Even after driving some distance away, Le Ning’s face was still a little red.
At a red light ahead, she stepped on the brake and looked down at her wrist, still feeling like the spot he’d grabbed was burning.
Thinking about it, Le Ning mentally cursed Zhou Ran in her heart.
—Just return the keys if you’re returning them. Why take advantage like that.
When the light turned green, she shook her head to chase that tiny bit of ambiguity out of her mind.
She focused on driving and didn’t even bother picking up the bag he’d tossed back onto the rear seat.
Le Ning stopped by the mall on the way to buy a gift.
She picked something random—the old man didn’t lack anything anyway.
By the time she arrived home, the sun had just set.
Her father’s place was quite far from her apartment—she had deliberately chosen a distant location when buying her own home.
As soon as she parked, a young girl walked out of the house wearing a bright-colored dress. Le Ning took a closer look—it was Dior’s new autumn style.
Le Ning had the same one; she’d worn it on a livestream not long ago.
She stared at it for a moment and thought—when she went back later, she could just donate her own version.
While she was thinking, the girl trotted over to her car window and called out sweetly, “Sis, you’re finally back!”
Le Ning didn’t even roll down the window. She changed into her heels and got out.
As soon as she opened the door, Tang He was already standing there with a gentle, smiling face.
“Sis.”
Tang He looked at her, eyes lighting up. “Was there traffic? Dad has a banquet tonight—why aren’t you wearing a dress—” Before she could finish, the moment Le Ning turned her head, the rest of the words got stuck in Tang He’s throat.
She stared blankly at her older sister, momentarily stunned.
The person who used to look both pure and alluring had shed those two qualities today. Her features hadn’t changed, but now she gave off a cool, sharp, and seductive energy—fiery red lips, hair casually tied up, making her look even cleaner and more decisive.
The British pinstripe suit was just the “accent,” elevating her entire aura several levels higher.
Even at a banquet, this outfit wouldn’t lose face. On the contrary, it would draw even more attention to her.
Tang He’s eyes stung with envy.
Le Ning raised an eyebrow and looked at her. “Is everyone else here already?”
Tang He opened her mouth, finally managing, “Mm.”
She softened her voice. “Sis, Dad told us to dress up a bit more formally tonight. Do you want to go change into something else?”
Hearing that, Le Ning gave her a faint look. “Formal for what? Is the old man planning to set me up on a blind date tonight or announce that I’m inheriting the family business?”
Tang He’s eyes darted away under the direct hit. “I just… think you look prettier in a dress, Sis.”
Le Ning gave a slight smile, studying her expression. “A dress, huh.”
She tilted her head thoughtfully. “I’m worried if I wear a dress, your invited ‘male god’ tonight might end up leaving with me instead.”
The moment the words landed, the smile on Tang He’s face couldn’t hold.
Le Ning couldn’t be bothered to waste more words on her. She warned, “Enough. Don’t try to play the loving-sisters act in front of me. I know exactly what attitude you have toward me—stop pretending.”
She opened the back seat, took out the gift for the old man, and said coldly, “Looking at you makes me sick.”
“You—”
Tang He’s eyes filled with tears as she looked at her, still wanting to speak, but Tang Guangyuan had already come out of the house.
“Ning Ning.”
Le Ning looked up. The man walking toward her was dressed in a sharp suit. Even in his fifties, Tang Guangyuan was still strikingly handsome. With age, he had gained a refined, scholarly air.
He was good-looking—otherwise he couldn’t have produced a daughter as beautiful as Le Ning.
After seeing Le Ning’s outfit, Tang Guangyuan’s eyes lit up. “Is it cold today?”
Le Ning: “What?”
Tang Guangyuan: “I remember you used to love wearing skirts the most.”
Tang He, listening from the side, quickly nodded: “Right, right! Dad, I just told Sis to go change into a dress.”
Tang Guangyuan looked toward Le Ning.
Le Ning let out a soft “Oh,” gave a small smile, and said: “The skirts I had before don’t look good anymore.”
Tang Guangyuan was stunned for a second, then immediately asked: “No money left?”
Le Ning didn’t reply.
He continued: “Did the assistant not transfer money to you this month?”
“Transferred. Spent it all.”
With that, Tang Guangyuan reached out and put an arm around Le Ning’s shoulders: “Come on, Dad will give you a card.”
Le Ning obediently replied: “Okay.”
Behind them, Tang He listened, her eyes turning red.
