"Is something the matter?" Lin Qingwan's voice, heavy with intoxication, came through the phone.
"President Lin."
The secretary spoke anxiously on the other end: "Right now, a large crowd of consumers who purchased the Supreme Series skincare products are making a huge scene at the company entrance. They're clamoring for compensation."
"On top of that, a massive number of employees are resigning. What should we do now?"
The corner of Lin Qingwan's lips curled into a self-deprecating smile.
What could she possibly do?
Skincare products causing disfigurement was no small matter, and with the scandal now public knowledge, they had absolutely no chance of a comeback.
Her father had also explicitly told her not to invest another penny into the company.
"Forget it," Lin Qingwan said, sounding as if all the strength had drained from her body. "Liquidate whatever assets the company has left. Use the money to compensate the consumers, and then file for bankruptcy."
With that, Lin Qingwan hung up the phone.
It suddenly occurred to Lin Qingwan that when she held the celebration banquet, the Royal Hotel had broken with protocol and demanded payment before the event had even concluded.
Thinking about it now, that must have been Lin Xuan's doing.
Lin Xuan must have anticipated that after causing such a scene at the banquet, she wouldn't pay the bill, so he had the hotel manager collect the payment in advance.
"Lin Xuan, you must have been planning to take me down for a long time."
Lin Qingwan laughed mockingly.
Retribution.
It was all retribution.
The fall of the Xinghui Group and the bankruptcy of her own company—it was all karma catching up to her and the Lin family.
Lin Qingwan tilted her head back and guzzled the contents of the wine bottle in her hand.
***
After Lei Hui, Jiang Yutong, and the others left the hotel where the banquet was held, Lei Hui seemed to still be savoring the moment. "Watching other people suffer really feels amazing."
Jiang Yutong nodded.
Witnessing it all had indeed been quite satisfying.
She hadn't been very interested in watching drama unfold before, but after this experience, she found it quite enjoyable. No wonder so many people loved to sit back and watch the show.
Lei Hui looked at Lin Xuan with eager eyes. "Boss, if there's another show like this next time, make sure to invite me."
"Sure," Lin Xuan agreed readily.
As long as it didn't involve him dealing with that massive pile of company documents, anything else was negotiable.
Lei Hui checked his watch and said, "Boss, I need to go back and keep my daughter company now, so I'll be heading off."
Lei Hui departed.
"Second Miss Jiang, I also need to return home to be with my girlfriend," Lin Xuan said with a nod.
It was almost nine o'clock; Hua should be back from work by now.
Lin Xuan prepared to leave.
"Mr. Lin, wait!" Jiang Yutong called out anxiously.
"Second Miss Jiang, is there something else?" Lin Xuan asked, frowning slightly.
"Um, well, Mr. Lin, I believe that after this incident, our company's skincare products should sell quite well. When the time comes, I will give you your share of the dividends as agreed," Jiang Yutong said.
"Mm," Lin Xuan nodded.
Jiang Yutong desperately wanted to get closer to Lin Xuan, but she didn't know what to say to him.
She could only grasp at a random topic.
"Um, Mr. Lin, there's one more thing," Jiang Yutong said. "When will you come to treat my grandfather? I'd like to let him know so he can prepare."
Lin Xuan replied, "This weekend. I'll have to check on the specific time, but I'll call you in advance to let you know."
"Okay," Jiang Yutong nodded.
"If Second Miss Jiang doesn't have anything else, I'll be going now."
Jiang Yutong had no other excuse to keep Lin Xuan there, so she could only nod. "Alright, see you another day."
Lin Xuan got into his car.
Watching the vehicle drive away, Jiang Yutong sighed dejectedly.
"Sigh."
"It seems there's no way to acknowledge Little Xuan as family anytime soon."
At this rate, who knew how long it would take for Little Xuan to return to the Jiang family?
Jiang Yutong returned to the Jiang residence in low spirits.
Jiang Manting had also watched the entire livestream of Lin Qingwan's company celebration banquet.
She was waiting at home for her younger sister to return.
As soon as Jiang Yutong arrived, Jiang Manting went up to greet her with a smile.
"Tongtong, congratulations. You finally got your revenge on Lin Qingwan."
"Mm," Jiang Yutong nodded. "Thanks, Sis."
"However, most of the credit goes to Little Xuan. He was the one who developed the skincare products, and he was the one who set the trap for Lin Qingwan to walk into," Jiang Yutong said with a smile.
It was a good thing she had Little Xuan's help; otherwise, her company would still be crushed under the weight of Lin Qingwan's business.
"Little Xuan is indeed very capable," Jiang Manting agreed with a nod.
A thought crossed her mind, and her brows furrowed slightly.
"Computer science, skincare formulation, and medical skills... for Little Xuan to grow up to be so outstanding in that kind of environment, one can only imagine how much he must have suffered." Jiang Manting's voice was filled with heartache.
Little Xuan must have studied all those things with such desperation because that family was too suffocating; he wanted to escape, so he mastered as many skills as possible.
