Han Ruochen simply rolled her eyes at her brother. She said to him, "You know our condition; the only one who can buy this motorboat is me, brother. I cannot ask dad to help me, and I do not have anything in my possession that I can use to take a loan. So, of course, I will be very careful while dealing with something as important as buying a boat."

When Han Yong heard her words, his expression shifted again and again. He wanted to say that he would help her, but just as he was about to say that, he ended up swallowing his words. How was he supposed to say that he was going to help her when he, himself, did not have two pennies to rub together?

"Ruochen, are you really going to be like this?" Han Yong could not help but ask in some slight frustration. He knew that he was in the wrong, but at the same time, he couldn’t help but feel angry just thinking about how his sister had been mocking him for being useless since the start. He understood that he was in the wrong, but was there any need for her to mock him so severely and at every turn?

Han Ruochen did not think that she was in the wrong. She simply sniffed haughtily and said to her older brother, "Big Brother, it’s not me who is being too much. If that is what you are accusing me of, let me be honest with you. When you decided to stop acting like you did not care about yourself anymore, did you ever once think about me? Or Jianyou? Or Beijiang? You are our big brother."

"You were supposed to be our safety net, but what kind of safety net will you be if you haven’t even cleared up your mess? You think letting the Xu family walk all over you will let you have your revenge? No. You are wrong. Ruining yourself for revenge is not revenge at all. The best revenge would be you still being on your feet when they are on their knees, big brother. And when you cannot even understand such a simple thing, how can our siblings or I rely on you?"

This was the first time Han Ruochen had spoken so much, so she felt a bit tired. In fact, if it were not for him being her big brother, Han Ruochen would not have bothered to talk with him at all. After she finished speaking, she spun on her feet and walked away. If her brother couldn’t wake up even after this, then she might as well break his feet and make him a cripple.

Madam Xu was a selfish woman. She had jumped into her brother’s bed because Meng Yunhan told her that Han Yong was thinking of starting a restaurant, and Madam Xu was greedy enough to become a rich mistress, plus she wanted someone to take the position of her son’s father, who did not even know who his true father was. Unfortunately for her, as soon as Han Yong got married to him, he stopped cooking altogether and joined the real estate business, which he had no talent for.

But Han Ruochen couldn’t say that Madam Xu suffered as much as Han Yong wanted her to. Maybe despite being so unskilled, her brother’s luck was not that bad?

Han Ruochen did not know that her casual words had caused Han Yong to fall into a pit of shame. For the first time, he couldn’t help but question his actions. Did he really do the right thing? Sure. His parents did wrong to him, but did his siblings do wrong to him, too? Now that he thought about it, he realised that they had not. So why was he doing it all? What was the point of letting his siblings suffer?

’I am such a failure,’ Han Yong couldn’t help but clench his fists harshly.

Han Ruochen did not know that her brother had fallen into such a guilt trap. She arrived at the East Sea Marine Supply Warehouse. It was nothing as she had imagined. It was like entering a cathedral of grease, rusted anchors and the intoxicating scent of rubber and oil. This was the first time she had walked through these doors, but as soon as her eyes fell on the outboard motors that were parked on the rafters like sleeping metal beasts, her heart couldn’t help but thump wildly.

For the first time in her life, Han Ruochen felt fulfilled.

In her past life, she was nothing. Even when she had everything, she ended up losing everything. Finally, in this life, she would have a motorboat of her own. How could she not be filled with glee and hope? She walked over to the salesperson. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

The man was called Old Man Wu, and his skin was the colour of burnt coal. He raised his head and looked at her with a frown on his face. "Young lady, you have come to the wrong place. This is not a place for you; if you want to buy clothes and shoes, then the warehouse next to us will deliver them to you. We, on the other hand, sell motorboats."

Han Ruochen did not want to waste her breath either. She signalled to her brother, who put the twenty-five thousand yuan on the counter. The thud alone was enough to shake the heart of Old Man Wu. She said to the old man, "I am not here to buy shoes or clothes. I want to buy a motorboat. Can you show me some professional fishing boats?"

When Old Man Wu heard that she was really there to buy a fishing boat, he couldn’t help but turn enthusiastic. His professional greed couldn’t help but suppress his old beliefs about how a woman shouldn’t get on a fishing boat. He stood up and said to her, "Alright, girl, you have piqued my interest. I will help you out a little." Though he said that, greed was evident in his eyes.