Tan You’s words struck a nerve with Li Lanzhen. "His surname is Li, and mine is Tang. We were never family to begin with. If you really want to support him, why don’t you just rent a place and cook all his meals for him?"

"Oh, and by the way, when you work yourself sick, don’t come to me for medical bills. After all, you’ve never done a thing for me."

Li Lanzhen’s face twisted. "I’m your mother! How can you talk to me like that?"

Tan You was expressionless. "I’m already being polite enough. Since you’re so devoted to supporting your own family’s nephew and brother, you can count on them to take care of you in your old age. Don’t count on me."

"You’re a member of the Li family, but I’m not."

"Alright, that’s enough. I have work tomorrow."

After hanging up on Li Lanzhen, Tan You still felt a little uneasy. She thought for a moment, then called the neighbor who lived across the hall back in her hometown. "Auntie Liu, it’s me. There’s something I need to ask you to do..."

"Could you keep an eye out for me? If you see anyone else moving into my family’s house, please contact me..."

"I’ll be counting on you, then. I’ll bring you some local specialties from here when I come back... Thank you, Auntie Liu..."

After giving a few more instructions, Tan You finally hung up. She cracked her knuckles. ’It’s obvious a few words won’t be enough to make Li Lanzhen behave,’ she thought, ’but that’s fine. Life has been too peaceful in the last few worlds. It’s time to stretch my muscles a bit.’

After running through these matters in her mind, Tan You pushed them aside. She opened the original owner Tang Li’s computer to continue her work on the proposal. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Tang Li was the creative director for a film and television company. Having become a team leader at just twenty-eight or twenty-nine, she was already a woman of exceptional ability.

The show proposals she created had earned her a decent reputation in the industry. It was safe to say Tang Li lacked neither ability nor wealth. But life always has its hardships, such as her father’s early death and her own mother, Li Lanzhen, being obsessed with propping up her brother’s family.

Li Lanzhen was always scheming for ways to get money from Tang Li, just so she could look good in front of her maiden family. In Tan You’s eyes, this was an exceptionally foolish way to behave.

’You can help your maiden family, but you should do it with your own abilities. Constantly asking others for money, only to turn around and play the big shot for your own relatives, is just pathetic.’

Because of this, Tang Li’s attitude toward Li Lanzhen was distant. She gave her a fixed living allowance of 2,000 yuan a month, and if her mother asked for more, she’d flatly refuse. If Li Lanzhen got sick, she had to present the medical receipts for reimbursement. Tang Li wouldn’t give a penny more.

Speaking of which, one had to mention Tang Li’s biological father, Tang Cheng. He had long seen through Li Lanzhen’s obsession with her own family, so when they bought a house after getting married, he insisted that it must be registered under their daughter Tang Li’s name.

Tang Li was less than ten years old at the time. Li Lanzhen and her family had thrown fits and caused scenes, but the Tang family stood firm and refused to budge. As a result, Tang Li owned a house at a young age. After Tang Cheng passed away unexpectedly, Li Lanzhen tried to get the house from Tang Li, but to her dismay, she never succeeded.

First of all, Tang Li herself didn’t have much affection for her mother. Second, she also disliked Li Wanjun and his family. Besides, she wasn’t a naive child; if Li Lanzhen got her hands on the house, there was no telling if it would even remain with the Tang family in the end.

After all, a house in a first-tier city was worth a considerable amount. Even though it was in the suburbs, it was still valued at seven or eight million. No one was a fool; everyone knew it was better to have something yourself than for someone else to have it.

Tan You had never been a Creative Director before, but her own company used to have that position, so she knew exactly what the job entailed.

Looking at Tang Li’s unfinished proposal, Tan You couldn’t help but sigh in admiration. ’Talent really can be found anywhere.’ Although there were some minor flaws, they didn’t detract from its overall brilliance.

If she had met a talent like Tang Li back in her life as Lu Wen, Tan You would have done whatever it took to recruit her for her own company.

She spent her time editing and revising Tang Li’s proposal. By the time she was finished, it was already the dead of night. Looking out the window at the streetlights that resembled a river of stars, Tan You couldn’t help but smile.

While Li Lanzhen was busy showing off in front of her family, she had no idea what kind of life Tang Li led. Tang Li saw the metropolis at two in the morning almost every day, and the various schemes and power struggles at the office were something Li Lanzhen had never experienced.

All she knew was how to ask Tang Li for money, yet she herself couldn’t do anything right. She had tried working before, but she was always fired by her boss after just a few days.

She followed trends and invested, losing every last penny. Yet even so, she failed to recognize her own place. It was safe to say that anyone who ended up with a mother like that was just plain unlucky.

Shaking off these thoughts, Tan You finished a glass of milk before heading to the bathroom to wash up.

The next morning, just before nine, Tan You walked into the company carrying her briefcase.

"Director Tang, good morning."

"Morning, Director."

"Good morning."

Greeting people along the way, she entered her office area. At this point, only one newcomer was there. The new guy had just joined last month; he wasn’t very old and had a bright, sunny smile.

The moment he saw Tan You, his face lit up with a broad smile. He turned and brought a cup of coffee over from his desk. "Morning, Sister Li. I just made you some coffee."

Tan You gave him a cryptic smile. "No, thank you. The company hired you to work, not to make coffee. By the way, is your proposal finished? When can you get it to me?"

Fang Xiang’s face twitched, his smile barely holding. "Sister Li..."

Tan You held up a hand. "We need to be professional at the company. Please address me as Director. Also, get that proposal to me before lunch. If you can’t even produce a single proposal, I’ll have to go ask HR what their hiring standards are."

"If you put the same effort you use to study coffee into your work, you wouldn’t be in such an embarrassing position right now."

Leaving him with those few words, Tan You walked into Tang Li’s office. As the Creative Director, Tang Li naturally had a certain status at the company. All of it was earned through her own hard work. As for the thorns and hardships along the way, those weren’t stories for outsiders.

The moment Tan You entered her office, Fang Xiang couldn’t hold it in anymore. He took the cup of coffee to the breakroom and poured it all down the sink, his anger only gradually subsiding.

Seeing that the breakroom was empty, Fang Xiang finally pulled out his phone. "Didn’t you say this was exactly Tang Li’s type?"

"The sunny, handsome type?"

"She just chewed me out. No wonder everyone calls her the she-devil."

"This job is too difficult. You’ll have to pay more."

The person on the other end of the line sounded a little surprised. "Fine. As long as you can handle her, we’ll pay whatever it takes."

Fang Xiang was barely satisfied. "We’ll talk about it then. I refuse to believe there’s a woman I can’t conquer."

The person on the other end immediately started sucking up. "You’ve got this, Sixth Brother! You’ve never failed before. I’ll be waiting for your good news."