Having had his mouth stuffed with a stinky sock by Fang Ming, Zhou Zihao was clearly rattled. He even forgot about his previous schemes and laid his cards on the table directly with Shen Wanyin.
So, when he received Fang Ming's call at this moment, he exploded.
Unfortunately, Fang Ming ignored his fury.
"Looking for me? What for? I'm not interested in men!"
"You son of a..."
"Don't be so quick to curse. First, take a look at something good. Check your QQ email."
Of course, Fang Ming wouldn't reveal his identity. After saying this, he leaned back, crossed his legs on the footstool, and leisurely hung up the phone.
Zhou Zihao's QQ email and other personal information were obtained by Fang Ming from the Soldier King that morning. With a top-tier hacker backing him up, getting this data wasn't difficult.
The purpose, naturally, was to assess his opponent's strength and prepare for future elimination.
He just hadn't expected it to come in handy so quickly.
Ding-dong.
With a system notification sound, an unread email appeared in Zhou Zihao's QQ inbox.
The sender was an overseas account, and the email subject was extremely mocking—'An Appreciation of Human Behavioral Art.'
"Hmph, trying to be mysterious," Zhou Zihao snorted coldly and casually clicked on the red attachment icon.
The attachment buffer spun twice, and the content loaded directly. First, there was a video.
In the video, he was leering while pulling a barely conscious Shen Wanyin into an elevator, spouting filthy words all the while.
This was evidence that could be classified as attempted rape via incapacitation.
But that wasn't the worst part. Scrolling down, the next set of photos were the real bombshell.
The photo background was a hotel bathroom. Three grown men, completely naked, not a stitch on.
It was him and his two useless bodyguards. Moreover, the photos were taken with extreme attention to composition and lighting.
First photo: The three of them were piled on top of each other like a human pyramid, with him in the middle, like a sandwich filling.
Second photo: The two bodyguards held him in their arms, facing each other. The scene was as eye-searing as it gets, brimming with a 'philosophical' atmosphere.
The third photo was even more outrageous—a close-up of a birthmark on his inner thigh, directly confirming his identity. Denial was impossible.
Shame. Extreme shame flushed Zhou Zihao's face red and sent his blood pressure soaring.
"Urgh..."
Zhou Zihao felt his stomach churn, almost vomiting up his lunch.
Ring ring!
The phone in his hand vibrated again. It was still that virtual number.
Zhou Zihao took a deep breath, trembling as he pressed the answer button, and roared through gritted teeth, "Are you some kind of pervert??? How could you even take photos like that?"
On the other end of the line, Fang Ming's voice held a hint of mockery.
"How can it be perverted when Young Master Zhou sacrificed himself for art?"
"You... what do you actually want???"
"I want to post these photos online, or print them as posters to paste at the entrances of major universities in Yanjing..."
"You wouldn't dare!"
Zhou Zihao sprang up from his hospital bed: "Spreading obscene photos is illegal. If you dare post them, I'll dare call the police to arrest you."
Though scared, he hadn't completely lost his rationality.
Because distributing such photos also carries a hefty sentence. So, he was gambling, betting that the other party wouldn't dare risk mutual destruction.
"Young Master Zhou!"
Fang Ming chuckled lightly, the laughter full of ridicule for Zhou Zihao: "Have you lost your mind? I dared strip you naked and stuff a stinky sock in your mouth. Do you think I'd be afraid of this?"
The sender was overseas, operated by a top-tier hacker. Unless someone in the Chat Group betrayed him or a higher-level system appeared, the police would never trace it back to him.
"How much money do you want to delete these photos???" Zhou Zihao forced down his anger and spoke through clenched teeth.
He wasn't actually afraid of the video being exposed.
After all, Shen Wanyin was intercepted last night, and they hadn't had any actual physical relations. Even if that video got out, at most it would be attempted, and with a good lawyer, it might not even count as that.
But if these photos were exposed, it wouldn't be a legal issue anymore; it would be social death!
