Midnight, 12 a.m., Red Rose Bar.
"Come on, Brother Chen. Let's down a drink."
"Cheers! Don't worry, I'll try to help you get in touch with [L]. After all, I'm quite interested in his true identity too."
"(^▽^) Then let me thank my Brother Chen in advance."
"......"
The two rich young masters sang and drank, having a grand old time.
During this, Huo Qichen even promised he'd do his best to help Tang Chuan contact his idol [L]; this move immediately won the Tang family's third young master's favor.....
After several rounds of drinks!
Tang Chuan suddenly got a call from home; sullen, he set down his glass and stood to take his leave.
"Brother Chen, my dad's urging me to come home. Ugh, seriously! I'm already a grown man! He still likes to control me all the time—annoying!"
Hearing it was Tang Guo'an on the phone, Huo Qichen's ink-dark eyes narrowed, a sharp gleam flashing across them.
The other party was a division director at the National Land and Resources Planning Department, holding the country's latest land-planning intelligence, and among it was the "project" news he needed.
It was just that Tang Guo'an was rigid and old-fashioned, unable to bend, and never accepted bribes.
By normal means, it was hard to get the intel he wanted out of him.
So, Huo Qichen had deliberately played some tricks, befriending Tang Chuan and becoming "sworn brothers," intending to use him as a breakthrough to steal some real-estate insider info.
Of course, this couldn't be rushed; otherwise, it would ruin the "good big brother" image he had laid out for so long.
Thus, Huo Qichen deliberately sighed, and his chiseled face was filled with sorrow.
"Actually, Uncle Tang is doing it for your own good. Sometimes I even envy you... especially compared to my parents...."
"Brother Chen, I'm sorry! I—I... I shouldn't have brought that up....."
Seeing he'd stirred up Huo Qichen's sad memories, and knowing a bit about the Huo family's situation, Tang Chuan felt both sympathy and deep apology.
"It's fine, don't take it to heart."
"Alright! Head back early—don't make Uncle Tang worry. I should get home too."
Huo Qichen waved a hand, feigning magnanimity, leaving Tang Chuan only the lonely silhouette of a man in a wheelchair rolling away.
Seeing this, Tang Chuan felt even worse and couldn't help voicing what he'd been thinking.
Truth be told, he had wanted to ask about the "wheelchair" from the moment they met.
But considering Huo Qichen's mood, he'd held back; at the moment of parting, he still couldn't help asking.
"Brother Chen, is your leg alright...."
"I'd heard you were injured before, but I never imagined... it was serious enough for you to need a wheelchair......"
"......"
At the mention of his paralyzed leg, Huo Qichen's face instantly clouded over.
He had privately sought out many doctors, but those quacks were useless, just sacks of wine and rice; not a single one could cure his leg.
"It's fine, no need to worry."
The domineering CEO, whose mood had plunged into gloom for a moment, clearly didn't want to linger on the topic and shifted gears at once.
"By the way, Tang Chuan—something seems to have happened with your uncle-by-marriage's family!"
"Uncle-by-marriage? Oh, them... hmph! We don't have contact anymore; I couldn't care less about them!"
Tang Chuan snorted coldly.
Their family had never acknowledged that drunkard Lin Jianjun as their aunt's husband.
Especially after his aunt died unexpectedly.....
That bastard actually remarried quickly and even produced an illegitimate child about his own age—that's textbook scummy adultery within marriage, isn't it?!
The whole Tang family was furious; but what was done was done, and they could only choose to sever ties with the Lin family entirely.
.......
Outside the Red Rose Hotel.
"Originally, out of pity for that cousin of mine......"
"We'd thought since he was at least Auntie's only child, we could accept him as family."
"Who knew the guy was a nutjob—often responded to our kindness with a cold face, and harsh words were one thing."
"He even listened to slander! For no reason he inexplicably blamed our Tang family for Auntie's death?"
