A Gift

Hearing what she said, Qin Ran immediately understood why Pei Qi wasn't by Ling Miaohan's side. It was most likely due to the Ling family's stock fluctuations. At times like this, it was better to stay low and not appear publicly to avoid further impacting the family's stock price.

When Pei Qi gave her the pink diamond in an attempt to smooth things over, she had wondered, was Pei Qi really in love with Ling Miaohan?

Now it seemed clear that there were significant interests involved in his feelings.

As for the person Ling Miaohan mentioned, Qin Ran knew him well, too. After all, the novel frequently described him, and he helped Ling Miaohan a lot. It was simply because when Ling Miaohan was studying traditional Chinese medicine, she happened to encounter someone collapsed on the ground one night while returning home. She helped the person and discovered he was the nation's richest man.

This plot was something Qin Ran had ridiculed many times while reading the novel. Why would a pampered heiress walk alone at night? Why would the richest man in the country be lying on the ground with no one around? And why did Ling Miaohan use her half-baked traditional Chinese medicine knowledge to help instead of calling 120... There were too many things to complain about. There were probably explanations in the original text, but Qin Ran couldn't remember them.

She only remembered that the richest man truly put in a lot of effort, helping Ling Miaohan out of many tough spots. Whenever Ling Miaohan and Pei Qi faced an insurmountable problem, he would show up to lend a hand, almost like a personal genie at her beck and call.

However, thinking he could deal with Qin Ran was overly optimistic.

After all, Qin Ran's money practically came from thin air. Although she hated to admit it, 99% of the problems in this world could be solved with money.

That's also why the richest man was able to help Ling Miaohan so many times—he had more money than both Ling Miaohan and Pei Qi.

Hearing Ling Miaohan's rant, Qin Ran knew she was planning to cry her heart out to the richest man, but Qin Ran couldn't care less. She even laughed lightly, "Oh, go ahead and find someone to deal with me." After saying this, she turned around and left.

She could hear the cameras clicking away as she, accompanied by her bodyguards and Wu Assistant, got into the Rolls Royce waiting at the courthouse entrance. As Qin Ran expected, by this afternoon, her confrontation with Ling Miaohan would be trending. However, it probably wouldn't stay up for long, as the Ling family would pay to take it down. She didn't even need to spend any money.

Besides, she didn't mind staying on the trending list. If it weren't for not wanting to give Ling Miaohan free publicity, she would have liked the news to stay up even longer.

Qin Ran was in a good mood. For one, the Ling family had been facing numerous issues she had caused. Pei Qi's influence in Pei Group had also declined due to his involvement with the Ling family. But most importantly, her Mann Mann would be coming back soon. It was already mid-April, and Yu Shuman was set to finish filming in a few days.

Lately, Yu Shuman had been extremely busy, balancing filming with her graduation thesis. Even after returning, she'd be swamped with thesis work, but for Qin Ran, as long as Yu Shuman was back by her side, she was happy.

Thinking about how Yu Shuman would soon be back with her, Qin Ran couldn't help but smile. She even hummed a little tune, making Wu Assistant, sitting beside her, slightly uneasy. After all, Ling Miaohan had just said such harsh words to Qin Ran, yet she seemed to be in high spirits.

When they got home, Wu Assistant handed Qin Ran a package.

"What is this?"

Qin Ran asked while unwrapping the package. Wu Assistant replied, "It's from the perfume company. They said you'd be very happy to receive it."

Qin Ran slowly unwrapped the packaging. She knew Wu Assistant must have already checked it to ensure it was safe before giving it to her. After removing several layers of protective wrapping, she finally saw a row of colorful perfume bottles inside. Each bottle had a nameplate beneath it, with names like "Passionate Summer," "California Glow," and "Lover's Rose"—obviously the perfume names.

There was also a card with a note from the original owner of the perfume company, expressing gratitude. It mentioned that these small bottles served the same purpose as the one she had received before. They were incredibly thankful to Qin Ran for investing a large sum of money into the company, allowing it to continue its operations without any personnel changes. The perfumes were specially made for her, and they hoped she would like them.

Qin Ran was indeed delighted. She immediately instructed Wu Assistant to prepare a return gift. Based on the other party's preferences, she decided to send a set of dried flowers featuring unique domestic floral varieties.

After settling down, Qin Ran sent a message to Yu Shuman, showing her the gift and mentioning that they could use it together when she returned. If Yu Shuman saw it, she'd probably call right away, flustered and scolding Qin Ran for her inappropriate thoughts.

But there was no reply from Yu Shuman, so she was probably still filming. Qin Ran put away the gift box, tucking it into a cabinet.

She worked in her study for a while since she had the afternoon off and didn't have to attend court, which meant she didn't need to ask for leave. After finishing her tasks, Qin Ran had some free time and started browsing her phone. Unsurprisingly, she saw related trending topics about herself and Ling Miaohan, some even roping in Yu Shuman.

