Hades, the Urban Legend

Chapter 545: Extraordinary Significance

It didn't take long for the international call to connect. Given that it was mealtime in China, Yang Chen didn't expect An Xin to be asleep.

Sure enough, after just two rings, the call was answered by An Xin's soft and slightly surprised voice, "Honey, why are you calling me suddenly? You don't usually do this. Could it be that you miss me?"

"You've run into trouble and didn't call to tell me, so I had to call you," Yang Chen said, feeling a bit annoyed. It was embarrassing to only learn about his woman's troubles through his friends.

An Xin fell silent on the other end, and after a long pause, she said softly, "I thought I could handle it by the time you came back, so I didn't plan to tell you right away."

"Hmph, you probably didn't intend to tell me at all," Yang Chen could guess her little trick. "Stop beating around the bush and tell me what's going on."

An Xin hesitated for a while, clearly struggling on the other end of the line. Eventually, fearing to make Yang Chen angrier, she reluctantly explained the situation.

After hearing her out, Yang Chen's face darkened slightly. He hung up and turned to Edward. "Prepare a plane. I need it as soon as possible."

"Are you heading back to China early?" Edward asked with a smile.

Yang Chen nodded. But before that, he had to go to the Louvre to inform Lin Ruoxi. As he stood up, he remembered something and told Edward, "When Catherine wakes up, tell her to take care of Ron's people. Ron is getting old and can't handle everything himself anymore."

Edward nodded understandingly. "Don't worry. Even if Aunt Catherine doesn't help, the rest of us will take care of your garden."

About half an hour later, Yang Chen arrived at the banquet hall in the Louvre. By this time, Lin Ruoxi should have already come out from the exhibition area.

Navigating through the crowd of mingling men and women, Yang Chen took a while to find Lin Ruoxi sitting quietly in a corner.

Dressed in a white spaghetti strap pleated chiffon dress, Lin Ruoxi sat alone on a leather chair, a delicate pearl necklace hanging around her neck. Her unadorned, beautiful face was expressionless and so cold that people who might have wanted to approach her for a chat stayed away, leaving a space around her.

Holding a glass of champagne, she hadn't taken more than a sip and was staring into the crowd, seemingly lost in thought.

Yang Chen walked up to her and stood still. Only then did Lin Ruoxi slowly turn her head to look at him.

Seeing that it was Yang Chen, her expression and demeanor remained unchanged, as if she were looking at a stranger. This pained Yang Chen's heart; he couldn't understand what was going on.

"Is something the matter?" Lin Ruoxi asked in a clear voice.

Her tone, completely that of a stranger, made Yang Chen want to drag her out and demand an explanation. But thinking of An Xin's troubles back in Zhonghai, he knew it had to wait. "I need to return to Zhonghai ahead of schedule."

Lin Ruoxi merely nodded without any reaction. "Understood."

Feeling repressed, Yang Chen added, "An Xin has encountered some trouble. I'm worried something might happen if I delay."

"Understood," Lin Ruoxi repeated the same three words, as if nothing else concerned her.

Yang Chen clenched his fist. At this moment, Lin Ruoxi was even colder than when he first met her. She seemed like a porcelain doll devoid of human emotions, an ice sculpture that not only made one feel distressed but also so aloof it was as if she couldn't communicate.

The colder Lin Ruoxi was, the more fearful Yang Chen became. Yet the woman had no intention of communicating with him, and he had no idea how to break through. After a long silence, Yang Chen shook his head and gave a bitter smile, "Then I'll leave first."

"Mm," Lin Ruoxi responded with a single syllable, without a hint of inquiry, as if that was enough to see Yang Chen off.

Yang Chen didn't linger any longer, turned around, and strode out of the banquet hall.

It wasn't until Yang Chen's figure disappeared into the crowd that Lin Ruoxi lifted her head, gazing in the direction he had left, her eyes rippling with a hint of emotion.

In Zhonghai, in the director's office of Yulei Entertainment Company, An Xin, dressed in a black women's blazer and a light coffee-colored pleated skirt, walked into the office carrying a white bag. She maintained a sweet smile as she entered the company, but it vanished as soon as she stepped inside her office. She leaned weakly against the office door and closed her eyes for a moment.

An Xin had been troubled for days, and what pained her even more was that it was all caused by herself.

