Social Animals? My Brother is a Female Empress in the Underworld and Earns 10 Billion a Month!

299: A broken mirror cannot be mended, and spilled water cannot be gathered up again.She looked at Father Lin’s forced smile, into the worry Mother Lin couldn’t hide in her eyes, and caught a glimpse of Lin Ran’s lowered eyelashes.

The stifling feeling in her chest surged again, heavier than before.

This meal was filled with a mix of emotions.

After the meal, Shang Wan Ning helped clear the dishes and chatted with Father Lin and Mother Lin for a while before getting up to leave.

Lin Ran walked her to the courtyard gate.

The night air was slightly cool, and the streetlights had dimmed to a faint yellow.

”Your Majesty~” Lin Ran said helplessly.

”Why must you do this?”

Shang Wan Ning waved her hand and interrupted her. The night blurred the expression on her face. ”I’m happy to. Your parents are very good.”

She paused for a moment, as if wanting to say something, but in the end, it only turned into one sentence. ”I will always be your fallback.”

This time, ’Underworld’ was changed to ’I’. But a broken mirror is hard to mend, and spilt water cannot be recovered; everything was already too late.

After saying that, without waiting for Lin Ran’s response, Shang Wan Ning turned around, and her figure quickly merged into the void and disappeared.

Lin Ran stood at the door, looking at the empty street corner, and tightened her coat.

The evening breeze blew, carrying the cool air of early autumn, and also scattering the last bit of moisture in her eyes.

She took a deep breath, looked back with a smile on her face again, and pushed open the door. ”Dad, Mom, I’m back. Let’s go watch TV.”

Lin Ran stayed at home for a week, accompanying her parents to buy groceries, cook, take walks, and play chess; the days were as plain as warm water.

The smiles on Father Lin’s and Mother Lin’s faces never stopped, and the wrinkles at the corners of their eyes smoothed out.

Only occasionally when they looked at her, a hidden reluctance would still quietly slip out, making Lin Ran’s heart ache.

In the second week, she flew to C City to meet Yan Tingting and Xie Chi for a meal.

The location was a copper pot hotpot restaurant in the old city area that had been open for over a decade. It was full of life, and they used to come here often after working late.

When Lin Ran arrived, Yan Tingting and Xie Chi were already there. Yan Tingting was sharp-eyed and waved through the steam: ”Captain Lin, over here.”

Lin Ran walked over and sat down. Yan Tingting leaned in, her eyes sparkling as she looked her up and down, clicking her tongue: ”My god, Captain Lin, what brand of preservative did you eat?”

”It’s been nearly ten years, and look at me, the wrinkles at the corners of my eyes could crush a mosquito. How do you still look the same as when you were first transferred to the Special Affairs Bureau, so fresh and radiant?”

Her words were pure envy. She reached out to pinch Captain Lin’s face but was laughingly swatted away by Lin Ran.

Xie Chi pushed up the gold-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose, his gaze behind the lenses also filled with inquiry.

He was now a group leader in the live-streaming department of Underworld Culture Media Co., Ltd. The calm air of a forensic doctor was still there, just with a bit of corporate exhaustion added.

”Indeed, with Captain Lin’s state, people would believe she’s in her early twenties. For those of us who cultivate, even at the second stage, we can’t handle staying up late, working overtime, and losing hair.” Xie Chi pointed at his hairline, half-joking and half-serious.

The pot bubbled, and the red oil churned.

Lin Ran cooked some tripe for them and smiled, not picking up on that topic: ”How did the first group of the Criminal Police Squad turn out later?”

Yan Tingting started her rant: ”Don’t even mention it. You were so impressive when you were transferred. The well-connected person who came later had little skill but a huge ego.”

”Last month, the ’Ghostly Labyrinth’ in the south of the city went wrong, and all the white-clothed ghosts escaped. They shifted the blame onto us ordinary people and docked half a month’s bonus from me. It’s infuriating.”

She gulped down a mouthful of ice-cold beer. ”It’s still better working with Captain Lin. Even if we see ghosts, at least we don’t take the fall for others.”