Chapter 17

Yang Chen made it back to the dragon villa and entered the house.

When he entered, he saw Ruoxi sitting on the couch watching a Korean drama.

Wang Ma was in the kitchen, preparing dinner.

Yang Chen then made his way to the couch and sat next to Ruoxi while waiting for dinner.

Ruoxi didn't distance herself from Yang Chen, as she was too busy thinking 'Should I ask him about his day...well I did promise myself, I would be nicer to him.'

"So Yang Chen, how was your day?"

"It was really good, what about you?" Yang Chen said smiling, as he thought of his day with Rose before asking Ruoxi.

Ruoxi didn't respond as she saw Yang Chen's smile and thought 'What could've happened today, that made him smile like this. I wonder, what will it feel like if he were to smile like this, at me.'

Ruoxi then thought about yesterday's matter with Lin Kun and how he smiled warmly at her while gently lifting her chin.

Ruoxi then unconsciously put her hand on her chin, precisely where Yang Chen had held her.

Yang Chen not seeing Ruoxi reply, asked confused.

"Ruoxi?"

"Huh?! Oh yeah, I had a good day as well." Ruoxi said while blushing.

"Dinner's ready!" Wang ma said as she came out of the kitchen.

Yang Chen and Ruoxi then went to the dining table to eat, while the latter was still slightly blushing.

While they were eating dinner, Ruoxi looked at Wang Ma and said. "Wang Ma, don't forget we have to go 'there', after dinner."

Wang Ma was about to reply but then looked at Yang Chen and had an idea.

"Young Miss, why don't you bring along Young Master with you?"

Ruoxi was surprised at what Wang Ma had just suggested before she answered a little hesitant.

"But..."

"C'mon Young Miss, now that there's a man in the house to accompany you, you can bring more books while exchanging topics. Also, it's pretty late right now and I'll be more at ease with Young Master protecting you." Wang Ma said trying to persuade Ruoxi.

Yang Chen who was eating suddenly looked at Wang Ma and asked.

"Book store?"

"Yes. Young Master, won't you be a dear and accompany Young Miss to Book City, to buy some books?" Wang Ma asked with a caring smile.

"Well, I'm not busy right now, so sure." Yang Chen said before continuing to eat his dinner.

"See, Young Miss even Young Master agreed to accompany you, so there's no need for me to go." Wang Ma said with a smile.

"...Fine, we'll go together." Ruoxi finally agreed after a little hesitation.

Wang Ma just kept grinning while thinking 'I'm doing this for you, Young Miss.'

After about 20 minutes, they all finished dinner, and Ruoxi said to Yang Chen in a monotonous tone, although she was very nervous inside.

"We'll take my car."

Yang Chen didn't respond as he just followed her, to her car and got in.

As they were on the road it was strangely quiet while in Ruoxi's thoughts, it was anything but quiet.

'C'mon Ruoxi think! I need something to break the ice. What do guys like him, even like to talk about anyway?'

As Ruoxi was having a war of questions inside her mind, Yang Chen suddenly asked.

"So, is reading one of your hobbies?"

Ruoxi caught a little off guard since she didn't think Yang Chen would be the one to start the conversation but still replied.

"I actually like collecting all kinds of books. Most of the books I get, don't have to be read since there mainly reference materials."

"How about you, do you have any hobbies?" This time Ruoxi asked Yang Chen as she wanted to keep the conversation going.

Yang Chen thought for a moment, trying to think if he had any hobbies before replying. "Nope, none that I can think of."

"C'mon, there must be an activity you like doing?" Ruoxi said, not buying what Yang Chen had said.

"Well, I did use to play multiple music-related instruments before." Yang Chen said with a nonchalant expression.

Ruoxi was shocked when she heard this before she narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "Are you sure, you're not just boasting?"

"And, why would I need to boast?" Yang Chen said with a bored expression.

"Fine, if you're not trying to boast, then I will buy a piano this week and you'll have to play it." Said Ruoxi, as she tried to bait him in.

"...I can't." Yang Chen said in a low voice then looked at the side window, just staring at the street, full of lights. He was remembering those painful memories, making the atmosphere around him glum for a few seconds before he threw those thoughts out of his head.

"I knew you were just boasting!" Ruoxi said as the corner of her lip lifted up into a victory smirk.

Ruoxi hearing Yang Chen not responding looked at his direction and when she did, her smirk instantly vanished.

Ruoxi's heart ached, as she looked at the dejected Yang Chen before he regained his composure and thought 'Why did he look so sad right now?"

The rest of the car ride was spent in silence as nobody chose to say anything.

The duo finally made it to Book City and entered the large building.

While Ruoxi was shopping for books, she was still a bit distracted as she kept remembering Yang Chen's dejected look back in the car.

Yang Chen just stayed quiet as he was carrying a basket full of books for Ruoxi.

While Ruoxi was looking for more books, Yang Chen saw a blue-covered book with no title, on the shelf in front of him.

Yang Chen then placed the basket of books on the floor and looked at the blue-covered book.

Yang Chen found it quite weird that this book didn't have a title and the others around it did, so he grabbed the book and opened it.

Yang Chen turned to a random page and read the context of the page in his mind.

