Pan Ruoling blinked her innocent eyes, looking thoroughly confused. Is Sister Tingting actually sad? The way she watches variety shows every day, laughing as if it costs nothing, or her wild laughter while cursing out management at home as brain-dead—how could a sister this carefree ever be sad?
Nevertheless, she sat down beside Gu Ting and tilted her head to inquire, “Sister Tingting, what’s wrong?”
Gu Ting slumped onto the sofa, propping her forehead with one hand. She opened her eyes weakly, her voice exceptionally raspy. “It’s nothing. I just dreamed about my dad last night and couldn’t fall back asleep afterward. I’m just lacking energy.”
Pan Ruoling came to a sudden realization. “So Sister Tingting misses her dad? Then just go home to visit Uncle.”
Gu Ting closed her eyes in exhaustion once more, knitting her brows as she shook her head. “It’s not as beautiful as you think. Since I was a child, my dad didn’t like me and never held me. Originally, I thought he was just bad at expressing his feelings, until he divorced my mom. Once his mistress gave birth to a son, I finally realized he wasn’t bad at expressing himself at all—he simply didn’t like me.”
As she spoke, a tear silently slipped from the corner of her eye. “He shows meticulous care and boundless affection toward that mistress’s son, wishing he could pluck the very stars from the sky for him. But as for me? He hasn’t given me a single penny since high school; my living expenses were entirely earned through working part-time jobs myself. My mom always tells me not to harbor resentment against my dad, saying that he still has me, his daughter, in his heart. Only a ghost would believe that. So ever since entering university, I’ve never gone back to see him.”
“Dreaming about him last night wasn’t because I miss him. It’s just that after so many years, I still can’t get over this hurdle in my heart. We are both his children, so why does he favor one over the other, to the point of treating me worse than a complete stranger? Whenever I think about this, hatred fills my heart, and I simply can’t sleep.”
Lin Mengmeng sat down quietly on the other side, handing a tissue to Gu Ting with a face full of sympathy. “That is far too much!” If the two of them hadn’t communicated beforehand, she would have almost believed it herself. It seemed Tingting truly possessed a bit of talent when it came to acting.
Pan Ruoling hardened her tiny face, furiously cheering Gu Ting on: “Sister Tingting, your dad is too wicked! What he’s doing is wrong. You can go to court and sue him! With the police uncles helping, he must give you money!”
The wounded Gu Ting was currently wiping away her tears. Hearing this, she suddenly grasped Pan Ruoling’s hand with excitement. “Lingling, you are absolutely right! Your dad isn’t a decent piece of work either anyway, so why don’t we go sue them together? As the saying goes, good things come in pairs. Suing them together ensures we will both win our lawsuits.”
Pan Ruoling’s clear, large eyes went wide, and she was left completely tongue-tied. “Sue my dad?”
Gu Ting nodded continuously. “Since your dad gave birth to you, he has the obligation to raise you until you reach adulthood. Asking him for child support is perfectly natural and right. Once your stepmother gives birth to a child, if your dad listens to the pillow talk and truly forgets about you as his daughter, what are you going to do? Listen to me, come to court with me to sue him. When the time comes, the court will definitely force your dad to pay child support, and they might even replace him with a reliable guardian for you. That way, at the very least, you won’t have to wander and suffer anymore. You’ll have a place to stay, a school to attend, food to eat, and you can wear the clothes you like without having to face the dad you hate most. How wonderful is that, right?”
On the side, Lin Mengmeng also added fuel to the fire: “Exactly! Your dad completely ignoring you like this actually constitutes the crime of abandonment, which requires prison time! Since your dad is this despicable, we must ensure he receives his rightful punishment.”
Gu Ting: “Lingling, listen to Sister. Absolutely do not soften your heart; softening your heart toward a man only means you’ll be the one suffering losses!”
Lin Mengmeng: “&%@*&￥#……”
Flanked by attacks from both sides and subjected to a frantic wave of brainwashing, Pan Ruoling’s tiny head felt as if it were about to explode. She suddenly covered her ears and cried out, “I don’t want to sue my dad!”
Gu Ting and Lin Mengmeng exchanged a glance.
