Like picking up a cat, he pinched the back of her neck, and when he felt the softness under his fingertips, he couldn't help but caress it.

But after a subtle movement, Lin Chen came to his senses and his hand froze—he had really been bewitched and was actually petting his future stepmother like a cat. What cat could scratch him more painfully than her?

Ruan Qing'an remained silent for a moment. Meeting Lin Chen's sinister gaze, the young man seemed extremely angry, his eyes carrying a cryptic smile and a strong aura of aggression.

Okay, it seems like we went a little too far...

037: [...Does the male lead really not know how to hit people?]

Ruan Qing'an pondered for a moment and concluded that it was unlikely he would resort to violence. With the partial fusion of Lin Chen and Xie Huainan's data consciousness, she realized that this man was a bit ruthless, a bit of a scoundrel, and a bit of a scoundrel, among other bad habits.

—But he certainly didn't have the flaw of domestic violence, otherwise Ruan Qing'an would have scattered his ashes eight hundred years ago.

037: [That's fine then, go ahead and have some fun.]

But Ruan Qing'an didn't speak. Lin Chen indeed didn't hit people, but she didn't dare to act recklessly. The original owner's body was too weak, and her soul was suppressed, so she couldn't just beat up this dog of a man, Lin Chen, at will—she couldn't directly threaten and show off like in the apocalypse world.

She could only keep her head down and remain silent, like a listless cat.

Seeing this, Lin Chen raised an eyebrow: "Why isn't Stepmother saying anything?"

The girl remained silent, her lips pursed, looking like she was about to cry, extremely aggrieved, as if Lin Chen had committed some heinous crime.

Lin Chen met her eyes: "..."

"Tsk, never mind, sit down, I'll tell you."

Lin Chen released his grip, and the girl who had just been pinched on the back of the neck was no longer the same as before. She quickly sat down opposite him, her soft, slender feet like warm jade, kicking Lin Chen's calves.

Those jade-like toes swayed, making him feel uneasy—as for that bit of force, it was no different from flirting to Lin Chen.

She was furious, her leaden almond-shaped eyes glaring at him: "You're yelling at me, aren't you? You're yelling at me, aren't you? Fine, I'll teach you to yell at me!"

"Since I'm locked up here anyway, the worst that can happen is we'll all die together!"

Lin Chen: ...

He grabbed Ruan Qing'an's ankle and pulled her close to him with a slight force. With his other hand, he pinched her pretty face and said in a deep voice, "Still making trouble, stepmother?"

The cat, which had been baring its teeth and claws just moments before, has quieted down again.

Lin Chen has now figured out how to get along with Ruan Qing'an. If he's a little harsh with her, she'll be more obedient; if he's a little nice to her, she'll cause trouble, just like a restless cat, and he happens to quite like cats.

—As long as Nguyen Thanh An doesn't open his mouth.

Just as Lin Chen was thinking, a voice suddenly rang out: "Now that you've shifted your attention, your wound doesn't hurt anymore, right? I can see you're enduring it."

He paused slightly, then subconsciously looked at Ruan Qing'an.

Lin Chen didn't like to show his pain to others, so even when he was enduring it, he just pursed his lips and groaned, but unexpectedly, Ruan Qing'an discovered it.

【Affection Points: 20】

His eyes flickered slightly, but he didn't say anything. He simply released her, letting the mischievous girl continue to kick him in a spoiled and wicked manner—it was just like being scratched by a cat's claws, so it wasn't a big deal.

Lin Chen pressed Ruan Qing'an back down: "Are you still going to listen?"

Seeing that Nguyen Thanh An had finally vented his anger—kicking someone into the table, crying in pain, and then obediently sitting in the chair.

He then said, "This is country M."

"To be precise, it's an island in the US, but the Lin family bought it. The estate was newly built and cost a lot of money. After all, there are some businesses that can't be done in China, and they wouldn't dare to do them."

