They really did catch a fish

Early the next morning, Secretary Su appeared at the hospital with a dozen or so bodyguards, all dressed in black suits. He also brought two sets of suits along.

After getting the bodyguards settled, he went to the ward and immediately spotted President Xia and Fourth Young Master Lin in hospital gowns, digging into their food.

The hospital gown was too big, and Fourth Young Master Lin had rolled the sleeves up twice, exposing pale, firm forearms. Bent forward, his waist looked barely a handspan long as he leaned against Xia Qinghe.

Lin Fengmian spotted Secretary Su. "Secretary Su, come have breakfast."

Secretary Su glanced over the table laden with Chinese and Western breakfast dishes, hung up the suits, and sat down without standing on ceremony.

Only when he had nearly finished eating did Xia Qinghe look up from his phone. "Call the police in a bit. The hospital has evidence. Submit it to the police as well and have them investigate this thoroughly."

Secretary Su had known it would come to this and had already called the police on his way over that morning. As soon as breakfast was cleared away, the officers arrived.

After asking the routine questions, they took the examination report and went off to investigate.

The moment the police left, the previously sickly-looking Xia Qinghe regained a healthy flush. He looked strong enough to beat ten thousand bulls to death.

"President Xia, shall I arrange your discharge?"

Xia Qinghe sat down on the sofa. "Have they caught the culprit? Until they do, I'd better stay in the hospital for my own safety. Right, Mianmian?"

Lin Fengmian nodded with great solemnity. "Exactly. If someone drugs a victim to render them incapable of resistance in order to commit rape, robbery, kidnapping, or another crime, even if no harm is caused, the drugging can still be considered preparation for or a means of committing that serious offense. Usually, it's punished alongside the principal offense as multiple crimes, or as an implicated offense under the more serious charge."

"If he dared to do it, he needs to own up to it. Anyone who dares to drug someone had better be ready for prison food."

Xia Qinghe nodded. "Exactly. Mianmian's right. Better to kill the wrong person than let anyone slip away."

Secretary Su was numb. Sometimes he thought President Xia was very mature, like a proper executive. But the moment Lin Fengmian was around, the whole picture went sideways, and he became a Mianmian fanatic.

Lin Fengmian rested his head on Xia Qinghe's lap and played on his phone. Xia Qinghe made no effort to keep anything from him as he discussed some work matters with Secretary Su and made a few arrangements.

The officers worked very efficiently. With the leads Xia Qinghe provided, they soon caught the person who had drugged him: a waiter. He said he had been jealous of Xia Qinghe possessing a fortune worth hundreds of millions at such a young age, so he had drugged him to make him embarrass himself.

Even where the drugs had been bought could be traced, link by link. Clearly, whoever was behind this understood Xia Qinghe's vindictive nature very well and had planned everything in advance, simply waiting for him to walk into the trap.

"Tsk. The position of Mrs. Xia really is a hot commodity." Lin Fengmian flopped over like a lazy salted fish, belly up, basking under the lights.

However luxurious the hospital was, it was still less comfortable than home. Lin Fengmian felt as though he hadn't slept at all despite sleeping the entire night, and he was still drowsy.

Xia Qinghe's mother came from the waterside towns of Jiangnan. His soft features often led people to assume he was gentle and easy to talk to. Besides, seven years had passed since he had straightened out the Xia Group, and many people had forgotten what a ruthless man he was.

One after another, they acted as though they had lost their memories, trying to foist people on him.

They had even resorted to such dirty tricks.

Before the two could reach any conclusion in their discussion, a chorus of wailing erupted outside the ward, and an expensively dressed old woman rammed the door open.

A lingering chill settled between Xia Qinghe's brows as he swept his gaze over the helpless bodyguards who had done nothing.

Lin Fengmian sat up and stared at the old woman crawling on her knees toward Xia Qinghe, then at the group peering in behind her. Someone had already raised a phone to film.

The mockery in Xia Qinghe's eyes was unmistakable. Lin Fengmian clicked his tongue. They had both anticipated this: following the trail would only net them some small fry. Catching whoever was behind it would require further planning.

They had merely been giving it a try, staying in the hospital to fish with a sting operation. They hadn't expected to actually catch a fish.

It seemed whoever was behind this wasn't particularly clever.

Lin Fengmian instantly lost interest and yawned. His intolerance for stupidity was acting up.

