Lin Chu heard this and asked, "Did you have to owe a favor? Your friend"s quite efficient. The fee he charges normally wouldn"t be cheap, right."
Zheng Yuntong scratched her head. "Yeah, he"s quite famous in this line. I got to know him from working with our mentor last time, our mentor"s more familiar with him. So if we really need to investigate something, he"ll give us a discount. But, this time the service is free. It"s because when I was working with our mentor, some parts of the investigations were handed over to him and he brought in a lot of business to his office. He won"t charge a fee for small matters such as these."
Lin Chu shook her head. "Don"t owe anyone any favors for me, let"s just keep it for during crucial moments. What"re his standard charges normally? I"ll give you the money, you just hand it over to him."
Zheng Yuntong gave it a thought. The person that he had a close relations.h.i.+p with was Lu Lixin. She was only able to get to know him because of Lu Lixin, gratuitously asking for someone"s help and used up the person"s time as well as physical resources, the favor would be hard to return. She then nodded and did not refuse.
Later, Lin Chu focused on the video and discussed with Zheng Yuntong on how to push the popularity of the video. The two then went on to contact two parties, Zheng Yuntong went to contact the marketing account, and Lin Chu went to find a studio to push the video"s popularity.
Once she had arranged all of this, Lin Chu thought about it and gave Dai Huimin a call.
"I"m sorry, it"s all because of me that both of you were dragged in," Lin Chu said.
"No, no." Dai Huimin waved her hand around from across during her phone call. "We"re not that affected by it, Jiaojiao did not go out these days anyway. She actually saw the news on the Internet, but she"s getting more sensible about things now. She knew that if she hadn"t done anything wrong, it wouldn"t have been exploited by others. Moreover, I"ve discussed it with your uncle, it"ll blow over in no time as Jiaojiao isn"t someone famous. When the time comes, no one will remember her. We thought about letting her help out at the restaurant before she"s ready to find a suitable job. In fact, our family finances are enough to afford the small restaurant. It"s just that Jiaojiao is a university graduate and we don"t want her to waste her ability. Once time pa.s.ses and the news blows over, we"ll allow her to look for a job. She"s not going to waste her time or anything."
Lin Chu and Zheng Yuntong that had several connections in the media because of their work had allowed Lin Chu to personally call the media outlets. On the account of having to handle the matter promptly yesterday, she gave them her greetings and asked them to not bother the Xu Family.
Therefore, the Xu Family"s lives were not heavily affected by this matter, other than Xu Jiaojiao losing face.
By Xu Jiaojiao being entangled in something bad, it was inevitable that she would be the talk of the neighbors. But, Lin Chu was not able to cover these matters, if Xu Jiaojiao were to continue forward sooner or later, she would have been exposed. If Lin Yuwen were to personally come forward, then the Xu Family would have faced a bigger embarra.s.sment.
On the basis of Lin Yuwen"s unwillingness to forgive, the Xu Family would have faced a huge inconvenience. They would have to bear Lin Yuwen"s severe treatment in addition to getting flooded by gossip from their surrounding neighbors.
Fortunately, she had time to withdraw and Lin Yuwen was unable to search for the Xu Family. A layer of damage had been avoided, and as for being gossiped by the neighbors, once time pa.s.sed the matters would fade and everything would blow over.
Moreover, it was indeed an opportunity for Xu Jiaojiao to learn a lesson. Although she was deceived by Cheng Ziming, getting pregnant and getting a miscarriage, there was still a possibility for her to repeat the same mistake.
Since the matter had developed this way, if she encountered this same kind of situation in the future, she would possibly take more time to think about it.
Lin Chu then asked about Xu Jiaojiao. Dai Huimin said that Xu Jiaojiao had been quite obedient lately. She even took the initiative to hand in her resignation in Lin Mao tomorrow and returned to help out in the restaurant. It was just that because of this matter, she felt a little embarra.s.sed so Dai Huimin would be accompanying her tomorrow.
Once she hung up the phone, Zheng Yuntong held her phone up and said, "Lin Chu, go online quickly, it"s out."
