Obsessive Pleasure - Chapter 12

“Mom wants you to come home for dinner tomorrow. She said you wouldn’t return her calls?” Chen Yang smiled at his half-brother. “So, here I am, running a little detour diplomacy.”

Chen Bin gave off a very different vibe from Chen Yang. He was young, vibrant, and bursting with energy in his field of expertise, often talking animatedly and speaking extremely fast.

Like a human peacock fanning his feathers, Chen Yang thought.

The peacock’s enthusiasm wilted under Chen Yang’s words. “She wants me to go on another blind date! No way! Plenty of people are almost thirty and unmarried. I’m not the only one!”

Chen Bin complained, “She’s got a perfectly good target right here in the family, so why doesn’t she nag you?”

Chen Yang dropped his smile. “Because she’s your mother.”

“But seriously, Bro, I’ve actually got my eye on someone lately. She’s what people call an Ice Queen, I guess. Super high scores in humor, empathy, IQ, and EQ. I first met her for work, and she acted like she couldn’t care less about me. I took that as a challenge. I know I can be a wicked smart-mouth, but this woman is absolutely bulletproof. She’s managed to handle every single unreasonable demand I’ve thrown at her! Yet, she maintains a permanently frosty attitude, like she’s set to negative thirty degrees.”

Chen Bin was complaining while steering Chen Yang toward the lounge.

Chen Yang was just about to mock him. Why bother chasing someone who makes you work when you have a flock of eager young girls throwing themselves at you? When Chen Bin suddenly dropped his voice and jabbed him with his elbow. “Bro, look, there she is! Our star consultant for the executive speaking course, Liang Yun.”

A rare flicker of surprise crossed Chen Yang’s face the moment he heard Liang Yun’s name come from Chen Bin’s mouth. But by the time he turned his face toward the lounge window, his expression was perfectly composed.

“Oh, really?” Chen Yang suppressed a laugh deep in his throat, careful of Chen Bin’s pride. “An Ice Queen, you say?”

The sight of her tear-filled, utterly pathetic eyes is something Chen Bin probably couldn’t even imagine.

But that’s fine. That expression isn’t meant for anyone else to see.

And when she’s angry, her face is quite expressive, too.

Chen Yang recalled the last time Liang Yun had slammed his car door shut and walked away.

A sub with that much fire… doesn’t she deserve a proper lesson?

“You’d better stick to talking about work with her,” Chen Yang patted Chen Bin’s shoulder. “And remember to call your mom back.”

He turned and walked toward the elevator.

“Hey, Bro, you rarely visit! Stick around for dinner before you go!” Chen Bin was momentarily torn between chasing the elevator and heading to the lounge.

“Not today. Next time. I’ll treat.” Chen Yang waved before the elevator doors closed.

Liang Yun was forced to endure a tour of the company’s tech exhibition hall, rooftop garden, and employee cafeteria, dragged along by Chen Bin. Lugging her heavy-as-sin commuter bag, her arm nearly broke.

Did this man take the wrong medication? she wondered darkly.

Just two days ago, he’d done everything possible to challenge her, and today he was being overwhelmingly and excessively attentive.

After politely declining Chen Bin’s dinner invitation three different ways, Liang Yun finally hit the down arrow for the underground parking garage.

Hoo—

As the elevator doors closed, she let out a long sigh of relief.

Liang Yun’s language services company had a good reputation in the industry, and to reach the position of Training Supervisor, she had accumulated substantial professional experience. She was especially adept at handling large corporate clients, seamlessly transitioning between the roles of educator and customer service professional, which was why the company VP valued her so highly.

Yet, being competent at a job does not equal enjoying self-fulfillment in that job. Every time she managed to maintain her composure and deal with her corporate superiors, her clients, and even students’ parents, Liang Yun had a momentary flicker of feeling like she would completely collapse.

But the social contract of adulthood doesn’t permit such reckless indulgence, not even in the release of emotion.

So, after a few brief seconds of internal turmoil, she instantly snapped back to normal, resuming the role of a well-regarded member of society.

Liang Yun spent those few seconds of emotional fluctuation alone in the elevator. By the time the doors opened, she had regained her composure.

She pressed her car’s unlock button. In the brief flash of the taillights, she illuminated a figure leaning against her silver Volkswagen Beetle.

— Short Scene (Also for Begging Pearls) —

Liang Yun: Master, Master, what day is it today?

Chen Yang: May 20th. Why?

Liang Yun: What’s special about May 20th? (pouts)

Chen Yang (Musingly): Hm, on May 20th, 1970, Mao Zedong issued the statement, “People of the world, unite and defeat the US aggressors and all their running dogs.”

Liang Yun (Looking like a subway grandpa squinting at a phone): Huh?

Chen Yang: Just messing with you, idiot! (Nodding toward the direction) Look at the bed in the bedroom. What is it?

Liang Yun (Opening the gift box): Yay! A Bracli pearl thong!!