FLME Ch26.1: Justice and peace

After preparing dinner for him, Xie Heyu needed to return to school for a meeting. Before leaving, he reminded Yu Wen, “…Go to bed.”

Yu Wen saluted him, “Yes! Teacher Xie!”

After sending Xie Heyu off, Yu Wen finally remembered his neglected phone. Opening it, he was startled to see more than thirty missed calls and over twenty WeChat call requests.

He had accidentally turned on silent mode last night, and being sick today, he forgot about checking his phone.

The call requests were from Xi Su, and seeing this teacher’s name made Yu Wen sigh. This meant that Xi Su had new problems needing answers.

The missed calls were from unknown numbers, which Yu Wen searched on WeChat, revealing a blue-haired—okay, all from Xi Su.

He resignedly opened the chat and scrolled to the top to review.

Xi Su: [Damn Yu Wen, if I quit the circle, will we still be friends?]

Xi Su: [Don’t know which idiot copied files from my computer, and it’s annoying that I can’t find the originals.]

Xi Su: [Damn Feng Chengzhou is pressuring me, I didn’t do it!]

Xi Su: [I’m not even mad! Don’t know which idiot exposed this trivial matter from my home!]

Xi Su: [Crazy… Feng Chengzhou really thinks I did it.]

Xi Su: [Alright, I messed up.]

The last two messages were from 6 PM.

Xi Su: [Feng Chengzhou pressured the company to terminate my contract. Brother, see you in the future.]

Xi Su: [If you see me selling barbecue by the roadside, remember to support my business, I’ll give you an 80% discount.]

After reading all of it, Yu Wen had only one thought: “…”

Blue-haired always had this kind of disorganized narrative. After studying it for a while, Yu Wen couldn’t find the key points. He only knew that Xi Su had somehow offended Feng Chengzhou and was now in a semi-ban state.

Yu Wen: May I ask?

Wasn’t it said that a meal would clear things up? Wasn’t it said it wouldn’t come to quitting the circle?

This person had a good attitude, even planning for future barbecue sales.

Yu Wen, while grumbling, sent him a message:

[Fill out according to this format.
Cause:
Process:
Development:
Result:
Questions:]

As soon as he sent it, his phone buzzed, and Xi Su replied.

Xi Su: [What’s this? Testing me?]

Yu Wen: [I don’t know what you’re trying to say. Please clarify according to this format.]

Xi Su: [Go check Weibo for the gossip. There’s a timeline organized on Weibo, much more detailed than my description.]

Yu Wen: [… It’s trending?]

Xi Su: [What else?]

What he thought was a personal grudge between Xi Su and Feng Chengzhou had become a trending topic. Yu Wen quickly went online to check.

After half an hour, Yu Wen pieced together the complete timeline.

At 12 AM, the informer who had announced last night used a marketing account to release the first part—photos of Xi Su’s mother with Feng Mingjie and a handwritten letter.

Around 2 PM, seeing that Huiteng Group had not acted, the informer released another scoop—a redacted paternity test.

At 4 PM, the informer named Xi Su, releasing a photo taken in a coffee shop where Xi Su was reading the paternity test. Zooming in, one could see the names of Feng Mingjie and Xi Su on the analysis, officially confirming Xi Su as the illegitimate child of the Feng family.

At 6 PM, a recording was leaked, dragging Chu Han and Gao Kaiyu into the mess.

That recording was the one Yu Wen had seen being edited by Xi Su in the restroom at Luming Mountain.

Yu Wen: …

Sometimes, he really wanted to call the police.

He had said that the world would never have gossip unrelated to him.

The subtle time gaps between the scoops, including the confirmation of Xi Su’s identity, and the immediate attack on Chu Han, who was closely related to the Huiteng heir, made it hard not to notice the “illegitimate child” being pushed forward.

From a conspiracy theory perspective, it all seemed like a drama staged by Xi Su to use public opinion to pressure Huiteng Group into forcing the Feng family to admit his identity.

Many media outlets were hyping this up. The Huiteng Group had been quiet until Chu Han was involved, and Feng Chengzhou finally couldn’t sit still and took action against Xi Su.

Yu Wen roughly sorted out the situation and sent Xi Su a message: [What a dramatic story! But why are you asking me about this?]

Xi Su: [? Aren’t we friends?]

…Yu Wen regretted for the umpteenth time his past loose talk.

Xi Su: [But I thought about it. Since the situation is so big, you probably can’t help much. I mainly just wanted to vent. That recording really did come from my computer. I don’t know which bastard tampered with it.]

The marketing account’s “deeply scheming” man was seriously planning his future barbecue business: [I’m planning to open a barbecue shop in Z City. Barbecue in Z City is really popular recently, and I have some skills in this area. I’ll do some marketing, and it’ll become a popular shop…]

Yu Wen: [Enough, we’ll think about the future later.]

