Chapter 153: As Long as the Hoe is Swung Well

"You're out of your mind!" Chen Ruowen shoved Gao Tang away violently. Listening to the busy tone coming from the receiver, a look of panic flashed across her face. "Why on earth would you intentionally ask a question like that while I was still on the phone with Bai Jinyan?!"

"On the phone?" Gao Tang asked, looking genuinely perplexed. "Didn't you just hang up a moment ago?"

Gritting her teeth, Chen Ruowen pointed furiously at her phone screen. "I didn't hang up! I was sending my location!"

"Oh, my apologies. I thought you were done."

Chen Ruowen glared daggers at him, too pressed for time to argue further. She hastily redialed the number, only to be met by a cold, mechanical female voice monotonously repeating, "Sorry, the subscriber you have dialed is powered off."

*Crack!*

Enraged, Chen Ruowen slammed her phone to the floor, shattering it into pieces.

"...That was my phone you just smashed," Gao Tang reminded her with a speechless expression.

Chen Ruowen sneered. "Smashed your phone? Listen here, Gao, if you don't give me a reasonable explanation right now, Zenith and Vanguards are going to war tomorrow."

This time, Gao Tang was genuinely stunned.

He had known when he asked that question that Chen Ruowen would be furious, and he had already prepared a countermeasure. However, he had never anticipated her reaction to be quite this extreme.

Just because of a teasing remark, Chen Ruowen was ready to launch a corporate war against him?

Does this woman have any situational awareness at all? She was currently inside his house, wearing his family's clothes, sitting on his bed... and yet she was threatening to wage a business war against the Gao family?

Didn't she realize she was entirely within his grasp to be taken hostage?

She wasn't a brainless idiot. If she said something like that under these circumstances, it could only mean one thing... she truly cared deeply about Bai Jinyan.

Gao Tang lowered his gaze slightly, putting on an expression of naive innocence.

"I'm sorry. I genuinely thought you had already ended the call, which is why I asked a question I've been wanting to ask for a while."

Chen Ruowen continued to sneer.

Gao Tang spread his hands in a helpless gesture. "There's nothing I can do if you don't believe me... but objectively speaking, this isn't necessarily a bad thing."

Chen Ruowen stared at him in silence.

"Don't you like Bai Jinyan?" Gao Tang asked.

"What does my liking him have to do with you deliberately saying things that cause misunderstandings?!"

"Don't you want to know what his true attitude toward you is?"

Chen Ruowen fell silent once more.

During the final month of their volunteering stint, she had confessed her feelings to Bai Jinyan.

Yet Bai Jinyan had never given her a direct response.

He remained as gentle with her as ever, fulfilling every request and maintaining a temperament so mild that it was impossible to stay mad at him. The only anomaly was during those last few days, when a trace of inexplicable melancholy would occasionally shadow his eyes, for reasons completely unknown to her.

Bai Jinyan had always been mild-natured, which made Chen Ruowen deeply suspicious. Did he simply not like her at all, but refrained from saying so directly out of fear of ruining their childhood-friend dynamic?

After all... when that girl Du Yueyue had confessed to him back then, he hadn't given a direct rejection either!

Countless times, she had wanted to back him into a corner and force him to take a stand, or even threaten him into spelling everything out clearly.

Yet, every single time she recalled the deep, permanent scar on Bai Jinyan's arm, or the blood-soaked sight of him stepping in without a moment's hesitation to block a knife for her, she could never bring herself to be harsh.

She was just so desperate to know what was going on inside Bai Jinyan's head.

Observing her expression, Gao Tang let out a silent sigh inwardly.

"Even though what I said just now wasn't intentional, it happens to be the perfect way to test whether Bai Jinyan truly cares about you."

Chen Ruowen seemed to have calmed down somewhat, though she continued to fixate a chilling glare on him.

Continuing his persuasive crusade, Gao Tang prompted, "Think about it. If you heard someone else ask Bai Jinyan a question like that, you'd fly into a rage, wouldn't you? By the same token, if Bai Jinyan cares about you, he's bound to react when he hears what I said. He'll get angry, or even lose his temper with you... At the absolute bare minimum, he'd question you about it, right?"

