“Jiang Han, you go first.”

Everyone gathered back around the table. Liang Xing shot him a meaningful look.

At that moment, Jiang Han’s mind had gone completely blank.

After a long pause, he managed to collect his thoughts through his overheated mental processing.

“Back then, after your parents fell to their deaths, Longquan’s days were essentially numbered,” Jiang Han began slowly.

He had to admit it: “Back then, I tried every method I could think of to keep Longquan alive, and in the end I went to beg Wang Xiancheng. But he refused.”

Recalling this humiliating chapter of the past once more, Jiang Han had already made peace with it: “At the time, I didn’t understand why he hated Longquan so deeply, gnashing his teeth yet refusing to lift a finger to save it. In truth, saving Longquan would have been effortless for someone like Wang Xiancheng, a man who could turn the world upside down with a flick of his hand. But he simply wouldn’t do it — he drove me away several times.”

“And then what happened?” Wang Zaiwu asked urgently.

Jiang Han gave him a quiet, contemplative look, then carefully chose his next words.

After all, Wang Xiancheng was his biological father. Jiang Han had no wish to leave Wang Zaiwu — his brother-in-law — carrying a knot of pain in his heart for the rest of his life.

“Later, Wang Xiancheng said he would help save Longquan, but only on two conditions. First: I had to kneel before him. Second: he would only lend money to Longquan if Baoquan Herbal Tea’s secret formula was offered as collateral.”

“But how could you possibly have had Baoquan’s formula? That’s outrageous,” Liang Xing said with a frown.

Jiang Han said, “That’s exactly what I thought. I asked Wang Xiancheng — how could I possibly have it? But he insisted, claiming the Baoquan secret formula was in my father Jiang Yueming’s hands.”

“How could that be?” Liang Xing and Liang Meng said in unison, incredulous.

It was too absurd.

“Wang Xiancheng sneered and said: ‘Ning Yanhong wants to elope with your father! She told me herself — the two of them were going to take the Baoquan secret formula and start fresh down south.'”

“Oh my goodness!” Lin’s mother exclaimed, clutching her chest.

Although she had never met the woman named Ning Yanhong in her life, she finally understood a phrase that had become very fashionable lately: the brave ones enjoy life first.

While Lin’s mother had still been bound by feudal constraints, guarding her reputation in solitude, women of her own generation had already been bold enough to live on their own terms — pursuing happiness for themselves.

“You mean Liang Meng’s birth mother, apart from your father — she also had a relationship with your father…”

Wang Zaiwu, still inexperienced in the ways of the world, dropped his jaw in shock.

Liang Xing quickly threw an arm around the young man’s trembling shoulders and patted him soothingly: “It’s alright, it’s alright. Stay calm, stay calm.”

“But wait — the real formula is with Liang Meng. So how did another copy of the formula end up existing?” Lin Qing asked, puzzled.

Jiang Han glanced at her and said, “Exactly — I was confused about that too. Back then when I went to find my father, he actually dug out an envelope from inside the dresser and handed it to me, tears streaming down his face. He told me: ‘Just as your Auntie Ning predicted — take it quickly.'”

Lin Qing caught on: “In other words, Liang Meng’s birth mother very likely created a fake formula and used it to deceive Wang Xiancheng into investing real money?”

Jiang Han and Liang Meng looked at each other, then both turned simultaneously toward Liang Xing.

Everyone reached the same conclusion: that was entirely possible.

“No wonder Wang Xiancheng never once mentioned the formula when I was leasing the Baoquan brand and production line in exchange for fifteen percent of Longquan’s shares,” Liang Meng recalled. “Logically, he would have pushed back on that point, at least a little.”

At that moment, Liang Meng’s phone rang.

She answered — it was Baoquan’s legal team.

“What?!” After listening for a few seconds, she excitedly set down her chopsticks.

The chopsticks weren’t placed steadily — they clattered to the floor.

Everyone watched her. When she hung up, they all asked: “What happened?”

Liang Meng slumped back into her seat, unable to come back to her senses for a long time.

Finally, she told everyone, her voice drained of energy: “Wang Xiancheng has sued me again. It’s about the formula. He’s saying I forged it.”

