The Anchoring Pillar in the Eye of the Storm

The carnival of the online world never requires reason or truth.

When "Jingzhou Observer" published that so-called "investigative report," the entire court of public opinion was set ablaze.

Headlines like "Fake Heiress," "Viper Mother and Daughter," and "Scandal of the Wealthy" spread like wildfire, dominating trending lists across all platforms.

Countless keyboard warriors transformed into self-righteous judges, hurling the most vicious and frenzied curses and condemnations at the two deliberately vilified "villains" in the report—Liu Mei and Lu Qianqian.

They praised the "magnanimity" of the "victimized" Lu family, pitied the "poor" Lou Mengling, and showered boundless sympathy and anticipation on the unidentified "true heiress" who had been cast aside.

In Li Xiujian's design, this tidal wave of public outrage was enough to tear anyone caught in its path to shreds.

Yet, he miscalculated one thing.

The eye of the storm was far calmer than he had imagined.

...

Jingzhou University, National Key Mathematics Laboratory.

The silence here was so profound that even the hum of the supercomputer's cooling fans could be heard.

Clad in a white lab coat, Lu Ruoxi was wholly absorbed in studying a complex multi-dimensional function model scrawled across the whiteboard before her. Her delicate brows furrowed slightly, as if the entire world had dissolved into those dancing symbols.

"Ruoxi! Ruoxi!"

Su Yang rushed in, phone in hand, his face etched with urgency, shattering the lab's tranquility.

"Something huge happened! Look!"

Lu Ruoxi snapped out of her reverie, took the phone, and her gaze landed on the shocking headline.

Su Yang watched her expression nervously, ready to offer comfort at any moment.

He had prepared a thousand lines condemning the rumor-mongers and had steeled himself to be her unwavering support.

Yet, to his surprise, Lu Ruoxi's face showed none of the shock, anger, or devastation he had expected.

She simply read the lengthy article in silence, her long lashes fluttering a few times.

Then, she lifted her head, her gaze clear and composed—as if what she had just read wasn’t a bombshell scandal about her own origins, but an inconsequential piece of social news.

"Ruoxi... you—you’re scaring me. Are you okay?" Su Yang asked worriedly.

"I’m fine," Lu Ruoxi replied, handing the phone back, her voice as steady as ever. "What’s written here isn’t necessarily true."

Su Yang froze, then quickly nodded. "Right! It must be fake! Just sensationalist lies—"

"No," Lu Ruoxi cut him off, her eyes drifting toward the window as if piercing through time and space.

"I’m not saying the content is false. I’m saying the truth behind it can’t possibly be as simple as what’s written."

In her mind flashed the kindly, gentle face of the "grandmother" in the photo hanging on the wall of the family apartment she had moved into.

That face bore at least a seventy percent resemblance to her own reflection.

From that moment, a hazy suspicion had taken root in her heart like a seed.

She believed that if Lu Chenyuan had arranged things this way, there had to be a deeper purpose.

Compared to an article of dubious origin and malicious intent, she trusted far more the man who had pulled her from the darkest depths of her life, granting her light, dignity, and direction.

Without hesitation, she took out her own phone, found the most familiar name, and dialed.

...

Thousands of miles away, in a dust-choked temporary medical camp in a impoverished nation.

Red earth and scorching sun were the eternal themes here.

Lu Qianqian, dressed in plain volunteer attire, was clumsily but earnestly changing the bandages on a little girl’s arm.

Sweat dampened her forehead, and dust smudged her cheeks—a far cry from the exquisitely doll-like young mistress she had once been.

Lu Qianqian had left Xia Kingdom in late July to begin her global poverty survey.

Ji Wushuang, clad in rugged attire and radiating a steely resolve, strode over and handed her a satellite phone, its screen displaying the news from back home.

"Qianqian, you need to see this."

Lu Qianqian took the phone. The moment she read the headline and content, her entire body stiffened as if struck by lightning, her face draining of color.

She wasn’t the Lu family’s daughter?

She was the child of Liu Mei—the woman who had destroyed her family?

Had the love of her parents and the doting of her older brother all been built on a lie for the past eighteen years?

The sheer impact left her mind blank, tears welling uncontrollably in her eyes.

Her first instinct was to scream, to refute it, to rush back to Jingzhou and demand answers from everyone.

But then her gaze swept her surroundings.

She saw the children striving to live despite the barren land, the international doctors and volunteers persevering in these harsh conditions, and Ji Wushuang—ever steadfast, ever guarding her.

A completely different emotion slowly eclipsed the humiliation and panic.

Suddenly, she remembered how her eldest brother’s attitude toward her had shifted over the past six months, how he had forced her into the "Young Leaders Independence Program."

She recalled how Lu Chenyuan had solemnly explained to her what true value in life meant.

At the time, she had been hurt and confused, convinced that her brother no longer loved her.

Only now did she awaken as if from a dream, realizing his true intentions in an instant.

Had he... known all along?

So he had pushed her away before the storm hit, sending her somewhere safe, ensuring she could find her own worth—independent of the identity of "Lu family heiress."

He had shielded her from the coming tempest, bearing its full force alone in silence.

The realization clutched her heart like an invisible hand, the pain unbearable.

Not for her own shattered identity, but for her brother’s silent sacrifice.

Wiping her tears, she spoke to Ji Wushuang with a resolve she had never known before:

"Wushuang-jie, please connect me to my brother."

...

Dragon Abyss Technologies, top-floor office.

Lu Chenyuan’s phone rang twice within minutes.

The first call was from Lu Ruoxi.

"Mr. Lu, it’s me," came the voice on the other end, so calm it filled him with quiet pride.

"Mn," Lu Chenyuan replied, his voice steady as a mountain, radiating reassurance.

"I’ve seen the news. Don’t be afraid. Your big brother has been waiting for this day."

When he said "big brother," Lu Ruoxi on the other end finally broke down, sobbing uncontrollably:

"Big brother, big brother, big brother... you really are my big brother... wuu..."

The call ended, and the second one came immediately—Lu Qianqian.

"Big brother..." Her voice trembled slightly, but beneath the tears was a newfound clarity and strength, like a butterfly emerging from its cocoon.

"Qianqian, it’s me," Lu Chenyuan replied with the same unwavering calm. "Don’t be afraid. Your big brother has been waiting for this day."

The same words, transmitted through the airwaves, reached the ears of two girls, solidifying into the most reassuring anchor.

They might not yet fully grasp what was happening, but they both knew one thing clearly—their eldest brother, the man who always walked ahead of them, shielding them from storms, had long since set the stage.

He was no passive victim caught in the tempest; he was the storm itself.

Hanging up the phone, Lu Chenyuan gazed out the window, his eyes as deep as the night.

"Li Xiujian, you've played all your cards.

Now, it's my turn."

Just as the online frenzy reached its peak, a brief announcement—less than a hundred words—issued by Jingzhou's official media sliced through the clamor like a thunderbolt from the blue.

The authorities had launched an investigation into Shengtian Real Estate!

The news sent shockwaves across the world.

If the "true and fake heiress" scandal had been a fatal blow to the Lu family's reputation,

then this official notice was a fatal strike at the very foundation of the Lu family.

Even more devastating was the fact that everyone knew—just recently, Lu Mingshi, the newly appointed chairman of Lu Corporation, had personally pushed the group to acquire all of Li Xiujian's shares in Shengtian Real Estate.

At this moment, Shengtian Real Estate was entirely, unequivocally, a Lu family asset.

The bomb that Li Xiujian had planted and then hurled with his own hands, under Lu Chenyuan's precise guidance, had ultimately detonated—right in the Lu family's embrace.