Mrs. Yang quickly walked to Yang Yuran's side, pulling her into her embrace, and fearlessly stared down the favored mother and daughter with a cold, mocking laugh.
"Hehe, as for that kind of man who can't stand loneliness, you can have him if you love him. My Ranran doesn't want him; she'll find a man with both character and family background that are top-notch."
Bai Yan almost couldn't keep up her pretense and burst out laughing, "Such men are hard to find, you know. If there really were one, Mrs. He would have long chosen him to be her family's esteemed son-in-law."
Yang Fei lifted her eyebrows smugly, promptly joining in to back up her mother, "That's right, Mom's right, unless you can hook someone like the famous Third Master in storytelling, but as far as I know, he's a 70-year-old man."
"Old men are great; your sister would inherit all of his estate in just a few years."
"Wow, that does seem like a good deal, guess my sister has the foresight, Mom. Hey, sister, why the rush to leave? Tell us more about how you met the Third Master in your dreams."
The mocking laughter faded into the distance, and Mrs. Yang, unable to contain her anger, stopped Yang Yuran and demanded, "Didn't I tell you not to come back? Do you also think I'm going to lose?"
Yang Yuran really wanted to answer, Isn't it obvious? In terms of both cunning and trickery, her mother was simply not on the same level as Bai Yan.
Considering her mother's proud ego, she changed her response to appease her, "Mom, I just couldn't accept it either."
Mrs. Yang skeptically looked Yang Yuran up and down, noticing her daughter's seductive eyes turning red, and saw her deepen the color of hatred in her gaze hurriedly.
Mrs. Yang suddenly recalled the real purpose behind her daughter's years abroad; her daughter wasn't as stubborn as she was, living more freely and preferring to enjoy the present.
Exhaling deeply, she pushed her daughter away with determination and commanded, "Go, stay outside, don't stay here and get on my nerves. I get agitated just looking at your purple hair."
"Hey, Mom, don't disown me. Let me stay with you, I've missed you so much."
Yang Yuran pathetically pleaded, but alas, it wasn't enough to change Mrs. Yang's resolute heart. Mrs. Yang forcefully pushed her to the garage and arranged for an old servant to drive her home 'safely.'
Back in her vacant apartment in Xiaoshan, Yang Yuran took a bath, dried her hair with a standing dryer, and checked her phone for unread messages.
Half an hour ago, Yang Fei started bombarding her with insulting messages, using foul language to curse her parents and ancestors.
Angered 'Black-hearted Fei Cotton-padded Jacket' obviously forgot a crucial fact: five years ago, when 'Fei Cotton-padded Jacket' just started calling Mr. Yang father, the curses circled back to her own head.
Exposing them seemed childish, but Yang Yuran didn't care whether the means were clever or not, as long as they served the purpose of infuriating the other party.
She took screenshots of the ugly rant and forwarded them to Mr. Yang.
Five minutes later, she received a reply from Mr. Yang, "Yuran, you've been taking Feifei's boyfriends for so many years, it's normal for her to be a bit emotional. You, as her sister, should be more tolerant of your little sister. There aren't many blood relatives in your generation; in the future, you should support your sister, and stop doing things that chill her heart."
Yang Yuran thought that even if Mr. Yang was biased, he could at least distinguish right from wrong. Apparently, he couldn't!
Clutching her phone, she slammed it onto the sofa, consoling herself for a while but still feeling infuriated, she kept telling herself to aim for the bigger fish and not to ruin her plans for a momentary satisfaction.
— Ding dong, the doorbell rang.
Yang Yuran took out a wet wipe to clean her face, slipped on her slippers, walked to the door, and opened it to see a cute round face.
Zhou Yuanyuan held up a takeout box in front of her, pouting coquettishly, "I sent you several messages to ask you out to eat, and you just wouldn't come. So, I had to come find you."
"Thank you."
Yang Yuran spread her arms wide and hugged the cute little woman tightly, and many grievances dissipated in the warmth of the other's embrace.
Best friends savored the seafood porridge, and Zhou Yuanyuan was obviously more annoyed than Yang Yuran, spending the whole time cursing Yang Fei as an annoying/flirty woman. The terms she used were all too familiar, as Yang Yuran had just seen them recently on social media, where Yang Fei had incited many socialites and wealthy ladies to criticize her.
"Yuran, do you really plan to obediently follow that flirty woman's arrangements?"
Zhou Yuanyuan asked while gnawing on a chicken leg, her cheeks puffing in and out.
Seeing her overly adorable little friend, Yang Yuran's mood improved, and she reached out to pinch Zhou Yuanyuan's right cheek, smiling as she asked in return.
"Do you think I'm a pushover?"
"Of course not!" Zhou Yuanyuan denied emphatically.
The Yang Yuran she knew was a master of rhetoric and a formidable power player. There were many women in Hangzhou who disliked Yang Yuran, mostly because of her looks and personality.
However, whatever women feared, Yang Yuran would draw near to, and these days, it wasn't easy to find a man who could resist temptation.
She remembered back in middle school when an older student's boyfriend glanced at Yang Yuran a few times, the older girl decided that Yang Yuran had seduced her boyfriend first. Not only did Yang Yuran not explain herself, but she also created opportunities to "accidentally" meet him and really ended up seducing him away.
The day the older student came looking for trouble, Yang Yuran instead took on the stance of a savior, saying with a tone of pity, "You should thank me. I helped you see his true colors."
It was precisely because Zhou Yuanyuan had witnessed many of Yang Yuran's glorious victories that she was worried her experienced friend would meet her romantic downfall with Li Shuo, falling for a bunch of bad eggs.
Worried to the extreme, she took the initiative and suggested, "Yuran, how about I get you a high management position in my family's company?"
"I remember your family runs an entertainment media company, right?" Yang Yuran's eyes lit up.
Zhou Yuanyuan nodded in response, "Exactly, I'll talk to my dad tonight and ask him to arrange for you to be a manager in the variety show sector."
Yang Yuran politely declined, her eyes moving shrewdly as a plan formed in her mind. She tactically said, "There's no need for such an obvious favor, it's hard to convince everyone in a corporate group."
Zhou Yuanyuan, being somewhat naive, didn't see through her best friend's crafty intentions and insisted, "I know your capabilities, and I believe that given the chance, you can make those below you believe in you."
"Please don't,"
Yang Yuran shook her head vigorously, hoarsely divulging her plan, "Your place is my last resort and hope, I don't want to waste the rare opportunity. How about this, give me the chance to manage one of the company's more troublesome male artist groups, and I'll start from being an agent."
Looking at Yang Yuran's sincere face, Zhou Yuanyuan was almost swayed until she heard the words "male artists."
She clasped Yang Yuran's neck with both hands, pretending to be fierce as a reminder, "Miss, please take a serious attitude toward the future. Your enemy is very fierce, so pack away your playful nature."
Yang Yuran purposely stuck out her tongue, coughed continuously, and put on a pitiful act begging for mercy, "Cough cough cough, I know. I intend to gradually build up my strengths to face the battle, accumulating enough practical experience and money to fight back. Cough cough cough, relying on special treatment can be impressive for a while, but one has to be strong in oneself. I want to have wings of my own."
"Really just to train yourself?"
Seeing Yang Yuran nodding repeatedly, Zhou Yuanyuan bluntly pointed out, "Then why don't you manage female artists?"
Yang Yuran steeled her heart, closed her eyes, and agreed righteously.
"Fine, I'll manage the female artists too."