Shang Xinglu certainly knew where Long Island was in New York.

Although geographically, some parts of Brooklyn are also part of Long Island, when people talk about Long Island, they usually think of the wealthy areas in New York.

Driving there…

It would take more than ten hours by plane. She wasn’t sure if she could make it to Long Island, New York, if she left now.

Shang Xinglu felt extremely nervous.

But as proven many times before, pressure can sometimes lead to miracles!

She immediately said, “Huh? Did I say I was driving there?”

Mr. Lin didn’t want to answer such a silly question.

His office was very quiet, and Shang Xinglu’s pronunciation wasn’t unclear in any way. He didn’t have a hearing problem, so of course, he heard her perfectly well.

“What I actually meant was that I’ll take the afternoon off, go for a beauty treatment, then drive home and meet you, and then we can go to the main house together. It was the car accident this afternoon that caused all the chaos. I… I was a bit scared, so I didn’t finish what I was saying earlier.”

Bang—!

A metaphorical black pot was placed on the foolish male lead’s head. Whether he wanted it or not, he had to accept it.

Lin Heng continued reading the documents.

He reluctantly accepted Shang Xinglu’s “slip of the tongue” and didn’t want to fuss over such a trivial matter.

Lin Heng nodded and said, “Hmm, considering the time difference, I also don’t want to go too early.”

Shang Xinglu breathed a sigh of relief.

Originally, she couldn’t even tolerate a tie clip and quickly threw it to Lin Heng while offering an excuse for dinner.

Now, Shang Xinglu just wanted to hurry home and press for all the background information about Mrs. Marilyn Lin.

She stood up. “You continue working. I’ll head out now.”

Lin Heng immediately asked, “Aren’t we eating together?”

Shang Xinglu: “… Right.”

… So Lin Heng hadn’t forgotten.

Then they ate!

Screw it! She was so ignorant up to now; what’s another few minutes? She didn’t mind!

The two of them went to the same restaurant and ordered the same dishes, eating in the same silence. Shang Xinglu drove home afterward.

She had originally intended to go home, so she was in a rush and didn’t notice Lin Heng’s gaze on her, which held more scrutiny and examination than before.

Lin Heng returned to his office. The tie clip box wasn’t closed, and the gem reflected faint light, catching the eye.

Earlier, he had only glanced at it in front of Shang Xinglu.

Now that he was alone, he picked it up and examined it closely for a long time.

Though embedded with gems, it had an elegant and classic design.

Lin Heng smiled lightly and put the tie clip back in the drawer.

It seemed someone’s taste had changed quite a bit.

Shang Xinglu returned home, initially planning to conduct a “three-way interrogation” on Marilyn. However, when she thought about it, it was impossible to arrange the three parties, and even if Marilyn were available, if Shang Xinglu just barged in with questions, Marilyn would definitely be suspicious.

So before taking a bath, Shang Xinglu locked the bathroom door, soaked in the bathtub, and began… searching for information, and even watched a video.

The keywords were M&E, which was the headquarters of Lin Heng’s company.

How could a domestic company, where Lin Heng was obviously a “heavenly son,” have a main house on Long Island, New York?

M&E, of course, had a Baidu Encyclopedia entry.

She clicked on it and saw a normal corporate introduction, but at the top, it stated that it was part of the Clemens Group.

This term was highlighted, so Shang Xinglu clicked on it, and the page redirected.

It was another typical corporate introduction page.

It claimed to have a strong presence in various fields such as real estate, medical, telecommunications, banking, and department stores, but the description wasn’t as detailed as the well-known giant corporations.

It was almost like reading nothing.

She carefully read again and found a line of text inserted in the middle that appeared to have been added two years ago—“The chairman is temporarily held by M. Lin.”

Lin—clearly, this referred to the Lin family.

Lin Heng’s father was named Lin Maoxian.

Well, now Shang Xinglu knew who M was.

She only left her nostrils exposed as she breathed, submerged in the water, holding her phone, staring at it.

She had originally thought the Lin family was just an enhanced version of a wealthy family.

But now, it seemed like it was an extraordinary family??!

In the warm water, Shang Xinglu felt a bit nervous.

To be honest, her current luxurious behavior—clothing, food, living—was mostly mimicking a colleague at the research institute, someone she had a good relationship with.

The research institute seemed like a place that didn’t appear wealthy, but a small crucible there could cost tens of thousands.

Equipment, reagents, and materials required approval through reports.

If the approval didn’t come through, there was no other option…

But her colleague was different—if the approval didn’t come, they just bought it themselves.

Buying it themselves…

A single crucible costing twenty thousand!

This was real extravagance.

Over the past month, Shang Xinglu had managed many situations with her memory of previous experiences. Lacking enough experience, she relied on improvisation.

How to get divorced without revealing she was Mrs. Lin, Shang Xinglu thought, was like proving the existence of a magnetic monopole—it was an unsolvable problem.

… This trip to the United States was very dangerous.

Just thinking about it, a key point suddenly occurred to her.

Social Dancing.

Yes, that’s right! Social dancing!!!

And she didn’t even dare call Marilyn about it.

