Well, you couldn't blame him! This was simply too shocking!
"Sir, there's a call from the military." The butler handed a satellite phone to Lin Weihao.
Without a word, Lin Weihao stood up and strode toward the study to answer the call.
Feng Ran really wanted to follow and ask! Having to suppress a stomach full of curiosity was going to kill him!
.....
Lu Nanzhi and Lin Weihao didn't exactly part on bad terms. Although his earlier actions were presumptuous, Lin Weihao remained composed and didn't force the matter further.
Realizing his overstep, Lin Weihao actually apologized. "I'm sorry, Miss Lin. It's my first time pursuing a woman."
Before leaving, he handed her the property documents and clarified they were gifts, not bribes for marriage. "These are at your disposal. If you lack funds, you can sell them or do whatever you wish."
Then, without another word, he left on his own accord.
(A/N: I like the male lead to have some flaws. Don't worry, this won't turn into a forceful relationship. I hate that trope too!)
Looking at the extravagant documents left behind, Lu Nanzhi was left in a daze.
As rumors had said, Lin Weihao was truly unpredictable.
To clear her mind, Lu Nanzhi immersed herself in household chores.
She harvested the first batch of crops from her plot and sowed a second round of seeds in the empty spaces. Because she had been traveling for a week, she hadn't had a chance to cook any of the harvested produce.
She tried a few raw fruits, like apples, mandarins, bananas, and grapes, as well as some fresh olives and jujubes. To her surprise, not only were they fresher than anything in high-end markets, but their taste and size were also incomparable.
The vibrant fruits and vegetables seemed as if they had been kissed by morning dew, each one glistening with freshness.
As for her wheat and rice harvests, they were still in husks and would require milling later.
In the kitchen, she worked swiftly, using cabbage, carrots, shiitake mushrooms, bean sprouts, tomatoes, and corn to prepare a few dishes: stir-fried bean sprouts with mushrooms, steamed cabbage rolls stuffed with ground beef and carrots, a fluffy tomato-and-egg omelet, and steamed corn.
After sampling her dishes, Lu Nanzhi couldn't help but nod in satisfaction. Not only were they delicious, but they also seemed to replenish her energy. She could feel her stamina recovering, and her exhaustion seemed to melt away.
Since she had some spare time, Lu Nanzhi drove to a nearby supermarket and bought out their stock of disposable Styrofoam lunch boxes. She returned home and began packaging her freshly made meals for later use.
The building's natural gas pipeline spared her from needing LPG cylinders, but she knew that during an impending disaster, resources like gas and electricity would become scarce.
Meanwhile, the tantalizing aroma wafting from her balcony spread throughout the building, making the residents hungry. Before she knew it, people began placing orders food online.
That night, Lu Nanzhi had trouble falling asleep. Whenever she closed her eyes, she would dream of a towering shadow enveloped in a dense, chilling miasma—its form uncannily resembling Lin Weihao.
In the dream, his icy aura softened slightly as his lips curved into an almost imperceptible smile. The oppressive atmosphere around him diminished just a fraction, but his piercing gaze remained as sharp as ever.
He opened his mouth to speak, but no clear words came out—only muffled sounds that left Lu Nanzhi straining to understand.
The dream ended abruptly, leaving her unsettled. Not wanting to risk the dream morphing into something more ominous, Lu Nanzhi decided to get up.
By 4 a.m., she was back on the road, transferring funds to her supervisor remotely for the installation of solar panels and a backup generator in her apartment building before heading out.
Since her rebirth, Lu Nanzhi had developed the habit of listening to the news while driving, making up for the lack of accessible information during the chaotic "dark era."
That morning, two pieces of news caught her attention.
The first was about the Lu family. It seemed that Lu Meiying had successfully secured the chairman's seat, but just a day after her appointment, allegations of money laundering and tax evasion surfaced against her.
Interestingly, the news reports only mentioned Lu Meiying and omitted any reference to the Lu Corporation or Lu Chenyu.
Lu Nanzhi curled her lips. Lu Chenyu really is a petty man. His ambitions drove him to frame his sister and tarnish the corporation's long-standing reputation, meticulously cultivated by their predecessors.
Just as she predicted, the Lu Corporation's stocks had taken a nosedive, plummeting 5%–15%. For such a large company, the financial losses were astronomical.
Still, this turn of events reassured her. It was unlikely Lu Chenyu had the resources to track her down now.
The second piece of news involved two members of the standing committee—surnamed Lan and Zhou—facing charges of graft and corruption. The evidence and witness testimonies against them were irrefutable, and public speculation leaned heavily toward a conviction.
Lu Nanzhi recalled that Lu Chenyu had close ties with someone from the Zhou family. In fact, he was a significant supporter who had invested heavily during Zhou's campaign.
If Zhou were to be convicted, it would undoubtedly shake Lu Chenyu's position.
This thought delighted her, and she couldn't help humming a cheerful tune as she focused on the road ahead.
Having experienced the perils of traveling on foot in her previous life, Lu Nanzhi planned to visit a car dealership near the military region.
The dealership, which doubled as an auto parts supplier, was renowned for offering vehicle modifications and even sold decommissioned military vehicles.
Interestingly, the shop lacked a showroom, operating instead out of a quiet garage in a secluded neighborhood.