Chapter 48
Xia Wansheng, unaware of the true situation, thought Yu Congyan hadn’t taken his words seriously.
He sighed inwardly and gave up. After all, Yu Congyan’s lifestyle was deeply ingrained, it was unrealistic to expect a sudden, drastic change.
But he couldn’t just watch the CEO starve. It was better to teach a man how to fish than to give him a fish. Xia Wansheng thought he should start by correcting his mindset.
For example, saving electricity, there was no need to keep every room in the multi-story villa running when not in use.
But this suggestion was vetoed by Yu Congyan, his reason being Xia Wansheng’s night blindness.
“…” True, but flashlights weren’t just for decoration.
But Xia Wansheng thought perhaps the CEO was too embarrassed to admit he was afraid of the dark. After all, although the book didn’t mention it, CEOs often had childhood traumas associated with stormy nights.
He swallowed his retort, looking at him with sympathy, “I understand.”
Yu Congyan, who had no such trauma: ???
Although they didn’t understand each other, they were on the same wavelength.
The gossip reporters were getting restless. They had planned to follow up on the donation news, already preparing drafts declaring Yu Congyan the heir to the Yu Group, but the subsequent developments were confusing.
Old Man Yu was still active on the board, sometimes accompanied by Yu Xuan, sometimes with a professional manager hired by the group.
It seemed he would rather have an outsider manage the company than leave it to his incompetent grandson.
The unscrupulous media sneered at this, it wasn’t uncommon for those involved to be blinded by their own perspective, assuming they had more information and could control the outcome.
They had intended to exploit the conflict between the two brothers for a juicy story, but Yu Congyan didn’t seem to be playing along, calmly accepting the “bankruptcy.”
This seemed cowardly to outsiders.
The media tried to get others’ opinions on the matter, hoping for some harsh criticism they could use for headlines.
But strangely, even the usually critical business tycoons avoided the topic, some even directly refusing to answer any questions related to Yu Congyan.
This piqued the media’s curiosity. After all, if the donation wasn’t orchestrated by Old Man Yu, it was likely Yu Congyan’s personal act, which was strange in itself.
Yu Congyan, as a young entrepreneur, wasn’t old enough to start doing charity.
But they finally found some clues in various news reports.
Xia Wansheng had entered the public eye, and neither of them bothered to clarify the rumors, so the media simply concluded it was a grand gesture of love by a wealthy CEO.
The public loved these stories, and tales of devotion among the wealthy elite, giving up inheritance for true love, spread like wildfire, touching countless hearts.
The story became increasingly detailed and dramatic as it was retold and shared.
Xia Wansheng, finally having some free time after being discharged from the hospital and catching up on work, started browsing online. The first thing he saw was this seemingly authentic news report.
He initially thought it was just a minor misunderstanding, but the sheer volume of articles and discussions was overwhelming. Even those who didn’t know them personally seemed to know the details of their love story, from their first encounter to their decision to elope.
Xia Wansheng fell silent.
What wild imaginations, even filling in the missing details.
After all, his actions were rather inconsistent, but the netizens’ explanation was perfect – it was the power of love.
He was almost convinced himself.
Xia Wansheng was about to say something, but in the end, he put down his phone.
Forget it, there was no need to expose the truth now, they were just having fun, and after he left, these rumors would disappear anyway.
Suddenly, someone knocked on his door.
Housekeeper Zhang’s expression was grim: “Mr. Xia, a couple is here to see you, saying they have some matters to discuss.”
Such a specific description, Xia Wansheng instantly guessed it was the original owner’s parents.
He wondered what they wanted this time. If they were here for money, it would be easy, the recording from last time would come in handy.
“Mr. Xia, their attitude doesn’t seem very good.” Housekeeper Zhang saw Xia Wansheng casually putting something in his pocket and tried to warn him.
They seemed aggressive, more like they were here for revenge than a visit.
“It’s fine, that’s just how they are.” Xia Wansheng said reassuringly.
He should resolve this matter properly.
After all, he now knew the story here wasn’t just NPCs following a script, but real people making their own choices.
This time, they met in a private room at a rather upscale restaurant. Xia Wansheng casually observed the surroundings, this wasn’t their usual style.
