Chapter 155: Tang Ran Runs Away from Home

After seeing off Brooke and lawyer Alan, Zhou Ming hurried back to the hotel. He did not notify Tong Gang, Li Cheng and Yerbeldiev, who were also at the hotel, and went directly to Lin Muqing's room.

'Muqing, what was that about a call from China you were talking about on the phone?' As soon as he entered the room, Zhou Ming asked Lin Muqing.

"It was a call from my aunt in Lingnan, about my cousin Tang Ran. I don't know if you still remember?' Lin Muqing asked hesitantly and carefully.

Faced with Lin Muqing's question, Zhou Ming suddenly froze, because he really didn't expect it to be this matter. Although he received Lin Muqing's call on the way, and Lin Muqing also mentioned what it was about, it was still in the car at the time, with Ellen and Bu Xiao Luo Ke sitting next to him. Zhou Ming really didn't want to take a phone call for too long, so he didn't listen or take notes carefully, so now he was very surprised by Lin Muqing's question.

But in addition to the surprise, as memories flooded back, Zhou Ming also felt a little embarrassed. This was because Zhou Ming remembered that when he was in Lingnan, Tang Ran seemed to have a crush on him. Although Zhou Ming didn't do anything beastly to Tang Ran, in an era when the crime of hooliganism had not yet been abolished, this kind of behaviour of flirting with girls at will was punishable by imprisonment.

Although for Zhou Ming, it wasn't his own initiative, the problem is that this argument is not very convincing! Could it be that if he just casually acts cool, the girl will just chase after him? Tang Ran, who works in a public institution, seems to have pretty good conditions, and on the contrary, she is still a sought-after person! Otherwise, when they were in Nanjiang, her 'partner' would not have been so hostile to him.

Of course, on the other hand, perhaps she is now in the United States, and with her current wealth, the country will not do anything to her. But the point is that she is Lin Muqing's cousin, and if someone really complains, it will still be very embarrassing.

It can't be...is this really the case?

Zhou Ming thought to himself with a guilty conscience, but then Lin Muqing's next words left Zhou Ming dumbfounded.

'Zhou Ming, I'm sorry, I was really inconsiderate. Now it's obviously a critical moment in your plan. You have already taken 45 investment companies, including Caribbean Investment Company, Louis Investment Company, St. Martin Investment Company, and New Dawn Investment Company, to court and claimed 100 billion US dollars in compensation. This can be said to be you blowing the war horn at the Adams family. How can I still bother you with this kind of thing? I was so wrong!' Lin Muqing said with a lot of self-reproach.

Zhou Ming looked up in surprise and said to Lin Muqing, 'Maybe you could tell me what happened first, Muqing.'

Zhou Ming couldn't help but be surprised, because he had bowed his head because of his own internal embarrassment, but he didn't expect it to become a problem in Lin Muqing's eyes. She thought she was annoyed by this farce at this time, so she felt extremely guilty and self-blame.

Lin Muqing still shook her head and said, 'I have already made one mistake, I cannot make another. Zhou Ming, the most important thing for you right now is your career. You need to unite the three families to defeat the Adams family. These trivial matters cannot trouble you. I believe I can solve them myself...'

Before Lin Muqing could finish speaking, Zhou Ming reached out and took her in his arms. Then Zhou Ming lowered his head and kissed her lips, preventing her from saying anything else.

'Sister Muqing, since you have already decided to be my woman, then your affairs are my affairs. Don't say you believe you can solve them, you should say you believe we can solve them together,' said Zhou Ming.

'But there is still the most important thing for you right now..."

Lin Muqing was anxious to say something, but Zhou Ming interrupted her, saying, 'Sister Muqing, don't you understand? Your matter is now my most important matter. If I, Zhou Ming, can't even settle my own woman's matter, then I'm not even considered a man!"

Lin Muqing's eyes became moist. As she listened to Zhou Ming's domineering words, she felt like she was about to melt. Although Lin Muqing had always admired and liked Zhou Ming very much, at this moment, she felt that Zhou Ming was the only one for her.

Zhou Ming smiled and then asked, 'So Muqing, you still have to tell me what happened first, don't you?'

Lin Muqing nodded in response with a 'hmm' and said, 'Actually, Tang Ran has disappeared... Well, to be clear, she hasn't really disappeared, but rather she ran away from home. She left a note and then came to the United States. My aunt knows that I'm in the United States right now, so she hurriedly called me.'

'Ran to the United States?' Zhou Ming was a little confused and said, "What is the situation? Muqing, can you explain it more clearly?"

Lin Muqing nodded and said yes, and then Zhou Ming understood the whole story.

To be honest, it wasn't a difficult thing to understand. Put simply, it was because of her own reasons that Tang Ran wanted to break up with her previous boyfriend, but the other party did not agree and was still stalking Tang Ran. Tang Ran's parents were very anxious to see Tang Ran get married as she grew older every day. In order to avoid the neighbours gossiping behind their backs day after day, Tang Ran's parents wanted to force Tang Ran to marry Wei Hua, the 'partner' they had picked out for her.

Of course, Tang Ran flatly refused, but not every daughter's parents are so enlightened, especially in this era. So Tang Ran's parents secretly took away the household registration and wanted to help her get a marriage certificate with Wei Hua without telling Tang Ran.

This was a secret, but for some reason, it was just a coincidence that Tang Ran happened to go to the civil affairs bureau that day to do some paperwork and ran into her parents, who told her about it. Tang Ran and her parents had a huge fight at the civil affairs bureau.

