Returning to the estate late into the night, Luo Yao couldn’t bear to wake Lin Ran, who was fast asleep, so she stayed in the car with him until dawn.
"Ah Ran, you’ll always stay by my side like this, won’t you?"
Lin Ran didn’t answer—he was genuinely asleep—and Luo Yao simply watched him quietly.
When Lin Ran finally stirred awake, he was startled to see the faint light of dawn outside the car window.
Glancing beside him, he found Luo Yao peacefully asleep with her head resting on his lap. Gently, he took off his coat and draped it over her.
By the time Lin Ran’s legs had gone completely numb, Luo Yao shifted in her sleep.
"Ah Ran… you… can only… belong to me."
Was Luo Yao actually talking in her sleep?
"Don’t worry, even if my entire family dies, I won’t leave you."
Lin Ran made the promise, and Luo Yao seemed to hear it, sinking deeper into sleep.
But the peace didn’t last. Luo Yao had always struggled with insomnia, so the fact that she’d managed to sleep at all in such conditions was nothing short of a miracle.
Before long, she woke up.
Seeing Lin Ran quietly watching her, Luo Yao’s joy nearly spilled from her eyes.
Her voice was still hoarse from sleep as she asked, "Ah Ran, have you been with me this whole time?"
"Yes, just like you stayed with me," he replied.
Luo Yao naturally stretched out her arms, asking for a hug. Lin Ran leaned down, picked her up, and stepped out of the car—only to immediately drop to his knees.
Uncle Fu, who had been waiting outside, startled and quickly moved aside.
"Young Master Lin, I couldn’t possibly accept this!"
Lin Ran’s legs were still weak, so after Luo Yao slid out of his arms, she steadied him as they slowly made their way inside.
Lin Ran awkwardly said to Uncle Fu, "Just consider it us paying respects to you, the only elder at our wedding…"
Luo Yao’s steps faltered slightly, but she didn’t object, continuing to support Lin Ran.
Behind them, Uncle Fu stood frozen, his mind completely blank.
Lin Ran’s words had struck him deeply, leaving him in a state of utter confusion.
"Am… I worthy?"
After resting at the estate for another day, Luo Yao decided she wouldn’t wait any longer.
If Second Luo didn’t show up by the next morning, she would deal with the negative rumors surrounding Luo Corporation herself.
She couldn’t let that man delay the company’s profits any longer.
After all, she had a husband to support.
Right now, her husband didn’t spend much, but who knew? One day he might start splurging.
She needed to earn more—just in case. She couldn’t let him run short.
The next day, Luo Yao went to the company while Lin Ran headed to the media firm. There were things he wanted to set in motion.
He and Wu Zhishang began discussing plans to shoot short videos—a strategy they’d mapped out when first establishing the company.
This was a new market, one poised to become mainstream, and Lin Ran had no intention of missing out.
Luo Yao was wealthy, so he didn’t need to start a business himself. Everything he did now was just to earn some extra money to make her happy—and to help Wu Zhishang reach the peak of his life.
What did most entrepreneurs lack? Never skill or manpower, but money.
And Lin Ran? He happened to be the one with money.
Money could solve most of the world’s problems. If it didn’t, it just meant there wasn’t enough.
After finalizing the short video plans, Wu Zhishang asked a question that made Lin Ran pause.
"Brother Lin, have you thought about the paternity test?"
Lin Ran didn’t answer.
If Wu Zhishang hadn’t brought it up, he might have forgotten entirely.
"I’ll think about it. This isn’t something that needs to be rushed, right?"
Wu Zhishang nodded, then added indignantly,
"Liu Ruxue has been spreading nasty rumors about Luo Corporation at Capital University these past few days. What should we do?"
"Brother Lin, is it true that Sister-in-Law’s company has traitors?"
Lin Ran ignored the question and instead asked, "Where’s Shen Jingbing?"
"He’s resting at home. He should be here soon."
Speak of the devil—Shen Jingbing arrived at the office, beaming when he saw Lin Ran.
"Big Bro, you’re here!"
