Why did the posts disappear?
To explain that, the story had to involve an outsider: Chu Yifeng’s younger cousin, Lei Yunze, the young man Wang Cheng had happened to meet in Chu Yifeng’s office when he visited the company. Lei Yunze was a student at Jing University and originally had nothing whatsoever to do with this matter. Coincidentally, however, the son of his eldest paternal aunt, Xie Zhifang, attended Shanhai University, and the two were close.
After the attacks on Yuan Xia erupted online, Xie Zhifang was not at Shanhai University, but he stayed in contact with friends there. The next day, one of those friends happened to call him and casually mentioned the incident, telling him to check the social forum if he wanted to see for himself. It could easily be called the most sensational event in Shanhai University’s history.
Lei Yunze happened to be with Xie Zhifang at the time. Seeing him scrolling through something on his phone and periodically exclaiming in surprise, Lei Yunze asked what he was looking at. Xie Zhifang naturally shared the post with him.
When Xie Zhifang scrolled down to the attached photographs, Lei Yunze froze the moment he saw one of the men. Xie Zhifang kept scrolling until Lei Yunze immediately stopped him.
“Wait. Go back.”
“What’s wrong?” Xie Zhifang asked, though he obediently swiped back to the previous image. It was the only photograph where both men’s faces could be seen clearly, and even he had to admit that both of them were very good-looking.
Lei Yunze did not answer right away. He stared without blinking at the man driving the car. That face had left a deep impression on him. He recognized the man as his eldest cousin’s friend, and probably not an ordinary friend either, perhaps someone on a similar level to Brother Shen Yuan. After returning to the capital, Lei Yunze had looked into it, but he could not find any prominent-family scion named Wang Cheng. He had not dared investigate too deeply for fear his eldest cousin would find out, and eventually forgot the matter. Now the photograph suddenly brought the memory back.
“I know the man driving,” Lei Yunze said.
“What? Then do you know who he is?” Xie Zhifang was astonished. What kind of coincidence was this?
Lei Yunze shook his head. “I don’t know who he is, but I know he’s a friend of my eldest cousin.”
Xie Zhifang’s eyes widened. He knew who Lei Yunze’s eldest cousin was, a figure almost impossible to approach. Plenty of young people from first-rate families in the capital wanted to build a connection with him, but very few succeeded. The man came and went unpredictably, rarely attended gatherings or banquets, and meeting him even once was extremely difficult. Anyone who could become his friend could not possibly be ordinary.
“Then what do we do now? Should we tell your eldest cousin?” Xie Zhifang asked. They were not simple-minded people who believed whatever a few photographs seemed to imply and let themselves be manipulated. One look was enough to tell someone was deliberately trying to ruin Teacher Yuan Xia. Normally, it would have nothing to do with them, but now that Lei Yunze’s eldest cousin’s friend had been dragged in, they could hardly ignore it.
Lei Yunze fell silent for a moment. “Maybe they already know?”
“Why are you so slow? This is a perfect opportunity. Don’t you worship your eldest cousin? Use this chance to contact him more. Even if they already know, it doesn’t matter. You don’t know that they know. And if they don’t, you get to do a favor for your eldest cousin’s friend.”
Xie Zhifang shook his head. He really was hopelessly dense.
“Right. Then I’ll call Eldest Cousin now.” Lei Yunze had never thought of it that way. The moment the idea clicked, he acted.
Chu Yifeng’s phone number had been saved in his phone for a long time, but Lei Yunze rarely called. It was not that he did not want to. He simply did not dare. The phone rang eight times before someone answered.
Xie Zhifang could not hear the voice on the other end, but he saw Lei Yunze become so excited his hands were trembling. He admitted that Yunze’s eldest cousin really was a legendary figure and that even he admired him somewhat. Still, they had met more than a few times. How could Lei Yunze get this nervous just from talking to his own cousin?
Chu Yifeng happened to have just finished a meeting when the call came. Otherwise, it would simply have been rejected. He did not answer until he reached his office. “What is it?”
Lei Yunze stammered for a while before finally reaching the point. Chu Yifeng almost hung up on him, but the moment he heard Wang Cheng’s name, his attention sharpened. “Which website?”
Lei Yunze was stunned by how direct he was. Xie Zhifang jabbed him in the side before he recovered. “Several of Shanhai University’s popular websites…”
Before he even finished speaking, a busy tone sounded in his ear. Chu Yifeng had hung up.
