Chapter 142 Bloodshed and Turmoil: Company Turmoil, Schemes and Machinations

My maternal grandmother's family was once considered a prominent clan in the region.

However, during times of turmoil, the wealthier a household is, the more likely it is to be targeted by thieves.

Not long after my maternal grandmother left with my maternal grandfather, their home was ransacked by bandits who came down from the mountain. The house was gone, and so were the people.

Decades later, the bracelet became Mrs. Jiang's only keepsake.

Song Ying wanted to say something, but having lived for so many years, Old Mrs. Jiang had long since seen through everything. She only reminisced for a moment before continuing her story.

"This bracelet was originally meant to be passed down to your mother as part of her dowry. However, back then, she was exactly like me when I was young—stubborn and headstrong. When she married the Song family's son, she was still arguing with your grandfather, and afterwards, she didn't come home for several years."

"After a while, the bracelet remained in my possession, and I was unable to give it to her."

"Now it seems that she was not fortunate enough to have that blessing."

"In the blink of an eye, the little girl who used to fawn over me is all grown up and getting married. Ah Ying, please accept this bracelet."

Grandma Jiang touched Song Ying's hair at her temples and took out a bracelet, handing it to her.

"Grandma, this is too precious, I can't accept it."

Song Ying refused with both hands, as this kind of smoky purple jadeite bracelet was already quite expensive.

If it were just about the monetary value, that would be one thing, but the moment the old lady picked it up, she saw the inscription on the inner wall.

"If I'm not mistaken, this bracelet is probably an antique from the time of Emperor Huizong, a treasure that can be passed down through generations and protect the home."

"It seems you've learned all of your father's skills. Yes, this was indeed passed down from the Song Dynasty, but it doesn't belong to the Jiang family, nor does it need to remain there. It was part of my dowry. When I was pregnant with your mother, I thought I should leave this bracelet to her. She only had one daughter, and in the end, it still went to you, didn't it?"

Grandma Jiang took Song Ying's hand and said, "So, don't feel embarrassed. Your uncle and aunt know that I'm saving this for you as part of your dowry. Here, try it on and see if it suits you."

Song Ying was originally worried that her uncle and aunt would be unhappy if the old lady gave her such a valuable gift, which would ultimately ruin the harmony of the Jiang family.

Now that everyone knew that the old lady had put it this way, she stopped being coy.

"Then I'll thank Grandma on behalf of my mother."

Song Ying's skin was already fair, and her wrists were even more translucent, like snow-white jade.

Now, wearing this smoky purple jade bracelet, it's as if a light purple cloud is swirling around my wrist, making it appear even more smooth and lustrous like solidified cream.

"The size is just right, and it suits you well. It's truly fate that this item was meant to be passed down to you."

Grandma Jiang patted her granddaughter's hand, liking her more and more as she looked at her.

"Thank you, Grandma."

Song Ying hugged Grandma Jiang's arm and gently rested her head on the old lady's shoulder.

"No need to thank me, you deserve it all. Here, take a look at these things."

The dowry that Grandma Jiang prepared for her granddaughter included more than just a bracelet.

The sandalwood box has three layers.

The bracelets are placed on the first shelf.

The second tier below is a sapphire necklace.

At the very center is a sapphire the size of a pigeon's egg, with a clear luster. Along the entire chain are twenty-eight water-blue gemstone beads of excellent quality and uniform size.

This is no ordinary item.

“This was a photo your grandfather took a few years ago to celebrate our golden wedding anniversary. He gave it to me. The bracelet was a dowry from your great-grandmother, and this necklace is a dowry from your grandmother.”

"grandmother……"

"No refusal allowed."

As if she knew Song Ying's reaction, Old Mrs. Jiang's attitude was beyond question.

Even Grandpa Jiang, who was standing next to her, said, "This is your grandmother's gift, Ying'er, please accept it."

What was placed on the third shelf wasn't jewelry, but a card.

“I started saving up for your mother’s dowry the year she was born. At that time, the Jiang family had achieved some success, but they weren’t very wealthy. I was always worried that she would suffer losses after marriage, so I always thought about adding more and more to her dowry. If a girl has money to rely on, she won’t suffer losses when she marries into her husband’s family.”

"Year after year came, but I never had the chance to give it to her."

"Over the years, I've kept saving money, and I can't quite remember how much I've saved."