Liang Xing said sharply, “But we can’t guarantee right now that the formula he has is definitely a fake either, can we?”

“That’s right — Liang Xing is correct,” Lin Qing said. “For all we know, they could be identical. Or we may have no way to prove that our formula is the real one.”

Everyone grew anxious and flustered together.

Wang Zaiwu was no exception — he was now like an ant on a hot pan, feeling like no matter which side he stood on, he’d be in the wrong.

“Wait.”

After a long pause in thought, it was Lu Zhou who suddenly raised one hand, quieting everyone with his composure.

He knitted his brow and said, “If the two formulas were exactly identical, why would Auntie Ning have specifically tucked an extra copy away for Liang Meng? Liang Meng was so young back then — she understood nothing. If they were the same, that gesture of Auntie Ning’s would have been pointless.”

An athlete on the field cannot afford any unnecessary movements.

Inspired by Lu Zhou, Lin Qing continued: “Jiang Han, you said earlier that your father wept and told you: ‘Just as your Auntie Ning predicted.’ Predicted? Why use the word ‘predicted’? And what does ‘predicted correctly’ even mean?”

“So then,” Liang Xing concluded, “the most likely scenario is still that the real formula is with Little Meng. My mother played Wang Xiancheng for a fool.”

Everyone nodded.

Then, in one sweeping motion, Lin’s mother slapped her thigh and stood up boldly, raising a glass of wine: “Good always triumphs over evil! If he wants to sue, let him sue! A person with crooked intentions can never win! Come on — let’s drink!”

Everyone rallied to “Lady Lin’s” call and raised their glasses together!

Tonight’s wine — tonight’s intoxication.

Tomorrow’s worries — tomorrow’s business.

Three rounds of wine in.

Lin Qing followed Lu Zhou out onto the terrace alone.

Both of them looked up at the same time — the same familiar, deep blue, star-filled sky.

Lin Qing said, “A full two and a half months. Every time I stood here with Jiang Han looking up at the sky, I hoped the person standing beside me, seeing this breathtaking sky at the same moment, would be you.”

“The river of stars shines brilliantly — the brightest ones glitter just like diamonds.”

“They really do look like diamonds,” Lin Qing nodded.

Lu Zhou smiled, then suddenly pulled out a large diamond ring from his pocket, opened the box, and got down on one knee before Lin Qing.

“Lin Qing, I bought this ring overseas the very first time I won a championship. I had ‘LQ’ engraved on the inside of the band especially for you.”

“Wow — that is too romantic!”

Without anyone noticing when, the others had gathered around them. Liang Meng was the first to cheer loudly.

Wang Zaiwu deliberately teased: “Not necessarily. Back then, Lu Zhou’s girlfriend could have been named Ni Qin, Li Qin, or Le Qi for all we know — the initials still fit!”

Liang Meng punched her younger brother: “Why not just say Lu Zhou engraved ‘Longquan’ in abbreviated form?”

“Oh right, right — that’s also possible!” Wang Zaiwu waggled his index finger up and down, egging everyone on.

Lu Zhou knelt on one knee and, at his own unhurried pace, declared loudly to Lin Qing: “Lin Qing — will you marry me?”

Lin Qing was stunned by the sudden proposal. She covered her mouth, and a thousand words dissolved into tears that spilled involuntarily from the corners of her eyes.

Jiang Han held Liang Meng close and cheered Lin Qing on: “Lin Qing — you’ve got this. You deserve it.”

Lin’s mother leaned close to Wang Zaiwu’s ear: “Godson, quick — take a look for me. Is that diamond real or fake?”

Wang Zaiwu craned his neck to peer at the blue box and whispered back: “It’s Tiffany.”

“What? Mud?” Lin’s mother couldn’t make sense of it.

“Never mind the name — it’s just worth a lot. A diamond that size wouldn’t be cheap. Something like two hundred thousand, easily,” Wang Zaiwu explained.

Lin’s mother’s heart bloomed with joy. She immediately began discreetly willing her daughter with all her might, hoping her girl wouldn’t fumble this time.

She had to say yes to this heaven-sent match!

