Chapter 117: The Yu Family Implicated

Because he had severely disrupted the school's order, Mr. Cao was stripped of all his duties and taken away by the police for investigation. On the same day, Nie Junran's company was raided and its executives arrested for illegal fundraising and theft of trade secrets. Ren Yingying and several other students were given school-wide warnings and demerits for spreading rumors and disrupting discipline.

In just half a day, the influential Nie family of Fancheng fell from grace.

Meanwhile, the Yu Corporation's public image plummeted because they had ignored Shen Qing's plight and even deliberately smeared her.

[The head of the Yu family is a real piece of work. He doesn't even want his own biological daughter, and basically called her a bastard.]

[Even if they divorced, there was no need to be this heartless.]

[I'm never buying anything from the Yu family again.]

[Damn! I just bought a bunch of Yu Group snacks yesterday. Into the trash they go!]

[Speaking of illegitimate daughters, Yu Min'er is the real one. She was already six years old when Shen Qing's mother got divorced.]

[Yu Min'er's mother got pregnant with Yu Fei out of wedlock. Isn't that the definition of illegitimate?]

[Leave our Min'er out of this! The parents' issues have nothing to do with the children!!!]

[Fuck off! You guys were so eager to call Shen Qing a bastard before, but now that it's proven Yu Min'er is the illegitimate one, you won't let anyone talk about it?]

[Min'er is not illegitimate! Her parents had a huge, lavish wedding when they got married!]

[Isn't Yu Min'er's mother a lady from a prestigious family? How could she be a mistress? Haters, use your brains before you speak!]

***

Yu Fei was overwhelmed and exhausted by the online backlash. He had previously cooperated closely with the Nie family, and now that they had fallen, his own company was taking a major hit. Furthermore, with Shen Qing's name cleared, the company's reputation was sinking lower by the day.

Yu Fei was in a state of utter turmoil. Especially when he saw the company's stock drop by two percentage points—a loss of a hundred million yuan—he was so furious he nearly smashed his computer.

After a long while, he pulled out his phone, scrolled through his contacts to find Shen Qing's number, and dialed.

He called several times, but the phone rang until the very last second with no answer.

Yu Fei's brow furrowed. He suspected he had been blocked.

***

Back in Class 3 of Senior Three, the students stared anxiously at the door, but Shen Qing was nowhere to be seen.

Lin Ruiyang leaned over his desk, focused on solving problems, while Liu Yichen held his phone, chuckling quietly one moment and bursting into laughter the next, muttering to himself all the while.

Frowning, Lin Ruiyang spoke up in annoyance. "Liu Yichen, you're disrupting my studying."

Liu Yichen blinked, then snatched Lin Ruiyang's pen away. "Oh, come on! What's the point of studying right now? Hurry up and read the news with me!"

With that, Liu Yichen thrust his phone in front of Lin Ruiyang's face.

"Look, Shen Qing received a First-Class Merit! A First-Class Merit!" Liu Yichen felt his eyes had truly been opened today. As expected of Sister Qing, her moves were always legendary!

Lin Ruiyang cast a brief glance at the screen. His expression remained cold, showing no surprise or emotion whatsoever, and he let out a flat, indifferent "Oh."

"You're really a freak," Liu Yichen muttered, continuing to scroll down.

***

Zhai Chao had been strictly forbidden by his manager from checking Weibo. Because he had spoken up for Shen Qing earlier, he had been viciously attacked by haters, and even his newly released song was being boycotted by netizens.

"Hello, Sister Wei," Zhai Chao answered the call from his manager.

"Xiao Chao, have you been online today?"

"No, didn't you specifically tell me not to look at my phone?"

Sister Wei sounded incredibly excited. "It's good news, absolutely wonderful news! Shen Qing's issue has been resolved!"

Zhai Chao was stunned. It took him several seconds to ask, "Was it Mr. Gu's doing?" He had asked someone to look into Gu Ting's background and knew he was the young master of the Gu family.

"I don't think so. Miss Shen is truly amazing—she received two military merits at such a young age!"

"What did you say? So everything they said online was fake?"

"Uh, not all of it. Her bad grades are real, but everything else was completely fabricated."

"So, the reason Shen Qing didn't add me on WeChat wasn't because she wanted to study, but because she just didn't like me."

"..." Sister Wei's lips twitched violently. Was *that* the important point here? "Hurry up and post an update on Weibo. Your fans are about to start a war."

Zhai Chao hung up the phone and logged into Weibo. His notifications were at 99+, with solo fans and shippers fighting tooth and nail.

[Oh my god! Oppa and the fairy sister look so good together! Lock this ship forever!]

[Get lost! Stop trying to ride on our Sister Qing's clout, okay?]

[Taking Zhai Chao away, Shen Qing is not for us.]

[Zhai Chao bravely spoke up for Shen Qing before. If that isn't love, what is?!]

[No shipping, please. Zhai Chao is great, and Shen Qing is great too. They're just collaborators and friends.]

Zhai Chao scrolled through the top comments, then posted an update: *The truth has finally come to light. I'm happy for you, my friend.*

Since Shen Qing didn't have a Weibo account, Zhai Chao searched for a while and ended up tagging Shen Qing's fan club.