“…”
Chu Yifeng opened his computer and logged into Shanhai University’s forum. He did not even need to search. The most conspicuous headline on the page appeared immediately, pinned at the top and marked in bright red. President Cheng had said he would deal with the matter, but even he had not expected it to be this difficult. Every time a post was deleted, someone restored it. On top of that, President Cheng had received an oblique warning telling him not to interfere, which was why the thread was still hanging on the forum. Only the copy on the internal campus site had been removed.
Chu Yifeng opened the post and skimmed it. The photograph most people thought showed two men embracing and kissing looked wrong to him at a single glance. Then he opened the other post and, unsurprisingly, saw Jiang Xuan.
Closing the pages, Chu Yifeng took out his phone and dialed a number overseas. Because of the time difference, it rang six times before someone answered.
“Fuck, who is this? Do you know what time it is? Anyone who wakes people up from a good dream deserves to die.” The first thing the other person did was curse furiously. He was obviously not fully awake.
“You have ten seconds. Turn on your computer immediately. I’ll send you the links. Clean this up. I don’t want to see any of it appear again.”
A heavy object hit the floor on the other end. After a burst of rustling, a trembling voice came through. “B-Boss? I’ll do it immediately. Right now.”
He had no idea what had happened, but the boss’s tone was so serious that David instantly stopped dawdling. He scrambled out of bed without even bothering to put on clothes. Fortunately, he always kept his computer in the bedroom. He used the remaining five seconds to boot it and barely made the ten-second deadline.
David skimmed the links his boss sent and was surprised by what he saw. Then he immediately used his specialty to obey the order and erase all the posts, including reposts. Once the data refreshed, there would be no trace of them left online.
Five minutes later, David called his boss back. “Boss, it’s done. I can’t delete images other people already saved, though. Also, I checked the poster’s IP address and pulled some information on the person behind the posts. Do you want it?”
“Send it.”
“Yes, Boss.” David immediately packaged the information and sent it over. A few seconds later, he gathered his courage and asked, “Boss, do you know the people in the posts?”
“You want to know?” Chu Yifeng’s voice carried a faint smile that was somehow more threatening than amusement.
David shuddered. “No. You don’t need to tell me.” He had no idea that if he had kept asking, Chu Yifeng might actually have answered. All David knew was that his boss seemed to be in a bad mood, and anyone who put him in a bad mood rarely had a pleasant outcome.
The first post did not actually prove Yuan Xia and Wang Cheng were involved, but Boss Chu was still thoroughly displeased. He and his wife had not even come out as a couple yet, and somehow Wang Cheng was being forcibly outed with another man first? That was practically a direct challenge to his bottom line.
Chu Yifeng then forwarded the material David had sent him to someone else: Jiang Xuan, who was currently in the capital. Yuan Xia had never told Jiang Xuan about the scandal, so until now he remained completely in the dark.
When Jiang Xuan received the information, he was surprised that Chu Yifeng had contacted him directly. He knew Chu Yifeng through Shen Yuan, but the two of them rarely interacted and could almost be said to have no personal contact at all, except through one person.
That person was Wang Cheng. Yuan Xia had told Jiang Xuan about Wang Cheng and Chu Yifeng’s relationship. If there was any likely connection between the two situations, it could only involve Wang Cheng and Yuan Xia. Before Jiang Xuan could think further, however, Dongzi called.
Yuan Xia’s near-breakdown had finally made Dongzi realize something was wrong. Only then did he discover that such a major scandal had erupted at Shanhai University. He immediately called Jiang Xuan.
Jiang Xuan’s expression changed dramatically. Without another word, he told his secretary to book the fastest available flight. Two hours later, he was already on a plane leaving the capital. As for the family gathering, he had no interest in attending anymore. The only thing he felt grateful for was that Chu Yifeng had stepped in. By now, the damaging posts about Yuan Xia should no longer exist online.
Wang Cheng, busy with renovations for the shop, knew absolutely nothing about what had happened. His daily life did not overlap much with Yuan Xia’s, after all. Chu Yifeng had no intention of telling him for the moment either. With Jiang Xuan there, Yuan Xia would be fine.
The commercial-district storefront still needed several days before the renovation would be finished. The company Wang Cheng hired specialized in this kind of work. Once he handed over the drawings and requirements, he no longer needed to supervise personally. If anything went wrong, the company would contact him immediately.
As a result, Wang Cheng had not gone into the city these past two days. Even if he wanted to, he could not, because Wang Ningkai and Wang Xiaoyan’s engagement banquet had finally arrived.