Chapter 124
As soon as work ended, Bo Muyu strode downstairs, almost jogging as she got out of the elevator.
Her heart was pounding, and her mind was in a mess. It wasn’t just Lan Yuxin and Jiang Chenyin’s scandal that was so urgent. For Mrs. Shao to come out at this time, she must have had something that could harm Jiang Chenyin.
She shook her head, and in her peripheral vision, she caught sight of Su Man in front of her. She was taken aback for a moment.
“Senior.”
Su Man stopped and turned around, smiling when she saw her. “What’s wrong?”
Ever since Su Man had asked her if she was in a relationship and she had admitted it, the two of them had not had any private contact. Su Man would no longer talk to her about anything other than work, and when they met at the company, it was just a polite smile. The distance seemed to have been pulled apart since that night.
Bo Muyu didn’t know what to say, but now there was a matter related to Lan Yuxin. Would this matter affect Su Man’s impression of her? And according to the news Jiang Chenyin had told her recently, Lan Yuxin and Su Man were still in frequent contact.
“Senior…” Bo Muyu bit her lip, and after a moment of hesitation, she said decisively, “Senior, don’t believe the news on Weibo. Sister Lan and Auntie Yin are not in that kind of relationship.”
Su Man was well-informed. She had been able to get the news quickly even when there was a rumor about Jiang Chenyin breaking up with her non-celebrity boyfriend. This time, she must have also received a report.
Sure enough, Su Man did not show a puzzled expression, only saying with a placid smile, “What kind of relationship she has with anyone, I have no interest in knowing.”
There was an unreadable emotion in her eyes as she looked at Bo Muyu, but it was clearly not consistent with the smile on her lips.
She gazed at Bo Muyu’s tightly furrowed brow, and before she could explain any further, she said softly, “If there’s nothing else, then I’ll be leaving now.”
After she finished, she turned and left, as if she really didn’t care, as she had said, and was not at all concerned about the truth of the matter. Bo Muyu couldn’t figure out her and Lan Yuxin’s state for the time being, so she could only put this matter aside for now and jog towards the place where Jiang Chenyin usually parked.
Bo Muyu got into the car, and on the way to the old Jiang residence, she listened as Jiang Chenyin gave her a general account of the whole situation.
Mrs. Shao wanted to use the power of public opinion to attack Jiang Chenyin. She had contacted an insider from the Shao Sinan death incident and had recorded some audio that was unfavorable to Jiang Chenyin. She had spent a long time looking for a media outlet that could disclose this matter, and finally, she had found one that had been overly subjective in its speculation about the reason for Jiang Chenyin’s not being married. But because this media outlet was relatively small, those speculations had not made much of a splash.
Mrs. Shao had gotten on good terms with one of the editors and had given him the photos of Lan Yuxin and Jiang Chenyin that she had painstakingly paid someone to take. She had asked the other party to release this trending news, which would surely attract attention and make netizens notice this media outlet.
The other party was tempted and had quickly bought a hot search to push Lan Yuxin and Jiang Chenyin to the top. At this time, Mrs. Shao had taken out a USB drive with the recording of the Shao Sinan incident. The matter was serious, and the other party did not dare to agree easily, and had sent her away with the excuse of considering it. Just then, the Jiang family had found this media outlet.
When Jiang Chenyin and Bo Muyu arrived at the old residence, Lan Yuxin had also been notified by Jiang Chenyin and had come over. The few of them quickly walked into the main house and into the living room.
Jiang Yingzong and Jiang Gaojun’s families, except for the children, were all there. Old Master Jiang was sitting in the seat of honor, and Old Madam Jiang had probably been sent away, as she was nowhere to be seen.
The entire living room was like a dark cloud pressing down, the atmosphere extremely heavy.
At this moment, Old Master Jiang was full of authority, the kind of aura that came from being in a high position for many years, giving people a very strong sense of pressure. He stood up, and all the younger generation followed suit. The three of them who had just come in also stood quietly on the side.
He said in a deep voice, “Control the media. Don’t let any news leak out. Have someone keep a close eye on the Shao family. We absolutely cannot let this family out of our sight.”
Jiang Yingzong nodded and reported the current situation to him. “I’ve already had people pay close attention to all this. Absolutely no news will be released. And also the trending Weibo post. The other party was originally unwilling to take it down. I had someone put pressure on them, and it’s already been taken down.”
Old Master Jiang was silent in thought. The Jiang family’s daughters-in-law could not get a word in and were standing by with worried expressions.
Jiang Chenyin’s expression was serious, and she asked, “Brother, didn’t you get the recording that Mrs. Shao provided?”
“Yes. I was planning to play it after you arrived,” Jiang Yingzong said as he turned to get his laptop, and took a USB drive from his pocket to connect it.
Everyone held their breath. Bo Muyu’s grip on Jiang Chenyin’s arm tightened, and the living room was so quiet that it seemed only their breathing could be heard. It wasn’t until Jiang Yingzong had opened the recording and turned up the volume that the conversation between Mrs. Shao and another person replaced the sound of their breathing.
Mrs. Shao’s sorrowful words were filled with pride for her son. “My son’s academic performance was very good. Not just in university, but he was very smart since he started elementary school, and he often came in first. He was usually very quiet and didn’t have many friends, but he was very good to his friends.”