She gritted her teeth, staring at the father-daughter pair ahead, so angry she could barely breathe.
A moment later, seeing her husband Zhu Mingyan hand yet another card to Le Ning made her grind her teeth even harder.
“Guangyuan.” Only after Le Ning walked away did Zhu Mingyan quietly ask: “Is Ning Ning really out of money?”
Tang Guangyuan gave his wife a puzzled look: “Yeah, what’s wrong?”
Zhu Mingyan choked for a second, then hurriedly said: “I remember Ning Ning’s job… it’s really expensive. I heard she has to buy new products every day and things like that. She has a whole room full of makeup and bags—”
She paused, then cautiously added: “Isn’t that a bit too extravagant?”
Tang Guangyuan stopped walking.
Zhu Mingyan’s eyes lit up — she thought there might be hope.
“You’re right.”
Tang Guangyuan looked at his wife: “Then the money on that card just now probably isn’t enough. I should go get her an unlimited one so she doesn’t even have to worry about buying a new skirt.”
Zhu Mingyan: “???”
She could only watch helplessly as her husband went back to the room — and even called Le Ning back with him.
Once inside the study, Le Ning dropped the act.
She lazily half-lay on the sofa and glanced at the busy old man: “What did you call me up here for?”
Tang Guangyuan looked at her with amusement: “Still mad at me?”
“Nope.”
Le Ning turned her head to look out the window. The study happened to have a perfect view of the front gate. Right now, friends were arriving one after another; plenty of luxury cars were parked downstairs. In comparison… her Mini looked kind of pathetic.
Tang Guangyuan handed her another card.
Le Ning looked at him, completely confused.
“Take it.”
Le Ning: “Why are you giving me another card? I was just messing with you earlier.”
Tang Guangyuan laughed: “You think I don’t know your little tricks?” He sighed. “The family fortune will be yours sooner or later. Giving it to you early or late doesn’t make a difference.”
Hearing that, Le Ning smiled.
She pointed outside: “Does that woman know you think that way?”
Tang Guangyuan shot her a look: “As long as she and her daughter don’t cross my bottom line, they’ll have enough to live comfortably for the rest of their lives. But the company is yours.”
“Oh.”
Le Ning didn’t seem particularly interested. She just didn’t like the idea of her family’s things falling into someone else’s hands.
Tang Guangyuan was on his second marriage.
After Le Ning’s mother passed away, he remarried. At first, she didn’t mind.
Her dad was getting old and lonely — having someone to keep him company seemed nice. In the beginning, she had been pretty good to Tang He, the daughter Zhu Mingyan brought into the family.
But people are never satisfied.
Gradually, Zhu Mingyan acted kind to Le Ning on the surface, but behind her back it was a different story.
The same went for this stepsister.
Whatever Le Ning had, Tang He wanted the same. Le Ning bought a dress — the next day Tang He had one too.
Le Ning liked makeup, so Tang He liked makeup.
Oh, forgot to mention — Tang He was also a somewhat well-known beauty blogger.
Le Ning accepted the card, stayed in the study for a while longer, and then things downstairs finally started.
She didn’t like socializing. A lot of people outside didn’t even know Tang Guangyuan had a daughter like her. Tang Guangyuan let her be.
As long as she came back to eat a meal, that was enough.
Le Ning wandered around downstairs for a bit and quickly got bored.
She was just about to step into the courtyard when someone sat down beside her.
“Le Ning?”
Le Ning froze, then looked up at the man in front of her.
He had a slim build, delicate features, and very bright eyes. Not particularly tall — maybe around 175 cm. Her eye for judging appearances was sharp.
“You know me?”
The man smiled and nodded: “I do.”
He paused, then looked at her and said: “My name is Qiu Wei.” After that, seeing the confusion on Le Ning’s face, he asked softly: “Any impression?”
Le Ning’s expression stiffened slightly. She gave an awkward smile: “Sorry… I don’t really remember.”
“It’s okay.”
Qiu Wei reminded her: “I’ve changed quite a lot.” Then he added: “We were high school classmates.”
Le Ning’s eyes slowly widened as vague memories surfaced.
Qiu Wei… the name did sound a little familiar, but she really couldn’t recall clearly.
Qiu Wei didn’t push. Instead, he switched to other topics.
“Are you going to the school reunion?”
Le Ning nodded: “…Probably.”
Qiu Wei smiled: “I’ll be there too. Should see a lot of old classmates.”
“Mm.”
