Lin Ruan followed her memories back home. A luxurious French-style vintage villa stood quietly before her. After the original owner’s parents passed away, she had dismissed all the household servants, keeping only a cleaning lady, and moved into the university dormitory.
Pushing open the heavy front door, Lin Ruan was greeted by the rich fragrance of flowers in the naturalistic garden. The milky-white swing in the courtyard, the transparent glass greenhouse, and the many warm, familiar scenes filled her mind one after another. Lin Ruan knew these were the lingering emotions of the original owner. A perfect childhood and loving parents made it genuinely difficult to accept such sudden deceit and loneliness.
Lin Ruan shook her head, gradually clearing her mind, then walked into the study to sort through the original owner’s assets. Oh, no, they were all mine now! There were shares in the company, cars in the garage, several properties in the city center, and a collection of famous paintings, antiques, jewelry, and accessories at home.
Wait a minute. Perhaps she should keep the jewelry. After all, she couldn’t have read so many novels for nothing. Gold, jade, and similar valuables were absolutely not for sale.
“Bang, bang, bang! Lin Ruan, open the door! Hurry up and open it!”
When Lin Ruan had sold all the shares under her name yesterday, she had already anticipated that she wouldn’t have any peace today. The original owner might have been weak and easily bullied, but I wasn’t going to indulge these people’s bad habits. They actually thought they could meddle in how I spent my own money? What shameless people!
Wearing a pair of soft, comfortable bunny-ear slippers, Lin Ruan slowly descended the stairs. As for opening the door, huh! Dream on! There was a whole pack of wolves and tigers outside.
“Oh, Ruan Ruan! Why have you only just gotten up? Your Second Aunt has been knocking on the door for ages. Honestly!”
Good grief, what a grand gathering! Her eldest uncle, second uncle, second aunt, and younger female cousin had all come. Anyone who didn’t know better might have thought she had sold their family’s shares!
“Second Aunt, what brings you all here? I asked for a few days off yesterday so I could rest, and naturally, I went to bed a little late and got up late too. I’m really sorry to have kept you waiting.”
Lin Ruan responded lazily but politely, without any intention of opening the door. What a joke! Opening the door would be like letting the dogs in. She wasn’t stupid enough to do that!
Outside the electronic gate, everyone’s faces turned green as they listened to her. They could tell that these pleasantries were a complete waste of time. Her eldest uncle was also furious. Why was this girl acting so differently today? Every word she said was so irritating. She had sold her shares just like that, and not only had she sold them, she hadn’t even given him a single penny!
Lin Ruan had no idea what they were thinking. If she had known, she would have cursed them out. These people were so shameless that they could open anyone’s eyes. They coveted what belonged to someone else and still acted as though they were entitled to it.
Lin Ruan had no time to waste listening to their nonsense, and she wasn’t about to give them an opportunity to act shamelessly.
“Uncle, Second Uncle, let’s stop beating around the bush. I know why you’re here, but honestly, your purpose is rather shameless. Don’t blame me for speaking harshly or for disregarding our family ties. But ask yourselves honestly, did any of these things belong to you? After my parents passed away, none of you gave a second thought to me. You took advantage of my young age and deceived me out of all sorts of benefits. I’ll let the smaller things slide, but what about the jewelry my older and younger female cousins borrowed? When exactly are they going to return it? Anyone who knew better would assume you borrowed those beautiful pieces to wear and admire them from time to time. But anyone who didn’t know the situation might think you had no intention of returning them at all!”
Just thinking about all the bracelets and necklaces these people had taken from the original owner made Lin Ruan’s heart ache. Today, she was determined to make them return everything!
“Big Sister, what kind of nonsense are you talking about? You’re being so unpleasant! Those are just a bunch of worthless accessories. Even if you gave them to me, I wouldn’t want them. You’re so stingy!”
Lin Yuhan felt uneasy. She had already sold the jade bracelets she had taken before, so where was she supposed to find them now?
Then she thought about it again. What was there to fear? Lin Ruan was just an orphan. If she didn’t have the bracelets, then she didn’t have them. She simply wouldn’t return anything!
You little bitch. You’ve been one step ahead of me since we were children.
Her father had said they would get Lin Ruan’s shares today. Once that happened, she would become the eldest daughter of the Lin family. She would watch Lin Ruan rise high, only to see her downfall. What a wonderful thought!
Lin Ruan felt a lump of anger rise in her chest. She was absolutely furious!
