Nan Muran listened to the family’s thoughts, which they didn’t even bother to hide, and saw their usual confident demeanor when discussing how to control her. She couldn’t help but feel self-mocking. They really thought they could treat her like a fool, didn’t they?

With a cold laugh, she exited the villa and returned to her car.

As soon as she got in, Tank, the dog, came over, its wet tongue immediately licking her face.

This sudden enthusiasm caught Nan Muran off guard. “No, no, Tank, no face washing,” she said. But Tank didn’t listen at all, continuing to enthusiastically lick her face. Realizing she had no other choice, Nan Muran coldly said, “Tank, sit.”

When the little guy heard her firm command, it reluctantly sat down.

Nan Muran stroked its head and fell into thought.

Killing that family of five wouldn’t be hard, but death would be too easy for them. Life should have some experiences to make it interesting, and experiencing the end of the world wouldn’t be so bad.

Having made up her mind to leave them to suffer in the apocalypse, draining their hope and tormenting them before dealing with them, Nan Muran began considering other matters.

If her uncle Nan Ping’s motive was to secure his position in the Nan Qiao Group by manipulating his shares, then dealing with Sheng Hui and the seven chain supermarkets would be much easier.

The combined market value of the seven supermarkets wouldn’t exceed three hundred million, and they probably had a backup plan. If she could get half of that, it would be good. Using 150 million to secure a chance to stay in Nan Qiao wasn’t bad.

If the Nan family agreed, she’d have to investigate carefully how much they’d benefited over the years managing Nan Qiao, both openly and secretly.

She opened the sunroof and, after looking back to remind Tank to wait obediently in the car, she saw it curl up. Only then did she get out of the car and walk toward the villa’s front yard.

Inside the Nan family villa, the doorbell rang.

Nan Moting, who had just come out of the bedroom, adjusted her clothes and exchanged a look with her parents to confirm everything was in order before smiling and opening the door.

“Ranran, you’re back. Dinner is ready, it’s been a while, we’ve been waiting for you.”

Hearing the subtly green tea-like tone, Nan Muran knew she was complaining about her being late. She ignored it.

Looking at Nan Moting’s face full of affection as she linked arms with her, Nan Muran immediately felt a chill. Speaking of which, these two were quite fast, they must not have had time to shower, how dirty. With that thought, she subtly pulled her arm away from Nan Moting’s and took a step back to distance herself.

Seeing Nan Muran’s obvious disdain, Nan Moting nearly lost her smile. She was furious. Did she have poison on her? What was with that expression?

“Ranran’s back, come on, dinner’s ready,” Nan Laotai, as always, said with kindness and warmth, reaching out to pull Nan Muran to her seat at the table.

After sitting down, Qi Li looked at her with a loving, indulgent gaze and took out a beautifully wrapped gift box. “Ranran, this is your graduation gift.”

Nan Muran, feeling disgusted, barely managed to hold the gift box with two fingers, suppressing the urge to throw it away. “Thank you, but I still won’t graduate for another month.”

“Brother Li just came back from an overseas medical exchange meeting and came straight here to see you, don’t be ungrateful,” Nan Moting’s voice dripped with sarcasm.

Nan Muran couldn’t be bothered to respond. She silently moved closer to the elderly lady, the surroundings too dirty for comfort.

At the dinner table, Nan Muran ate with great concentration. After five years in the apocalypse, it was rare to have a meal this delicious.

Even though she was famished, her eating posture remained graceful, and her portions were small.

Qi Li picked up a piece of sweet and sour spareribs and placed it in her bowl. “Ranran, your favorite.”

The spareribs didn’t seem tasty anymore. Nan Muran pulled her hand back, deciding not to take another piece.

On the side, Nan Moting looked at Qi Li’s indulgent smile. And at Nan Muran’s porcelain-white, oval face, her perfect figure standing at 1.7 meters, Nan Moting had to admit that they made a perfect match, which irritated her greatly.

To Nan Moting, it was only because of Nan Muran’s looks that Qi Li and she had been in bed together for two years without any talk of marriage. Even Qi’s family, saying they were engaged to Nan Muran, was nothing more than their interest in the Nan Qiao Group.

Suddenly, Nan Moting viciously thought, what if Nan Muran fell into the mud, covered in dirt? Would Qi Li and his family still want her?

“Big Brother, how’s work going for you lately?” Nan Laotai casually asked from the main seat.