“Lu Zhou, why haven’t you told Lin Qing that you’re the one who bought her family’s house back home?” Liang Meng reminded him.

“What house?!”

Lin Qing had already cried herself into a daze.

Lin’s mother immediately pressed for details.

Liang Meng explained: “Godmother, and to think you had the nerve to make Lu Zhou sign that agreement! The house back in your hometown — it was actually Lu Zhou who bought it at a premium price. Otherwise, how could an old run-down place in an eighteenth-tier city have sold so quickly?”

Lin’s mother was stunned. She asked Lu Zhou, still half-kneeling on the ground: “Child — is that true?”

Lu Zhou could only nod: “I’m not like Brother Jiang Han, who managed to keep everything connected to Liang Meng. The most I could do was preserve the place where Liang Meng once grew up. Auntie, I’m sorry — I didn’t discuss it with you first. That house was indeed bought by me.”

“That’s wonderful!” Lin’s mother cried out in delight, her street-sharp instincts immediately kicking back in: “Then that works out perfectly! When you and Lin Qing get married, I won’t ask for a betrothal gift. Just transfer that house back to my name — that’ll do.”

Wang Zaiwu heard this and immediately quipped: “Godmother — you’re something else, aren’t you?!”

“Oh, come on — I was just saying, just joking.” Lin’s mother laughed too.

Lu Zhou said, “No problem.”

Then, his warm, earnest gaze turned back toward Lin Qing, who was still weeping.

Lin Qing was truly, deeply moved.

Looking back over the long road she had traveled, fate had not, in the end, shortchanged her.

Just when the road seemed to have reached a dead end, it curved again, and everything — every single thing — dissolved in this one moment.

Lin Qing finally believed, with absolute certainty, that no matter how brutally life had beaten her down, she was the best version of herself, and she deserved every beautiful thing this world had to offer.

Lu Zhou, through the bonds he had woven with his own hands, had now forever interlaced all of life’s beauty with Lin Qing.

Those feelings of inadequacy, helplessness, timidity, and sorrow would all, in time, pass.

The Lin Qing of the past had endured so much suffering and believed that happiness lay somewhere across a thousand mountains and ten thousand rivers.

But in truth, happiness only required — one brave step forward.

Just one step away.

And she would reach the other shore.

“I do!”

At last, Lin Qing broke through the shell of her former self, and with courage and sincerity she cried out those two words: “I do!”

Everyone cheered together!!!

Lu Zhou rose to his feet and pulled Lin Qing firmly into his arms, wiping away her tears.

“Oh!!! A wedding!!! A wedding!!!”

“Sweets!!! Wedding sweets!!!”

In the midst of the celebration, Jiang Han tucked a cigar between his fingers and suddenly turned to Wang Zaiwu: “Now you’re the only one left who’s still single.”

Wang Zaiwu, fearless as ever, flicked a glance at Liang Xing: “So is she.”

Liang Xing shot him a sharp look, then turned to Lin’s mother: “Will you please keep your godson in line…”

Lin’s mother, still catching up on the situation, turned to Wang Zaiwu and Liang Xing with earnest gravity: “If you ask me, the two of you should have a competition — see who gets out of the single life first! What’s that saying… live or die… live or die…”

“Live without fear, fight without hesitation!” Lin Qing filled in.

“Yes! That’s the one! Live without fear, fight without hesitation!”

“Ha ha ha ha ha! That’s perfect!”

Amid waves of laughter and joy, everyone broke into smiles.

Peal after peal of bright, hearty laughter drifted across the terrace, carried along by the flowing clouds, and scattered far into the distance…

That evening, Liang Meng drove Lin Qing and Lin’s mother home.

Lin’s mother, after all, was getting on in years, and she fell into a deep sleep in the back seat.

During the long drive, Liang Meng turned to Lin Qing: “Come back and be my assistant again?”

Lin Qing smiled, looked down at the large diamond ring on her finger, and said nothing.

