Chapter 5 Mind Your Own Business
The young girl had a slender figure, and sitting in the wheelchair made her look even more delicate and frail—fragile as a sheet of paper, ready to be blown away by a gust of wind.
Without those sharp, aggressive words, just looking at her retreating figure made everyone realize with a start how shockingly thin she had actually become.
Was the original Ling Lu always this frail?
Ling Yeli's gaze faltered.
He suddenly thought of Ling Lu on the hospital bed just a few days ago.
The young girl had lain there all alone, her pale face tinged with a grayish-blue, her lips dark, like a flower quietly withering away.
And judging by the way she was moving in that wheelchair, her legs seemed to be severely injured...
Ling Yeli frowned deeply.
"She really left?"
He had thought Ling Lu was just using the threat of cutting ties to pressure them this time, but she had actually left.
The rest of the Ling family members present clearly hadn't expected things to turn out this way, and were momentarily stunned.
"Why even bother with her? She's the one who wanted to leave; we didn't kick her out. If she wants to go, let her go!"
Ling Yanye picked up his wine glass and took a leisurely sip.
"As the saying goes, it's easy to go from frugality to luxury, but hard to go from luxury to frugality."
"I refuse to believe that a girl who's spent the last three years living the high life as the young lady of the Ling family can last long out there."
"Sooner or later, she'll come back and beg us!"
Ling Yanye flicked the bank card on the table, a cynical smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth.
"She spent three years in the Ling family and only used fifty thousand? Who does she think she's kidding?"
Ling Yanye didn't believe a single word of Ling Lu's accusation just now.
"Back when she first returned to the Ling family, she bought a whole house full of luxury goods, and any single item cost hundreds of thousands."
"If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes back then, just looking at her act a moment ago, I really would've thought our Ling family mistreated her."
Everyone from the Ling family present remembered what Ling Yanye was talking about.
Back then, shortly after Ling Lu was officially recognized, the family worried that Ling Lin wouldn't be able to accept it, so they sent Ling Lu to stay with the Mo Family as a foster arrangement first.
Unexpectedly, Ling Lu had used her own name to buy a mountain of luxury goods, had them shipped directly to the Ling family residence, and specifically demanded that Ling Lin sign for them.
Without consulting anyone, she exposed her own identity right then and there.
Ling Lin, upon learning she wasn't the biological daughter of the Ling family, had been so traumatized she nearly ended up in the hospital.
It took the family a long time of coaxing to finally calm Ling Lin down.
Thinking back on that incident, the expressions on the faces of the Ling family members grew noticeably uglier.
"That ungrateful wretch Ling Lu has never settled down since she was brought back. This time, we'll let her suffer out there!"
"When she finally realizes her mistake and comes back to kowtow and beg for forgiveness before the ancestors of the Ling family, we'll talk about letting her back in."
Ling Canghai brought his fist down, settling the matter.
"And she's going to have to give Linlin a proper apology and swear never to go against Linlin again. Otherwise, I won't agree to let her set foot through the front door of the Ling family ever again!"
Lin Yueru looked at her adopted daughter with heartache in her eyes and spoke up.
Listening to his parents, Ling Yeli couldn't help but recall the defiant look on Ling Lu's face just moments ago.
"Still... Ling Lu didn't look like she was just playing hard to get this time. It looked more like she's never coming back."
Driven by some inexplicable impulse, Ling Yeli voiced his true thoughts.
At that, Ling Yanye let out a cold snort.
"She won't get far. The contract Ling Lu signed with the company is still active."
"Even just for the sake of her career, she'll have to come back and beg us. Right, Big Brother?"
The Ling family controlled countless businesses, and several of the hottest entertainment agencies among them were managed by Ling Jinmo.
The agency Ling Lu was signed to happened to be Star Shine Entertainment, one of those very companies.
The man in the tailored suit nodded.
"Mm. As long as I pull the plug on her schedules and cut off her financial source, she won't last long."