Just as Nan Muran picked up some abalone and was about to eat it, she thought, here it comes.

As expected, Nan Ping, her uncle, began his emotional monologue. He complained about how difficult it was for him at Nan Qiao Group while watching Nan Muran’s expression. But he realized she didn’t seem to care, and was just eating attentively.

Nan Ping felt awkward after talking for so long and realizing that Nan Muran hadn’t responded.

Nan Laotai gave Nan Muran a look, her dissatisfaction showing. Her tone softened slightly. “Ranran, your uncle is talking.”

Only then did Nan Muran slowly put down her chopsticks and pretended to be confused. “Uncle is talking about work, but I don’t understand. Cousin already works, he should be able to help.”

“Your shares in Nan Qiao Group, of course, only you can help Dad,” Nan Moting spoke sharply.

Hearing this, Nan Muran couldn’t help but coldly sneer inside. They couldn’t keep their composure, bringing up the shares so quickly. “Well, once I join Nan Qiao next month, Uncle won’t have these difficulties anymore.”

“You’re joining Nan Qiao?” Nan Muran’s aunt was the first to lose her composure. If Nan Muran went to Nan Qiao, those enemies on the board would definitely kick her uncle out without hesitation.

Leaving Nan Qiao, the golden goose, would mean missing out on any benefits.

Nan Muran turned her head to look at her aunt, a faint smile on her lips, and spoke in a soft, gentle tone: “Dad said I could join Nan Qiao right after I graduate. Anyway, I’m almost graduated now, and I have nothing else to do.”

“But, Ranran, didn’t you want to go abroad to continue studying painting? How would you have the energy to manage a company?” Seeing that Nan Muran seemed serious, Nan Moting couldn’t sit still anymore.

Nan Muran showed a bitter expression and spoke in a tone of disappointment: “My mentor said that my painting lacks momentum, and no matter how hard I try, it would be in vain. So, I’ve decided not to go abroad.”

Nan Moting felt a joy in her heart, thinking that Nan Muran wasn’t the genius she had thought.

Qi Li, hearing this, comforted her warmly: “Mentors can sometimes be wrong. I think Ranran’s paintings are amazing.”

“Thank you,” Nan Muran thought to herself, wanting to curse but still managing to force a smile, though it was tinged with bitterness.

The five members of the Nan family looked at each other, each of them determined that they absolutely couldn’t let Nan Muran join Nan Qiao Group.

“Ranran’s just graduated. Why does she need to start working? Look at me, I go to the beauty salon, shop, improve myself, and have time to see the world. Isn’t that great?” Nan Moting spoke as if she had the perfect life.

Nan Muran nodded, her tone indifferent: “It’s pretty good, just a bit useless.”

“What do you mean by that?” Nan Moting wasn’t foolish and immediately caught on that Nan Muran was calling her useless.

Nan Muran feigned innocence: “Qing Jie said that, isn’t it true?”

The Qing Jie she referred to was Qi Qing, Qi Li’s older sister. They had a close sibling relationship, and Qi Qing, being a strong woman, looked down on people like Nan Moting, who were the second-generation rich and had no ambitions. Nan Muran was sure that Qi Qing would have said something like that.

Nan Moting was infuriated.

Looking across at Nan Muran, who seemed to be watching her as her breath became more and more uneven, Nan Muran was curious to see how much backbone she had in front of Qi Li. Unfortunately, she was disappointed; even though Nan Moting was furious, she couldn’t bring herself to say a word against Qi Qing.

“Ranran can move back home and spend some time with Grandma,” Nan Laotai began playing the family card.

Nan Muran looked at her grandmother, refusing to take the bait: “Grandma, don’t worry. Even if I go to work, I’ll still visit regularly. After all, I love you the most.”

“You should just go out and find a job,” Nan Muran’s cousin, Nan Muran’s cousin, said impatiently.

Nan Muran looked at him, her tone still calm: “Cousin, Fei Ge and Uncle Chen won’t agree to that.”

Nan Muran wasn’t lying; the board wanted her, a clueless little girl, to return because she’d be easy to manipulate. And Guo Fei would never allow Nan Muran to go out and work for someone else.

“Ranran, Nan Qiao Group is so big; managing it might be too overwhelming for you. Why don’t you try managing a smaller company first?” Nan Ping, Nan Muran’s uncle, saw her firm attitude and directly changed his approach.