Lin Chu immediately opened up her screen, the studio she searched for was obviously more reliable than Lu Weining"s. The one that exposed her was not a newly registered account, it was one that would frequently publish a few articles about fighting for justice.
This time they posed as a pa.s.ser-by, saying that they were going for a hospital visit when they came across this scene. The woman who pointed at Lu Weining in the video was captured on her profile, just a little bit of pixelation and she was unrecognizable. Lu Weining"s eyes were pixelated slightly, which made her look like she was respectful and private, yet did not prevent those media reporters from recognizing her.
Afterward, it was forwarded by many other marketing accounts. Amidst the chaos, a media account was able to recognize that the woman in the video was Lu Weining.
Not to mention, Lu Weining had appeared in people"s feeds a number of times lately. The media had double-standards in this aspect. If they were to simply expose a common person"s information, they would get censured as well as criticized by the ma.s.ses. However, this matter completely changed for public figures.
In particular, public figures who were involved in the field of entertainment. They had no privacy whatsoever. If they were to get into a fight, dating someone, getting divorced or involved in an affair, even if it was a mere case of getting drunk. The whole thing would get reported wantonly, and no one would criticize you for doing it.
Lu Weining"s video was immediately shared everywhere by Internet users and she was criticized hard, and they demanded her to step forth and apologize.
There was even a reporter that had found the lady that was scolding Lu Weining at that time. The lady explained everything, feeling indignant by the injustice of it.
Lastly, the lady furiously said, "My child had a stomachache. Fortunately, it was a minor illness. If it was a serious illness, and because she delayed timely medical treatment and caused unimaginable serious consequences, what would"ve happened? Now she could apologize, but in the event of her costing a human"s life, would she be able to just apologize? She was confronted by me this time, but who knows if she had done similar things before? Even if it was not my child that needed prompt treatment, if there were patients at death"s door that was caught up in her selfishness, those patients that could"ve lived died, how would she ever make up for it?"
When Lu Weining saw this news, her mind went blank. The first thought reaction she had was it was Yan Beicheng, the thought of it being Lin Chu"s doing had never crossed her mind. She did not believe that Lin Chu had the capabilities of doing such a thing.
However, when Lu Zhenghang investigated the matter, he could not find traces of Yan Beicheng anywhere.
He threw his mobile phone on the table from irritation. "Don"t keep a.s.suming that it"s Yan Beicheng just because there are signs of disturbance. You"ve actually offended someone when you were at the hospital. It"s not surprising that people actually put the video up. I don"t understand, do you not know your own ident.i.ty? How could you constantly go out and do things without bringing your brain along! You"re a public figure now, and everyone watches your every movement. Such avoidable evidence that could be used against you and you actually fell for it, do you actually have a brain! With your current circ.u.mstances, you still want to stay and be the general manager? Nowadays Xing Chuang"s reputation is at risk, and the artists under our banner are shrinking in terms of available activities. You"re at least half of the reason why it"s so!"
"You keep pestering me. If you have the capabilities then settle this matter for me!" Lu Weining replied to him with a flushed face.
"There"s no other method to settle this, just come forth and apologize. I"ll contact the public relations department, and write a draft for your apology. You should memorize it well, don"t read directly from the script when you"re apologizing. Not only would it not solve the issue, but you"ll also probably be shunned even more by the public," Lu Zhenghang said impatiently.
Lu Weining gritted her teeth and knew this was the only way.
Just as she was leaving, she paused and turned around as she asked, "Do you think this could be Lin Chu"s doing?"
Lu Zhenghang raised his eyebrows, he was somewhat surprised. "Why"d you suddenly think of her?"
Lu Weining heard these words and grinned in disdain, she then scoffed once. "True, she has no such capabilities, other than seeking help from Yan Beicheng she doesn"t know anything else. It"s just that yesterday her fake speech was posted online, and I exploited this matter by tearing down her mother"s family, she found out about it. Today, my affairs were exposed, so I was just guessing if it had something to do with her."
