MTLNOVEL Chapter 318: Mr. Ye, Do You Like Me?
"I... I like you?"
Caught off guard by Ye Fan's sudden question, Xu Ruoxuan's heart immediately fluttered into chaos.
Initially, when Zheng Shuheng questioned whether she liked Ye Fan, she was already blushing to her ears; now being publicly asked by Ye Fan himself, Xu Ruoxuan was even more instantly flushed with shyness.
Seeing Xu Ruoxuan's cheeks ablaze, Zheng Shuheng's eyes almost burst with rage, "Well! Ruoxuan, you actually really like an older man, you disappoint me so much!" Explore hidden tales at empire
In his eyes, Xu Ruoxuan's shy demeanor was concrete proof that she liked Ye Fan.
"Young Master Zheng, are you misunderstanding something about my sister? She has never had a sweetheart!" Xu Haoran said, completely confused.
Upon hearing this, Zheng Shuheng, as if driven mad, retorted, "Haoran, this has nothing to do with you, there's no need to cover for your sister!"
"Cover for her? I'm not covering for my sister at all!" Xu Haoran replied, puzzled.
Glaring at Zheng Shuheng's presumptuous manner, Xu Ruoxuan bit her silver tooth and said, "Zheng Shuheng, you want to know if I like Mr. Ye, right? Fine! I'll tell you clearly right now, I do like Mr. Ye; I've harbored love for Mr. Ye for a long time!"
"Don't think that just because you are the up-and-coming star of the Zheng family of Jinling, you can feel superior! Perhaps other women would be honored to be admired by you, but I will not. I, Xu Ruoxuan, have never lacked men like you around me. In my more than twenty years, only Mr. Ye has ever piqued my interest!"
What! Xu Ruoxuan likes Ye Fan?
And she's only interested in Ye Fan?
When Xu Ruoxuan's words, resolute and strong, dropped like thunder, they left everyone present dumbfounded.
"Miss Xu!" Ye Fan was deeply moved.
Xu Ruoxuan looked at Ye Fan, barely holding back her shyness, and said, "Mr. Ye, yes, I like you. Is there a problem?"
"This..."
Ye Fan had truly not expected Xu Ruoxuan to be so bold as to speak these words to his face, and he was caught off guard by her reply.
"Holy shit! Brother-in-law, you really are awesome!" Su Zhanyun's eyes bulged in disbelief.
Ye Fan's face changed, "Zhan Yun, Miss Xu and I have always been pure and innocent, don't let your thoughts run wild!"
"Don't worry, brother-in-law, I won't tell my sister!" Su Zhanyun said with a knowing look.
Having known Ye Fan for many years, Su Zhanyun was aware of Ye Fan's character and believed that Ye Fan would not do anything inappropriate.
Of course, if Ye Fan ever dared to wrong his sister Su Ruoxue, even if Su Zhanyun was no match for him, he would still raise his fists and give Ye Fan a thorough beating.
Xu Haoran, however, was thoroughly shocked, "Are you kidding me, sis? You actually like a married man?"
"Haoran, you don't understand!" Xu Ruoxuan's face turned a deep shade of red.
She hadn't intended to confess her feelings for Ye Fan at all; in fact, she was merely interested in him, which was far from truly liking him.
It was just that Zheng Shuheng was so repellent that in order to cut off his persistent hopes for her, Xu Ruoxuan decided to bite the bullet and declare her liking for Ye Fan.
Although she had had several encounters with Zheng Shuheng, their relationship had never been close.
In the past, Zheng Shuheng had fallen for her at first sight, but at the time, Xu Ruoxuan had been deeply devoted to her studies and had no spare time to consider romantic relationships.
Later, when she returned home after graduation, Zheng Shuheng, in his pursuit of her, had the Jinling Zheng family elders issue a formal proposal. Knowing this, and under pressure from the higher-ups of the Xu Family, Xu Ruoxuan had never given a straightforward response.
Now, Xu Ruoxuan had come to realize that not only was Zheng Shuheng arrogant and self-centered, but he was also petty and overbearing. He treated her as if she were his property without her consent, which made Xu Ruoxuan feel disgusted, and she came to regard Zheng Shuheng no differently than those commonplace men.
With that, Xu Ruoxuan looked at Zheng Shuheng and said, "Young Master Zheng, I already have someone I like, so please don't harass me anymore!"
"But... but he's already married! Ruoxuan, you're being foolish!" Zheng Shuheng said, almost heartbroken.
Xu Ruoxuan resolutely responded, "So what if he is married? I don't seek to be with him every day; I only seek a spiritual connection!"
"You... you're being unreasonable!"
Hearing Xu Ruoxuan's reply, Zheng Shuheng was so angry that he was fuming.
In an attempt to win back Xu Ruoxuan's heart, Zheng Shuheng asked uncertainly, "Ruoxuan, you're saying this just to anger me, right? You're upset because I wanted to forcefully monopolize the exhibition hall, aren't you? I apologize, I promise I won't do it again!"
"Young Master Zheng, stop being so conceited!" Xu Ruoxuan frowned coldly.
Seeing that Xu Ruoxuan was not joking with him at all, Zheng Shuheng's pride took a major blow.
He said in disbelief, "Ruoxuan, are you serious? Don't push me, you know it would do you no good if you push me too far!"
"Sigh!"
Xu Ruoxuan did not respond directly, but let out a sigh of disappointment and shook her head.
Seeing this, Zheng Shuheng's eyes began to show a hint of madness, "I get it, I get it now, Ruoxuan. If that's how it is, then don't blame me for being ruthless!"
As his words fell, Zheng Shuheng pulled out his phone and dialed a number.
