At the hospital, 

Yuan Haolang lay on the hospital bed, wincing in pain. Thinking about what had happened that morning, he felt a mix of complicated emotions.

After he had finished saying those things, Zang Ling suddenly stormed over and smashed the flowers against his face, then dragged him to a spot without surveillance and gave him a beating.

In the end, he had to call the ambulance himself.

When his parents came and asked what had happened, there was no way Yuan Haolang could tell them the truth. What was he supposed to say — that he got beaten up by a woman?

That would be way too humiliating.

And Zang Ling, he’d only said a few honest words, was it really necessary to beat him up like this?

What a violent woman!

Thinking of this, Yuan Haolang grew even more annoyed and wanted to give up, but then he thought of Zang Ling’s beauty and power, and felt that this little injury wasn’t really a big deal after all.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

Yuan Haolang called out impatiently, “Who is it?”

“It’s me, Haolang.” A gentle female voice responded.

Why is she here?!

Yuan Haolang immediately dropped his casual attitude, quickly tidied his hair, cleared his throat, and said, “Xiao Meng, come on in.”

Han Lanmeng walked in carrying a bag of fruit and a carton of milk. Yuan Haolang was obviously pleased, but he still pretended not to care, saying, “Why bring stuff when you’re visiting me? Just seeing you already makes me happy.”

Han Lanmeng sat down on the chair beside the bed, her expression full of concern. “Haolang, how did you end up like this? Does it hurt?”

Yuan Haolang felt a little guilty. “It’s okay, just a little accident. How did you know I was at this hospital?”

“I saw your post on WeChat Moments.”

Yuan Haolang frowned. That post was only set to be visible to Zang Ling. How come she could see it too?

Seeing his hesitant expression, Han Lanmeng felt a little hurt and said, “You don’t trust me? I’m not allowed to see that post?”

“No! You’re my girlfriend, how could I not trust you?”

“Haolang, there’s no need to hide it anymore. I already know everything.” Han Lanmeng said bitterly, “Everyone at the company’s talking about it. They’re saying Tianhai and Yuan Corporation are about to unite through marriage, a powerful alliance…”

“At first, I didn’t believe Miss Zang when she said you were two-timing me, but now it seems she wasn’t wrong after all.”

As she spoke, tears streamed down her face. “Since you’re about to get married, then… let’s break up. Let’s not see each other again.”

Yuan Haolang stared at her in disbelief. “You… want to break up with me?!”

“Zang Ling is slandering me! The only person I love is you!” He grabbed her hand. “Even if I marry her, nothing will happen between us. She’s just my wife in name only. Once I get control of Tianhai, I’ll kick her out with nothing and marry you. Then you’ll be the lady of both Yuan Corporation and Tianhai. You’ll never have to bow to anyone again.”

Han Lanmeng lowered her eyes. “…I don’t care about those things. I only care about you. Haolang, do you really like me?”

“Baby, don’t you know my heart by now? For you, I’ve gone against my parents’ wishes. Even now, my grandfather is still angry with me. A year ago, he said he’d hand Yuan Corporation over to me, but ever since we got together, he hasn’t mentioned it again.”

Yuan Haolang lowered his head and kissed the back of her hand. “So stop saying things like you want to leave me. It really hurts me, you know? Do you have any idea how much I’ve done for you? Xiao Meng, just bear with me for a while, okay? Try to understand me and trust me. This won’t last for too long.”

“In my heart, you’re ten thousand times better than Zang Ling.”

When Han Lanmeng heard this, her heart softened. She looked up through her tears and smiled, “Haolang, I believe you—”

“Baby, if we weren’t in the hospital right now, I’d really want to do it with you right here, right now.”

Han Lanmeng shyly played along, and just then, Yuan Haolang gently stroked her face and said, “But there’s still a big obstacle right now—your friend. Xiaomeng, think carefully, does he have any weaknesses?”

“Is that really okay…?”

“Don’t worry, I won’t do anything to your friend. Since Zang Ling won’t budge no matter what approach I use, I’ll just have to find another way to force her hand.”

Han Lanmeng was dying to see Zang Ling suffer. She thought for a moment and said, “I haven’t really interacted with him much over the years, but I do know that he cares deeply about his deceased parents.”

Yuan Haolang looked thoughtful. “That’s something I can work with.”

——

At the Zang residence.

“Mother, I’ve got one good news and one bad news for you. Which one do you want to hear first?”

Jiang Qiongyin smiled. “Bad news.”

Zang Ling pretended to look regretful. “Alright, the bad news is, I just went back to the old house and reasoned with the old man. He’s probably yelling about me like crazy right about now.”

She then turned to Zang Xiuming. “Sorry about that, Dad.”

Zang Xiuming indulged her with a smile. “Sweetheart, just do whatever you want. No need to apologize to me. The old man’s getting old anyways. He’s not thinking straight anymore.”

Jiang Qiongyin added, “But Lingling, be careful not to cross the line too much. Don’t make him so angry that he gets sick.”

“Got it! Now for the good news—” Zang Ling declared happily, “Yan Wenshu and I are on good terms again!”

“…”

Zang Ling blinked in confusion at the calm expressions on their faces. “Why don’t you two look surprised at all?”

Jiang Qiongyin elegantly painted her nails. “If you two had actually broken up, you wouldn’t be wearing that look on your face.”

“What kind of expression?”

Zang Xiuming picked up the conversation, “As happy as can be.”

He added, somewhat sourly, “Ever since you started dating that kid, the corners of your mouth haven’t gone down once. I just don’t get it. Are you really that happy being with him?”

“It’s mainly because he’s pleasing to the eye,” Zang Ling chuckled.

“I’m going to Yan Wenshu’s hometown during the Labor Day holiday to visit his parents’ graves, so I won’t be accompanying you guys for a few days. I’ll make it up to you next time, I promise.”

Zang Xiuming grumbled, “Next time, next time~ Hmph.”

Knowing she was in the wrong, Zang Ling quickly went over to massage his shoulders.

Jiang Qiongyin watched the father and daughter with amusement. Suddenly, she remembered something and asked, “Lingling, did a girl named… Han Lanmeng recently joined your company?”

Zang Ling’s hands paused, and she looked up, “Mom, how did you know?”

“Because I’m the one who recommended her there.”