Just then, a kindly middle-aged man in a butler’s uniform hurried over and introduced himself to Lu Wanmian. “Young Miss, hello. I’m the head butler, Yang Fu. You can call me Uncle Yang.”
Lu Wanmian nodded in greeting. “Hello, Uncle Yang.”
Uncle Yang looked her over from head to toe, then tears welled up in his eyes. “After all these years, the Young Master has finally found you, Young Miss. Sniffle Now the hard times are finally over.”
Lu Siyuan sighed with emotion. “Yeah, I’ve finally found my little sister. She suffered so much before, but now that she’s back, it’s time for her to enjoy life.”
He wrapped an arm around Lu Wanmian’s shoulder and gestured grandly at the row of eighteen maids across from them. “Mianmian, these are the eighteen maids I had Uncle Yang carefully select. From now on, they’ll take care of you. If you need anything, just have them do it.”
Lu Wanmian’s eyes lit up. Wow, they’re assigning me eighteen maids the moment I arrive? Now that’s lavish.
She smiled and nodded. “Okay, thank you, big brother.”
Lu Siyuan’s lips curved up, but then something crossed his mind and his gaze darkened. He said to her, “Mianmian, let me take you to offer incense to Mom and Dad, to tell them I’ve brought you back.”
Lu Wanmian nodded and followed him to the small ancestral hall, where their parents’ memorial tablets were enshrined.
Ever since Lu Wanmian had gone missing at the age of five, their parents had grieved for years, searching for her desperately. But they’d passed away without ever finding her, and that had become a lingering regret and pain in Lu Siyuan’s heart.
Now that his sister was back, he could finally fulfill his duty to their parents.
The siblings paid their respects solemnly, speaking to their parents at length before leaving the ancestral hall.
Lu Siyuan called Uncle Yang over and asked, “Is Young Miss’s room ready?”
Uncle Yang nodded. “It’s all prepared. Shall I take the Young Miss there now?”
Lu Siyuan gave a hum of acknowledgment, then turned to Lu Wanmian. “I need to go to the study to handle some business. Go with Uncle Yang to your room and see if you like it.”
“Okay!”
Lu Wanmian followed Uncle Yang to a room on the second floor. Pushing the door open, she peered inside. The room was as large as a small palace, lavishly decorated in a palette of cream and pink—elegant yet with a touch of girlish charm. Every piece of furniture and decoration was uniquely exquisite, especially the pink bed, which was both luxurious and dreamlike.
Lu Wanmian was overjoyed. Whoa, this room is incredible—luxury everywhere you look.
Next, Uncle Yang led her to the walk-in closet next door. Rows of haute couture garments lined the racks, exuding endless opulence. Beside them was a jewelry cabinet; when opened, it revealed expensive diamond and jade pieces that glittered brilliantly under the lights, almost blinding to the eye.
Lu Wanmian couldn’t help but let her eyes sparkle.
Wow, wow, wow!!
This is way too extravagant.
Uncle Yang asked respectfully, “Young Miss, do you like the room’s decor and these clothes and jewelry?”
Lu Wanmian nodded excitedly. “I love it! It’s amazing.”
Seeing that she was pleased, Uncle Yang was delighted.
Lu Wanmian waved him off. “You can go now. I’ll rest for a bit.”
“Yes, Young Miss.”
Uncle Yang withdrew respectfully.
Once the door was closed, Lu Wanmian excitedly snatched up a diamond-and-jade piece from the jewelry cabinet and planted a big kiss on it. Then she leaped onto the bed and rolled around happily.
Before transmigrating into the book, she had come from an ordinary background. Despite holding a high level of education, she could only work as a cog in a big corporation—toiling away, grinding herself into the ground, earning mere scraps in the process. In the end, she died from overwork at her post, a miserable fate indeed. After transmigrating into the book, she had lost her memory and suffered endless grievances at her adoptive parents’ home. Now, she had finally seen the light at the end of the tunnel, enjoying a life of wealth and splendor.
After rolling around on the bed a few times, she gazed up at the dazzling crystal chandelier overhead and silently resolved that, in order to protect her newfound riches and glory, she would do everything in her power to stop Lu Siyuan from courting death and rewrite the plot.
After giving herself a mental pep talk, she closed her eyes and drifted off into a comfortable sleep.
When she woke up, it was already dark outside. Feeling a bit hungry, she got out of bed and headed downstairs for dinner.
Lu Siyuan wasn’t around, so she ate dinner alone. After finishing, she went upstairs to rest. As she passed by Lu Siyuan’s study, she noticed the door wasn’t fully closed. Through the crack, she could see him sitting at his desk, working.
A cigar dangled from his lips, his expression cold and ruthless.
