144. If My Mother and I Fell into the Water at the Same Time...

Chen Ruowen could hardly remember how she had spent the previous night. Toasts were made round after round, and one person after another was met, yet upon waking up, not a single memory remained.

Although the banquet was magnificent enough, it was nowhere near as fun as the stroll Bai Jinyan had taken her on.

After taking a shower and going downstairs, she saw Yang Anxin sitting in the living room watching television. What was playing on the screen was—good grief—her own birthday banquet from the previous night!

Chen Ruowen was utterly speechless. "Are there really no news stories left nowadays? Even celebrating a birthday can end up on TV."

Yang Anxin shook her head. "Your dad specifically bought the broadcast."

Chen Ruowen: "……He really is something else."

Chen Ruowen’s coming-of-age ceremony, coupled with the shift in Twin Stars' equity, easily counted as major news. Even if Chen Liwan hadn't bought the airtime, local television stations would have broadcasted it anyway.

Having rested at home for two days, Chen Ruowen prepared to pack her luggage and return to Rainbow Village, only for Chen Liwan to have her intercepted.

Her suitcases were neatly lined up in a row on the floor, and the helicopter was parked right outside the courtyard. Yet, Chen Ruowen was blocked by a line of bodyguards in suits and sunglasses, unable to take a step past the edge of the lawn.

"You actually dare to block me?" Chen Ruowen narrowed her eyes, casting a cold sweep over the line of men before her. The lead bodyguard captain guiltily averted his gaze.

Chen Ruowen turned back to look at Chen Liwan. "The coming-of-age ceremony is already over. Why are you still stopping me?"

Chen Liwan sat in an open-air seat, sipping tea, and said calmly, "Forget about that volunteer teaching. You've just officially taken office as the vice president of Twin Stars. Use these next few days to get familiar with the company's situation with each department head."

"I am already very familiar with the company's situation!"

"Familiar? Then let me ask you, what was Twin Stars' net profit for the entire past year?"

Chen Ruowen recited a figure with utmost disdain, as if mocking Chen Liwan for asking such a ridiculously simple question.

"Let me ask you again: how many actors do we have under our banner? How many singers? How many models? Among them, how many are first-tier and how many are second-tier? How many new endorsements were added in the first half of the year? How many television dramas were broadcast on major networks? What was the box office for our films? Which companies do we cooperate with, and how many companies in the industry owe us money?"

Chen Ruowen could hardly answer such detailed questions. Defensively, she argued, "What boss would ever pay attention to such specific matters? These figures change every day, how could I possibly know them?"

"And yet you dared to claim you were very familiar with the company?" Chen Liwan retorted bluntly.

"As if you know!" Chen Ruowen immediately fired back.

"Of course I know!"

Chen Ruowen looked at her old man with deep suspicion, whereupon Chen Liwan let out a huff and immediately answered every single question he had just asked, listing the data down to the finest detail. Chen Ruowen instantly shut her mouth.

"Get ready today. Tomorrow, go to the company and read through the financial reports of the past three years first," said Chen Liwan.

"Not going... After I finish my volunteer teaching."

"Volunteer teaching, volunteer teaching, what is so great about volunteer teaching? If you want to do good deeds, tomorrow Dad will directly donate a sum of money to that so-called Rainbow Village in the company's name, and every problem will be solved."

Chen Ruowen pouted. "Bai Jinyan said: 'Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.' He told me not to donate money directly."

Chen Liwan’s brow twitched.

His daughter had always adhered to the principle that "any problem that can be solved with money is not a problem at all." How had she changed her tune so quickly after just a couple of sweet words from the Bai family boy?

"Listen to your father, put the volunteer teaching aside for now. Company matters are more important."

"Didn't you often tell me that one must never abandon a task halfway? I'm only halfway through my teaching; returning to the company now would be giving up halfway, wouldn't it?"

Chen Liwan felt a severe ache in his teeth.