“What do you want?” Xia Wansheng asked the couple, who weren’t even pretending anymore, his tone impatient.
He already disliked the original owner’s parents, agreeing to meet with them was already difficult. If it weren’t for wanting to permanently resolve this issue, he would have anonymously reported their past actions.
The couple seemed to be seeing him for the first time, criticizing his current situation, adding details about their own hardships:
“If it weren’t for us working so hard to put you through school, you wouldn’t be where you are today, how did you become like this…” The woman sobbed, seemingly genuinely ashamed of him.
He wondered if the recorder could handle this much useless chatter.
After listening to their incoherent complaints, Xia Wansheng lost his patience, “Get to the point, my time is precious.”
These words seemed to trigger something. The man, enraged, slammed his hand on the table, throwing a news article at him, “You still have the audacity to go out after such a scandal?!”
Xia Wansheng glanced at it, recognizing the gossip news about him and Yu Congyan, filled with speculations about their relationship.
The couple across from him seemed truly disappointed, putting on a show, reciting their slightly awkward lines in a theatrical manner: “You said you were chasing your dreams, and now this? You’ve brought shame upon our family!”
[Such a classic guilt-tripping line.]
The system, having recently read many revenge novels, commented in his mind.
Combined with the upscale restaurant chosen by the original owner’s parents, Xia Wansheng’s heart skipped a beat.
He wondered how many hidden cameras were in this private room. He couldn’t just sit here passively.
Xia Wansheng leaned forward slightly, as if hurt by their harsh words, his voice trembling with despair:
“What are you talking about…”
“How could I have initiated this? Are you kidding me? I was trying to escape! You forced me into this!”
His unexpected response turned the tables.
“Stop making excuses, you chose to take the easy way out!” the man shouted angrily.
He instinctively wanted to turn and address the camera, but he regained his composure, not wanting to expose its location.
“That’s not what you said when you begged me to do this. You said our family was desperate, drowning in debt…” Xia Wansheng’s voice was choked with disbelief and a hint of tears.
After speaking the lines provided by the system, taken from a TV drama, he shuddered inwardly.
But it seemed to be effective.
The couple across from him didn’t want him to continue and tried to change the subject.
“We’re not blaming you, we just don’t want to see you like this, ruining yourself,”
His mother forced a concerned expression, “I heard that Yu Congyan is even giving up his inheritance, this entanglement isn’t good for you.”
She hadn’t forgotten the instructions from the person who paid her, to gather information, or if that failed, to provoke Xia Wansheng for a good story.
“Ruining myself… so that’s how you see me. I actually hoped you were here to show some concern.” Xia Wansheng didn’t argue, standing up to leave.
“Don’t contact me again,” he turned and gave the couple one last look, as if bidding farewell to his illusions of familial affection,
“Just pretend I’m dead.”
Then he turned and walked away, leaving a solitary figure in the camera’s frame.
A perfect ending.
Xia Wansheng didn’t return to the villa immediately. He had gotten too into character and needed to calm down.
[Host, I know a forest park nearby, there’s a Sichuan Mala Tang stall by the artificial lake, since we’re here, let’s grab a bite before going back!] The system brought up the food map.
“Good idea.” Xia Wansheng readily agreed.
Yu Congyan returned home after his meeting, noticing Xia Wansheng wasn’t at the dinner table. Housekeeper Zhang explained he had visitors.
Yu Congyan wasn’t concerned at first, but shortly after dinner, he received an urgent call from Assistant Zhong on his private number.
“CEO Yu, the media sent us a video, should we buy it or let them release it?!” Assistant Zhong’s tone was unusually urgent.
The media hadn’t given them much time, after all, this was explosive material directly from Xia Wansheng, guaranteed to go viral.
Whether it was extorting money from Yu Congyan or releasing it to generate buzz, it was a win-win for the unscrupulous media.
The latter was even less risky.
Yu Congyan frowned. He had specifically instructed them not to manipulate public opinion during this period, to maximize the impact of the later reversal.
But since Assistant Zhong had called him personally, he must need his confirmation.
He opened the video.
