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"Hadn't he betrayed his own family to help outsiders harm them? Hadn't he abandoned the eldest uncle who'd raised him for eighteen years? Hadn't he repeatedly angered Grandpa into falling ill and being hospitalized? And now he wanted to sue me for defaming him? How did I defame him? Every word I said was the truth!"

Weng Sui shook Weng Yingjie's and Zhou Shujing's arms. "Dad, Mom, can't we find a better lawyer and fight him in court?"

His words woke them from their stupor. The four members of the Weng family looked at one another, suddenly realizing that they had been trapped in a fixed mindset all along.

Yeah! Why, when they learned that Weng Shao was suing Weng Sui, had their first instinct been to smooth things over and force Weng Shao to withdraw the lawsuit?

Weng Zhen's mind raced. "I think Weng Sui has a point. First of all, defamation is actually very difficult to establish, because it's hard for the plaintiff to prove that the spread of the rumors reached the legally required threshold of 'serious circumstances.' Second, Weng Sui did pay online marketing accounts to spread the videos. But those videos weren't fabricated by Weng Sui."

As for Weng Shao himself, even at the height of the public uproar, he hadn't suffered any actual losses—he had gotten into Jinghai University as the top-ranked student in the province, exploited public sympathy through media hype, published books, sold houses, and made tens of millions. At this point, the Weng family still didn't know that after Pei Xingze successfully shorted Weng Group, he had given Weng Shao sixty-six million.

By comparison, Weng Group had suffered devastating losses throughout this series of events. Not only had its reputation been ruined, but its market value had also evaporated by several billion.

"Not only did Weng Sui not defame him, he can instead sue Weng Shao for infringing on Weng Sui's reputation rights." Weng Zhen spoke with absolute certainty, his thoughts growing clearer as he continued.

Weng Yingjie and Zhou Shujing also felt as though the clouds had parted.

So why had they gone to kneel before Weng Shao the moment they received the court summons?

The family exchanged looks. Zhou Shujing let out a long breath. "The group has suffered heavy losses recently. I was so concerned that I panicked and made a foolish move."

In the hotel's surveillance room, the security staff member on duty stared in confusion at the four Weng family members loudly plotting inside the sightseeing elevator. After thinking it over, he called the security department manager.

Pei Xingze hung up the phone and led Weng Shao over to Chairman Pei and his wife, who were surrounded by guests chatting and laughing. "Dad, Mom, let me introduce you. This is Weng Shao."

The hosts and guests, who had just been conversing merrily, unconsciously paused and looked at Weng Shao with curiosity.

Although they had already seen Weng Shao's face in interview videos from various media outlets, when the real Weng Shao appeared before them, everyone still found their eyes lighting up. It was like being dazzled by light refracted through a diamond.

"Truly an outstanding young man." Guan Shunhua couldn't help praising him. "No wonder Xingze talks about you in front of us every day. When you have time, let Xingze bring you over to visit."

Weng Shao broke into a radiant smile, his features shining. "President Pei often mentions the two of you in front of me as well. He says you're the most beautiful and kind mother in the world. I thought President Pei was merely seeing a loving mother through the eyes of a filial son. But after meeting you today, I realize just how inadequate President Pei's words were."

Guan Shunhua burst out laughing at Weng Shao's words. She was an exceptionally forthright woman, her speech and manner carrying an open-hearted generosity that won people over. In comparison, Pei Jingyao was far more refined and reserved.

Unfortunately, Weng Shao hadn't had much contact with them in his previous life.

During the first few years after he returned to the Weng family, they had deliberately suppressed him, making it impossible for him to appear at social occasions of this level. By the time Weng Shao had established himself in Weng Group through his own efforts, Pei Jingyao and his wife had gone missing after a plane crash.

At that thought, Weng Shao subtly glanced at several Pei family members standing beside Pei Jingyao. The plane crash a few years from now would stem from infighting within the Pei family. Pei Xingze's second uncle, Pei Xiyao, and third uncle, Pei Hengyao, would bribe a maintenance engineer to tamper with the plane.

They had assumed that after Pei Jingyao and his wife died, Pei Xiyao and Pei Hengyao would smoothly divide up Pei Group. Yet no one expected Pei Xingze, whom everyone had always regarded as a spoiled playboy, to step forward at the critical moment and persuade most of the shareholders to support his rise to power. After taking office, he forced Pei Xiyao and Pei Hengyao into steady retreat. In the end, with nowhere left to go, they joined forces with Weng Yingjie, hoping to destroy Pei Group from within and without.

Unfortunately, they were one move short and were set up by Weng Shao and Pei Xingze, then sent to prison.

Weng Shao still remembered that after Pei Xingze died and he took over Pei Group, Pei Xiyao's and Pei Hengyao's children had actually used the Pei family's name to try to drive him out of the boardroom. Their skin was so thick, he had no idea how they had grown it.

Weng Shao truly wanted to expose these people's true faces in one sentence, but outsiders should not meddle in family affairs—at that thought, Weng Shao glanced at Pei Xingze. He wondered who Pei Xingze considered closer!

Pei Xingze noticed Weng Shao's gaze and immediately looked back. But Weng Shao had already looked away.

