Ke Ling's decisive action was immensely satisfying—Shu Lanzhou and the others were thoroughly impressed!
When it came to dealing with people, the experienced ones really knew how to make it count. Unlike their own petty scuffles that barely scratched the surface, Ke Ling's move cut straight to the core, leaving no room for escape.
With just one swift strike, she had completely shut down Lin Muyao's options—no way forward, no way back. From now on, Lin Muyao wouldn't dare to lay a finger on Guo Xiaona again, nor would she dream of provoking the Ke family!
Let alone asking her mother to come seek justice for her. Lin Muyao probably wouldn't even dare to speak of what had happened. If Lin Jiayi found out, she'd probably beat her all over again.
"Amazing, Auntie Ke!" Shu Lanzhou said with genuine admiration. "So gentle and polite, yet so thorough in handling things—I really learned something today!"
Too bad she didn't have Ke Ling's wealth and clout; this kind of finesse wasn't something you could just imitate.
Ke Ling smiled warmly and beckoned Guo Xiaona over. "Apologize to Dong Anlan and Shu Lanzhou."
"I…" Guo Xiaona didn't feel like she'd done anything wrong—she had just been deceived.
But when she met her mother's stern gaze, she obediently bowed and apologized.
Shu Lanzhou accepted it with ease, but Dong Anlan was moved to tears. "Thank you, Auntie Ke. Thank you for believing in me!"
"You're a good girl. Our Ke Beichen has excellent taste," Ke Ling said, patting her gently on the head.
"That boy is proud and picky. Please bear with him. If you ever run into trouble at the company, feel free to come to me. I know he doesn't want to bother me, but we're family after all."
Dong Anlan nodded politely.
"Later, each of you pick out an outfit you like—it'll be my gift to you," Ke Ling said, taking their hands with a tone that left no room for refusal.
"Don't be shy. Think of it as a favor to me—make friends with our Xiaona. She's too naïve and always getting taken advantage of. I worry myself sick over her!"
Ke Ling only had this one daughter. She never planned for her to inherit the family business—just wanted her to grow up happy and healthy. Who knew she'd turn out like this… It really wore her down.
"..."
Unable to resist Ke Ling's insistence, the girls each picked a piece of clothing.
Ding Yuejiao and Zhang He kept saying they were lucky to be friends with Shu Lanzhou and Dong Anlan!
After all, the clothes in that store were pricey—Ding Yuejiao had even hesitated about buying something before!
By the time they left the Ke family's mall, the group had already warmed up to Guo Xiaona. They even exchanged contact info. Guo Xiaona wasn't a bad person—just too gullible, too trusting.
"Well, I'd say we really came away with a haul today," Zhang He said, stretching lazily with her shopping bag in hand.
"Even though we ran into that annoying Lin Muyao, I have to admit—thanks to her, I saved a month's worth of lunch money! Heehee…"
Zhang He was always straightforward.
Shu Lanzhou gave her a meaningful look. "The Ke and Mu families are working on a lot of collaborations lately. You'll probably see more of Auntie Ke, not to mention Sister Lan."
"When someone gives you a gift, you owe them. So be careful!"
"Don't scare me, Shu Lanzhou! Auntie Ke just wanted us to look after her daughter and be friends with her, right?" Zhang He said innocently, eyes wide.
Dong Anlan wrapped an arm around her and smiled.
"Don't overthink it. Shu Lanzhou's teasing. I think Auntie Ke just used this opportunity to thank Shu Lanzhou. She signed a big contract thanks to Shu's introduction and has been wanting to return the favor!"
"..."
No matter the reason, everyone was in high spirits as they laughed and chatted their way back to campus.
In contrast, Lin Muyao's situation was just plain miserable.
She was at the peak of her career, drawing praise from everyone for being young and accomplished. Why was it that when it came to Ke Ling, it was like she was invisible?
Ke Ling actually said she preferred people like Dong Anlan and Shu Lanzhou? What was so great about them? One was just a pretty face, and the other had climbed the ladder by clinging to the Mu family.
Neither of them had real skills or abilities—how could they compare to her, a rising star in the medical field?!
Lin Muyao was grinding her teeth in frustration.
The Ke family's business barely overlapped with the medical world. Maybe Ke Ling simply hadn't read her papers—that must be why she looked down on her.
Yes, that had to be it!
Comforting herself with that thought, Lin Muyao realized she couldn't use Guo Xiaona against Dong Anlan anymore. If she wanted Luo Jialin to change his mind and marry her, she'd need a new plan.
She still hadn't given up on marrying Luo Jialin. Sure, she didn't care for him, even fought with him, but Lin Jiayi insisted she curry favor with him!
Unless someone even more powerful and influential than Luo Jialin appeared, Lin Jiayi would never change her mind.
Feeling annoyed, Lin Muyao reached to toss the shopping bag in her hand—but then stopped. Why should she throw it away? Six thousand wasn't much, but it was still money!
No matter what, getting slapped by Guo Xiaona couldn't be for nothing.
She carried the bag and got into her car, just about to start it when her phone rang—an unfamiliar number.
To her surprise, it was Du Yifan.
That idiot was asking her to bail him out.
Was he out of his mind? Asking her, the one he had humiliated, to help him?
If he hadn't stood in front of everyone at school and called her fake—blaming her for the drama with Shu Lanzhou, saying he'd never treat her well again, that he was leaving the team and going back to the Du family—
She wouldn't have lost so much face, become the subject of campus gossip. If not for her recent academic success and several published papers, she would've been eaten alive at school.
Du Yifan really thought he could just "go back" to the Du family? Only if his father agreed—and she'd heard he had been given two choices.
Just because he broke ties with her didn't mean he got to pick whatever path he wanted. She wouldn't let him off that easily.
Originally, Huang Tiantian wasn't going to deal with Du Yifan so soon. After all, he was dumb but young, easy to manipulate, generous with money, and good in bed—way better than that old CEO Zhang.
But what Du Yifan didn't know was that Huang Tiantian was her puppet. There was no way she'd defy her.
She had ordered Huang Tiantian to take action—and so she did.
This downfall of Du Yifan? Just the beginning. And now he was already begging her for help?
If Huang Tiantian and that CEO Zhang got what they wanted and brought down the Du family, Du Yifan would be crawling at her feet like a dog. When that time came, if she told him to bite Shu Lanzhou, he'd do it without question.
Trying to win Shu Lanzhou back? Not a chance.
Heh…
She hung up the call, finally feeling a little satisfied.
"Just wait, Shu Lanzhou. Every one of your so-called seniors—I'll turn them into your worst enemies."
"I'll make them tear you apart like rabid dogs. That's what you get for going up against me."
"Let's see how long you can hold your head high."
——
Time flew by, and the new semester began. Freshmen flooded in, but the acupuncture program still had few enrollees.
To attract more students to select it as an elective, the school scheduled a round of promotional lectures by non-mainstream professors.
The goal: raise awareness and popularity of lesser-known majors.
After all, students could apply for a major change after the first semester based on their performance, and elective numbers varied year to year.
Shu Lanzhou accompanied Mu Yanning to deliver a presentation to the freshmen, hoping to attract more of them to study acupuncture.
As the teacher-student duo walked out of the office and passed the principal's office—they heard a heated argument coming from inside…