Volume 1, Chapter 41: What? Taken a fancy to the eldest young master Huo again?

Tang Ruan was originally looking down to adjust her shoelace, which had come undone for some unknown reason.

Hearing the voice, she raised her head and looked at Lin Jie. "What's wrong?"

"Look over there!" Lin Jie gripped her hand, exerting all her self-control to keep from screaming out loud.

Such a similar face!

It was an exact match!

Tang Ruan looked in the direction of Lin Jie's gaze—

And suddenly froze.

She stared blankly at the person in the distance, her eyes unable to take in anything else.

"He actually looks exactly like Huo Yanchuan. No wonder the Huo family dared to announce publicly that they were twins..." Lin Jie was still muttering.

Tang Ruan's long eyelashes trembled gently, her fingernails digging into her palms.

In an instant, everything became clear.

The doubts of eight years finally found an explanation in this moment.

She curved her lips in a mocking smile, concealing all the emotions on her face.

Seeing no reaction from Tang Ruan, Lin Jie glanced over. "What's wrong with you, Ruanruan?"

Tang Ruan shook her head. "Nothing."

"Did you see that? He looks so much like Huo Yanchuan!"

"Mhm."

Indeed, he looked a great deal like Huo Yanchuan, practically carved from the same mold.

Otherwise... she wouldn't have mistaken his identity for eight years.

From the very first moment she laid eyes on him, Tang Ruan recognized the truth.

The person whose soul had resonated with hers eight years ago was him.

No wonder that ever since their engagement, Huo Yanchuan's attitude toward her had plummeted, remaining consistently lukewarm and occasionally revealing an involuntary flash of disgust...

Tang Ruan felt the surrounding air grow oppressively stifling.

So stifling that she felt an urgent desire to flee.

"Mom, Dad, Jieje, I'm going to the restroom."

"I'll go with you." Lin Jie worriedly grasped Tang Ruan's hand.

She could sense that something was amiss with Tang Ruan's expression.

"It's fine, I can go by myself." Tang Ruan waved her hand, declining Lin Jie's kind offer, and walked away with slightly unsteady steps.

Up on the stage, Huo Yu gave Li Feng a subtle cue, and Li Feng quietly withdrew.

In the restroom, the icy water washing over her hands helped Tang Ruan regain a bit of composure.

She raised her eyes to look at her reflection in the mirror.

No matter how exquisite the makeup, it could not hide her reddened eyes.

In this state, she was temporarily unfit to return to the back courtyard.

"What? Taken a fancy to the eldest young master of the Huo family again?"

Ji Tianqing crossed her arms and strolled out from the side.

Just moments before in the back courtyard, she, like everyone else, had been shocked to discover that Huo Yu, the previously unseen eldest young master of the Huo family, looked identical to Huo Yanchuan.

Had their temperaments not been vastly different, she might not have been able to tell them apart.

In addition to that, she had also noticed Tang Ruan's abnormal reaction.

Seeing Tang Ruan leave, she had followed her out immediately.

She intended to thoroughly humiliate Tang Ruan!

Tang Ruan turned around, fixed her gaze on the newcomer, and spoke in an icy tone: "Is Miss Ji so very idle?"

Ji Tianqing grinned maliciously in retort: "I'm not idle. Unlike you, the moment you were done with the younger brother, you set your sights on the older one."

From the moment Huo Yu appeared, all rumors regarding him being an illegitimate son of the Huo family had instantly collapsed.

That identical face was living proof.

Apart from twins, how could anyone possibly look completely identical?

Huo Yu and Huo Yanchuan were twins—legitimate scions of the Huo family.

Ji Tianqing wore a vicious expression. "Tang Ruan, you are so disgusting!"

"And is Miss Ji not disgusting herself?"

At some thought, Tang Ruan took a half-step back, resting her lower back against the edge of the sink, and a slight curve touched the corners of her mouth. "Miss Ji professes deep love for Huo Yanchuan, yet she has never lacked boyfriends by her side."

"With Huo Yanchuan in your heart while sleeping with other men in your bed, when it comes to being disgusting, I must bow to your superiority."

Tang Ruan was able to know these things thanks to Lin Jie, who frequently chattered in her ear about various gossips, including information about Ji Tianqing, who had been sent away and was living abroad.

