Family gathering

About half an hour later, Xiao Zhou had finished applying makeup on Lin Ting's face. Although her technique wasn't as professional as that of other makeup artists, she was very skilled at highlighting her client's best features.

Lin Ting's features were of a light, natural style, so a heavy makeup look wouldn't suit her. Thus, Xiao Zhou opted for a delicate, Japanese-inspired makeup style. This style not only enhanced the radiance of Lin Ting's fair skin but also gave her an overall clean and refined aura.

Staring at her reflection, Lin Ting's eyes suddenly lit up—this makeup perfectly complemented the black velvet evening dress she was wearing. The dazzling royal blue sapphire on her earlobe made her even more eye-catching; even Xiao Zhou was left in awe.

Noticing that Lin Nian's makeup artist was still busy applying eye makeup for her, Lin Ting left the makeup room first. Only as Lin Ting departed did Lin Nian notice her action, thinking that a makeup done in such a short time must surely be subpar. In her mind, she had already envisioned the scenario at today's family gathering, with everyone's eyes fixed on her.

Downstairs, Lin Ting had been waiting for Lin Nian with Huang Mei for a while—so long, in fact, that Lin Ting was starting to feel impatient. Glancing at the time, she said to Huang Mei, "Mom, I'll head out on my own."

Huang Mei, aware that Lin Nian had indeed kept everyone waiting for too long, agreed without hesitation. As soon as Lin Ting stepped outside, she saw that the driver had been waiting for quite some time. She informed the driver to take her directly to the Lin family ancestral mansion, and off she went.

About half an hour later, Lin Ting arrived at the mansion. The moment she stepped out of the car, she was confronted with a scene exactly like the one from her past life. In her previous life, upon seeing this grand ancestral home, she was so shocked that she couldn't speak. Although she knew that the Lin family was one of the most prominent in City A, seeing the spacious and imposing mansion truly made her understand what it meant to belong to a top-tier family.

The mansion was more than twice the size of the Lin family villa, and its decor exuded history. The antique and elegant architecture made Lin Ting keenly aware that she was now part of a family with a legacy spanning a hundred years.

Today, everyone present at the gathering was a member of the Lin family. Some were engaged in politics, business, education, and various other fields—in fact, the Lin family's connections stretched across the entire Huaguo.

Lin Ting followed a servant into the reception hall, where the family gathering was taking place. By the time she arrived, most of the seats were already occupied. Lin Guoqing was mingling among the relatives, and upon seeing Lin Ting, he beckoned her over.

"This is my youngest daughter, just returned from the countryside," Lin Guoqing announced to those around him. Most of the attendees already knew the backstory, but no one would openly bring it up; they merely smiled and greeted Lin Ting in line with Lin Guoqing's introduction.

Lin Ting hadn't forgotten her own task—gaining the approval of the three senior family members was no easy feat. One by one, she greeted the elders present. Her poised and gracious demeanor even caused those who originally harbored some prejudice to be visibly impressed.

"Lin Ting, go and greet your uncles and aunts," Lin Guoqing interrupted while she was chatting with a cousin. After signaling to her cousin, Lin Ting followed Lin Guoqing to approach her uncle and aunt.

In her heart, Lin Ting had already made up her mind. She knew that her uncles and aunts were all good people. As long as she exposed the misdeeds of Lin Nian and her biological parents in front of them, they would surely help her break away from the Lin family.

As Lin Ting approached Lin Guoze and Gu Huachun, she immediately recognized the boy next to them as the same young man she had met at a jewelry store just yesterday.

"Could he be a member of the Lin family? No wonder I feel like I've seen him somewhere before."

Before Lin Ting could dwell on the thought for long, the boy stepped forward and said, "Cousin Nian Nian, I'm your cousin Lin Le."

In an instant, Lin Ting recalled that Lin Le was Lin Guoqing's third son. He had attended the family gathering in her past life as well, but due to the incident with the evening dress, she had been so frightened that she hadn't even had the energy to interact with anyone else.

"Welcome home, Nian Nian," he said.

Before Lin Nian could even respond to Lin Le, Gu Huachun stepped forward, gently pushing Lin Le aside and placing her hand on Lin Ting's shoulder. "I've been wanting to see you ever since you arrived in City A, but I was tied up with too many matters after just returning to the country."

Gu Huachun's gentle words stirred a ripple in Lin Ting's previously calm heart—she hadn't expected someone to welcome her so warmly. "Aunt, it's so nice to see you," Lin Ting said, suppressing her emotions and trying to appear excited.

"I had heard that you're a fashion designer who even established your own brand," Gu Huachun remarked. "I really admire your design style, which is why I specifically chose this dress today."

Lin Ting's eyes fixed intently on Gu Huachun, revealing her unabashed admiration. Gu Huachun had noticed the black velvet evening dress on Lin Ting at first sight; it was one of her proud signature pieces. Seeing Lin Ting so fond of her design, Gu Huachun couldn't help but beam, "If you like it so much, I'll design one just for you next time."

"I only have three sons in my family—I've always wished to have a daughter to wear my designs."

Lin Ting laughed in agreement, and nearby, Lin Guoze, seeing his wife's fondness for the young girl, couldn't help but soften his gaze with tenderness.

[Congratulations, host, Jiu Jiu has detected that you have already gained the approval of two elders.]