And you still have the nerve to talk about how young you were and how you helped me? To hell with you! No matter how nicely you put it, you can’t hide your ugly faces!
“Shut up!!!”
Lin Ruan’s voice rang out sharply.
“Eldest Uncle, where were you last Thursday? Do I really need to spell it out? Second Aunt, I believe I saw you at Longcheng Hotel a few months ago. What exactly were you doing there so late at night? And as for my younger cousin, your computer has quite a large memory capacity, doesn’t it? It’s full of videos. If your classmates ever saw them, your precious Little White Lotus image wouldn’t remain so pure, would it?”
She paused briefly before delivering her final warning.
“I’ll say this one last time. Return everything you owe me by tomorrow. If you can’t return the actual items, pay me their cash value instead. Otherwise, I’ll… Well, you know what will happen. Bye-bye!”
Lin Ruan’s mouth had gone dry from talking so much. Without paying any attention to the chorus of curses behind her, she turned and walked away.
Well, this is certainly peaceful, yet lonely…
Yesterday alone, she had sold her shares for a staggering five billion yuan. She had been so excited at the time that she almost lost count of all the zeros.
Having lived at the bottom of society for more than twenty years, she was experiencing the sudden wealth of someone who had always been poor. She really needed to make a plan.
First, she would check the vehicles in the garage. She would keep all the motorhomes, all the mountain bikes, and the several Hummers. The rest could be sold.
Lin Ruan scrolled through her phone.
“Hello? It’s me. I’m planning to sell off a batch of cars. When would you have time to come and take a look? Yes, I’m selling all of them to you. Of course, I trust you. That’s right, I’m at the Lin family villa now. Come over.”
“…Miss Lin, are you sure you want to sell all of them? Some of these are discontinued models! Don’t worry about the price. I’ll make sure you don’t sell them at a loss, but are you certain you don’t want to reconsider?”
Lin Ruan didn’t hesitate for even a moment.
“Sell them all. I’m going abroad, so I won’t have any use for so many cars. Handle everything as you see fit, but get it done within the next couple of days. You can contact buyers right away or have them all transported to your dealership. I’m in a hurry.”
“All right! I’ll make some calls. My staff can come and collect the vehicles shortly. You can rest assured.”
With the cars taken care of, Lin Ruan contacted an auction house and a real estate agency. She put the paintings, large antiques, and all her city-center properties up for sale, along with some decorative items, handbags, and other belongings.
Hmm, that should be almost everything she needed to sell. All that remained was to collect the money.
Lin Ruan slung a handbag over her shoulder, put on her sunglasses, and headed for the entrance. She got into a Hummer and sped away.
“Oh, look at our little Ruan Ruan! Since when did she become so cool? Where’s that sweet, delicate girl next door? Give me back my adorable little cutie! Hey, seriously, Han Jin, I heard you even held her when she was little. Do you still remember?”
Zuo Zhiqian teased him.
Despite having a refined name that sounded polite and cultured, he had been the kind of troublemaker who would climb onto the roof if left alone for three days since childhood. The person he had always admired most was his maternal cousin, Han Jin. In his eyes, his cousin was the most outstanding person in the world. It was practically love making him blind, except that instead of a lover, it was his own older male cousin he worshipped.
When the children in the residential compound mocked him for being stupid, he would say, “I’ve got my Brother!”
When his middle school teacher earnestly urged him to study harder, he would say, “I’ve got my Brother!”
When his mother nagged him about handling the company’s business during university, he would say, “I’ve got my Brother!”
And Han Jin, his beloved Brother, had acquired half of his mysterious reputation thanks to Zuo Zhiqian’s endless praise.
But let’s return to the present.
Standing beside Zuo Zhiqian was Han Jin himself. He was 188 centimeters tall, with fair skin that carried a hint of a wheat-colored tan. Wearing gold-rimmed glasses and a dark suit, he gave off an impression of warmth and refined elegance, with just a touch of aloofness. He was the very embodiment of a gentle, abstinent CEO, effortlessly capturing everyone’s attention.
Han Jin watched the Hummer disappear into the distance, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly as though he were recalling something.
His memories of the little girl had grown rather hazy, but one brief glance at her just now had brought countless fragments of the past flooding back.
“Of course I remember. I held her before. She’s certainly become more lively than she was a few years ago. She’s becoming more and more like the way she was as a child…”