When Yulei Star was being organized, she had begged Yang Chen to let her participate as a host out of preference and competitiveness. Although she achieved her goal and the results were good, with the radio station even eagerly inviting her to become a regular, she was not an ordinary girl who could keep appearing on a radio station.

She thought that once Yulei Star was over, her hosting career would be too. However, because she appeared on television a few times, she attracted the attention of someone she didn't want to. Lu Min, the young high-ranking official of Zhonghai City's Radio and Television Bureau, had taken a liking to her. Once she stepped down from Yulei Star, he began his relentless pursuit.

In the past, when the An family was still a second-tier family in Zhonghai, An Xin had many pursuers. But with the Liu family betrothed to her, many backed off. After the An family became the second-largest family in Zhonghai, few dared to pursue her, especially since her father, An Zaihuan, was eager to curry favor with Yang Chen and doted on her. Any ordinary suitor would be swiftly dismissed without reason.

But Lu Min was different. According to An Zaihuan, the man had significant backing. Without a powerful background, how could a thirty-one-year-old man become the director of a bureau directly under the municipal government of a direct-controlled municipality? He was a genuine prefectural-level official and one with control over information and media channels!

In a country like Yan Xia, where the government held absolute dominance, controlling the media and public opinion meant controlling half the society's direction. Many who struggled in officialdom until their fifties or sixties rarely reached the level of a prefectural-level official, let alone a thirty-one-year-old man.

According to some people familiar with Lu Min, he had been transferred to Zhonghai less than a year ago, but his actual base of influence was in the capital, Yandu. In Yandu, even a second-tier family could rival a top-tier family in Zhonghai. Everyone there had a high-ranking official as their backing. It might even involve the true power holders of Yanxia, far beyond what a business family like the An family could touch.

Because of this uncertainty about Lu Min's background, An Zaihuan was extremely fearful and hoped his daughter An Xin would inform Yang Chen about the situation, letting Yang Chen decide what An Xin should do. In other words, An Zaihuan wanted his daughter to align with whoever was stronger, not wanting to offend either side.

This situation greatly angered An Xin. Ever since Yang Chen took care of her, and the Rothschild family invested in the An family, An Zaihuan's status had risen significantly, and he had been very attentive to An Xin. Regardless of his primary intentions, An Xin had at least felt the warmth of being cared for by family.

Unexpectedly, as soon as a powerful figure started to harass her, her father, who had just started to improve his image, immediately became a coward, not daring to address his daughter's issue and instead telling her to find Yang Chen. He didn't even dare to take a stance!

As a result, An Xin felt completely exposed and unprotected, having to avoid Lu Min alone and reject him with various excuses. An Zaihuan told her to call Yang Chen, but An Xin hesitated.

It wasn't that she doubted Yang Chen would stand up for her. Though she didn't know Yang Chen's exact identity, anyone respected by the Rothschild family couldn't be simple. The problem was that Yanxia was different from other countries. Even the Rothschild family only invested and did not dare to actually operate industries, indicating that no matter how powerful foreign forces were, they had to bow to the Yanxia government.

If Lu Min really had extraordinary backing and Yang Chen offended him for her sake, causing unavoidable trouble, how could An Xin forgive herself? Therefore, she procrastinated, hoping Lu Min would lose interest if she kept refusing him.

Unexpectedly, Yang Chen, who was far away in Europe, found out about her situation. An Xin didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Hearing Yang Chen's serious tone, she couldn't hide the truth and briefly explained the situation.

"I wonder if he will be angry," An Xin muttered to herself, sighed, and walked to Yang Chen's desk to deal with some documents brought by Wang Jie and the others.

However, before she could settle in, there was a knock on the office door.

"Come in," An Xin said, trying to sound energetic.

The door opened, and a man in an Armani suit with well-tailored trousers walked in. His red and black tie exuded a successful aura. He had a clean-shaven face, a youthful yet mature appearance, gold-rimmed glasses, and was about 1.8 meters tall.

"Miss An, it's truly a special morning to come and see you at your workplace," the man said with a smile.

An Xin's face turned pale, and she bit her thin lips. She stood up, walked to the front of the desk, and said, "Lu Min, what exactly do you want? I've already told you I won't agree to your demands."