After leaving the province, Fu Hanchen went to the guesthouse to make a phone call and report to the old man.
“Yeah, I’ve picked her up. We’ll arrive in the capital in two days.”
“Don’t worry, she’s doing just fine.” The old man was still worried that she, an orphan girl, might be bullied. In fact, ever since he arrived in Qiao Village, it would be a miracle if she wasn’t bullying others.
“Yeah, got it.” Fu Hanchen hung up the phone impatiently.
Picking up one was annoying enough, but the old man had to adopt two at once!
The other one was the daughter of Qiao Chengjun’s comrade-in-arms. After Qiao Chengjun sacrificed himself, Lin Yao lost his legs and was permanently disabled. Seeing that Qiao Chengjun had entrusted his daughter to the old man, Lin Yao decided to do the same. Unexpectedly, he was successfully resuscitated and survived.
Lin Yao initially thought that since he had survived, his daughter wouldn’t need to be adopted. But the old leader kept his word. Although Lin Yao survived, he was left with severe disabilities and had no ability to earn a living or support his family for the rest of his life.
So, Fu Hanchen was told to pick up Lin Yao’s daughter, Lin Ran, who lived in the provincial capital, and bring her back to the capital as well. After all, the Fu family could afford to raise her.
When the person arranged by the provincial authorities brought Lin Ran to the guesthouse, Qiao Ruan and Lin Ran locked eyes.
Qiao Ruan blinked. In her previous life, she and Lin Ran hadn’t gone to the Fu family at the same time. Lin Ran arrived a few months later, saying she needed to take care of her father.
But in this life, the course of events had changed.
Lin Ran appeared at the guesthouse, dressed neatly and carrying herself with a quiet, gentle demeanor. She smiled at the person behind Qiao Ruan and said, “Hello, Brother Fu. I’m Lin Ran.”
Qiao Ruan pondered this. In truth, both she and Lin Ran were adopted by the Fu family. The difference was that she had lost her father, so the old leader pitied her more. As for Lin Ran, it was out of a sense of responsibility—the old leader wanted to nurture her properly, so as not to let down his old comrade-in-arms.
Both of them went to the Fu family as adoptees. Logically, since she was a complete orphan without a father, she should have had more of an advantage. But the opposite turned out to be true.
She was foolish, jealous, and loved competing with Lin Ran, so she schemed against Lin Ran time and again. In the end, after failing to plot against Lin Ran and the Fu family’s young master, she was heartbrokenly driven out of the house by the old man.
Then, Shen Liancheng found her in the capital, showered her with care, and promised to give her happiness.
Looking back now, everything was so damn coincidental!
Why did she scheme against Lin Ran? Even now, she couldn’t understand how she had ruined such a good hand, nor why she had acted as if she were forcibly made stupid just to make things difficult for Lin Ran.
The more wicked and venomous she became, the more Lin Ran appeared pure and untainted, innocent and pitiable!
So, she was driven out, while Lin Ran was nurtured by the Fu family into a university student and married off with a generous dowry!
The gap between them was like heaven and earth!
Qiao Ruan secretly observed the “truly kind and beautiful” Lin Ran from her previous life, growing increasingly suspicious.
Fu Hanchen didn’t pay attention to Lin Ran, only noticing the strange look in Qiao Ruan’s eyes. What? Was she targeting Lin Ran now?
With her scheming nature, she would surely be wary and hostile toward Lin Ran, who was adopted by the Fu family at the same time as her.
His temples throbbed, and he wanted to pull her aside for a good lecture.
“Are you Qiao Ruan? Hello, I’m Lin Ran. From now on, let’s take care of each other.”
After greeting Fu Hanchen, Lin Ran turned to Qiao Ruan with a smile, though a shadow quickly flashed in her eyes before she concealed it.
“Yes, hello, I’m Qiao Ruan.” Since there was no reason to be hostile to someone smiling, and there would be plenty of time ahead, Qiao Ruan responded calmly.
Given his understanding of Qiao Ruan’s true nature, Fu Hanchen simply could not believe she would coexist peacefully with Lin Ran. Therefore, he arranged their rooms to be as far apart as possible.