Chapter 39

Upon hearing Zhou Shujing's tearful complaint, Weng Shao had yet to speak when one of the onlooking customers could no longer hold back. "Stop saying all this useless nonsense. You didn't harm him? Then who paid online influencers to spread rumors about him? Who bribed reporters to block him at the examination site? You didn't harm him... You nearly got him killed!"

Zhou Shujing choked on her words, then immediately said, "I already knelt before him. What more do you want from me?"

Seeing that Zhou Shujing could not argue with them and had begun to make a scene, the onlookers fell silent as well.

That was simply the state of things. A mother had already knelt to apologize to her child—what else could they say?

The crowd was left speechless. Weng Shao, however, merely curled his lips in calm amusement. "You said it yourself. You're my biological mother, and you never harmed me, so why kneel before me? Aren't you trying to shorten my life? I used to think you hated me just like Weng Yingjie and his son did, but couldn't get rid of me, so you came up with this method to curse me and make Heaven strike me with lightning!"

Smiling, Weng Shao helped Zhou Shujing to her feet. "But seeing how heartbroken you are, I know I must have misunderstood you. You came to kneel before me and even brought reporters to take pictures. You probably weren't trying to harm me. You must have had your own reasons."

Zhou Shujing's brow twitched. Before she could defend herself, Weng Shao said evenly, "I think you're just worried sick because you care. You don't want us brothers to turn against each other and kill one another, and you can't bear to see me suffer. Then the person who really harmed me should kneel and apologize to me instead, right?"

Weng Shao paused thoughtfully. "How about this? Have Weng Sui kneel and apologize to me. We're biological brothers. I can accept it if he kneels before me."

Zhou Shujing abruptly raised her head to stare at Weng Shao. "What did you say?"

Weng Shao smiled. "Weng Sui nearly ruined my future. If it were anyone else, I definitely wouldn't let it end like this. But you're my biological mother, and what you said does make some sense. We're brothers, after all. I can't bear to see him saddled with a criminal record at such a young age. Still, he acts without any sense of consequence. As his older brother, I have to teach him a lesson, so he won't rely on the Weng family's money and power to bully others in the future. Don't you agree?"

Zhou Shujing's face turned green, then white. From an angle the crowd could not see, she looked at Weng Shao with barely restrained hatred.

Weng Shao merely smiled faintly at her and said magnanimously, "As long as Weng Sui kneels before me, I'll withdraw the lawsuit."

How could Zhou Shujing bear to let her most beloved younger son kneel before Weng Shao? She stared directly at him and said, word by word, "He's your biological younger brother. You know he's immature. Can't you forgive him just this once?"

"Have you forgotten that we were born on the same day?" Weng Shao asked with a smile. "He nearly ruined my future and destroyed my reputation. All I'm asking is for his knees to touch the ground, and I'm willing to withdraw the lawsuit. If he weren't my biological younger brother, would I be this easy to talk to?"

"You can kneel before me in public, so why can't he?"

"If you're this biased, I'll really start wondering whether I'm actually your biological son." Weng Shao gazed into Zhou Shujing's eyes and asked softly, "How about we get a paternity test?"

Zhou Shujing was jolted with fright.

The sales office manager stepped forward at just the right moment, smiling pleasantly. "Mrs. Weng, we understand why you came. How about this? I'll find you somewhere private. If there's anything else you wish to say to Weng Shao, we can sit down and talk it over slowly. Please step aside first and don't disrupt the normal operations of our sales office, all right?"

Zhou Shujing ignored him completely and only looked at Weng Shao with uncertainty and alarm.

Weng Shao spoke slowly. "Didn't you come here today to make me withdraw the lawsuit? I've already told you my conditions. Take your time considering them. You can come find me anytime before the trial."

Chapter 39

The instant their gazes met, it was like blades clashing head-on, sparks bursting and colliding in the air. The person who had intended to shift the disaster onto someone else had instead trapped herself, setting herself on fire in the process.

Zhou Shujing felt some regret. She had long known that Weng Shao was difficult to deal with, but she had thought she could suppress him with her status as his mother. Only when they truly faced off did Zhou Shujing realize things were not as simple as she had imagined.

She had underestimated Weng Shao's eloquence and psychological resilience. What had clearly been an inescapable trap of moral coercion had been defused by Weng Shao through an unexpected route. Not only had he caught the reporter secretly taking pictures and exposed her intentions on the spot, he had even turned her scheme against her and forced Weng Sui to kneel and apologize.

As for the "paternity test" Weng Shao had casually mentioned, it left Zhou Shujing trembling with fear. She did not know whether Weng Shao truly knew something and was deliberately testing her, or whether he had merely said it in anger.

But either possibility made Zhou Shujing feel that the situation had become serious.

Yet things had already reached this point. Even if Zhou Shujing wanted to retreat now, Weng Shao likely would not allow it.

The surveillance footage from the Lakeside Garden Sales Office was like a ticking time bomb. Zhou Shujing did not know when Weng Shao would set it off. The only solution was this: "Name your price."

