Chapter 5: The Rise and Fall of a Powerful Figure

Lu Ziyi was stunned, seemingly speechless.

Jiang Ran’s lips

curled into a smile. The first step in manipulation was to destroy the other person’s self-esteem. Then, she feigned a sigh and said, “Ziyi, I know you’ve had a hard time, and you don’t have much to offer, so I’ll use this for now. But you know, if you want more benefits, you have to pay a price.”

Her earnest words, coupled with Jiang Ran’s coquettish manner, were clearly a combination of a generous offer and a sweet reward.

Lu Ziyi had never seen Jiang Ran like this before, and surprisingly, he nodded as if possessed.

Jiang Ran then stood up and deliberately sat elegantly next to Lu Ziyi, whispering, “Ziyi, as long as we sell these shares, we can be together. Think about it, fifty or sixty million! That’s enough for us to live very well for the rest of our lives.”

Upon hearing this amount, Lu Ziyi’s eyes widened, and he nodded repeatedly, speaking like a sycophant, “Ranran, you’re so thoughtful.”

As he spoke, his gaze swept over Jiang Ran’s alluring face, and a layer of greed instantly surfaced in his eyes. He couldn’t help but reach out, saying, “Ranran, you’re so beautiful—ah!”

His groping hand was halfway there when Jiang Ran grabbed it and kicked him directly in the groin.

Lu Ziyi screamed and fell to the ground, groaning.

“Oh dear, Ziyi, are you alright?”

Jiang Ran feigned panic, adding a kick before pulling him up. “I…I didn’t mean to, I just saw a worm on your pants!”

She called for the maid outside, speaking in a sweet, coquettish voice, “Hurry up and get this gentleman out of here, he’s accidentally injured.”

Lu Ziyi groaned as he was helped up. Before leaving, Jiang Ran whispered in his ear, “Remember our little secret, baby!”

She then shoved the man away and called out, “Get him out of here.”

“Yes!”

Watching the scoundrel leave, Jiang Ran clapped her hands, looking disgusted. Just as she was about to leave, she caught a glimpse of a small figure out of the corner of her eye.

She frowned, quickly rushed to the corner, and grabbed the figure by the collar.

“Where are you going?”

she asked playfully, but her words sent a chill down Si Youlin’s spine.

Jiang Ran turned her head and saw the little guy suddenly turn around, opening his mouth to bite.

“Ouch, are you a dog?”

Jiang Ran recoiled as if electrocuted, then swiftly pinched the delicate, sculpted face.

Tsk, not much flesh, but tender and easy to squeeze.

But Si Youlin was furious, reaching out to hit her, only to have Jiang Ran grab his wrist.

“Enough, if you move again I’ll really hit you.”

Her cold rebuke wasn’t loud, but it was enough to ignite the deepest fear in Si Youlin’s heart. His pupils dilated instantly, and he angrily glared at Jiang Ran.

“You green tea! Hit me however you want!”

Green tea?

Jiang Ran snorted, knowing quite a lot for her young age.

“If I’m green tea, what are you, Biluochun tea?” She raised an eyebrow, her sharp gaze catching Si Youlin’s hidden hand.

“What are you holding?”

Si Youlin was startled, instinctively tightening his grip, but Jiang Ran didn’t give him a chance, snatching it away. Upon closer inspection, it was a phone watch.

Jiang Ran had seen this in the original owner’s memories.

The woman, seemingly without any training, casually fiddled with the items and found them.

They were photos of her and Lu Ziyi together!

“Give them to me!”

Si Youlin panicked; these were the evidence he had painstakingly taken!

“Evidence? Is this evidence or slander?”

Jiang Ran frowned. Although she didn’t care what others thought of her, it seemed she had to be careful if she wanted to survive.

The photos were taken from very tricky angles, mostly in ambiguous poses.

Good heavens, if this were shown to Old Master Si, Jiang Ran wouldn’t be able to explain herself even if she had a thousand mouths!

“Why did you take these photos of me?”

Jiang Ran, holding her Little Genius smartwatch, looked down at him with a cold, condescending expression.

Si Youlin was furious and jumped up, but Jiang Ran simply raised her hand and tapped his head.

“Ouch—!”

As if a thousand pounds were pressing down on him, he fell flat on his backside.

“Jiang Ran, you unfaithful woman! This is proof of your betrayal of your husband!”

Si Youlin, enraged and humiliated, spoke recklessly, his words extremely harsh despite his young age: “A woman like you deserves to be torn to pieces!”

Torn to pieces?

Jiang Ran laughed heartily, truly impressed by this little knife-wielding woman.

“You think you can take that?” Jiang Ran mocked mercilessly, “With your current abilities, you probably couldn’t even withstand one slap from me.”

Si Youlin was stunned. He had originally thought that he would be beaten after saying this, and that provoking this woman would give him a chance to get his watch back. But he never expected that she would actually laugh?

“Little brat, who are you going to hand this over to punish me?” Jiang Ran lowered her eyelashes, her charming smile filled with sneer.

Si Youlin felt insulted.

“What’s it to you!”

He tried to grab the phone again, but Jiang Ran pressed a finger against his head.

For a moment, he felt as if he couldn’t move.

“Are you going to show it to that vegetative patient upstairs, or to that elderly man?”

Jiang Ran narrowed her eyes slightly, catching a fleeting glimpse of an old man in those seemingly pure yet tainted eyes.

Based on her memory, she could barely recall that this was probably the old man, Master Si, whom she had never met before.

In the original owner’s memories, this old man’s health had never seemed quite good.

No wonder, with his son being Emperor Shang and his grandson destined for greatness, the cycle of fate required balance; where there are strong, there must be losses.

Extreme prosperity inevitably leads to decline.

Sometimes, that’s the way it is.

But judging from her memories, this old man had been quite kind to the original owner.

Seemingly unprepared to be seen through, Si Youlin was furious. His thin lips, identical to Si Yanxiao’s, pressed into a thin line as he coldly said, “You are not worthy to mention Grandpa.”

Anger spread through his black pupils.

Clearly, the original owner had truly incurred the wrath of many.

Jiang Ran narrowed her eyes, cleaned up the photos on her watch phone, and said in a deep voice, “Since you care about your grandfather so much, you shouldn’t use something like this to upset him.”

As she spoke, she tapped the boy’s forehead before instructing him, “As payment for deleting your photos, I’ll give you a free reminder: don’t go near the river lately.” This obstacle in one’s destiny, if truly pursued, isn’t unchangeable.

It’s just a matter of whether the person is willing to listen.

Sure enough, Si Youlin merely sneered upon hearing this, seizing the opportunity to snatch the watch from Jiang Ran’s hand, turning away without looking back.

“Don’t think I’ll believe you. If there’s a next time, I’ll make you pay!” (