Seeing her not respond, Liang Meng asked somewhat impatiently: “You’re not thinking of becoming a full-time housewife for Lu Zhou, are you? Let me tell you something, Lin Qing — don’t you dare make that mistake! A woman still needs her own career, her own life, her own way of thinking! Otherwise, she’ll only end up utterly defeated! If a woman wants to win, she first has to overcome her own inertia — whether it’s inertia of the body or inertia of the mind. Being totally consumed by love is no way to live.”

“Oh, relax. What’s the rush?” Lin Qing gave the ring on her finger a casual spin, calm and composed, and lifted her head with unhurried ease. “I’m thinking about how to bring up the subject of a pay raise with you…”

“Lin Qing! You!”

“Heh heh heh heh heh… President Liang — watch the road!”

……

Wang Xiancheng descended the steps of the Intermediate People’s Court — defeated.

The case had dragged on so long that it had outlasted even his financial collapse.

Left with no other options, Wang Xiancheng had to publicly transfer ownership of Longquan Group.

Because Longquan Group had maintained a solid reputation over the years, many buyers came forward.

Wang Xiancheng, reading the market and naming a bold price, ultimately agreed to sell to Jiang Han for 1.5 billion yuan — only one hundred million more than what Wang Xiancheng had originally paid to acquire it. But the greater gain was this: Ling Xue had come back.

“Should we one day stand together in the falling snow, this life will have been as good as growing old side by side.”

Wang Xiancheng, a hero past his prime, had aged visibly from the recent weeks of frantic exertion and anxious deliberation — the hair at his temples had turned noticeably white, and the energy and youthful vigor he once carried were nowhere to be seen.

He recited to Liang Meng the origin of the name “Ling Xue SOHO,” overcome with feeling as he said: “In the end — it all went back to where it belonged.”

At the bottom of the steps, Liang Meng extended her hand to Wang Xiancheng and revealed the truth of her own origins.

Wang Xiancheng could not take it in. A man in his fifties who had weathered countless storms simply crouched down at the entrance of the courthouse and began to sob.

Ning Yanhong had always been the woman Wang Xiancheng loved most in his life, yet his own jealousy had driven him to destroy the very person he cherished above all.

Back then, Wang Xiancheng had harbored a fleeting suspicion: was the child Ning Yanhong carried truly his?

When Ning Yanhong learned she was pregnant, she had come to Wang Xiancheng with the test result, asking him to run away with her and start a new life together.

At the time, Wang Xiancheng’s business in Shanghai had only just begun to make a name for itself, and he had secured a foothold in the world of capital. He was unwilling to sacrifice years of struggle and a bright future for love, so he coldly turned Ning Yanhong away with the words: “How do I know the child is even mine? For all I know, it could be Jiang Yueming’s.”

That one sentence destroyed everyone.

“Liang Meng, you won,” Wang Xiancheng said in anguish. “In the end, I still lost.”

Liang Meng quietly helped her biological father to his feet. Jiang Han stood steadily behind her, a silent pillar of support.

“Dad, get up,” Liang Meng said, holding Wang Xiancheng’s gaze. “True winning means obtaining what your heart truly seeks. What I have lacked most in this life is family — and so what I have longed for most is also family. My birth mother and my adoptive father are both gone. History cannot be changed. But the future can.”

Wang Xiancheng stared at her in disbelief. He had never dared to hope that Liang Meng could forgive him — let alone that she would open her mouth and call him “Dad.”

Liang Meng continued: “Dad, we’ve gambled in the capital markets. We’ve lost. And we’ve learned our lesson — the winning move is not to gamble at all. From now on, let our family stay together and return to building something real, something solid, with honest hands-on work. Yesterday, Zaiwu came to me, saying he wants to go to Africa on behalf of Longquan to develop the Baoquan herbal tea market. I’ve already agreed, and I hope you’ll give him a chance too.”

Wang Xiancheng, reluctant to see his son go so far away, looked at Liang Meng in bewilderment: “Even though things haven’t gone well for me recently, the money our family has is more than enough to last you and Zaiwu several lifetimes. He’s already someone who has everything anyone could want in life — why would he still want to go and suffer in Africa?”

Liang Meng answered: “Winning is a feeling. Only when a person feels in their own heart that they have won — can they truly call themselves a winner in life.”

“Alright! I agree!”

“Let’s go. We’re going home.”

(The End)