“Summer is almost over, please buy less ice cream~”
In a small alley beside the C City Public Security Bureau, Su Ling, accompanied by the ringtone she had recorded herself, clicked her elegant high heels as she walked deeper into the quiet area and pressed the answer button on her phone.
“Hello.”
“Hello, hello, is this… Miss?”
A cute loli voice from Secretary Lin came through the phone, though it was a bit flustered and stumbling over words.
“It’s me, Secretary Lin. You’re calling so urgently, did something happen again?”
Knowing her little secretary’s clumsy nature, Su Ling frowned slightly and asked.
She had just left the company not long ago, and now something had gone wrong? That shouldn’t be…
“Yes, yes! Miss, something big happened!”
“It’s Lady Ruan! She sent us a message saying she wants to have a serious talk with you!”
“What?!”
Su Ling was stunned on the spot after hearing Secretary Lin’s words, her eyes filled with shock.
“You said who sent the message?!”
Inside the top-level CEO office of Su Corporation.
Su Ling stared at the computer screen in front of her, displaying the encrypted email the company had received from Lady Ruan.
The gist of the message was that Lady Ruan had something important to discuss with her.
Attached were an Encrypted Video Channel and the scheduled communication time.
The sender even claimed to have something Su Ling wanted.
Something felt suspicious… If Lady Ruan truly had something to discuss, was there a need to be so secretive?
On the other hand, if Lady Ruan had been kidnapped by the Gu family, and this was a covert SOS, then encrypting the communication to avoid interception made sense.
But what about the video call? Wouldn’t that increase the risk of Lady Ruan’s exposure?
Su Ling was puzzled.
Besides, the time was near the scheduled communication time in the email; there was no time for overthinking.
The young lady lightly clicked the mouse, entering the encrypted communication channel embedded in the email.
The computer screen flickered with cold light, quickly revealing a finely decorated European-style room.
On the sofa at the center sat a graceful and elegant mixed-race woman, legs crossed.
Her crimson silk cheongsam embroidered with golden patterns clung tightly to her still shapely figure.
A jade clasp at the collar shimmered faintly.
The woman’s features blended Eastern and Western charm: high-arched eyebrows, a straight nose, and sparkling peach blossom eyes.
Her well-maintained skin showed hardly a trace of age.
Her golden hair, just like Ruan Zhixian’s, was loosely tied up, making her skin appear even paler.
At that moment, her slender fingers elegantly held a long sandalwood pipe, its end decorated with deep red tassels.
She gently brought the pipe’s mouthpiece to her full lips, inhaling softly, and a wisp of smoke curled upward.
“Long time no see, Miss Su.”
The only matriarch of the Ruan family, the self-made female entrepreneur of C City and Ruan Zhixian’s mother, Ruan Laila smiled warmly toward the screen.
“Long time no see, Aunt Ruan.”
Su Ling gave a slight bow, her tone respectful.
After all, regardless of her current identity as Ruan Zhixian’s guardian, Lady Ruan’s legendary feat of building the vast Ruan family empire from nothing warranted respect from any junior who knew her.
“Aunt Ruan, how have you been lately…”
“Stop. Where I’ve been is irrelevant for now.
Time is limited tonight; let’s get straight to the point.”
Lady Ruan tapped the pipe, cutting off Su Ling’s question.
“You’re currently engaged in a price war with the Gu family, right?
From what I know, the Su family is slightly on the losing side?”
Su Ling, interrupted, wisely refrained from asking about Lady Ruan’s whereabouts, sensing the disappearance might not be as she imagined.
“Feigning weakness to catch the enemy off guard and then launching a counterattack — a clever plan.”
Lady Ruan’s words struck directly, bluntly pointing out Su Ling’s strategy.
“But… don’t you want to be more thorough and completely crush the Gu family?”
“What do you mean?”
Su Ling’s beautiful phoenix eyes narrowed slightly at this remark.
“I mean, I can help you.
This time, we can thoroughly wipe out the Gu family’s influence in C City.”
