Just as Lin Tianba was on the verge of collapse, Lin Ran decided to twist the knife even deeper.
"There's one more thing I forgot to tell you. The area next to 'Linyuan Scenic Estates' was never a garbage dump—that’s located in the suburbs. What’s actually next to it is the prestigious Jingda Elementary School. The billboard you saw? I had it put up. After all, it’s my project—no harm in a little marketing."
"What?"
Shock. Horror. Suffocation.
Lin Tianba froze on the spot, finally realizing where things had gone wrong.
So, all of this had been Lin Ran’s doing.
"You ungrateful brat, you—"
Slap!
Lin Ran withdrew his hand and took a towel from Wang Bao, wiping his fingers meticulously.
Cough!
Lin Tianba, overwhelmed with rage, spat out a mouthful of blood. Wang Bao swiftly opened an umbrella, shielding Lin Ran from the spray.
Lin Tianba collapsed to the ground, his face twisted in terror as he pointed a trembling finger at Lin Ran. "You... you... you—"
But no further words came out.
Pathetic, Lin Ran thought. With a mindset like this, you still dream of a comeback? Keep dreaming.
"This man is no longer part of our company. Throw him out."
Security personnel outside the conference room immediately stepped in, weapons in hand, and unceremoniously hauled their former boss away.
The remaining people in the room were stunned.
They had heard Lin Ran’s words loud and clear.
No one had expected that Lin Ran, who had kept a low profile all these years, would play such a devastating hand.
Not only had he completely outmaneuvered Lin Tianba, but he had also resolved the company’s crisis in one fell swoop.
No—not resolved. There had never been a crisis to begin with. It had all been Lin Ran’s scheme.
Everyone stared at him, a mix of admiration and fear in their eyes. This young man was ruthless, decisive—terrifying.
Those who had sold their shares were now drowning in regret, cursing their own blindness.
But they kept their emotions in check. Investments were like that—once the move was made, there was no taking it back.
After all, not everyone was as shameless as Lin Tianba.
Suddenly, a commotion erupted outside. A security guard rushed in to report.
"Trouble! The homebuyers have stormed in!"
Lin Ran waved a hand. "Let them in."
The guard hesitated, glancing around uncertainly.
Qu Te Niang snapped, "Are you deaf? Do what the boss says!"
Snapping to attention, the guard hurried out.
Moments later, a crowd barged into the conference room.
"Where’s Lin Tianba? Bring him out! I’ll kill him!"
Lin Ran raised a hand. "Calm down, everyone. He’s already transferred all his shares to me. Your grievances are now mine to handle."
"Some kid like you? How the hell are you gonna fix this?"
Lin Ran’s brow furrowed.
"What do you want?"
"A refund!"
"Fine. Someone, process his refund—and take note of his details. Next time he wants to buy, the price goes up 20%."
The man laughed mockingly.
"Hah! You think I’d ever buy your garbage properties again? Keep dreaming!"
The shareholders in the room exchanged glances, looking at the man as if he were an idiot.
Soon, the refund was processed, and the man received his money on the spot.
Suran Group’s swift action left the protesters stunned.
They had been protesting for days—why was this young man suddenly so accommodating?
Lin Ran addressed the crowd. "Anyone who wants a refund can get one now. But let me make this clear—'Linyuan Scenic Estates' is a school district property. I’m saying this on record, with video proof. If any of you regret this later and want to buy back in? Sorry, we won’t sell to you."
The crowd exchanged uneasy glances.
They had gathered fifty or sixty people to storm the place, all demanding refunds.
As for Lin Ran’s words?
Capitalists were bloodsucking monsters—you couldn’t trust a single thing they said.
So, most of them chose to take the refund. Lin Ran had them directed to the finance office to queue up. Only a handful silently slipped away.
There were still some smart people in this world.
After Lin Tianba was thrown out, Lin Ran suddenly remembered—his two "dogs" were still squatting in the company.
A mischievous thought crossed his mind. Glancing at the time, he saw he still had half an hour before he needed to head back to cook.
"Where are Liu Yuemei and Lin Jian?"
A former secretary of Lin Tianba quickly spoke up. "In the converted storage room on the 7th floor."
Lin Ran smirked.
"Uncle Qu, I’ll leave the rest to you. I have some business to attend to."
Qu Te Niang panicked, scurrying over to Lin Ran and whispering urgently,
"Young Master Lin, please don’t call me that—I don’t deserve it!"
"Uncle Qu, you were my mother’s old acquaintance. Of course you deserve the title."
Qu Te Niang scratched his head awkwardly. "Young Master, I may have known Madam Su, but I’ve been working under President Luo all this time. You’re her husband—how could you call me 'uncle'?"
He spoke so quietly that no one else heard.
Lin Ran blinked.
"Luo Yao?"
"Yes. Last time, it was President Luo who arranged for me to list those shares, tricking Lin Tianba into cutting his losses."
Suddenly, everything clicked for Lin Ran.
So, Luo Yao had been by his side all along.
"Very well. From now on, you’re the chairman of Suran Group."
Qu Te Niang stood frozen.
Lin Ran had single-handedly resolved the company’s crisis. Anyone with half a brain knew Suran Group was about to reach new heights.
And at this pivotal moment, Lin Ran had handed him the reins. Such trust was overwhelming.
Years of hard work, and now, with just one sentence from Lin Ran, he was stepping into an entirely new realm.
If he became chairman, would he still have to scrape by on unpredictable investments?
The investment game was like the stock market—only a tiny fraction profited, and Qu Te Niang had been scraping the bottom of that elite tier.
What you thought was a sure bet often turned to smoke. Looking back, staying where you started was already an achievement—most people only lost ground.
"Boss, I won’t let you down. I’ll make Suran Group the finest real estate company there is."
Lin Ran nodded. "Then, Chairman Qu, until next time."
"Take care, Boss."
Lin Ran headed to the 7th-floor storage room with his men—only to recoil the moment he stepped inside.
"Damn, is this a pigsty?"
He ordered his men to drag the two out. The well-trained bodyguards covered their noses as they entered.
When Liu Yuemei and Lin Jian were hauled out, they were still shouting incoherently.
Lin Jian: "Huan ha wu! Huan ha wu!"
Liu Yuemei: "Who are you people? Breaking into private property is illegal, you know!"
Lin Ran looked down at the mother and son with amusement.
"Private property? This is Suran Group’s territory. Your husband has already sold it. Naturally, I’m here to escort you out."
"Xiao Ran?"
"Gege?"
Wang Bao brought over a chair, and Lin Ran sat down imposingly, gazing at the two pinned to the ground.
"One’s a cripple, the other’s a mute. How entertaining."
"Beat them up first. We’ll talk later."
't think I'm that capable, I'm just trying my best to stay alive. I've been kind all my life, never did anything bad, yet worldly suffering spared me not one bit. The human world is a nice place, but I won't come back in my next life. A kind young man, who wanted to just get by singing, but through repeated deceits and betrayals, has gone down an irredeemable path.
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
lanned to earn money steadily and take life at a slower pace. But he never expected... his father's remarriage, and the stepmother bringing along a dependent, would completely disrupt his life's plans...
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.