"President Xia, you're a generous man. Please forgive my son. He was led astray for a moment, and that's why he did something like that. I'm here to beg your forgiveness." As she spoke, the old woman slammed her head against the floor with loud thuds, leaving a patch of blood.

Xia Qinghe watched coldly, shifting his feet aside and kicking Lin Fengmian's shoes out of the way while he was at it. He couldn't have blood splashing onto them.

He had bought those for him, too, a pair for each of them. Lin Fengmian loved them.

Lin Fengmian felt as if even the floor was shaking. He furtively touched his forehead and gave it a light pinch. Hiss, that hurt. When he looked at the old woman again, there was admiration in his eyes.

What a ruthless woman!

She really would do anything for her son.

The people standing at the door began talking among themselves.

"She's kneeling and kowtowing to him like that, and he won't give an inch."

"Even if someone did something wrong, his own mother has come to apologize. He still won't forgive him?"

"Is he even human? He doesn't have the most basic sense of propriety or shame."

Xia Qinghe took out his phone. "Hello, is this the police? Yes, someone is picking quarrels and causing trouble in a public place."

When he said "the police," the old woman's sobbing stopped for a fraction of a second. Then she let out a few more wails, only to find she couldn't quite sustain the emotion.

She sheepishly reined in her performance and looked at the young man before her, still handsome and refined even in a hospital gown. Yet somehow, she felt a wave of bloody menace crashing over her, making it difficult to breathe.

The old woman swallowed, but at the thought of her son being taken away, she forcibly suppressed her budding urge to retreat. "President Xia, I..."

Looking up, she discovered that the other handsome young man in the ward was holding up his phone and filming.

Lin Fengmian gave her a lovely smile. "Go on. Tell us why you're here apologizing for your son. What did he do wrong? No, what law did he break? Let me guess. Surely it wasn't drugging someone to rape them?"

"Oh, my poor President Xia. It's all because you look so sweet that people can't help wanting to commit a crime."

Lin Fengmian laughed and teased, but the smile never reached his eyes. If someone committed a crime, they should simply accept the judgment of the law. The last thing she should have done was pull this moral blackmail, much less let someone use her as a pawn.

Hearing this, the people standing at the door exchanged looks. Before they came, no one had told them it was such a serious crime as drugging someone to rape them!

Some who had simply followed along to watch the spectacle were already quietly retreating. Everyone left was a plant. Even with things reaching such a fever pitch, they stayed. Thinking of the money already in their hands, returning it was out of the question. They could only grit their teeth and press on.

"You look perfectly respectable. How can you just pronounce someone guilty like that? Are you a police officer or a judge? You're just saying whatever comes into your head."

"Exactly. So young, and unfortunately he has a mouth. Spouting nonsense like that, aren't you afraid of being struck by lightning?"

"That old lady is so advanced in years, and she's kneeling to a young man like him. Isn't he afraid it'll shorten his life? And he still dares to slander someone."

"Deliberately fabricating and spreading falsehoods to damage someone's reputation is absolutely grounds for a defamation charge. Don't worry, ma'am. I'm recording this. If you want to sue him, I'll testify for you."

"We can testify for you too," the others chimed in.

Kneeling on the floor, the old woman heard people speaking up for her. Tears streamed down her face as she sobbed, looking both terribly wronged and bitterly disappointed in her son's failings. Her acting was worthy of a best actor award.

It sickened Xia Qinghe to no end.

He stepped right up to the old woman and crouched to meet her eyes, his lips rising into their customary curve. "Are you here to ask me to issue a letter of forgiveness? If so"-he looked her up and down-"is this how you ask?"

"Then let me tell you: not only will I refuse to issue one, I'll make sure he rots. In. Prison."

"And you lot." Xia Qinghe swept his gaze over the people backing her up. "You've made personal attacks against me and my friend. Expect your court summonses."

"If you upload these videos without our consent and damage my reputation, I trust the Xia Group's legal department won't be sitting idle."

"You were all lecturing us on the law so convincingly just now. I'm sure you're all people who know and understand it. You can judge for yourselves what's true and what's false."

Some in the crowd had already gone pale with alarm and tried to delete the videos, only to discover that in just a few short minutes, the matter had already blown up online, spreading far faster than they could ever have imagined.

It was as though an invisible hand behind the scenes was controlling it all.