Lu Zhenghang waved his hands. "Alright, I"ll investigate. Don"t you underestimate Lin Chu"s abilities, I think she"s not as delicate as you"ve presumed. Stop looking down on everything every single time, and think that no one"s smarter or have more capabilities than you. Have some self-awareness, if you were really that capable, would you constantly leave behind evidence of wrongdoing that can be seized upon by others? If you truly are capable as such, then you wouldn"t constantly be doing the wrong things. Lin Chu works in public relations, there"s no shortage of contacts for her in this area. On the chances of from zero to ten, the possibility of it related to her is probably eight or nine."
"How"s that possible, I"m not looking down on her. She——" Lu Weining was unable to finish her sentence yet Lu Zhenghang gave her a glare. She could not continue further and shut her mouth, and left the office feeling indignant.
Xu Jiaojiao went over to Lin Mao on Monday to hand in her resignation letter due to her matter being exposed. Originally, everyone in the company knew about her and Cheng Ziming"s affair. But, an open secret and public knowledge were not the same.
Moreover, she herself knew that she had been arrogant previously. Being exposed by the small new account online, now everyone knew that she had been abandoned by Cheng Ziming, even having gotten pregnant and miscarried afterward. She felt as if she had no more reputation, if she went there she would probably be mocked and jeered at.
As a result, she was nervous on the inside and had no courage left. Dai Huimin"s heart became tender as she saw her being this way, and wanted to come along with her.
She then said, "I"m coming with you, if you become a laughingstock, I"ll be the one losing more face. They"ll just say that I"ve not given my daughter a proper upbringing!"
"Mom, it was my fault, I"m the one that was at fault, okay? Please stop mentioning the matter, I…" Xu Jiaojiao shamefully buried her face. "Don"t mention it anymore, I know it"s not a glamorous matter. I"m trying hard to pretend it never happened, you don"t have to keep reminding me over and over again. I——"
"Alright, okay, alright, I"m not going to, I won"t mention it anymore," Dai Huimin said quickly as she slowly patted Xu Jiaojiao"s back to comfort her. "As long as you don"t do such a stupid thing in the future, I"ll never mention it again. Otherwise, otherwise, I"ll keep mentioning it and make that memory of yours last for a long time!"
"I got it!" Xu Jiaojiao replied, feeling embarra.s.sed and angry.
She wore a cap and sungla.s.ses, she knew this would not prevent her colleagues from recognizing her, but as they said, "out of sight, out of mind".
Perhaps it was Cheng Ziming informing them ahead of time, or because Xiao Jiaojiao"s matter was posted online. The leader knew that there was no way to keep her around, and signed the letter straightforwardly. So much so that he did not request for Xu Jiaojiao to stay around and pa.s.s her work over to the new colleague.
As for Cheng Ziming, she had not seen it and neither did she even wanted to.
After resigning, Dai Huimin"s heart had relaxed by a lot. It was as if she had unloaded a heavy burden, and she felt relieved. It was rare for her to splurge and took a cab with Xu Jiaojiao to go back.
Xu Jiaojiao thought about it and said, "Mom, let"s take a cab and go straight to the restaurant. Dad had been busy the whole day there all alone, I"ll start helping out at the restaurant today."
Dai Huimin heard this and felt that Xu Jiaojiao was finally being sensible. She quickly nodded and agreed to it.
Soon after they left with the cab, Lin Yuwen drove into Lin Mao"s parking lot in a rage.
Due to the time difference, she arrived at the airport at four o"clock this morning, it was particularly early. Because she switched off her mobile phone on the plane, she did not find out about it until she got off the plane and switched her mobile phone on. Only then she saw the WeChat message that her best friend had sent to her.
When she saw, her blood started boiling on the spot.
Cheng Ziming did not know that she had returned, Lin Yuwen also did not immediately go to the general manager"s office. She first went up to the department where Xu Jiaojiao was working and looked for the department leader.
"Which one"s Xu Jiaojiao?" Lin Yuwen pushed the door to enter the manager"s office and immediately asked the question when the door flew open.
