In the quiet study, a man with deep, dark eyes sat reclined in a gilded soft chair, leisurely flipping through a document with one hand. Shen Xiaoxing opened the cigar box, but realizing his current situation as a craving for a smoke hit him, he took a deep breath and put it back.
Han Chong knocked on the door, and the man responded, "Come in."
"Master, someone took a photo of the driver picking up the young mistress and fabricated online that a female college student is being kept by a wealthy man..." Han Chong tapped on his iPad, found the latest news in the headlines, and pushed it toward the man. "This has been widely spread. The school, under pressure, had to temporarily expel the young mistress. Many students have been insulting her because of it, and they even..."
The man lifted his cold eyes. "And what else?"
"They even hit her..."
Shen Xiaoxing narrowed his dark eyes slightly. No wonder he saw a band-aid on the girl's face, and when he asked her about it, she refused to say anything. So she had been in a fight.
"Found out who hit her?"
"Her name is Xu Man, from a well-off family. Her father runs a factory, and the business has been doing fairly well in recent years. She once competed with the young mistress for the title of campus belle at A University. However, she's arrogant and overbearing, unpopular among students, so the young mistress always held that title. Additionally..." Han Chong's voice trailed off as he glanced at the man.
The man wasn't interested in this person's background, but Han Chong's deliberate pause made him fix his deep, dark eyes on him.
"Go on."
"Xu Man has always admired Zou Yikai. After being rejected, she developed a deep hostility toward the young mistress..."
That Zou Yikai again, what a persistent ghost!
Just mentioning this name made Shen Xiaoxing uncomfortable, a sour feeling stirring inside him. He wished he could throw him into outer space, never to be seen again!
"Han Chong, you're getting sloppy with your work." The man toyed with a flip-top lighter, his voice low. "When you were investigating all this, didn't you think to help your young mistress get some payback?"
Han Chong was taken aback, then quickly replied, "The young mistress has a close friend named Chen Keqiao. When the fight broke out, she beat the other person so badly that their face was swollen and bleeding."
In comparison, the young mistress only had a scratch on her face, while the other person was beaten so badly even their own mother wouldn't recognize them.
"And the one who fabricated the rumors?"
"Here." Han Chong tapped a few times on the iPad, and a number belonging to An Qing popped up, along with chat records of her hiring online trolls, every transaction clearly visible.
Shen Xiaoxing's expression turned cold, his dark eyes glancing at it only once, a fierce chill brewing in his gaze. "Suppress this matter first."
Han Chong didn't understand. "Master, aren't you going to teach her a lesson for the young mistress?"
Time was limited; he hadn't yet had the chance to punish this person for the young mistress. He had come back to report to the master, expecting that in his fury, he would deal with her. Instead, he only wanted to suppress the rumors.
Shen Xiaoxing recalled how the girl would rather drown her sorrows in alcohol than confide in him, and a dull irritation settled in his chest. He said in a deep voice, "No rush."
He would suppress this first to prevent it from spreading further to the Shen residence. As for how to punish An Qing, since the girl liked to bottle everything up inside, he wouldn't interfere unless absolutely necessary.
When she learned to lean on him, to be open and honest as a couple, and to rely on him as her husband, then he would help. There was no hurry.
He wasn't in a hurry, but Han Chong was a bit anxious. He had never seen such a despicable woman, always scheming behind the scenes. No wonder the second branch was willing to help her—birds of a feather flock together!
...
When An Ruo woke up, she found the rumors had been suppressed. In the age of the internet, news spreads fast but also gets buried quickly. Once something new happens, yesterday's headlines are forgotten.
She rushed to the computer to search for "female college student being kept," but all accessible web pages were forcibly shut down. The incident felt like a fleeting dream. Under new posts, netizens were enthusiastically commenting, but no one mentioned it.
Only the disciplinary warning on her phone reminded her that this wasn't over.
An Ruo turned off her phone and scanned the room, noticing the man wasn't there. At this hour, he would have already gone to the company. She recalled how he had held her last night and suddenly said something out of the blue.
"If you ever encounter something you can't handle on your own, remember you have a husband to rely on. I may not be able to solve your problems immediately, but at least these shoulders are here for you to lean on."
The man was subtly hinting that she should turn to him in times of trouble. But An Ruo didn't understand what he meant. She only felt that he was walking on thin ice in the Shen family, barely managing himself—how could he protect her?
Besides, he was so proud and stubborn. Having him go to school in a wheelchair to clarify the driver incident, exposing his scars to everyone, was something he would never agree to.
An Ruo didn't believe she couldn't return to campus without this solution. An Qing had framed her like this, and with the kidnapping last time, it was time to teach her a lesson.
Now that she had lost her studies, she had plenty of time to deal with her!
An Ruo freshened up, changed into the gray tracksuit she had pulled out last night, and went downstairs for breakfast. After eating, she put on a black baseball cap and prepared to leave.
Before heading out, she thought for a moment and took out the gown she had worn to the art exhibition last time from the wardrobe. It was said to be worth a million!
She had only worn it once and had been extremely careful when sending it for dry cleaning. Now, it would finally come in handy.
...
As a rich young lady, An Qing certainly lived up to the title. When she had nothing to do, she loved to mingle in the socialite circle, inviting a few girlfriends for afternoon tea, shopping, beauty treatments, and then hitting the clubs at night.
An Ruo waited for hours at the places An Qing frequented but didn't see her. Instead, she spotted a few of her usual hangers-on.
She pulled her cap lower and followed them into an upscale coffee shop. Because of her odd attire, she was stopped at the door.
"Miss, please show your membership card."
An Ruo froze. Wasn't this just a fancy coffee shop? Why did she need a membership to get in?
She bit her lip. Luckily, she had come prepared. She pulled out the black card Shen Xiaoxing had given her. It wasn't a bank card; he had simply said it would grant her smooth entry to high-end dining places.
At the time, An Ruo thought it was just a status symbol for a rich young master. She had accepted it but rarely used it. Now, thinking she might need to enter upscale places to tail An Qing, she had brought it along just in case.
And it turned out to be useful.
The waiter saw the black card and was momentarily stunned, then immediately did a complete 180 in attitude. "Madam, please come in."
"..."
An Ruo stepped into the coffee shop and quickly spotted the group on the mezzanine. She kept her head low and sat at a table not far from them.
These were An Qing's lackeys—people with no real status in Shen City, vain and sycophantic, always clinging to An Qing for scraps of benefit.
But such fair-weather friends were never sincere. When An Qing wasn't around, they never missed a chance to gossip behind her back. An Ruo had seen their two-faced behavior at the An residence before.
"Hey, what dresses are you wearing to tonight's ball?"
"I just got a super nice dress. Let me show you the picture."