"Won't this bother you?" Fang Bai asked.
Ji Yuning: "Yeah, it's on the way."
"I don't think I told you which company you were going to interview at," Fang Bai pointed out.
Ji Yuning pulled out a tissue to wipe her lips, her expression unchanged: "Wherever you go, it's on the way."
Fang Bai fell silent.
After Ji Yuning dropped Fang Bai off at the company, Fang Bai let her leave. Otherwise, Ji Yuning might have taken her home again, and Fang Bai would have felt bad about wasting even a second of Ji Yuning's time.
The job Fang Bai was interviewing for was very simple, and the interview ended in no time.
As she left the company, she received a phone call.
It was Lu Raomei calling.
Fang Bai swiped his finger across the answer button, "President Lu."
"Miss Fang, do you have a moment?" Lu Raomei's voice was unusually serious.
Something seemed amiss, so Fang Bai cautiously asked, "What does President Lu want?"
Lu Raomei said in a deep voice, "Someone wants to see you."
Fang Bai guessed who 'someone' was in just two seconds. She paused for a moment, then asked, "Can we not meet?"
Lu Raomei seemed amused by Fang Bai, raised her voice slightly, and said in Fang Bai's familiar tone, "No."
"Weren't the questions I asked you earlier redundant?" Fang Bai retorted, then asked, "The location."
Lu Raomei said, "The road is on your left."
The call was then disconnected.
Fang Bai turned his gaze to the left, where a black Land Rover was parked on the side of the road.
I couldn't see what was inside the car.
Fang Bai carried her bag and walked towards the car in high heels, her steps unhurried and graceful.
Just as Fang Bai was one step away from the car, the car door opened automatically.
As the door slowly opened, Fang Bai took in the scene inside the car.
Fang Bai glanced at Lu Raomei in the driver's seat, then his gaze fell on the back seat.
He was an imposing figure, with streaks of silver hair among his black hair and noticeable wrinkles on his face, yet his upright posture exuded vitality.
He looked at Fang Bai without saying a word, his features serious.
It seemed like they were trying to intimidate Fang Bai.
The only person who could get Lu Raomei to act as a driver would be Ji Yuning's maternal grandfather.
That is, Lu Xia's father, Lu Zheng.
Just as Fang Bai had guessed.
Even though he was the one who invited the person, he put pressure on the person being invited. Fang Bai always responded better to gentle persuasion than force, a skill that Ji Yuning was very experienced in.
Seeing that the other party showed no sign of backing down, Fang Bai smiled and said, "Sorry, I mistook the car for yours."
After saying that, Fang Bai walked towards the car he had called before going downstairs.
He didn't even glance at the people in the car.
Chapter 108
As Fang Bai turned and left, the atmosphere inside the car became eerie.
Lu Zheng's domineering aura froze for a moment. He looked at the person who was about to walk to another car, his brows furrowed, and his expression was as colorful as paint on a palette.
Lu Raomei, in the driver's seat, hadn't expected Fang Bai to do this either. After a moment of surprise, a smile flashed in her eyes from an angle unseen by those in the back seat. But her face remained expressionless as she calmly asked Lu Zheng, "Should I get out and talk to her?"
“No need,” Lu Zheng said, leaning back with his eyes closed, his voice unreadable. “Let’s go.”
Lu Raomei said "okay," glanced at the car that had already driven away in the distance, and then drove off as well.
An hour later, at the coffee shop.
Fang Bai looked at the person sitting opposite her and asked, "What is it?"
She had only been in the car for a short while when she received a message from Lu Raomei, asking her to meet her here.
Not understanding why Lu Raomei always met at a coffee shop, Fang Bai couldn't help but think of their last coffee shop meeting, which didn't go very well.
Fang Bai could have refused, but considering that the conversation might involve Ji Yuning, she came anyway.
Just as she guessed that the person she was going to see was Lu Zheng, she walked to the car.
Lu Raomei smiled, her feigned charm gone, replaced by a genuine brightness. She cleared her throat and said, "I always thought you had a sheep-like personality, that you would just cower and wait to be bullied when things happened. Even when you left Hushi without a word last time, although I was somewhat impressed, I still thought that way. But today, I have a different opinion of you."
Fang Bai is the perfect example of someone who is outwardly gentle but inwardly strong.
“You’re the second person besides Ji Yuning to ignore him. I have to say, I admire your courage.” Lu Raomei picked up her iced coffee, took a sip, and said quietly, “This is the first time I’ve ever seen the old man with that kind of expression, haha.”
Fang Bai paused for a moment: "You're very happy?"
Lu Raomei raised an eyebrow, her smile undiminished: "Of course, the more something makes him suffer, the happier I am."
