Seeing that Evan Lin was about to leave, Big Tank—who had just given that little punk a savage bite—quickly let go, kicked the punk far away, then hurried over to Evan with a big smile plastered on his face. "Master, where are you headed? Let me drive you!"
Lily Zhong and Jessica Jiang still hadn’t recovered from everything that just happened. Now, seeing Big Tank—so imposing in everyone’s eyes—wearing that fawning grin, they felt like they must be dreaming.
Both of them turned to look at Evan Lin, hands in his pockets, as if in a trance.
"Mm."
Evan Lin nodded. Seeing this, Big Tank’s face lit up and he quickly scampered over to open the car door.
Manager Yang stood off to the side, watching, not daring to utter a single word.
They got into the car.
Evan Lin gave the back seat to Lily Zhong and Jessica Jiang, taking the passenger seat himself.
With the car started, the atmosphere inside turned a little strange.
Except for Big Tank’s ever-present grin, Lily Zhong and Jessica Jiang kept sneaking glances at Evan Lin.
The car sped along, catching nothing but green lights.
"Master, the Lewis territory was way easier than I expected. With those two big brothers you brought along, taking over was a breeze!"
"Now the KTVs, hotels, and this amusement park are basically all in our hands. Next it’s just opening up for business. As for the accounts and revenue, I’m not really sure how to handle all that. If you get a chance, could you look it over?"
Big Tank glanced nervously at Evan Lin beside him, terrified of saying the wrong thing.
When he first got hold of the ledgers, his eyes nearly popped out—every single entry, every day’s income, was a number Big Tank had never dared dream of before.
"Handle it yourself."
Evan Lin replied coolly, looking completely uninterested. Big Tank didn’t dare say more and nodded repeatedly.
Compared to all that money, what Big Tank feared most was making Evan Lin unhappy. He knew exactly how everything today had come about.
Without Evan Lin, he’d probably still be some nobody getting stomped on by Titan Zhou.
The car pulled up outside the apartment complex next to Brightsea No. 2 High. Lily Zhong and Jessica Jiang got out, wanting to invite Evan Lin up, but he declined, so they didn’t insist.
Watching the Mercedes drive away, Jessica Jiang tugged Lily Zhong’s wrist, curiosity all over her face. "Lily, what does your classmate’s family actually do?"
"I mean, in Brightsea, I don’t think any family could ever stand up to the Lewis family. And from the way he talked, it sounded like everything the Lewis family owned is basically his now."
Jessica was full of questions, but smart enough not to ask them earlier.
To be honest, her impression of Evan Lin wasn’t especially good or bad, but the calm confidence he showed every second did make Jessica admire him a little.
"I don’t know either. He wasn’t like this before," Lily Zhong shook her head and sighed.
She felt more and more that the distance between her and Evan Lin was growing.
Even before, when Evan Lin came over for dinner, he tried his best to act normal, but deep down Lily still felt he wasn’t like a kid at all.
"Maybe his family is just really strict. Some rich kids do get raised with a heavy hand. And for Big Tank to call him ‘Master’ so willingly at his age, his family must have seriously powerful connections," Jessica mused.
Lily didn’t know how to reply, so as they headed upstairs, she apologized to Jessica.
"If it weren’t for Evan Lin, things with you and Peter wouldn’t be so awkward. He even got beaten up because of it."
Lily Zhong looked troubled.
That Peter Pang—Jessica had mentioned him plenty of times before. He always took good care of Jessica’s bar business, ordering lots of drinks every month and giving her solid commissions.
Now that Peter had gotten beaten up, he’d definitely hold a grudge against Jessica from now on.
"It’s fine. At least now I’ve seen his true colors. Worst case, I just make less money in the future," Jessica shrugged. "But hey, does he maybe have a thing for you?"
As she slipped her key into the lock, Jessica suddenly turned around, grinning mischievously at Lily and waggling her eyebrows.
"Nonsense, I’m his teacher!"
Lily’s face flushed as she shoved Jessica through the door.
...
"Master, where to now?" Big Tank asked from the driver’s seat, grinning with respect in his eyes as he looked at Evan Lin.
"Take me to the bus station. It’s about time I went home for a visit," Evan Lin said.
Evan Lin turned to look out the car window. He’d originally planned to visit Lucy Lu’s family—she’d probably be worried after he’d been gone so long.
But just now, Evan changed his mind and decided he’d better go home first.
Counting everything up, he now had about ten million yuan in liquid assets. That was more than enough for Joy Zheng to buy a house or do whatever she wanted.
"Last life, I couldn’t make you proud. This time, no matter what, I won’t let you suffer again."
Evan Lin murmured, memories drifting back to those years centuries ago, when Joy Zheng raised him all by herself.
As an elementary school teacher in Whitewood County, Joy Zheng never made much money. With just the two of them at home, Evan had never even met his father.
Back then, people always said, ‘Trouble comes to a widow’s door.’ Evan was too young to understand what that meant.
But as he grew up, he understood more and more how hard it was for Joy Zheng—a woman on her own—to raise a child.
In grade school, Evan was timid and shy. One day, some older kids beat him up on his way home. He came back crying, and the next day, Joy Zheng rode her bike to the school gate with him, demanding an explanation from the bullies’ parents.
He still remembered when his teacher assigned a hundred-character essay for the first time. Evan was so anxious he burst into tears, but Joy Zheng bent over patiently, wiped his tears, and coached him through every stroke until he finished his very first hundred-character essay.
Looking back on it all now, most of it seemed a little ridiculous.
But those old scenes flowed by like gentle water, surfacing again and again before Evan Lin’s eyes.
Evan gazed out the window, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.
Big Tank, sitting beside him, stared in shock. For once, he saw his usually cold, distant master radiate nothing but warmth.