For Ye Linchen, although Director Zhang was completely unrelated to her and had done a lot of bad things, he was still a living, breathing human being.
In her past life, Meng Zihan was just a parasite living in her home, constantly sucking blood from her.
In this life, freed from a host she could exploit, she gradually descended to the point of murder and robbery.
Did I change the course of her fate, or did the evil in her bones finally erupt without restraint?
Ye Linchen didn't know.
But all of this has nothing to do with her anymore.
Ye Linchen snapped out of his reverie and replied, "Okay, I understand. Thank you for calling to tell me."
"Why are you thanking me?" Gu Jingran noticed her unusual tone, his voice filled with concern. "I just felt it was necessary for you to know about this. Are you alright? Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." Ye Linchen smiled. "She made her own choice to go this far. It's just... a bit of a sad feeling."
"Hmm." Gu Jingran understood her feelings and wisely didn't continue the topic, instead asking, "How's your startup project going?"
Mentioning work immediately brought Ye Linchen back to reality. She sighed, picked up the project proposal on the table, and casually threw it into the trash can.
"Don't even mention it, it's a complete mess. I just finished the first draft of the project report today, and there are still so many details that need to be revised and filled in. I'm afraid I'll have to work overtime from today onwards." She said with a wry smile, "I hope I can finish all the preparations before the college student entrepreneurship competition next month."
Hearing the weariness in her voice, Gu Jingran felt a pang of sympathy: "Don't overwork yourself, take care of yourself. If you need any help, just let me know."
"Don't worry, I can manage." Ye Linchen smiled and reminded him, "You too, don't stay up all night."
The two chatted for a few more minutes before hanging up.
The rented room returned to silence. Ye Linchen looked at the densely packed to-do list on his notebook and perked up.
Meng Zihan's life is headed for ruin.
But her life has only just begun.
In the days that followed, she practically glued herself to the chair in her rented room, burying herself in that thick business plan.
In September, the autumn heatwave in Wuhan was still raging, with temperatures remaining stubbornly high.
The electric fan in the room whirred tirelessly, blowing out hot air that did nothing to dispel the irritability and drowsiness brought on by staying up all night.
The table was piled high with all sorts of books and materials, from "Principles of Marketing" to the latest industry publications; the papers were stacked like a small mountain.
Crumpled scraps of paper were scattered on the ground, and the trash cans were overflowing.
Time flies by in this busy schedule.
That afternoon, there was a knock on the door of the rented room.
Ye Linchen opened the door, where Ye Linnan and Ye Linbei were standing.
"Sister!" they both exclaimed in unison.
Ye Linchen ushered the two into the house, paused for a moment to tell the time, and then asked.
"You received your acceptance letter? Which university?"
"You're down." Ye Linnan took out the admission notice from her bag and handed it over, a little regretfully, "I didn't pass the political background check at the University of Political Science and Law."
The result was as expected.
Meng Zihan's matter caused such a big stir. Although she has severed ties with the Ye family, the kinship is still there. It's normal that she couldn't pass the strict political vetting process.
Ye Linchen felt sorry for them, but he didn't show it on his face. He just took the notice and looked at it.
“Jiangcheng University,” she read aloud, a smile spreading across her face. “That’s great. It’s the same school as me, so we can look out for each other in the future.”
Ye Linbei breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that his sister was not disappointed.
"That's what we think too! We were a little disappointed at first, but then we thought about being in the same school as you, and it made us feel really good! If anyone dares to bully you in the future, we two brothers will be the first to stand up for you!"
Looking at their youthful spirit, Ye Linchen felt a sense of pride.
Although her two younger brothers were taught by Meng Xueyun to be somewhat unable to distinguish right from wrong in their previous life, they were still close to her, their older sister, at heart.
It's good that I was able to bring them back to the right path in this lifetime.
"Alright, stop being silly. Getting into university is a good thing. Come on, I'll treat you to dinner. Call your brother-in-law too."
As Ye Linchen spoke, he picked up the Nokia phone on the table and dialed Gu Jingran's number.
To celebrate, Gu Jingran specially booked a newly opened Western restaurant in the city.
The two boys, barely out of school, were entering such a stylish place for the first time. Looking at the gleaming cutlery and the snow-white tablecloth, they didn't know where to put their hands and feet, appearing somewhat reserved.
Ye Linchen ordered a steak for each of them and said with a smile, "Eat as much as you want, and order more if you're not full."
Ye Linnan cut her steak and asked in a low voice, "Sis, this must have cost a lot of money, right?"
"It's alright, your sister will be a boss in the future, so I can afford to treat her to this meal," Ye Linchen said half-jokingly.
Gu Jingran looked at the three siblings with a gentle gaze and took the initiative to start a conversation: "What majors did you choose?"
Once this topic came up, the two brothers started talking non-stop.
“I chose the chemistry department,” Ye Linnan said. “I had the best grades in chemistry, so I wanted to study it in more depth.”
"I went to the Computer Science department," Ye Linbei said proudly. "Maybe I can become a computer expert like Senior Lin Xiaojuan in the future!"
The relaxed and pleasant atmosphere at the dinner table temporarily eased Ye Linchen's fatigue from the past few days.
But after a short rest comes an even more urgent sprint.
After the start of the school year, Ye Linchen's time was compressed to the extreme.
She spent all her free time in her rented room, meticulously revising her business plan word by word and checking every single piece of data.
Lin Xuemei came to see her and saw that her eyes were red from staying up all night and she had lost a lot of weight.
"What time did you go to sleep last night?" Lin Xuemei interrogated her.
Ye Linchen squinted blankly: "I didn't notice, I just went to sleep when I was sleepy."
“You can’t do this,” Lin Xuemei sighed, her face full of worry. “This is just a university student entrepreneurship competition. The judges may not be too strict about the data. Don’t exhaust yourself.”
Ye Linchen shook his head, his voice a little hoarse.
"No. There are more than a dozen project teams participating in the competition this time, and several of them are very creative. If we want to stand out, we can't take any chances. Every detail must be perfect, and we can't leave the judges with any room for doubt."
This is not just a competition, but a tough battle for her future, a chance to live a second life.
She has to win.
Lin Xuemei nodded as she looked at her.
"You're right! Okay, I'll go through all the data with you again!"
And so, the team members began working overtime day and night.
Soon, the election day arrived.
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