The manager was not surprised by this, and quickly replied, "She resigned, and her mother came along to accompany her."
Looking at the manager"s expression, Lin Yuwen then began to dread that the whole company knew about Cheng Ziming"s affair. She was so infuriated she began to grind her teeth incessantly.
"Cheng Ziming and Xu Jiaojiao"s affair, did you know about it as well?" Lin Chu asked coldly.
The manager did not want to admit it, after all, it was a family scandal. Although, if he said that he was not aware of it, no one would believe him. According to Lin Yuwen"s temper, she would a.s.sume that he was mocking her behind her back.
Hence, he simply said, "It was quite widely spread on the Internet, the company… knew the basics. Actually, Xu Jiaojiao"s parents knew about it earlier on, so they locked Xu Jiaojiao at home and came over to help her resign. It was just that the person herself was not here to sign it so she couldn"t leave the office. Therefore, it"s been dragged on to this day. As Xu Jiaojiao had a miscarriage, and that"s why she gave up. Today without a moment of hesitation, she came over to handle her resignation. I didn"t dare to let her hang around longer, even to hand over her work to her replacement, so I let her go."
Lin Yuwen nodded. She still could not help but glare fiercely at the manager once. She then slammed the door as she walked out, and found that the staff in the open room were all secretly watching her.
Lin Yuwen was infuriated and rushed forth quickly, hurriedly getting into the elevator.
Once she was in the elevator alone, she felt significantly better.
If Xu Jiaojiao really planned to not pursue Cheng Ziming anymore, then she would not do anything to Xu Jiaojiao. After all, there was still Lin Chu around. Even if it was hard for her to admit, Lin Chu"s current status would be hard for her to mess around with.
As for Cheng Ziming, she was just disappointed in him. She was only able to see his true colors once she had gotten married to him, it made her further realize that she did not want to cause further trouble just for this man that cheated on her with another woman.
He was not worthy of her heart.
Lin Yuwen sneered, if Cheng Ziming was able to find another woman outside, why could she not find another man outside as well?
Furthermore, so what if she were infertile? Nowadays if one wanted to have a child, there were many other ways.
When the treatment in the United States did not work out, she already thought about matters. Cheng Ziming was only taking a fancy to her family"s money and wanted to make Lin Mao as his own. She must not let Cheng Ziming do as he wished, and would not let Cheng Ziming"s blood contaminate Lin Mao"s.
She would rather look for someone who was irrelevant. When she was in the United States, she had already submitted the formalities and signed up at the s.p.e.r.m bank. She only needed to look for a surrogate to help produce her children.
As long as the blood that flew within the child was of the Lin Family, she then could inherit Lin Mao, regardless of gender. Cheng Ziming that would have no connection whatsoever with the child, would get nothing in the end.
Therefore, she did not intend to look for trouble with another woman for Cheng Ziming. If she cared about him she would have bothered, but now that Cheng Ziming was just a rotten onion to her, why would she bother?
She was still storming into Cheng Ziming"s office in anger the whole way there, even ignoring Cheng Ziming"s a.s.sistant that called out to her.
Cheng Ziming saw her when she pushed the door open and stormed in with her expression filled with anger. He then asked in surprise, "When did you come back?"
"If I hadn"t, then I wouldn"t have known anything that you"re up to!" Lin Yuwen scoffed.
Cheng Ziming held on to the thought that Lin Yuwen was unable to conceive a child and even if they got a divorce, no other men would be willing to have her. Therefore, he felt secure because he felt that he had a back-up.
"Looks like you"ve found out."
"The news was widespread, and embarra.s.sed a huge public figure, you were still hoping that I wouldn"t find out? You"re just great, actually looking for prey near your hole. 1 Letting the whole company know about the private affairs of our family!" Lin Yuwen said furiously.
"You can"t give birth, what else could I have done? I"m unable to have a successor, and I can"t leave the Lin Family without a qualified successor to carry on my undertaking. One within the company would clutch onto her rice bowl, so she wouldn"t run around telling others. I know all of their information, and it was better than going out and looking for one with unclear information."
