Chapter 148: Refusing Cooperation

Bai Yongyuan's words left Zhao Fan in silence. First, he cornered him regarding the shopping mall partnership, and then smoothly transitioned to the beverage processing plant.

Having rejected the first proposal, refusing the second would make Zhao Fan appear ungrateful and unreasonable.

He had to admit that Bai Yongyuan was truly overflowing with "sincerity."

The corners of Zhao Fan's mouth curved up slightly as he replied, "It is my honor that the Patriarch of the Bai family wishes to cooperate with me, but unfortunately, Feiteng has no plans to venture into food-related projects."

It wasn't that he personally refused, but rather that Feiteng did not engage in such projects.

"I am very sorry that I cannot cooperate with Patriarch Bai."

"President Zhao is joking. Feiteng indeed does not handle related projects, but we are merely partnering. I assume President Zhao would not mind making a small investment in the middle and simply waiting to collect the returns."

Zhao Fan's lips twitched slightly. So they had essentially come to extract money from him. Well, too bad—he didn't have any spare cash on hand right now.

"I understand Patriarch Bai's meaning, but unfortunately, Feiteng has just gone through some turbulence. As for the investment you mentioned, I don't even have a single penny to spare."

The smile on Bai Yongyuan's face faded. "President Zhao, my Bai family is, after all, an established clan in Yangcheng. We came here with utmost sincerity to seek cooperation, yet you keep putting us off with one excuse after another. Is that really appropriate?"

He was practically spelling out that Zhao Fan was being ungrateful.

Zhao Fan sighed. "I know it's not appropriate to keep dodging, but given the current reality, my hands are truly tied."

Du Xinyan chimed in, "Feiteng Company has recently hired so many people. Do you really have zero intention of expanding?"

Zhao Fan sighed once more. "I do have thoughts of expansion, but the crucial point is that Feiteng's existing projects haven't even been fully sorted out yet. How could we possibly dare to branch out elsewhere?"

This Du Xinyan was truly laughable. Working at his company, she dared to blatantly side with outsiders.

This happened to be a good opportunity to teach her a lesson and let her know that working at Feiteng meant following Feiteng's rules.

No matter what Du Xinyan and Bai Yongyuan said, Zhao Fan stuck firmly to his narrative: he had no money and no interest.

After an hour of sparring back and forth like this, Bai Yongyuan left with a dark expression.

When Du Xinyan made to follow him, Zhao Fan directly called out to stop her.

"If I remember correctly, you are currently an employee of Feiteng."

Du Xinyan looked at Zhao Fan with an innocent expression. "Yes, so what?"

"As an employee of Feiteng, how is it that I had no idea you possessed the authority to make decisions on my behalf?"

Du Xinyan blinked. "What is President Zhao saying? I am only doing this for the company's development. Could it be that President Zhao doesn't want to..."

"Company development is decided through meetings; you have no business meddling in the middle. Focus on doing your job properly. If there is a next time, get out of the company immediately."

Du Xinyan's eyes widened. "Zhao凡, you're actually telling me to get out?"

"What if I am? Du Xinyan, you were the one who desperately begged to enter the company; I didn't invite you in. Get out."

"You..."

"Out!"

Du Xinyan took a deep breath and stormed out with heavy, aggressive footsteps.

The office door had been left open and remained that way. Zhao Fan paid it no mind and directly dialed Han Chen's number.

"Assign some tasks to that Du Xinyan and make sure she stops causing trouble."

Han Chen: "..."

A few minutes later, Han Chen entered Zhao Fan's office, closing the door behind him.

"President Zhao, what did that Du Xinyan do?"

Little Chen was organizing documents nearby and overheard. "She just brought Bai Yongyuan, the head of the Bai family, over here, claiming they wanted to cooperate."

Anyone working at Feiteng who wasn't completely reclusive knew that their boss, Zhao Fan, had a complicated history with the Bai family.

More importantly, the land for the shopping mall they were currently building belonged to the Bai family in the first place.

Under such circumstances, for Du Xinyan to bring the head of the Bai family over to discuss a partnership was truly...

Han Chen's expression turned ugly. "I understand. I'll keep a close eye on her."

With that, without Zhao Fan saying another word, Han Chen came in and promptly left again.

Rubbing his chin, Zhao Fan wondered what exactly Han Chen had understood, but as long as he kept Du Xinyan in check, it was all for the better.

Time flew, and the semester was drawing to a close. After finishing his final exams, Zhao Fan left the campus.

Just as he got into his car, he received a call from Jia Yuanteng, head of the supermarket development team.

Several months ago, during a company meeting, Zhao Fan had given Jia Yuanteng the choice to go to Tiancheng or Haicheng to spearhead the supermarket project, and the latter had ultimately chosen Haicheng.

Over the past few months, Zhao Fan had continuously received progress reports from Jia Yuanteng, most of which were positive.

Receiving this call now, Zhao Fan assumed Jia Yuanteng was merely routine-reporting, so he answered smoothly.

"What's the matter?"

"A new supermarket has appeared in Haicheng."

At first, Zhao Fan thought it was about Feiteng Supermarket and was about to say that was great news, but the words caught in his throat as realization dawned.

"You mean... there is another supermarket?"

"Yes. That supermarket originates from Kyoto. I hear it's extremely popular there, and in order to expand, they've sent people over to Haicheng."

Jia Yuanteng laid out the situation.

Zhao Fan frowned. In his past life, there was a very famous supermarket chain called Haiyuan Supermarket, which had indeed originated from Kyoto.

From the very beginning, Haiyuan Supermarket had been the center of attention. Backed by deep resources and powerful connections, wherever it went, it swept through the market like a hot knife through butter.

"What is the supermarket called?"

"Haiyuan Supermarket."

The name from his memories echoed through the receiver, causing Zhao Fan's heart to skip a beat, though he quickly steadied himself.

Business could never be entirely smooth sailing; having a competitor was a good thing, lest complacency set in from too much ease.

"How is Haiyuan Supermarket developing there right now?"

"Better than us."

"How so?"

"Haiyuan Supermarket has strong backing and is progressing extremely smoothly in Haicheng. By contrast, the personnel we initially recruited weren't up to par, and now we've hit a bottleneck."

Zhao Fan leaned back against his seat and massaged his brow with his free hand. "Keep following up. I'll find time to go over there."

With the school finals concluded, winter vacation was next. Given Zhao Fan's grades, he didn't need to worry about any make-up exams.

His concern was that going to Haicheng at this time meant he likely wouldn't be able to return home for the Lunar New Year, so he needed to make some arrangements beforehand.

Upon returning home, Zhao Fan broached the possibility of having to travel to Haicheng and stated that he might not be able to come back for the New Year.

His father said nothing, but his mother grew anxious.

"If you don't come home for the New Year, can that even be called the New Year?"

"Things are rather urgent over there."

"No matter how urgent..."

"Alright now, isn't this what a man building his career goes through? If you really forced Xiaofan to stay home, that would just show a lack of vision. Let him go out and forge his own path; making a name for himself is a good thing."

With a single word from Elder Zhao, his wife instantly fell silent.

Seeing the atmosphere turn somewhat tense, Zhao Fan spoke up. "Mom, I said I *might* not be able to make it back. If possible, I will overcome all obstacles and return by New Year's Eve."

His mother glanced at him. "And what if you really can't make it back?"

"If I really can't make it back, I will..."

"You will what?"

"Return the next day."

"Who comes home on New Year's Day? Oh, forget it. Go ahead, I won't say anymore."

"Thank you, Mom."