“Brother Zhiyu, I have great news! My mother is much better today. She recognized me, and she also recognized my father and brother.”
In the bright room of the nursing home, Zhao Hua typed quickly, tears streaming down her face, blurring her vision.
Yet she smiled, and beneath her tears was the light of hope for the future.
After over a month of intermittent court sessions, their family’s case had finally concluded the day before yesterday.
Her brother, father, uncle, cousin… all had been released, and the Zhao family was finally reunited.
Although their family was now bankrupt, as long as they had hope and were cleared of the false and malicious charges, life would surely improve.
Yesterday, her mother had been so overwhelmed upon seeing her father, brother, and the others that she fainted. But today, after waking up, she was in a much better condition. Although she still had difficulty distinguishing between reality and illusion, she could now recognize her family…
This life was something Zhao Hua had never dared to imagine. She once thought she’d spend her days hidden away with her mentally ill mother in some garbage-filled alley, surviving however she could, living a secret life.
But Brother Lin Zhiyu appeared, saving her and her family…
She would always remember Brother Lin Zhiyu’s kindness and pray for him endlessly.
“Hua’er, who are you messaging?”
Zhao Zhelan approached, his face haggard from months of imprisonment, his body so thin it looked like his skin could peel off his bones.
“Brother, I’m messaging Brother Lin Zhiyu to tell him that Mother’s condition has greatly improved.”
Zhao Hua glanced at her father, who, though stooped, walked steadily in the distance, holding her mother’s hand as they strolled together. Her mother now appeared mentally sound, and Zhao Hua’s eyes moistened with emotion.
“Brother, we must never forget the kindness Brother Lin Zhiyu and others have shown to our family. We must repay them someday.”
“I’ll remember, and our family will never forget,” Zhao Zhelan replied, his eyes reddening as he clenched his fists, watching their parents in the distance.
In the two days since his release from prison, Zhao Zhelan had pieced together what had happened over the past few months.
Their family’s downfall—years of hard work lost in mere months, their imprisonment, their mother’s breakdown, even their grandfather’s death and hasty burial—was all due to the “good sister” they had cherished for eighteen years.
The former daughter of the Zhao family had changed her name to Ruan Jiaojiao and become the heiress of one of the world’s wealthiest families. She had forgotten the love the Zhao family had shown her for eighteen years. Whether actively or passively, she had allowed the Ruan family to take revenge on the Zhao family and ruin them!
Without Lin Zhiyu’s help, the Zhao family would have been destroyed and reduced to living like filthy, humble insects in the sewers, barely able to breathe…
It was laughable. So laughable!
The sister he had loved for eighteen years turned out to be a vicious, white-eyed wolf!
Now he saw through everything.
Zhao Zhelan stared coldly into the distance, feeling so numb from the betrayal that there was no sadness left—only anger and disgust.
He recalled how, before everything had gone wrong, his girlfriend had tried to break up with him. He had done everything to win her back, but she refused, even calling his sister a white lotus. She’d said she couldn’t stand being associated with someone like her.
At the time, he hadn’t understood what she meant. He had searched the internet, still angry, thinking his girlfriend was slandering his sister…
After all, his sister had seemed so innocent, caring about the family, and tolerant towards others. She had never harmed anyone. She had been the best sister in the world, hadn’t she?
Now, he wished he could slap himself for being so blind!
His sister had always appeared delicate and beautiful but also wronged and pitiful. They had loved her, doted on her, and gone out of their way to ensure she wasn’t upset or aggrieved. They had tried to love her as much as possible, but they never realized she resented them for something they couldn’t give her—something that was “hers alone.”
Now, he could imagine what that “good sister” had told the Ruan family to fuel their hatred and ensure the Zhao family was destroyed.
“Ha…” Zhao Zhelan laughed bitterly.
The Ruan family might be one of the world’s top families, possibly untouchable in this lifetime, but what about Ruan Jiaojiao?
Where will she be when the tables turn?
“Brother, why are you laughing?” Zhao Hua asked, puzzled by her brother’s sudden laughter.
Zhao Zhelan gently rubbed her head, saying, “If we stay strong and united, we’ll improve. A true family, united in heart and strength, will never live badly.”
“Yes!” Zhao Hua smiled up at her brother.
“But we must visit Lin Zhiyu soon and thank him in person. Otherwise, we’d be too ungrateful,” Zhao Zhelan said, turning to his sister. “Hua’er, send him a message and ask if he’ll be free next Sunday so we can visit him.”
“Okay, I’ll ask Brother Lin Zhiyu,” Zhao Hua replied, typing the message carefully.
The Zhao family’s case had caused quite a stir online for several days, but now the noise had finally subsided. Ruan Jiaojiao, far away in Country M, had just learned of the Zhao family’s complete exoneration, much later than expected.
She couldn’t believe her eyes. She read a long blog post detailing the court sessions of the past month, her eyes wide in disbelief.
The Zhao family had overturned their case?!!
