Chapter 1: Strange Phenomena in the Underworld

  Everyone stared silently at Lan Yutong, and suddenly the room fell silent, so quiet that even a needle dropping to the ground could be heard.

  The rain outside has grown heavier, and the sound of raindrops hitting the bamboo leaves can be heard. The irregular beat of the raindrops on the bamboo leaves makes the listener feel drowsy, with a sense of impending sleep.

  Lan Yutong remained silent for a long time. Afterwards, he slowly stood up, let out a long sigh, looked up and bitterly smiled once, then silently turned around and left.

  "Look!" Lan Yuxing watched him leave, a cold smile spreading across his face as he said, "A great man can yield and adapt in order to achieve greatness, but he, not even willing to accept this small punishment, let alone atone for his own father's mistakes."

  Lu Xiaoying didn't know what to say either, her lips moved slightly before she said: "The chairman has been under a lot of pressure lately, and now that he's leaving alone, we're also worried. So, I'll go back with Xiao Hong, maybe we can comfort him."

  "Hmm," Lan Yu nodded and stood up, saying, "Then we sisters will meet again another day."

  The two smiled and nodded, got up and walked out of the house, Lan Yuxing seeing them off.

  But unexpectedly, when the three of them reached the door, they all froze.

  It turned out that Lan Yutong had walked out and knelt down in the courtyard, kneeling in the misty rain. The rainwater had already wet his hair and clothes, and the cold rain made his body tremble constantly, but he still persisted in kneeling on the ground.

  He knelt down on the floor, clasped his hands together, and muttered silently. As he approached, it was clear that he was praying for his deceased father's blessing. He muttered for a while, then knocked his head on the ground again, each time hitting his forehead on the hard floor, first knocking out a blue mark, then cracking open, with bright red blood slowly flowing down from his forehead, dripping onto the ground along his cheek.

  Despite this, he didn't stop, he wanted to prove to his sister that he was no longer the arrogant Lan Yutong of old.

  Watching him with fresh blood on his forehead, Qian Xiaohong and Lu Xiao Ying felt a bit distressed and couldn't bear to look at it anymore, so they turned their heads away, tears streaming out.

  Lan Yuxing was not very friendly to her brother originally, but now seeing him like this, she still felt heartbroken. She stood behind Lu Xiaoying and Qian Xiaohong, her eyes secretly streaming with tears, and she couldn't bear to look at her brother again, with an unspeakable sorrow in her heart.

  Big brother's forehead was bleeding profusely, and the blood had stained Lan Yutong's face. At this moment, memories of childhood slowly emerged in Lan Yuxing's mind.

  When she was five years old, her brother took the blame for breaking their father's antique vase and got a bloody head from their father. The blood was red just like it is now.

  When she was eight years old, her brother took her to the hospital on his back at night because of illness, and the rain that year was like tonight, maybe even bigger than tonight.

  "That's enough, brother!" She remembered a lot and saw her brother continuously kowtowing on the ground. She cried out and rushed over to hug him, saying "That's enough, brother, you've done enough!"

  Lan Yutong heard his sister call out "brother" and his body shook violently, turning around to hug his sister and crying as well. He said in a hoarse voice: "I thought that this lifetime, we siblings would never be reconciled again. Sister, it's been so long since I've heard you call me like that."

  "I've always remembered your kindness to me, really, brother! I'm also frustrated with myself for not being able to repay it." The sister knelt on the ground and sobbed loudly.

  Qian Xiaohong and Lu Xiaoying, who were standing aside, saw them hugging each other in tears. They also looked at each other, and both of their eyes welled up with tears. They cried for the reunion of the siblings and for this touching scene. After a moment, they went forward to help one person each, and everyone hugged each other as they returned to the house.

  She sat down again, her sister brought a towel to wipe the rain off her brother's head, and she herself went back to the room to change into new clothes. When she came out again, there was an additional check in her hand.

  "I've long heard that the Lan Corporation has funding issues," said Lan Yu Xing calmly. "I also wanted to take the initiative to help you, but since we had a falling out over inheritance issues back then, it's not convenient for me to go now. Brother, I have a check for 500 million here, take it back and manage the Lan Corporation well. As for the company, just leave it under your name, after all, it was our father's, giving it to you or me makes no difference. My business here is also thriving, I don't have the energy to manage the Lan Corporation."

  "Sister," Lan Yutong happily accepted the check, saying, "Don't worry, brother is no longer the gaming addict he used to be. I've changed completely and have sworn to make Father's company bigger."

  "There will be a day when your sister will naturally be happy for you and proud of you." Lan Yuxing sat beside her brother, leaning her head on his shoulder.

  This is a long-missed shoulder, a warm and safe shoulder, the most intimate and substantial shoulder in the world. Leaning on this shoulder, she can truly find happiness and experience human affection.

  They were able to find the funds and reunite the siblings, so Lu Xiaoying and Qian Xiaohong's worried hearts were finally at ease. The siblings were also very grateful to them, and in order to thank Lu Xiaoying and Qian Xiaohong for their help, they promised to cherish this sibling relationship even more in the future. Lan Yuxing became sworn sisters with them that day.

  With 50 million, the Lan family group started to get busy again. In order to maintain the reputation of the Lan family group, they recruited a large number of employees and tried their best to produce the cosmetics that were burned down by fire last time before the customers came to pick them up in a month.

