Chapter 47 - Argument

Slap!

In Li Zhaojun’s office, Ye Fan slapped the reassignment notice on the desk, leaned forward with his hands bracing against the surface, and looked down at Li Zhaojun as he demanded, “Who gave you the right to mess with my position without asking me?!”

Li Zhaojun maintained a cool composure, her gaze icy and disdainful.

Even though Ye Fan was in a superior position, she still managed to give off an air of looking down on him.

“Why not reassign you, what about reassigning Lu Xiaoman?” she said coldly and emotionlessly.

“I’m afraid ‘someone’ wouldn’t bear to see that happen.”

“What do you mean?” Ye Fan furrowed his brows and asked.

Slap!

Li Zhaojun suddenly slapped the desk, stood up abruptly with a sharp look, and said with full force in a cold voice, “Ye Fan, I don’t care if you screw around outside, but please don’t mess things up under my nose!

Emali Group is my company.

If you think you can come into my company and mess around with women, do you really believe our relationship can stay a secret forever?

You’d better rein it in, or else I will have no choice but to fire Lu Xiaoman!”

Now the entire group believed that Ye Fan and Lu Xiaoman were or had already become romantically involved.

If it wasn’t stopped in time, the exposure of her marital relationship with Ye Fan within the group would severely damage her prestige, making it even harder to control Emali Group.

She didn’t expect Ye Fan to help her, she just wanted him not to complicate things for her.

“‘Messing around with women,’ don’t make it sound so vulgar.

Lu Xiaoman and I are just colleagues and friends,” Ye Fan huffed, though his tone had weakened considerably.

Li Zhaojun sneered, “Let’s hope it’s just colleagues and friends.

If you want to take things further with her, fine.

I will personally see to her dismissal from Emali Group, to leave you two free to be together!”

“Hmph!” Ye Fan snorted coldly and turned to leave.

As Ye Fan reached the door and stretched out his hand to open it, Li Zhaojun suddenly said, “Come with me to see Grandpa after work!”

Ye Fan didn’t respond and continued to open the door and leave.

Back in his office, Lu Xiaoman noticed something was off with Ye Fan’s complexion and paused her work to ask, “Ye Fan, what’s wrong?

You don’t seem too happy.”

“Uh, yeah, a bit upset,” Ye Fan took a deep breath and put on a smile as he said, “Here, take a look at this.”

He passed the reassignment notice to her.

Lu Xiaoman circled around her desk, took the notice with a puzzled look, and upon reading it, she let out a startled cry.

“Ye Fan, are you being transferred?” she asked sadly, her voice tinged with panic.

Ye Fan feigned nonchalance with a laugh, “Yes.

Too bad I won’t be able to tease the beautiful Miss Lu every day now.”

Seeing Ye Fan’s indifferent attitude, Lu Xiaoman got so angry that her eyes reddened as she scolded, “Ye Fan, do you even have a heart?”

Seeing Lu Xiaoman like this made Ye Fan feel uneasy, but he maintained his laid-back smile and said, “Ha, Sister Man, don’t worry.

I’m just being reassigned to the administrative department, still on the same floor.

We’ll still see each other all the time.

Ha, who knows, we might even bump into each other in the restroom.”

“Hey, if you’re willing, we could even spark something hot in the restroom,” he said in a lewd tone, deliberately ogling Lu Xiaoman’s lovely figure.

Lu Xiaoman was so flustered that she laughed and reproached, “Who wants to spark something hot with you?!

You shameless jerk!

I’m not talking to you anymore!”

“Ha-ha-ha, so you don’t agree?

It seems I’ve overestimated your interest,” Ye Fan laughed outright.

Lu Xiaoman’s cheeks turned a slight red as she huffed, “I can’t be bothered with you!” Then, she tossed her pretty face to the side in a show of arrogance and returned to her seat inside the office desk.

“Heh,” Ye Fan stood there and spread his hands.

