The Big Screen Goes Dark

Lin Xuan noticed Lin Li's gaze and raised an eyebrow.

"Great, another blame to shoulder," he thought.

But then again, he had already been saddled with so many accusations by the Lin family—what difference would a few dozen, or even a few hundred more, make?

Grandpa Jiang spoke up, "You two, let him go."

"Yes, sir," the two security guards replied before stepping back.

"Grandfather..." Lin Li looked at Grandpa Jiang anxiously.

Grandpa Jiang raised a hand to silence him, his eyes fixed on the man before them.

"You just mentioned Lin Li and Lin Xuan. Tell me, what is their relationship?" Grandpa Jiang asked.

Lin Li clenched his fists so tightly that his palms grew damp with sweat.

His heart pounded so hard it felt like it might leap out of his throat.

There was nothing he could do now but wait for this man to expose his true identity...

"Lin Li and Lin Xuan are brothers," the man declared.

Jiang Yutong's eyes lit up.

If Lin Li and Lin Xuan were brothers, that meant Lin Xuan was also her cousin—her actual blood relative!

Now she wouldn’t have to worry about Lin Xuan refusing to acknowledge her as his cousin.

After all, they were family, even if it was through their mothers.

Jiang Manting’s face also visibly brightened with excitement and joy.

Smack! Old Master Su slapped his own forehead, his expression full of regret.

He had known that sooner or later, Grandpa Jiang would discover that Lin Xuan was his real grandson—but he hadn’t expected it to happen this quickly.

Now, the old man would surely try to take Lin Xuan away from him.

Grandpa Jiang frowned. "Are you saying both Lin Xuan and Lin Li are my biological grandsons?"

Jiang Yutong snapped out of her excitement, her brow furrowing.

Something wasn’t right.

If what the man said was true, and Lin Xuan and Lin Li were brothers, then why had they seemed so familiar with each other earlier?

And why had Lin Xuan been targeting Starlight Group?

Wasn’t that his father’s company?

Especially the part about Starlight Group plagiarizing another company’s work and then falsely accusing them of theft—how could they stoop so low?

"No, they’re not blood brothers," the man clarified loudly.

Grandpa Jiang’s frown deepened.

Meanwhile, Lin Li’s face turned deathly pale.

So it was happening after all.

"One of them is adopted?" Grandpa Jiang pressed.

"Yes," the man confirmed.

Jiang Yutong’s first thought was that Lin Xuan must be the adopted one.

She had personally seen Lin Li with Jiang Shuqin—the way they interacted, the affection in Jiang Shuqin’s eyes—it was unmistakably a mother and her biological son.

She had initially doubted Lin Li’s identity, but after witnessing their bond, she dismissed any thoughts of investigating him further.

If Lin Li wasn’t Jiang Shuqin’s real son, then what was he?

But if Lin Li really was Jiang Shuqin’s son, then this man wouldn’t have come forward with this revelation.

"Sir, which one is adopted, and which one is the biological son? What’s really going on here?" Jiang Yutong demanded impatiently.

The guests around them perked up with curiosity.

Judging by Jiang Yutong’s urgency, was Jiang Shuqin really the daughter who had cut ties with the Jiang family?

If so, tonight was about to get very interesting.

Before the man could answer, all the lights in the banquet hall suddenly went out.

Darkness swallowed the room.

"What’s going on? This hotel has never had a blackout before—why would all the lights shut off now?"

"Maybe someone did it on purpose."

"I’ve attended Lin Li’s birthday party and wedding. Every time something big is about to be exposed, the lights go out, and then the screen lights up. I bet the same thing’s happening now. We’re in for a show."

Butler Wang was practically giddy.

Here it comes—the classic move!

This had to be Young Master Lin’s doing!

Lin Xuan smirked. "The real show is about to begin."

The Jiang family, unaware of Lin Xuan’s orchestration, assumed it was a hotel malfunction.

Jiang Yutong called the hotel manager. "Why are the lights in the first-floor banquet hall off?"

"I-I don’t know, Miss Jiang! We’re scrambling to figure it out right now. Please bear with us!" The manager wiped sweat from his forehead, panic creeping into his voice.

The Jiang family was one of Yundu City’s most powerful elites.

Everyone at this banquet was a high-profile figure.

If anything went wrong, the hotel’s reputation would be ruined.

What was even stranger was that the backup generators should have kicked in immediately.

Why weren’t they working?

This was beyond bizarre.

"Then hurry up!" Jiang Yutong snapped.

"Y-yes, right away!"

The manager hung up and immediately ordered his staff to investigate.

Meanwhile, Lin Li was drowning in terror.

The lights going out—it was happening again.

The first time, at his birthday party, Lin Xuan had exposed his affair with Qin Ruoyao while he was still with Shen Qianqian.

The second time, at his wedding to Feng Yaya, Lin Xuan had revealed his… incapacity.

He was certain of it.

This blackout was Lin Xuan’s doing too.

Lin Xuan was about to expose something—something big.

Lin Li’s heart hammered violently.

He knew it had to be about his fake identity.

Ever since that man appeared, he had braced himself for the inevitable.

But the sudden darkness triggered his deepest fears.

And now, with the truth moments away from being revealed, sheer terror gripped him so tightly he could barely breathe.

"Mark my words, there’s going to be a bombshell," a man who had attended Lin Li’s previous events declared confidently.

"I agree. Just wait for the screen to light up," his companion chimed in, grinning in anticipation.

The other guests, catching wind of the gossip, turned their attention to the screen, eager for the drama to unfold.

Jiang Yutong overheard them and instinctively faced the screen as well.

One second.

Two seconds.

Three seconds.

Each passing moment was torture for Lin Li.

Two more minutes crawled by.

By now, the lights had been off for a full three minutes.

Murmurs spread through the crowd.

"It’s been too long. Shouldn’t the screen have turned on by now? Maybe this really is just a power outage, not some elaborate scheme."

"Yeah, if someone was planning to expose something, the screen would’ve lit up already."

Disappointment settled over the guests.

No juicy scandal tonight, it seemed.

Lin Li’s panic gradually subsided as time passed.

Of course. There was no way the same trick would work every time.

This blackout was just a coincidence.

(Thank you for the gifts, dear readers!)