“I don’t even need compensation.
The materials have already been sent over.
As for the details of how to proceed, I’m sure with your intelligence, Miss Su, I don’t need to say much.”
Exhaling the last smoke ring, Lady Ruan’s face on the pixelated screen grew slightly blurred, becoming inscrutable.
***
After a moment, before Su Ling could respond, the call was abruptly disconnected.
The screen went pitch black, reflecting back a somewhat stunned black-haired girl.
“Miss, Lady Ruan’s intelligence has been fully organized.
The content isn’t complicated.
It details various illegal operations the Gu family undertook to raise short-term funds during the price war.
If these are true, it could greatly help us topple the Gu family in one stroke.”
Inside the office, Secretary Wang, who hadn’t appeared in Su Corporation for days, placed a stack of documents on Su Ling’s desk.
“Gu family’s fatal mistakes, huh…”
Could it be the Ruan family had key moles inside the Gu family?
But if they already have this information, why hasn’t Lady Ruan acted on it herself?
Is it to preserve strength or simply because she’s too busy?
We initially thought Lady Ruan was kidnapped by the Gu family, but the recent video call suggests otherwise.
Then why did Gu Tian admit it was all their doing?
Was it just reckless hatred?
Su Ling pondered deeply but couldn’t piece it all together.
The issues were tangled and seemed connected, but a crucial step was missing.
Then there was the engagement between the Gu and Ruan families.
Although betrothed, their relationship seemed far from harmonious.
So why did the Gu family announce the engagement?
Could it be they planned to eliminate the Ruan family and forcibly marry Zhixian to secure the Ruan family’s business?
In a way, Su Ling had guessed part of the truth.
Thinking this, the elegant phoenix eyes of the black-haired girl gradually darkened with impenetrable coldness.
Her slender fingers tightened, nails digging into her palms.
Damn the Gu family…
“Miss? Miss?”
Sensing the young lady’s mood shifting, Secretary Wang immediately called out.
“Ah, sorry, Secretary Wang.
I was momentarily lost in thought.”
With the secretary’s prompt, Su Ling quickly regained focus.
Really, Zhixian was safely protected now.
Next was to completely eliminate the Gu family, right?
Yet the black-haired girl’s heart wavered again.
If Zhixian’s engagement wasn’t sincere, had she locked her away without question?
Was what she did truly right?
Would it not hurt Zhixian?
Recalling the bits and pieces of daily life with Ruan Zhixian — Zhixian’s smile, her hugs, breakfast together, the welcome home, sleeping side by side, playing games, humming songs, and blowing Su Ling’s hair every night…
(“… Some people might choose to give up completely and become strangers forever.”)
(“Otherwise, the one who made this mistake will definitely regret it later.”)
No, no, I will never let that happen!
Besides, the truth of the engagement was still unknown.
What if Zhixian was truly betrothed to someone else…
Hehehehehe…
A strange, twisted smile curled at the girl’s lips — half-smile, half-sneer.
“In the end, we can still topple the Gu family in one move.”
“Miss? Miss? Are you listening?”
Secretary Wang pushed up her glasses, addressing the clearly deep-in-thought Miss Su Ling.
“Ah, sorry, I drifted off again.
Secretary Wang, please say it again.”
“All right, Miss.
I’ll repeat the analysis just now.”
“Based on the current situation, my suggestion is to verify the authenticity of this batch of information as soon as possible.
Then, coordinate with the Tang family’s local official connections in C City to cover any gaps.
With their support, launch a fatal strike on the Gu family’s Financial Chain Weakness.”
“Fine, let’s do it your way.”
Su Ling waved her hand, signaling she understood.
“Actually, Miss, there is one more thing.”
At this, even Secretary Wang, unfazed by Su Ling’s intimidating aura, seemed a little hesitant.
“Go ahead.”
“May I…”
“May I continue to be the liaison responsible for coordinating with the Tang family during this period?”
The light glinted off Secretary Wang’s gold-rimmed glasses, obscuring her expression.
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