That day, Wen Xue was putting on a face mask in a river-view apartment that Liu Yunfeng given her.
The apartment is over 200 square meters, luxuriously decorated, and has floor-to-ceiling windows offering a panoramic view of the river.
Wen Xue lay on the sofa, applying a face mask while scrolling through her phone, enjoying the lazy afternoon.
Just then, her phone started vibrating incessantly.
It wasn't a message from just one person; it was sent by dozens of people at the same time.
Wen Xue frowned and opened WeChat.
The first message came from her best friend, Sister Liu: " Xue'er! Check Weibo! Something terrible has happened!"
The second message came from her old classmate Xiaomei: " Wen Xue, is that you in the trending topics?"
The third message came from Wen Xue's mother. " Xiaoxue, is what's being said online true? Call me right away!"
Wen Xue's heart sank.
She quickly opened the forum, and a topic was prominently displayed as the top trending topic.
#The Woman Behind Liu Yunfeng of Heavenly Fortune Media - Wen Xue's Multifaceted Life#
Read count: 320 million.
Number of discussions: 1.87 million.
Wen Xue's fingers began to tremble as she clicked on the topic.
The pinned post was an anonymous long post, tens of thousands of words long, detailing Wen Xue's "glorious deeds" over the years.
" Wen Xue, 28 years old, appears innocent and harmless, but is actually a well-trained professional gold digger."
"She maintained a vast network of 'fishponds' (a metaphor for a pool of men she exploited), while simultaneously maintaining ambiguous relationships with multiple men, swindling them out of huge sums of money. Below is some evidence..."
The post included more than a dozen screenshots.
The first image is a chat log between Wen Xue and the young master of a real estate company.
Another set of chat logs from the same time period consists of screenshots of a conversation between Wen Xue and another fish.
There are more than a dozen similar chat logs.
Each group consisted of a different male, and in each group, Wen Xue used different titles and tones to play different roles.
Sometimes she's a spoiled little girl, sometimes an independent career woman, and sometimes a gentle, caring older sister.
But their core objective is singular: to get money.
The second set of evidence is even more fatal.
Those were a series of bank transfer records, clearly showing the amounts Wen Xue received from various unfortunate individuals.
The amounts range from tens of thousands to millions.
The total amount adds up to over fifteen million.
The third set of evidence is a screenshot of Wen Xue's speech in a private group chat.
That group was full of women like her who fished for fish; they shared fishing tips and exchanged fish-keeping experiences.
A screenshot of Wen Xue's comment in the group chat was enlarged and made very clear.
"Sisters, remember, the fish in the fishpond must be kept separate; you must never let them get to know each other."
"Each fish has a different personality, so you have to treat them accordingly."
"For the honest ones, play the emotional card; for the rich ones, act cute and charming; for the generous ones, ask directly; for the stingy ones, play hard to get."
"Also, never get emotionally involved, or you've already lost."
Below this screenshot are comments and likes from other people in the group.
Wen Xue looked at these screenshots, her face ashen.
The face mask had long since slipped down to her chin, but she was completely unaware.
These chat logs, transfer records, group chat screenshots... are all real.
Exactly word for word.
She didn't know how these things got out.
Wen Xue has always been very cautious and careful with these things.
Otherwise, there wouldn't have been no incidents all these years.
She knew very well what it would mean if these things were exposed.
That's not just social death, it's real death.
She uses encrypted chat software, and group chats are also in the "read and disappear" mode, so theoretically they shouldn't be seen by outsiders.
But now, everything has been laid bare and exposed to hundreds of millions of netizens.
The phone kept vibrating.
Wen Xue trembled as she opened the Weibo comments.
"This is the so-called Gentle Xue'er? Turns out she's just a professional gold digger, disgusting."
Gentle Xue'er is Wen Xue's account name.
"Fifteen million? That's the ceiling in the gold digger world, isn't it?"
"Hilarious! Never get emotionally involved, or you'll lose. She really thinks she's the hunter."
" Liu Yunfeng is really pitiful. He spent so much money, only to find out he was the biggest fish in the pond."
"Did you guys see that group chat screenshot? She calls Liu Yunfeng' Big Shark,' and everyone else 'Little Crucian Carp.' Is this person treating love like fishing?"
"Screenshot saved. From now on, before looking for a partner, I'll check if they're in Wen Xue's fishpond (a metaphor for a group of potential partners)."
The comment section was filled with Taunt and insults.
Wen Xue's hands trembled more and more violently, and her phone fell to the ground with a "thud".
She opened her mouth, as if to say something, but no sound came out.
The phone was still vibrating incessantly.
She dared not look, but couldn't resist picking it up.
New information kept pouring in.
Best friend Sister Liu: " Wen Xue, you'd better explain yourself clearly. I'm also in that group. Did you betray me too?"
Xiaomei: "I don't want to talk to you anymore."
Former colleague Old Wang: "I knew it! How could someone who started as a receptionist suddenly be driving a luxury car?"
Wen Xue's mother. " Xiaoxue, come back right away! Your father is so angry he's been hospitalized."
Wen Xue slumped onto the sofa, feeling utterly powerless.
She knew it was over.
Everything is over.
But this is just the beginning.
The social unrest was just the first wave.
At 3 p. m. that day, Wen Xue's apartment doorbell rang.
She dragged her heavy steps over and looked out through the peephole. Two men in uniforms and hats were standing outside the door.
"Ms. Wen Xue, we are from the Municipal Hats Detachment. Someone has reported you for suspected fraud and extortion. Please cooperate with us and come back for investigation."
Wen Xue's legs went weak, and she almost knelt on the ground.
"I... I didn't commit fraud... They gave me that money voluntarily..."
"Ms. Wen Xue, please cooperate with the investigation. If you believe you have done nothing wrong, you can explain yourself at the station."
Wen Xue was taken away.
What she didn't know was that the materials used to report her came from the legal team hired by Li Shuang.
The document contained not only evidence of Wen Xue's fraud, but also evidence of her extortion.
One of the allegations is that Wen Xue once extorted 2 million yuan from a former boyfriend as a breakup fee by threatening to expose his privacy.
Another case involves Wen Xue using trade secrets obtained from an unlucky fish to sell to a competitor, making a profit of 800,000 yuan.
These charges combined are enough to put her in jail for the rest of her life.
At the same time, Liu Yunfeng also received the news.
He learned that Wen Xue had been taken away by her uncle in the chairman's office of Heavenly Fortune Media.
When the secretary nervously handed him the news, Liu Yunfeng's face instantly turned ashen.
It wasn't because Wen Xue was arrested, but because he realized...
Wen Xue's arrest will likely implicate him.
Some of the money Wen Xue took from him was not from clean sources.
If my uncle digs deeper and the investigation leads back to him...
Liu Yunfeng suddenly stood up and swept the documents off the table.