Just then, the phone on the desk rang—an incoming call. He picked it up and glanced at the screen; it was his good brother, Jiang Xiaoye.
He answered the call and put it on speaker.
“Ye, what’s up?”
Jiang Xiaoye said indignantly, “Yan, I just got word that the Azure Dragon Gang sent people to the Long Corporation, trying to negotiate a partnership with them. This is clearly an attempt to block our contact with the Long Corporation and steal our business.”
Lu Siyuan’s cold eyes darkened with fury. “Those bastards from the Azure Dragon Gang—last time they snatched a piece of our turf, and now they’re coming for the Long Corporation deal. Utterly despicable.”
“Yan, so what do we do now?”
As the Great Villain, Lu Siyuan had always been ruthless and merciless. He exhaled a puff of smoke and answered with vicious resolve: “What else can we do? We wipe them out.”
Jiang Xiaoye grew excited. “Hell yeah! How about we rally a bunch of our men right now, storm the Azure Dragon Gang, trash their hideout, capture them all, and give them a proper beating.”
Hearing this, Lu Siyuan let out a sinister chuckle. “Let’s do exactly that. Once we’ve got them, we’ll chop off their hands and feet and toss them into the sea to feed the fish.”
“Feeding them to the fish in the sea is letting them off too easy. Better yet, let’s throw them into a snake pit and let the venomous snakes have them.”
A cruel glint flashed in Lu Siyuan’s eyes. “Fine. I’ve been raising a batch of venomous snakes in the western mountains—this is just the right time to put them to use.”
Jiang Xiaoye cackled with a sinister laugh, unable to contain his eagerness. “No time like the present—let’s move tonight.”
Hearing their conversation from outside the door, Lu Wanmian clicked her tongue inwardly. Lu Siyuan truly lived up to his reputation as the villain—ruthless to the core. As for his good brother Jiang Xiaoye, he was the young master of the wealthy Jiang family, a bastard son who had clawed his way to power. His methods were brutal, his hands stained with blood—a formidable and dangerous figure.
In the book, he and Lu Siyuan were known together as the villainous duo. The two of them conspired hand in glove, committing countless misdeeds that made people gnash their teeth in hatred.
As for the Azure Dragon Gang, it was a criminal underworld organization steeped in evil, wielding considerable power.
In the original story, this time Lu Siyuan and Jiang Xiaoye joined forces to take down the Azure Dragon Gang, but they failed. Not only did they suffer heavy losses, but they were also wounded in the process. The Azure Dragon Gang, nursing a grudge against the two, subsequently allied with the male lead and opposed them at every turn, causing great losses for both the Lu and Jiang families.
Lu Wanmian’s heart sank. She had to stop Lu Siyuan from courting disaster. As for Jiang Xiaoye, if he wanted to go throw his life away, let him.
A plan quickly formed in her mind.
In the study, Lu Siyuan had begun discussing with Jiang Xiaoye how to deal with the Azure Dragon Gang. Mid-conversation, a knock came at the door, and he said, “Come in.”
The door opened, and Lu Wanmian walked in from outside.
When Lu Siyuan saw her, he quickly stubbed out his cigarette, and the cold, ruthless look in his eyes softened by a few degrees.
He asked, “Mianmian, did you need something from me?”
Lu Wanmian held out a document: “Brother, our school’s professional proficiency exam results came out. I wanted to bring them to show you.”
Lu Wanmian had originally been a top student, but her adoptive parents hadn’t wanted her to go to college. During her college entrance exams, they had secretly slipped drugs into her drinking water, causing her to suffer from vomiting and diarrhea throughout the exam, unable to find a moment’s peace. Naturally, she performed poorly, barely scraping past the second-tier university cutoff.
She couldn’t retake the exams, and her score wasn’t good enough for a prestigious school, so she could only apply to an ordinary second-tier college in a remote small city, majoring in Russian.
When her adoptive parents learned she’d been admitted, they flew into a rage. Not only did they refuse to pay her tuition, but they also blocked her from attending. She could only sneak out and apply for a student loan to go to school. During her studies, she worked part-time jobs to cover her living expenses.
However, her adoptive parents still refused to let her go. To scrape together money for their son’s future bride price, they went straight to her school and dragged her away, then forced her to marry a 50-year-old bachelor in exchange for a betrothal gift.
After she escaped, she never returned to school. This Russian beginner-level exam transcript was from before—she’d just printed it out, but she’d altered the numbers on it.
Lu Siyuan had already looked into her situation before, so he said to her, “Just leave it there. I’ll take a look in a bit.”
“Okay!”
After setting down the transcript, Lu Wanmian turned and left.
Beneath the transcript lay another explosive document—one that would surely give him a “surprise.”