Chapter 16

“Xiao Wan, do you think I can do it?”

Fine threads of rain drifted through the sky. Her father’s affairs after death could be considered settled for the time being. The people who had come to see him off had come and gone, and in the empty cemetery, only Lin Dang was left standing there alone.

She had sent Secretary Sister away to bring Lin Ran and Grandma home. Only Huo Wan still remained by her side, holding the umbrella handle.

Black truly was a color that could make a person look mature.

It was also a color that could swallow everything.

Lin Dang finally could no longer bear the weight. She covered her face and crouched down, and a somewhat broken voice leaked out little by little from between her fingers, carrying a faint sob. She knew many people were waiting to laugh at her family. Although she kept telling herself in her heart, You can do this, could she really do it?

She did not understand anything. Even if she had learned brilliantly in her related major at school, it was nothing more than discussing military strategy on paper. What exactly should she do so that she would not fail her dead father and her still-living mother?

She did not know what she should do.

The pain of losing her father hurt her [read the original at bailiantales.com]too. But other people could collapse from grief. She could not.

The rain outside drifted in slantwise little by little, landing on the back of her hand with a damp chill.

Huo Wan’s hand tightened around the umbrella handle, obviously using a little more strength. This Lin Dang was one she had never seen before, and also one she did not want to see.

Lost, helpless, and with nothing to rely on.

Was that really how it was? But I’m clearly still here with you…

Holding the umbrella, she slowly crouched down. She reached out and gently took down the hands covering Lin Dang’s face, then gripped them tightly. A damp warmth came from the other girl’s palm. Her eyes were red, and there were still tears hanging on her eyelashes. It was obvious she had just cried.

Huo Wan was also very sad.

Her girl was very sad, but she was powerless to do anything. This feeling was truly especially awful.

The large black umbrella covered the two of them. From a distance, it looked like a black mushroom.

Huo Wan suppressed the feelings in her heart that were about to surge out, then lightly Read on BaiLianTales placed a kiss on the other girl’s forehead.

This was a kiss unrelated to romance.

Her gaze was firm and burning as she looked steadily at the person in front of her.

“You can. You definitely can. Because you are Lin Dang.”

….

Just when everyone thought the Lin Group was about to collapse and began planning to come knocking for an acquisition, Lin Dang appeared at the Lin Group with an extremely forceful attitude.

The first thing she did was take the shares in her hands and convene a shareholders’ meeting, firmly establishing her identity as chairman.

The shareholders looked at one another, growing even more uneasy.

Letting a female university student who had not even graduated yet become chairman of the Lin Group—wouldn’t that make the company collapse even faster? Even if this person was Lin Hai’s biological daughter, it still would not do.

Everyone shouted one after another that they wanted to see Chairman Zhao, which was Lin Dang’s mother. But how could Zhao ​unauthorized copy​Xiangmei possibly meet them right now?

Couldn’t do it? Every single day, people said she could not do it.

Lin Dang had already heard far too much of this kind of talk.

During this period, there had even been all kinds of old-timers from the group who styled themselves as her uncles and elders, coming to persuade her to liquidate and sell the Lin Group. Even though she did not understand many of the tricks in the business world very well, Lin Dang could still see that these people had bad intentions and were eating from the inside while helping outsiders.

Otherwise, why would they have even brought acquisition contracts with them?

They simply took her for a young, inexperienced fool who could be easily coaxed.

Before Lin Dang had even lost her temper, Huo Wan could not hold back and used words to stab these people first. This was the first time Lin Dang experienced that Miss Huo’s poisonous tongue was no weaker than her own.

“Dangdang, don’t pay attention to these old bastards. If I say you can do it, then you can do it!”

Huo Wan was so angered by these shameless people that she started cursing. Her pair of pink fists clenched tightly. Although she knew the Lin family’s situation was bad, she had not expected it to be bad to this extent.

Someone had actually found the Lin family’s address and come to harass them at their door.

The somewhat heavy atmosphere in the room was completely scattered by Huo Wan’s one sentence, and Lin Dang rarely let out a pfft of laughter. Under long-term high pressure, at this moment, she unexpectedly felt a little lighter too.

“Who are you? Why would it definitely work just because you say so?”

Seeing that Lin Dang had actually laughed, Huo Wan thought for a moment and decided to let this light topic continue a little longer. It was enough to press pause on this bit of happiness.

“Of course it works. I watched you grow up. If you can’t do it, then I’ll…”

“Then you’ll what?”

“Then I’ll go out and pick up trash to support you!”

….

Just as Huo Wan had said, Lin Dang really could do it.

The life’s work Lin Hai left behind came back from the dead in her hands.

As long as she planted the first step firmly and stabilized the situation, then there was nothing much to worry about for the remaining ninety-nine steps.

Lin Dang’s ability to learn and adapt was very strong. In addition, there were people with good intentions guiding her from the side. Very quickly, she adapted to the group’s operating model.

The first step after gaining her footing was not to rectify the chaos inside the group. The first thing Lin Dang chose to do was, in her late father’s name, hold a press conference to donate five Hope Primary Schools to impoverished mountain areas, and to clarify the rumors outside that the Lin Group was about to be liquidated and acquired.

Because of this move, the Lin Group’s stock began to slowly recover.

Ms. Zhao Xiangmei was still the same as before, sitting every day in the empty bedroom, holding in her hands a photo taken when she and her husband were newly married. The doctor said she had suffered a major blow and had moderate depression. She herself was unwilling to come out.

Sometimes, Grandma would come over and secretly look at her daughter-in-law, wiping her tears in silence from heartache.

Her daughter-in-law had long since become as close as a daughter. She had just lost her son, and now her daughter was like this too.

Lin Dang would also often drag her exhausted body over and speak a sentence or two with her mother. Some were about things that had happened in the company, some were about things between her and Huo Wan. In any case, she would ramble on, saying whatever came to mind. The doctor had also said they should communicate more with the patient.

“Mom, I did it… I didn’t let your and Dad’s life’s work be [Read on BaiLianTales]taken away by those vampires.”

“Now I can protect all of you too.” Lin Dang’s voice was somewhat choked.

When Zhao Xiangmei heard this sentence, her eyes changed slightly. She lifted her head and looked at her daughter, but it was only a tiny movement. Very quickly, her face returned to that numb, wooden state.

“You also have to… come out of it a little faster. You still have me and Ranran…”

….

Everything was slowly returning to the right track. Seeing Lin Dang’s success made Huo Wan even happier than if she had succeeded herself.

So happy she wanted to hug Dangdang and spin her around in place three times!

Now that things had stabilized, Huo Wan also had to return to Zhongda and continue her studies.

Although she was very reluctant, everything that had happened during this period made her understand that at this age, she still needed to keep working hard. Only this way could she, when Lin Dang needed someone to lean on in the future, have shoulders broad enough for Lin Dang to rely on.

Instead of being like this time, unable to do anything except watch and keep her company.

Lin Dang held a farewell meal for Huo Wan, and it was no longer the little playful fuss from when they were children. When they were young, their families had been very, very strict. There was never much money in their pockets, and the best thing they could afford was a little cake.

But now, as the acting president of the Lin Group, she could treat Huo Wan to a cake freshly made by the best chef in the entire city.

Only, the Huo Wan of today was no longer a girl who could be satisfied by one little cake.

She had someone she wanted.

And the person she wanted most was standing right in front of her.