Chapter Ninety-Seven: Each with Their Own Designs

At Old Hong’s Private Kitchen, Zhao Fan arrived precisely at noon.

When he got there, Han Chen had just arrived as well and looked delighted to see him.

“Mr. Zhao, it’s been a while. How have you been?”

“Not bad.”

Zhao Fan answered and looked around, raising a brow. “Where are your classmates?”

It was already mealtime, yet in the private room there were only Han Chen and him. Where had the others gone?

Han Chen gave an "oh" and took out his phone. “I’ll ask. They’re probably fussing with some program again. Please wait a moment, Mr. Zhao.”

Zhao Fan: “...”

People in this line of work really were this obsessed?

Forget it. He would wait.

The table, which should have been set at noon, was delayed until one in the afternoon before it finally began, and even then not everyone had arrived.

Including Zhao Fan and Han Chen, there were eight people in all, and only one woman.

She had regular features, a small black mole beside her mouth, and a petite figure with a gentle, delicate charm that drew the eye with every gesture.

She was not the kind of dazzling, outspoken beauty, but the soft, pleasant sort, like a refined young lady from a respectable family.

She smiled. “They’re all the sort who spend all day glued to a computer. Once they get busy, they forget everything. There’s really nothing to be done.”

Han Chen coughed dryly. “It’s because inspiration struck. We didn’t dare interrupt them casually. Yue Rou, have some hot water.”

The beauty called Yue Rou rolled her eyes. “That’s all excuses. I have inspiration too, so why don’t I ever get so lost in it? Hmph. Even my boyfriend isn’t as important as those programs.”

“Not at all. You’re far more important than those programs. It’s my fault for neglecting you. I’m sorry. Don’t be angry. Come on, have some hot water.”

Zhao Fan: “...”

Han Chen was truly something else with that mouth of his. If he was going to coax her, so be it, but why did he insist on ending every sentence with “have some hot water”?

Still, Yue Rou’s name sounded oddly familiar, as if...

Lowering his head, Zhao Fan had just picked up his chopsticks when something suddenly came to him, and his gaze froze.

If he remembered correctly, the woman who had once ruined Han Chen in his previous life seemed to be named Han Yue Rou. And there was also a man called He Xinwen.

If Han Yue Rou was here, then He Xinwen...

“Hello, Mr. Zhao. My name is He Xinwen. Nice to meet you. Allow me to toast you.”

The young man sitting opposite Han Yue Rou suddenly stood and raised his glass with easy confidence.

Zhao Fan smiled faintly. “Please.”

Good heavens. The very person he had just thought of had appeared before the words had even cooled.

He drained the wine in his glass in one swallow, then studied He Xinwen carefully. His cheekbones jutted sharply, and there was little flesh on his face. He looked mean at a glance.

Compared with Han Chen’s bold brows and bright eyes, he carried even more of a sleazy air.

Zhao Fan thought to himself: how could a man like He Xinwen make Han Yue Rou utterly devoted to him?

One had to know that in both looks and brains, Han Chen should have been completely superior to He Xinwen without question.

Not long after, Zhao Fan found the answer.

Han Chen crushed He Xinwen in both intellect and appearance, but He Xinwen made up for it with a silver tongue.

In just over ten minutes, Han Yue Rou had been set aside in Han Chen’s mind and was repeatedly made to laugh by He Xinwen.

While teasing Han Yue Rou, He Xinwen was also able to talk with everyone at the table. It could be said he handled everything perfectly, with not a single slip.

Zhao Fan glanced at Han Chen, feeling somewhat speechless. He Xinwen had already made Han Yue Rou laugh like that, and Han Chen still had not realized anything.

Wake up. That is your girlfriend!

Zhao Fan sighed inwardly, though he could not say much aloud.

The meal ended amid He Xinwen’s lively banter. When Zhao Fan paid the bill, he suddenly came to a realization.

He was the one treating today, so why did He Xinwen seem to be acting like the host?

Anyone who didn’t know better would think He Xinwen was the one footing the bill.