If his extremely face-conscious father saw them, he'd most likely break all three of his legs and kick him out of the family.
In the entire Yanjing rich second-generation circle, whenever anyone mentioned Zhou Zihao, this eye-searing scene would pop into their minds.
He, Zhou Zihao, couldn't afford to lose that face.
"Money? How vulgar to talk about money??? I'm here to collect a debt."
"A debt?" Zhou Zihao frowned, his brain rapidly working.
Having run amok in Yanjing for so many years, he owed plenty of favors, but he'd never done something as lowly as failing to repay a monetary debt!
Wait!
In a flash, a name suddenly popped into his mind.
"Shen Wanyin?!"
Zhou Zihao blurted out, his voice full of disbelief: "You're here for the remaining thirty million owed to Shen Wanyin???"
"Bingo, correct. Unfortunately, no prize."
Fang Ming snapped his fingers: "You have thirty minutes. If Shen Wanyin doesn't receive the money within thirty minutes, these artistic photos will appear in the email inboxes of the heads of major Yanjing families, and on your father's desk tomorrow morning."
"Of course, I'll also thoughtfully buy you a trending hashtag. I've even thought of the title—'Shocking! Beijing Circle's Young Master Zhou Plays Multi-Person Games Late at Night, His Taste Is So Unique!'"
"You son of a..."
Zhou Zihao's chest heaved violently with anger, but before he could start cursing,
Beep! Beep! Beep!
Fang Ming had already hung up.
Listening to the busy tone from the receiver, Zhou Zihao abruptly raised his phone to smash it, but stopped mid-air.
This was his only means of communication now. If he smashed it and couldn't contact his finance department within thirty minutes, he'd truly face social death.
"Damn it, who the hell is this bastard??? Not only did he save Shen Wanyin, but he also called specifically to provoke me over her remaining payment. Could he... really be Lin Chen?"
That name surfaced in Zhou Zihao's mind once more.
If it was Lin Chen, then everything made sense.
Lin Chen was not only one of Shen Wanyin's few remaining relatives in this world but also the heir of a Divine Doctor, possessing medical skills that could revive the dead and regenerate flesh. The Li Huo Ecstasy Powder would be child's play to him.
Helping Shen Wanyin this much would be perfectly reasonable.
So... did Shen Wanyin not lose her virginity last night? Was she instead cured by Lin Chen's medical skills?
"No!"
Zhou Zihao shook his head, instantly dismissing this speculation.
Last night, when this man heard the name 'Lin Chen,' his tone of astonishment and questioning was definitely not faked.
If he were Lin Chen, his first reaction should have been, 'How do you know me?' not 'You know Lin Chen?'
Moreover, Lin Chen's way of handling things was to confront head-on with his miraculous medical skills, not to scheme behind the scenes with these 'underhanded methods.'
More importantly... according to the intelligence he had received, Lin Chen wasn't that old and should still be bitterly digging for herbs in remote mountains and forests thousands of miles away!
How could he possibly inexplicably appear in Yanjing?
"The timeline doesn't match!"
Zhou Zihao muttered to himself: "But if it's not Lin Chen, yet he has a deep connection with Shen Wanyin and possesses such terrifying skills..."
Zhou Zihao felt his head itch, as if a brain was about to grow.
To be honest, thirty million was nothing to him. It was mainly the humiliation he couldn't swallow.
But the thought of those eye-searing photos, especially that'sandwich filling' close-up, made him shiver involuntarily.
If that stuff got out, forget about mixing in Yanjing; he'd probably have to buy a standing ticket and flee to Africa to mine overnight.
"Damn..."
Zhou Zihao punched the pristine bedsheet, gritted his teeth, and dialed his company's CFO.
"Hey, Old Liu. Immediately! Right now! Transfer thirty million to Shen Wanyin's company account!"
"What? Go through the process? Go through your mother's process!! Special approval! Didn't you hear me say special approval?!"
"If the money isn't in the account within twenty minutes, don't bother coming to work tomorrow..."