Chapter 8

"If you want to offend someone, don't leave them any room to maneuver," Weng Zhen said flatly.

It was precisely because Weng Sui acted rashly, let his emotions get the better of him, and did whatever he pleased without considering the consequences that the Weng family had given others an opening.

"You know Weng Group is a publicly listed company. If these negative reports cause the Group's stock price to fall, can you stand up and take responsibility before the board and shareholders?"

Weng Sui's face alternated between green and white, and he could not say a word.

Weng Yingjie could only sigh and say slowly, "I know this is somewhat cruel to Weng Shao. But we can't give others the chance to exploit us. If anyone is to blame, it can only be Weng Shao himself for refusing to stay in his place. If he and his mother hadn't gotten greedy and jumped out in front of so many people to force the issue and cause trouble, things wouldn't have become this complicated."

"Everyone must pay the price for what they do."

"That applies to him, and it applies to you as well. You're not that young anymore. You should know what can be done and what cannot. Don't ever hurt others and yourself again over a momentary impulse."

Listening to his father and older brother, Weng Sui felt his face burn. Of course, he did not think things had turned out this way because he had spread Weng Shao's ugly side online and given someone an opportunity to exploit it. He only hated the malicious person behind the scenes for trying to use such tactics to put the Weng family in an unjust position.

"Don't let me find out who it is, or I'll never let him go!"

The Weng father and sons' premonition had been correct. Just as online public opinion was escalating, a report suddenly appeared—

<Infighting Among the Wealthy Erupts Again: Father and Son Turn Against Each Other Over a Few Thousand Yuan>

The subtitle was even more shocking: A millionaire charity donor who begrudges even a cent to his savior and biological son. Is this self-made business tycoon truly kind, or merely pretending?

The report had been published by Easy Weekly, the country's most famous gossip magazine. It was said that the magazine's behind-the-scenes owner was a Hong Kong-funded company, so its style had also been influenced by its counterparts on Hong Kong Island. It had always been known for daring to speak and write, with sharp, cutting commentary.

While wandering around the newsstand outside the school gates, Zhang Chang unexpectedly spotted the magazine. He immediately bought it back for Weng Shao, saying excitedly, "Heaven has eyes! Someone has finally realized how disgusting that family is. Seeing all those online influencers and netizens who didn't know the truth piling on to curse you nearly drove me crazy. Sure enough, normal people still exist in this world. Thank you, Easy Weekly, for saving my sense of right and wrong. There should be more media outlets that dare to report the truth like this!"

Jiang Rui and Zhou Mingjing pressed their heads together and hurriedly finished the entire article. "So your second uncle has done this kind of ungrateful thing more than once!"

Zhou Mingjing pointed at a short passage in the magazine. It listed Weng Yingjie's rise to wealth in meticulous detail—when he had first started from nothing, he had received support from the wealthy Pei Jingyao. Yet when the Pei family encountered trouble, he secretly joined forces with the Pei family's rivals to set Pei Jingyao up, severely weakening the Pei family. While the Pei family was too preoccupied to look after itself, Weng Yingjie snatched away much of their business.

"It also says Weng Yingjie used very dirty methods in business when he was younger, and only started doing charity work in recent years to clean up his image. No wonder he could leave his savior in the countryside without a second thought and watch his biological son lack the money to attend school without caring. And he still has the nerve to call Weng Shao ungrateful and heartless? The truly heartless one is clearly him!"

Weng Shao looked at Weng Yingjie's smiling face on the magazine cover and said nothing. He had known someone would make a move.

At the same time, Weng Yingjie saw the gossip report in Easy Weekly and angrily swept everything off his desk.

Weng Zhen pushed open the door to the wrecked study. Seeing Weng Yingjie standing before the floor-to-ceiling window with a grim expression, he walked to the desk, opened a drawer, took out some blood pressure medicine, poured a glass of water, and slowly approached him. "For someone to connect this matter to what happened over a decade ago, it seems the Pei family has made their move."

Weng Yingjie took the water and medicine, saying impatiently, "I knew it. That mad dog Pei Xingze would never let an opportunity like this pass."

"Since you already guessed he would kick us while we were down, why get angry, Father?" Weng Zhen said calmly. "The law of survival in this world has always been that the strong prey on the weak, and the strong are respected. Even if he found ten or a hundred newspapers to report on those old, stale incidents from back then, what could they do? A few rumors cannot affect the Weng Group as it stands today."

Weng Yingjie drew a deep breath. Of course he knew those gossip tabloids could not shake the foundations of Weng Group. He simply hated the buzzing flies, as well as that mad dog Pei Xingze, who seized every opening and refused to let up.

"Who knows how Pei Jingyao raised him to end up with such a lunatic!"

"A lunatic who acts without restraint is easier to deal with than a chess player who calculates ten moves ahead," Weng Zhen said. "Besides, the reason that Pei acts so recklessly is because the Pei family cleans up after him. Once the Pei family collapses, a mad dog is nothing to fear."

