Chapter 65: Chapter 65: Love and Interest

While Lin Hongnian was questioning Lin Wanyu, Gao Yuan, back at No.1 Courtyard, received an intriguing system quest.

[Ding! The Charming Uncle - Destiny Series Quest has begun!]

[Quest: Lin Wanyu faces a choice between love and personal gain. Ensure she makes a decision that aligns with the Host’s interests.]

[Quest Reward 1: Destiny Decision Card (Special Item).]

[Quest Reward 2: 5 Experience Points.]

[Note: The Destiny Decision Card can, to some extent, alter the destined course of a person or event. Please use it with caution!]

When the system issued this bizarre quest, Gao Yuan was a little confused at first.

But when he saw the quest was related to Lin Wanyu, he recalled her being summoned home by a phone call and suddenly understood everything.

’The so-called "love" must refer to the relationship between me and Lin Wanyu.’

’And the "personal gain" part must be about that secret mask formula.’

’If I’m not mistaken, the effects of the mask formula provided by the system, even without the system’s mark, far surpass those of big-name brands.’

’The Lin Group has gotten greedy over the secret formula!’

At this thought, an image of Lin Hongnian surfaced in Gao Yuan’s mind.

The man with the refined, scholarly air, who always wore a gentle smile.

From their first meeting to their later business negotiations, Gao Yuan had never let Lin Wanyu’s attitude cause him to underestimate her father.

Having been out in the world for so many years, he knew that anyone who amassed such immense wealth was never a simple person.

After thinking for a moment, Gao Yuan picked up his phone, wanting to give Lin Wanyu a call.

But after scrolling to her number, he hesitated.

"I’m not calling!"

With a CLATTER, Gao Yuan tossed his phone onto the table and let out a low sigh.

At this moment, Gao Yuan’s mindset was still that of an ordinary person.

He hadn’t undergone a complete mental transformation just because he’d acquired the superpower of wealth.

In truth, he didn’t place that much importance on the secret skincare formula the system had provided.

With the system’s mark as his trump card, he wasn’t afraid of anyone copying the mask—not the Lin Group, and not even the major overseas skincare conglomerates.

The real reason he’d wanted to call was that he couldn’t bear to lose Lin Wanyu.

After spending so much time together, it was impossible not to have developed feelings.

He’d wanted to make that call to reaffirm his importance in her heart.

The reason he didn’t, however, was because he’d come to a realization.

’You can’t hold on to someone who’s determined to leave.’

’Instead of agonizing over what Lin Wanyu will choose, I might as well wonder if the next one will be more obedient!’

...

「Lin Group.」

Lin Wanyu placed the file on Gao Yuan’s background back on the desk, let out a soft sigh, and looked at her father.

"You’ve already investigated everything, why bother asking me?"

She spoke nonchalantly, her expression betraying nothing, but inside, she was anything but calm.

This was the first time she had learned so much about Gao Yuan’s family background.

According to the file, Gao Yuan came from a moderately well-off family. They weren’t rich, but they weren’t poor either—the type of family that was better off than many, but couldn’t compare to the truly wealthy.

This instantly brought back the memory of her first shopping trip with Gao Yuan.

Faced with luxury goods that cost tens of thousands, he hadn’t blinked an eye while buying them for her. In a single day, he had spent over four hundred thousand on her.

This was completely inconsistent with the income information in his file.

Based on an analysis of his income and spending over the years, the file estimated he had about 100,000 in savings. ’Where did he get over four hundred thousand to spend on me?’

She had once wondered if he was spending so lavishly just to win her over.

But when Gao Yuan later mentioned that he had no intention of marrying either, she dismissed the idea.

’With over four hundred thousand, he could go to any university and get a new girlfriend every month.’

’Why would he insist on pursuing a divorcee like me?’

In all their time together since, even though Lin Wanyu knew Gao Yuan wasn’t that wealthy, she never sensed any of the anxiety or stress that comes with being short on cash.

Gao Yuan seemed even more relaxed than she was, genuinely embodying that famous line about being uninterested in money.

Even this new business venture—in her mind, it was just Gao Yuan wanting to have a career of his own.

So, Lin Wanyu didn’t think much of it. She wasn’t planning on getting married anyway, and Gao Yuan never made any material demands on her. She truly didn’t care whether he was rich or not.

It was just that during their previous meeting, her parents had likely assumed Gao Yuan was some wealthy heir. Now that the truth was out, she had no intention of hiding it any longer.

