My Villain Is Super Sweet (GL) - CHAPTER 27

Lin Lang was blissfully unaware that Gu Qingci secretly disliked her for being all talk and no action. She even felt quite proud of herself!

Look, thanks to her relentless efforts, Gu Qingci had started considering the idea of returning by the end of the year to build a love nest together. Wasn’t that already a resounding victory?

Although their communication had decreased, Lin Lang believed in enduring hardship before enjoying sweetness—she understood the process.

With a brighter and more concrete vision for the future, Lin Lang lived blissfully, counting down the days with eager anticipation.

While she was basking in joy, she also began planning.

The lease would expire in August, and by September, she could start preparing. For instance, the floors—if they were too worn, they’d need replacing or refinishing with waxing and polishing. All the soft furnishings would have to be replaced, and the bathroom would ideally undergo a full renovation; at the very least, the bathtub and other fixtures should be swapped out!

Even though there were still several months before she could begin setting up their new home, it didn’t stop her from planning ahead.

But as she dreamed happily and optimistically, good news was slow to come, while bad news arrived one after another.

First, during the Two Sessions in March, clear signals were released indicating that financial irregularities would be rectified with increased intensity. The ripple effects of this policy direction soon trickled down. Some smaller-scale clients were the first to suspend their business dealings, opting to wait and observe before making further decisions.

Apart from the gradual and steady decline in business, two severe problems emerged by June. First, for the first time, one of Lin Lang’s clients delayed payment for services. Second, nearly 70% of her clients paused loan issuance and urged her to accelerate repayment efforts.

Without new business, relying solely on existing operations, Lin Lang did the math and decisively shut down the first office location when its lease expired.

As for the client who delayed payment, they happened to be one of her company’s largest accounts. Just that one client alone occupied half the office space and accounted for 20% of the company’s business volume.

She had no choice but to cry poverty every three days, persistently chasing after payments. After two months of effort, she even made a trip in person, pleading her case, playing the victim, and using both soft and hard tactics to recover over one million yuan. Yet, half of the amount was still outstanding.

This was turning into a serious problem. Having run the company for over four years, this was the first time Lin Lang encountered a client delaying payment.

And where there’s a first time, countless others are likely to follow.

Sigh, relying on Gu Qingci for support really did seem like the easier option after all!

That’s what Lin Lang said, but she still started pondering her next move. Fintech seemed to be going downhill, so she needed to explore new business areas. Car loans seemed like a great option—high-quality business! Although collections were mostly offline right now, times were changing, and moving collections online seemed like a feasible step.

Online collections would also cut costs significantly!

She decided to treat some former colleagues and bosses to dinner and see if she could get some business leads to test the waters.

Lin Lang even made a special trip back to Rong City, staying for about half a month to reconnect with old contacts and explore new opportunities.

But then she ran straight into He Jikai.

She internally cursed her bad luck and pretended not to know him, planning to walk right past.

Unexpectedly, the car loan business her old boss had connected her with happened to involve He Jikai.

As a second-generation heir, especially one groomed to inherit the family business, He Jikai naturally had a web of influential friends. His family, originally in construction, had focused on real estate over the past decade, maintaining strong ties with various financial institutions, both public and private.

The car loan business Lin Lang wanted to take on was one such extension of these financial institutions. The client she met with included a key shareholder—or rather, a partner—who happened to be one of He Jikai’s friends.

Lin Lang couldn’t help but feel annoyed.

The world really is small—no matter where you go, you always bump into people you’d rather not see.

She managed to secure the deal, but the shareholder, He Jikai’s friend, made a comment that left Lin Lang uncomfortable.

He said, “There’s no shortage of people wanting this business, but I trust you, Ms. Lin. Not just because your company has a great track record, but because He Jikai vouched for your integrity, which is especially important.”

“After all, in the financial industry, there’s a saying: the closer you are to money, the farther you are from humanity. Dealing with money every day, it’s rare for people not to give in to temptation, so we really value integrity.”

These words were meant as praise, but knowing they came from He Jikai made Lin Lang feel utterly disgusted.

After the business dinner ended and everyone left, He Jikai came over to talk to her. Acting all polite and innocent, he first tried to clear his name using the same excuses He Zhiyuan had used in the past. Then, with a sheepish smile, he gave himself credit:

“Back then, it was just a misunderstanding, but I didn’t handle it well and ended up scaring Qingci. Even though we tried to make up for it later, it couldn’t erase the harm we caused her. And worse, it even led to problems with Aunt Gu and Uncle Ruan…”

He spoke in a dramatic, storytelling tone, painting himself as a saint—someone who forgave them all despite being misunderstood, beaten, and financially burdened.

Lin Lang was stunned. She thought to herself, Wow, I’ve truly seen it all. This is a masterclass in self-justification.

It made her wonder: if she could cremate He Jikai on the spot, how many holy relics might emerge from the ashes?

Once He Jikai felt he had explained things sufficiently, he switched topics and began complimenting Lin Lang.

“That incident wasn’t all bad,” he said. “It showed me what a principled and trustworthy person you are. So, when my friend mentioned they were considering working with you but wanted to learn more, I just gave a little nudge in your favor.”

Lin Lang clenched her fists.