"The old and young members of the Weng family are exactly alike. They all love using despicable means to scheme against people! But they don't realize that while they scheme against others, they are also being schemed against!"

Colored lights shifted across the dance floor, while pounding DJ music filled the entire bar. In a private room on the second floor, several men lounged crookedly on sofas lining either side. Through the one-way floor-to-ceiling windows, they watched the men and women writhing on the dance floor while smoking, drinking, laughing, and chatting. "...Even fools know family scandals shouldn't be aired in public. Yet those idiots in the Weng family actually spread their own dirty laundry across the entire internet. I really don't know what they were thinking."

"If they weren't that stupid, how would Young Master Pei have had the chance to step in?"

"Given that old fox Weng's character, if he can't solve the problem, he'll probably solve the person who created it."

"Won't that kid be miserable, then? You're going to use someone you've never even met as a target against the Weng family."

As Lu Qingyang spoke, he poured a glass of whiskey and handed it to Pei Xingze.

Young Master Pei sat boldly in the seat directly opposite the floor-to-ceiling window, half his face hidden in the dim light of the private room. He swirled the glass with the hand holding his cigarette. The cigarette tip flickered in the darkness, and through the curling smoke, Pei Xingze watched the ice cubes sink and bob in the liquor. He said carelessly, "If that kid is smart enough, he should seize this opportunity and stab the Weng family hard."

Author's Note:

Chapter 8

A month passed in the blink of an eye.

On the day of the National College Entrance Examination, Weng Shao had barely arrived at the test center before he was surrounded by a group of reporters carrying cameras and microphones.

The scene was extremely chaotic. Seven or eight microphones were thrust in front of Weng Shao's face as reporters wearing press vests swarmed forward, surrounding him so tightly that not even water could pass through.

Perhaps to prove the righteousness of their interview, the reporters did not attack immediately. Instead, they put on an act and asked several ordinary questions—

"Student, the National College Entrance Examination is about to begin. Are you nervous?"

"How are your grades? Do you have an ideal university in mind?"

"What are you willing to give up to get into your dream university?"

Until one of the reporters "recognized" Weng Shao in surprise. "Huh? You look familiar. Aren't you that student from online... the one who got into a conflict with his family during a banquet and caused his biological grandfather to have a heart attack and be hospitalized?"

The reporter's loud voice immediately drew everyone's attention. The suffocating cameras gave off a cold gleam, like gun barrels at an execution, aimed directly at Weng Shao's face. All kinds of sharp questions, mixed with the confused inquiries of nearby parents and examinees, came crashing down on him.

"There are so many voices online criticizing you. Have you reflected on whether your actions back then actually violated public morality and accepted social norms?"

"I heard you openly complained before the adoptive parents who raised you for eighteen years that you lived worse than a dog. Were you blaming them for not providing you with better living conditions? But as far as I know, you entered City No. 1 High School as the top student in your county. Without your family's careful support, do you think you could have achieved such excellent results?"

"I heard your results on the second and third mock exams were unstable. Did you falter at such a crucial moment because of online public opinion? Do you regret your inappropriate behavior?"

"What do you have to say about the netizens criticizing you?"

A microphone was shoved hard into Weng Shao's face, and he raised a hand to block it.

It could not be denied that Weng Shao had an exceptionally handsome face. Even after years of labor and running about, his skin still appeared fairer than most people's. His peach blossom eyes were distinctly black and white, with a smile at their corners, naturally carrying a trace of innocence and affection whenever he looked at someone. In particular, the calm composure he unconsciously revealed in every gesture made him seem less like a child neglected and harshly treated by an impoverished family, and more like an elite heir painstakingly cultivated with the entire family's resources.

—Only those rough hands, veins standing out and covered in countless small scars, revealed that his life was not as peaceful as his appearance made it seem.

Weng Shao grasped the microphone and, seemingly by accident, displayed his hands marked by labor before the cameras. Still using that gentle, harmless, yet methodical voice, he asked, "It seems you have collected a lot of online rumors about me. Did you come prepared?"

The reporter being questioned frowned. He knew what Weng Shao wanted to say, but he gave him no chance to condemn them. "As a high school student of the new century and a future pillar of the nation, which do you think is more important—talent or moral character?"

Weng Shao fixed his clear eyes on the reporter who had first attacked him and asked unhurriedly, "Which platform are you from? I noticed you didn't interview anyone else just now. Did you come here specifically to interview me? How long have you been waiting for me?"

Of course, the reporters Weng Zhen had arranged beforehand would not interview anyone else. There were crowds outside the test center, with so many examinees and parents that they might miss their target if they were not careful. Having accepted someone's request, the reporters naturally worried that interviewing others would cause them to miss Weng Shao. But what they had not expected was that Weng Shao had noticed this tiny oversight that should not have drawn anyone's attention.