Check the surveillance footage

By the time Jiang Yu was wheeled into the emergency room, his face was so swollen that even his own mother would have needed a DNA test to recognize him.

His eyelids had swollen into two narrow slits, his lips turned outward, and the dense red blotches on his neck had merged into one mass. Swelling in his airways made every breath come with a shrill whistle.

He was severely allergic to pollen. The doctor said that if he had arrived five minutes later, the swelling in his throat would have compressed his windpipe. Suffocating to death was no joke.

"How did this happen?" Liu Wanying, who had rushed over, lost her composure for once. The Hermès Birkin in her hand slipped to the floor.

The homeroom teacher stood beside her, fine beads of sweat on their forehead, explaining at top speed.

After PE, Jiang Yu had said he was hungry and eaten the pastries in his snack box ahead of time. Within minutes, he had started scratching his neck and struggling to breathe.

Shen Yuxing had been the first to find Jiang Yu collapsed beside the lockers. Without another word, he had borrowed a teacher's phone and called an ambulance.

"He stayed right outside the emergency room," the homeroom teacher said, pointing down the corridor. "He wouldn't go rest until you arrived."

Liu Wanying turned toward the end of the corridor. Shen Yuxing sat on a row of plastic seats, his hands placed neatly on his knees. His school uniform cuffs were still stained with splashes of Jiang Yu's vomit.

Liu Wanying walked over. Shen Yuxing looked up, his eyes red, his voice soft and gentle. "Auntie, I'm sorry. If only I'd noticed a little sooner-"

"You did very well," Liu Wanying interrupted.

Shen Yuxing blinked.

Liu Wanying sat beside him and reached out to pat the back of his hand gently.

Her hand was well cared for, her nails rounded and smooth. Resting on the back of Shen Yuxing's dark, thin hand, it felt warm and soft.

"It was all thanks to you today. The doctor said another five minutes would have put him in danger." She sighed, her eyes reddening slightly.

"Xiao Yu has been sickly since he was little. He has more allergies than I can count, and as his mother, I worry about him every day. If it hadn't been for you today-"

Liu Wanying stopped there and dabbed the corners of her eyes with a handkerchief.

"But how did flower pastries end up in his snack box?"

Liu Wanying's voice was so quiet she seemed to be speaking to herself. "Wang Ma makes his snacks fresh every morning. We never buy flower pastries, because Xiao Yu can't eat them."

She turned toward Shen Yuxing, her gaze gentle.

Shen Yuxing's expression did not change at all.

"Did someone secretly put them in Brother Xiao Yu's snack box?" he asked quietly, his brows creasing slightly. He looked even more anxious than Liu Wanying.

"Could someone be trying to hurt Brother Xiao Yu? Is someone bullying him at school? Should we tell a teacher?"

Liu Wanying watched him quietly. The child's eyes were clean and clear, like a mountain spring whose bottom was visible.

If she had not spent more than a decade among the wealthy, if she had not met all sorts of people harboring ulterior motives, she probably would have believed him too.

But she had seen too much.

She had seen newly debuted starlets act sweet and obedient before her to win her sympathy, only to turn around and seduce Jiang Changping.

She had seen people in business shake her hand with beaming smiles, only to turn around and leak her quotations to competitors.

In seventeen years among the wealthy, luck had never been what kept her secure in her position as the lady of the Jiang family.

Shen Yuxing's words had seemed innocent, but in reality, he had quietly shifted every suspicion onto "the school" and "someone else."

His reaction had been too quick.

A poor child fresh out of a remote mountain village, who had endured an entire day of school bullying, had saved someone's life-and the first thing he did afterward was calmly and logically help her analyze whether "someone was trying to hurt Brother Xiao Yu."

He seemed less like a victim than a schemer making one last check for loose ends before drawing in the net.

Liu Wanying did not let her thoughts show on her face. She put her gentle, loving mother's mask back on and said softly, "All right, you've had a fright today too. I'll have the driver take you home to rest first."