"Now that I'm giving you this card, consider it a dowry from your mother."

At this point, Old Mrs. Jiang closed and locked the box again, handing the entire box and key to Song Ying.

Then she looked at Qin Shu.

“I know the Qin family is wealthy and powerful, and they don’t lack money. But Shu, remember this: the Song family may not have much power, but Ying’er is the apple of my and my husband’s eye. We’ve spoiled her as she grew up. She will always be my Jiang family’s granddaughter. If you ever dare to bully her or make her suffer even the slightest grievance, I, this old woman, will not let you off the hook!”

"What the old woman said is exactly what I wanted to say."

Grandpa Jiang was a man of few words, but at this moment, he didn't forget to make his stance clear: "Ying is my own granddaughter, and behind her is the Jiang family. If you dare to wrong her, then the men of the Jiang family will turn the capital upside down to seek justice for her!"

"Grandpa, Grandma, please rest assured."

Qin Shu raised his hand to swear an oath, his expression solemn.

“Aying is my wife, and I will never let her suffer the slightest grievance while I’m with her. If I fail in any way, you don’t need to lift a finger; I’ll take care of myself.”

Grandpa Jiang and Grandma Jiang didn't have any issues with Qin Shu.

Instead, she supported her granddaughter in another way.

Even though the two have already registered their marriage and become a legal couple.

But the Jiang family remained Song Ying's support.

The Jiang family's protection of their daughter, Jiang Lan'an, is done in silence.

For example, the grand entertainment scene in the capital city.

The Jiang family's affection for their granddaughter, Song Ying, is blatant and open, as evidenced by their frank statements at this moment.

Different ways, but the same love is embodied.

-

The next morning, Song Ying and Qin Shu bid farewell to the Jiang family and returned to the capital.

Jiang Xiuyuan saw him off.

Before going through security, Song Ying took one last look at Jiang Xiuyuan and gave him some instructions.

"Be good at home and don't make your grandparents angry."

"Don't worry, sis, I know. Don't always treat me like a child."

"Alright, I won't treat you like a child anymore. Let's talk about adult matters—as for Luo Luo, take my advice and don't be too obsessed."

Song Ying's sudden change of topic startled Jiang Xiuyuan, who quickly turned her face away, looking rather awkward.

"Sis, what nonsense are you talking about? Why are you suddenly bringing up that woman?"

"You should know why I said that. Sometimes, you can't force a relationship to be happy."

When Song Ying met Luo Luo earlier, she had already sounded out Luo Luo's intentions on behalf of Jiang Xiuyuan.

It's obvious that he has feelings for her, but she doesn't reciprocate.

On the contrary, the relationship between Luo Luo and Shen Yuning doesn't seem to be a simple fan-idol relationship.

A relationship between an older woman and a younger man is not impossible, but it's unlikely to happen to Jiang Xiuyuan.

Song Ying had previously taken the opportunity to talk to Jiang Xiuyuan about this, but now she was afraid that her foolish younger brother would be unable to let go of his unrequited love, so she could only remind him again.

I just don't know if Jiang Xiuyuan will listen to this.

"Alright, alright, I know. You should go now. If you keep nagging, you'll just sound like Grandma."

Jiang Xiuyuan placed his hands on Song Ying's shoulders, turned her around, and pushed her toward the check-in gate, saying, "Hurry up, hurry up, or your husband will start nagging you."

Jiang Xiuyuan finally breathed a sigh of relief after watching Song Ying go inside.

He muttered to himself, "Forced melons aren't sweet, so I'll just pick them and eat them with sauce, stir-fry them, mix them, I can eat them however I want, they don't necessarily have to be sweet."

He clearly didn't take Song Ying's words seriously.

But then again, if he did whatever others told him to do, he wouldn't be Chiang Hsiu-Yuan.

That's how young people grow up; they always have to suffer setbacks and learn from their mistakes.

But Jiang Xiuyuan didn't understand at that time.

-

It was already evening when we landed in the capital.

When Song Ying came out of the airport, she was surprised to see fans waiting to greet her. They held up support signs in the distance and cheered when they saw her and Qin Shu.

Song Ying instinctively wanted to run away.

I regret not using the VIP channel.

But seeing everyone's cheerful demeanor, he couldn't bear to ignore them, so he had to bite the bullet and step forward, greeting them while reminding them that they didn't need to do that in the future.