Having spoken those words, Pan Ruoling’s expression looked much more relaxed. She squirmed slightly and said, “Although my dad is very annoying and wants to marry another auntie and have a baby, he used to be very good to me. He satisfied whatever I wanted, played with me whenever he was free, brought me gifts from business trips, and never scolded me… I, I don’t want him to go to prison.”
Gu Ting doubled down on her efforts: “I don’t believe it! Men are all fickle. He was good to you in the past, but why is he ignoring you now? A seven-year-old girl coming out to wander, do you know how dangerous that is? It’s been so many days and your dad hasn’t even come looking for you. He clearly wants to let you fend for yourself, which is an utterly abominable intent!”
“No, my dad isn’t that wicked! He took that auntie abroad. Before this, I refused to answer whenever he called, so he probably doesn’t know yet that I ran away all by myself. Otherwise, he would absolutely find a way to look for me!”
Lin Mengmeng let out an exclamation of surprise: “The two of them are having a romantic… cough, a splendid time abroad while leaving you home alone. You still don’t call that wicked?”
“No, my dad hired Auntie Wang to look after me, it’s just that Auntie Wang loves playing mahjong and is frequently away from home…”
Gu Ting delivered the final verdict: “Finding such an unreliable person to take care of you means your dad simply lacks a sense of responsibility.”
“No, he doesn’t!” Pan Ruoling’s tiny face flushed red with anxiety. “I’m angry at my dad, but my dad really isn’t a bad person.”
As she spoke, she slowly lowered her head. Suddenly, a tear dropped onto the back of her hand. The heat of it caused her palm to curl inward and sent a tremor through the tip of Gu Ting’s heart, giving rise to a surge of guilt.
Gu Ting: “Lingling… Sister Tingting apologizes to you. Actually, I lied just now.”
Pan Ruoling lifted her eyes, the rims slightly red.
Under such a clean and pure gaze, Gu Ting’s cheeks grew slightly warm. “Actually, I don’t have a father or mother. I grew up in an orphanage, and those stories just now were entirely made up by me. I actually just wanted to figure out exactly what kind of person your dad is so that I could better help you.”
After listening, Pan Ruoling’s expression seemed half-understanding. A moment later, she suddenly delivered a precocious line like an old soul: “Actually, I understand. You’re just envious that other people have dads, aren’t you?”
Gu Ting and Lin Mengmeng: “…” Who taught this child language arts? You certainly understand reading comprehension.
At this moment, the television was still on. It happened to be the morning news segment, which suddenly cut off halfway through to forcefully insert a new piece of information: Li Jingyao, the CEO of the JingSheng Group, has issued a missing person’s notice. His seven-year-old beloved daughter, Li Ruoling, ran away from home four days ago. Anyone who can provide important information will be heavily rewarded. If anyone can deliver his beloved daughter back to the Li family, a hefty reward of 10 million yuan will be given.
Above the news headline was a photograph of a little girl dressed in a princess gown, styled as beautifully and delicately as a doll—who else could it be but Pan Ruoling?
Lin Mengmeng’s eyes went wide and round. “You’re the daughter of the CEO of the JingSheng Group?”
Gu Ting: “…Your dad is a billionaire CEO?” The daughter of a billionaire CEO still wanted to run away from home; could she have developed money-induced claustrophobia?
When a billionaire made a move, the search effect was astonishing. In less than five minutes, Officer Wu and Officer Yang called one after another. This time, Pan Ruoling—who ought to be called Li Ruoling now—couldn’t refuse to recognize her billionaire CEO father even if she wanted to.
Twenty minutes later, Officer Yang and the other police officers arrived at the door. Twenty-five minutes later, Li Jingyao and Li Ruoling connected via video call. In less than an hour, Li Ruoling was picked up by the people sent by the Li family. Gu Ting and Lin Mengmeng only had time to give her a brief embrace before Li Ruoling practically bid them a hurried farewell.
The head of the JingSheng Group’s branch office was full of smiles. “Miss Gu, Miss Lin, once CEO Li received news of Lingling, he immediately took a private jet from J City to rush over. When he arrives in A City, he will thank you two ladies in person. For now, let me thank you both on behalf of CEO Li for taking Lingling in. If not for your kind hospitality, there’s no telling how much hardship Lingling would have suffered outside. These past few days, we truly owe her care to the two of you.”
Lin Mengmeng, whose eyes were darting around, gave an unexpectedly grand reaction. “Meet in person? No way, no way!”