Cheng Ziming stood up and whispered, without the slightest amount of shame in him, "Anyway, I"m not going to give an outside woman any status. Once the child is born, I"ll just bring it home. I don"t need the woman anyway. In the future, both of us will just get along together nicely. I won"t look for another woman, as far as I"m concerned. They"re just tools for me to produce a child, there"s no further use of them for me. Why are you so angry?"
"Why am I angry? You actually had the nerve to ask me this?" Lin Yuwen pointed at his nose and started to pant heavily from anger.
Cheng Ziming scoffed once and started to grin. "Actually, if you were able to give me a child, will I go out looking for another woman? Who doesn"t want to live their days peacefully? I don"t want to do this as well, if I was found out by you, it would cause havoc. If you"re able to conceive, I"ll just stay by your side. But you can"t, so I"m letting others conceive for me. Then, we"ll raise it together, and we"ll live happily ever after and I"ll never do anything bad to you again, is it not good?"
"It"s not! For what reason should I help you raise you and another woman"s child, and let a b.a.s.t.a.r.d child inherit my family"s company?" Lin Yuwen was stunned.
"Lin Yuwen, you need to think about me as well. I"ve sacrificed so much for you, you can"t even do this much for me?" Cheng Ziming pulled on his tie and was getting impatient.
"I won"t do it, why should I give in to you? Now your meals and everything you"re using is mine, the salary you"re given is also distributed by the Lin family. You"re nothing without our family. I don"t feel like I owe you anything." Lin Yuwen sneered. "You want a child of your own? I"ll be sure that you"ll never have your wish fulfilled."
"Cheng Ziming, don"t even think you could divorce me. Since I"m unable to give birth in this lifetime, then it"ll be the same even if I married someone else. No one will ever marry me for true love. I"ll insist on being a hindrance to you and make you unhappy for a lifetime. I won"t divorce you, so don"t even think that you"ll have your own flesh and blood child in this lifetime. If you want to fool around with other women, so be it, I don"t care. But, don"t you even think that you"ll be allowed to conceive a single child into this world!"
Cheng Ziming did not think that Lin Yuwen would say such words, and his expression had become distorted from anger.
"What did you say?" Cheng Ziming clenched his teeth and asked, he clenched so tightly that it made his jaw twitch continuously.
"I said, I want you to never have children. As long as I don"t divorce you, you"ll never have a legitimate child. You"ll have to sneak around if you want to have children, but when I find out, I"ll make sure to abort each and single one of them. I"ll see if you can at least save one in the end." Lin Yuwen said without care, and she started to laugh hysterically.
"You used me, deceived me, and betrayed me. Since you won"t let me be at peace, then don"t expect you"ll be at peace too! I gave it a good thought at first, if I can"t be cured, we can find a surrogate mother and we"d still be able to give birth to a child belonging to both of us. But since you"re so selfish, then don"t blame me when I"m cruel. If I can"t give birth to a child, you can"t have a child too! Cheng Ziming, I"ve expressed myself clearly today, as long as it"s a child of your bloodline, don"t even think about even getting an iota from us Lin family! From today onwards, don"t even think to act brazenly with that t.i.tle General Manager of Lin Mao. I"ll tell my father to remove you from your position. I want to see, without all this, which woman would still happily go along with you."
Cheng Ziming was so furious he felt he somewhat lost his rationality, he raised his hand up to slap her, and he paused after saying the word "you". In any case, he was able to restrain himself.
"What, me?" Lin Yuwen sneered. "From now on, you don"t have to go back to where we live anymore. You can go back to your parents" house. You being this way, I can"t sleep near you, I feel disgusted! In the future, apart from our marriage certificate, there"s nothing between us anymore!" Author used the idiom 挑窝边草来吃 which meant eating the gra.s.s near one"s nest that derived from the idiom 兔子不吃窝边草 which translated as the rabbit doesn"t eat the gra.s.s on the side of its nest. The author was stating that Cheng Ziming did not look far for a woman he could have an affair with."