However, after a moment, Lu Xiaoman said to Ye Fan, “Ye Fan, my mother has successfully found an expert doctor for her treatment.

To thank you, let me treat you to dinner after work, and we can watch a movie, how about that?”

“This…” Ye Fan was in a tough spot.

Just a moment ago, Li Zhaojun had mentioned visiting Elder Li after work.

Although he lacked any affection for Li Zhaojun and actually despised each other, the superficial niceties had to be maintained.

If he chose to dine with Lu Xiaoman and watch a movie after work instead of accompanying Li Zhaojun to visit Elder Li, he feared his facade would mostly be torn apart.

They might be a couple without love, but they surely couldn’t act like enemies, right?

Seeing that Ye Fan did not immediately agree, Lu Xiaoman’s heart sank slightly as she asked, “What’s wrong?”

+Heh heh,” Ye Fan forced a smile and said, “Sister Xiaoman, I’m afraid I have to apologize.

I just so happen to have something at home.

Let me treat you to a meal another day, okay?”

“Alright then.” Lu Xiaoman managed a forced smile, then hung her head low, her face filled with gloom and sadness.

As a girl, this was the first time she had set aside her pride to ask a man out to dinner, only to be rejected.

However, she bore no resentment towards Ye Fan.

Since it was Friday, with just a few minutes left before the official end of work, many employees were sneaking out early.

Ye Fan did not leave early.

He had to wait for Li Zhaojun.

When it was officially time to leave, Ye Fan left the office and took the elevator to the underground parking garage.

While walking to his second-hand Citroën, he caught sight of Li Zhaojun’s Maserati President parked beside the exit, suggesting Li Zhaojun had come down early and was waiting for him at the exit.

Ye Fan smirked coldly, thinking to himself, “Hmph, she clearly doesn’t trust me, going as far as to leave work early to guard the exit!”

He got into his car, started it, and when he reached the exit, Ye Fan honked the horn, then continued driving out of the underground parking lot.

Li Zhaojun started her car and followed him.

Twenty minutes later, they arrived at the high-end retirement community for senior retired officials in Hua Hai’s military district.

Ye Fan, carrying a bag of longan, walked side by side with Li Zhaojun towards the small red-walled building.

Neither of them spoke a word throughout.

They climbed to the second-floor corridor, and as they turned towards Elder Li’s residence at the end of the hallway, Ye Fan suddenly felt his right hand held by a smooth, tender hand that was slightly cool.

Ye Fan instinctively wanted to shake off Li Zhaojun’s hand.

Turning his head to look at her, Li Zhaojun too was lifting her stunningly beautiful face to meet his gaze.

After a moment of eye contact, Ye Fan turned his head back and continued walking.

Li Zhaojun, holding onto Ye Fan’s hand, followed closely behind.

The jade-like hand was tender and delicate, bonelessly soft, with a hint of coolness perfect for the heat of summer.

Breathing in the enticing fragrance of the woman, Ye Fan couldn’t help but grasp Li Zhaojun’s hand in return.

Li Zhaojun’s expression remained unchanged, her hand relaxed, allowing Ye Fan to continue holding it.

Standing in front of Elder Li’s suite with the door wide open, they saw Elder Li sitting in the living room getting his pulse read by a white-robed traditional Chinese medicine doctor.

Ah, an outsider was present; the charade had been for nothing.

Ye Fan let go of Li Zhaojun’s jade hand, but she immediately grasped his hand again, indicating that they should still “show” affection even in front of strangers.

Ye Fan had no choice but to hold Li Zhaojun’s hand again.

After knocking on the door, Li Zhaojun sweetly called out, “Grandfather.”

Elder Li turned his head to look, first at Li Zhaojun and Ye Fan’s faces, then his gaze fell to the hand in hand between them, and he couldn’t help but smile happily, “Girl, Ye Fan, you’re here, come in quickly.”

Well then, the act hadn’t been completely in vain this time.