I just can't swallow this breath

The one-bedroom apartment Lin Yuan had rented before was simply too cramped.

With the winter break approaching, he couldn't possibly stay in the school dormitory when classes were over.

He scouted a three-bedroom apartment; after all, he wasn't short on money anymore.

Lin Yuan considered himself a very restrained cheater. Which cheater only managed to get seven or eight million in one semester?

But relying on that money, Lin Yuan had completely escaped material scarcity.

This three-bedroom apartment cost him 5,000 yuan a month. Lin Yuan liked it for its spaciousness and cleanliness.

When renting, he didn't even bargain, nor did he bother to look at the other few places.

The change from having no money to having money was reflected not only in material possessions but, more importantly, in his mindset.

As he stood on the spacious balcony, gazing into the distance, he suddenly felt a sense of bewilderment.

What should he do next?

If it weren't for the grudge with Good Group, he would have truly wanted to live a simple life with Xia Ye, completely removing Song Xiaoxiao and Zhang Yan from their lives.

It wasn't that he had any issues with those two, but Lin Yuan liked simplicity, and he actually detested the unknown. Because in his past twenty-plus years of life, he had suffered enough from the fear that an unknown future brought him.

He told himself he had no great ambitions; he just wanted a life whose end he could see.

Honestly, had he ever thought about having Song Xiaoxiao as well? Occasionally, there was still that little thought.

However, he firmly believed that one should not sacrifice their life for a moment's pleasure.

Furthermore, there was his ambiguous, almost intimate, interaction with Zhang Yan, which was indeed quite interesting. But Lin Yuan still felt that his private life with Xia Ye, behind closed doors, was the most important.

People, right! They always crave what they lack the most.

What Lin Yuan had always lacked most was a calm, tepid life.

Perhaps his ambition, aspirations, and grand designs had been worn away by the long grind of life. The little spirit he had left had also been largely used up in his recent growth.

If one had to use a word to describe this phenomenon, it would be “premature aging.”

This doesn't refer to physical aging, but rather spiritual aging.

If Lin Yuan was a piece of dough, he had been flipped and seared countless times by the frying pan of life. His heart had long since been charred black.

What he truly wanted now was to first experience what it felt like to possess millions in assets, and then achieve the great harmony of Duke Zhou with Xia Ye.

At least, that's what he thought at the moment.

As for the future? He was still young anyway, and the computing system hadn't said it had an expiration date.

However, Good Group insisted on playing hardball.

'If I had two acres of land in Luoyang, how could I wear the seals of six prime ministers?'

Lin Yuan now deeply understood this ancient saying.

Just like himself now, he was completely forced. It was the anger in his heart that forced him.

Lin Yuan planned to interview at the Lanbiao platform. He had already contacted the headquarters of Lanbiao Factory through his mentor's connections.

Good Group was too confident. When they finally kicked Lin Yuan out, in order not to continue paying the non-compete compensation, they directly paid the liquidated damages and terminated the non-compete agreement.

Although this freed Lin Yuan from his shackles, it was also Good Group's insult to him—they were too lazy to even bother leashing him.

"What are you thinking about?" Xia Ye walked behind Lin Yuan and wrapped her arms around him from the back.

This feeling intoxicated Lin Yuan; peace of mind and contentment surged from the depths of his heart.

This was different from when he was ambiguous with Zhang Yan. The ambiguity with Zhang Yan gave him novelty and excitement, and more importantly, that peculiar thrill of a mortal getting involved with a fairy.

But Xia Ye was different. Putting aside hormonal factors and those impulsive factors, Xia Ye was more like a bowl of plain white rice to Lin Yuan—simple and ordinary, yet holding her made him feel secure.

"Nothing."

"Still thinking about Good Group?"

Lin Yuan patted her hand, "Still can't hide anything from you."

"Why don't we just let it go? Whether you get revenge or not, you're a hero to me."

This was the biggest difference between Xia Ye and Zhang Yan.

If it were Zhang Yan, she would definitely say, "Senior Brother, how can you tolerate such an insult? Come on, I'll take you to kick down their door."

It's not that Zhang Yan wasn't good, but she and Xia Ye were simply not the same type.

Xia Ye wanted a peaceful life, preferring to avoid trouble.

"We're just ordinary people, there's no need to fight with a big company. Besides, you've already earned a lot of money from Good Group, and the millions in the stock market are also due to this opportunity of working at Good Group. Why don't we really just let it go?"

Lin Yuan turned and embraced Xia Ye, "I want to let it go too. But when I think of Da Zhang and the others, it's not that I have such a strong sense of justice, nor do I necessarily have to seek justice for them.

I just can't swallow this.

When I was a delivery rider, they bullied me.

Now that I'm not, they still bully me.