"We could have swallowed all that! But what that bastard absolutely shouldn't have done was attempt those inhuman things to my younger sister..."
"......."
At the mention of Lin Xuan and his father, Tang Chuan's temper shot up with a "whoosh."
Grumbling and cursing, he climbed into the car his driver had pulled up, and left in anger.
Only when the car's red taillights flashed and vanished around the corner....
Did a satisfied arc slowly curl across Huo Qichen's sharp, chiseled face.
'Good—seems I was overthinking.'
'That guy Lin Xuan has a very low chance of repairing his relationship with the Tang family.'
'If the two sides simply don't get worse, that'll already be rare.'
'Perhaps... I can use this kid Tang Chuan as a borrowed knife, to try to intensify the conflict between the Tang and Su families.....'
.......
A smile at the corner of his mouth, Huo Qichen schemed nonstop in his heart.
Ever since he sensed that Lin Xuan had changed from the rumors and that Su Group was rocketing upward, Huo Qichen had worried he might make peace with the Tang family.
After all, the two families were related by blood; if they joined forces, the threat to him would multiply geometrically.
Especially since he and Lin Xuan already had conflicts.......
If the other party spouted nonsense in front of Tang Chuan, it would surely affect his progress in stealing intel.
Fortunately, judging by Tang Chuan's attitude, he really had been overthinking it.
He had also deliberately brought up "Lin Jianjun" just now; knowing Tang Chuan's personality, the guy would be one hundred percent unable to resist asking around.
Thus he would certainly find out about the "beastly" things Lin Jianjun had done, and his disgust toward Lin Xuan and his father would rise.
Thinking of this, the smug curve at Huo Qichen's mouth widened again.
.......
'I've already had my men arrange a large paid water-army and keep close tabs on that kid Lin Xuan.'
'As a son at the very least, he surely won't have the heart to watch his father die.'
'As soon as he tries anything to save Lin Jianjun—whether pulling strings, finding a fall guy, or any other method......'
'I'll have people expose it at once; by then, both that kid Lin Xuan and the Su Group behind him will be targets of universal condemnation.'
'And with such a high-profile violation of social norms, creating an online uproar.....'
'To quell the public's anger, the authorities can't possibly sit idly by; as long as we provoke official displeasure, it will certainly cause all kinds of trouble for the Su Group.'
'Heh heh...'
'This is an open scheme—let's see how your Su Group responds?!'
......
'Even in the worst-case scenario…'
'If that kid Lin Xuan is heartless and plans to sacrifice the chariot to protect the king by abandoning Lin Jianjun, I can still use that—hire the water-army to stand on the moral high ground and pick at Lin Xuan's character.'
'That too can deal a blow to Su Group's reputation.'
'After all, in China many people still value filial piety; at least on the surface, you have to do it right.....'
'Otherwise, someone who lets his own parents die without helping—no matter how successful he is—will be despised.'
......
Huo Qichen kept climaxing in his head, convinced he'd laid an inescapable net.
No matter what Lin Xuan chose—"save" or "not save"—there were killing moves waiting for him.
At this moment, everything was under his control....
......
Tang residence.
Having just gotten out of the car and returned to his room, Tang Chuan's mind kept replaying Huo Qichen's words; he was full of curiosity.
Uncle-by-marriage's family... what exactly happened?!
They were relatives with some tangled ties after all; even if they had no contact now, Tang Chuan still couldn't be completely indifferent.
(????).
In the end, he couldn't hold back his curiosity and started asking around and searching for news about the Lin family.
Not knowing was one thing—once he understood the ins and outs, Tang Chuan flushed red with anger.
"Beast!!!!!!"
"Simply worse than an animal—unforgivable! Way too arrogant!!!"
"......."
Watching the footage of Lin Jianjun's brazen, villainous face, Tang Chuan was furious.
Because of his family upbringing, even though he had the Tang family behind him, his parents never allowed him to bully others with power.