For example: #Yu Shuman's Boss in Dispute with Former Teammate#, and similar headlines.

Without even clicking in, Qin Ran knew the content under each topic would be pretty similar, mainly describing her confrontation with Ling Miaohan at the courthouse, captured in videos and photos. She clicked on one of the headlines casually and found a video. The video's quality wasn't as high as photos, and being a candid shot, it was shaky and had that signature blurry look of paparazzi footage.

Her voice wasn't very clear in the video since she hadn't raised it, but Ling Miaohan's loud words were distinctly audible. Even through the screen, Qin Ran could sense Ling Miaohan's anger and the sharpness of her tone. Her expression was unnatural, far from her usual aloofness, leaving her looking almost hysterical.

The comments section was full of confused netizens:

"What's up with this woman? Why the sudden change? She wasn't like this before. Where's that aloof vibe she used to market?""Right? I remember during Fashion Week, she was doing interviews and marketing herself as a genius designer, playing the talented woman role.""Is this the collapse of the aloof heiress image? All that pride is gone."

People didn't understand why Ling Miaohan was acting this way, seemingly a completely different person. But actually, her behavior was not surprising at all. She had met unprecedented setbacks in the entertainment industry. Previously, no matter which path she took, things had been smooth, allowing her to effortlessly achieve her goals.

She was the most carefully tended flower in the greenhouse, never having faced a bit of storm. Her arrogance, pride, and cold demeanor were all because she had been a favored child of destiny, never encountering any obstacles. Ling Miaohan's life had been like a meticulously staged play, with her parents, brothers, and childhood sweetheart all crafting a fairy-tale existence for her.

If Qin Ran hadn't appeared, her path in the entertainment industry would have been no different from before. She would have smoothly achieved everything she wanted and then retired gracefully, living happily ever after with Pei Qi.

But wouldn't that kind of life be too dull? Maybe even heaven thought so, which was why they sent someone like Qin Ran to mess everything up. Now, every time Ling Miaohan tried to do something, the outcomes were entirely different from her expectations. On top of that, the Ling family's shares had been hit, Pei Qi was subtly distancing himself, and her once doting third brother was facing jail time...

How could the proud princess not go mad when faced with such upheaval?

In the comments section, many netizens still couldn't understand why Ling Miaohan would go after Qin Ran.

[What's this woman going crazy for? Why is she yelling at Miss Qin? What did Miss Qin do to her?]

[LOL, I guess she's still holding a grudge because of that lawsuit about the stolen info from 99 Entertainment]

[Wasn't her former sister-in-law the one who sued her this time? Maybe try crying to the sister-in-law's family they might drop the lawsuit]

[Sister-in-law? The families are mortal enemies now, it's a fight to the death]

[The reason the former sister-in-law broke off the engagement was that every time Ling Family's eldest son went on a date, the little princess either felt unwell in this way or that way, successfully wrecking her brother's marriage]

Qin Ran chuckled and liked this comment. If it weren't for Ling Miaohan's behavior, Zhao Second Miss wouldn't have awakened. After finishing reading the comments, Qin Ran casually messaged Wu Assistant, asking her to remove the trending topics involving Yu Shuman. Some media outlets were just ridiculous, always dragging Yu Shuman into things to generate hype.

Her manman was quietly filming; they shouldn't drag her into this.

Under the Yu Shuman-related trending topics, her fans were also united in their response: "Taking our sister away, stop using her for hype. The group disbanded already; stop bringing it up. Don't try to cling to someone more famous than you."

Qin Ran was curious about Ling Miaohan's reaction but couldn't see it. However, more important than Ling Miaohan was that Yu Shuman had responded to her messages, likely during a break from filming. She had seen the small bottles Qin Ran sent and probably didn't realize their use at first. But after thinking it over, she replied in an exasperated tone.

Yu Shuman: "Why did you buy so many of them!"

Qin Ran: "I didn't buy them; they were a gift."

After sending the message, she noticed the typing indicator on Yu Shuman's side going on and off. Qin Ran could imagine Yu Shuman blushing while repeatedly typing and deleting her words. Yu Shuman probably didn't expect Qin Ran to be so bold, openly hinting at their private matters to others. After a while, she finally replied:

Yu Shuman: "You actually told others about it!"

Qin Ran couldn't help but laugh because Yu Shuman was sometimes too predictable. She could picture Yu Shuman's expression right now. She covered her face lightly, trying to suppress the grin tugging at her lips.

Of course, she couldn't admit to anything directly. She found an excuse and replied: "I didn't say anything. Sister Li and Wu Assistant figured it out on their own."

Yu Shuman didn't respond for a long time, probably too shocked to type back.