The mere thought of Ling Lu's arrogant attitude just now stirred a hidden fire in Ling Yanye's chest, prompting him to suggest maliciously,
"Big Brother, make her sweat for a few days. Don't rush to force her back to beg us right away."
"She made such a huge mess, she needs to learn what it's like to suffer out there. Otherwise, she'll never learn her lesson."
Ling Jinmo gave a nod.
"Got it. It won't be so easy for her to return to the Ling family this time."
Punishments needed to leave a deep impression to prevent people from repeating their mistakes.
Ling Lu had made such a huge fuss this time; she needed to learn the consequences of her own wayward behavior.
Pushing her wheelchair out through the front gates of the Ling family estate, Ling Lu took a deep breath of fresh air, a profound sense of relief washing over her face.
She was finally free...
After leaving the Ling family, Ling Lu returned to the hospital.
Her leg injury was severe; she wouldn't be able to leave the wheelchair for at least three months.
The very first thing she did upon getting back to the hospital was to process her transfer.
The hospital where she was currently staying had financial backing from a Ling-affiliated corporate group.
Ling Lu wanted nothing more to do with the Ling family, so naturally, she wouldn't choose to stay there a moment longer.
In her past life, the lifelong disability caused by the car accident had always been a lingering trauma for Ling Lu.
Therefore, even though her personal finances were tight, she had never considered cutting back on medical expenses.
She transferred to a top-tier tertiary hospital in downtown Jiangcheng. Although it wasn't a private room, it offered great value for money.
Even though she had saved up a little money over the years from shooting small-budget scripts, she had no source of income right now, so it was better to be thrifty.
"Ring, ring, ring!"
The caller ID displayed Mo Tingzhu.
The name acted like a switch, instantly opening the floodgates of Ling Lu's memories.
The Mo Family and the Ling family were considered family friends. When the Ling family first brought her back from the orphanage, they worried it would upset Ling Lin, so after weighing their options, they simply sent Ling Lu to be fostered by the Mo Family.
Mo Tingzhu was the only son of the Mo Family, gentle, refined, and impeccably mannered. That was how Ling Lu had met him back then.
Being of similar age, and given the close ties between the two families, Mo Tingzhu had treated Ling Lu very well. Seeing her distressed and unable to return home, he would often try to cheer her up.
Naturally, Ling Lu had come to think of him as an older brother, and that period had been the happiest time of her life.
However, all of that changed the moment she returned to the Ling family.
She watched as Mo Tingzhu stood by Ling Lin's side every single time, looking at her with eyes full of disgust.
She watched as Mo Tingzhu helped frame her alongside Ling Lin.
Even on the day of the car accident, she watched as Mo Tingzhu didn't hesitate to board the ambulance accompanying Ling Lin, leaving her behind at the crash site without the slightest regard for whether she lived or died.
Ling Lu had once thought Mo Tingzhu was different, but he turned out to be the one who hurt her the most.
Living a second life and recalling all those past events in her mind, Ling Lu thought in a daze that perhaps Mo Tingzhu had loved Ling Lin all along; otherwise, he wouldn't have done so much for her sake.
Still, none of that had anything to do with her anymore.
Ling Lu had no intention of entangling herself with any of them ever again—neither the Ling family members nor Mo Tingzhu.
Ling Lu picked up the call, her tone cold.
"What do you want?"
Mo Tingzhu noticed the unusual chill in her voice, but he didn't care.
Instead, he spoke up with a hint of gloating amusement.
"I heard you got kicked out by the Ling family?"
Ling Lu: "........."
Hearing no response from Ling Lu, Mo Tingzhu didn't mind.
After all, he didn't care about Ling Lu's reaction anyway.
He simply wanted to provoke Ling Lu to vent some pent-up frustration for Ling Lin.
"Look at how good you had it, staying comfortably in the Ling family as their young lady. Why on earth did you have to stir up trouble and go after Linlin? Well, look at you now—you've lost everything. I honestly don't understand what goes on in your head."
"If you don't understand, go die."
"Mo Tingzhu, who do you think you are? Mind your own business."