Along the way, Su Yurou chattered incessantly about how to argue logically.
"Beauty is a joint venture between us. You're investing in technical expertise and refuse any other partnerships besides me. Without you, the beauty salon will lose its competitive edge and go bankrupt before long, understand?"
"Mhm."
Lin Fan nodded, then immediately added, "I didn't understand the rest, but I get this: you always said you'd give me shares before, but you were just fooling me, right?"
"Now that you're cornered, you're bringing this up again, aren't you?"
Seeing her eager to explain, Lin Fan made a direct stop gesture. "You don't need to explain. I never wanted your shares anyway. I just saw you were in a bad mood and decided to crack a joke."
"Who says I was fooling you?"
Su Yurou let out a soft hmph. "If you were willing to work at the beauty salon, forget thirty percent shares, even fifty or sixty percent, I'd give them to you. You'd be the boss, and I'd assist you. Xiao Fan, no exaggeration, with you here, the salon could reach over a hundred million in annual revenue and quickly open chain stores nationwide."
"Alright, alright. Those are all distant possibilities. Let's focus on how to get through this current hurdle."
Lin Fan still disliked Su Yurou's ambition. As a man, to abandon a profession of saving lives to manage a beauty salon felt like a disservice to his brief life.
"One day you'll change your mind, I'll be waiting for you to come find me then," Su Yurou called out stubbornly.
"If I change my mind, I'll find you, okay?" Lin Fan replied perfunctorily.
At this moment, the red sports car had driven out of the city and was heading towards the east of the town.
"Why didn't your family move to the city to live?" Lin Fan asked curiously.
"We usually stay in the city, but we still go back to the village for Chinese New Year every year," Su Yurou said with a self-deprecating smile. "Now that we have money, we can show off when we return to the village for the holidays."
"Makes sense." Lin Fan nodded in understanding. "The first thing I'll do when I earn money is build a house, a big house, a beautiful house. People from the countryside are like that."
"My parents are more than you imagine. You'll see when you meet them later." Su Yurou said this as she steered the car off the main road and into a village named Dongzhuang.
Lin Fan sat up straight, his spirits lifting, knowing they were nearing their destination. He looked out the car window, observing the rural scenery.
"What are you looking at?" Su Yurou glanced at him with a curious tilt of her head.
"I think your village is quite nice. The houses are all pretty, and the roads are paved with cement."
"Pfft!" Su Yurou couldn't help but burst into laughter. "Our village isn't far from the city, unlike your Luofeng Village, a place where birds don't even poop."
"What did you say?" Lin Fan's face darkened. Those words were truly unpleasant to hear!
"You still go to a place where birds don't poop?"
"Xiao Fan~ I was wrong, I didn't mean anything else~" Su Yurou apologized in a coquettish tone, gently nudging Lin Fan's shoulder with her delicate hand.
Lin Fan wasn't angry at all. "Our Luofeng Village will get better."
"Yes, yes, yes. If you're willing to manage the beauty salon with me, we can build villas for the whole village in a few years," Su Yurou said, then rolled down the car window to greet an elder passing by.
"Can we stop bringing that up?" The moment Lin Fan heard about managing the beauty salon, his head began to ache.
"No more, no more." Su Yurou rolled her eyes, then rolled up the window and continued to drive attentively.
The bright red sports car was particularly eye-catching. Many villagers and visitors stood by the roadside, pointing and murmuring amongst themselves. Seeing this, Lin Fan instinctively wondered if he should get a cool sports car to show off in the village. While the Jeep Wrangler had good horsepower and was suitable for the poor roads in Luofeng Village, it simply wasn't as flashy as a sports car.
With this thought, Lin Fan saw Su Yurou park the car in front of an ancient-style residential building. When they first entered the village, Lin Fan had noticed this house standing out from the rest, exuding an ancient elegance and stately grandeur. He hadn't expected it to be Su Yurou's family home.
"Get out of the car." Su Yurou unbuckled her seatbelt and said.
"Oh." Lin Fan responded and got out of the car.
Knock, knock, knock!
Su Yurou held a golden lion-shaped door knocker and rapped on the thick, antique bronze door. Lin Fan's eyes widened at the rows of brass studs inlaid on the door, finding it quite novel. He last saw something similar at Lanxi Ju, when he attended a banquet invited by Zhou Yi. However, Lanxi Ju's door was vermilion, appearing even more grand and imposing, like the residence of ancient royalty. Lin Fan couldn't help but sigh inwardly, "So this is the style rich people like nowadays. I'll discuss it with my sister-in-law when I get back; if others have it, I must have it too."
"Is that Yurou back?" a voice of an elderly woman came from inside the house.
"Mom, it's me." Su Yurou called back.
Creak~
The door opened, and a well-maintained, expensively dressed woman in her fifties appeared before Lin Fan.
"Oh my! You, you are Yurou's..."
Su Yurou interjected, "Mom, he's my boyfriend."
"Hello, Auntie."
"Hello."
Su Yurou's mother seemed flustered and shot her daughter a stern look, as if asking, "Why did you bring a young man back?"
"Mom, let's go inside and talk," Su Yurou said, pretending not to see. She and Lin Fan had already shared a bed; he didn't mind her being older! Her mother was worrying for nothing!
"Mhm, come in and meet your dad." Su Yurou's mother said, turning and walking quickly into the house, seemingly intending to inform her husband of the news beforehand.
"They might question you later, so be careful," Su Yurou whispered.
"I know, but we agreed, just this once, never again," Lin Fan said. From the first glance, he noticed Su Yurou's mother's strange look, as if he were a kept man.
Su Yurou giggled, "What's wrong? Feeling wronged? So many people wish they had this opportunity!"
Just as Lin Fan was about to retort, six or seven people poured out of the house. At the front were Sun Tiezhu and Su Mei, Su Yurou's parents. Following closely behind them was Su Yurou's younger brother, Sun Wenrui. Lin Fan looked closely and saw that Sun Wenrui was dressed in a sharp suit, his hair neatly combed. He bore some resemblance to Su Yurou, and looked quite presentable. However, the arrogance in his eyes made Lin Fan dislike him immediately. As for those behind him, Lin Fan guessed they were their relatives.
"Yurou, is this the shareholder of the beauty salon you mentioned, and your boyfriend?" Sun Tiezhu adjusted his reading glasses, staring intently at Lin Fan. He looks even younger than his son! Is this a joke?
"Hello, Uncle." Regardless of how others viewed him, Lin Fan greeted them politely.
"Hello." Sun Tiezhu's tone was anything but welcoming.