Xia Wan finally understood why Zhou Quan looked so familiar.

She wasn't just making things up when she saw Lu Yan enter a hotel with a man; she had actually seen it.

In addition, Lu Yu always used negative words when mentioning her, which led to her having a very bad impression of Lu Yan, thinking that she was a promiscuous and immoral woman.

Therefore, when he saw her entering the hotel with a man in a friendly manner, he subconsciously assumed that she was the one in the picture.

Thinking about it this way, it seems she really never understood Lu Yan, just as she never truly understood Zhuang Yan.

She re-examined the woman in front of her, her aunt, who was four years older than her.

At this age, she should be able to call her "older sister," but she is a generation older than her. When she was little, she always called Lu Yan "older sister," which she couldn't understand at all. She was so young, how could she be her aunt?

Is Lu Yan's academic performance good? It seems pretty average; I've never heard my grandfather praise her.

Grandpa's most frequent comment was that Lu Yan resembled her mother, who was a mistress who had interfered in Grandma's relationship.

What good is a mistress? Her mother wasn't one, so naturally her child wasn't either. That's why she hated having contact with Lu Yan since she was little. When they gathered together for meals during holidays, she would always keep her distance from her, afraid of catching something bad from her.

She recalled that Lu Yan used to be quiet and reserved, and her peers always looked at her with a hint of curiosity.

Her unmoved attitude made those around her increasingly dislike her, and they talked maliciously about her behind her back.

After starting junior high school, students could board at school, and Lu Yan moved out after that. She was only seen during the Lu family's New Year's banquet. Until she became an adult, she always hid in an inconspicuous corner.

Later, at some point, she appeared in everyone's sight in a red dress. She would still sit in the corner, but she was no longer as lacking in presence as before. She propped her head up, her eyes were indifferent, and the corners of her lips turned up like those of a ruler sitting in a high position, high above and full of disdain.

Just like now—

When a person is in a state of great shock, their head goes numb, just like a phone that gets hot, becomes sluggish, gets stuck on a page, and can't be operated, eventually requiring a forced shutdown and restart.

"No way... You're lying to me, you're all lying to me... How could you possibly be the boss of Yi'an Group? The boss of Yi'an is clearly a man, how could you, a woman, do that..." Xia Wan had always thought that Lu Yan was an even more useless vase than herself. Before this, she had been smug, thinking that Lu Yan was not good enough for Zhuang Yan and that Zhuang Yan would abandon her sooner or later.

But telling her now that Lu Yan is the mysterious boss of Yi An is undoubtedly shattering her worldview.

"Just because you can't do it doesn't mean I can't." Lu Yan stared at the unconcealed fear and despair in Xia Wan's eyes and said with a smile, "I told you before that I know Boss Yi An and could help you make the connection. Who can you blame for not believing me?"

"Lu Yan, you did this on purpose."

Lu Yan opened her mouth with a mocking laugh: "What did I do on purpose? Did I deliberately let you provoke me with your sharp tongue? Or did I deliberately lure you into drugging me? It's clearly you who are vicious and stupid, but now you're shifting the blame onto me. Do you know what it means to kick someone when they're down? If you don't kick them, how can I kick them? People like you deserve to be crushed to death. Do you still think I'm just a useless pretty face?"

If Lu Yan is a useless decorative vase, then what are they? Cardboard boxes, or trash in a recycling center?

Xia Wan stepped back, her high heels twisting slightly. She wanted to escape, but her legs trembled and she couldn't muster any strength.

"Are you still asking me to cooperate with your father?"

Xia Wan shook her head, accepting all the open and veiled sarcasm. The tall and burly driver stood beside Lu Yan to protect her, preventing outsiders from getting close.

Lu Yan continued, "Even if you kneel down and beg me, it won't help. To tell you the truth, I'm deliberately messing with Lu Yu. This time it's the Lu family, next time it'll be your family's turn. Tell Xia Qingshan to just wait."

...

Those puzzling matters were seamlessly connected by Lu Yan's words.

No wonder Yi'an Group stepped in to help Zhuang Yan after his accident.

Lu Yan doesn't need a man's help; she can bring down the Lu family all by herself... Why does she hate the Lu family so much? It's where she grew up, after all. And how did she establish Yi'an? Where did she get her money in the first place? Lu Yan said she's going to deal with the Xia family, so what's she going to do next?

All sorts of problems bound her like vines, tightening their grip the more she struggled, the tighter they became.

She no longer dared to ask Lu Yan these questions in person; her feet were rooted to the ground as she watched Lu Yan walk further and further away.

She didn't know how much time had passed before her legs started to ache from the cold. She finally came to her senses, stiffly took out her phone, and tremblingly found Xia Qingshan's number to call him.

The call didn't go through, so she called twice more before the other party answered.

"What's wrong?" Xia Qingshan's tone was very bad. Although he had never mentioned the company at home, Xia Wan could tell from his expression every day that the situation was not good.

Xia Qingshan's bad mood caused everyone in the family to be on edge. These past few days, the atmosphere in the Xia family has been colder than the 8-degree weather outside, making it almost suffocating.

Xia Wan shuddered, her voice trembling: "Dad, the boss of Yi'an Group isn't Zhou Quan."

"What do you mean? If it's not Zhou Quan, then who is it?"

"It's Lu Yan..."

The other person was silent for a moment, probably feeling the same way she did – disbelief. Sure enough, Xia Qingshan chuckled and said, "I don't have time to listen to your jokes right now. I'm very busy."

“Dad, I know it’s hard for you to accept, but this is what I saw and heard with my own eyes.”

Xia Qingshan still didn't believe it and asked two more questions: "How did you see it? And who told you it?"

“I saw Lu Yan and Zhou Quan together, so I went to find him, hoping to ask Zhou Quan for a favor. But Zhou Quan only listens to Lu Yan. He responded when Lu Yan called him Xiao Zhou… Zhou Quan also called Lu Yan President Lu. Lu Yan even said, ‘This time it’s the Lu family, next time it’ll be our family. Dad, you must be careful of her, Lu Yan is very dangerous.’” Her intuition told her that Lu Yan’s exposure of her identity and her willingness to make threats clearly indicated that she was 100% confident.

She suddenly felt very scared, afraid that the Xia family would go bankrupt like the Zhuang and Lu families.

"Impossible. How could Lu Yan have established Yi An? Where would she get the money? She's only 27 years old, and she's still a woman." It was as if acknowledging her prowess would be demeaning oneself and trampling on one's dignity.

How could Xia Qingshan admit that he was inferior to a 27-year-old woman, especially one he had always looked down upon as a good-for-nothing?