Shen Yuxing nodded obediently, stood up, and said, "Auntie, don't worry too much. Brother Xiao Yu will definitely be all right." Then he followed the driver out of the emergency room corridor.

Liu Wanying watched him leave, the smile on her face turning cold inch by inch.

She walked into the stairwell and made a call.

"Check the surveillance footage near the changing room during PE at Jinghua Middle School today."

The official Metamorphosis production account released another statement.

This time, it was not merely an appeal for viewers to remain rational, but a formal notice announcing cooperation with a police investigation and evidence collection.

The notice included three redacted screenshots of backend data, pointing out that negative trending topics concerning guest Jiang Xun had been manipulated by organized paid trolls. The relevant evidence had already been handed over to the cybersecurity authorities.

The comments instantly erupted into two boiling camps.

One celebrated: [The production team finally grew a conscience! Black PR scum can drop dead!]

The other sneered: [More whitewashing. Where's the police notice? No notice means they staged the whole thing themselves.]

Liu Wanying did not return home until early the next morning.

She had already seen the latest public sentiment report sent by the PR company.

The hashtag #Jiang Xun's violent tendencies# had dropped out of the top twenty trending searches, replaced by two new topics: #Metamorphosis production team files police report# and #Jiang Xun paid trolls#.

The smear campaign she had spent real money spreading had been shattered by a statement from the production team and the police's notice that a case had been opened.

But she had no time to concern herself with that now. She changed her shoes and handed her handbag to the waiting servant. Her makeup was still immaculate, but her bloodshot eyes betrayed the strain of the past day.

Jiang Yu's allergic reaction had been brought under control, and most of the swelling in his throat had subsided. The doctor said he could be discharged after another two days of observation.

But the surveillance camera outside the changing room had been deliberately damaged during that very PE period, and they had found nothing.

Liu Wanying walked into the living room. Shen Yuxing was sitting at the dining table, with Wang Ma peeling an egg for him beside him, murmuring, "Eat more. You're still growing."

Catching sight of Liu Wanying entering the dining room out of the corner of her eye, Wang Ma hurriedly stood. "Madam, is Young Master Xiao Yu feeling better?"

"Much better. The doctor said he can be discharged after another two days of observation." Liu Wanying sat at the head of the dining table, lifted her glass, and took a sip of water, her gaze settling on Shen Yuxing.

"Xiao Xing, I haven't had a chance to properly thank you for yesterday. The doctor said Xiao Yu's life would have been in danger if he'd arrived five minutes later. You saved his life."

Shen Yuxing twisted his hands together in front of his hem, his voice soft. "Auntie, please don't say that. I was terrified too. My mind went completely blank, and all I could think about was calling an ambulance right away. All that matters is that Brother Xiao Yu is all right."

Liu Wanying smiled and nodded, signaling with her eyes for Wang Ma to leave them.

"Xiao Xing, there's something I'd like to discuss with you."

"The atmosphere at home has improved since you came to stay with the Jiang family. You're sensible, obedient, and hardworking at school. You give me less cause to worry than any child I've ever met."

Shen Yuxing looked up. A flicker of wariness crossed his eyes, but his usual obedient expression quickly covered it.

"I've been thinking. Once the show ends and you return to Shiban Village, those excellent grades of yours will go to waste. The middle schools there have limited resources, and getting into university is difficult."

Liu Wanying paused, then continued with a smile.

"If you're willing, you can stay with the Jiang family after the show ends. I can cover all the expenses of your education in Capital City and help you find the best schools, right up until you graduate from university."

"As long as... you agree to do one thing for me."

Shen Yuxing looked up, an extremely faint glint flashing in his eyes.

He had played the obedient child all this time, waiting for precisely this moment.

Only this moment had come a little too easily-so easily that the hairs on the back of his neck rose slightly.

He did not rush to agree. Instead, he lowered his head slightly and bit his lower lip, as though caught in an intense internal struggle.

Only after a long while did he ask softly, "What would you like me to do, Auntie?"