In their eyes, I'm just a slightly more advanced dog than Da Zhang and the others.

I'm going to bite off a big chunk of flesh from them. I'm going to make them look at me properly, and make them pay for bullying me."

Lin Yuan spoke these words very calmly, but Xia Ye knew the hidden emotional fluctuations within him. She just kept stroking his back, as if comforting a baby.

"Alright, I'm fine."

Although Xia Ye didn't say any comforting words, Lin Yuan could feel her worry.

"I'll take you home for the New Year. No, wait, should we go to your house first?"

"I guess either is fine. Let's not think about that for now. You failed two subjects in your final exams, will that be a problem?"

"That's fine, it's just that my mentor said that Lanbiao Factory might be doing promotions during the New Year. I'm afraid they'll want me to start before the year ends."

"Then you should just focus on your work. I'll be busy with dance practice anyway, and the exams will start soon next year, so I don't really have much time to waste either."

"Do you have to work so hard?"

"I don't want to hold you back."

"Oh, right, Zhang Yan... she wants to move in."

"Huh?"

Although Lin Yuan couldn't tell Xia Ye too much, he didn't plan to hide everything.

"Her master and my mentor are old acquaintances, so she recognized me as her senior brother. She's here for further study and is unfamiliar with the place. So she wants to stay with us."

"Does she like you?"

Lin Yuan didn't expect Xia Ye to ask so directly.

"Uh... haha. I'm not sure either."

"I can see it in her eyes. If she wants to come, she can just come."

"Are you saying that out of anger?"

Xia Ye shook her head.

Lin Yuan suddenly realized: Xia Ye wasn't as naive in this regard as she seemed.

"After you went in, I couldn't help with anything. Even I was driven back by Zhang Yan herself. I really feel useless."

Lin Yuan smiled, "But you are my Xia Ye."

"Is it her idea for her to come, or yours?"

"Why do you ask?"

"I just want to know."

"What if it was my idea?"

"Then I'll try to leave you." Xia Ye lowered her head, her mood a little down.

Lin Yuan thought for a moment, "To be precise, it was her idea, but I played with fire myself. I originally wanted to latch onto a powerful connection, but then I got into trouble. She seems to see something different in me. But I'm not sure. A proud daughter of heaven like her, accustomed to doing as she pleases since childhood, her mind isn't on the same wavelength as ours."

"Is it because of something that happened before, that you owe her a favor?"

"The previous matter didn't make me owe her much, but this trip to Shanghai, I did owe her a favor. Without her connection, things wouldn't have gone so smoothly. And in the foreseeable future, I estimate I'll owe her quite a few more favors.

No choice, Zhang Yan is just too useful." Lin Yuan mocked himself helplessly.

Xia Ye held back tears in her eyes, "Actually, Zhang Yan is a very good person, I will get along well with her."

"Don't cry."

"Don't comfort me. It's my fault for being useless. If I could be like Zhang Yan, then you wouldn't have gone in at all, and none of this would have happened."

"Oh, forget it."

"I really am useless. I can't even survive without you now. I hate myself like this, but there's nothing I can do. Lin Yuan, let's not meet our parents yet. I don't think it's appropriate right now."

"Are you worried about Zhang Yan? Don't worry, I'll be clear with her. She's not allowed to interfere in this."

"No. I just can't get past it in my own mind. If I continue to be supported by you like this, then I won't marry you. Really, I wouldn't have the face to marry you."

Lin Yuan wanted to comfort her, but Xia Ye didn't give him a chance to continue.

"You don't need to comfort me. From the maid cafe incident until now, even if I'm stupid, I've understood many things. I don't want to be a hypocrite... I... but I also feel so powerless."

Of course, Xia Ye didn't like Zhang Yan eyeing Lin Yuan, but she was now completely dependent on Lin Yuan for support, so how could she say no to Zhang Yan, whom even Lin Yuan couldn't afford to offend?

"It's a good thing I met Zhang Yan, she really is a good person..." Xia Ye said through tears, "If it were someone else, would I have..."

"I often think now, how great it would be if you were just a delivery rider. No one would look down on you, only I would see your worth, and then I wouldn't have to worry about any of this."

Lin Yuan didn't know how to comfort Xia Ye, because all words were futile in the face of reality.

The root cause was still that Xia Ye had been brought by Lin Yuan to a position that did not originally belong to her.

"It's so helpless. I can't even blame Zhang Yan. A large part of my ability to earn this money now comes from her. When you take someone's money, you're beholden to them." Lin Yuan mocked himself, "There really is no free lunch in the world."

Lin Yuan's discovery that Good Group was manipulating stock prices was inspired by the dossier Zhang Yan brought.

"Let's take it one step at a time. But Xia, I will definitely marry you."