"The Lin family's businesses are all shady, and they've been involved in many murders, but their most profitable business is arms dealing, which is also the part I'm in charge of."

Lin Chen paused: "As for the others, they are still controlled by that old man Lin Qisheng, but they are all shady ways to make money. Our Lin family owns half of the major casinos."

Lin Chen's explanation was simple, but it supplemented the relevant knowledge that Ruan Qing'an had obtained from the system. Overall, the differences were not significant.

The Lin family is corrupt; every penny they earn is illicit.

The first to bear the brunt was Lin Qisheng, the leader. Just from the original owner's experience, you could tell how scum this old man was. According to the information given by 037, Lin Qisheng actually started from scratch. His so-called involvement in the underworld was just being a hoodlum before gradually developing into a gang.

The manor's basement is also a remnant of the gangs from that time.

Lin Qisheng rose from an ordinary hoodlum to a gangster, and his success can be attributed to one thing: "The most profitable methods are all written in the criminal law." In short, he has never done anything immoral.

But based on that alone, Lin Qisheng wouldn't have been able to build his business to this extent. He was involved in the underworld, and the Lin family wasn't clean either. But if we're talking about what really made the Lin family the most powerful arms dealer, it was Lin Qisheng's son, Lin Chen, who took over the arms business and made it incredibly successful.

In response, Nguyen Thanh An could only offer one comment.

—The Lin family's genes probably don't belong to the law-abiding, law-abiding type; they're not exactly good people.

Compared to Lin Qisheng, Lin Chen finally did something decent. After the Lin family became the largest arms dealer, he mainly focused on reselling arms overseas. All the other things Lin Qisheng did, which were even more detrimental to his character, were stopped by him and had no follow-up.

Seeing Ruan Qing'an remain silent, as if she were frightened, Lin Chen then said, "Once that old man brings you back, you can't escape."

"...I knew about this a long time ago."

Ruan Qingan lowered his head and spoke softly.

Lin Chen rarely saw this irritating wildcat like this, and his eyes darkened. Before he could speak, Ruan Qing'an had already gotten up and walked towards the door, saying, "Take good care of your injury."

"Thank you for what happened last night and for the news today."

Lin Chen didn't say anything, he just watched Ruan Qing'an leave until the door was closed and she was no longer in sight, then he lowered his eyes.

Curious as he was, Lin Chen wasn't one to talk much.

In terms of status, she is indeed the future stepmother, although Lin Chen recalled his previous behavior and realized that he had no intention of keeping his distance.

"That old man's woman..."

Lin Chen murmured to himself, pinching the bridge of his nose. He was also a little interested in this mysterious wildcat. His father should be quite magnanimous, right?

I didn't mean anything by it, just out of curiosity, I'm definitely not going to do anything.

...

Meanwhile, outside the bedroom.

Ruan Qingan remained silent for a moment before returning to his room.

037 couldn't help but say, "[Ancestor, when will you finally tell the male lead about your situation? You're the victim, this is a great opportunity to increase his favorability!]"

"That would only be killing the goose that lays the golden eggs."

Ruan Qing'an paused: "If I tell everything, there will be no mystery or curiosity. I can only increase my affection points for a short time. Will Lin Chen still pay attention to me after that? Of course, I will proceed slowly. You have to harvest the leeks one crop at a time."

"not to mention--"

She drawled out her words, a half-smile playing on her lips, "Lin Chen is still keeping things from me. Let's take it slow."

"Lin Chen's matter isn't urgent yet; let's take care of my matter first."

037 suddenly realized: [It must be about that old bastard Lin Qisheng finding a substitute, right? We really need to find out the truth about what happened before and prepare in advance, otherwise who knows when that old bastard will go crazy!]

[What if we find some leverage against him? Hehehe, oh my god, let's charge!]

"...It's rare that you're actually a bit smart."

[...]

037: [My ancestor, I'm angry! (｀Δ′)!]

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