Chapter 41: Finish Your Drink and I'll Let You Go!

Of course, right now there’s simply no time to focus on these matters. Once everything falls into place, that will be the day when things truly take off.

“All right, let’s head back! This villa is nice, but it feels so empty,” Yang Fan sighed, prompting a wry smile from Liu Mingfeng.

Zhao Jing wasted no time in getting into Lin Ruo’s car. Lin Ruo offered Yang Fan no chance at all; with Liu Haoyu’s driving skills, there was no way he could keep up.

By the time he finally made it to Zhao Jing’s building, hoping to catch another glimpse of her that day, she had already gone home.

At home, Ai Xiaomei had gone to bed early for once. No one knew what had gotten into her; she had actually gone back to sleep in her own room, which even Yang Fan found odd.

“What’s up with her?” Yang Fan asked.

“She said she wanted to watch TV late into the night and didn’t want to disturb my sleep.”

“Is she really that considerate?” Yang Fan’s expression was peculiar.

“Is that any way to talk about your own sister?” Xu Zihan scolded him with a smile. Zhang Chen and the others returned around eleven, probably worn out from their fun, and went to bed early as well.

Yang Fan shook his head and also made his way to his room, all the while puzzling over how to resolve the situation with these five women. The more he thought about it, the sleepier he became.

In the middle of the night, Ai Xiaomei quietly poked her head out. Instead of going back to Xu Zihan’s room, she slipped into Lin Ruo and Lin Xi’s, shamelessly urging them to sleep in her room instead.

Lin Ruo and Lin Xi complied, and Ai Xiaomei gleefully returned to Xu Zihan’s room.

“I thought you weren’t coming over?”

“I lied to my brother. Tomorrow morning, he’ll definitely try to drag me out of bed. When he opens the door and sees Lin Ruo and Lin Xi instead, don’t you think he’ll lose it?” Ai Xiaomei giggled, while Xu Zihan’s eyelids twitched uncontrollably.

Scheming against her brother—she really put some thought into this!

“Zihan, let’s sleep!” Ai Xiaomei said happily and snuggled in for the night.

The next morning, Yang Fan got up early again. After waiting a while, Ai Xiaomei still hadn’t woken. Ever since he had dragged her out of bed once, he felt he couldn’t let her sleep peacefully anymore!

Before heading out for breakfast, he decided to pull her up.

With a sense of vindication, Yang Fan hurried to her room without a moment’s hesitation and barged right in.

“Enough sleeping, get up! Let’s go grab breakfast.”

He moved quickly, whipping back the covers—only to find two people in the bed.

“What are you doing?”

“Lin Ruo?” Yang Fan blurted out. At that moment, Lin Ruo switched on the bedside lamp, leaving Yang Fan frozen in place.

He had seen everything…

“Aren’t you going to leave?” Lin Ruo scolded.

Yang Fan bolted out of the room, utterly mortified.

“Ai… Xiao… Mei!” he growled through gritted teeth. Just then, the door opened and in walked Xu Zihan and Ai Xiaomei.

Ai Xiaomei was laughing without a care in the world.

“Come here, I promise I won’t beat you to death!”

“Serves you right, doesn’t it?” Ai Xiaomei stuck out her tongue at him. There was no escaping her pranks; he’d fallen into yet another trap.

Lin Ruo and Lin Xi also got up. Lin Xi looked as calm as ever, while Lin Ruo shot him a fierce glare.

Yang Fan had lost all will for conversation and decided he might as well go buy breakfast.

On the floor below, Zhang Chen and the others had been roused by the commotion upstairs.

“What’s going on up there? It’s always noisy at five in the morning.”

“Yeah, Uncle, there were even shouts this morning.”

…

Yang Fan was left speechless. Ai Xiaomei was snickering, Xu Zihan smiling softly, while Yang Fan, Lin Ruo, and Lin Xi said nothing.

Today, Ai Xiaomei went off with Xu Zihan to shoot a film, which somewhat improved Yang Fan’s mood. At nine in the morning, the five beautiful streamers arrived. To put it plainly, competition in the streaming industry was fierce.

These five had been small-time streamers for over a year, and still hadn’t broken through. Yang Fan was offering them a platform, because the streaming division would be an important first business for Fanmei.

With the Four Seasons Ode’s star-making project and Ai Xiaomei’s online reach, there was no need to sign any superstar streamers. Yang Fan discussed the details with them and signed the contracts outright.

For them, there was no hesitation. After all, if Four Seasons Ode could make a star of Xu Zihan, it could do the same for them.

And joining Fanmei came with more privileges than elsewhere—a fast track to success.

Moreover, the contracts Yang Fan offered were for management positions, meaning the streaming platform would be built around these five.

They would also have the right to recruit new streamers and priority access to resources—perks far beyond their wildest dreams.

Yang Fan arranged for them to stay at Liu Mingfeng’s old villa, which was a huge upgrade from their previous rented apartments.

At noon, he spent a romantic lunch with Zhao Jing. In the afternoon, Mr. Qian and Brother Chen’s people came over to discuss the amount and shares for the first round of investment—both Mr. Qian and Brother Chen would hold fifteen percent each.

Once the company’s paperwork was finalized, the contracts would be signed and the funds transferred.

Seeing them off, it was already four in the afternoon. Today had been so busy he hardly had time to dwell on other things, and his mood had greatly improved.

At the gate of Tianning Normal University was a popular karaoke bar. These places made a killing near the university.

Sun Wen took Xia Yufei and her dormmates there for a singing session.

Xia Yufei was still downcast, her mood gloomy, unable to muster the slightest interest in anyone or anything.

“Yufei, what’s wrong with you these days?” Li Susu asked, genuinely trying to play matchmaker between Sun Wen and Xia Yufei.

“It’s nothing. I just read a story that put me in a bad mood,” Xia Yufei replied.

“You’re just too sensitive. Come on, let’s sing.”

Sun Wen wasn’t in high spirits either. He realized that, even if he wanted to put his plan into action, it was proving incredibly difficult.

He tried to get Xia Yufei drunk, but she wouldn’t play along and barely spoke.

He made an excuse to go to the restroom and made a few calls. Some of his acquaintances worked at this very karaoke bar.

When he returned to the large private room, after a short wait, two men strolled in, cigarettes dangling from their mouths.

The two eyed Li Susu and the other girls lecherously, their gazes lingering far too long.

“Sun Wen, who are they?” Li Susu and the others felt a wave of disgust.

“They’re friends I’ve known since childhood who happen to be in the area,” Sun Wen explained.

Li Susu responded with a noncommittal “Oh.” She felt something was off.

The other girls were a bit frightened too. Xia Yufei stood up, making no attempt to hide her distaste.

She no longer wanted to stay…

“How about this, Sun Wen? Let’s get together another time. You and your friends enjoy yourselves.”

Li Susu and the others stood as well. The expressions on those two men’s faces made them uneasy.

“Don’t go, pretty girls. We just got here—we haven’t even gotten to know you yet.”

“Next time, really. We have something else to do,” Li Susu replied. As they reached the door, one of the men slapped Li Susu across the face.

“Don’t be ungrateful. If you want to leave, fine. But first, finish this bottle,” he barked, opening a bottle of foreign liquor and slamming it down on the table.