Zhao Fan: “...”

A miscalculation. A real miscalculation. He had been so focused on the tangled dynamics among Han Chen and the others that he had forgotten the purpose of the meal entirely.

The others left one after another. Han Chen said he still had work to do, so he asked He Xinwen to escort Han Yue Rou home in his place.

Zhao Fan watched He Xinwen and Han Yue Rou leave, then looked at Han Chen, and could only marvel at the sight.

“Not to be rude, but Han Chen, you really trust your girlfriend to leave with another man?”

Han Chen said carelessly, “Xinwen and I have been brothers for years. What could be wrong with letting him take my girlfriend home?”

The corner of Zhao Fan’s mouth twitched.

If it were simply a matter of escorting a girlfriend home, there would indeed be no problem. The problem was when the escort gradually became the owner.

“Han Chen, you...”

“Mr. Zhao, people aren’t nearly as rotten as you think. There’s no need to worry. I know what I’m doing.”

Zhao Fan thought to himself that he had no idea who, in a previous life, had been ruined until he had nothing left and still claimed to know what he was doing.

But fine. Han Chen did not know the outcome yet, so it was only natural for him to think that way. He might as well wait a little longer. If He Xinwen and Han Yue Rou did not stir up trouble, then there would be no problem. But if they dared to cause trouble...

He would kick them all out.

Zhao Fan did not want those two to drag down the entire company.

After Han Chen left, Zhao Fan decided to stop by the supermarket. But just as he stepped out of Old Hong’s Private Kitchen, a car slowed beside him.

“Zhao Fan.”

The window lowered, revealing Yang Yuqing’s face. Her slight smile was enough to make one’s heart tremble.

Yang Yuqing’s face had always been strikingly beautiful.

Coughing lightly, Zhao Fan suppressed the faint unease in his heart and asked as casually as he could, “Where are you headed?”

“I’m on my way home. What about you? Why are you only coming out of the restaurant now?”

“Rare day off. I came out to eat with some people from the company.” Zhao Fan had no desire to explain in detail, so he mentioned it briefly and moved on.

He was walking by the roadside while the car rolled alongside him, and soon enough, they drew a few glances.

Seeing that, Yang Yuqing invited Zhao Fan into the car.

“Where are you going? I’ll have the driver take you.”

The refusal was already on Zhao Fan’s lips, but after thinking it over, he agreed at once.

“Thank you. I’m going to Flying Tiger Supermarket.”

Yang Yuqing signaled to the driver and chatted with Zhao Fan about recent events.

As they talked, the cooperation between the Bai and Yang families came up.

“I heard from my father that they’re planning to open a shopping mall. They also said they want to find someone to design it. I don’t know exactly what sort of scheme they’re up to, but it’s all very confusing. I can’t quite make sense of it.”

Zhao Fan’s expression shifted slightly.

The Bai and Yang families would never make such a move for no reason. It could only mean they had a plan.

The question was whether that plan would involve him.

Thinking of the shopping mall that had already collapsed once, Zhao Fan’s brow furrowed deeply, and he did not even catch much of what Yang Yuqing said afterward.

At the entrance of Flying Tiger Supermarket, Yang Yuqing waved at Zhao Fan. “I’m heading back now. Goodbye.”

Just as the car was about to pull away, Zhao Fan suddenly asked, “I heard you’re going to be engaged to Bai Yu. I wonder about that matter...”

“It’s fake.” Yang Yuqing cut him off directly. “I will absolutely never get engaged to Bai Yu.”

Zhao Fan froze slightly.

Yang Yuqing spoke with such certainty that he did not even know how to respond.

Yang Yuqing gave a small smile. “Go on.”

The car drove off. Zhao Fan’s expression darkened slightly.

Yang Yuqing’s attitude was clear. She plainly did not want to be engaged to Bai Yu. Unfortunately, Bai Yu did not see it that way.

Thinking of the shopping mall cooperation Yang Yuqing had mentioned between the Bai and Yang families, Zhao Fan fell into deep thought.