Fang Bai joked, "You just told me like that? Aren't you afraid I'll tell everyone?"
Lu Raomei may seem to only care about interests, but in reality, it's mostly because she dislikes Lu Zheng, to the point of hatred. She believes the best way to deal with Lu Zheng is to destroy or take everything from him. So, initially, Lu Raomei thought Ji Yuning was the person Lu Zheng valued, which is why she tried to deal with Ji Yuning. At the same time, her goal was to take control of the Lu family.
But she never showed it to Lu Zheng. In fact, Lu Zheng regarded her as his right-hand woman and was wary of her but never suspected her.
“You won’t,” Lu Raomei said in a seductive voice. “You’re not the type to meddle in other people’s business.”
Fang Bai took a sip of coffee, the slightly bitter taste making her frown involuntarily. She was indeed not one to meddle in other people's business, so she didn't really like trouble coming her way.
Setting down his cup, Fang Bai looked up at Lu Raomei and asked, "What did he want to see me about?"
He refers to Lu Zheng.
Lu Raomei raised an eyebrow: "Guess."
There's no need to guess. The only person who can connect them is Ji Yuning. What else could it be?
Fang Bai paused for a few seconds, "I don't know what happened between Xiao Ning and him. What's his purpose in contacting me?"
Lu Raomei sneered, "It's nothing serious, I just want you to persuade Ji Yuning to return to the Lu family."
"?"
Isn't this a big deal?
"But it's not for family ties, maybe a little, but not much." Lu Raomei picked up the sunglasses on the table, played with them, and said casually, "How could someone like him, who dug out a precious jade of infinite value from the mud, possibly be willing to give up the benefits he gained from the jade?"
Fang Bai looked down at the table. Lu Raomei's words were very straightforward, so straightforward that Fang Bai felt sorry for Ji Yuning.
Merchants prioritize profit and equate kinship with profit.
Lu Raomei stared at the top of Fang Bai's head for two seconds and said, "To me, Ji Yuning is a very good partner, and I don't want to be her enemy for the time being."
Fang Bai looked up after hearing this and met Lu Raomei's gaze.
This must be the real reason why Lu Raomei asked her to meet.
She didn't say it directly, but she made it very clear that she didn't want Ji Yuning to return to the Lu family.
Lu Raomei then added, "However, if Ji Yuning chooses to cooperate with me, then it's not a pity at all."
Fang Bai's expression softened, and she said, "I can't make a decision about Xiao Ning's matter. Please tell Chairman Lu not to contact me."
With a double entendre, she indirectly answered Lu Raomei's question.
Lu Raomei tapped the table with her finger and said with a smile, "I can only relay his first message."
She only heard the first sentence.
"That's enough," Fang Bai said.
She's said what she needed to say; she can't control what others do.
Fang Bai picked up his bag and said, "Thank you for the treat, Mr. Lu. I'll be going now."
Lu Raomei put her legs down and asked, "Don't you want to have a meal together?"
At this moment, the two were like friends who had known each other for many years, with no conflict of interest between them.
Fang Bai had already stood up and was about to reply when Lu Raomei spoke up on her own, "Never mind, I won't eat it, so Ji Yuning won't cause me trouble again."
“…Xiao Ning isn’t as narrow-minded as you think,” Fang Bai replied.
Lu Raomei knew that Fang Bai had misunderstood her meaning. She rested her chin on her hand, glanced at Fang Bai, and chuckled, "I was talking about being jealous. What did you say?"
Fang Bai was talking about serious topics, of course.
She thought the trouble Lu Raomei was referring to was the kind that was confrontational, since the two had been mortal enemies for a long time.
But when Lu Raomei explained... it was clear that she had oversimplified the situation.
Fang Bai looked stunned. How did Lu Raomei know that Ji Yuning liked her?
Lu Raomei naturally noticed Fang Bai's confusion. She tapped her face with her finger and said, "Am I right?"
Fang Bai wanted to say he didn't know and try to change the subject, but in the end, he couldn't resist his curiosity: "How...how did you know?"
"You'll understand once you've been tormented for three years." The torment Lu Raomei referred to was the kind of torment that comes with it.
At first, she didn't think anything was strange, but later she gradually learned about Ji Yuning's feelings.
Remembering how Fang Bai seemed completely unaware back in Nancheng, but now he's asking her instead, it seems Ji Yuning has finally blurted it out?
She thought Ji Yuning would continue to hold back and not say anything.
Lu Raomei chuckled and said to Fang Bai, "I bet if Ji Yuning hadn't told you, even if the whole world knew, you still wouldn't have known, right?"
Fang Bai's eyelashes trembled; Lu Raomei's words were quite accurate.