Chapter 160: Facing It Head-On

That night, Zhang Tianfeng was busy until late again.

He and Gao Ran worked together to formulate the convoy’s poverty-alleviation plan, refining the general framework before dividing it into two separate versions. They worked until four in the morning.

Although autumn had already arrived, dawn came early in the coastal regions.

Watching the pale light spreading across the horizon, Zhang Tianfeng stretched. “It’s done. Get some rest for now. Once I wake up, I’ll go with you.”

Gao Ran smiled and shook her head. “You’ve already helped me so much, and the overall direction has been decided. Let me go this time.”

“Ranran, what are you—”

“Don’t ask. You’ll understand my purpose tomorrow.”

Gao Ran rose and pushed Zhang Tianfeng toward the door. “Go to sleep. When you wake up, I’ll treat you to a meal to thank you for helping me these past two days.”

“All right. You should get some rest too.” Standing at the doorway, Zhang Tianfeng looked into Gao Ran’s eyes and spoke softly.

“I know. Good night.”

When he woke, it was already two in the afternoon.

Patting his growling stomach, Zhang Tianfeng got dressed and went outside.

“Brother Chen, is Gao Ran back yet?”

“No. She went out this morning and hasn’t returned.”

“That’s strange. She should have been back by now. Maybe she went back to catch up on sleep?”

After thinking for a moment, Zhang Tianfeng called Qin Lin. The familiar message came through once again: “The number you have dialed is temporarily unavailable.”

He called Gao Ran, but the result was the same. Zhang Tianfeng immediately panicked.

Could they have run into danger again?

He hurriedly contacted his superior. Through the secretary, he learned when Gao Ran had left and where she had gone.

After signing the contract, the woman had gone straight to Hong Kong.

What was she doing in Hong Kong at a time like this? Engaging in a battle of capital, or confronting danger head-on?

...

At that moment, inside a villa in Fragrantwood Forest, Hong Kong, Gao Ran looked at the middle-aged man before her and said softly, “Mr. Lai, I’ve come to ask you to return a few things.”

“Little girl, you’ve come to ask me for something? Did you just wake up, or have you gone several days without sleep and muddled your brain?”

The man smiled as he spoke.

“I did go without sleep for an entire night, but I’m still perfectly clearheaded.”

Gao Ran said, “All the assets under my father’s name were taken from him by you for nothing. I don’t think that’s right. You should return them to us.”

Her words left the other man completely stunned.

Mr. Lai had never imagined that one day a young woman would come to his door demanding something from him. It was truly a rare sight.

When he remained silent, Gao Ran continued, “My friends and family all say that you’re a formidable outsider, a legendary tycoon.”

“A man of your stature surely wouldn’t covet property that amounts to no more than a drop in the bucket to you, would you?”

“No. I grew up poor, and I count every penny carefully before spending it.”

The man tapped the ash from his cigarette and smiled. “Once money enters my pocket, it doesn’t leave.”

“That’s a shame. From this day forward, you’ll have a terrifying enemy.”

“You? I don’t find you very frightening. You’re delicate and soft, and you don’t pose the slightest threat.”

“I may not be a threat, but this is.”

Gao Ran pushed the signed contract across the table to Mr. Lai.

“This is the poverty-alleviation project I just signed with the leaders of Guangdong Province.”

“This project has already been submitted to the national authorities and confirmed by the department in charge of poverty alleviation.”

“In other words, you absolutely cannot touch me now.”

“Of course, I have no intention of using this to provoke or threaten you. I only want to reclaim what belongs to me. If I can’t get it back...”

“What do you intend to do?” Mr. Lai cut her off, his expression turning cold.

Gao Ran smiled faintly. Leaning back in her chair, she spoke slowly. “I heard from my father that you want to establish a freight route extending throughout the country.”

“Take a look at the contract. Perhaps it will change your mind.”

While the other man examined the details of the contract, Gao Ran continued delivering the words she had prepared long ago.

It was this upheaval that had shattered the beautiful world she once possessed in an instant.

After Zhang Tianfeng rescued her, she had spent the entire night thinking. She felt that she had to do something.

As it happened, Qin Lin had taken the initiative to mention striking back. Gao Ran realized that her opportunity had arrived, and she immediately put her plan into action.

She seized control, became the project’s primary person in charge, obtained her protective shield, and then set out to confront the enemy who had taken everything from her.

Every word she spoke had been carefully planned, each carrying a particular purpose. She struck directly at the depths of Mr. Lai’s soul, forcing him to devote his attention to responding. Step by step, she led him into her trap until he finally concluded that she could not be defeated and that he had no choice but to give up.

Events unfolded exactly as she had predicted. After reading the contract, Mr. Lai became furious with humiliation.

He slammed his hand on the table and shouted, “Do you believe that even if I refuse to do this business, I can still drive you into a dead end?”

“Of course I believe you! You’re a man of great ability. Forget driving me into a dead end—even making me disappear would be effortless for you.”

Gao Ran spoke calmly. “If you want to deal with me, there are three questions you need to consider.

“First, how will you erase my connection with this project?

“Second, how will you erase the fact that I once helped Twin Gods Village escape its predicament and, in front of the cameras, completed the first major order the village had received since the Canton Fair began?

“Third, Zhang Tianfeng—the man who called you that day—is my man. In your eyes, he may not amount to much, perhaps only possessing a few hundred million in wealth. But don’t forget the Huo family standing behind him.”

The reason Mr. Lai had chosen Hong Kong as the location was that it was considered half his territory. He had plenty of friends there, and information was readily available.

Investigating certain matters was easy for him. He also knew that some people could never be made enemies of, such as the powerful figures living in the villas halfway up the mountain.

Gao Ran continued, “I’ll say it again: I have no hostility toward you, nor do I intend to provoke you or become your enemy. I only want to reclaim what originally belonged to me.”

“For the sake of a few tens of millions and a handful of people, you would make several enemies at once. You should already know what choice to make, shouldn’t you?”

“No wonder you’re the woman of the young stock-market prodigy. Your logic is impressive. You win. Everything will be returned to your father.”

“Not returned to him. Transferred into my name.”

At those words, Mr. Lai was stunned once more. Then he burst into loud laughter, repeating between laughs, “How interesting. Truly interesting.”

How could it not be interesting? Qin Lin had fallen, only for another illegitimate daughter to rise in her place.

Seeing the girl’s courage, determination, and intelligence, Mr. Lai knew that her future achievements would certainly be no less than Qin Lin’s.

He very much wanted to strike immediately and eliminate the threat at its roots, but he knew that the opportunity had not yet arrived.

He could wait. Once he had absorbed all the resources in his hands, he could erase every trace.

Half an hour later, after the transfer had been completed, Gao Ran walked out of the villa with her head held high.

As she looked at the scenery and breathed in the air outside, she suddenly began to understand what Qin Lin had done back then.

But that would never change what she intended to do next.