Looking at the photo at the bottom—Zhao Hua welcoming back her father, brother, uncle, and cousin outside the prison—the family’s tearful yet warm expressions stung her deeply.
She couldn’t help but remember the afternoon when Zhao Hua had been brought back to the Zhao family. The whole family had been so excited, so loving toward Zhao Hua, that it had nearly suffocated her.
She didn’t understand why.
The love and affection should have been hers. She was the Zhao family’s granddaughter, cherished for eighteen years. Why had Zhao Hua stolen the care and love of their grandfather, uncle, father, and mother?
And her relatives—how could they be so kind to Zhao Hua, knowing it would break her heart?
Ruan Jiaojiao threw her phone, covered her face, and sobbed.
She felt like a tragic heroine in a TV drama about real and fake daughters, except in her case, she was the fake daughter. But unlike those dramas, no mother loved her deeply and refused to bring back the biological daughter. She had no such luck.
Her knowledge, talent, and appearance far outshone Zhao Hua, who was crude and introverted, with a disabled left foot, an awkward physique, short-sightedness, and a lack of basic education. Zhao Hua hadn’t even graduated high school, nor could she speak basic English.
Despite all this, the Zhao family hadn’t chosen her.
In the end, the Zhao family had placed blood ties over eighteen years of love.
How could this not make her feel utterly abandoned?!
The more Ruan Jiaojiao thought about it, the more she felt aggrieved and her tears flowed. The Zhao family’s love for her over the past eighteen years was shallow and hypocritical.
Now these people have been reunited without any punishment.
She will always be the only one who gets hurt and suffers, she will always be the only one…
Ruan Jiaojiao cried until her eyes were red. She suddenly missed the embrace of Hortez. She picked up the mobile phone on the ground and searched for Hortez’s number. Just as she was about to dial, the phone screen showed an incoming call from Hortez.
With a flick of Ruan Jiaojiao’s slender fingers, the call was connected.
“Hor…Brother Hortez…”
He became anxious when he heard Ruan Jiaojiao’s crying voice.
“Jiaojiao, Jiaojiao, what’s wrong with you?! Who bullied you again?”
Ruan Jiaojiao just cried and said, “Brother Hortez, where are you? Jiaojiao wants to see you now.”
“I’ll go there immediately, Wait for me.”
Hortez pushed away an important meeting that was about to take place, stepped on the accelerator downstairs, and rushed out.
The faces of the board of directors were a little ugly.
This is a critical moment. The Marceau Group has caught the loophole and a big problem has arisen. They needed to decide the matter urgently and kill it in the crib. But Hortez, this prince is amazing, he left all of them just for a woman?!!
The board of directors was so angry that they contacted Mr. Hortez who was still in the hospital bed.
At this time, Hortez had already arrived at Ruan’s Manor at full speed. Just before he arrived at Ruan Jiaojiao’s residence, a message was suddenly pushed to Ruan Jiaojiao’s mobile phone.
Marceau Group’s big project in City S exploded, and the capital chain was broken. It is currently selling several pieces of land in State C urgently. I wonder if it can survive this smoothly…
Ruan Jiaojiao’s eyes changed. Why did something suddenly happen to Marceau ?!
She remembered that before this big project, when she and Brother Wright were having dinner, Brother Wright mentioned that once this project was completed, it would be beneficial to the Wright Group too, so now…
Ruan Jiaojiao frowned, looking worried, but before she could think of how to console Marceau and Wright, familiar footsteps sounded. She immediately exited the news page, and before Hortez came in, she started tearing up. (TN: ╭∩╮( •̀_•́ )╭∩╮)
“Jiaojiao!” The moment Hortez rushed in, he hugged Ruan Jiaojiao in his arms.
Ruan Jiaojiao leaned weakly into Hortez’s arms, and the tears surged out.
Hortez was so distressed that he wanted to kill Lin Zhiyu immediately.
He didn’t know why Jiaojiao was sad now, but almost all of Jiaojiao’s tears were directly or indirectly caused by Lin Zhiyu. As long as he killed Lin Zhiyu, he believed that everything would be much better!
The delicate cry of the person in his arms made Hortez no longer able to suppress the emotions surging in his chest. The boiling love even disrupted his brain. He looked at Ruan Jiaojiao’s charming face with pear blossoms and rain, He couldn’t help but blurted out: “Jiaojiao, I like you, I love you, let me take care of you and protect you from now on, okay…”
As soon as the words came out of his mouth, Hortez regretted it. How could he confess so crudely?! Jiaojiao had always been timid, but now she might have to reject him directly!
Cortez, who was overthinking, suddenly heard a timid, soft and shy voice coming from his arms.
“I…I actually want to protect Brother Hortez…” Ruan Jiaojiao raised her head shyly, her wet eyelashes hanging with tears, and her sweet voice was filled with love as soft as honey.
For a moment, Hortez seemed to be stunned by the huge joy. He pinched Ruan Jiaojiao’s waist: “Jiaojiao, what do you mean…?!”
“I, I like brother Hortez too.”
