COLD CEO AND ARROGANT WIFE, VOLUME 4 - Season 7 Episode 54

Being the polite and good mannered baby that Raelle was, she greeted this Elder Yue while her eyes didn’t leave his face even for a second. If Cloe didn’t know any better, she’d have thought her Chief was trying to bore a hole into Elder Yue’s face.

While Minister Chen continued to talk endlessly, Raelle still attentively replied intermittently. Cloe didn’t know about Raelle, but she was definitely feeling a little embarrassed at how Minister Chen and his wife continued to praise Raelle so relentlessly. If she was praised so much, her head would already be in the clouds.

But then again, the one being praised was Raelle. She was always down to earth. Her feet were just glued to the ground but she could blow you off to space with her kicks. Oh no, with her sharp tongue!

It was quite clear to Cloe that Raelle wasn’t interested in this Elder Yue or his wife. But Raelle being Raelle couldn’t even walk away when elders were talking to her. And not only that, those lessons on manners wouldn’t allow her to be perfunctory either. Not like she had ever been a perfunctory person anyway.

“Maybe I should post a moment on WeChat tonight,” commented Raelle making Cloe choke on water.

Coughing, she apologized to the people around her and narrowed her eyes at Raelle, “Chief, what’s up?”

“Nothing, I just have the perfect hashtag in mind,” replied Raelle. “Just want to share it.”

“What is it?” she asked curiously.

“#the_night_I_have_to_deal_with_people_I’d_rather_not_see_for_life,” was Raelle answer.

“That feels more like the caption of the story,” said Cloe seriously.

“Is it? Then what’s the hashtag?” asked Raelle as if she was genuinely interested in figuring out the answer to that question.

“Forget it,” Cloe’s lips twitched. Why wasn’t she even surprised that her boss couldn’t figure out the difference between caption and hashtag? Yes, Raelle was tech savvy but she was a social media noob! A person who hardly even bothered checking the moments on her WeChat, how would she know the difference between the two? “But Chief, is tonight really that bad?”

“What do you think?” Raelle asked rhetorically.

Cloe couldn’t possibly answer that. No matter how she thought about it, she couldn’t really answer either way.

“Let me count it down for you,” Raelle being the generous boss decided to help her slow assistant. “Let’s start with Tom, Dick, and Harry.”

Cloe chuckled when she heard her still using those names instead of the real names of the ladies. She wondered what kind of color Ruan Meilin’s face be painted with if she got to know the nickname her boss chose for her.

“And then add in my biological parents,” added Raelle. “Tell me, do I look like I was dying to meet any of them?”

“No,” answered Cloe truthfully.

“Exactly!” responded Raelle. “I could have definitely lived without seeing any of them.” She took a pause and added, “And as if that wasn’t enough, now I even have to cordially greet Yue Shao and his wife, Fang Hua.”

Cloe’s brows knitted up when she heard the last sentence. “Chief, you know Elder Yue and his wife? How come they didn’t seem to know you?”

“They don’t need to know me,” said Raelle. “Isn’t it enough that I know that husband and wife?”

How could she not know that couple? Weren’t they the reason her family’s Yue Yue cried silently in the dark nights? Yes, they were none other than Yue Yue’s parents. Both biological parents!

It seemed people didn’t need to have stepparents to learn the evils of the world. Your own parents have the ability to break you and crumble you. At least, that’s what this pair of husband and wife did. From what she heard, they actually loved their younger daughter. At least, this Elder Yue used to excessively dote on her but it still didn’t make him a minute to throw away that daughter and forget her like she never existed.

Raelle’s eyes settled on Fang Hua who had her hand placed on her husband’s arm gently with a kind smile. This was the mother who gave birth to Yue Yue and yet for that step-daughter, she chose to give up on her own daughter.

Suddenly, she thought of how similar she and Yue Yue’s fate was.

But at the same time, it was different.

For instance, Yue Yue had grown up in love, care, and a very peaceful family. That had made her grow up as someone who heavily depended on the love, care, and protection that her family provided her. That’s why when that shelter of the family was taken from her all too suddenly, she almost couldn’t cope with the change.

But it was different for Raelle. She was abandoned from the very beginning. She never knew what her parents’ love, care, or even protection felt like. If she didn’t even know it, it can be said she had no point in missing it either.

So she wondered what was worse? Not having it from the beginning or losing it when you were all trustful and dependant on it?

“Cloe,” she called out.

“Yes?”

“What do you think hurts more? Not having something from the start or losing it when you’re all too into it?”

Cloe frowned at the question, “Chief, you’re smarter than me. You’d understand it better.”

“Maybe I just want to hear what you have to say about it?”

Cloe nodded her head and gave her honest opinion, “It’s like this. When you don’t have it, you yearn for it. But that yearning is still bearable. However, once you had the taste of something and then you’re asked to leave it, that’s brutal. It’s like someone is trying to tear down a piece of your soul, heart, and even flesh. It hurts.” She acted like she was actually going through this agony right now. But seeing Raelle’s bland reaction, she straightened up and continued, “Let’s take an example. If you have never drunk alcohol, you’d wanna have a taste of it. However, it wouldn’t be to the point of hallucinating and losing control. But once you get intoxicated with that alcohol, and start depending on it, that’s where the hell begins. Because you have already given the reins of your life to alcohol. Once an alcoholic is asked to stop drinking, it’s like asking for their life.”

“Your example is… something,” that was the only thing Raelle managed to say.

“Your assistant is funny.”

Raelle looked around and added, “And here comes another addition to my list of people I can live without seeing.”

Zhai Kuijun’s lips twitched when he heard her say that right to his face. This young lady really didn’t know how to hide her thoughts.

“Who gave you the entry in here?” asked Raelle.

Zhai Kuijun raised his brows at her, “Really? I believe you met my parents here. And you’re still asking why I am here? I am sure you even met your father here. But you just have to ask me that question?”

“Granduncle and Grandaunt Zhai are reputable and respectable people,” said Raelle.

“And me?” Zhai Kuijun pointed at himself. “What about me? If they are reputable and respectable, what am I?”

“You…” Raelle thought long and hard before saying, “I’m not sure. I don’t think we are familiar enough.” She realized something and added, “That just reminded me, I only look at you as Yanjun’s father, when did we get so close that you’re talking so casually to me?”

It only then did Zhai Kuijun also realized that he was actually talking very casually to her. So strange!

“It must be because of your best friend,” he muttered.

“Because of Hyson?” asked Raelle. “Why? Just because he helped you once, you think because of that you got closer to me as well?”

“Oh, you know about that?” Zhai Kuijun looked surprised.

“There is nothing about my best friend that I don’t know about,” she replied. “By the way, aren’t you gonna go and greet your father and mother-in-law?”

Zhai Kuijun also noticed the Yue couple in the crowd but just shrugged, “I don’t think they’d wanna see me right now?”

“Why? Did Mr. Zhai commit a grave sin?”

“If getting a divorce from their daughter is considered a sin, then yes, your honor, I’m a sinner!”

Seeing him acting like this, she was suddenly reminded of Hyson’s dramatic antics. Oh boy! It seems the apple really doesn’t fall far from the tree. And here she thought this Zhai was normal but clearly, she was mistaken.

She suddenly caught on to the key point in his words and asked, “You got divorced?”

Zhai Kuijun grinned at her, “Yes. Kid, I really seem to like you. It’s so comfortable talking to you.”

“Maybe the grief of divorce got to your head. You’re talking nonsense now!”

Zhai Kuijun chuckled, “It has been years since I last talked nonsense without a care in the world. I feel so relieved to be back.”

“Where are you back from?”

“From the hell called marriage!”