Late at night, in the storage room of Su Ran's company.
Lin Tianba organized a family meeting. Three were expected to attend, and three were present.
"Today, we’re discussing our escape plan."
Lin Tianba dropped a bombshell right from the start. Though Liu Yuemei and Lin Jian had braced themselves for various possibilities, hearing it outright still made their hearts sink.
But Lin Tianba was even more distressed—he had reached a dead end.
The deadline set by the authorities for handling the property refund was fast approaching, and he had no way to resolve it.
On top of that, his plan to sell "Lin Garden Scenery" at a steep discount had completely failed.
No one was willing to buy Lin Garden Scenery, even at rock-bottom prices—not individual buyers, not even investment firms.
It was under these circumstances that he decided to flee, leaving the mess for society to deal with.
"Husband, has it really come to this?"Lin Tianba nodded.
"If we leave now, we can still keep over 300 million. If we don’t, we’ll never have a chance to recover in this lifetime."
Liu Yuemei frowned deeply, her hatred for Lin Ran reaching its peak.
If it weren’t for Lin Ran selling his shares, how could the Lin family have fallen this far?
"Why don’t you go beg Xiao Ran? Make him kneel and apologize, then save you."
Lin Tianba shook his head. "Impossible. That unfilial son won’t give us money, nor will he kneel and apologize. Haven’t you realized that by now?"
Liu Yuemei, still in a cast and barely mobile, didn’t hold back her words.
"It’s all Luo Yao’s fault. Xiao Ran was such a good boy before she corrupted him."
Lin Jian chimed in, though his speech was garbled.
"Xi ya, sha ya chi wo yi si jian guo guo la me ba za, xia zi da ta guo guo si zi fu zui, ca la da zi fu ta die."
Liu Yuemei sighed. "Son, just type it out."
Lin Jian fell silent. Was all this suffering even worth it?
[Typing: Yeah, last time I saw my brother acting so violently, I thought I’d take the punishment for him. And now look where that got me.]
Seeing Lin Jian’s "message," Liu Yuemei grew even angrier.
Even Lin Tianba felt a surge of inexplicable rage.
"Son, you’re too naive. I’ve told you—kindness will get you killed, but you never listen."
Liu Yuemei, heartbroken for her son, quickly interjected. "Husband, don’t blame Xiao Jian. He only has one brother. Let’s focus on the main issue—like how to get revenge and how to escape."
"Revenge? You still want revenge? We can barely afford food, and you’re thinking about revenge?"
Liu Yuemei and Lin Jian fell silent.
"Husband, if we’re really planning to run, at least return the money to my family. It’s their life savings."
Liu Yuemei’s reasoning was simple—whether the Liu family lived or died didn’t matter, but her 50 million had taken a full decade to "save up."
"I’ll return that money, but only after I’ve transferred my assets," Lin Tianba assured her.
"Fine. I’ll follow your lead."
Lin Jian: "Wa ya ti ni di."
With his family’s agreement, Lin Tianba knew he had to act fast—before it was too late.
The next day, as the World Bank opened for business, Lin Tianba began moving funds, preparing to transfer them through a foreign exchange account. But before he could finish, the authorities showed up.
"Mr. Lin, the bank has detected unusual activity in your account and suspects illegal asset transfers. Your transactions today will be reversed within the hour, and your account will be restricted. From now on, no funds can flow into overseas markets. Further updates on the restriction will be provided later."
"What? How can you do this?"
Just then, an unexpected figure arrived.
Xu Kai extended his hand. "Mr. Lin, I’m Xu Kai, representing the bank. Given that your shares are mortgaged to the bank, your funds are now under supervision."
Seeing Xu Kai, Lin Tianba felt the sky collapse.
He finally realized something was terribly wrong.
"You… It was you? You’re the one who suggested I take out a share-backed loan. So this was all your doing?"
Lin Tianba finally understood—someone had set a trap to destroy him completely.
Xu Kai neither confirmed nor denied.
"Now, you have two options. Either settle the bank’s loan to regain access to your funds, or declare bankruptcy and let the bank seize all mortgaged shares."
Lin Tianba gasped for air, feeling suffocated.
Even he could see the truth now.
In the past, he’d been too focused on making money to notice Xu Kai, this "small fry." Now it was clear—Xu Kai had always been working for Lin Ran.
Xu Kai’s firm specialized in serving Luo Corporation, and Lin Ran was Luo Yao’s kept man. The connection was obvious, but Lin Tianba had never considered it.
He’d stubbornly believed Lin Ran was just Luo Yao’s plaything—someone she’d discard at any moment, never assigning Xu Kai to serve him.
When Xu Kai helped Lin Ran sell his shares before, Lin Tianba assumed Luo Yao had a stake in it. But now he saw the truth.
This was all a setup—to leave him with nothing.
How ruthless. That unfilial son didn’t care about their bond at all.
"You… Did Lin Ran send you?"
"No. The bank did," Xu Kai replied.
"That! Unfilial! Brat!" Lin Tianba roared.
Xu Kai frowned.
"Mr. Lin, there’s actually a third option."
Lin Tianba clung to this lifeline.
"What is it?"
Xu Kai extended his hand again, polite as ever.
"Let me reintroduce myself. I’m lawyer Xu Kai, acting on behalf of Lin Ran. He wishes to negotiate the acquisition of your company’s shares. Please convene a shareholders’ meeting as soon as possible."
"What? Lin Ran wants to buy back the shares?"
"Indeed, Mr. Lin. The sooner you hold the meeting and exit, the better it will be for you."
Lin Tianba froze, sensing a glimmer of hope.
If Lin Ran was willing to buy his shares, even without Su Ran Group, he could make a comeback.
He’d spent a billion buying Lin Ran’s 30% stake. Now, if Lin Ran took his 51%, he could sell it for 1.5 billion—a small loss, but acceptable.
With 1.5 billion plus the 300 million he still had, totaling 1.8 billion, he could repay the bank’s 1 billion loan and still have 800 million left. Life would be sweet again.
But when the shareholders’ meeting was finally held, Lin Tianba realized he’d been too optimistic…
"Fine. Let that unfilial brat have his win this time. I’ll notify everyone—the meeting will be held within three days at the latest."