Chapter 167: Evasion

As Zhao Fan and Yang Yuqing both fell silent, Liu Jirou spoke up, "Mr. Zhao really has no feelings for Yuqing?"

Zhao Fan lowered his eyes, his fingers twitching slightly.

Having lived a second life, he was unsure whether he should touch upon the matter of romance, or rather, he feared that doing so would summon unforeseen complications.

In his previous life, Wang Ying had truly terrified him of such things.

"Yuqing, may I ask how you are certain you have feelings for me?"

A fleeting look of bewilderment crossed Yang Yuqing's eyes. "I just feel that I like you."

Her heart told her so, which was why Yang Yuqing had sought out Zhao Fan to discuss it, yet Zhao Fan seemed unconvinced.

"You think my feelings are fake?"

That inquiry of hers—it must have meant something along those lines.

"No, I don't think your feelings are fake. It's just that I, personally, in this regard..."

Watching Yang Yuqing's expression, Zhao Fan found himself explaining instinctively, but he suddenly choked on his words halfway through.

No.

His reaction was wrong.

He shouldn't have been in such a hurry to explain. It was merely a simple question; why was he in such a rush?

Yang Yuqing was still waiting for Zhao Fan's answer. Seeing him stop midway, she locked her gaze on him.

On the other side, Liu Jirou was also watching Zhao Fan. The difference was that, observing his demeanor, she had already formed a few guesses in her heart.

This man did not seem entirely devoid of feeling for Yang Yuqing as he claimed; he simply hadn't figured it out yet.

With that thought, Liu Jirou glanced at Yang Yuqing. Romance was sweet, but the pursuit was agonizing.

Was the eldest daughter of the Yang family truly destined to endure an agonizing pursuit?

More importantly, Zhao Fan's social standing did not match that of the eldest daughter of the Yang family. Even if they ended up together, would it not be vetoed by the Yang family?

After waiting for a long time, seeing that Zhao Fan still remained silent, Yang Yuqing could not help asking, "Zhao Fan, what are you thinking about?"

Zhao Fan snapped back to his senses. Looking at Yang Yuqing sitting across from him, he abruptly stood up. "Excuse me, Miss Yang. I am personally not considering romantic matters at the moment. I'm sorry."

With that, Zhao Fan turned and walked away.

Yang Yuqing sat frozen in her seat, opening her mouth several times to call him back, but ultimately remaining silent.

Inside the elevator, Zhao Fan's hands repeatedly clenched and relaxed, clenched and relaxed. Panic flashed through his eyes, only to vanish just as quickly.

By the time he stepped out of the elevator, Zhao Fan had regained his composure, showing no trace of anything being amiss.

How could the eldest daughter of the Yang family possibly take a fancy to him? It must simply be an illusion on Yang Yuqing's part.

Holding onto this thought, Zhao Fan returned home.

Neither his father nor his mother was in, so he simply sat in the living room, his mind drifting back to Yang Yuqing before he even realized it.

When he finally came to his senses, half an hour had already passed.

Zhao Fan: "..."

Amidst the silence, he raised his hand and slapped himself across the face.

This train of thought had to be suppressed.

A week passed in the blink of an eye. During this week, Zhao Fan spent his time either attending classes or handling company affairs.

One-third of the fourth floor of the shopping mall had been partitioned off by Shi Wenxuan. Following a round of interior renovation and adjustment, it successfully transformed into the company's new office space. Zhao Fan even specifically hung up a sign bearing the name "Feiteng" at the entrance to indicate that this was Feiteng Company.

With the relocation complete, all departments plunged into a flurry of busy work.

Even with backups, the work done recently had been lost and needed to be rushed to completion.

At the same time, Zhao Fan brought up the matter of soliciting merchants for the shopping mall. After a discussion during a meeting, it was finally decided to place advertisements on Feiteng Search first, followed by printing and distributing promotional flyers, and subsequently arranging television commercials.

Once the workflow was established, the responsible personnel began making arrangements. Putting this matter on hold for the moment, Zhao Fan prepared to head to class, but received a phone call along the way.

"Hello, President Zhao, this is An Zhen."

Zhao Fan sighed inwardly. An Zhen had kept a low profile for a while, so why was he popping up again now?

Zhao Fan replied, "Hello, President An. It's been a while. What brings about this sudden call?"

"It's precisely because it's been a while that I'm making this call. How about it, President Zhao? Do you have time to grab a meal together?"

"I'm sorry, but I really don't have much time lately." Zhao Fan's words carried a smile, but his eyes were ice-cold. Someone from the An family of Kyoto never paid a courtesy visit without an ulterior motive. Suddenly popping up to invite him to dinner—there was bound to be some scheme behind it.

Considering Feiteng's current situation and just to be safe, Zhao Fan chose a direct refusal.

Feiteng's projects could not withstand a second setback, at least not for this month.

"You can't even spare the time for a meal?" An Zhen's tone remained calm and even, as if devoid of any emotion whatsoever.

"I truly am sorry," Zhao Fan apologized once more. "If I could possibly squeeze out the time, I would rush to dine with President An even from a hospital bed, but unfortunately, I really don't have a single moment to spare recently."

Zhao Fan sounded exceedingly sincere, leaving no room for An Zhen to pick out any flaws no matter how hard he pondered.

With back-and-forth pleasantries yielding nothing, An Zhen had no choice but to end the call.

"Since it's inconvenient for President Zhao, let's schedule it for another day."

"Certainly, certainly."

Amidst Zhao Fan's repeated assurances, An Zhen hung up.

Putting away his phone, Zhao Fan let out a cold snort. If Feiteng hadn't been in a fragile state that couldn't handle repeated blows, he would have gladly played along.

Speaking of which, he still needed to talk to Xu An about real estate.

In another two years, housing prices in Yangcheng would skyrocket, dragging land prices up with them. Before that happened, he had to seize the opportunity to make a fortune first.

After evening classes concluded, Zhao Fan called Xu An and informed him that they needed to discuss some matters at noon the next day.

"I'll have to trouble you to stay at the office tomorrow noon."

Xu An agreed readily: "What are you saying, President Zhao? Staying at the company is only natural; it's no trouble at all."

At noon the next day, after finishing class, Zhao Fan rushed to the company, where Xu An was already waiting in his office.

"President Zhao."

"Mm, have a seat."

After exchanging greetings, Zhao Fan cut straight to the chase: "I want to invest in real estate. What are your thoughts on it?"

Xu An paused, instinctively looking up. "Did President Zhao just say..."

Zhao Fan finished the sentence for him: "I want to invest in real estate."

Xu An frowned: "President Zhao, isn't real estate a money-loser? Look at me—I used to invest in real estate myself. Who would have thought I'd get trapped in it? My money still hasn't been recovered."

Zhao Fan smiled. "The past is the past, and the present is the present. I believe real estate will be highly profitable in the future."

He knew of Xu An's past experiences: the man had simply followed others into real estate investment, only to have his funds locked up, resulting in bankruptcy and nearly landing him in prison.

However, the future would be different. Real estate would become the most lucrative industry.

More importantly, Zhao Fan did not need to fear having his capital locked up, because Feiteng's assets were far more formidable than Xu An's had been.

"But President Zhao..."

Xu An wanted to advise caution further, but Zhao Fan cut him off.

"I didn't call you here to talk me out of it. I have already made up my mind and prepared the capital. You only need to tell me whether you can handle this matter. If you can, I will hand the capital over to you; if you can't, I'll find someone else."