"Boss, here's the full list of Xiao family assets. Please take a look."
Inside an office, Big Tank handed a set of accounts to Evan Lin with utmost respect.
"There's a villa up on Thousand-Saints Mountain, and..."
Big Tank was about to give Evan Lin a more detailed rundown; a whole row of keys lay on the desk.
The Niu family was basically wiped out now. In all of Brightsea City, only Imperial Grand was left standing.
As for Imperial Grand, Evan Lin couldn't be bothered to deal with them for now.
"Alright, I'll take the villa on Thousand-Saints Mountain. You can handle the rest however you see fit."
Evan Lin picked up one of the keys. As for everything else, he wasn't interested at all.
With another year of senior high to go, if he stayed in Brightsea, he'd need a place of his own. Living at Lynn Chen's house all the time was getting old.
Besides, after this trip back to Whitewood County, Evan Lin planned to get Joy Zheng a new house so she wouldn't have to scrape by anymore.
People used to say life only lasted a hundred years, but now, his path might stretch much, much longer.
"You two stay here and help him clean up this mess."
After speaking to Shawn Shi and Dong Zi, Evan Lin walked out alone.
Now that Big Tank held the Xiao family resources, with the Liu and Niu family assets next in line, his wealth and status were about to skyrocket.
But none of that meant anything to Evan Lin.
...
Outside the apartment complex near Brightsea No. 2 High School.
Lily Zhong came out of the supermarket, looking tired and carrying groceries for dinner, hurrying home.
"Lily, I've finally caught you. Do you have any money on you right now?"
At the street corner, Old Man Zhong saw Lily Zhong coming and stepped out, grinning, blocking her way.
The old man was none other than Old Man Zhong, the one from Imperial Grand KTV.
"I don't have any money. Stop asking me!"
Lily Zhong shot him a look of pure disgust and turned to leave.
Old Man Zhong stepped forward, blocking her path again, his grin turning pitiful. "Shuiyu, I'm really out of money. You can't just let your dad starve to death out here, can you?"
"I haven't been gambling much lately, I swear."
Old Man Zhong rubbed his hands together.
"Not gambling? How much have I given you? I've spent everything paying off your debts! And it's still not enough! What do you want from me?" Lily bit her lip, her arm trembling as she stared at her father.
"I only lost a hundred and fifty thousand! Now I just owe fifty thousand—if you don't help, are you going to watch those guys beat me to death? I'm your dad! If you don't care, I'll die out here! Are you even human?" Old Man Zhong's face twisted with rage as he glared at Lily.
"It's fine if you don't have money today. I've already talked to a big brother—just come with me. As long as you go out with them for a week, my debt's gone and I'll even get another ten thousand! Let's go!"
Old Man Zhong grabbed Lily Zhong's wrist, trying to drag her away.
Lily struggled, but couldn't break free. Several people nearby watched, some wanting to help, but when Old Man Zhong shouted, "I'm her father!" they all backed off.
When it's family drama like this, outsiders usually keep their distance.
Just as Old Man Zhong was dragging Lily away, a hand reached out from the side and clamped down hard on his wrist.
Old Man Zhong's face twisted in pain, cold sweat breaking out on his forehead. He instinctively let go and howled, turning to curse—only to see Evan Lin standing there. He swallowed his words.
"Y-you..." Old Man Zhong stammered, clearly afraid.
Back at Imperial Grand KTV, Old Man Zhong had seen this teenager cripple Shawn Young—and not long after, the entire Shaw family vanished from Brightsea.
He'd even gone to Snake Brother's casino afterward to try his luck, but the whole place had been cleaned out.
Now, seeing Evan Lin again, Old Man Zhong's wrist throbbed, but he didn't dare curse.
"Is food starting to taste bad, or is life just too boring for you? You want to stir up trouble again? Need me to break both your hands to cure that gambling addiction?" Evan Lin's voice was flat.
Lily Zhong just stared, stunned at Evan Lin's sudden appearance.
Ever since the incident at Imperial Grand, Evan Lin and Lily Zhong acted like strangers at school. Lily noticed the change, felt it deeply, but could do nothing about it.
Later, Evan left to compete in the Math Olympiad. After that, he never returned to school—not even for the Brightsea No. 2 High finals. He simply disappeared.
Lily had tried to ask around about Evan's whereabouts, but got nowhere. She never expected to run into him here.
"Wait, wait! Ow, ow!" Old Man Zhong's wrist was twisted in Evan's grip, leaving him pale from pain.
Lily Zhong stood quietly to the side, saying nothing.
After a moment, Evan Lin kicked Old Man Zhong squarely in the backside. The old man stumbled, fell, scrambled up, and fled in disgrace.
"You... thank you."
Lily opened her mouth, a thousand thoughts flashing through her mind, her gaze complicated.
"Mm."
Evan nodded at Lily. She hadn't changed much during this time.
"Ah, I bought groceries. Let's have lunch together?"
Lily took a moment to compose herself and smiled faintly.
Evan didn't refuse and went with Lily to her place.
The last time Evan came here, it was for tutoring. The apartment was still the same—bright and tidy.
"Sit for a bit. My roommate, Jiang Xiaochu, will be back for lunch too."
"Where have you been all this time? You missed finals, but your Math Olympiad results should be out soon, right? How do you think you did?"
Once inside, Lily tidied up the clothes on the sofa, chatting nonstop as she worked.
"It should... be fine, I guess."
Evan sounded uncertain. His mindset had shifted again since coming back to life.
He'd been from Brightsea, to River City, then Sunrise City, shaking all of Seacrest Prefecture.
Hearing Lily's voice again, Evan felt a fleeting strangeness inside, then sighed softly. His eyes soon cleared, and he looked calm and detached.