Twenty-Four

 Zhou Yang paused for a moment, then put down his cup, his face hardening. He waved his hand.

Assistant Lu immediately left the room.

Zhou Yang placed his fingertips on the nearby phone, picked up the receiver, and dialed Su Hao’s number.

On the other end, the voice, probably not recognizing him, was gentle: "Hello, this is the Finance Department of Feijie. I’m Su Hao."

Zhou Yang leaned against the desk, his voice low and carrying a hint of restraint: "Su Hao."

Su Hao paused for a moment, recognizing his voice.

Then Zhou Yang tapped the desk and asked, "Not going to Kyoto anymore?"

Su Hao was silent for two seconds before responding with a smile, "Yes, I think I’m more suited to go to Dongshi."

"Is that so?" Zhou Yang’s response was light and airy, but the next moment, his voice lowered with a hint of coldness, "Is it because you're avoiding me? You’re going to such lengths to go see Shen He. Because of me, you'd rather avoid me than see Shen He, right?"

"Am I that frightening?" This was his biggest setback in his life.

Zhou Yang bit his tongue hard against his teeth.

On the other end, Su Hao was silent for two seconds before softly saying, "Since you know, why even ask? Doesn’t it just make things more troublesome?"

Zhou Yang clenched the receiver tightly, his veins bulging.

After a moment, he adjusted his tie and spoke in a low voice, "What do you think I should do so you won’t avoid me?"

Su Hao seemed surprised by the question.

She thought for a moment and said, "Wait until you find me uninteresting and no longer like me. That will be the day."

Then she hung up the phone without hesitation.

The sound of the dial tone followed.

Zhou Yang slammed the receiver down on the phone and yanked off his tie, his face growing cold. Great, she’s forcing him not to like her, not to pursue her. Zhou Yang had never encountered such a situation before! He was being pressured by a woman and cared about whether she avoided him or not.

Damn it!

After hanging up, Su Hao was in a daze for a moment, her phone WeChat still displaying a chat page.

Su Qian: Hao Hao, come over to our house this weekend.

Su Hao: Auntie, I’m going shopping with my colleagues this weekend.

Su Qian: Oh?

Su Qian: Hao Hao, tell me secretly, are you avoiding Zhou Yang?

Su Hao looked at the last message and mentally replied, "Yes, Auntie, I’ll stop avoiding him when he loses interest."

"Zhou Yang won’t take women seriously. His interest has limits. When his patience runs out, it will naturally be over. It won’t be long, maybe soon."

"Su Hao, do you want me to book a ticket to Dongshi for you?" Tang Yu came over, knocking on the door. Su Hao came back to her senses, turned, and smiled, "No, I’ll book it myself later."

There’s still some time before the business trip, no rush. Tang Yu also needed to go to Dongshi, so they decided to depart together.

"Alright, do you want to go out for afternoon tea together?"

"No, I still have a lot of things to do." Su Hao lifted the documents in her hand. Tang Yu shrugged, "Okay."

With that, Tang Yu turned and left.

Su Hao was alone in the office again. Lu Mimi and Zhang Xian had also gone out for afternoon tea. Su Hao felt quite relaxed by herself. Over the next few days, Zhou Yang didn’t send her any messages and didn’t come to the company. The two were completely out of contact, and the company’s gossip department continued speculating about him.

"Is Director Zhou in a relationship? He hasn’t come to the company lately. He used to come quite frequently."

"You guys are always thinking about Director Zhou. He doesn’t care about you."

"Is there anyone else worth talking about?"

"With someone like Director Zhou, I’d be willing to have a one-night stand. Good figure, good looks, money, and definitely knows how to flirt. Oh."

"Damn, do you have no shame?"

"I heard Miss Li went to the military technology company with Director Zhou yesterday."

"Really? Does that mean they’re together?"

"It’s just a matter of time. They make a great match."

"It should be already happening. They’re in a relationship, haha."

Su Hao had just returned from General Zeng’s office and sat down, only to see a flood of messages in the group chat. Then, Li Xiu sent several WeChat messages.

Li Xiu: Photos x3

Li Xiu: Sister Su Hao, I went to Zhou Yang’s company today and secretly took a look. Damn, he’s really good with guns. Look at this—

She sent two photos.

The first photo showed Zhou Yang holding a gun in a shooting range, looking down and playing with it, with a slight smile at the corner of his mouth.

