Supremely Talented Tyrant

"It's a bit far, but it's not a problem."

Upon hearing the address Shen Ling mentioned, Hao Jian's eyebrows furrowed slightly. The address Shen Ling referred to belonged to the outskirts of Hua City, a very backward area. Although there was public transportation like buses, people living in that area continued to do things their own way, and few people used such things as buses.

Generally speaking, people who live in such places are those who want to save money or are from poor families. Wealthy people do not go to such places.

After all, if you have money, why would anyone choose to live in such a backward place? Unless they plan to cultivate their body and mind.

This, in a sense, also highlighted Shen Ling's impoverished family background. Otherwise, no normal person would engage in such a high-risk occupation; it's all because of life's pressures and helplessness.

"By the way, I still don't know your name."

While driving, Hao Jian suddenly spoke up.

Feeling a bit chaotic inside, Shen Ling heard him and nervously twisted the hem of her dress with her hands, then said timidly, "I… I'm called Shen Ling…"

"Shen Ling? That's a really nice name…"

Hao Jian smiled gently and stepped on the accelerator, making the car speed up. The distance to the outskirts was quite far, and if the speed was too slow, it might take two or three hours to get there.

This distance might have been intentional on Shen Ling's part. After all, her residence was far from here. Even if something happened here, it wouldn't have much impact on where she lived, as no one knew where she lived, and such things only circulated within a small range.

Trying to spread it to the outskirts would be really difficult unless someone went out of their way to do so.

"Hmm…"

Hearing Hao Jian's compliment, a smile appeared on Shen Ling's lips, but the next moment, as if recalling some bitter memories, her pure eyes dimmed, and a faint sense of inferiority swirled around her, causing Hao Jian's eyebrows to furrow slightly.

But soon, Hao Jian's brows relaxed, and instead, he turned his head with a smile, looking at Shen Ling, he said, "Can you tell me about your story?"

"However, I don't mean anything else; I just want to know why you reached this point, and if I can, I hope I can help you…"

Upon hearing this, a slight brightness appeared in Shen Ling's eyes, but it was soon followed by hesitation. Finally, she sighed softly and said, "What I'm telling is just my background. You might know about this when you get to my place, so instead of letting you find out later, it's better you hear it from me."

"After all, the rumors outside about me scare me a little…"

"As for the help you mentioned, I don't think I need it. I am healthy and can completely rely on my own hands to work hard. Instead of receiving charity, earning money through my own toil and sweat makes me happier."

With that sentence, Hao Jian was slightly moved. He hadn't expected a woman who had experienced despair to still hold hope for society and be self-reliant, which made Hao Jian even more curious about what sort of family could raise such a woman.

Moreover, why did this woman speak with a bit of resentment toward that residence?

A person like her, with her character, would be wanted by many companies for their ambition and resilience.

However, as she continued her narrative, Hao Jian gradually understood why Shen Ling had taken such actions today…

"I am the eldest daughter in my family, and when I was born, my parents had no fondness for me. You're not wrong; they do favor boys over girls."

When Shen Ling said this, there was a touch of sadness in her voice. After all, they were her parents, and she was also their child, but why did they despise her?

Was it her fault that she was born a girl? Clearly not, right?!

"From childhood to adulthood, my grades in school were always in the top ten. I did this so that my parents could see my existence, see my excellence…"

"But what happened? At that time, they only had eyes for my brother. No matter what requests my brother made, they would never refuse, but as for me? Even when I wanted to buy a pair of shoes, they would scold me harshly and then get an unwanted pair from the neighbors for me to wear."

"My family wasn't affluent, without any savings, but the most important thing was when I was about to attend college during my third year of high school, they forced me to drop out. At that time, my grades were good enough to attend a key university, and yet they forced me to drop out."

At this point, Shen Ling showed a cold smile: "It's funny to say that their reason for forcing me to drop out was because my brother wanted to buy a pair of sneakers costing over two thousand yuan, and they were unwilling to buy them, so they decided to force me to drop out and work to buy them for my brother."

