Having personally lived through it once, Lin Ran could barely contain her excitement.
“Mom, don’t be fooled by how prosperous the Yu family looks right now. They only have a few good years left.”
A few years later, the Yu family would be sent down to the countryside. Not only would they drag her along to suffer on a farm, but for the rest of their lives, that entire family would suck her dry as their daughter-in-law!
She never wanted to live that kind of life again.
Lin Ran said, “Zhao Mingze is the real hidden gem! He really does become a regimental commander in the future!”
Li Yufen looked at Lin Ran as though she were crazy. “Sweetheart, that was just something Mom said to deceive Lin Xi…”
Lin Ran interrupted her. “No, Mom, it wasn’t a lie! You were right!”
Li Yufen fell silent.
After a moment, Lin Ran asked, “Mom, do you think I’m talking nonsense?”
There was no need to ask. Li Yufen reached out and felt her daughter’s forehead.
Lin Ran grabbed her hand. “Mom, it’s fine if you don’t believe me! I can prove it!”
Prove what?
Wanting to shut her daughter up for a moment, Li Yufen smiled. “Fine. Tell me one thing that will happen in the future, and I’ll believe you.”
That was too easy.
Lin Ran said, “Mom, go ask Dad right now if he’s secretly selling classified blueprints from the military factory.”
“What?!”
Li Yufen let out a shriek.
Selling classified military secrets was punishable by execution. She shared a bed with Lin Jianguo every night and had never known about this.
“You can’t make accusations like that!” Li Yufen warned Lin Ran.
Lin Ran nodded solemnly. “I’m not lying to you. Go ask Dad yourself.”
“Wait here!”
Li Yufen threw out those words before storming out and slamming the door behind her.
Not long afterward, in the master bedroom—
Li Yufen angrily confronted Lin Jianguo.
“Old Lin, tell me the truth. Are you selling military factory blueprints?!”
“Who told you that?!”
Lin Jianguo was stunned.
No one but him was allowed into the study. He had no idea how Li Yufen had found out.
His expression grew tense.
“Who told you?!”
From his reaction, Li Yufen immediately knew the answer.
Her face turned deathly pale.
“So… it’s true.”
As soon as she said that, she threw herself at Lin Jianguo, pounding and hitting him.
“We’re not short of money! Have you gone crazy? You’re doing something punishable by death!”
“Enough!”
No matter how strong Li Yufen was, she was still a woman. Lin Jianguo easily shoved her away.
His eyes hardened as he said impatiently, “Do you think I’m selling the blueprints for money? I’m doing it so I can accomplish something!”
When he had married Bai Keling, he hadn’t had a penny to his name.
The two of them had been university classmates.
They had both majored in mechanical engineering. Bai Keling had a powerful family background, which allowed her to enter a classified institution and gain access to the most advanced research blueprints.
As for him, it was only because he married Bai Keling and benefited from the Bai family’s connections that he had gotten the opportunity to enter the military factory.
As a mere technician, no matter how much talent he possessed, he had nowhere to display it.
In private, he also had to constantly endure his colleagues’ gossip and pointed remarks.
Relying on his wife.
Relying on his father-in-law’s family…
He had spent the best and most prideful ten years of a man’s life enduring all of that.
Fortunately…
Bai Keling had died, and his bitter days were finally over!
Now it was his turn to make something of himself!
Lin Jianguo grabbed Li Yufen by the shoulders and shook her violently.
“Stop talking nonsense! Tell me first—who told you about this?”
The refined and scholarly look in her husband’s eyes suddenly flashed with a bloodthirsty viciousness.
Li Yufen was frightened.
“Xiaoran told me…”
“She said she had a prophetic dream…”
Li Yufen repeated Lin Ran’s exact words to Lin Jianguo.
Immediately afterward, the two of them returned to Lin Ran’s bedroom together.
Knowing that her father would come looking for her, Lin Ran hadn’t even changed out of her pajamas.
When she saw the two of them enter, a smug look flashed across her face.
“Dad, Mom, now you two can believe what I told you, right?”
Lin Ran smiled.
