Chapter 780: She Became the Richest Woman?
Gao Yuan was ultimately sentenced to life in prison, with a two-year suspension.
His life was more or less over.
As Gao Yuan was being led away, he passed the gallery and shouted to Qin Xiaolan, “Xiao Lan, I never meant to deceive you! When I met you, I truly wanted to start a new life!”
In Gao Yuan’s eyes, Qin Xiaolan was truly a wonderful person.
Beautiful, innocent, and warm.
She was well-brought-up and came from a respectable family.
Gao Yuan truly wished he could forget all the bad things he’d been through and just be with Qin Xiaolan.
Without all the twists of fate and calculated revenge.
Just to live a good life.
But unfortunately, his past actions had broken the law. No matter how well they were hidden, they were bound to be exposed to the light of day.
Qin Xiaolan looked at Gao Yuan’s bloodshot eyes and said softly, “Thank you for loving me. I loved you once, too.”
Just “loved”—in the past tense.
Meaning she wouldn’t love him anymore.
Qin Xiaolan had been brave enough to admit her love, and once she knew for sure that they truly weren’t right for each other, she was just as decisive in letting go.
‘This was the girl he loved,’ he thought.
Gao Yuan looked at her and suddenly smiled. As he kept smiling, tears started to fall.
‘A wonderful girl like her… a complete wreck like him truly didn’t deserve her…’
As they were leaving the courthouse, Qin Jiao took a call and stepped over to a nearby pillar to talk. Qin Xiaolan stood in the sunlight, waiting for her emotions to slowly settle.
Xu Zhi still had official business to attend to, but he was a little worried about Qin Xiaolan, so he came over and asked, “Qin Xiaolan, are you okay?”
“Oh, I’m fine.”
“Is your cousin taking you home?”
“Mhm.”
One of Xu Zhi’s colleagues called out to him. He hesitated for a moment before speaking up. “I can stay in North City for two more days. If you’re free on one of them, we could… get a meal together?”
Although Qin Xiaolan was upset, she remembered how much Xu Zhi had helped her before, so she nodded and said, “The day after tomorrow works. I don’t have class that afternoon.”
“Great. Let’s have lunch the day after tomorrow, then. I’ll come pick you up.”
After saying that, Xu Zhi ran off.
Just then, Qin Jiao finished her call and walked over.
She saw that her cousin’s eyes were still red and swollen.
“Xiao Lan, do you want to go back to school now, or somewhere else?”
“Sis, I’m tired. To be honest… I really want a home of my own.”
Qin Xiaolan leaned on Qin Jiao’s shoulder and sniffled, just like the little girl from Ping’an Town all those years ago.
Qin Jiao thought of the man from earlier, Xu Zhi, and the concern for Xiao Lan that had filled his eyes.
She smiled gently and said, “You will, sooner or later. We girls of the Qin family are blessed with great fortune.”
**
Sales for Jiu Yi’s new spring collection set another record high.
Combined with the previously signed overseas orders, Qin Jiao began to plan Jiu Yi’s expansion.
On top of that, she had recently received a call informing her that she had been named one of North City’s Ten Outstanding Young Achievers.
Shen Yi hugged her proudly, saying, “Honey, you’re amazing. I made the list too, but you were ranked first, and I was third.”
Qin Jiao laughed. “Then who’s the person between us?”
Shen Yi’s expression was a bit complicated.
“It’s your uncle.”
Sun Jianhua’s business had been thriving over the years. After all, the man had been a fruit tycoon in his past life.
He had a good head for business, and in this life, with the help of Qin Jiao and her friends, he’d avoided many pitfalls.
So his business was doing even better than it had in his past life.
As for Shen Yi’s electronics company, while also very impressive, its headquarters was in State City; the North City location was just a branch.
Even so, electronics were a very promising emerging industry, and many people were quite optimistic about its future.
Qin Jiao looked at the rankings for North City’s wealthiest people and saw her own name at the top of the list. It suddenly felt surreal.
‘Just like that, she’d become the richest woman in North City?’
Shen Yi held her and said, “Jiao Jiao, I have more good news. I’ve found the files on Su Yuxi and Su Zeyuan from before and after their plastic surgery.”
These files were enough to prove that the two of them were none other than Lin Nian and Lu Jiuan, the criminals from all those years ago!