Because of the time difference, even after a full night’s sleep, it was still daytime.
Tao Ran stopped by a real estate agency, she needed to rent a place.
After leaving her requirements with the agent, she went to get a new SIM card, then called Tang Ran’s parents to let them know she was safe. Hearing that their daughter would soon return home, Tang Fu and Tang Mu were overjoyed.
Next, Tao Ran visited the bank to open a new account and transferred her funds over. She also opened an account at a securities company.
She had some spare cash now, and there was no reason not to invest it wisely.
Buying a house had crossed her mind, of course, but that would have to wait until the divorce was finalized.
As for the child in her belly, she certainly wasn’t keeping it.
It was Fang Ming’s child, after all. If the baby inherited even a trace of his flaws, it could one day harm Tang Ran again. The pregnancy was already past two months, so for her own health, she needed to take care of it soon. But the timing wasn’t right these next few days, she would have to wait.
It was a busy day.
Tao Ran also went to the electronics mall to sell the phones she’d brought back and asked a technician to crack the encryption on Fang Ming’s computer, recover deleted chats, and retrieve browsing history. Naturally, she didn’t forget about Fang Ming’s phone either.
The shop owner didn’t believe her story, he assumed she had access to a steady supply of new phones. So he eagerly promised to dig through every byte of data on both devices.
After returning to her hotel, Tao Ran spent two hours catching up on local news, trying to quickly understand what had been happening in the country.
She then went online to collect and print a pile of recipes, translated them into a foreign language, and bound them into a thick book. Afterward, she visited the supermarket to buy various local specialties, picked out a pretty necklace as a Christmas gift, and packaged everything to send to her landlady overseas.
Yes. She would make sure to return every favor…
Another night passed.
When morning came, she turned on her old phone and saw a string of missed calls from her landlady.
When she called back, she received quite the update over breakfast.
As expected, Fang Ming had waited until yesterday afternoon before the police finally got his test results back. Once they confirmed it was all a misunderstanding, he was released.
But just as he and Xiao Ai arrived at the university gates, the furious landlady was waiting for them.
She had already gone to both their dorms looking for them and, discovering they hadn’t come home all night, grew livid and decided to wait by the gate.
The moment she saw Fang Ming and Xiao Ai getting out of a taxi together, her rage hit the roof.
Just as Tang Ran had said, the cheating pair had spent the night together. An adulterer and his mistress, there was no need to hold back. This chapter was taken from g.com without permission.
Staying out all night? Taking taxis? Out of money, were they?
Fang Ming, completely drained after two sleepless days, never expected his nightmare to continue. But the portly landlady appeared out of nowhere, snapping photos with her camera while cursing them out, shoving him to the ground, and demanding the money he owed her.
Within seconds, a crowd had gathered.
The pair had no choice but to obediently get into her car.
Five minutes later, Fang Ming finally understood what the fuss was about. When he realized the landlady had both his ID and student card, his face went pale, there was no way to deny anything now.
She threatened to go to the university administration with his documents and expose their affair if they didn’t pay up. The two of them had no choice but to give in.
Fang Ming, who had worked so hard to snag a rich girlfriend, was even more terrified than Xiao Ai. If word got out about his affair with Xiao Ai, Lu Sitong would drop him in an instant.
So, just like Xiao Ai before him, he started borrowing money left and right to buy back his documents.
The landlady told Tao Ran that she had already received $1,500. Fang Ming promised to pay the remaining amount with interest, a total of $3,000 altogether.
So now, both Fang Ming and Xiao Ai were deep in debt.
However, Tao Ran’s good mood didn’t last long — an hour later, she received a call from Tang Ran’s parents, and her expression instantly darkened.
They were being threatened.
But it wasn’t by Fang Ming or Xiao Ai, those two were too scared of Tao Ran to dare make a move.
The culprits were Fang Ming’s parents.
Their “dear daughter-in-law” had scammed their son, swindled them out of money, and even gotten their boy thrown in jail. Furious that she had blocked their calls, they phoned Tang Ran’s parents, ranting about how awful their daughter was and demanding repayment — or they’d come knocking tomorrow to collect their “debts.”
Tang Fu and Tang Mu, being honest and simple people, were frightened out of their wits. Panicking, they immediately called to ask what was going on.
Tao Ran didn’t bother hiding anything now. She briefly summarized how Fang Ming had cheated and embezzled money from their family.
“I’m perfectly fine. You two don’t need to worry about me. They absolutely won’t dare come to your door, I guarantee it.” Tao Ran comforted them for a long while before they finally calmed down.
After hanging up, Tao Ran couldn’t sit still anymore.
If those money-grubbing old fools had stayed quiet, she might’ve taken her time but now, she had to deal with them first.
She went back to the real estate agency from yesterday.
“I’m not here for that.” Tao Ran pushed the papers back. “I need a 50-square-meter warehouse or a detached garage, immediately.”
With an extra hundred in commission, she secured a large garage within half an hour.
Then she handed the agent another two hundred as a “bonus.” “Help me rent a truck and a van. We’ll head to this address.” She passed him a slip of paper.
Next door was a small labor agency.
Tao Ran went in.
“I need a few strong men for half a day’s work, right now.”
Half an hour later, Tao Ran was sitting in a van with a group of burly workers she had personally selected.
“I’ll only need you for half a day. Just follow my instructions, and I’ll pay you for a full day. If you do well, there’s a hundred-dollar bonus for each of you and whoever performs best will get an extra cash reward.”
To motivate them, Tao Ran handed each of the six men, including the driver, a $100 deposit on the spot.
The men thumped their chests, promising to follow orders and do the job right.
“You don’t need to ask questions or worry about anything. I’ll take full responsibility. Don’t worry it’s nothing illegal. Just do what I tell you.”
Along the way, they stopped at a hardware store and bought a pile of supplies.
Soon, with one empty truck, one van, and two drivers, eight people in total they headed toward their destination.
On the road, Tao Ran called Fang Ming’s parents from her old number.
She hadn’t even spoken yet when shouting erupted from the other end.
“You little tramp, scared now? You’d better give us our—”
Tao Ran interrupted coldly, “I’m at the First Department Store, ground floor café. Come meet me.”
Fang’s mother snapped, “I knew you came back, you shameless thing! Aren’t you afraid of divine retribution—”
Tao Ran cut her off again. “Get over here. I’ll give you one hour. If you’re not here by then deal with the consequences yourself.”
As before, she hung up immediately after speaking.