Early in the morning, inside the Lin family villa, the housekeeper and several maids were busy cleaning the house spotless, the curtains had been changed to an elegant off-white, and seasonal flowers were placed in the living room.
Lin Wei, the fourth daughter, who was called home in the middle of the night, joked, "What, are we welcoming some president?"
Lin Haoran glanced at Lin Wei and frowned: "To our family, he is more important than the president, and he controls the economic lifeline of the Lin family."
"You'd better change into something decent."
Lin Wei was wearing jeans and an off-the-shoulder sweater, which looked completely out of place in Lin Haoran's eyes.
When Lin Wei changed her clothes and came downstairs, she saw Lin Zhe sitting in the living room wearing well-tailored trousers and a shirt. His short black hair had traces of hair gel, indicating that his mother had dressed him up carefully. Everyone else was also dressed elegantly, but one person was missing.
"Mom and Dad, where's Lin An?"
Lin Wei, who had been busy preparing for the performance, was unaware of what had happened at home.
Just as the third sister, Lin Xia, was about to speak, a black Bentley stopped in front of the villa, attracting everyone's attention.
Lin Haoran hurriedly got up to greet them, and everyone followed him out.
Lin Wei grabbed her third sister's hand: "Sister, where's Lin An?"
"Don't mention him, I'll tell you later."
Judging from the third sister's expression, this kid had probably angered the family again. She wasn't interested in dealing with it and followed behind the family to greet President Zhou.
"Mr. Zhou, is your leg alright?"
"It's alright, it will be fine in two months."
Lin Haoran bowed respectfully and invited Zhou Shengren into the villa.
Zhou Ya helped Zhou Shengren, who was using crutches, to sit on the living room sofa. The Lin family villa was over 400 square meters and was considered to be luxuriously decorated, but it still felt a bit cramped in the eyes of the Zhou father and daughter.
Zhang Wanru served up some aged tangerine peel tea that her family had always treasured.
Lin Haoran assumed that it was his recent outstanding performance among the agents that had attracted President Zhou's attention, so he expressed his loyalty: "Thank you, President Zhou, for your care over the years. I will definitely continue to work hard."
Zhou Shengren had no interest in hearing this; Lin An was the real reason for his visit: "That's all easy to say. I've come mainly to get to know your son."
Upon hearing this, Lin Haoran couldn't suppress the smile on his lips. He had originally intended to take this opportunity to introduce Lin Zhe to President Zhou so that he could take over the Lin family business in the future. He never expected that his precious son would be so capable as to attract a wealthy man to come and get to know him.
The older sisters also looked surprised and proud.
Zhang Wanru's face lit up with joy. She knew that her Xiao Zhe was not only handsome and academically excellent, but also destined for greatness and was no ordinary person. Excitedly, she pushed Lin Zhe in front of Zhou Shengren:
"Mr. Zhou, this is our son."
Zhou Shengren sized up Lin Zhe. Contrary to his expectations, the young man in front of him had a fawning expression and was quite good-looking, but too pale and delicate, which Zhou Shengren disliked. Then, remembering that the man was his savior, he smiled and praised him anyway.
"He is truly a handsome man."
"Thank you, Uncle Zhou."
"It should be Uncle thanking you."
Everyone looked confused, not knowing what Zhou Shengren meant by those words.
Seeing the Lin family's strange expressions, Zhou Shengren assumed that Lin An hadn't told his family yet:
"It was all thanks to the clues provided by your son that the search and rescue team was able to find me in time. He is my benefactor."
Upon hearing the words "benefactor," Lin Haoran's eyes lit up. What an honor! To be able to establish this relationship with the Zhou family meant that the Lin family's future would surely be bright.
"This child did such a good deed, why didn't he tell his parents?"
Zhang Wanru chimed in, "That's just how our son is. He never talks about doing good deeds. Not only is he academically excellent, but we are also very satisfied with his interpersonal skills."
"You have truly raised a good child; his future is promising."
"By the way, how did you know my location when I went missing? I'm very curious about that."
Lin Zhe was completely bewildered by all of this. He had no idea what President Zhou had said, but he knew that this was an important person, and he had to find a way to establish a relationship with him.
"I, I, I can't quite remember." He needed time to concoct a perfect lie.
"Did you go hiking in the mountains last Friday too?" Zhou Shengren continued to press.
The Lin family members exchanged glances, all sensing that something was amiss. Lin Zhe had been at home last Friday, and he disliked exercise the most, so he would never go hiking in the mountains. There must be some misunderstanding, but everyone understood the importance of maintaining good relations with the Zhou family, and no one was willing to expose it.
Lin Haoran was still thinking of how to smooth things over when Lin Wei spoke up: "Mr. Zhou, you haven't mistaken me for someone else, have you? My younger brother never exercises."
Lin Wei has a very straightforward personality and always says what she thinks. Lin Haoran glared at her fiercely, but she didn't care.
Zhou Ya also sensed something was wrong. Although the call that day was short, she could still feel the maturity beyond his years from the other person's steady tone, while the young man in front of her seemed somewhat affected.
"Mr. Lin, do you only have one son?"
Lin Haoran composed himself and said with certainty, "Yes, I only have this one son."
Lin Wei was surprised to hear her father say this: "One? What about Lin An?"
Lin Rou, the second sister, pinched Lin Wei from behind, making her cry out in pain.
Zhou Shengren, having witnessed everything, pointed at Lin Zhe and asked, "Lin An? Isn't he Lin An?"
"Uncle Zhou, my name is Lin Zhe."
Zhou Shengren's expression changed drastically: "I'm looking for Lin An."
"President Zhou must have made a mistake. You're looking for Xiao Zhe, right? That Lin An is definitely not the person you're looking for. He's from the countryside, he doesn't know anything, he just causes trouble every day, and he would never go hiking," Lin Haoran hurriedly explained.
Lin Rou quickly chimed in, "Yes, President Zhou, our Xiao Zhe is exceptionally talented; he's definitely the person you're looking for."
Seeing that this family wasn't going to tell the truth, Zhou Ya took out her phone and dialed Lin An's previous number:
"Hello, is this Lin An?"
"Yes, Miss Zhou, is Mr. Zhou alright?"
"Yes, thank you for the information. Is your father Lin Haoran?"
“He is not my father, and we have severed ties.”
It took Zhou Ya a few seconds to process the information contained in that sentence.
"Could you tell me your current address? My father would like to meet you in person to express his gratitude, and I would also like to give you your bonus in person."
Lin An pondered for a moment. Although it was very inconvenient for him to stay at the ramen shop, as long as he received the prize money, he could solve all his current predicaments and pay for Uncle Leng's food and lodging. His current situation did not allow him to be pretentious, so he told the other party the name of the ramen shop.
"You live there?" Zhou Ya was a little surprised to hear that it was a ramen shop.
“Yes.” Lin An repeated the address.
“Okay, my father and I will be there right away.”
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