on his mind for a long time, "Is it a grave sin for me to agree to a divorce?"

At the time, he was under attack from all sides, and the family business was on the verge of collapse. To save the Shen family, he had no choice but to compromise the interests of others. Many people, led by his fourth uncle and aunt, held a grudge against him, and even his grandparents felt he had gone too far. Despite being accused of being ruthless, Dian Jing'an dismantled and then reassembled the entire Shen family.

By the time he returned, her mother had already passed away a week ago, and she was so grief-stricken that she refused to eat, drink, or sleep. Sediment An had saved the company, but he couldn't help her, who was now shattered. If you can't help someone when they need you most, there's no point in ever helping them again.

He asked her, "Is there anything I can do for you now?"

Ye Yuanyin said calmly, "Let's get a divorce. Let me become the person my mother wants me to be."

Her determination was not in her words, but in her bones. Sediment agreed.

The two had signed an agreement before their marriage, stating that they had no financial disputes, no marriage facts, and no strong emotional entanglements. Separation was a matter of course and a matter of public expectation.

However, he had overlooked one thing. After knowing each other for five years and being married for nearly a year, he finally fell in love, but the relationship came to an abrupt end. Like an animal awakened from hibernation, his manic-depressive episodes were unusually long and persistent.

Still unwilling to give up, Chen Yan asked her, "Divorcing me, even just once, have you ever regretted it?"

Ye Yuanyin answered irrelevantly, "I hate your arrogance."

——This arrogance that never takes others seriously and is always self-righteous.

"Three years ago, if you wanted a divorce, I had to agree to it. In Jiutao Village, you could interpret me however you wanted. Today, you said we'd meet wherever you wanted. Aren't you arrogant?"

Ye Yuanyin looked at him, tired of the ups and downs of emotions he would have when facing him. "You can refuse."

If he could refuse, why would he show up here? Was he a busybody? "I don't have a habit of regretting what I promised."

"Is there anything I can do for you?"

Chen Chen'an's emotions were in turmoil, and he finally said coldly: "I'll let you know when I think of it."