How can I justify myself as a Magnate if I don't indulge myself?

Watching Lin Ran's expressions change, Gu Heng also felt he might have been a bit too callous. After all, they had been husband and wife for a night... He then changed the subject, "What about you? I remember your family isn't in Shanghai, right? When are you going home?"

"I'm not going back, just the right time to stay at work for some overtime."

As soon as she mentioned this, Lin Ran seemed somewhat excited, not because she was a workaholic, but because the thought of not having to go back and face marriage pressure, blind dates, and instead staying to work overtime felt joyous.

"What, spending New Year's alone in Shanghai? Acting like an abandoned elder in the city?"

Gu Heng had experienced several times that desolate feeling of eating New Year's Eve dinner alone in a rental place, with memories still vividly fresh. The first year away from his parents, celebrating the New Year outside, him weeping messily in his rental room as fireworks crackled outside.

That feeling could be described with just one line from Zhu Ziqing: The merriment belongs to others, I have nothing.

Lin Ran's feigned excitement was completely crushed by Gu Heng's remark...

With a murderous look in her eyes, she stared at him unabashedly.

Seeing this, Gu Heng laughed somewhat sheepishly, then made a casual joke to lighten the mood, "If it doesn't work out, want to come back to the village for the New Year with me?

It's perfect – your parents are rushing you to marry, mine are doing the same. We can help each other out. Before the New Year, you help me slip through the radar; after, I visit your family. Wouldn't everyone be happy then?"

The more he talked, the more sense Gu Heng thought it made!

If he could take someone like Lin Ran back to his mom as a prospective daughter-in-law, wouldn't he be treated like an emperor during the New Year?

Wouldn't all his childhood friends grind their molars down with envy?

Gu Xinran looked at her older brother getting more and more excited and couldn't help but get caught up in the excitement herself.

She had long realized there was something special between her big brother and Director Lin!

She might not get much from her brother making millions, but if he could win Director Lin over, she could surely benefit, right?!

Ensuring her smooth passing of the internship and getting a position in the company wouldn't be a problem then, right?

Without considering her own position, Gu Xinran followed Gu Heng's lead, "That's right, Director Lin, our New Year celebrations are quite fun. If you're not going back for the holiday, you could visit us for some fun."

After Gu Xinran spoke, Gu Heng glanced at her with satisfaction.

It had to be his little sister; you had to admit they were true family, she was always so reliable when it came to crunch time!

Lin Ran watched the siblings play off each other and couldn't help frowning as she said, "You two aren't planning to trick me into going back with you so you can sell me to some old bachelor in your village, are you?"

Even though she complained with her words, a part of her was genuinely intrigued...

She had always been too serious at work, hardly able to mingle with colleagues, and in Shanghai, she could be described as a lone individual.

It wasn't a big deal usually since she wasn't too keen on interacting with others.

During holidays, she could travel and pass the time shooting Vlogs, but during the festive season of the New Year, if she remained alone in Shanghai, she hadn't experienced that feeling before, but she could imagine how unbearable it would be...

As a city kid, she never had a strong sensation of celebrating the New Year from childhood.

But she had seen many videos of rural New Year celebrations and could feel the warm atmosphere just from those videos...

She never had the chance to experience it, and now that opportunity was close at hand...

Maybe she should give it a try?

The more she thought about it, the more intrigued Lin Ran became...

Gu Heng noticed her changing expressions and immediately sensed an opportunity, signaling Gu Xinran with his eyes to add fuel to the fire.

Gu Xinran immediately understood and continued, "We also have the 'Beat the Five Evils' event during New Year's in our place, which is quite similar to the popular 'Parade of Gods' online these days! It's really fun!

I follow your TikTok account, Director Lin, and I see that your Vlogs often feature local customs. You must like those kinds of things, right?"

After all, a woman understands another woman best.

With just one simple line, Gu Xinran ignited Lin Ran's interest...

However, after some thought, Lin Ran still didn't make a decision, ambiguously saying, "We'll see when the time comes. If work isn't too busy, I might come visit for a couple of days, just take it as a trip."

Hearing this, Gu Heng and Gu Xinran exchanged glances, then said no more.

The siblings both had decent emotional intelligence, understanding that too much can be as bad as too little...

Sometimes too much enthusiasm can make people suspect you have ulterior motives...