Le Ning felt a bit awkward. She could talk non-stop for a whole day with people she was comfortable with, but strangers — especially men — she usually barely spoke to.
Qiu Wei was tactful. After a couple more sentences, he left.
As soon as Qiu Wei walked away, Tang He appeared again.
Le Ning silently rolled her eyes.
“Sis, your charm is still as strong as ever.”
Tang He smiled brightly and said: “Even Qiu Wei came over to chat with you.”
Le Ning looked at her expressionlessly: “If you have something to say, say it. If not, don’t come bother me.”
The smile on Tang He’s face froze: “Sis… how can you talk to me like that? I just wanted to chat with you more.”
“Heh.”
Le Ning gave her a fake smile that didn’t reach her eyes.
Tang He threw caution to the wind: “Le Ning, what’s that supposed to mean? Don’t think you can do whatever you want just because Dad spoils you.”
Le Ning nodded without any politeness: “Yeah, that’s exactly how I am.”
She gave a small smile: “Still better than you using the Tang family name and still not being allowed to act freely.”
After saying that, Le Ning didn’t care how ugly Tang He’s face became. She stood up and left straight away.
Anyway, she only came to see the old man — she’d done enough and it was time to go.
When she got home, Ruan Qiu and Ji Chuchu heard about her “battle record” and couldn’t help giving her a thumbs-up.
The three of them were on a voice call—
Ruan Qiu: “Tang He didn’t go tattle to him?”
Le Ning: “Even if she did, I’m not scared.”
Ji Chuchu burst out laughing: “What’s there to be scared of? President Tang obviously protects Le Ning.”
Ruan Qiu sighed dramatically: “Why don’t I have a dad who just hands me a card the moment we disagree?”
Le Ning was speechless: “Your family doesn’t have these kinds of annoying problems.”
Ji Chuchu laughed: “That’s the kind of trouble only rich families have.”
“Not really. Depends on the situation.”
While talking to the two of them on the phone, Le Ning took the clothes Zhou Ran had returned out of the bag.
The moment her hand touched the fabric, she sensed something was off.
“Le Ning.”
“Hm?”
Le Ning stared blankly at the coat she’d pulled out, momentarily lost in thought.
“Why aren’t you talking?”
Le Ning paused, then simply sat down on the fluffy rug in her walk-in closet. She examined the clothes carefully: “I want to ask you guys something.”
“Go ahead.”
“If someone got your clothes dirty, then took them to be cleaned, and finally returned you a brand-new one… what does that mean?”
Ruan Qiu answered without thinking: “Obviously the original one couldn’t be cleaned properly.”
Ji Chuchu, however, reacted differently. She gave a light laugh and asked: “Who got your clothes dirty and gave you a new one?”
Le Ning: “…”
When Zhou Ran received Le Ning’s message, he was still at the bureau doing analysis.
Le Ning: [Transferring you 30,000]
Zhou Ran’s eyelid twitched. He didn’t understand what Le Ning was doing.
Zhou Ran: [?]
Le Ning thought for a few seconds, then typed: [Money for the clothes.]
After sending it, Le Ning wasn’t sure if Zhou Ran would feel offended. But she really didn’t want to take advantage of anyone.
She stared intently at her phone. Then the man called her directly.
“Hello.” Le Ning tried to keep her tone calm.
Zhou Ran’s voice was relatively steady — no anger: “What’s this about?”
Le Ning: “The clothes. Didn’t you buy a new one? Mine’s been worn a lot — it’s not worth that much.”
She paused, then added: “And my original one was pretty expensive anyway. No need.”
Hearing that, Zhou Ran caught the key point: “Worried I can’t afford it?”
Le Ning: “…”
No — how are you so good at picking up on the important parts?
“No.”
“Don’t worry.” Zhou Ran said calmly: “You don’t need to worry about that.”
Le Ning was speechless. Her tone got a little heavier: “I’m not worried. I just don’t want to take advantage of anyone.”
She said: “Just take the money.”
With that, Le Ning hung up cleanly and decisively.
Two minutes later, the money she transferred to Zhou Ran was returned.
Le Ning was about to send it again when a new message from Zhou Ran came through — a screenshot.
She opened it.
It was… a bank card balance statement?!
Zhou Ran: [Not as poor as you think. I can afford the clothes.]
Author’s note:
Captain Zhou: You could afford to keep me too.
Lemon: I’ve got family assets.
President Tang: Exactly! My daughter doesn’t need anyone to support her — our family has plenty of money.
Captain Zhou: Life is so hard.jpg