Lin Ran fell silent for a moment, thinking to himself, "Just as I expected."
This person was the one who had relayed messages to Fang Buxia—in other words, Yu Chengqun's lackey.
As for why he didn’t suspect it might be someone else with the same name, well, this name was far too unique.
"Do we still have any properties left?"
"Yes, but they're all discounted units. The good ones have already been sold out."
Lin Ran flashed a wicked smile, like a gardenia in full bloom. "Contact him now and tell him we’re selling him a property—at the original price."
Without Luo Yao by his side, his life had nearly lost all meaning. Finally, he could add a splash of color to it.
Qu Te Niang nodded. This wasn’t a difficult task.
After waiting for about half an hour, Zhuang Bifan strode into the Suran Group sales center with confident steps.
His mood was excellent today because Suran Group had finally agreed to sell him a property.
The last time he’d failed to secure a home, his girlfriend had dumped him and married someone else.
He’d even been the best man at their wedding.
After that humiliation, he swore he would buy a property no matter what—and it had to be in a school district.
He wanted to stand in front of his ex-girlfriend one day and tell her how wrong she’d been to leave him.
But after searching high and low, he still hadn’t found anything with a better price-to-value ratio. Then, out of the blue, Suran Group reached out to him for a viewing.
So now you’re begging me to buy from you? After ignoring me before?
The moment he stepped inside, Zhuang Bifan put on his most confident smile. "Someone, come greet me."
I’m here to buy a property—I better act the part, or I’d be wasting this name of mine.
Suddenly, a man with a deceptively simple face—yet exuding an inexplicable aura of menace—stood before him. Zhuang Bifan, who had been ready to show off, froze on the spot.
Abu gave a polite nod. "Hello."
Zhuang Bifan blinked. "Huh? Oh—hello!"
Huh, he’s actually polite?
A massive hand suddenly seized Zhuang Bifan by the collar and lifted him off the ground. "So you’re the one called Zhuang Bifan, huh?"
Abu was never a kind man. His actions depended entirely on Lin Ran’s orders.
If Lin Ran told him to be good, he’d be good. If Lin Ran told him to be ruthless, he’d be ruthless.
After all, Lin Ran’s wife was the one signing his paychecks.
Twenty minutes later, inside a room at the sales center, Zhuang Bifan had finally stopped putting on airs.
"Lin… Lin Shao, I was wrong! I swear I’ll never do it again! Please, have mercy!"
Lin Ran looked down at him, his eyes devoid of any human warmth—cold as ice.
The current Lin Ran was becoming more and more like Luo Yao.
"I beat you up today, so I’ll compensate you—10,000 yuan, the highest standard for pet hospital fees. Any objections?"
"None! None at all! Thank you, Lin Shao!" Zhuang Bifan kowtowed like a frantic drumbeat.
"Good. Now you can go call the police."
"No, no! Lin Shao’s friend was just joking around with me! No need to involve the police, haha!"
Call the police? Not a chance.
Zhuang Bifan loved to show off, but he wasn’t stupid.
The last time he’d led a protest, he’d been left shaken. Since then, he’d avoided Suran Group entirely.
Who knew that karma would catch up to him today?
"You wanted to buy a property, didn’t you? Get your ass to the sales center."
Zhuang Bifan kept kowtowing. "No, no! A piece of trash like me shouldn’t taint Suran Group’s reputation!"
Lin Ran’s gaze sharpened like a blade. "Hmm?"
Zhuang Bifan immediately backtracked. "I’ll go! I’ll go check it out right now!"
He was on the verge of a breakdown. How did I end up crossing this guy?
"Go on." Lin Ran tossed down the 10,000 yuan as compensation—he was a man of principle.
After Zhuang Bifan left, Lin Ran and Abu departed as well.
He had no intention of further tormenting Zhuang Bifan. Passing messages for Yu Chengqun wasn’t an unforgivable crime—a small lesson was enough.
Zhuang Bifan was just a lackey. The real culprit was Yu Chengqun.
Still, it wouldn’t hurt to have someone hassle Zhuang Bifan from time to time.
Like making sure his new place had plumbing issues or blasting noise during his intimate moments.
Once in the car, Lin Ran couldn’t wait. "Drive. I need to pick up my wife."
At Luo Corporation, Luo Yao received some news.
The amusement park at the estate was complete. All the rides had been tested and approved.
This was a playground she’d built for Lin Ran, so of course, he had to be the first to enjoy it.
Tonight, she wanted to give it to him as a gift.
At the same time, Lin Ran arrived at Luo Corporation and successfully picked up Luo Yao.
"Yao Yao, I’ve been so lost without you. Life has no meaning when you’re not around."
Lin Ran wasn’t lying. No matter what he did, all he could think about was being close to his wife.
At this moment, he realized something serious:
Without Luo Yao, his world was devoid of life and color.
He couldn’t even imagine how broken he’d be if she were ever gone.
Just the thought made it hard to breathe.
Luo Yao noticed his distress and immediately hugged him in reassurance. "Don’t worry, A’Ran. Soon, I’ll be with you all the time. Let’s go home—I have a gift for you today."
"What is it?"
"It’s a secret."
Back at the estate, the first thing they did was have dinner. While eating, Luo Yao recalled the sweetness of their lunch together.
Somehow, fighting over food with A’Ran makes it taste better.
So she pushed away the chopsticks Lin Ran was using to feed her.
Lin Ran paused. "What’s wrong? Don’t like it?"
Luo Yao pouted. "I want to fight over it with A’Ran."
Lin Ran glanced at the elegantly arranged dishes, then at his pouting wife, torn.
This plating doesn’t exactly lend itself to a food fight.
"Alright." He pulled one dish between them. "Then let’s compete over this plate of jian shou qing mushrooms—whoever eats more wins."
"Deal."
Dinner was a delight for Luo Yao, though she felt something was missing without Lin Ran feeding her.
"Yao Yao, from now on, you decide how we eat. If you want me to feed you, I will. If you want to fight over it, we’ll fight."
Luo Yao frowned. "Can’t I just eat normally?"
"Well… you could, but you wouldn’t enjoy it as much."
Luo Yao smiled. No one understands me like A’Ran.
"A’Ran, let’s go for a walk. I have a gift for you."
"Alright."
Lin Ran didn’t know what Luo Yao was planning, but just in case, he gave an order before stepping out.
"Uncle Fu, prepare the soup in advance."
Uncle Fu grinned knowingly. "Of course."
Outside the villa, the weather wasn’t as cold anymore.
Lin Ran took Luo Yao’s delicate hand in his, savoring its softness, his heart full.
m back to his original world. In the end, he realized he had overthought things. [Hey, why is Shen Manni, the female lead, acting strange? Shouldn't she be fawning over the male lead at this point?] [Zhou Qiaoqiao, are you sick? Weren't you supposed to break off your engagement today?] [Damn it! An Youyi, please do your job as an undercover agent and sell my information to the protagonist, you idiot!] ... At this moment, Xu Mo himself didn't know that these female leads had already heard his inner thoughts. Then they decided not to play by the rules. Xu Mo: Please respect my profession as the big villain!
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.
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!
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.