Ruan Jiaojiao finished speaking shyly, and just as she was about to lower her head, her lips were suddenly captured by a crazy kiss, and then followed by a stormy and deep kiss that could drown anyone.
Hortez kissed the sweet person in his arms crazily. He was so happy that his whole body was about to explode. He wished he could even give his Jiaojiao his life. His heart was so soft looking at the miserable Jiaojiao. How could she … think of protecting him? She was the kindest and the most beautiful girl in the world!
And now this girl is his, His!
Marceau and Wright are just losers, not worth mentioning.
After Ruan Jiaojiao and Hortez confirmed their relationship, in less than a day, Hortez made up by giving her an extremely grand and extravagant confession ceremony, announcing to the whole world that the two were in love.
Even Lin Zhiyu’s mobile phone was bombarded with push notifications.
Lin Zhiyu, who was having lunch, suppressed the disgust in his heart and deleted several apps that pushed news with an expressionless face.
“Professor Lin, I…can I ask you a question? I have redone this experiment many times and the data is wrong.” A girl stood next to Lin Zhiyu’s desk holding a laptop computer with flushed cheeks.
Lin Zhiyu paused slightly: “Are you a student of Professor Zhang Luolin?”
“Yes, I…I haven’t seen Professor Zhang for three days. The professor didn’t reply to my message last night. I have made the same mistake too many times. I really can’t find out what the problem is. I showed it to my senior brothers and sisters and they couldn’t figure it out, so I would like to ask Professor Lin to take a look at it.”
“Okay, you can open your lab report.”
Lin Zhiyu was eating. During the meal, I quickly reviewed the girl’s lab report and discovered her problem in less than two minutes.
Lin Zhiyu’s voice was gentle and he pointed out directly: “Look, this variable should not be controlled like this. When you do the experiment, you should…”
As Lin Zhiyu talked, the girls’ classmates couldn’t help but gather around. In the blink of an eye, the cafeteria seemed to have turned into a laboratory.
When several of Lin Zhiyu’s disciples who were eating not far away from Lin Zhiyu saw it, they were proud but also a little bit sour: “Look, look, our Professor Lin is so popular, and the students of other professors also came for advice. Let’s ask him too.”
“Hey, it’s better for us to solve all the problems in the laboratory. In my opinion, Professor Lin is the best. We are so lucky to be assigned to Professor Lin’s disciples!”
“Professor Lin is strong in academics, and he is a nice person, so it is normal for him to be popular. I heard from the lab next door that they hadn’t seen their professor for several days. Their seniors help them out with tutoring. It’s so sad.”
“We must guard Professor Zhiyu! We can’t let other students take him away!”
“Yeah, haha, they’re definitely out of luck for the next three years. We’ve already got him, and he’s not going anywhere, hahaha…”
“Shhh!” Wu Tiantian suddenly hissed, signaling everyone to stop talking.
“What’s the matter?” Liu Xinfang asked, chewing on her slice of boiled meat, glancing casually toward the door. Her eyes widened, and she nearly choked.
“Why is Professor Zhang Luolin here all of a sudden?” she muttered under her breath. Professor Zhang had been absent from the lab for days, and now he’d caught his students gathered around Professor Lin. What if he takes offense? Everyone knows he’s pretty particular.
Oh no, we need to protect Professor Lin!
That thought echoed through their minds as the students’ desire to shield their beloved professor intensified. Wu Tiantian reacted the fastest. Without thinking, she grabbed her tray and dashed toward the food waste cart near the door.
“Good afternoon, Professor Zhang Luolin!” she called loudly, hoping her warning would disperse the group around Lin Zhiyu. But in her rush, she tripped over her own feet and tumbled straight toward Professor Zhang.
Professor Zhang, though elderly, was quick on his feet. He stepped back swiftly, avoiding the collision. However, the finely dressed woman standing beside him wasn’t so lucky. Wu Tiantian’s tray flew out of her hands, and the next thing anyone knew, the woman was drenched in soup and covered in chili oil and bean sprouts.
“Bang—!”
Wu Tiantian hit the ground, but she wasn’t hurt.
The woman, Yan Po, wasn’t as fortunate. She stood frozen, soaked in vegetable soup and mortified. Yan Po had spent an entire week convincing Professor Zhang Luolin to let her invest in his private research. She had finally earned his trust and managed to secure an invitation to visit the campus. She’d even passed through security by posing as a relative of Professor Zhang.
And now, covered in food, all her careful efforts were drenched as well.
“I-I’m so sorry! Grandma, I’m so sorry! Let me clean that for you. Please go change, and I’ll wash everything!” Wu Tiantian apologized frantically, scrambling to clean up the mess she had caused.
Professor Zhang, visibly irritated, turned his attention to the commotion, and the students crowding around Lin Zhiyu scattered immediately.
Lin Zhiyu, observing the chaotic scene, noticed his student groveling in apology. Then his gaze shifted to Yan Po, the woman dripping with soup. His expression hardened slightly as he processed what had just unfolded.
