"Be careful, class is about to start. I'm going in." Ning Yunhuan gave her a nod and was about to head into the classroom when Li Panpan suddenly stopped mid-step, biting her lip, "Huanhuan... can I call you that? What did you see last time between Fu Yuan and Brother Qin... was it really true?"

Ning Yunhuan hesitated. If she were still herself from a past life, she certainly wouldn't have bullied this pure-hearted girl with such transparent emotions. But in this lifetime, remembering Li Panpan's expression when borrowing her phone, Ning Yunhuan nodded anyway, "It's true."

Afterwards, Li Panpan didn't go to class at all. For the first time, a well-behaved girl skipped school entirely - but Ning Yunhuan had no time for such things. After finishing classes and gathering her belongings, she took the car sent by the Lan family to pick her up. As they passed through the main gate of the school, she saw several familiar figures standing at the opposite parking lot area, peering this way anxiously. Leading them was Gu Yingxi's particularly noticeable figure. Ning Yunhuan only glanced once before turning away.

When going to visit her father that afternoon, her father had undergone brain surgery and woke up much later than usual. When Ning Yunhuan arrived, he still seemed a bit disoriented. Her mother-in-law was just using a damp cotton swab to wipe his lips when she saw their daughter come in and immediately took her hand with an air of complaint:

"Your older brother must have gotten into some trouble again. The police station called this morning - they said something happened to him. I can't leave your father's side right now, so I just sent Huangjie from the household to check on it. Fortunately, your father still doesn't know about this yet. He woke up for a while at noon but I didn't tell him, and after some extra anesthesia from the doctor, he fell asleep again. Otherwise if he found out his eldest son had gone to the police station and brought shame upon the Ning family, who knows how angry he would get."

Ning Yunhuan heard about her brother Ning Yuncheng's situation and couldn't help but laugh softly, "Don't worry, Mother. Actually... this has something to do with me." After saying that, she told her mother-in-law about Gu Yingxi intercepting her the other day and breaking both her phone and handbag, then mentioned how Ning Yuncheng had tried to beat her up at school today until security restrained him and sent him to the police station. Seeing her mother-in-law's stiff expression in the end, she added, "By that time I was already late for class so I didn't get a chance to explain. Besides, since I don't have Ning Yuncheng's phone number, I assumed he would call you eventually, so I didn't mention it."

"Who exactly is Lan Lingyan?" The sick father-in-law, who had apparently been listening in without being noticed - his eyes opened weakly as he reached out to ask their daughter.

The father hadn't revealed how much he'd heard. Yesterday's anger over Ning Yuncheng had nearly hospitalized him again, and now the mother-in-law felt anxious but couldn't dwell on it with her daughter, only tucking in the blanket for her husband and saying, "Don't waste your energy worrying about these things first, just focus on getting well."

The father-in-law's expression remained resolute. He had already sensed that Lan Lingyan wasn't an ordinary person last time they met, but now hearing from their daughter he could produce a custom-made bag worth over five million and a high-end phone made his worries deepen further:

"I'm afraid... Yunhuan, that he might hurt you."

Though spoken with great difficulty, these words brought tears to Ning Yunhuan's eyes as she gripped his hand tightly. Guilt also welled up in her heart for keeping the fact that she already had a child hidden from him.

"Father, don't worry, he treats me very well. His parents live elsewhere and I haven't met them yet. But his grandfather is apparently quite familiar with Principal Su at our school." Ning Yunhuan hadn't actually uncovered Lan Lingyan's full background either. She just recalled how Principal Su had behaved when meeting him last time and whispered this.

Hearing that, the mother-in-law felt both surprised and relieved. Anyone who could be on first-name terms with Principal Su from Tsinghua University would obviously not be an ordinary person. The Su family was closely related to former national leaders in China. Even if their connections weren't as high-profile, they'd surely surpass what a Ning family member could usually access. Plus the daughter hadn't mentioned Lan Lingyan's father specifically - but if this man had potential political ties themselves, his background would certainly be impressive.

"Then that's good enough," said the father-in-law with satisfaction. Seeing no trace of on their daughter's face and recalling how composed Lan Lingyan had been when coming to visit before, he realized such a person was either genuinely refined or exceptionally ruthless but could fake sincerity well. Either way, he trusted his daughter's judgment.

"As long as you're happy," he said after a pause. Then, after taking two breaths and closing his eyes for a moment, he reopened them with some effort, "I'm old now. I've discussed it with your mother - we want to give Ning Industries to you anyway. Just hand it over to him directly. As for your brother... don't mention it for now, in case he comes after you later. Yunhuan, has he proposed yet?"

