Chapter 53: 52. Returning Evil for Good (Please add to library, please vote!)

"You... you are still alive?" Zhao Chunlan suddenly pointed at Zhang Ran, trembling.

Zhang Ran frowned subconsciously when he saw her finger pointing at him, and upon seeing this, Zhao Chunlan was so frightened that she retracted her finger like lightning.

Zhang Sicheng and the others were all dumbfounded by this scene, especially Zhang Siyan and Qian Li.

Both of them knew exactly how shameless and difficult this old woman before them was.

Not to mention Zhang Siyan, even when Qian Li used to come to find Zhang Siyan, she had endured no shortage of harassment and sarcasm from this old woman.

Back then, Zhao Chunlan had always been arrogant and haughty, just like a proud rooster.

Yet at this moment, just because Zhang Ran frowned, she was shivering like a mouse encountering a cat.

How could they not be surprised by such a transformation? They couldn't help but look at Zhang Ran.

Susu also saw this scene, and her large eyes looking at Zhang Ran suddenly held something more—was it admiration?

In Susu's small mind, her grandmother before her was a great demon king! A great demon king who filled her with fear!

And this great demon king, when facing her grandfather who had suddenly appeared, was actually afraid, which immediately caused a trace of admiration for her grandfather to arise in Susu's little heart.

"You recognize me?" Zhang Ran began to think carefully about who this person in front of him really was.

It wasn't that he was forgetful, but twenty-eight years had passed, and many people's appearances had changed significantly, especially women; if they weren't careful with their maintenance, they could very well be different people from before.

Just at this moment, a limping old man walked out from inside, appearing somewhat impatient.

"What are you still dawdling at the door for? Hurry up and let her take her things and leave." The old man's tone was full of impatience.

But very quickly, when he saw Zhang Ran's face clearly, he, like Zhao Chunlan, stood stiffly on the spot; because he had a lame leg, he was even unable to stand steady.

"You... how could you still be alive?" Sun Ermin said subconsciously, reacting just like Zhao Chunlan, as if it were incredible to see Zhang Ran appear before them.

Not everyone knew about the accident when Zhang Ran was aboard the Goddess of Destiny back then; only people like Meng He and Yu Qingwan knew the specific situation regarding Zhang Ran.

Some people who were slightly familiar with him might have known that Zhang Ran went abroad and then disappeared, while those who were less familiar, or lacked the ability, only knew that Zhang Ran had disappeared and heard that he was dead.

Therefore, when the Goddess of Destiny returned a while ago, these people never expected that Zhang Ran would also be on it.

After all, this luxury cruise ship didn't just have Zhang Ran; including the crew and service staff, there were nearly a thousand people.

Even if someone had found photos of these people and posted them online, unless one was certain about a person, who would have the patience to carefully look through over a thousand people?

Zhang Ran looked at Sun Ermin, then looked at Zhao Chunlan, and it seemed he was gradually matching them to the two people in his memory.

Especially Sun Ermin's lame leg; he seemed to think of something all at once.

From these two people before him, Zhang Ran could tell that they were very afraid of him, and since Sun Ermin had a lame leg, he also thought of some things.

Over so many years, Zhang Ran had actually dealt harshly with quite a few people, but he had only broken the legs of a few, and these people were all in the same gang.

This matter had to start from when Zhang Ran bought Huo Zhiyuan from her parents.

At the time, Zhang Ran didn't think too much about it; he just considered it a good deed.

But the original buyer who had already been in contact saw that Zhang Ran had intercepted the deal, and seeing that Zhang Ran didn't seem short of money, they harbored evil intentions.

By this time, Zhang Ran had already encountered the incident with Hao Yuan's gang, so he had also protected himself well.

This group of people fell into Zhang Ran's hands right then and there.

Subsequently, Zhang Ran learned of the evil deeds this group had committed—trafficking women and even kidnapping children—and at the time, Zhang Ran was so angry that he directly broke the legs of all these people.

It wasn't just as simple as breaking their legs; Zhang Ran had specifically found people to lock them in a place and teach them a harsh lesson for several days.

Afterward, he even sent them to prison and found people inside to properly "take care" of them.

Zhang Ran saw them and suddenly started to laugh; as he laughed, Sun Ermin felt as if his lame leg hurt even more.

Zhang Ran was extremely regretful at this moment; he wanted to slap himself. Of course, he didn't regret what he had done at the time, but rather regretted not having finished the job completely.

Just by thinking of these things, Zhang Ran could understand many things from them.

At the very least, he knew that Zhang Siyan might have suffered for so many years because of him.

"Siyan, Qian Li, take Susu and go pack your things." Zhang Ran took a deep breath and said slowly to Zhang Siyan and Qian Li.

Although Zhang Siyan and Qian Li were both curious, they obediently took Susu to the basement.

Zhang Ran didn't pay attention to Sun Ermin and the others and walked inside on his own, as if he were the master of this place.

Sun Ermin and Zhao Chunlan opened their mouths subconsciously, but seeing that face of Zhang Ran, they didn't dare to speak.

The arrogant and disdainful faces they had shown toward Zhang Siyan earlier had long since dissipated; all that remained now was panic.

Although they knew that times were not what they used to be, the psychological shadow Zhang Ran had cast upon them had never been erased, especially for Sun Ermin—the torture he had suffered all those years had come from Zhang Ran.

"Is this the punishment from heaven? Is it blaming me for being too stingy back then?" Zhang Ran murmured.

If he had been willing to spend a fortune back then and spend some energy to exchange for the Duanzi Juesun Grass, perhaps these things wouldn't have happened.

Firstly, Zhang Ran had been reluctant at the time and also believed that people like Sun Ermin didn't deserve such things.

Secondly, he didn't have much energy at the time, and he wouldn't use it unless necessary.

Zhang Ran ignored the shivering Sun Ermin and looked at Zhao Chunlan, saying, "If I remember correctly, you were one of the women who had been trafficked, right?"

At the time, Zhang Ran hadn't just rounded up Sun Ermin's gang; he had also rescued several trafficked women, and Zhao Chunlan looked quite similar to one of them.

Zhao Chunlan tried hard to calm herself down; she didn't admit it, but instead began to warn Zhang Ran, "Zhang Ran, it's not the past anymore. If you dare to lay a hand on me, I will call the police right now to have you arrested."

She didn't refute Zhang Ran, which proved that Zhang Ran was right—Zhao Chunlan was indeed one of the women rescued by Zhang Ran back then.

Seeing this, Zhang Ran couldn't help but laugh again, though this time the laughter was somewhat bitter.

He had considered himself to have done a good deed back then; not only did he rescue women like Zhao Chunlan who had been trafficked, but he also gave these people some travel and living expenses—although not much, it was enough for their normal expenses for several months at the time.

Zhang Ran didn't want Zhao Chunlan and the others to remember his kindness, but he hadn't expected that Zhao Chunlan would later deliberately retaliate against Zhang Siyan just to let Sun Ermin vent his pent-up anger.

Now that Zhang Ran thought about it, he knew that the reason Zhang Siyan was constantly harassed by her wicked mother-in-law definitely had something to do with him.

Zhang Sicheng looked too much like Zhang Ran; seeing Zhang Sicheng, Sun Ermin thought of Zhang Ran, and likewise, Zhao Chunlan thought of him too.