Tang Ran not only angrily scolded Wei Hua for being shameless, for pursuing her unsuccessfully and then going directly to her parents' side to get a marriage certificate without telling her, which was not at all like a man; Tang Ran also blamed her parents for completely disrespecting her wishes and trying to arrange her marriage for her, which was a remnant of feudal thinking.

'It was a huge row. Not only did the staff from the civil affairs bureau come out to mediate, but it got so bad that the police station sent someone too. There were lots of people on the street. Perhaps it was because of this that my aunt and uncle felt so humiliated, and they angrily called her a 'shrew', which is a way of cursing people from Nanjiang. It meant that Tang Ran would never get married.'

Having said that, Lin Muqing couldn't help but feel indignant: 'Then my aunt and uncle went even further. They actually locked Tang Ran at home. They still wanted to get her a marriage license, but Tang Ran was very clever and called a locksmith to get out of the house. She never returned home and only left a note for my aunt and uncle saying that she was going to the United States. So my aunt thought of calling me.'

This is really a story so fucked up it makes you angry.

This was Zhou Ming's immediate thought after hearing Lin Muzhen's account. There is nothing wrong with Tang Ran's parents wanting her to get married quickly, but they could have just introduced her to a suitable person, even if it was a scumbag, and it would have been fine. But they actually went behind Tang Ran's back and used her household registration to get a marriage certificate without her knowledge, and when Tang Ran found out, they locked her in the house. This is really going too far.

'Although I know that many older generations have stubborn mindsets, forcing her to get married or locking her up at home if she doesn't is too much. Isn't Tang Ran their own daughter?' Zhou Ming said indignantly.

Facing Zhou Ming's indignation, Lin Muqing's expression was a little shocked. She told Zhou Ming, 'To be honest, it seems that Tang Ran was not really born to my aunt and uncle.'

Zhou Ming was dumbfounded the next week. He didn't think that his casual remark would actually come true.

Lin Muqing went on to explain to Zhou Ming, 'I remember my aunt once told me that she seemed to have been ill before and was unable to bear children. In order to leave her husband a successor, she adopted a child from outside the family, and that was Tang Ran.'

As Lin Muqing explained, Zhou Ming subconsciously frowned, as if he felt something was wrong, but he couldn't put his finger on it. And it wasn't the time to dwell on other things, so Zhou Ming let go of his doubts. But at this time, Zhou Ming did not realise that the doubt he let go of was the key to many problems. But that's a story for later.

Zhou Ming shrugged helplessly and said, 'Okay, but even if she is an adopted daughter, she has been in the family for more than 20 years, so there must be some kind of bond, right? Forcing your daughter to marry someone and locking her up at home whenever there is a disagreement is just too much.'

Having said that, Zhou Ming sighed and didn't say anything more. After all, it was someone else's family matter, and even if it was too much, it was not good for an outsider like himself to say anything, let alone the fact that Tang Ran liked him so much at that time.

Zhou Ming scratched his head and said, 'But it's useless to say more. It's already happened, and Tang Ran has already come to the United States. The important thing is that we find her first. So, Muqing, do you have any clues? After all, the United States is so big, and if there are no clues at all, it will be very difficult to find her.'

Lin Muqing nodded and said, 'I know this. After my uncle found out that Tang Ran had run away from home, he immediately used his connections to investigate and found that Tang Ran had a tourist visa. According to Tang Ran's visa and the immigration records retrieved, her chosen destination was San Francisco.'

'San Francisco? Why did she go there?' Zhou Ming asked, very puzzled.

'I think it may be because she knows it best,' said Lin Muqing. 'She had a very good friend in San Francisco. After she graduated from the cadre school, my aunt and uncle took her to San Francisco for a trip once, so she chose the place she knows best even though she knows nothing about it.'

Zhou Ming nodded silently and said, 'I see, this is reassuring news. However, it is still not good for her to come to the United States alone. Muqing, I think we should leave for San Francisco as soon as possible.'

'As soon as possible? Are you really going, Zhou Ming?' Lin Muqing asked in surprise.

'Of course. You, Muqing, are the one who brought up such an important matter, so of course I will do it,' Zhou Ming replied with a smile.

Lin Muqing wanted to say something else, but at that moment, Zhou Ming's door was suddenly knocked on. Zhou Ming went to open the door, and it was Tong Gang, Li Cheng and Yilbedov.

Seeing Zhou Ming and Lin Muqing here, they were not surprised. Yilbedov even joked, 'I hope our sudden visit did not disturb your romantic world, but please forgive us, because we are more concerned about the situation in court today, although we have already seen the news.'

'Actually, the situation is just as you saw it,' Zhou Ming replied with his arms outstretched.

Lin Muqing, however, said, "Chairman Tong, Dong Li, and Mr. Irbedov, I hope you can all persuade him. He says he wants to go to San Francisco, and he wants to go as soon as possible."

This surprised Tong Gang, Li Cheng, and Irbedov, because none of them understood the situation. Lin Muqing explained, 'I'm to blame for this. I said something I shouldn't have, something about my family.'

'Although I don't understand what exactly happened, if it's just family matters, I don't think you should leave Brighton, Ming, because nothing is more important than this. If those family matters are really important, I can choose to send someone I trust with all my strength to help you.' Tong Gang said to Zhou Ming.

But Zhou Ming still shook his head: 'Chairman Tong, I really appreciate your help, but I think I still need to go. This is not a lack of trust in you, but because I have a hunch.'