Chapter 66 Keeping at a Distance

"Slap!" A sharp, ringing blow landed across Jiang Yang's face, delivered by Ruolan.

Just moments before, she had been crying, terrified that something terribly wrong had happened to his brain, even wondering if he might die. She had never expected such a dramatic twist just minutes later: he had taken sick leave simply to secretly rendezvous with Xia Bingbing.

It wasn't that she couldn't tolerate him seeing other women. In fact, she had already spent a full half-year watching him date other girls.

Even during the period when Xia Bingbing lived with him, she had monitored them daily through the more than twenty security cameras installed in the rooms. No one could possibly imagine what a torturous experience that had been.

But things were different now. She had long since regarded Jiang Yang as her husband, and what she found utterly intolerable was that he had deliberately fabricated a lie to deceive her while going off to see another woman.

Wiping away her tears, she turned her back on them both without a word, stepped into the elevator, and departed in a flurry.

Watching Ruolan leave, Xia Bingbing angrily tossed the CT scan onto a chair. She, too, raised a hand, wanting to follow Ruolan's example and slap Jiang Yang.

Yet her hand froze in mid-air, unable to come down. This was the man she had loved for so many years, from their university days right up to the present; she simply couldn't bring herself to strike him, not even enough to cause him the slightest pain.

Tears welled up in her eyes. This was hardly the first time she had witnessed Jiang Yang with another girl.

Previously, it had been his young aunt, Liang Xiaoqing, who stood between them; today, it was this woman who had materialized out of nowhere.

In the end, her hand refused to fall. Stamping her foot in petulant vexation, she scolded, "Senior Brother, you've gone too far!"

With that, she spun around and left, leaving Jiang Yang standing alone in the wind, utterly bewildered.

As it happened, the doctor in the consulting room caught sight of the CT scan resting on the chair near Jiang Yang. He called out loudly, "Young man, while there are no patients waiting right now, bring the scan inside and let me check if there's actually something wrong with your brain."

That remark completely shattered Jiang Yang's psychological defenses. *I really do have something wrong with my brain, coming up with such a pathetic idea! Great, now I've managed to offend both women!*

With things having escalated to this point, keeping up the act of being sick was impossible. That afternoon, Jiang Yang simply brazened it out and returned to the office, hoping to find an opportunity to apologize to Ruolan.

***

Back at the office, during the lunch break, Chen Hao seized the chance to slip into Jiang Yang's office. Leaning in close, he whispered, "Hey, buddy, I saw you actually took my advice and called in sick today? General Manager Wang didn't come in this morning either—did the two of you make up?"

Jiang Yang's mouth twitched. "Your advice was brilliant. Don't ever offer any again."

Chen Hao widened his small eyes in disbelief. "No way! Look, as soon as you got sick, she rushed right over to you. Doesn't that mean she cares about you?"

Jiang Yang pinched the bridge of his nose, his expression gloomy. "Actually, I can't even blame you. If anything, blame our bad luck today—Mars must have collided with Earth."

"Good grief! You took sick leave just to hook up with another chick? At least pick a different time!"

"I didn't take leave to hook up with anyone! Xia Bingbing just happened to show up on her own accord."

"Oh, it's her. Well, I can understand that. She lived with you for two whole months; if anything was going to happen between you two, it would have happened ages ago. Why wait until now?"

"If you understand, that's fantastic. Hurry up and come with me to explain things to her, seeing as you're the mastermind behind this rotten idea."

Chen Hao shrank back, pulling his head into his shoulders. "No way am I going to explain anything for you. What if General Manager Wang takes all her anger out on me?"

While they were talking, a knock sounded at the door. Both men looked up simultaneously, only to see Wang Ruolan standing in the doorway, staring at them with an icy gaze.

They had forgotten to close the door while talking, and there was no telling how much of their conversation she had overheard.

Drawing his neck in, Chen Hao muttered, "I've still got a design draft to finish this afternoon, I'm going back out." With his head down, he scurried out of the office through the side.

Ruolan folded her arms across her chest. The gentleness she had worn that morning was entirely gone from her lovely face, replaced by a frost-like chill. "Supervisor Jiang, come to my office. I have some arrangements to discuss."

A sense of impending doom settled over Jiang Yang. He braced himself to face her wrath.

Entering her office, Jiang Yang immediately began, "Ruolan, listen to my explanation. I really didn't go looking for my junior sister on purpose this morning; she just happened to show up."

Leaning against her desk, Ruolan replied, "You don't need to explain anything to me. Like I said, which woman you choose to see is your private life and has nothing to do with me.

"However, taking unauthorized sick leave from work simply to go philandering—that's something I cannot let slide."

Jiang Yang frowned. "I already told you I wasn't taking leave to philander. Why won't you believe me?"

"All right, I don't want to hear another word about this. Later on, I'll have finance dock a month's salary from your pay as punishment."

"Dock whatever you like, as long as it makes you happy. But I think we need to talk. How on earth did you first come to know me? Can you tell me now?" Jiang Yang felt today was a golden opportunity to get things out in the open.

"Supervisor Jiang, I made myself very clear last time. We are merely colleagues now; don't dwell on what happened between us in the past. It's completely meaningless for our current work."

"Completely meaningless? Then why, the moment you heard I was sick, did you rush right over?" Jiang Yang stepped closer to her, forcing her to lean back slightly.

Meeting his gaze head-on, Ruolan retorted, "That was because I care about the physical health of the company's employees. Visiting a colleague—is that not allowed?"

Jiang Yang stepped closer still. Their faces were now so near that they could feel each other's familiar breath. Ruolan's breathing began to grow ragged, and a flush of crimson crept onto her cheeks.

In the past, they might have needed only two hours to resolve their mutual needs with a passionate, unrestrained encounter.

Instead, Ruolan shoved Jiang Yang away with both hands. "Supervisor Jiang, please show some respect. I am your boss, and we need to maintain a proper distance."

Jiang Yang reached out, grabbing her arm. "Maintain a distance? Then what did you say back at the hospital? That no matter what happened, you would never leave me?"

Jerked free from his grip, Ruolan stared at him coldly. "That was just me expressing concern for an employee. When an employee falls ill, the company cannot simply ignore it. Are you satisfied now?"

Jiang Yang was left speechless. He simply couldn't fathom this woman. Clearly, she loved him deeply; clearly, she wanted to be in his life, yet she insisted on maintaining this ambiguous, push-and-pull relationship with him. Why on earth was she doing this?

Furthermore, how she had come to know him remained a total blank in his memory, and she adamantly refused to tell him. This had become an enormous chasm between them.

Taking a deep breath, he said, "Fine, I understand. Thank you for your concern, General Manager Wang. I'll go back to work."

With that, he turned and prepared to leave.

"Hold on!" Ruolan called out, stopping him in his tracks.