“Not only do I know these things, I can even compare notes with Dad. For example… I know exactly who Dad has been secretly selling the blueprints to.”
“Who?”
Lin Jianguo’s tone was wary.
Lin Ran might have pulled a clever trick and secretly entered his study to discover the blueprints.
But there was no way she could know who he had been dealing with.
Lin Jianguo narrowed his eyes and scrutinized Lin Ran.
If she could get this right too…
Then this daughter of his would truly be the lucky star of the Lin family!
Lin Ran smiled faintly and slowly said, “One is Professor Cao from Peking University, and the other is Editor-in-Chief Dong from the television station.”
Lin Ran raised an eyebrow.
“Am I right, Dad?”
She was.
Every single word was right!
Lin Jianguo’s mind went blank with a buzz, and he nearly lost his balance.
“Marry him!”
He steadied himself by holding Li Yufen’s arm and took several deep breaths. It took a full half-minute before he finally calmed down.
“Let Xiaoran marry Zhao Mingze. Go. Call that boy from the Zhao family over tomorrow!”
Li Yufen nodded.
Lin Ran lifted her chin.
“Not so fast, Dad. I haven’t told you my condition yet.”
With a daughter who could see into the future, Lin Jianguo would have agreed to one condition, ten conditions, or even a hundred.
He nodded.
“Go ahead.”
Lin Ran said, “After I get married, you have to give me all the property Mom left to Lin Xi as my dowry.”
It was a fortune beyond imagination!
Lin Jianguo had never expected his usually obedient daughter to make such a huge demand.
He paused.
“Lin Xi won’t agree.”
“That’s your problem. I want it anyway.”
“You’ll ask for anything! If they offered you those two old geezers’ lives, would you take those too?!”
After finishing her eavesdropping, Lin Xi returned to her room.
Having drunk the spiritual spring water, she wasn’t sleepy anymore.
She lay on the bed and stared at the second hand of the clock on the wall.
Ten-thirty.
The two old geezers went downstairs to drink water.
Another half hour passed before Lin Xi made her move.
The study door was locked.
Good.
Lin Jianguo was still a cautious old geezer with some anti-surveillance awareness.
But it didn’t matter.
Agricultural science students could do anything.
With a piece of wire, Lin Xi easily picked the lock.
The layout of the house was simple. The hidden room in the study couldn’t escape the eyes of someone like Lin Xi, who frequently played escape-room games.
It didn’t take much effort for her to find the secret room where the valuables were hidden.
Six medium-sized boxes were stacked on top of one another.
Lin Xi first picked the lock on the top box.
After confirming that these were indeed her family’s assets, she immediately packed up all six boxes and threw them into the space.
She could slowly go through them after she got back.
After closing the secret-room door, she stuffed a wad of shredded paper into the lock.
That way, the door couldn’t be opened.
Even if the valuables disappeared, Old Lin wouldn’t be able to enter the room and discover anything.
Unless he found someone to come repair the lock.
Lin Xi bet he wouldn’t.
The study was filled with classified materials. Lin Jianguo would have to be out of his mind to bring someone in to repair the lock.
After securing the family fortune, Lin Xi began searching the drawers for evidence of Lin Jianguo’s crimes.
Lin Jianguo had been right about one thing.
Lin Ran really was the lucky star of the family.
The original novel had never mentioned that Lin Jianguo was selling out the country!
If Lin Ran hadn’t revealed it, Lin Xi wouldn’t have known how to get the old geezer thrown in jail.
Now things were much easier.
Lin Xi searched through the drawers one by one.
Any transactions needed records.
Lin Jianguo was a suspicious man, so he would definitely have kept evidence in this room that could later be used to control Professor Cao from Peking University and Editor-in-Chief Dong from the television station.
She searched through one drawer after another—
Finally, she found a ledger hidden in the compartment of the bottom drawer!
She couldn’t take it directly. That would be too obvious.
Lin Xi took out a camera and photographed every page, keeping copies for herself.
Once everything was done, she stretched lazily.
Having accomplished her mission without leaving a trace, she returned to her bedroom.
Now it was time to see what kind of fortune her grandmother had left behind.