Chairman Pei watched their interaction coldly and asked casually, "I heard you've already resigned from Lakeside Garden. What are your plans next?"

Weng Shao smiled. "I'll study hard, make money, and enjoy life."

Chairman Pei added, "Xingze said you studied finance in university. It's a field that places great emphasis on practical experience. Pei Group happens to have an investment company under it—"

"I'll arrange my own son's future, so I won't trouble Brother Pei to worry about it." Weng Yingjie had just walked over when he heard that old fox Pei Jingyao trying to lure Weng Shao away.

Pei Jingyao was interrupted before he could finish, but he wasn't annoyed. Instead, he smiled graciously. "I'm simply eager for talent. Everyone knows that Weng Shao worked part-time at Lakeside Garden for only three months and generated nearly five hundred million in sales. The online real estate ranking system and offline house-viewing group model he created also greatly promoted a complete transformation in real estate sales models..."

"I can say without exaggeration that Weng Shao's efforts alone over the past three months increased Weng Group's market value by at least ten percent. With talent this exceptional, how could I let him go?"

Weng Shao modestly spoke up at the right moment. "Chairman Pei flatters me. My personal abilities are limited. I could only achieve such results thanks to President Pei's strong support and the concerted efforts of the entire Lakeside Garden sales team."

Weng Yingjie watched coldly as Weng Shao acted so humble and low-key before Pei Jingyao. Thinking of how arrogant and smug he had been in front of him, Weng Yingjie couldn't help snorting. "If you want an internship, Weng Group has a venture capital department too. You can follow your brother and start out as his executive assistant."

Weng Yingjie spoke in a tone of bestowing a favor. "I warned you before not to be fooled by outsiders' petty favors. They see your value and will only think of ways to squeeze you dry. Only your family will make long-term plans for your future."

Weng Shao curled his lips faintly. "Is that so? I thought the Weng family was about to sue me for infringing on your reputation rights."

The Weng family's expressions changed. They immediately realized that someone had overheard their conversation in the elevator.

Zhou Shujing took a deep breath. "The service at Pei Grand Hotel is truly eye-opening. Didn't anyone tell you that customers' privacy should be respected?"

Guan Shunhua smiled. "The security department staff were simply doing their duty. They just hadn't expected someone to loudly plot in a public place."

"What do you mean, loudly plot?" Zhou Shujing retorted sharply. "We were merely discussing Weng Shao's chances of winning the lawsuit. It was precisely because we all realized that he couldn't possibly win that we wanted even more to persuade him to withdraw it.

"Compared with outsiders like you, we Wengs are one family. You people fear the world isn't chaotic enough. You've instigated a child who has just turned eighteen to betray his parents and family, to sue his own brother. Whether he wins or loses, you'll have a spectacle to enjoy. But who will care whether this child lives or dies? We, as his parents, won't be so heartless. We can't just watch him be used by others, foolishly making a wedding dress for someone else, only to end up disgraced and abandoned by everyone."

Faced with Zhou Shujing's emphatic words, Guan Shunhua still smiled. "Since you're so devoted, why didn't you awaken your loving parental hearts sooner? You made Weng Shao suffer so much."

Zhou Shujing took a deep breath. "Isn't it because scheming outsiders like you seized every opportunity to drive a wedge between us—"

Before she could finish, a burst of stirring music drew everyone's attention.

The auspicious time had arrived. The host, dressed in a custom-made cheongsam, took the stage for the opening introduction and then invited Chairman Pei Jingyao to deliver a speech.

After watching half an episode of this wealthy family drama, the guests reluctantly withdrew their gazes and looked at the high-spirited Pei Jingyao onstage with smiles.

Zhou Shujing walked up to Weng Shao, intending to continue persuading him to withdraw the lawsuit and return home. But Pei Xingze took one long step forward, positioning himself directly between Weng Shao and Zhou Shujing, leaving her no chance to speak.

Zhou Shujing looked at Pei Xingze as though he were an eyesore blocking her path. With Pei Jingyao giving his speech onstage, social etiquette prevented her from making too much of a scene. She could only stare longingly at Weng Shao, separated from her by a single person.

Yet Weng Shao's mind was filled with thoughts of the Pei parents who would die in a plane crash a few years from now. He had no interest in putting on an act with Zhou Shujing.

After Pei Jingyao finished speaking, amid thunderous applause from the crowd, he unexpectedly skipped the host's transition and personally invited Weng Shao, as an outstanding employee of Pei Group, to take the stage and share a few words.

Watching Weng Shao walk calmly onto the stage, warmly embrace Pei Jingyao, and then speak eloquently before the microphone, the Weng family's faces turned green.

They couldn't ignore the amused, covert glances cast their way from the people around them.

A member of the Weng family was actually speaking at Pei Group's centennial celebration banquet as an outstanding employee of Pei Group, recounting his achievements since joining the company... Such an absurd scene had really happened.

At this moment, the guests sincerely felt that Weng Shao's greatest achievement might not have been raising Pei Group's market value by ten percent on his own, but rather using his own efforts to relentlessly tear down Weng Group and wipe several billion from its market value.