To attack someone was to strike at their most vulnerable spot.

Huo Yanchuan was precisely Ji Tianqing's weakness.

"You!"

Ji Tianqing instinctively raised her hand—

Tang Ruan did not dodge, simply standing her ground.

She was betting that Ji Tianqing's slap would not come down.

Unless she wanted to be sent away again this time, never to return to Nancheng.

Sure enough, the moment her hand went up, Ji Tianqing lost her nerve.

She let out a cold snort and lowered her hand. "Tang Ruan, I am no longer the person I used to be. Don't think you can provoke me into making a mistake with just a couple of words."

She would not lay a hand on Tang Ruan.

At least, not with her own hands!

The price for touching Tang Ruan was far too heavy.

During her years abroad, she had constantly reminded herself to think twice before acting.

"You've improved in that regard, at least," Tang Ruan remarked without hesitation.

"Don't speak to me in that tone. Who do you think you are?"

Was she an elder in her family?

Tang Ruan raised an eyebrow and said no more.

What Ji Tianqing detested most was this impenetrable, impervious, and serene attitude of Tang Ruan's.

She pointed a finger and warned through clenched teeth, "Tang Ruan, let me tell you, Brother Yanchuan belongs to Sister Wang. Stay away from him in the future!"

"Oh."

Kicking against a wall of cotton left Ji Tianqing boiling with rage.

"Tang Ruan, you'll regret this!"

Having delivered her threat, Ji Tianqing turned and stalked off.

After waiting a moment for the redness in her eyes to subside, Tang Ruan headed back toward the back courtyard.

In an occasion like this, remaining absent for too long was inappropriate.

As she walked along, she suddenly caught sight of two familiar figures darting down a side path, pushing a massive piece of luggage between them.

Lin Xuefeng and his son.

Why were they here?

How had they managed to get in?

With a visceral sense that something was wrong, Tang Ruan sent a message to Uncle Qi and quickened her pace to follow them.

Uncle Qi had accompanied her to the banquet today.

To avoid being discovered, she kicked off her high heels and trailed quietly a short distance behind the two men.

Until Uncle Qi arrived, she could not startle the prey.

Completely oblivious to the fact that they were being tracked, Lin Xuefeng and his son continued laboriously dragging the suitcase forward.

"Why is this girl so heavy!" Lin Xuefeng wiped the sweat from his brow and complained through gritted teeth.

"Dad, is what we're doing really right? No matter what, Xiaojie is still..."

Lin Xuefeng glared at him. "Then what do you suggest we do?"

"That girl has already broken ties with us and will never help us again. If we don't latch onto Young Master Wang, the Lin family is finished!"

"Or do you really want to go serve President He?"

President He—full name He Handan—was one of the two wealthy women with the capacity to help the Lin family weather their crisis.

She was forty-five years old this year, and due to a congenital illness, she had to take hormone medications year-round, making her build twice the size of Lin Wen's.

At the mental image of that face covered in rolls of fat, Lin Wen silently shut his mouth.

Wang Chengzuz indeed appeared to be the only lifeline left for the Lin family to grasp.

If they missed out on Wang Chengzuz...

Behind them, Tang Ruan's expression turned grave.

She was now one hundred percent certain that the person inside the luggage trunk was Lin Jie.

A cold shiver ran through Tang Ruan as she tightened her grip, feeling grateful that she had maintained her vigilance and followed them here; otherwise...

She took a deep breath, glanced down at her phone, and saw that the two location-sharing dots were drawing closer and closer together.

Uncle Qi would be here any second!

Spotting the unattended side gate not far ahead, Lin Xuefeng grew immensely excited and urged, "Move faster!"

The car arranged by Young Master Wang was already waiting outside; they only needed to load the suitcase onto it, and the task would be complete.

At that point, the entire Lin family would be saved!

The mere thought filled Lin Xuefeng with a surge of triumphant energy.

The side gate swung open, and two burly men stepped down from the vehicle.

They were bodyguards belonging to Wang Chengzuz.

Tang Ruan cast another glance at her phone screen, only to notice that the dot representing Uncle Qi's location had stopped moving.