"You should know that my brother is a lazy person. From childhood to adulthood, with my parents' extreme indulgence, he dared to do anything!"

"Now I've been working for several years, but the money they request keeps increasing, gradually making it impossible for me to support myself, and not long ago, the factory where I worked closed down, leaving me unemployed."

"If it was just me, being unemployed would mean finding another job, but at home, there's also my brother, who doesn't care about anything and just reaches out for money…"

"At that time, I also told my parents and brother about the situation, but they ignored me and just demanded money. If I didn't give it, they would beat and scold me!"

"Even if my parents' beating and scolding could be tolerated, the worst was my brother, who has recently been hanging out and found a few friends. Relying on those friends, he kept bullying me and even almost forced me to become a companion on nights out for his gangster friends!"

"Creak… creak…"

As she recounted this story, Shen Ling's eyes started to turn red, her eyes became moist again, and tears welled up in her eyes, ready to fall. Just then, a tissue unexpectedly appeared in front of her, surprising her.

"Haha, it's just a story, and since it's a story, don't cry…"

Hao Jian chuckled lightly, and his tone was filled with a heavy undertone: "Your future shouldn't just comprise these things; there should be something else. As for those tears, they might be a part of your life, but the reason for them shouldn't just be these grievances, but something much grander!"

Hao Jian's voice, gentle like spring rain, nourished Shen Ling's heart, which had long dried from crying: "Thank you…"

Her choked voice came out somewhat difficultly, and as she spoke, her tears immediately fell into her hands…

Seeing her cry again, Hao Jian was helpless and was about to hand her another tissue but was stopped by her hand. Shen Ling shook her head at Hao Jian, indicating it was not necessary.

At this moment, her slightly choked voice slowly emerged: "So, out of desperation, I thought of this unconventional method, trying to use the Fleece Trick to earn some money for myself, just to shut their mouths…"

"But… but…"

"Did you not expect to be found out by that big man, right?"

Hao Jian looked at Shen Ling unkindly and said, "It's alright if you wanted to do something different, but why did you think of this method?"

"I… I didn't have any other choice, did I?"

Shen Ling stammered, the handsome man before her being her savior; she dared not be too presumptuous. Moreover, she wasn't a presumptuous person, or she wouldn't be crying like this.

"Don't cry anymore."

Looking at her, Hao Jian gently smiled and shook his head, his eyes deeply gazing at the road ahead: "This time, I'll accompany you to see what exactly your so-called family is like. In today's powerful nation of Huaxia, having such a family situation is indeed an ironic piece of news."

Shen Ling was puzzled by Hao Jian's sudden words. She didn't know if he was talking about her family or something else, but she could sense the anger in Hao Jian's words.

Is he angry because of me?

Shen Ling was a bit flustered, her hands twisting the hem of her dress tighter. The hem of her dress was already misshapen, but fortunately, the quality was good; otherwise, it might have torn a little after being twisted so long.

The car sped along quickly, as Shen Ling continued with her story, while Hao Jian quietly listened beside her, occasionally saying a few words to pull back Shen Ling, who was on the brink of anger.

"By the way, I still don't know your name... could you... could you tell me..."

Initially talking about her own matters, Shen Ling suddenly looked up at Hao Jian. Her pretty cheeks were slightly flushed, perhaps from crying or from a sense of shyness.

Upon hearing this, Hao Jian rubbed his nose, feeling a bit awkward. He had forgotten this matter, having always talked about Shen Ling's affairs without mentioning his own, to the point that he hadn't even shared his name with Shen Ling.

It was lucky she didn't have a smaller mind, or that could provide thoughts for other women to suspect worrying intentions from him.

Shaking his head, Hao Jian cast away those thoughts, then he turned to Shen Ling, smiling gently. The soft chuckle emanated slowly, causing Shen Ling's eyes to flicker slightly, blossoming with a hint of shyness.

"Hello, let's reintroduce ourselves. My name is Hao Jian…"

"Hao Jian…"