Chapter 0519

Lin Ran was in no hurry, continuing to educate the two. He wanted the pair opposite him to suffer complete mental torment.

"The Siamese crocodile has a bite force of an astonishing fifteen hundred kilograms. Even the hardest bone in your body would be easily snapped. The sound of that bite, truly marvelous, tsk tsk tsk~"

Watching Lin Ran's expression of pure enjoyment, beads of sweat the size of soybeans dripped from the foreheads of both Lin Jian and Liu Yuemei.

Liu Yuemei even felt the world spinning, on the verge of fainting.

Lin Ran asked with feigned surprise, "Oh my? Why are you sweating? You didn't think I was going to throw you in there, did you? Heh heh heh!"

Hearing that laugh, Liu Yuemei and her son were close to breaking down.

The laughter stopped abruptly. Lin Ran said with a sincere expression, "Don't worry, I won't throw you in."

Liu Yuemei swallowed hard, forcing a smile. "Heh heh! I knew Xiao Ran wouldn't do that. You've always been a kind-hearted boy."

Lin Jian also finally snapped back from the edge of collapse and let out a sigh of relief. "Brother, thank you for sparing my life."

"I won't throw you in, but I will have someone else throw you in." Lin Ran's eyes turned teasing once more.

The expressions on their faces froze. Recalling the sound of the crocodile's jaws snapping shut moments before, their scalps crawled and their legs turned to jelly.

"Brother... you wouldn't really do that... right?"

Lin Ran ignored Lin Jian, looking expressionlessly at the crocodiles with their mouths open inside the enclosure.

Suddenly, Abu grabbed one in each hand, opened the enclosure gate, and shoved the two inside.

"Ah—" Liu Yuemei screamed in terror, while Lin Jian collapsed limply onto the ground.

The crocodiles seemed to sense living creatures entering their space. They twisted their rotund bodies and began crawling over.

Liu Yuemei broke down, wailing, "Lin Ran, I... I was wrong, please, spare my life!"

Lin Jian, slumped on the ground, actually started laughing. "Heh heh heh! You bitch, haven't you figured it out yet? He's never going to spare us."

Liu Yuemei stared in disbelief at the several crocodiles approaching from the distance.

Outside the enclosure, Lin Ran smiled. "I didn't expect you to be so self-aware. Fine, I'll give you a chance. Only one of you gets to live."

His tone turned somewhat sinister as he said this, his smile unnervingly frightening.

"Remember, the first one to get bitten dies. I'll have someone rescue the remaining one. As for who gets to live, that depends on which of you has a colder heart."

Hearing Lin Ran's words, Liu Yuemei was stunned.

Lin Jian, lying limp on the ground, however, immediately had a gleam in his eyes.

This was no longer the time to consider whether Lin Ran would keep his word. They had no right to choose; they could only pray he meant what he said.

Lin Jian looked at Liu Yuemei with a crazed glint. "Mother, I'm sorry. Haven't you always said you love me? Then sacrifice yourself for your son one more time."

With that, he grabbed Liu Yuemei and pushed her toward the approaching crocodiles.

Liu Yuemei was so scared her legs gave way, but at this life-or-death moment, she erupted with unprecedented strength.

Lin Ran watched with great relish from outside the enclosure. A gladiatorial arena between mother and son, with only one survivor.

Most interesting.

A few minutes later, the crocodiles were driven away by the keeper, and bodyguards dragged Liu Yuemei out.

That's right, only Liu Yuemei came out.

Even Lin Ran was somewhat surprised that Liu Yuemei had emerged victorious in the end.

Was this Liu Yuemei's version of "a mother's strength for her child"?

"Truly unexpected. Even a vicious tiger doesn't eat its own cubs. You've surprised me. And this Lin Jian is truly useless, a grown man actually losing to you. He deserved every bit of it."

By now, there was no human light left in Liu Yuemei's eyes, only emptiness. After a long while, she broke down sobbing.

"My son..."

Seeing Liu Yuemei like this, Lin Ran lost interest in playing any further.

“Lock her up. I know there are many rats in Yao Yao's basement. I wonder if rats are afraid of infection from a biochemical mother. Go help me verify that.”

Wang Bao immediately had people haul Liu Yuemei to her feet.

Liu Yuemei roared, "Why? Why are you doing this to me?"

Why?

Lin Ran narrowed his eyes and slowly uttered two words:

"Revenge."

Hearing that Lin Ran was doing this for revenge made Liu Yuemei even more devastated.

"But I never hit you or scolded you. At most, I was just harsh with you. What revenge is this?"

Lin Ran walked up to Liu Yuemei and slowly brought his mouth close to her ear, speaking in a voice only they could hear.

"Because you owe me two lives. One is my mother's, and the other... is mine."

Liu Yuemei looked confused; she didn't understand what Lin Ran meant.

If he meant Su Yanyan, she could somewhat comprehend, as she had some connection to Lin Tianba causing Su Yanyan's death.

But Lin Ran?

Liu Yuemei couldn't grasp it.

After saying this, Lin Ran waved his hand, and the two bodyguards hauled Liu Yuemei away.

Lin Ran felt completely refreshed.

He held not a shred of mercy for this mother and son pair.

Because he understood one principle: mercy toward an enemy is cruelty toward oneself.

For instance, if he had fallen into the hands of Lin Jian and his mother today, he would undoubtedly have died a horrific death. Of this, he was absolutely certain.

Having settled this matter, Lin Ran headed in the direction of Villa No. 1.

This time, he didn't have Luo Yao accompany him because she was currently pregnant, and he was afraid she might have an adverse reaction to such a scene.

Although it was more likely she would be utterly unfazed.

Abu reminded him, "Young Master Lin, would you like to take the car?"

Lin Ran shook his head.

The weather in the capital was currently in that season where spring returns to the earth but the summer heat hasn't yet arrived. The warm breeze was very pleasant, so he decided to walk back to the villa.

The flowers by the roadside were blooming beautifully. Lin Ran picked a few of the most vibrant ones, and by the time he reached the villa, he had assembled a bouquet of multicolored blooms in his hand.

Upon seeing Luo Yao, he presented the flowers to her.

"For my wife. The flowers are beautiful, but you are even more so."

Luo Yao, her eyes curving into crescents, accepted them and buried her face in them, taking a sniff.

"So wildflowers are this beautiful. No wonder so many men want to pick them."

Lin Ran: ...

"What I gave you are carefully cultivated flowers from our estate. I picked the ones in fullest bloom. They're not wildflowers at all."

Luo Yao tilted her head and asked, "If not wildflowers, then what kind of flowers are they?"

Lin Ran's eyes lit up as he thought of an answer.

"They are the flowers from Lin Ran and Luo Yao's home."

Alright then. Luo Yao admitted that in front of Lin Ran, she could be captivated at any moment, and she was willing to lose herself in his tenderness.

On the condition that this tenderness was for her alone.

"I love the flowers. And I want to give A Ran a gift too. It's A Ran's favorite."

Lin Ran was puzzled. "I don't like gifts. I only like you."

"That's right. I'm giving you a Luo Yao to play with."

She nestled into Lin Ran's arms, using her fingers to tease his senses. Lin Ran's heart instantly grew restless with heat.

Luo Yao looked up at him; her mood was genuinely quite good.

Although she hadn't witnessed Lin Ran dealing with Liu Yuemei and her son firsthand, she had heard all about it.