Chapter Nine: Su Rulan’s Plan

That afternoon, the Tangren Group, a subsidiary of the Tiandu Chamber of Commerce, indeed sent a representative in person to sign the contract. All the contract’s clauses were clearly detailed. The fifteen million project fund would be entirely at Su Rulan’s disposal, while the Su family company was required to cooperate with the project’s operation. In special circumstances, Su Rulan could allocate a portion of the funds for personal needs, but not beyond a set limit, ensuring the project’s progress was not hindered.

Such contractual terms were exceedingly rare—no matter the group or corporation, none would ever agree to something like this. Yet now, this extraordinary good fortune had fallen squarely into Su Rulan’s lap! Put simply, it was as if the money had been handed to her for free!

When the contract was finalized, the funds transferred, and the two hundred thousand penalty paid, Su Rulan gazed at the remaining fourteen point eight million and still felt as if she were dreaming.

When Su Weimin and Gao Yulan learned of the situation, they couldn’t continue scrubbing toilets. Still dressed in their coarse janitor uniforms, they dragged Su Rulan into a secluded stairwell.

“Heavens have finally smiled upon us! We’ve weathered the storm, and with all this money in hand, we’re rich!” Su Weimin couldn’t help but throw his head back and laugh.

“We don’t need to live in the Su family villa anymore. With the money you have, Rulan, we can buy a house in minutes and not have to put up with their bullying,” Gao Yulan said with a face full of pride.

Su Rulan regained her composure, not allowing herself to grow smug. She emphasized, “Mom, Dad, even if this is a stroke of incredible luck, the project still has to be completed. If I squander the money, what happens if there’s not enough to finish the project?”

“At least buy me a car, will you? My old wreck has been running for ten years. It’s about to fall apart,” Su Weimin grumbled.

“No, we can’t be reckless with money. I can’t agree to that. But, we can move out of the Su family villa and rent a new place,” Su Rulan calculated carefully, unwilling to waste a single cent.

“Fine, fine, you’re the boss. But I refuse to keep cleaning toilets at the company—it's too humiliating!” Su Weimin gritted his teeth.

“Are you stupid?” Gao Yulan lifted her hand and smacked the back of Su Weimin’s head.

“What was that for?” Su Weimin’s mouth twitched.

“Because you’re slow. Clearly, the young master of the Ye family knows about Rulan, that’s why he stepped in to help. So not only do we need to keep cleaning toilets, we have to do it diligently, pitifully, with all our might! The more pathetic, the better!” Gao Yulan explained.

Su Weimin was stunned by this reasoning. Then, realization dawned on him, and he said, “I get it! You want the Ye family’s young master to pity us, so he’ll give us even more. Wife, you’re a genius. I can’t believe I didn’t think of that.”

“Hmph, there’s a lot you don’t know about how clever I am,” Gao Yulan replied, arms folded and head tilted.

Su Rulan listened with exasperation, quickly waving her hand. “You two can do what you like, but in our new place, I’ll bring Tianlin to live with us.”

“No, absolutely not. Now that you have money, why stick with that fool? Divorce him—it’s the only sensible thing to do. He’s nothing but a useless burden,” Su Weimin said, his tone hard.

Gao Yulan nodded in agreement. “Rulan, listen to your mother. Give up on Ye Tianlin. Staying with him will do you no good. You know how unstable he is. What if the Ye family’s young master comes knocking, and Tianlin makes a scene?”

The couple was convinced that the Ye family’s young master and Ye Tianlin were not the same person—at best, they merely shared a name. The importance of the Ye family’s young master was clear to both, and they would not let Ye Tianlin jeopardize their future prospects.

Su Rulan massaged her temples, knowing her parents’ resistance to Tianlin was beyond reversing; arguing was pointless. So, she simply went along with their earlier logic and said, against her heart, “With Tianlin around, the Ye family’s young master will pity us even more. Isn’t that exactly what you want? If he’s willing to help, it shows he’s reasonable and won’t blame Tianlin for being unwell.”

Su Weimin and Gao Yulan stared, unable to retort. After a moment’s silence, they gave in, but their aversion and discomfort toward Ye Tianlin remained.

Night fell.

Su Rulan returned to the hotel. Pushing open the door, she found Ye Tianlin inside, just as she expected.

Su Rulan couldn’t help but reveal a long-lost smile. She stepped forward and hugged Ye Tianlin tightly. “Tianlin, guess what good fortune I had today?”

“With you smiling like that, it must be something big—does it have to do with the Ye family’s young master?” Ye Tianlin smiled, already knowing the outcome.

Su Rulan nodded, still beaming. “It does. But how did you know? You’ve been in the hotel all day.”

“Because I arranged all of this. Haven’t you pieced together what’s happened? Weren’t the Su family scared out of their wits?” Ye Tianlin frowned slightly, feeling something was off. This wasn’t how he expected things to play out.

Rulan shook her head. “Tianlin, stop joking. I just got lucky, that’s all. Like Su Yicai said, if that betrothal gift was really for me, why would the contract only be for fifteen million?”

“What else did Su Yicai say?” Ye Tianlin’s frown deepened.

Rulan explained, “He said the Ye family’s young master doesn’t know the Su family’s internal relationships—he saw I was doing the worst, so he helped me first. The bigger benefits are still to come. I’m just benefiting from Su Yixue’s connection.”

Hearing this, Ye Tianlin finally understood. He’d thought his arrangements would expose everything and terrify the Su family. He hadn’t expected Su Yicai’s peculiar logic to spin it this way—completely outside his predictions.

The reason the contract was only fifteen million was that he worried a larger sum would overwhelm Rulan. She had already been through so much lately; who knew what further shock might do to her—or to their unborn child? And she’d just attempted suicide and was still weak.

But seeing Rulan so happy, he felt his efforts had been worthwhile, even if the truth hadn’t come out yet.

“My dear, an even bigger surprise is coming. Soon you’ll understand—it’s nothing like what Su Yicai said.”