The second photo was of Zhou Yang shooting, with a toothpick in his mouth, dressed casually in a white shirt and pants, looking very relaxed and cool. The third photo was of Li Xiu standing behind him, giving a thumbs-up. She was smiling brightly and looked beautiful. This time, Li Xiu didn’t post it on her Moments but sent it directly to Su Hao. Su Hao wasn’t sure how to respond.

Li Xiu: Sister Su Hao, don’t we make a great match?

Once, Su Hao had read a book that said the more a person is anxious about something, the more they focus on it. Su Hao furrowed her brows, thinking that Li Xiu probably had nothing to be anxious about.

She edited her response.

Su Hao: You make a great match. You’ve asked this question many times, Li Xiu.

Her reply seemed like a big sister’s reminder, and indeed, Li Xiu didn’t send any more messages. Su Hao let out a sigh of relief and put down her phone. Now she could focus on her work without being interrupted by having to reply.

At the shooting range that night, the lights were bright, and several sports cars were parked outside the iron gate, along with a few Bentleys and Hummers, creating an imposing atmosphere.

The shooting range was quite crowded with young masters. There was a competition tonight, and there were almost no female companions around. Women were generally not allowed in this place, except for a few family members, such as those from the Xu and Jiang families, and Wen Zexin’s family.

Zhou Yang, as the person in charge, was not participating in the competition tonight. His marksmanship was on par with Li Yi’s, but both of them were quite skilled and preferred to sit back, smoking and watching others shoot.

At the same time, those familiar with Zhou Yang could sense that his mood was off, especially Li Yi and the others. Liu Yan, a female shooter who had come in, smiled as she bit her cigarette and asked Zhou Yang, “What’s going on? Haven’t been feeling well these past few days?”

Zhou Yang, with a cigarette in his mouth, glanced at her lazily, then lowered his head, extinguished the cigarette, and took a sip of red wine.

Li Yi stood up, walked over, and kicked the foot of a young master who was trying to cheat. After returning, he leaned over to glance at Zhou Yang’s phone. “Who’s that?”

Zhou Yang didn’t avoid the question.

On his phone screen was a photo of Su Hao sitting in the office, hugging a pillow, resting her chin on it while talking to Tang Yu.

She was wearing an A-line dress with a small slit, her shirt tucked into the dress, her hair cascading over her shoulders, looking both gentle and beautiful.

Her legs were long and fair, and her posture was elegant.

A certain serene and refined quality of timeless beauty.

Li Yi clicked his tongue. “Su Hao.”

“Zhou Yang, you’re not doing well.”

Jiang Yu also laughed. “So, you’re in a bad mood these days because of her?”

Xu Dian: “You’re having your turn now.”

Everyone laughed, watching Zhou Yang. Zhou Yang leaned against the coffee table, his long legs crossed. After a few seconds, he lit a cigarette, held it between his fingers, tapped it on the armrest of his chair, and said with a smile, “Who said I’m not doing well?”

Saying this, he picked up his phone, stood up, and walked over to the iron railing. He rested his long legs against the railing, swaying a couple of times, and looked relaxed.

He dialed Su Hao’s number.

After struggling for a long time, Su Hao was about to inform Shen He that she couldn’t go to Kyoto for the business trip and that the location had been changed. She had eaten, taken a shower, and sat on the sofa for a while before taking out her phone to draft a message.

Before she could finish editing her message, a phone call came in. Su Hao looked at the incoming call and saw it was from Zhou Yang.

She was taken aback.

This person hadn’t been in touch for many days, and with Li Xiu sending photos with him, did this mean that patience had reached its limit?

In that case,

Su Hao answered the phone, her voice gentle.

“Hello.”

“Su Hao.” The man’s voice was deep and pleasant.

Su Hao responded, “Hmm.”

There was a brief silence on the other end, then Zhou Yang laughed lightly, “Have I scared you off with my persistence these past few days?”

Su Hao remained silent.

“I thought about it and calmed down. Indeed, my feelings towards you were more about a desire to conquer rather than genuine affection. I’ve come to realize that we’re better suited as friends.” Zhou Yang’s fingertips rubbed his lips as he lowered his gaze.

Since you want to be friends, then I’ll accompany you as one.

“How about it, Su Hao?” The deep voice came again.

Su Hao snapped back to reality, smiled, and her voice was as gentle as ever, “Okay.”

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