  Lan Jingqiu was delighted to hear from Lu Xiaoying that Lan Yutong's brotherly love had returned to its original state. As a father, how could he not be happy? Although he had passed away, he could still see it with his own eyes. Compared to others, he felt that he was happier than many people, because in today's society, even in the underworld, how many ghosts couldn't see their children getting along with each other?

  To celebrate the resurgence of the Lan family's former glory, and also for the reunion of the Lan siblings, as well as to thank Lu Xiaoying and Lan Jingqiu, Lan Yuxing proposed to invite everyone to a lively evening at the Feilong Nightclub.

  In the evening, Lu Xiaoying and Qian Xiaohong dressed up carefully and arrived at the nightclub. Lan Yuxing, Lan Yutong, and Lan Jingqiu had already arrived with Huo Jucui, standing at the entrance of the nightclub waiting for everyone to gather.

  Lu Xiaoying and her group arrived, everyone chatted and laughed as they entered the private room that Lan Yuxing had booked in advance.

  Everyone inside was drinking and singing, doing their best to relax themselves, releasing all the pent-up emotions of this period. Honestly, they were really exhausted during this time.

  After drinking a few cups of wine, Qian Xiaohong felt a sudden urge to urinate, so she stood up, swaying unsteadily as if she was about to fall over, and said: "Excuse me, everyone, please make way, hurry up!"

  "What's going on?" Lan Yuxing asked loudly.

  "I'm going to the restroom." Qian Xiaohong said with a hint of drunkenness.

  She walked through the dimly lit corridor, her blurry eyes scanning the men and women who brushed past her.

  Suddenly, she saw a familiar back, that familiar back and a fashionably dressed but not young woman were walking in front of her, seemingly also going to the toilet. The man had his arm around the woman's waist, occasionally kissing her face.

  This man was Zhang Mingyu, whom she had been thinking about day and night but rarely contacted due to work.

  Afraid of being discovered by Zhang Mingyu, she hastily retreated and watched from a distance the two "cheap people" in front.

  This scene made her heart ache, and she suddenly felt dizzy and short of breath. She stood still for a moment before taking out her phone from her bag, dialing the number, and watching as Zhang Mingyu took out his phone and pressed the answer button.

  At the same time, the seductive old woman entered the women's restroom.

  She took a deep breath and tried not to let her anger get the better of her, speaking in her usual tone: "Hey, dear, what are you up to?"

  Zhang Mingyu's voice came over the phone, saying he was working overtime at the company.

  "Don't be tired," Qian Xiaohong suppressed her anger and said, "I want to see you. When will you be free? I'll come find you, okay?"

  She suppressed her anger and said a few words, but in fact the flames of rage in her chest were already uncontrollable. Her hand holding the phone was shaking slightly, and several times it almost fell to the ground, but she still wanted to hear what Zhang Mingyu had to say.

  As usual, Zhang Mingyu first asked her if she had any money on hand recently. After hearing that there was no money, the other party immediately made a few excuses and hung up the phone on the grounds of being busy with work. At the time of hanging up the phone, Zhang Mingyu firmly requested that Xiao Hong not come to the company.

  Qian Xiaohong was right behind Zhang Mingyu, talking to him on the phone. She saw Zhang Mingyu sneaking away from the woman who had been walking in front of her with him earlier. As soon as he hung up the phone, the woman happened to open the bathroom door and stood at the entrance, one hand on her hip and the other leaning against the door frame, making cute expressions and tempting Qian Xiaohong's boyfriend with a bright red mouth, giving Zhang Mingyu a flying kiss.

  Qian Xiaohong saw that the woman was about fifty years old. Women of this age almost lost the glow of youth on their faces, but in order to cover up this soon-to-be-ugly face, she used very thick makeup, so she looked like a zombie.

  Then, the old woman walked in front of Zhang Mingyu with a swaying water bucket waist, and one thick arm wrapped around Zhang Mingyu's wrist again. The two of them turned back like a loving couple, chatting and laughing. The woman had five golden rings on each hand, shining brightly.

  Qian Xiaohong saw them turn around and walk towards her, she quickly hid in her own compartment, looking out from the door gap, waiting until Zhang Mingyu and the woman walked by, before she came out, a pair of resentful eyes staring at Zhang Mingyu's gentlemanly back.

  She used to like watching Zhang Mingyu's back, that back was so stylish and elegant, full of temperament; she liked listening to Zhang Mingyu speak, that masculine and magnetic voice made her heart skip a beat. Apart from this, she also liked Zhang Mingyu's handsome face, which was as handsome as Andy Lau's, with refined features and demeanor, every move and gesture exuding the elegance of a gentleman.

  But now, since she saw Zhang Mingyu and that ugly, gaudily dressed old woman's intimate scene, she suddenly felt that Zhang Mingyu was incredibly ugly, even uglier than her own soul. The fox-like face that made people feel nauseous was actually considered sunny and handsome; the originally duck-like hoarse voice was actually considered gentle and magnetic. Why hadn't she seen through this despicable person's true face before?

  So, she felt it was not worth it and got angry with herself for being blind. The previous joy was instantly swept away, and people who saw her could see a spark of fire brewing in her eyes.

  Now, she understands why Zhang Mingyu always hangs up the phone first and why he wants to talk about romance. It's clear that this Zhang Mingyu is a freeloader, and his so-called refinement is all an act. He's a real scammer, a devil who takes advantage of women's emotions.

  "What love, what thoughts, these are all used to deceive ignorant girls," she stood numbly in the corridor, muttering to herself, then smiled bitterly again. After smiling, she spat in the direction where Zhang Mingyu left.