So, he usually treated people fairly gently, without the bad habits of the stereotypical rich second generation, and even had a strong sense of justice.
Suddenly seeing scum like Lin Jianjun who had done every evil, he felt his chest tighten for no reason.
Especially since the man was his nominal uncle-by-marriage, it made him all the more disgusted and physically uncomfortable.
And through interview reports......
Tang Chuan learned the two college girls were his fans.
At the time of the incident, they were on their way to celebrate the wrap of his drama "A Slight Smile Overwhelmingly Alluring," still holding photos supporting him.......
'Why, I'm the chairman of Su Group's father—what can you wage slaves earning a few thousand a month do to me?'
'My son is Lin Xuan; our family's got money. It's just a few lives, right? Name your price!'
'What? Are you afraid my chairman son can't afford to pay?'
......
Staring at the clip where Lin Jianjun, even after being caught, was still swaggering,
Tang Chuan burned with anger.
His anger wasn't only at Lin Jianjun, but also that detestable cousin.....
After all, the reason this uncle dared to be so rampant was precisely because he leaned on Lin Xuan's current status and power, wasn't it?
Hmph—rats and snakes in one nest!!!
Like father, like son, indeed?!
"No, I have to do something. I absolutely can't let evil fester before my eyes!"
"Especially since those two unfortunate students are my loyal fans. As an idol who loves his fans, how could I be indifferent?!"
"........"
Tang Chuan knew very well.....
If that cousin really pulled strings behind the scenes, it would definitely affect judicial fairness to some extent.
He'd seen plenty of the upper class's filth.
Especially when the victims were powerless ordinary folks—sometimes they were utterly helpless.
So, to vent his fans' anger, Tang Chuan decisively pulled out his phone, logged into his Weibo account, drafted a post, and hit publish.
The content was nothing more than.....
Crying injustice for his fans, denouncing the Lin father and son for having no respect for the law, and demanding the judiciary punish them without leniency!!!
With the Tang family's third young master's follower count, the post was immediately reposted massively and shot to the top of the trending list.
This move once again pushed Su Group and the Lin father and son back onto the cusp of the storm.
When the third young master's fans saw their idol speak up for them.......
They were moved to tears on the spot, ┗|｀O′|┛ hooting with excitement, and voiced firm support.
........
"Brother Tang is so warm-hearted! I truly stan the right person—Tang forever!!!"
"Wow~~ worthy of the Tang family's third young master—unafraid of power. For his fans, he doesn't care about offending the blazing-hot Su Group at all!!!"
"( ? ^ ? ) I'm in tears, fam. This is the idol we should be stanning—Tang Chuan!!!"
"Charge!!! For Third Young Master, we absolutely can't let the heat drop. Make the culprit pay the price, and let those so-called elites know that before the law, everyone is equal!!!"
"(??へ??╬) I heard that after Lin Jianjun was locked up, he was still spouting wild talk. Despicable thing! Does he really think no one can touch him?"
"Tomorrow I'm going to Su Group's entrance to hold a banner and block their chairman! If he can't give the people an answer, I won't give up!"
"And you... my friend, you're the true hero!!!"
"Count me in—let's fight the forces of evil together!!!"
"Good brother, ヽ(￣ω￣(￣ω￣〃)ゝ I'm joining too!"
"+1 +1 +1."
"+1008611."
"......."
Even late at night, countless netizens still burned with anger, tossing and turning unable to sleep.
Huo residence.
Huo Qichen got the news immediately; a look of conspiracy-succeeded appeared on his chiseled face.
Good—everything was developing just as he planned....
That kid Tang Chuan really didn't let him down.
This way, the conflict between the Tang and Su families would only deepen, with no day of reconciliation......
While gloating, Huo Qichen didn't forget to have his men keep dispatching large water-armies to stoke extreme online anger.
This time, he would ruin Su Group's reputation and deal it a grievous blow.
Let that guy Lin Xuan see clearly....
This is the consequence of angering me, Huo Qichen......