So, Lin Wanyu didn’t see a problem. For her, nothing had changed.

"You’re not angry that he deceived you?"

Lin Hongnian was taken aback by his daughter’s reaction. This wasn’t how he had pictured this going at all.

’Doesn’t it stand to reason that the deeper the love, the deeper the hatred upon discovering deceit?’

Seeing her father’s expression, Lin Wanyu smiled, and it was a genuine, happy smile.

"Old man, first you have to understand one thing: the two of us deceived you together."

"I knew all this from the beginning, just not in such detail."

Lin Hongnian let out a wry laugh.

He was laughing at himself. After all his years navigating the tides of the business world, he could still be swayed by first impressions.

But a moment later, thinking of Gao Yuan’s presence, Lin Hongnian still found it hard to believe he could have misjudged him so badly.

Things like clothes and style can be faked, but a person’s aura is incredibly difficult to counterfeit.

It’s something forged through years of experience and the crucible of life. It can’t be faked.

But his daughter’s words sparked another theory in his mind.

’Could it be that Gao Yuan isn’t telling Wanyu the whole truth either?’

’The information I could dig up... plenty of others could find it too. Is it possible that’s what Gao Yuan *wants* people to see?’

’The implications were terrifying.’

At this point, Lin Hongnian was no longer thinking about business. He was worried about his daughter’s safety with Gao Yuan.

With this in mind, Lin Hongnian picked up another document from his desk and handed it to Lin Wanyu.

Lin Wanyu had already glanced at this quality inspection report for mask #2023-119.

Seeing her father hand it to her again, she took it and gave it a second look.

"Huh? Are the active ingredients in this mask really this high?"

"I thought the big-name brand masks only had about 5% active ingredients."

As she read to the end, Lin Wanyu’s eyes immediately locked onto the key detail.

The masks she normally used were custom-formulated in her family’s own factory to mimic major skincare brands, so she was quite familiar with the typical active ingredient levels on the market.

For a mask to have an active ingredient level this much higher... the implications were enormous.

"Old man, you’re going to strike it rich!"

Lin Wanyu pointed to the "6% active ingredients" on the report, showing her father with a face full of excitement.

’If her old man earned more money, didn’t that mean she could spend more, too?’

In fact, she thought, if the active ingredient level in Gao Yuan’s secret formula wasn’t high enough, he could totally use this one!

She walked behind Lin Hongnian and started giving him an eager shoulder massage.

’She hadn’t expected such a wonderful surprise on this visit. Now she could help Gao Yuan.’

"Mask #2023-119... that *is* the formula Gao Yuan provided."

Enjoying his daughter’s massage, Lin Hongnian revealed the secret.

Lin Wanyu’s hands froze on his shoulders.

"This inspection report for mask #2023-119... this is for the secret formula Gao Yuan provided?"

Lin Wanyu snatched the report from the desk and read it over again, this time with intense focus.

A long moment passed as Lin Wanyu read through it, word by word.

The hands holding the report trembled with excitement, and a wide grin spread across her face as she laughed out loud.

"Gao Yuan is going to strike it rich!"

Watching his daughter’s reaction, Lin Hongnian felt a pang of frustration.

’He’d raised this daughter his whole life, and yet her first thought wasn’t for her own father.’

"I have to tell Gao Yuan right away! This is huge!"

As she spoke, Lin Wanyu started to pull out her phone, eager to be the first to share the good news with Gao Yuan.

"Wait."

Watching his daughter’s reaction, Lin Hongnian’s heart sank.

’Is this really my own daughter?’

’With something this big, with such immense profits at stake, why wasn’t her first thought of him, her own father?’

"Hm?"

She looked down, seeing her father’s hand on her arm, stopping her from calling Gao Yuan.

Lin Wanyu froze for a second, then a peculiar expression crossed her face.

Father and daughter locked eyes, and Lin Wanyu understood why he was stopping her.

’This cake was just too big.’

’So big that even the Lin Group wanted to devour it whole.’

’The other formulas were common knowledge; you could only compete on price to grab market share.’

’But this formula... right now, only Gao Yuan and the Lin Group had it. The potential profit was just too tempting.’

"You want to take it all for yourself?"

"Have you ever thought about the Lin Clan?"

The father and daughter spoke at the same time.

"Sigh."

Two sighs echoed in the vast office.

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