As soon as she said that, everyone in the car turned to look at Gu Xiangwan—including Zhou Wangye.
Gu Xiangwan’s face flushed a deep red, and she immediately protested, “I didn’t—”
“Didn’t what?” Lin Ran pressed. “Didn’t target me? Or didn’t like President Zhou?”
Heh… in the original story, the heroine always hid behind the guise of the CEO’s secretary, acting as if everything she did was for the boss, with no personal motives at all.
And Zhou Wangye had been forced by drugs to follow the original body’s lead, leaving him with a lingering shadow toward such a beautiful woman. That’s how the heroine slipped in unnoticed.
Now, Lin Ran was exposing that relationship, to see how the heroine could continue pretending.
In the original, Zhou Wangye always thought he was the first to develop feelings.
When he confessed to Gu Xiangwan, she felt happy inside but refused him outwardly, saying she only regarded him as her boss and never harbored any desires.
And of course, men fall for that kind of act.
She feigns indifference, and he chases after her.
Later, he spent time and effort before gradually winning her over, and they ended up together.
In the car, the atmosphere became a little awkward.
Meng Yan, reluctant to see his goddess cornered, quickly said, “Sister Gu, now isn’t the time for jokes. Let’s focus on dealing with the psychic zombies outside.”
The others nodded in agreement with Meng Yan.
Lin Ran knew when to stop and didn’t push the topic further.
One must proceed step by step—no rushing.
First, let Zhou Wangye realize that his secretary might have personal feelings for him.
That way, no matter what the heroine says or does in the future, he will carefully consider her true intentions.
Lin Ran was confident: as long as she didn’t continue pining after him or drugging him to force love, he would protect her for life, just out of gratitude for her mother’s debt to the Zhou family.
Evidence of this was clear—Zhou Wangye chose to use himself as bait, leaving his trusted aide He Sheng to protect her.
Lin Ran pulled a few cores from her pocket and handed them to Secretary Wang, signaling him to pass them to Zhou Wangye.
Secretary Wang thought: “Sister Gu… why this way? You’re closer to President Zhou—why not give them directly to him?”
Still, he calmly accepted them and handed them to Zhou Wangye.
Lin Ran said:“Brother Meng, I deliberately saved these cores during my upgrade. Here are four leftover zombie cores, plus the mutant cores from Zhang Qiang and the others. Absorb them quickly—later we’ll need them for that mutated zombie outside.”
Zhou Wangye: …
“So… you almost risked your life just to save these cores?”
“Yes.” Lin Ran lied calmly, not blushing at all.
In truth, she didn’t even need to save them—she was already a level-three spatial ability user.
But sometimes, a little show is necessary.
“The enemies outside aren’t that strong. If I can save a little, I will.”
She thought he might be impressed—or at least give her a good look.
Instead, Zhou Wangye’s face darkened with disdain. “Next time, don’t act smart on your own. You could get yourself killed, and I’d still have to go through the trouble of saving you.”
Lin Ran: …
Men really can be jerks.
Original body… what did you even like about him?
Gu Xiangwan’s face, on the other hand, suddenly looked better—Zhou Wangye was still biased toward her.
Lin Ran had just teased her, and Zhou Wangye had come to restore her face.
Secretary Wang, noticing Sister Gu’s expression, quickly comforted her: “President Zhou was worried. Just now, you looked pale and scared him.”
Lin Ran snorted: “Worried about me? He’s just worried I’ll die before he can report back to Aunt Lan.”
Secretary Wang: …
Sister Gu’s brain… suddenly clever enough to figure that out.
While they were talking, Zhou Wangye distributed the cores. “Once you’ve absorbed them, we’ll follow the previous plan.”
Lin Ran said: “I don’t agree!”
Zhou Wangye sighed deeply. Lin Ran truly had not changed her stubborn nature—seeing him with Secretary Gu always prompted her to stir trouble.
He started to explain: “I’m not dating Secretary Gu. Meng Yan is with us. We’re doing this for—”
Lin Ran gave him a look like he was crazy: “Brother Meng, what are you thinking?”
“I mean, I don’t agree with leaving here—I want this level-three psychic zombie core.”
“So, let’s kill that cloaked zombie!”
The others looked at her like she was insane.
Gu Xiangwan smirked: “Go ahead, Lin Ran. The more trouble you cause, the more I’ll look gentle and reasonable in President Zhou’s eyes.”
Zhou Wangye frowned, thinking Lin Ran was only acting out because Secretary Gu was with him—jealousy making her create problems.
But he asked: “Why do you want that zombie core?”
Even though he didn’t think she had a serious reason, her pale face and pitiful way of saving the cores made him willing to listen to her nonsense.
Anyway, the business car was strong, and the psychic zombie outside couldn’t touch them for now.
Even if it could control zombies, it wasn’t particularly skilled, and the zombies it controlled were low-level. They could stay in the car without immediate danger.
Lin Ran said:“I want to see if, after absorbing this psychic zombie core, I can awaken a psychic ability.”
Gu Xiangwan said: “Sister Lin Ran, you’re overthinking. If absorbing a core could awaken abilities, would mutants be so rare?”
Lin Ran glared at her: “I’m not talking to you. Don’t butt in. Everyone knows you’re Brother Meng’s secretary; if someone didn’t know, they’d think you’re his spokesperson.”
Gu Xiangwan quickly looked at Zhou Wangye: “President Zhou, I didn’t mean that.”
But no one paid her any mind.
Lin Ran continued:“Psychic powers are so cool. If I could control zombies like it, I wouldn’t even need to work. I could stay home while zombies collect resources and fight for me, dig up zombie cores… all for me.”
Lin Ran’s imagination ran wild, while Zhou Wangye’s thoughts went straight to practical concerns.
The zombie outside was already level three, able to control dozens of zombies to attack them.
Although some were ordinary zombies, occasionally a level one or two mutated zombie appeared.
If it continued to level up, it could control zombies across several kilometers—or even tens of kilometers—surrounding the city, attacking bases…
His expression instantly turned serious. “Plan change. We must kill this psychic zombie.”
“President Zhou!” Gu Xiangwan’s eyes were accusing, as if he were heartless. “Have you forgotten your mission?”
Zhou Wangye looked at her pleading, aggrieved expression, and for some reason thought of Lin Ran’s words.
He had thought it was a joke, but now… there was some truth to it.
Could it be… Secretary Gu truly harbored special feelings for him?
Before the apocalypse, he chose Gu Xiangwan as his secretary for her exceptional composure—able to handle Lin Ran’s deliberate provocations without flinching.
More importantly, her professionalism—never engaging in office conflicts, delivering objective and accurate reports he could trust completely.
But if she truly had feelings for him… could every word and action she took remain truly impartial?
Could he still trust her completely?
Gu Xiangwan, noticing Zhou Wangye’s suspicious gaze, immediately realized: she must not expose her feelings.
She knew how much he disliked clingy women.
She quickly returned to her secretary role, calmly reminding him:“President Zhou, our priority is collecting resources, not fighting mutated zombies—that’s the military’s responsibility.”
“If you get injured during a fight, our team doesn’t have anyone with healing abilities.”
To show she had no personal feelings, she even added a hint of sarcasm:“Of course, as your secretary, I can only make suggestions. The decision is still yours.”