So, she made the call to Aunt Wang from the family business.

“Social dance teacher, please arrange it!!! Urgent!!!”

During the day, Shang Xinglu pretended to go to work but actually attended a crash course in social dancing.

Because she was in a rush, she was scolded like a dead dog by the dance teacher, and by the end, she hurriedly learned the waltz. The consequences of not exercising for a long time quickly caught up with her.

— Her whole body was sore!

So, in the evening, Shang Xinglu felt like a dead dog, wishing she could just lie down next to Wang Cai (her pet dog) and not get up again!

The day before departure, Marilyn kindly asked, “Madam, is work very tiring at the company? Why don’t you stay home like before?”

No, you don’t understand.

Shang Xinglu swallowed her bitter tears, saying pitifully, “That troublesome son, Shang Xingyu, is just too hard to deal with.”

Bang—!

Another metaphorical black pot landed on Shang Xingyu’s head. He had no choice but to accept it.

However, Shang Xingyu wasn’t the type to be blamed.

At this moment, Shang Xinglu’s phone vibrated, and a strange voice said: “Are you a relative of Shang Xingyu? This is the XX District Police Department, please come down here.”

Shang Xinglu: “…………”

She wished she could rewind the last minute and slap herself. Was it too late?

…

Shang Xinglu hurriedly had the driver take her to the police station and immediately contacted her lawyer.

They got stuck in traffic, and it took a full hour to get there.

Once at the police station, it turned out that the troublemaker, that brat, had smashed up a bar.

Shang Xinglu slapped her chest. “I was so scared.”

She had thought that Shang Xingyu had been under too much pressure lately, which had caused him to act out and commit some crime. But smashing a bar…

She said, “Thank goodness, thank goodness…”

Police Officer: “Huh?! What do you mean, thank goodness?!”

Shang Xinglu’s courage grew.

The officer’s exclamation was nothing.

“Well, thank goodness no one was hurt, right?”

Police Officer: “Your brother injured his hand.”

Shang Xinglu: “…”

In my heart, I’ve already disowned him!

Shang Xinglu quickly corrected herself: “At least, no one else was hurt!”

Police Officer: “…”

Here’s how it happened: Recently, Shang Xingyu had been under a lot of pressure from his sister, living in a space no bigger than their family’s bathroom.

He ate boiled noodles and vegetables, sauced noodles with vegetables, canned meat with rice… basically the same things every day, and his mouth almost became tasteless.

His friends found out about his situation and started inviting him out for meals.

But that wasn’t enough. Today, they decided to go to a bar and drink their troubles away.

However, this bar wasn’t an ordinary one—it was a shady place that charged ridiculously high prices.

Shang Xingyu had recently started developing a sense of money, so he immediately refused and argued with the people there.

The group that came were all proud, high-born young men, and when one refused, they all refused.

The bunch of young masters smashed up the place, and the patrolling police caught them red-handed, with men standing on one side and women on the other, all taken to the police station.

P.S.

Shang Xingyu’s injury was purely a technical issue—when smashing things with a chair, his hand slipped and hit himself.

Shang Xinglu: “…”

Okay then.

Among the group of young masters, some were taken away by their families.

Others remained.

When Shang Xinglu looked around, she saw Xiao Zai sitting quietly on his own, looking up as if staring at something, but his demeanor was very low-key.

She called out to him, “Xiao Zai?”

Xiao Zai turned his head, his eyes clear with defined black and white, his side profile smooth and handsome.

He raised an eyebrow, and a distinct question appeared in his gaze.

“Has your family contacted you?”

Before Xiao Zai could reply, her idiotic brother rushed over. “You’re so slow to arrive.”

It was just an ordinary complaint.

Shang Xinglu looked at her brother and felt more irritated.

She couldn’t help but wish she could trade him for a new one.

She said, “It’s good that I even showed up!”

Hearing this, Shang Xingyu immediately became agitated. He thought, “So you were planning on not coming?!”

Recently, Shang Xingyu had been filled with resentment toward Shang Xinglu.

What kind of sister would send her brother to live in the company dorms with only food but no money?

He immediately said, “What do you want to do lately?! I’ve already reflected on my actions, but you’ve thrown me into a dorm. That’s too much! We have money at home. Why should I learn to be frugal? Does learning to save a few bucks help me earn millions? Look at those people—no matter how much they save, they can’t even afford a villa. What’s the point of learning this? You’re too harsh on me!”

He finished speaking with his chin raised, as if looking at her through his nose.

Words are always sharp tools in arguments, and emotions can’t help but fluctuate.

However, facing this accusation, Shang Xinglu remained calm, very calm.

She listened to him and didn’t get angry. Instead, she calmly replied, “You’re so stupid, there’s no hope for you.”

Shang Xingyu: “???”

Is this a personal attack?! Are you attacking me personally now?!

Shang Xinglu continued, “Of all the new companies, only 1% last for thirty years. Yunshi won’t last forever.”

“I don’t want you to learn how to save money. I just want you to know that without the Shang family, you are nothing.”

And the power and money they hold are just fleeting, swept away by the tides of time in the blink of an eye.