Lynn Chen shouted loudly, but Evan Lin stayed unmoved. Seeing Evan so indifferent, Lynn held back her words and, for the rest of the way, didn’t say another word to him.
They caught a taxi at the school gate, gave the driver an address, and rode all the way to the neighborhood before getting out.
Arriving home, they pushed open the door and found three people sitting in the villa’s living room.
Besides Lucy Lu, there were two others: one was the next-door neighbor, a woman dressed up like a wealthy lady, who was currently holding a freshly brewed cup of tea, sipping it with a smile on her face.
Next to her sat a boy, a bit over 1.7 meters tall, about the same age as Lynn Chen. He wore a black vest over a white shirt and looked gentle and refined at first glance.
"Mom, I’m home."
Lynn Chen and Evan Lin walked in from the doorway. As the door opened, the woman and the boy both turned their heads to look toward them.
Their gazes lingered briefly on Lynn Chen, but when they saw Evan Lin behind her, a flash of hostility flickered in their eyes.
"Lynn, you’re back! I was just saying we should have Ryan pick you up, but then I realized he doesn’t have your phone number—it’s hard to contact you. Later, why don’t you give your number to Ryan?" The wealthy lady smiled warmly, completely ignoring Evan Lin sitting beside her.
Ryan Ren’s full name is Ren Qiang. Hearing this, he nodded, "Yeah, it’s a bit of a distance from Capitalview First High to here. If you want, I can pick you up after school. Peiying High gets out half an hour earlier than your school."
Peiying High School.
When Ryan Ren said those four words, his face clearly showed pride and self-satisfaction.
In all of Capitalview City, Peiying High School counts as a ‘noble’ high school. Although it’s privately run, its teaching level rivals Capitalview First High. But since Peiying charges more than 100,000 yuan a year in fees, only students from wealthy families with deep connections can attend.
Ryan Ren got into this school thanks to a lot of connections. Charles Chen originally planned to send Lynn Chen there too, but they missed the deadline for transfers. Plus, Charles didn’t have the right connections in the Capitalview area yet, so in the end, neither Lynn nor Evan Lin could get in.
"No need."
Lynn Chen shook her head, greeted Ryan Ren and the wealthy lady politely, then prepared to go upstairs.
But before she could take a few steps, the wealthy lady smiled and called out, "Lynn, don’t rush off. Auntie still has something to discuss with you. Why not come sit for a bit?"
As she spoke, she patted the seat beside her, while Ryan Ren looked on with anticipation.
Lynn Chen glanced at Lucy Lu, then at Evan Lin beside her. She found Evan was still acting like he didn’t care about anything, which made her secretly annoyed. So she walked over, but instead of sitting next to the wealthy lady, she chose the sofa beside Lucy Lu.
"Hey, classmate, why don’t you sit down too?"
The wealthy lady looked at Evan Lin with a smile, a sharp glint in her eyes.
Recently, Ryan Ren had been talking about Lynn Chen nonstop, which made the wealthy lady pay extra attention to Lynn’s family. That’s when she discovered Charles Chen was starting a real estate company in Capitalview. Although it was just getting off the ground, its future looked promising.
Plus, the wealthy lady thought Lynn Chen was pretty, and since she was doing well at Capitalview First High, her grades were good too. If Ryan and Lynn could get a bit closer, that wouldn’t be a bad thing at all.
Originally, the wealthy lady planned to let the kids get to know each other slowly. But when she saw Lucy Lu bringing Evan Lin home at noon, she got a new idea and brought Ryan over that evening to strike first.
Now, when she looked at Evan Lin, there was a hint of malice in her eyes. In her opinion, Lynn Chen’s family was a potential goldmine, while Evan was just a poor kid clinging to rich relatives.
"Xiao Yi, if you have homework, you can go upstairs and work on it first." Lucy Lu sounded a bit worried—she didn’t want the wealthy lady to say anything that might hurt Evan Lin’s pride.
"It’s fine, Auntie Lu."
Evan Lin nodded slightly to Lucy Lu, not avoiding anything, and simply sat down on the sofa.
Seeing this, the wealthy lady looked satisfied. She turned to Lucy Lu and spoke up: "Lucy, you’ve almost been moved in for a month now, right? I heard your husband is starting a real estate company? How’s it going so far?"
"It should be almost done, but there are still some approval procedures and paperwork to finish." Lucy Lu frowned slightly, not quite sure what the wealthy lady was getting at.
"Here’s the thing: my husband, Old Ren, isn’t a big shot in Capitalview, but he does know people in all sorts of departments—like the Housing Bureau, Industry and Commerce Bureau, and the Tax Bureau. Now that we’re neighbors, I talked to Old Ren, and he said he can arrange for your husband to meet a few bureau chiefs over dinner and help him get familiar with the ropes."
The wealthy lady smiled broadly, speaking loud enough for everyone to hear.
Lucy Lu was a bit taken aback. It was true—Charles Chen had run into some trouble lately and hadn’t found any solutions. If they had connections in the housing, industry, and tax departments, things would definitely go much smoother.
Even so, Lucy Lu stayed cautious and smiled, "I’ll have to wait until Charles gets home and talk it over with him. Wouldn’t want to trouble Old Ren too much."
"No trouble at all, it’s just a small favor. But speaking of trouble, I do have one thing I need Lynn’s help with—if she’s free, of course."
The wealthy lady smiled meaningfully at Lynn Chen, her gaze lingering.
Ryan Ren, sitting beside her, straightened his back and looked at Lynn Chen with obvious excitement.
"What is it?" Lucy Lu’s heart skipped a beat. As expected, they came prepared. As she spoke, Lucy glanced at Evan Lin, and seeing his expression unchanged, she finally relaxed a little.