Chapter 73 Forced Love from My Archrival 22

Chapter 73: Forced Love by My Archenemy 22

"Huaiqing, how are you planning to come up with the rest of the money?"

Lin Huaiqing ran the numbers at the dinner table. He had gotten back the ten million that was rightfully his from Lu Yuting, and borrowed twenty million from Yu Wenle. That still left him twenty million short of covering the overdue taxes and fines.

In theory, although the Lin Group was on the verge of collapse, the Lin family had still established a firm foothold in the capital.

In theory, coming up with the remaining twenty million shouldn't be that big of a deal.

But regardless of whether he could borrow enough, the whole borrowing-from-Qin-Feng thing still had to happen.

"Next, I want to head back to the old Lin residence first."

After saying goodbye to Yu Wenle, Lin Huaiqing drove back to the old residence. He arrived just in time for dinner, and the table was all warm and harmonious.

The only one missing was his father, Lin Zhen.

"Lanlan, where's your brother? Why isn't he coming back for dinner?" The old master of the Lin family asked shakily as he was helped to the table by his caregiver.

Lin Lan's expression remained calm, as if nothing had happened at all.

"My brother is crazy busy. When he finds the time, he'll come back to eat with you!"

"Oh? Hey, cousin, when did you get back?"

Lin Huaiqing stood at the doorway, watching the warm and harmonious scene of the family inside, and found it hard to look at.

With such a major incident having happened to the Lin family, how could these people keep up this fake peace?

Was it just because it didn't hit close to home?

"Oh, Huaiqing's back! Go wash your hands and come eat!" Lin Lan greeted him enthusiastically.

Lin Huaiqing's face was still icy as he forced a stiff smile. "Aunt, I need to talk to you about something. Can we talk in my dad's study?"

Lin Lan seemed to realize what Lin Huaiqing wanted to discuss. Her eyes darted around nervously as she tried to brush him off.

"Huh? What's the rush? Let's eat first—the food's getting cold."

Lin Huaiqing let out a cold laugh. If she was going to play dirty, so would he.

"Then I'll just say it right here. About my dad..."

Lin Lan shot him a quick, sharp look and, taking advantage of the old man's slow reaction, quickly cut him off.

"Fine, let's talk inside!" She set down her chopsticks and headed into the study with him.

Only the old master, still clueless, was left at the table.

"Grandson, what were they just saying? What's wrong with your uncle?"

"Grandpa! You must've heard wrong. My uncle is doing just fine—he's just busy. Here, have some food!" Xue Cheng'an smoothly changed the subject.

As soon as the study door closed, the temperature in the room plummeted.

Lin Lan sat with her legs crossed on the leather sofa. Her face, still pretty in a faded way, now took on a harsh edge.

"Huaiqing, didn't I tell you? This matter must not reach your grandfather! How could you say that right in front of him?"

At this moment, Lin Lan was pulling the "I'm your elder" card to scold him, purely to undermine his momentum and seize the upper hand.

Too bad he had grown up without parents or elders, and no one had ever taught him to show deference to his elders.

"Aunt, it's been so long since my father's incident. Now that the Lin family is led by you, none of you have taken a position. If I don't speak up, I'm afraid you'll all just forget about my dad!"

"What kind of nonsense is that?! I'm your elder—is this how you speak to me?" Lin Lan, as if he'd hit a nerve, flared up instantly.

"Precisely because you're my elder, I'm holding back from calling you out. Otherwise, I'd ask you in front of Grandpa and the other relatives exactly what you're thinking!"

With the gloves off, Lin Lan instantly transformed before Lin Huaiqing's eyes.

All the warmth and friendliness was gone.

"Hmph! You dumb kid, get your facts straight. It was your father who evaded taxes—I'm just a minor shareholder. Where would I get the money? Even if I had it, it's saved up as the wedding money for your cousin's future wife."

"That's nonsense! My father would never evade taxes. I'll get to the bottom of it myself later. Aunt, saying something like that is just cold!"

From what he remembered of the original owner's life, he had seen Lin Zhen slip money to Lin Lan countless times since he was a child.

Back then, their family wasn't as wealthy, and his father's company was just getting off the ground. But Lin Lan was in a much worse spot.

She had married a man who gambled, drank, and chased women—a man with every vice you can think of. He blew through the family money and would often show up drunk at their door, demanding money from his father.

Every time, Lin Zhen would give his sister money. Even when he himself wasn't well-off, he couldn't bear to watch his sister struggle with a gambling husband.

Later, when Lin Lan finally divorced that gambler, she had nowhere to go with her child, so Lin Zhen simply let them move in with him.

From then on, he picked up the tab for most of it, including Xue Cheng'an's school fees.

In short, without Lin Zhen, there would be no Lin Lan or Xue Cheng'an living the good life they have today.

After receiving so much kindness from their family, she now thought she could brush him off with a simple "I have no money"? In your dreams!

Lin Lan knew she was in the wrong and feared Lin Huaiqing might actually go to the old man with this, so she could only sigh:

"Then what do you want from me? I don't have fifty million!"

Seeing Lin Lan was starting to cave, Lin Huaiqing quickly said:

"I'm not asking for that much—at least ten million. Give what you can. I'm not taking it for free; I'll write you an IOU and pay you back slowly."

"Don't forget you said that!" Lin Lan pulled a stack of fresh checks from her bag, tore off the first one, and tossed it to Lin Huaiqing. "This is all I have. You don't need to pay it back—consider it settling the debt I owe your father and you!"

Lin Huaiqing picked up the check and saw it was only five million.

His contempt for Lin Lan grew even deeper.

If he remembered correctly, not long ago Lin Lan had bought Xue Cheng'an a Bentley Flying Spur, which cost four million on the road.

And yet she only gave him five million. The brother she had leaned on for so many years was worth about the same to her as her son's car.

What an ungrateful wretch!

Still, something was better than nothing—five million was better than zero.

That left fifteen million to reach the fifty-million target.

As for where he could borrow that money, he had no clue at the moment.

Although there were plenty of luxury cars parked in their underground garage, selling any one of them would have been enough to make up the difference.

But unfortunately, all of Lin Zhen's personal assets had been frozen, including those cars, which were all in his name. He had no authority to deal with them.

In front of the family, Lin Lan had slipped back into her usual friendly act.

"Huaiqing, why are you leaving without staying to have dinner with your grandfather?"

"Grandpa, Aunt, I've got something urgent to take care of, so I'll skip the meal for now. I'll come back to visit you when I have time!" With that, Lin Huaiqing put on his shoes and left.

He didn't want to spend another second in this cold, heartless home. He'd rather use that time to figure out how to scrape together the remaining fifteen million.