If only she had known earlier that Little Xuan was her biological cousin.
She would have brought him to the Jiang family and showered him with love and care.
"Sis, no matter what Little Xuan went through in the past, his life is finally getting better, isn't it?" Jiang Yutong smiled.
Whether or not Little Xuan was willing to acknowledge her as his cousin, she was happy as long as he was living well.
"Tongtong, you're right." A smile appeared on Jiang Manting's face as well.
"By the way, Tongtong, do you and Liang Yilong have any plans to take your relationship to the next level?" Jiang Manting asked.
"I don't have any plans like that yet," Jiang Yutong said, shaking her head. "I'll just let things take their natural course."
Yilong treated her well enough, but every time they got close, she felt a physical resistance throughout her body.
Perhaps it was because their feelings for each other weren't deep enough yet.
She wanted to spend more time with Liang Yilong before making any decisions.
"Good." Jiang Manting breathed a slight sigh of relief.
It was good that Tongtong didn't have any thoughts of marriage with Liang Yilong yet.
She didn't know why, but she had a nagging feeling that Liang Yilong wasn't the right match for Tongtong.
She decided she needed to investigate Liang Yilong thoroughly.
She only had this one sister, and she had to ensure she found a good partner; there could be no carelessness when it came to matters of the heart.
***
Lin Xuan got into the car heading back to Night Garden.
The driver sat in the driver's seat, focusing on the road.
"Little Liang, if I recall correctly, your wife is also a servant at Night Garden, isn't she?" Lin Xuan asked.
"Yes," the driver nodded. "Is there a problem, Master Lin?"
"It's nothing. I just wanted to ask if your wife mentioned whether Hua has returned to Night Garden yet?" Lin Xuan asked.
"She came back quite a while ago," the driver replied. His wife frequently reported the Young Miss's status to him.
"Did she mention what Hua's mood was like?" Lin Xuan asked.
Ever since he left the celebration banquet and started heading back, his eyelid had been twitching incessantly.
He had a very ominous feeling.
His first instinct was that something had happened to Hua, and that it was related to him.
e school belle recognized by the whole school, a genius girl from the kendo club. She also has a hidden identity, the youngest legendary demon hunter. Chen Shuo just transmigrated and found himself turned into a weak, helpless little vampire. He was caught by Su Xiyen and taken home at the very beginning. Since then, Chen Shuo's life creed only had two items. "First, classmate Su Xiyen is always right." "Second, if classmate Su Xiyen is wrong, please refer back to item one." Many years later, Chen Shuo, who had turned back into a human, led a pair of twins to appear in front of all the vampires to share the secret of how he turned back into a human. "It's simple, I tricked a female demon hunter into becoming my wife!"
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
for mindless slaughter, this isn't for you.] My name is Ye Shu, and I'm a transmigrator. It seems I'm supposed to be the protagonist, but that feels pretty unlikely. This world has been invaded by a system. The antagonists on the other side have suddenly become pure, flawless saints. The female leads have been force-fed the so-called "original plot," making them think they've been reborn. Now, everyone thinks I'm scum. Including the old lady in my ring. And here I am, in the Monster Beast Mountain Range, braising pork. To put my situation in perspective— It's as if, the moment Xiao Yan stepped into the Monster Beast Mountain Range, the Soul Emperor already knew he would become the Flame Emperor, and Yao Lao had been turned to the enemy's side. I have nothing right now. Oh wait, that's not true. I do have a white-haired loli child-bride who's the Heavenly Dao, and her only skill is acting cute. So, tell me guys... what are my chances of making it to the end?
ive and Ruthless] Before his transmigration, Ye Xuan was playing a game called "Severing Emotions to Attain the Dao." The game's core wasn't about leveling up by fighting monsters, but about conquering various "bad women" with wicked personalities and cold, fickle natures. There was only one method to conquer them: stay unwaveringly by their side, then die at a critical moment, driving them to madness after losing the protagonist. The higher their level of regret, the higher the player's score. To dominate the server, Ye Xuan conquered all the bad women. In the early stages, he showered them with boundless tenderness, only to choose to sacrifice himself for them later, making them weep bitterly and drown in regret. Among them were: Xia Lengyue, the unfaithful immortal wife who chased after powerful men and discarded her husband like trash. Ye Qingcheng, the Demonic Venerable of the Joyous Union Sect, who appeared pure and innocent but was, in reality, promiscuous. Wu Lingxiao, the Empress of the Great Xia Dynasty, who lusted after men and loved maintaining a harem. Bai Qiangu of the Endless Demonic Sect: a bloodthirsty mass murderer. However, when the protagonist transmigrated into the game world, he made a horrifying discovery. Eight hundred years had already passed. The bad women he had conquered had now each become deities and revered ancestors. Faced with the endless stream of toxic women coming for him, Ye Xuan could only rely on his god-tier acting skills to carve a path of survival through this world of treacherous women.