Expanding into new business should have been a good thing.

But knowing He Jikai had meddled made it feel all wrong—like finding money smeared with something gross. You don’t want to pick it up but leaving it behind feels like a waste.

On top of that, Lin Lang was now incredibly wary of He Jikai’s sudden appearance.
He’d been out of the picture for a while, studying abroad. With no leads or signs from the He family, Lin Lang had stopped keeping tabs. Instead, she’d asked Ting Ge to keep an ear out for any unusual activity and let her know.

But this timing was just too suspicious.

Lin Lang, having spent most of her time focusing on her relationship with Gu Qingci, hadn’t given much thought to other things lately. After all, no one can stay on high alert forever—it’s exhausting.

But as soon as He Jikai showed up, Lin Lang’s guard shot back up.

She was almost 25. This year and next were particularly risky for her.

It was summer vacation, and even Gu Qingci wasn’t back in the country yet. So why was He Jikai here?

The ones who should return don’t, and the ones who shouldn’t are overly eager.

After much internal conflict, Lin Lang finally stumbled through an explanation of the situation to Gu Qingci.

She had no choice—it would be worse if Gu Qingci found out later and got upset with her.

Gu Qingci was irritated by the news too.

Irritation aside, business was business.

“If there’s money to be made, why not take it?” Gu Qingci said calmly, but he also warned her, “Just be careful—it might be a setup to trap you.”

Lin Lang didn’t think it would go that far.

The business was structured with monthly settlements, and the terms were clear in the contract. Even if the client refused to pay for collection services, her company’s only loss would be employee wages and bonuses.

And she wasn’t taking on too much work at the start anyway. If they were really going to all that effort just to scam her out of a few hundred thousand, that would be overkill.

Still, she kept her guard up.

As the business picked up, He Jikai kept showing up, haunting her like a ghost. He and his friend visited her office three times already, always with convenient excuses.

Using company inspections as an excuse, He Jikai showed up once to evaluate the company’s capabilities, another time to assess the office environment and management processes, and yet again to “oversee” whether employees were legally and ethically carrying out collections work.

Each time, he insisted Lin Lang be present, wandering around before striking up conversations with her.

With a key client involved, Lin Lang had no choice but to endure, spending three days sipping tea in the meeting room with them.

By the second visit, He Jikai’s friend grew tired of sitting idly in the office drinking tea and enthusiastically invited Lin Lang to hang out.

This time, Lin Lang didn’t hold back and firmly declined.

I’m not here to entertain you. If it’s for business, no matter how annoyed I am, I’ll make time for it. But outside the office? No thanks!

Considering He Jikai’s shady past—like drugging people—it was better to stay vigilant.

Eventually, He Jikai calmed his friend down and even paid for an afternoon tea session for Lin Lang’s management team.

During the third visit, he once again treated Lin Lang to tea, but this time it was much fancier and just for her.

Lin Lang couldn’t figure out what his real intentions were. She decided to stay cautious, deal with things as they came, and keep her guard up.

The situation took a turn when one of her colleagues’ girlfriends, who had finished her errands early, stopped by the office to hang out. Upon hearing about this “handsome guy” constantly visiting and treating Lin Lang to tea, she raised her eyebrows and said, “Could he be… trying to pursue you?”

Lin Lang instantly felt a chill run down her spine.

No one had considered this possibility before, but once mentioned, it started to make sense.

The girls found it plausible—after all, Lin Lang was both cool and gorgeous. Even women couldn’t help but admire her. It wasn’t surprising if a man wanted to pursue her.

They often joked, “If Lin Lang were a guy, none of us would stand a chance!”

Or worse: “She doesn’t even have to be a guy. If she liked women, we’d still be out of luck!”
The men, however, dismissed the idea. No matter how attractive Lin Lang was, her strength
and confidence made her someone you’d rather respect than romantically chase.

Besides, wasn’t He Jikai the one who had his arms and legs broken by Lin Lang before? How could he possibly still be interested? Unless…

Someone blurted out, “Maybe he has a… masochistic streak?”

This sudden realization sent the girls into overdrive, with one fiercely defending her theory:

“Then what’s your explanation? A guy randomly being so attentive to a beautiful girl—what else could it be?”

She even shook her boyfriend aggressively. “Tell me, back when you were trying to win me over, didn’t you find all kinds of excuses to hang around and be overly nice?”

Dizzy from the shaking, her boyfriend yelled in desperation, “That’s different! You’re a delicate rose, and Lin Lang is like a bottle of Snowflake Beer charging into the wild!”

Lin Lang: …

Excuse me?!

Are you asking for a beating?!

The group was having a friendly discussion, seeking common ground despite differences, and suddenly this guy throws her under the bus to score points with his girlfriend?

But no one cared much about Lin Lang’s situation with He Jikai anymore—they were too busy enjoying the “couple drama” playing out.

Whatever that He guy is up to, Lin Lang can handle him just fine!

Later, Lin Lang shared the unsettling guess about He Jikai’s intentions with Gu Qingci.

Despite being insanely busy, Gu Qingci immediately video-called her upon seeing the message.

With her eyebrows furrowed, she looked visibly annoyed and declared, “You’re mine. Tell him to back off!”