"I want the grandest coming-of-age ceremony and engagement ceremony in the city!"

"Of course." Yang Ming shrugged. He had some money. He might as well use it.

"Secondly, I want to participate in the medical competition as your fiancee."

Yang Ming tilted his head up, furrowing his eyebrows at her. "Do you know that this competition would be filled with experts and professors? You think you can help me?"

"I may not be a professional, but I’ve studied medicine ever since I was young. Besides, you specialize in orthopedia, right?" Yao Ran motioned to her leg.

"My leg hasn’t fully recovered yet. If I could use this medicine on my leg in the medical competition for everyone to see, I think you’ll be setting yourself up to win, wouldn’t you?"

"Hm..." Yang Ming slowly nodded. He didn’t think of that.

"Fine, I can promise you that."

Yao Ran’s smile widened.

"One last thing," she slowly said as Yao Tang’s face flashed in her mind. Just the thought of her was enough to make her grit her teeth. "I want you to cripple Yao Tang."Yang Ming fell silent.

Yao Tang wasn’t one to be trifled with. It would’ve been easy if she were just any other high school student, but rumors had it that she was extremely good at martial arts. Even the patriarch of the Yang Family couldn’t handle her.

If he took the initiative to provoke her, wouldn’t he be asking for trouble?

"What? The Yang Family couldn’t deal with a high school student?"

Seeing that Yang Ming was hesitant, Yao Ranscowled.

Upon seeing the look on her face, he frowned. However, just as he was about to snap at her, he realized his position. He still needed something from her; he might as well appease her.

"You know that Yao Tang has a close relationship with the Cheng Family. If we act rashly now, we’d both risk being targeted. Besides, I haven’t fully taken control of the Yang Family just yet," he said. "If you’d help me take over the position, then you鈥攁s the matriarch鈥攃ould use the Yang Family name as she wishes."

"Crippling Yao Tang now wouldn’t be a matter of discussion."

"Become the matriarch? You, the patriarch?" Yao Ran’s eyes widened. She had originally wanted to climb the tree and stay in one of the high branches, but if there was a chance for her to be at the top...

"Fine," she finally relented. "We can talk about the third condition later. What about I give you half the data now, and we can talk about the other half at my coming-of-age ceremony?"

"Just the half?" His eyes flashed.

"What’s wrong? Couldn’t you wait a little longer? Would you not stay true to your promise?"

Yang Ming took a deep breath. "You’re overthinking things. It’s just that... the competition is only two months away. I’m afraid if we don’t act quickly, we wouldn’t have time to research."

"Don’t worry." She waved her hands. "Do you think I’m that stupid? I’ve already studied the data, and the first half is already enough to produce a semi-finished product. The efficacy of just the semi-finished version is one that even the great pharmaceutical companies wouldn’t be able to keep up with."

"If that’s the case, we’ll do as you say." Yang Ming finally smiled.

Even then, the smile didn’t reach his eyes.

On the other side of the building, Meng Ling gritted her teeth as she clenched her fists in resentment.

"That bitch! We’ve given her the medicine she needed, but she ended up stealing from us!" she murmured harshly. "And we were even forced to apologize to her! What is this?"

"Mom, you must do something about this." Meng Ling grabbed onto Lady Meng’s arm.

"Listen to your father, okay? We have to do this."

Although Lady Meng was furious, she knew what her husband had instructed her.

"But I don’t want to marry him! You know his reputation! He’s nothing but a clown to the Family. How could he even be worthy of me?"

While Yao Ran was trying her best to marry him, Meng Lingonly thought of him as a temporary solution.

"The medical competition is coming up." Lady Meng sighed. "We need his help now. After the competition, you can do as you wish."