When he did, Yang Chen was a bit surprised before he chuckled in his mind. 'Heh, how did an e.r.o.t.i.c book, land in the fashion and design section. Somebody must've accidentally returned the book to the wrong bookshelf.'

"What book is that? I don't see the title, so what's it about?

"You don't want to know." Replied Yang Chen as he closed the book.

Ruoxi frowned a bit and asked "What do you mean? Just read it out loud so I'll know what's it about."

Yang Chen didn't read it out loud as he just gave the book to Ruoxi.

Ruoxi was a bit confused as to why Yang Chen didn't read it out loud before she opened the book to a random page and read it in her mind.

When Ruoxi read the context of the page, she deeply blushed up to her ears before quickly closing the book.

Suddenly Yang Chen said in a teasing a voice while smiling "What's wrong? How come you don't want to read the book out loud?"

"You..." Ruoxi pointed at Yang Chen while madly blushing and clenching her teeth.

"I'm ignoring you! Hmph!" Said Ruoxi before she crossed her arms and looked away while still blushing.

"Ah, isn't it good to be so young."

Surprised by the voice, Ruoxi then looked at the old man in confusion and asked.

"You are..."

"Oh sorry for interrupting, you can call me Old Zhao. I was finding books to read to my wife when I overheard you, conversing with each other. It made me reminisce about my past with my wife." Old Zhao explained.

"Wife?" Ruoxi asked confused.

Old Zhao just pointed at an old lady in a wheelchair at the other end of the bookshelf.

"She's blind and could no longer read so I bring her here every day and read to her." Old Zhao said with a loving smile when he was talking about his wife.

"Well excuse me, since I have to get back to my wife." Old Zhao said before turning to Yang Chen.

"Oh yeah, young lad?"

"Yes?" Yang Chen replied.

"You're lucky to have a beautiful girl by your side. She's a keeper." Old Zhao said as he patted Yang Chen's shoulder while whispering the last part.

Yang Chen didn't respond as he just watched Old Zhao make it back to his wife and start reading to her.

Ruoxi was lost in thought as she kept staring at the old couple.

"Ruoxi?" Yang Chen suddenly called Ruoxi.

"Hmm?" Ruoxi replied, as she still kept looking at Old Zhao and his wife.

"Are you still going to look for more books?" Yang Chen asked.

Ruoxi then looked at Yang Chen and said in a gentle tone. "You should head down to the cashier and wait while I get two more books."

Yang Chen nodded and picked up the basket of books and headed downstairs to the cashier.

When Yang Chen was downstairs, he didn't have to wait long, as Ruoxi was already heading to him while holding two books tightly as if she's trying to hide them.

Ruoxi paid for her books and they both headed back to the car.

While Yang Chen was loading the books in the trunk, Ruoxi was looking at Yang Chen's back and thought as she placed her hand on her c.h.e.s.t. 'Why did it hurt, when I saw Yang Chen look so sad?'

'Was it because of me, that he became dejected when I brought up the piano?' When Ruoxi thought of this, her c.h.e.s.t ached even more as she was overrun by guilt.

Yang Chen who was done loading in the books looked back at Ruoxi who had a pained expression, and asked with a bit of worry.

"Ruoxi, what's wrong?"

Ruoxi hearing Yang Chen's worry couldn't look at him so she turned the other way and said in a low voice.

"I'm sorry...Yang Chen."

"What do you mean?" Yang Chen asked confused.

"Earlier...when we were in the car, you looked...so sad when I mention to you, to play the piano." Replied Ruoxi as she couldn't look at Yang Chen in the eyes.

"Sigh..." Yang Chen sighed, as he finally understood what Ruoxi meant.

Ruoxi who wasn't looking at Yang Chen suddenly felt a warm hand on top of her head. Ruoxi then looked at Yang Chen who had a smile on his face.

"It's ok, there's no need to think about that now." Yang Chen said in a gentle tone as he kept patting Ruoxi's head.

Ruoxi's c.h.e.s.t was beating fast as she felt Yang Chen's warm touch and heard his gentle words.

After Yang Chen stopped patting Ruoxi's head, he said while smiling a bit.

"Let's go home."

Ruoxi who had just came back to reality, looked back, and nodded happily while blushing.

"Mn."

Yang Chen who was about to enter the car looked at the two extra books that were in the basket, so he went to go put them in the trunk.

When Yang Chen saw the titles in the books he froze before he wearily smiled.

The titles of the book were 'How to be a good wife and loving mother' and 'How to communicate with your husband.'

Ruoxi who saw Yang Chen's reaction was confused before she looked to the source and when she did, she froze.

After a few minutes, Ruoxi had a poker face and went to go pick up the books calmly before getting inside her car.

Yang Chen also got inside the car as he didn't idle any longer.

The drive to the dragon villa was quiet as nobody spoke.

When they made it back home, Wang Ma came to greet them outside.

When Ruoxi got off the car she didn't stop and just continued to make her way to her room.

"Young Miss?" Wang Ma asked confused before turning to Yang Chen.

Yang Chen just shrugged his shoulders and shook his head while smiling a bit.

(With Ruoxi)

When Ruoxi made it to her room, the first thing she did was jump on her bed and screamed into her pillow.

"Ahh! How embarrassing!"

Ruoxi was madly blushing in embarrassment to what occurred earlier as she had her face sunk into the pillow.

"I wonder what he thinks of me now?"