Lin Ran nodded. "Yeah. I have a task for you. Do you know the Foreign Languages Department at Capital University?"
Shen Jingbing shook his head.
"I don’t, but I can find out."
Lin Ran patted his shoulder.
"Xiao Shen, you know what? I really like how sharp and resourceful you are."
"Liu Ruxue is in that department. Find her and teach her a lesson. I don’t ever want to see her face without bruises."
Shen Jingbing thumped his chest.
"Don’t worry, Big Bro. Leave it to me."
Half an hour later, at the girls’ dormitory of Capital University—
A "woman" dressed flamboyantly, with a scarf wrapped around her head, walked in.
Another half hour later, a satisfied-looking man strolled out, leaving the dorm supervisor utterly baffled.
There was an unwritten rule in universities: girls could enter boys’ dorms, but boys couldn’t enter girls’ dorms.
She’d never seen this man enter—so how had he come out from inside?
The supervisor was completely stumped.
At the same time, Lin Ran received a video on his phone—one that was quite pleasing to watch.
[Video: Liu Ruxue, disheveled and frantic, shouting: "What are you doing?! You lunatic! How did you get in here?! Aaaah—!"]
Shen Jingbing: "Boss said her face can’t heal. Also said to keep following her and bring back some… souvenirs."
Meanwhile, in the hospital, Liu Yuemei finally cracked a smile.
"Hah! Heaven has eyes—Luo Corporation is in trouble!" she cheered, waving her phone excitedly.
To them, Lin Ran might be detestable, but Luo Yao was even worse.
"That little witch must be in a foul mood now. Maybe she’ll even take it out on Lin Ran. Hahaha— Oh… husband, you should go save Xiao Ran."
Realizing her outburst, Liu Yuemei quickly composed herself.
She’d been in the hospital all this time, unaware of outside events. Only now, with her arm finally mobile enough to check her phone, did she see the news.
Lin Tianba remained silent, having witnessed Liu Yuemei’s earlier reaction.
After a moment, he let it go. Given how Luo Yao had treated them, it was natural for Liu Yuemei to gloat over Luo Corporation’s misfortunes.
But asking him to save Lin Ran?
"Why are you still so naive and kind? Lin Ran doesn’t see us as family anymore. Why should I save him? Besides, I don’t even have the ability to."
Lin Jian, still struggling to speak, stayed quiet—but the look on his face showed he was in good spirits.
s + Rent Collection Wealth】 At the start, he inherited a rundown house in the urban village from his grandfather. The house had no tenants, but the moment he was diagnosed with a terminal illness, a self-proclaimed empress from the Tianxuan Continent arrived as his first tenant. Ye Chuan soon discovered that with every new tenant moving in, not only did he receive massive daily payments, but he also obtained unique items related to their backgrounds. 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Tiger Strength Pill—dramatically enhances physical power!】 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Deer Blood Pill—significantly boosts vitality!】 …… From that day on, all sorts of bizarre tenants began appearing in the house: the empress from Tianxuan Continent, an apocalyptic sorceress from the Magic Realm, a mysterious scientific girl who fell through a spacetime rift… Every single day, he received strange, powerful items and endless money. Then one day, he suddenly realized—he had become invincible. Enough, enough! Stop giving me more!
. As long as he maintains the villain image and follows the plot to the grand finale, he can obtain generous rewards and return to the real world. So Gu Chen'an entered the role and began to act as a scumbag villain, but who would have expected that the female leads could hear his inner thoughts. Miss Su from the Su family was shocked: "I originally thought Gu Chen'an was a scumbag, but I didn't expect he turned out to be a gentleman! What? You said I have to call off the engagement? I definitely won't, I'll piss you off!" Bai Yuan Tian was dumbfounded: "Young Master Gu is usually unreasonable and a complete brat, but he actually calls me little sweetie in his heart? What, Young Master Gu even said he likes me?" As the female leads' images collapsed more and more, the plot also collapsed with it. Gu Chen'an looked at all this chaos. "Ladies, don't aggro me, if you keep this up the male lead really will stab me, I still need to survive to the grand finale!"
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