In the VIP reception room of the Lakeside Garden Sales Office, Zhou Shujing toyed with the sunglasses in her hand and said calmly, "I want today's surveillance footage from Lakeside Garden, along with every backup copy. Name your price."

Weng Shao smiled and asked, "Do you think that's possible?"

Zhou Shujing took a deep breath. "Weng Shao, we're the real family. Whatever Pei Xingze can give you, we can give you too. Why insist on getting involved with the Weng family's enemies and doing things that hurt your loved ones and delight your enemies?"

"Do you think Pei Xingze is sincerely good to you? He's only using you. Once the Weng family falls, you'll have no value left to him. But Weng blood runs through your veins. When that time comes, your fate will only be worse."

"Only we will sincerely help you. Only we are your true family. Do you understand?" Zhou Shujing spoke earnestly, trying to use a gentle approach to drive a wedge between Pei Xingze and Weng Shao.

Unfortunately, that tactic did not work on Weng Shao.

"If you have nothing else to say, then let's end this meeting here." Weng Shao smiled. "I'm sure you have many things to deal with next."

After a pause, Weng Shao added meaningfully, "So do I."

Seeing that no matter what she said, Weng Shao remained unmoved, Zhou Shujing's heart sank lower and lower. Since she had failed to persuade him, she could only choose to strike first.

Before long, photos of Zhou Shujing, the wife of the Weng Group chairman, publicly kneeling before her son to apologize at the Lakeside Garden Sales Office appeared on the front pages of major newspapers and magazines overnight.

The explosive story of a mother kneeling before her son successfully sparked attention and discussion throughout society.

Under the reporters' highly inflammatory prose, the image of a humble mother who had repented at last leapt vividly off the page.

Just as Zhou Shujing had expected, most of those who dominated public opinion in that era believed that "no parents are ever truly at fault." Thus, once the report of a mother kneeling before her son came out, public opinion erupted.

In the photographs, the slender mother knelt before her son with a sorrowful expression, bowing her head in repentance and pleading bitterly. The scene greatly provoked every reader's eyes and moral sensibilities.

"As a mother, I cannot bear to see something like this happen. No matter what this woman may have done, she is still Weng Shao's biological mother. Without her, there would be no Weng Shao today. How could Weng Shao let his own mother kneel before him?"

"Our country has advocated governing the world through filial piety since ancient times. Being filial to one's parents is a lesson everyone in modern society must learn. Yet Weng Shao's actions make me question this young man's character. If someone does not even know how to feel grateful toward his biological parents, can he still be called human? It is true that Weng Shao performed well in this year's National College Entrance Examination and was admitted to Jinghai University with outstanding results. But I must emphasize that character and talent are two different things. If a person is exceptionally talented but morally corrupt, the harm he poses to society may be even greater than that of an ordinary person. We must reflect deeply..."

Zhou Shujing had succeeded. Her calculated, earth-shattering kneel had indeed won her the understanding and sympathy of most people the moment the report was published.

Countless readers could not sit still after reading the article. Their intense emotions drove them to immediately write letters to newspapers and magazines. In those letters, which poured in from all over the country like snowflakes, they deeply empathized with Zhou Shujing as a mother. They believed that no matter what, Weng Shao should never have accepted his biological mother's kneeling and repentance, and some even called on Weng Shao to apologize to her.

Many experts, scholars, and professors in the field of education in particular wrote at great length, citing numerous sources as they discussed the nation's long tradition of governing through filial piety and the rebellious new generation of the present day.

In their words, Weng Shao, who had previously been an outstanding student in both conduct and academics, had undoubtedly become part of a ruined generation. Talented but immoral, cold and heartless, lacking empathy. They even believed that Weng Shao harbored antisocial tendencies and would surely cause tremendous harm to society in the future if he was not corrected.

Overnight, Weng Shao's reputation completely reversed. Zhou Shujing became synonymous with a great mother who endured humiliation and hardship. Even Weng Yingjie, his son, and the Weng Group showed signs of being rehabilitated in public opinion. The media outlets and experts who spoke out generally believed that Weng Shao's actions had been too extreme, which was why the Weng family had repeatedly stepped in to "teach" him a lesson. Their intentions had been good; they simply had not considered that Weng Shao had been on the eve of the National College Entrance Examination.

But given the Weng family's background and resources, even if Weng Shao had truly failed the National College Entrance Examination, they had the means to support him in retaking it or studying abroad. After all, Weng Yingjie and Zhou Shujing's eldest son, Weng Zhen, had chosen to study overseas back then. Upon returning after completing his studies, he immediately became the executive president of the Weng Group.

"Since his parents could always provide a safety net, even if they truly intended to use one National College Entrance Examination result to discipline Weng Shao for his behavior, it would only have been a minor punishment meant as a warning. It was not nearly as serious as we imagined."

The media outlets and so-called experts who had accepted public relations payments spoke with absolute certainty, quickly beautifying the Weng family's attempt to drive Weng Shao into a corner as nothing more than a minor punishment meant as a warning.

It also gave readers who had never witnessed the offensive power of money a true taste of what it meant for money to make even ghosts turn millstones.