Yu Wen: […No wonder Feng Chengzhou thinks you’re the mastermind.]

The Huiteng heir can easily check IP addresses, right?

Xi Su: [What?]

Yu Wen: [Never mind. Do you know who knows about your family situation? You don’t seem to talk to others much, so make a list, and we can rule out suspects one by one.]

The situation was chaotic, and although it didn’t directly involve him, since Xi Su had asked, helping to check it out was just a matter of words.

Moreover, this issue involved Gao Kaiyu, a core member of their StarLight Media! That’s simply bold!

It’s okay to bully Xi Su, but bullying his company is unacceptable.

Xi Su: [Oh, you.]

Yu Wen: […That’s it?]

Xi Su: [Yeah, since you already found out, I just tell you.]

…That wasn’t something he had investigated; he had heard it on the spot.

Xi Su: [My private detective also knows.]

Yu Wen smelled the scent of the culprit.

Yu Wen: [How much does he know? Is there evidence? Is he on your side, or is there a possibility he might have betrayed you?]

Xi Su: [He knows everything. I was checking into Huiteng Group’s private matters, and other private detectives wouldn’t take the case. Only he dared to take it, and his fees were very low. He’s quite righteous.]

Xi Su: [So, I told him everything.]

…“He’s quite righteous.”

Yu Wen closed his eyes.

Having Xi Su as a friend in this life, he could clear all his past and future sins.

Yu Wen: [Does he know about Chu Han’s recording?]

Xi Su: [Yeah, the recording was bought from him for 100,000, a friendly price, 20% off.]

Yu Wen: [Has he also tampered with your computer?]

Xi Su: […He has. Damn, with you asking…]

Yu Wen: [Did you realize it?]

Xi Su: [He wouldn’t have stolen the information from my computer, would he?]

Yu Wen: […]

Yu Wen: [Teacher Xi, your brain really has research value.]

Xi Su: [Stop flattering me at a time like this. I’m not in the mood. He must have stolen my recording. It might be him who accidentally leaked it, that idiot!]

Yu Wen: [Why not consider the possibility that he deliberately approached you to obtain Huiteng Group’s secrets, stole Chu Han’s recording, and deleted the original, planning to extort Huiteng? But since Huiteng didn’t budge, he got angry and exposed everything, shifting the blame onto you!]

Ten minutes later.

Xi Su sent a two-second voice message, short but revealing his shock from the tone.

“Damn!”

–

While the outside world was in turmoil, Director Gao was still filming in a signal-deprived corner.

The usually noisy boss who would shout at the slightest issue was unexpectedly quiet today. Yu Wen called to check, but there was no answer.

—This is unusual; the boss was usually a phone expert, answering calls within three seconds.

Yu Wen thought deeply for three seconds and concluded that the boss had likely flown directly to find Director Gao and was now on the plane.

Reasonable.

Now, Yu Wen was the only one who could handle matters at StarLight Media. Yu Wen thought gravely: The company’s reputation rests on my shoulders.

He considered for a moment, then created a group with Xi Su and Chu Han, intending to discuss countermeasures.

During a bathroom break, the rare CP, who were being gossiped about by thousands of netizens, were arguing in the group. The conversation was as follows:

Xi Su: [I said it wasn’t me, it was my private detective. He stole my edited recording and sent it out using my computer, and deleted the original.]

Chu Han: [So, the recording was indeed edited by you?]

Xi Su: […I apologize for this matter.]

Chu Han: [Heh.]

Xi Su: [Brother Chu Han, if you come to my house for barbecue in the future, I’ll give you a discount, 20% off permanently, okay?]

Chu Han: [You’re opening a barbecue shop?]

Xi Su: [Not yet. Since I was blacklisted by the prince, I found a new job, selling barbecue.]

Chu Han: [Feng Chengzhou? Why is he targeting you?]

Xi Su: [It’s a complicated matter, I can’t explain clearly. I’ll let Yu Wen explain it to you when he comes back from the bathroom. I really have to thank him; my good friend, who analyzed all night and is now helping to clear up misunderstandings with you…]

Chu Han: [You’re thinking too much. He’s doing it for me. He must be worried about how this incident affects my career; he has always been concerned about me.]

Xi Su: [?? He cares about me too. He created the group after talking to me.]

Chu Han: [How long have I known him? He shares many of his concerns only with me.]

Xi Su: [Concerns? Like he has superpowers?]

Chu Han: [First, he likes to joke around sometimes; second, I don’t believe it at all; third… I curse your barbecue shop to go out of business.]

Xi Su: [Damn! That’s too vicious! We’re friends, after all. That’s my future livelihood. Even if Yu Wen fooled you, you shouldn’t take it out on me.]

Chu Han: [I wasn’t fooled! How could you say that! I never noticed you were so annoying before!]

Xi Su: [Damn, you—]