"Uncle, stop all of our Zheng family's cooperation with the Central Plains Xu Family!" Zheng Shuheng ordered with a vicious expression.
At the same time, within the Zheng family's territory in Jinling.
Zheng Shuheng's uncle was stunned, "Shuheng, what's wrong? Why cancel the cooperation with the Central Plains Xu Family out of the blue? Didn't you like Miss Xu Ruoxuan from the Xu Family before? I've heard about this girl, she's a rare gem with both beauty and brains!"
"Uncle, don't ask so much now, I'll explain in detail later!" Zheng Shuheng said frantically.
Realizing that this was serious, Zheng Shuheng's uncle said, "Alright! I'll immediately have someone cancel the cooperation with the Central Plains Xu Family! But I need to remind you, Shuheng, our Zheng family of Jinling is currently selecting the next family head, and you are one of the candidates. It's best not to make too many enemies during this period!"
"Uncle, I understand, just go ahead and cancel the cooperation with the Central Plains Xu Family for me!" Zheng Shuheng said grimly.
"Got it, I know!"
Zheng Shuheng's uncle responded briefly and then hung up the phone.
After contacting his uncle, Zheng Shuheng looked at Xu Ruoxuan with a venomous gaze, "Ruoxuan, you heard it too, our Zheng family of Jinling is going to terminate all cooperation with your Xu family. Don't blame me for being heartless; you forced my hand."
"It's no great loss. There are many Noble Clans and Powerful Families in the world, and our Central Plains Xu Family doesn't have to cooperate with your Zheng family of Jinling!" Xu Ruoxuan replied boldly.
Thereafter, Xu Ruoxuan turned to Su Zhanyun and said, "Mr. Su, I heard you are Mr. Ye's brother-in-law. I have a decent relationship with Mr. Ye. So, in consideration of Mr. Ye, you can use the exhibition hall in Silver Base Tower as you wish, and during your usage, all the rental fees will be waived!"
"Waive all rental fees? Miss Xu, is that appropriate?" Su Zhanyun looked shocked.
He knew that the annual rent for this exhibition hall was 1.2 million yuan. While 1.2 million might be a small sum for the Xu family, for Su Zhanyun who had just entered the used car industry, it was an astronomical figure. He didn't know how many used cars he would have to sell to make back 1.2 million once the business was up and running.
Xu Ruoxuan smiled gracefully like an orchid, "Of course! I, Xu Ruoxuan, always keep my word!"
"Then thank you so much, Miss Xu!" Su Zhanyun was overjoyed.
Though he knew this favor was due to his connection with his brother-in-law, Ye Fan, the thought of permanently waiving the rent still made Su Zhanyun very happy.
Xu Ruoxuan smiled, "You're welcome!"
"Rest assured, Miss Xu, if my car dealership turns a profit, I'll still pay the annual rent as usual," Su Zhanyun said with gratitude.
There's a saying that those who accept a favor owe a debt. Su Zhanyun understood that Xu Ruoxuan was doing this because of Ye Fan, but he didn't want to put Ye Fan in a difficult position.
He decided that if the dealership was profitable, he would pay the rent as usual. However, if the profits turned out to be less than ideal, they would need to discuss the rent at length again.
Upon hearing that Xu Ruoxuan was waiving the rent for Su Zhanyun, Zheng Shuheng was on the verge of exploding, "Ruoxuan, are you intentionally opposing me?"
It was bad enough that Xu Ruoxuan didn't rent the exhibition hall to him, but now she was offering it to Su Zhanyun for free. Wasn't this deliberately opposing him?
"Opposing you? Young Master Zheng, it's just quid pro quo!" Xu Ruoxuan replied with a chilly smile.
"Quid pro quo?"
Hearing this, Zheng Shuheng took a deep breath and said viciously, "Fine! Very well! Xu Ruoxuan, you're said to be among the most intelligent women in the world. I'm eager to see just how intelligent you really are. I won't let this go so easily; we'll just wait and see!"
"Then we'll wait and see!" Xu Ruoxuan said coldly.
Like Ye Fan, she adhered to the principle of not initiating conflict, but not hesitating to retaliate if provoked.
Now that Zheng Shuheng had chosen to clash with her, Xu Ruoxuan was not frightened in the least.
Zheng Shuheng turned to Ye Fan again, "Your name is Ye Fan, right? I'll remember you! In the upcoming days, I advise you to buy a burial plot early, because who knows when you might die accidentally, and without a place to be buried, that would be quite the spectacle!"
"Is that so? The good die young while misfortunes live for a thousand years. Sorry, I'm not exactly a good person, so perhaps you, Young Master Zheng, should worry more about whether you'll outlive me!" Ye Fan scoffed.
"Just wait! All of you, just wait!"
With a resentful glare at Xu Ruoxuan and Ye Fan, Zheng Shuheng shouted unwillingly, "Let's go!"
"Yes, Young Master Zheng!"
Following Zheng Shuheng's command, under the lead of Sun Meng, the numerous black-clothed bodyguards swiftly withdrew from the exhibition hall.
Watching Zheng Shuheng leave begrudgingly, Ye Fan turned to Xu Ruoxuan with a light chuckle, "Miss Xu, really, you didn't have to fall out with someone like Zheng Shuheng, a mere ruffian, over me!"
"Mr. Ye, it's not important!" Xu Ruoxuan replied with a gentle smile.
Under Ye Fan's gaze, Xu Ruoxuan brushed her forehead hair aside, blushing slightly, she asked, "What's important is, if I happen to like Mr. Ye, would Mr. Ye take an interest in me as well?"
What?!!!
Would he take interest in her, just like she might in herself?
At her words, Ye Fan's face turned solemn, and his upright posture instantly petrified on the spot.