Seeing the JingSheng representative look at her strangely, she pulled Gu Ting forward without a second thought, looking thoroughly nervous as she said, “Lingling was saved by Tingting. I didn’t help with anything at all. CEO Li just needs to meet Tingting. I won’t go; I get nervous the moment I see big figures.”
Gu Ting: “…” Where was that fierce momentum from last night when you joined me in bitterly cursing capitalists and lamenting that all bosses under heaven are cut from the same dark cloth?
The JingSheng representative didn’t understand the underlying reason, so he simply said they would get in touch later. He was still responsible for sending Li Ruoling to the hospital for a checkup, so after a few brief pleasantries, he departed.
Officer Yang and Officer Wu were the last to leave, not forgetting to shake hands with Gu Ting for a solid three minutes before stepping out the door.
While shaking hands with the female police officer, Officer Wu, Gu Ting’s expression was exceptionally complicated. “Did you two officers catch a criminal?”
Officer Wu beamed from ear to ear and shook her head. “No, it’s that bargain-sharing link on PXX from last night—after sharing it over twenty times, the price cut actually succeeded! For the sake of this day, how many tears and jeers did I endure? I directly cried out of excitement at the time!”
Gu Ting’s congratulations were sincere: “…That truly wasn’t easy.”
Officer Yang couldn’t wait to share his news: “I’m the one who’s awesome. While clearing out my old clothes, I unexpectedly discovered 100 yuan! Ah hahahaha…”
Gu Ting: “…Indeed, a whole 100 yuan.” Although that money belonged to him in the first place.
The crowd dispersed, and the massive rental apartment instantly fell silent. Lin Mengmeng let out a melancholy sigh, just about to express her emotions when her phone suddenly received a message from Gu Ting.
Gu Ting was burying her head, frantically tapping the spinning wheel on her phone screen, clamoring with her mouth: “Mengmeng, if you’re my bro, hurry up and help me cut the price! This time, I will definitely succeed! Plucking wool from PXX is the ultimate dream of my life!”
It was an established fact that achieving dreams was hard, and plucking wool from PXX was also hard. Conclusion: plucking wool from PXX = a dream. There was absolutely nothing wrong with that, right?
Lin Mengmeng remained speechless for a long time, finally questioning with grief, “Don’t you miss Lingling at all?”
Gu Ting blinked her eyes with a blank look. “Did you want her to leave her billionaire biological father and stay here with us instead?”
Lin Mengmeng was stifled. She turned her head to shift topics. “A new dating variety show came out yesterday. Want to watch?”
Gu Ting was clean and decisive: “Watch! But help me cut the price once before watching.”
A few minutes later, Gu Ting looked at the freshly harvested 100 yuan of wool, feeling comfortable all over.
The white moonlight wool—everyone who plucked it said it felt amazing!
The two went downstairs to eat breakfast. Only then did Gu Ting remember she had forgotten to deliver food to Yan Xiu. She hastily sent him a message to explain. On the other end, Yan Xiu was highly astonished. A child she casually picked up on the roadside was actually the only daughter of the CEO of the JingSheng Group? Her luck never failed to make people marvel.
After finishing her meal, Gu Ting lacked the energy to stay up any longer. Though feeling somewhat reluctant, they returned to their respective rooms to catch up on sleep.
Young people could handle staying up after all. Gu Ting set an alarm, and the moment the time arrived, she woke up with her energy levels multiplied a hundredfold. First, she delivered lunch to Yan Xiu. In the afternoon, she still had other matters to handle. The very first matter was dealing with that sack containing 2 million yuan in cash and the 400,000 yuan cash draft beneath her bed.
Gu Ting dragged the worn sack to the bank. The bank tellers were well-traveled and didn’t show any surprise. They diligently helped her open a bank card first and then deposited all the cash inside. Except when she indicated she wanted to deposit the money into a fixed-term account, the bank’s wealth manager warmly approached her.
“Hello, Miss Gu. If you don’t need this money for the time being, I suggest you arrange wealth management or buy some funds or insurance. The yield rate is even higher.”
Gu Ting: “Ah? But I don’t want a high yield, because I’m not lacking money.”
The wealth manager cast another glance at the amount: “…” It was 2 million, not 200 million. He hadn’t misread it.