The father-in-law was still worried his daughter might be deceived. Though the girl hadn't explicitly mentioned liking Lan Lingyan, her eyes clearly betrayed feelings deeper than she let on. He feared that if this man with such a mysterious background truly loved her but then broke things off for some reason later, their family wouldn't have any leverage over someone of his stature.

Hearing that her father was still fretting about these matters despite being ill, Ning Yunhuan felt tears welling up:

"Father, we've already registered our marriage. We just haven't had the wedding yet." As for Xiao Lan Yi's situation, she decided to keep it hidden for now to prevent overwhelming him further.

At her words, the bedridden father's eyes lit up instantly while his wife - about to speak something else when suddenly choked by saliva and began coughing violently.

"Better responsible than not," said the traditional-minded father-in-law with relief. Though disappointed they hadn't informed them before marrying, he only scolded Ning Yunhuan with two sharp glances before giving in. "When I recover, let's have a proper wedding." No sooner had these words left his lips than he fell into an exhausted sleep, snoring softly after just minutes passed.

The mother-in-law carefully tucked the blanket under her husband and then pulled their daughter aside to chat: "How did you meet him? Why was the marriage so quick?" Though surprised about this development, she wasn't particularly angry. After all, she understood young hearts as well from her own youth days. After asking Ning Yunhuan a few questions and learning that her daughter had made up her mind thoughtfully, she finally felt reassured.

The two women chatted for the entire afternoon. Lan Lingyan arrived at the hospital to pick up Ning Yunhuan later. At this moment, the mother-in-law suddenly recalled what he had originally meant when saying "I should call you Father and Mother someday."

Lan Lingyan was handsome with excellent bearing. Combined with his good character and impressive background combined with obvious affection for her daughter, the mother-in-law grew increasingly fond of him. Her tone became much warmer this time without any awkwardness anymore, even staying behind to bid farewell at the hospital door long after they had left.

"You told Auntie something strange?" Lan Lingyan obviously sensed something peculiar about the mother-in-law and after entering the elevator, glanced down at his side with a faint smile as he touched her head gently.

"How did you know?" Ning Yunhuan tilted up to look at him, taking hold of his arm and murmuring, "I told my parents we were already married."

Hearing that, Lan Lingyan's lips couldn't help but curl into an upward curve. He wrapped his arms around her waist tightly, pressing two kisses onto her forehead. Though he said nothing, the actions clearly conveyed his feelings.

"Good girl."

Since Ning Yunhuan had revealed their marriage to her parents, Lan Lingyan started appearing more frequently in her life. Unlike before when he usually waited for her at the hospital entrance, now his presence became a common sight. Her father's health was gradually improving although with some lasting effects - he began using canes to walk and developed noticeable grey hair on his head. Perhaps due to being excited about his daughter getting married, however, Ning Yunhuan could see his spirits were good.

In contrast, Ning Yunhuan lately found herself troubled as a group of young people led by Liu Jinfeng started hounding her like vengeful spirits. If not for the events from past lives, she would have easily dismissed these youths - after all, now that she had money and her father had transferred ownership of Ning Industries to her two weeks ago (with only the villa they currently resided in still under his name and another Lan Shan yet unassigned), funding these poor students wasn't an issue at all.

Though officially disappointed with Ning Yuncheng - after all, he was their son - it would be impossible for them to completely cut ties. But even without those two villas, besides the 110 million cash gift from the Qin family, she now had ownership of Ning Industries. Supporting these struggling youths wasn't beyond her means.

Yet thinking about past events made her heart cold. After spending fifteen years nurturing such traitorous people, at that time when Gu Yingxi casually tossed her fifty thousand to claim Liu Jinfeng and others' 'ownership', the disgraceful rumors spread throughout Beijing left Ning Yunhuan with a bitter reputation. Everyone looked at her with mockery or sneers while praising Gu Yingxi's 'noble cause'. Others believed she was calculating and cruel, using minimal money to produce such loyal servants!

Now reflecting on those old rumors circulating about her back then, Ning Yunhuan almost rolled on the floor laughing. She spent over fifty thousand each year for fifteen years! Many wealthy people in Beijing held occasional charity events - but how many of them actually distributed as much aid directly to students' hands?

Yet because Gu Yingxi's fake philanthropy, these people constantly slandered her behind closed doors while Liu Jinfeng and others fanned the flames!

P.S.

First chapter~

Girls! It's already the 7th today... last day for double vote tickets - you know what I mean~ I've decided to abandon my pride and beg on my knees for votes! RP