"And what if he doesn't?" Chen Ruowen challenged.

"If he doesn't even get angry... that would prove he completely doesn't care about you at all!"

Gao Tang left his thought uncompleted.

Whether someone got angry or demanded an explanation, there were always two distinct possibilities. It could be just as he claimed—that the other person simply didn't care. Or... it could mean they cared far too deeply, to the extent that they were too terrified to even ask, dreading whatever unwanted truth they might uncover.

Gao Tang was certain that Bai Jinyan fell into the latter category.

Abandoning any further mention of a corporate war, Chen Ruowen slowly climbed off the bed, slipped into her slippers, and walked out the door and down the stairs, preparing to wait for Bai Jinyan in the living room.

In all these years, she had never once witnessed Bai Jinyan lose his temper. But just as Gao Tang had pointed out, if he genuinely cared about her, he would at least... at the very least, ask what those words were supposed to mean, wouldn't he?

Gao Tang followed closely behind her down the stairs.

The Gao family villa was far from empty. Aside from the domestic staff, a refined, impeccably groomed middle-aged woman was seated in the living room. The moment she spotted Chen Ruowen, she hurried over with enthusiastic warmth.

"Why are you out of bed? Are you still feeling dizzy? Is your body feeling a bit better?"

Still harboring lingering anger and utterly disoriented by the situation, Chen Ruowen instinctively frowned upon seeing a stranger approach her with such solicitous concern.

Gao Tang quickly stepped forward to intercept Chen Ruowen, flashing a reassuring smile at the middle-aged woman.

"Mom, you're bombarding her with questions the second you walk over. You're going to scare her." Turning back to Chen Ruowen, he took the initiative to make introductions. "This is my mom, Tang Yi. She rushed over the moment she heard I played the hero saving a damsel in distress, terrified I might take advantage of you. Oh, and the clothes you're wearing were bought by her, too."

Once finished, Gao Tang circled around behind Chen Ruowen. Coming close enough to whisper, he lowered his voice to a pitch only the two of them could hear.

"My mom is just showing genuine concern, no ulterior motives. Please don't make things awkward for her because of me. Do me a favor, alright?"

Out of sight, he pressed his palms together and bowed twice toward Chen Ruowen with a pleading expression.

Having never witnessed Gao Tang humble himself like this before, Chen Ruowen, despite her prickly temper, lacked the habit of venting her frustrations on innocent bystanders.

And so, though her tone remained somewhat stiff, she managed a polite smile.

"Thank you for your concern, Aunt Tang. I'm feeling much better now."

Tang Yi bore a striking resemblance to Gao Tang; it was easy to tell she must have been an absolute beauty in her youth.

Furthermore, her gaze was clear and bright, immediately revealing a simple, innocent nature—someone who had clearly lived a sheltered life free from hardship.

"That's good, that's good." Tang Yi beamed as she gazed at Chen Ruowen, seemingly enamored with her for reasons unknown. "Such a pretty child. Tangtang showed me your photos and videos of you playing the piano—truly lovely. Just like Tangtang said, you're even prettier in person. Tangtang's room—"

"Mom!"

Gao Tang hastily cut off his own mother before she could expose any more of his embarrassing secrets.

Normally he wouldn't mind, but Chen Ruowen was currently fuming. If she found out his bedroom walls were plastered with pictures of her, who knew how much angrier she might get?

"Don't be so overwhelmingly enthusiastic. It's your first time meeting her; you'll scare her off."

Tang Yi shot Gao Tang a bewildered look, reluctantly biting her tongue before reaching out to take one of Chen Ruowen's hands in hers.

"Ruowen, you must come over and play at our house often."

Chen Ruowen felt entirely baffled by Tang Yi's inexplicable familiarity. Fortunately, before she could dwell on it too deeply, one of the Gao family servants approached to report.

"Madam, Young Master, there is a gentleman outside with the surname Bai, saying he is here to see Miss Chen."

Bai Jinyan had finally arrived.

Bai Jinyan had come after all.

Without wasting even a single second, Chen Ruowen offered a polite farewell to Tang Yi, declining the older woman's offer to see her out, and eagerly made her way outside following the servant's directions.