The other person was a man, and he agreed, “That’s true. I remember he didn’t play with everyone much. He always liked to be alone.”
Mrs. Shao continued, “He was the hope of our family. Our family’s conditions were not good, and it was so hard to raise him until he went to university.” As she spoke, she sighed, even more sad. “Why couldn’t he think of his family? His father and I had hoped so much that he would start a family and a career. Who knew…”
The man she was talking to seemed to have stood up, brought her a cup of tea, and then comforted her, “The incident that year happened so suddenly. The school leaders and the security guards were also on their way… we were also too young and didn’t know how to react at all…”
Just then, Mrs. Shao interrupted him with a lament. “It’s not your fault. You weren’t close to my son at that time. It was Miss Jiang who was close to him.” She paused, and her words were gradually tinged with a sob. “Miss Jiang could have saved him back then. She was so close. Why didn’t she pull him? She could have saved him first, and then we could have discussed everything… my poor son, and he had such a good relationship with her. She watched my son about to jump off the building and didn’t even try to save him…”
She was crying and shouting, and just by listening, one could imagine the scene of her tears streaming down her face.
The man who was talking to Mrs. Shao was clearly also drawn into her emotions. A slight sound came, as if he had supported her. “Oh, old madam, please accept my condolences. It’s been so many years. He wouldn’t want you to be sad… Chenyin must have had a hard time all these years too. This incident has had a great impact on her.”
The comfort in the recording gradually faded away. Just then, Mrs. Shao’s grief-stricken monologue was clearly heard. “I originally didn’t want to bring up these old matters and make a fool of myself, but I really have to stand up. I want everyone to see this hypocritical Jiang!” Her tone suddenly changed, even more sorrowful. “I know that a girl in her early twenties must have been very scared to face such a thing. I don’t want to blame her. Later, she also promised to take care of our family, at least not to ignore us when we’re in difficulty. But these few years, we’ve been in real difficulty. I had no choice but to go to her again, but she cruelly told us that it was my son who had wanted to jump off the building, and it had nothing to do with her…”
At the end, Mrs. Shao started to cry again, and just then, Jiang Yingzong turned off the recording.
The atmosphere in the living room was so heavy it was almost suffocating. Old Master Jiang gripped the dragon head of his cane tightly.
Jiang Gaojun, who had been silent all along, cursed fiercely, “Damn it!”
“Shh…” Sun Ruowei, with a worried expression, glared at him.
“In the first part of the conversation, she avoided the main point and only picked out the content that was unfavorable to Auntie Yin. And she also used human weakness, letting that uncle who was talking to her focus on comforting her, so that he had no time to refute the content of her statement.”
A clear, spring-like voice sounded calmly, like a sharp blade that had cut through this tangled mess.
Bo Muyu let go of Jiang Chenyin’s arm. Jiang Chenyin saw that her brow was suddenly cold and stern, and her whole person’s aura had deepened. The last time she had seen her like this was when Mrs. Shao had come to her house, and also when she had confronted her. But this time, she was even calmer.
Old Master Jiang tapped the floor with his cane. “Xiaoyu, you continue.”
Bo Muyu’s face was calm. She pressed her lips together and continued, “In the second part, the monologue, she also avoided the important and emphasized the trivial, hiding the fact that Auntie Yin had sponsored her, and also not mentioning her own gambling addiction. And the truth of that year, she did not reveal it at all, only using a very vague narrative to tell the public that Auntie Yin had watched someone die without saving them.”
Just then, Jiang Gaojun interrupted, “Wait a minute…” he turned to Jiang Chenyin. “Liu’er, you gave her money?”
Jiang Yingzong glanced at him. “Second, now is not the time to talk about this.”
Old Master Jiang waved his hand to signal his two sons not to speak, and then looked at Bo Muyu with a hint of approval. “Then what do you think we should do now?”
“I think…”
She pondered, then turned to look at Jiang Chenyin, who nodded at her, her eyes full of trust.
Receiving Jiang Chenyin’s permission, Bo Muyu glanced at everyone and said slowly with a calm expression, “If she had stopped last year, then everyone would have been fine. But if she still wants to cause trouble, then Auntie Yin and I have been waiting. We have made preparations for this matter. I don’t think we should just suppress it, otherwise it’s hard to guarantee that there won’t be a second time.”
“You’re planning to take her down?” Jiang Gaojun asked with a puzzled look.
“Yes,” Bo Muyu nodded. “Instead of waiting for her to expose it, we should take the initiative to lay everything out. Anyone with a clear eye can distinguish between right and wrong. This can also prevent her from using this matter to cause trouble again, once and for all. And I have a recording of her personally telling me about her gambling addiction, and also that she will never let Auntie Yin go.”
Jiang Chenyin agreed, “That’s right. If she had known when to stop last year, then today’s matter would not have happened. But she is unwilling to give up what she shouldn’t have gotten from me, so I have always agreed with Muyu’s view.”
As she spoke, she took a USB drive from her pocket and handed it to Jiang Yingzong, who took it and connected it to his computer. The conversation between Jiang Chenyin and a man came from it. What surprised everyone was that the man’s voice was the same as in Mrs. Shao’s recording just now.