The sudden voice of "Jiu Jiu" startled Lin Ting, and once she fully understood what it had said, her heart immediately began to race. "I can't believe I've gained the approval of two elders without even doing anything," she thought, as she looked up to see Lin Guoze gazing at Gu Huachun with such adoration that Lin Ting couldn't help but feel confused.

"So that's what they call 'loving everything about the person'," she mused internally, teasingly thinking of her own uncle.

"Dad, Lin Ting," a familiar voice sounded behind her. Sure enough, when Lin Ting turned around, she saw Lin Nian with her meticulously done makeup.

Lin Guoqing didn't question why Lin Nian was late; he simply said to her, "Nian Nian, take your sister and cousin Le to the backyard."

In fact, this so-called ancestral acknowledgment was merely a way for Lin Ting to become acquainted with the younger generation of the Lin family, as the family had always placed great importance on kinship ties.

Most of the younger members of the Lin family were gathered in the backyard, chatting in small groups about the family business and future developments. When Lin Ting appeared there, many eyes fell upon her—they had all heard the long and complicated story from their parents over the years.

Now, with the two protagonists of the story standing before them, they naturally wanted to see some action.

At this moment, Lin Nian had already begun scheming. Taking advantage of everyone's attention being away from her, she planned to discreetly unravel the thread she had prepared behind Lin Ting. Originally, Lin Nian had hesitated, but seeing that Lin Ting was not the unsightly "ugly duckling" she had imagined, she became unwilling to accept the situation.

Thus, she was determined to publicly humiliate Lin Ting so that she would remain the true "swan" of the Lin family.

However, Lin Nian searched behind Lin Ting for a long time and still couldn't find the thread. The thread was supposed to be at the end of the zipper, but now the zipper was completely clean.

Could it be that all the effort she spent learning from the tailor was in vain?

Thinking this, Lin Nian's face turned instantly pale, and she began plotting how to settle accounts with that tailor.

Sensing Lin Nian skulking behind her, Lin Ting suddenly spun around and glared at her. "What are you doing?"

Startled by Lin Ting's icy gaze, Lin Nian dodged the look in guilt, and then tried to act calm as she replied, "What do you think I'm doing? Always being paranoid, that's all."

"Nian Nian, are you alright?" Lin Qi quickly stepped in front of Lin Nian, her eyes vigilantly fixed on Lin Ting.

Looking at the familiar face before her, Lin Ting immediately recognized her from memories of her past life. The curly-haired girl was named Lin Qi, the granddaughter of her third great-uncle, and had been Lin Nian's follower since childhood—obedient in every way.

Lin Ting remembered that in her previous life, when her evening dress had torn in public, Lin Qi had led the mockery, hurling unkind words without mercy.

Having recognized who was before her, Lin Ting no longer wished to engage with them and turned to leave.

Seeing this, Lin Qi grabbed Lin Ting's wrist forcefully and said, "You just bullied Nian Nian. Aren't you going to apologize to her?"

Hearing her words, Lin Ting shook off her grip, took out a handkerchief from her pocket to wipe her fingers, and coolly replied, "Apologize?"

"You're nothing but Nian Nian's lapdog!" Lin Qi retorted furiously.

Hearing this, Lin Qi's anger flared even more, and she almost advanced to physically confront Lin Ting—fortunately, Lin Nian pulled her back in time.

Watching Lin Qi's desperate and frantic demeanor, Lin Ting couldn't help but laugh at her, "Manners?"

"If it weren't for what Nian Nian's biological mother did, who here would dare say I lack manners?" Lin Qi snapped.

Seeing Lin Nian's face turn panic-stricken, Lin Ting pointed at her and continued, "Everything she has now was stolen—stolen from what rightfully belongs to me."

"She should be grateful to me; otherwise, she'd be nothing more than the 'hooligan' you keep calling her."

Lin Ting's voice carried loudly, and everyone around took notice. Their expressions changed as they listened to her words.

At a loss for a rebuttal, Lin Qi could only stand there, dumbfounded.

At that moment, a male voice from the crowd interjected, "If it was stolen, then growing up in the countryside is just a fact you can't change."

Lin Ting shot a cold glance at the unknown young man who had spoken, and in a calm tone replied, "So what if I grew up in the countryside?"

"Aren't our ancestors the ones who fought their way up from the countryside?"

"You all still carry the blood of country folk; there's no need to act so superior and flaunt your existence here."

Lin Ting's resonant words once again reached everyone's ears. The young man who had spoken was instantly silenced by her retort, his face turning red and white.

Seeing that Lin Ting spoke with neither arrogance nor servility, the onlookers couldn't help but change their opinion of her.

"Listen to your cousin—perhaps you should put away that holier-than-thou attitude," Lin Le said, pointing at the young man who had earlier mocked Lin Ting.

After a moment, noticing that no one objected, Lin Ting decided to leave this tedious gathering.

"Little sister, Mom just asked me to give you something," Lin Nian called out as she saw Lin Ting about to leave, quickly hurrying over to her.

"Let's go to the fountain; it's too crowded here," Lin Nian said, pointing toward a sparsely populated fountain not far away.

Curious to see what trick Lin Nian had up her sleeve, Lin Ting didn't refuse the request.

Upon hearing Lin Ting agree, Lin Nian breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Lin Ting, you publicly humiliated me."

"Then don't say I won't be hard on you," Lin Nian replied with a look as petty as ever, her eyes revealing an inextinguishable bitterness.