The students were stubborn. If they couldn't get an answer, they would report it online. The police didn't forbid them, either, so everyone involved was called over to verify what had happened.
Luo Bai didn't dare speak, his legs still trembling. What should I do? If the Qin Family finds out I've been talking nonsense on the forum all along, they'll definitely be angry. I'm scared Brother Qin will be angry, too...
"Brother, I want to say I didn't mean it... Can you forgive me? I had my reasons..." Luo Bai threw himself into Qin Feilin's arms. There it was again, that maddening sense of dissonance.
"It's all right. We knew already. We don't blame you." Qin Feilin gently stroked Luo Bai's hair.
Hearing Brother Qin's answer, Luo Bai's anxious heart immediately settled.
Fuck, these people almost got me killed. Good thing everyone in the Qin Family trusts me.
I'm always so pitiful. The Qin Family will definitely think I had no choice.
The surrounding students nearly dropped their jaws at the scene. They were so shocked they couldn't speak. What on earth had blinded the Qin Family?
Now they felt nothing but a fire with nowhere to vent it. If the Qin Family wouldn't pursue the matter, and Luo Beishi wouldn't pursue it, there was absolutely nothing they, as bystanders, could do.
Seeing how caring Mother Qin was toward Luo Bai, where was there any sign of abuse? It was clearly a scene of a loving mother and a filial son. Fuck, this was seriously unreal.
They went home feeling deeply indignant, only to get scolded by their families for coming back so late.
But they couldn't let it go, so they posted the whole incident online and added related keywords, hoping it would trend so everyone could weigh in.
As expected, they knew anyone would find this utterly incomprehensible. Only those freaks in the Qin Family acted as though Luo Bai had brainwashed them.
The comments quickly piled up into the thousands.
[Holy shit, if what the blogger says is true, this really gets scarier the more you think about it.]
[I'm from the finance college. I used to be like that, too. Subconsciously, I always thought Luo Bai was pitiful.]
[All I can say is that Luo Bai's white lotus persona has really taken root.]
[Playing the white lotus for so long, and even after getting caught, nobody exposes him and people still think he had his reasons? That's seriously impressive.]
[Am I the only one who thinks Luo Beishi is the most pitiful? Neither parent loved him, and he got 150 a month...]
[Fortunately, Luo Beishi is loaded now, but he might never get an apology for the harm he suffered before. Heh.]
At home, Luo Beishi watched everyone grow increasingly sympathetic toward him, at a loss for words. So whoever was placed in the weakest position got sympathy. How ridiculous.
"Hubby, it's time we started cooking up some grand plans. Hehe."
Luo Beishi's sinister tone made Huo Cixiao's skin crawl. Fuck, what's gotten into Luo Beishi? Why is he suddenly scaring a man in a vegetative state?
And what grand plans? Go on, tell me! Do you always stop halfway through what you're saying?
"Tongtong, time to stir things up! Come out!" Luo Beishi turned to frantically calling the system inside his head.
"Coming, coming, Host." The system sounded as though it hadn't woken up yet, its voice dragging.
"Help me look up the real information on the Qin Family, then leak the surveillance footage of Huo Cifeng's assistant getting someone to buy drugs for him." Luo Beishi decided to toy with Huo Cifeng first after all. Luo Bai could wait for now. He would fatten him up a little before striking. Those roller-coaster ups and downs suited Luo Bai perfectly.
That afternoon.
For the first time, netizens felt that the Huo Family and Luo Family really never stopped. There was gossip to feast on every day, so much that they felt embarrassed, but they still happily dug in.
"So this guy is the Huo Family's second young master's assistant. Doesn't whatever the assistant does represent what Second Young Master Huo does? Wow, I never thought he was that kind of person."
"There's a reason Second Young Master Huo can't be the one in charge."
"He lacks the virtue for the position. I mean, before anything happened to Huo Cixiao, when did Huo Cifeng ever matter? Now he's in the news every day."
"Who knows? Rich-family feuds. Maybe someone had ulterior motives behind what happened to Huo Cixiao..."
"Sigh, I don't dare say anything. I'm afraid I'll vanish off the face of the earth tomorrow."
"Eldest Young Master Huo is still lying there, and Second Young Master Huo was already rushing to buy shares and take over. If Luo Beishi hadn't been so generous, the Huo Corporation would have a different person in charge by now."
"Speaking of which, why were these people buying drugs? Those are banned drugs. This guy must have been taken to the police station, right?"
Huo Cifeng was no pushover, either. After seeing the news, he immediately shifted the narrative, posting on the official website of the company he had founded: "Thank you all for your attention. My assistant only went to pick up headache medicine for me that day. A guy nearby happened to have some, so he bought it from him. In any case, we haven't done anything wrong, and we can stand up to scrutiny. Investigate all you like."
Perhaps Huo Cifeng's statement was so open and easygoing that everyone started thinking this was a prank again. After all, the police hadn't issued any conclusions.
They were also afraid that the more they said, the more mistakes they would make. It wouldn't be good if they received a lawyer's letter.
Then Huo Cifeng was caught completely off guard: the person who had bought the drugs was arrested.
The police really did find banned drugs, and the man was jailed on the spot.
But Assistant Zhang insisted that they were merely friends who hadn't known each other long, that the drugs hadn't been used on anyone, and that he could cooperate with urine and blood tests.
So many days had passed that even if someone really had taken them, tests wouldn't detect them in their body.
After checking the chat logs, Assistant Zhang had indeed asked for cold medicine.
As the saying went, no wall in the world was airtight.
News that the person supplying the drugs in the video had been arrested soon spread online. With Assistant Zhang getting off unscathed, everyone said this was money doing the talking, that even wrongdoing went unpunished.
Even if they insisted they hadn't done it, netizens weren't fools. Who would just happen to buy medicine from him?
And so the rumors online grew increasingly outrageous.
When Huo Cifeng found out, he slapped Assistant Zhang on the spot, sending his glasses flying.
Assistant Zhang said, "I'm sorry, Young Master."
Huo Cifeng forcibly suppressed his anger and finally said in a calm voice, "Leave. Let me give you some money, enough to keep you fed and clothed for the rest of your life."
Assistant Zhang merely sneered. "Young Master, I don't want to leave. I want to stay by your side. You don't have to give me any money."
Huo Cifeng looked at him in surprise, his expression puzzled. "What else are you trying to say?"
Assistant Zhang said, "I won't leave. Young Master, I like you. Let me stay by your side. Otherwise, leaking any one of the secrets I have would be enough to utterly destroy you."
Huo Cifeng fell silent at that. No matter how much anger he felt, he could only suppress it. He took a deep breath. "Fine. Stay. I'll give you this chance. Don't disappoint me. You like me? What can you offer me?"
He looked at Assistant Zhang indifferently.
But Assistant Zhang, blood slowly seeping from the corner of his mouth, said unconcernedly, "I simply like you, Young Master. You can do anything you want to me."
"Holy shit, System, these two are such perverts. What are they doing? That's disgusting. Good thing you censored it." Luo Beishi hurriedly shut off the video inside his head, then added, "So Assistant Zhang has quite a bit of evidence. Maybe he's our way in. They're probably the ones behind Huo Cixiao's car accident."
"Congratulations on answering correctly, Host."
"Isn't there a reward?"
"Don't be so shallow, Host!"