You never listened to a single word of all the advice I usually gave you, but now you've suddenly started obeying? Too irritated to argue further with her, Chen Liwan asked directly,

"Let me ask you, is volunteer teaching more important, or is the company more important?"

"……The company is important." Then, reluctantly, Chen Ruowen added, "But our Yan Yan is at the place where I volunteer..."

"Your dad and I are at the company!" Chen Liwan was so angry his beard twitched. "Is Bai Jinyan more important, or is your dad more important?"

"Can't they both be important..."

"No! You must choose one!"

"How is there even such a comparison..." Mumbling a couple of complaints, Chen Ruowen's eyes suddenly rolled. "Then let me ask you: if my mom and I both fell into the water at the same time and you could only save one person, who would you save?"

……

……

Chen Liwan, KO.

He couldn't win arguments against her, nor could he lay a finger on her. Chen Liwan was entirely out of options when it came to this daughter of his.

Chen Ruowen noted down the names of the bodyguards who had blocked her this time in her little notebook, and then dashingly returned to Rainbow Village—carrying the financial reports of Twin Stars for the past three years.

It was already night when Chen Ruowen arrived. Catching wind of her arrival, Ma Yunan and the others came out with flashlights to pick her up.

"Where is Bai Jinyan?" Chen Ruowen asked the moment she got off the aircraft.

The well-meaning greeters were all stunned for a second, and Mo Xiaoxin stuck out her tongue and said,

"Sister Wen, you really care more about romance than friendship!"

Chen Ruowen wagged her finger. "More than just a little, I care a lot."

There were simply too many things to吐槽, leaving them at a loss where to begin.

As the group walked back, Ma Yunan explained, "Brother Yan went to the mountain pass to fetch water. He won't be back until later."

"Fetch water?"

"Yeah, the water storage capacity of our vat is limited. The three of us guys take turns carrying water in shoulder poles, and this time it happened to be Brother Yan's turn."

Chen Ruowen remained puzzled. "Didn't we have bottled spring water airlifted in? Why do you still need to carry water?"

From the very first day she arrived in Rainbow Village, she had heard Bai Jinyan mention that resources here were extremely scarce, requiring a ten-mile walk to the other side of the mountain every day just to fetch water.

On the very first night of her arrival, Chen Ruowen had used up enough water in a single shower for Bai Jinyan to last three days. Bai Jinyan had to borrow water from the village chief's house just to wash up and help wash her clothes, and the next day he truly woke up at four o'clock in the morning, crossing mountains and ridges to carry two loads of water to repay the debt.

Therefore, when she called Chen Liwan, she specifically emphasized the water issue, and afterwards, the Chen family airlifted spring water via helicopter every two days, which was both convenient and hygienic.

"That water, after all, belongs to your family..." Ma Yunan and the others exchanged a glance, looking slightly embarrassed. "It's fine if we bum some off you while you're here, but when you're not around, we feel too embarrassed to use it..."

Mid-conversation, the group returned to the villa. Chen Ruowen went into her room to take a shower, and only after coming out did she notice a small package placed on her desk.

Wiping her hair with a towel, Chen Ruowen unwrapped the package. The first thing that caught her eye was a greeting card. Opening it, she saw a neat and graceful line of handwriting, penned stroke by stroke with meticulous neatness.

"Ruowen, Happy Birthday! ——Guo Jingyuan."

At the birthday banquet, the gifts Chen Ruowen received had piled up like a mountain, but she hadn't unwrapped a single package. She had only instructed the housekeeper to separately bring the gifts from familiar acquaintances like Geng Jiaojiao into her room, while the rest were sent straight to storage.

"Guo Jingyuan even mailed her birthday gift all the way here? Who helped me go out and pick up the courier?"

Curious about what kind of thing she could have possibly sent, Chen Ruowen put down the greeting card, unwrapped the gift package that was wrapped in three layers of paper inside and out, and revealed the true face of the present.

《An Introductory Guide to the Cultivation of Great Prophecy》

……

……

"Is this girl a bit silly?"

Chen Ruowen was torn between laughter and tears.