“Well, you little wretch, you do have some ability after all. You even know how to hook up with a man now. You chose well this time.”
The middle-aged man greedily stared at Ji Yan in his haute couture suit, already calculating how much money he could squeeze out of him.
Mortified and furious, Lin Ranran retorted, “Dad, what nonsense are you spouting? Young Master Ji and I aren’t like that.”
“Young Master Ji? Which young master of the Ji Family? I know plenty of wealthy people in Hai City. I even have connections with the publicly listed Ji Corporation.”
The assistant beside Ji Yan grew even more disdainful upon hearing this. “Where did this piece of trash come from? How dare he claim connections with our Young Master Ji?”
“Mr. Lin, is it?” Ji Yan helped Lin Ranran's mother stand, his gaze indifferent. “Causing a disturbance in a public place is against the law. Even if the person you are harassing is a family member, the police still have the right to arrest you.”
“Bullshit! My family matters are my business. I’ll handle them however I please. If you’ve got the guts, have the police come arrest me.”
Seeing his arrogance, Ji Yan instructed his assistant, “Call the police, then have the hospital’s security guard come over.”
“Call the police? You’re going to have them take him away?” Lin Ranran's mother hesitated, uneasy.
Lin Ranran, however, was decisive. “Mom, they should have arrested him long ago. Why are you still protecting him? Get divorced as soon as possible, and we can still have a decent life.”
“But he is still your father!”
“Has he fulfilled his responsibilities as a father or a husband? From beginning to end, all he has brought us is trouble.”
“You little wretch, you can’t stand seeing your old man do well, can you?” The man’s face turned vicious as he yanked Lin Ranran, making her stumble.
Seeing this, Lin Ranran's mother still could not bear it. She opened and closed her mouth, unwilling to make a decision.
At this point, Ji Yan had nothing left to say.
He glanced at his watch and said, “Do you need me to contact Shang Xu to deal with this? With him handling it, I guarantee you’ll have nothing left to worry about.”
Lin Ranran shook her head. “No, I... I don’t want him to know.”
“Shang Xu?” Lin's father's eyes lit up. “You mean Shang Xu, president of the Shang Corporation? Ranran, you know him?”
As he spoke, he seemed to realize something. “That’s right, you work at the Shang Corporation now, and you’re so beautiful. It’s no wonder you know your president. Good, you really are my good daughter. Even when your father isn’t at home, you know how to climb toward a higher branch.”
“I have nothing to do with him!” Lin Ranran denied it. “Don’t even think about plotting anything.”
“So agitated. Looks like my judgment was right. Come on, let’s go home. Tomorrow, invite President Shang over for dinner.”
“Impossible! I’m only a minor employee. How could he come to my house for dinner? Dad, stop dreaming.” Lin Ranran screamed herself hoarse. Ji Yan could have handled such a minor matter himself, so why had he brought up Shang Xu?
Feeling Lin Ranran’s resentment, Ji Yan fell silent once again.
Why was it that every time Lin Ranran encountered trouble, she always ended up making him run into it as well? And she still fantasized about following the original plotline?
Unfortunately, he no longer wanted to be the biggest fool who gave everything and got nothing in return.
“Then wait for the police to deal with it. I have something else to attend to. Executive assistant Li, stay here and wait with them.”
“Yes, President Ji.”
He was leaving just like that? Lin Ranran looked up in shock, instinctively sensing that things should not be developing this way.
But after parting her lips a few times, she still did not know what to say. After all, he had nothing to do with her family’s troubles.
The police arrived soon. Causing a disturbance at a hospital could not be excused, even when the target was one’s own family member. The police had to take him to the Police Station for a warning and education.
Lin's father continued cursing, while Lin Ranran's mother began blaming Lin Ranran for refusing to let the matter go.
“Unyielding? Mom, don’t you understand what kind of person he is?”
“But he is still your father. He used to care about the family, too. When you had just been born and were malnourished, he did hard labor to earn money for your milk...”
Lin Ranran's mother rambled on. Lin Ranran fell silent. She had heard these reasons countless times and no longer had the strength to refute them; doing so was useless anyway.
“So you can leave your illness untreated, and your younger brother’s schooling can go unattended too, is that it?”
“Doesn’t the Shang Corporation have family insurance? My treatment won’t cost much. It’s always been this way. Next time, I’ll rest at home. Your younger brother’s tuition and miscellaneous school fees are waived now, too. Your father has lost his way. One day...”
“One day, one day! Have you ever thought about how exhausted I am?”
Lin Ranran stood up abruptly. The thought of Ji Yan witnessing the humiliating scene at her home today—and of Shang Xu nearly finding out as well—made her uncomfortable all over.
Wasn’t Shang Xu’s refusal to acknowledge his feelings for her simply because her family background was poor?
If only she could be as free of worries as Miss He of the He Family, how wonderful would that be?
The former Miss He was probably having a difficult time now, too. Who could have imagined that an Elite Wealthy Family would actually stage a true and false heiresses drama?
Still, her life was certainly better than Lin Ranran’s. What right did Lin Ranran have to pity someone else?
He Chan often encountered sidelong glances and indifference when she went out. Even the beauty salon employees who had once treated her warmly and respectfully now acted as though they could hardly be bothered with her.
If she had not known that everything was her father’s lie, she might have felt stifled and angry. Now, she found it amusing.
“This is your attitude toward customer service? Refund my card.”
The employee rolled her eyes. “If you want to cash it out, then cash it out. Why are you nitpicking about the service?”
She proceeded at a leisurely pace, occasionally sharing a quiet laugh with her colleague. “Miss He, you received a discount when you topped up, and you’ve used the services so many times. We can’t refund you at the original price now. We can refund only forty percent of the original amount. Can you accept that?”
He Chan gave them a cold look. “You’re violating my rights.”
“The in-store terms are written clearly. They’re all right here. Alternatively, you can leave the card active and come in for five more beauty treatments.”
He Chan had never paid attention to these things before, but she knew that the law did not support these so-called terms.
“Where is your manager?”
“The manager is busy and doesn’t have time to come over. Miss He, make your decision. We can’t serve only you.”
“What’s all this commotion?” A dignified, splendidly dressed madam emerged from inside. She was Shang Xu’s mother.
Upon seeing her, the employee put on a fawning smile. “Miss He wants to cancel her card, but she refuses to accept the solution our salon offered.”
Shang mother let out a contemptuous sound. “He Chan, you’ve become so petty now. You should have said so earlier. For old times’ sake, auntie will lend you some money.”
She pretended to take out her phone. “Will ten thousand be enough? Times have changed, so you should spend more sparingly. Remember to find yourself a job.”
He Chan crossed her arms. “You want to cut ties with me? Auntie, ten thousand isn’t enough. In the past, accompanying you to meals and shopping, even buying you a scarf, cost more than that. Since you want to settle accounts, let’s calculate everything properly.”
Shang mother’s face darkened. “You were the one eagerly offering all that, and it wasn’t even your own money. It belonged to the He Family.”
“It’s true that I eagerly offered, but you never refused either. Auntie, if you treat me so harshly now and I tell my father, what will he think? What will He Ting think? Is the enormous Shang Family unable to survive without this little bit of money?”
Shang mother spoke harshly. “Fine, I’ll return it to you. Do you think the Shang Family lacks this little bit of money? He Chan, when life becomes difficult for you, don’t blame our Shang Family for being heartless.”
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