Although they both indeed had their own motives...

One to trick a girlfriend into coming back for a favorable report...

The other, to help her cousin get a girlfriend back home, so she could get a promotion, raise, and reach the pinnacle of her life...

.....

.....

The dishes were served quickly, and everyone ate just as swiftly...

Lin Ran belonged to the small appetite category, feeling full after just a few bites...

Tao Miaomiao was too shy, barely daring to move her chopsticks. If it wasn't for Gu Xinran sitting beside her, occasionally helping her with some dishes, she would've likely just sat there and watched...

Gu Heng also noticed this twin-pigtailed girl who hadn't said a word from start to finish...

It was a bit hard to imagine that in the year 4202, there could still be such girls...

Embodiment of social anxiety, slow reactions, and clueless cuteness, combined with a pale, young and thin look, she was the spitting image of a two-dimensional anime girl stepped out of fiction...

Even Gu Heng, the kind of guy whose first glance at a woman was definitely prefiltered by his lower half before engaging his brain, couldn't muster any impure thoughts about her—just a natural protective instinct at most...

"Burp~"

Gu Xinran let out an unladylike belch, and upon realizing her faux pas, quickly covered her mouth.

The majority of the dishes on the table ended up in the siblings' stomachs...

It wasn't that she neglected to maintain her image on purpose, the main reason was that the food at this restaurant was just too delicious. Gu Xinran swore to the heavens, this was the tastiest meal she had ever eaten in her 20 years!

Seeing that almost everyone was finished, Gu Heng glanced at his watch, which showed precisely 12 o'clock, and then stood up and said, "Done eating, right? If we're full, let's get ready to head back home."

He had initially thought of making something happen with Lin Ran, but now judging by her attitude, it seemed unlikely.

But he hadn't been short on meat these past few days, so he wasn't that desperate.

Since he couldn't get the "meat" he wanted, Gu Heng couldn't be bothered to waste more time and figured it was better to head home early.

He said goodbye to Director Lin and promptly left the private room.

Watching Gu Heng leave without a backward glance, with Gu Xinran and the rest in tow, Lin Ran sat there sipping tea after the meal, her expression indifferent, with no intent to get up...

She thought that Gu Heng's hurried departure was just for show, after she had refused the siblings' invitation.

In her heart, Gu Heng's actions were a clear sign that they were settled and done; naturally, she wouldn't cling onto him.

It wasn't until ten minutes passed and Lin Ran checked the time that she slowly stood up.

Walking up to the front desk, Lin Ran spoke indifferently, "Can you calculate how much the private room just cost?"

No sooner had she finished her sentence than the front desk hastily replied, "Mr. Lin, your friend has already settled the bill when he left, and he also left you a note."

After saying that, she handed the note to Lin Ran.

Settled the bill already?

Lin Ran paused in surprise, then took the note from the front desk...

"Before the twenty-ninth of the twelfth lunar month, our mutual aid is still in effect. Just a phone call and I'll be there for you.

Also... I'm a man of responsibility; this 'on-call' promise is forever valid. ◕‿◕"

There was also a cute emoticon drawn at the bottom of the note…

Honestly speaking, Gu Heng's tactic was very low, and it wouldn't work on any regular woman.

But for someone like Lin Ran who wasn't short on cash, had been single for twenty-eight years straight, and had never suffered for love—it worked like a charm...

Her view of love was essentially no different from that of sixteen or seventeen-year-old girls...

She was every man's dream of a wealthy lady...

Teenage girls don't seek love for material things.

She didn't either, for she had her own.

Teenage girls are easily fooled due to a lack of romantic experience.

She lacked it too.

Apart from being more rational, she was really no different from a young girl.

But as it happened, that bit of rationality had already been lost during that night of madness.

The pattern of 'lust first, love later' really does tend to ensnare people, for the path to a woman's soul is through that, well, you know...

Lin Ran carefully put away the note with a smile on her lips like that of a young girl...

She had intended to delete Gu Heng's contact information immediately after this, but now it seemed unnecessary; this man did not appear to be heartlessly unfeeling...

.....

Gu Heng, driving toward the highway with the two in tow, had no idea of the immense power of the note he left behind, aimed at coaxing a girlfriend to come home for the New Year—it had made Lin Ran, who had already mentally convicted him, reconsider her verdict...

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