Song Ying was astonished when she learned that many people had come from other places to see her, just to catch a glimpse of her at a few events.

She had heard of the madness of idol worship before, but she had forgotten about it then.

When these crazy actions were seen on her fans, she felt both disgusted and heartbroken.

After getting into the car at the airport, Song Ying immediately called Wen Jinzhao.

"You're the one handling the liaison and communication with the fan group, right? Contact the support team and make a list of fans who will be picking you up at the airport tonight. Reimburse their travel and accommodation expenses through my personal account."

"Secondly, let me announce through the studio's account that from now on, whether you are a Firefly, a Love Letter fan, or a CP fan, you are prohibited from picking up celebrities at the airport or engaging in irrational idol-chasing. If you are found to be doing so, you will be banned from participating in any future activities related to me and Ashu."

After hanging up, Song Ying rubbed her head.

No wonder many parents don't allow their children to idolize celebrities.

Pursuing someone to this extent goes beyond normal liking.

and.

"The fact that flight information can be leaked is a serious violation of privacy."

Qin Shu lifted her eyelids and looked at the driver who had come to pick her up from the airport.

"Peng Wen, inform all the major airlines that if a similar information leak occurs again, the Qin family will no longer cooperate with them."

He can't control what others do, but his wife absolutely cannot be unhappy.

However, sometimes, some people deliberately come to your door, wanting to make you unhappy.

Before she even got home, Song Ying received a phone call.

"President Song, something's happened to SLOVEY!"

#SLOVEY design plagiarism

#Song Ying plagiarized

#No way to protect rights, being threatened

Three trending topics, prominently displayed at the top.

Shortly after the company's operations and maintenance team reported the news, Wen Jinzhao, who was in charge of operations monitoring, and Sister Hong, who had also heard the news, called.

Following closely behind, the topic with less than 10,000 views and less than 50 discussions climbed rapidly on the trending topics page.

Within an hour, it ranked among the top three.

"This is clearly a deliberate attack; the signs of online trolls are too obvious! Sister Ying, don't panic. Let me calm things down first, and then have someone investigate what's going on. I'll find out who these monsters and troublemakers are!"

Hearing the voice today, I felt indignant.

She had just finished editing and releasing the studio's statement when she turned around and saw this disgusting trending topic.

Now, many netizens who followed the clues are calling out on the studio's account, telling Song Ying not to play dead.

Some people took the opportunity to stir up trouble, calling Song Ying a "green tea" (a derogatory term for a manipulative woman), saying that while she pretended to be aloof and forbade fans from picking her up at the airport to curb bad fan behavior, she herself plagiarized and ruined her image, giving fans a bad influence.

Nowadays, the name Song Ying is practically synonymous with fame.

Not to mention that good news doesn't travel far, but bad news travels fast.

Some people even fanned the flames.

Kicked off her high heels and put on slippers, Song Ying looked through the evidence released by the whistleblower.

-

The other party's name is Zhang Chennan, 35 years old, and he was the founder of the independent design brand Chennan Design.

A few years ago, his designs were quite popular and he had some representative works, but in recent years he hasn't produced anything good, and the quality of his products has declined a lot, yet they are becoming more and more expensive.

Before the incident came to light, many of Shen Nan's longtime fans felt that Zhang Shen Nan had lost his creative spark and that his current original designs were just a way to exploit fans' nostalgia and make money.

According to Zhang Chennan, the revelation was not that he couldn't design good things, but that his good designs were all copied by Song Ying's SLOVEY.

Although it is a small brand, SLOVEY has already gained international recognition.

He couldn't fight city hall, and with Song Ying's threats, he had no choice but to swallow his anger. Even his design drafts had to be based on the alternative, rejected drafts.

Over time, this will lead to repeated collapses.

The fans were shocked.

They immediately followed up with a complaint.

Song Ying looked through the photographic evidence; each picture was so detailed and realistic, it looked just like the real thing.

Because of this revelation, the whistleblower Zhang Chennan has now gained 130,000 followers.

"Those design sketches have obvious signs of being artificially aged, clearly indicating they came prepared. A covert investigation is sufficient; there's no need to suppress the hype. Removing them from the trending topics now would only give them ammunition against us."

Song Ying put the phone back to her ear and stopped Wen Jinzhao, saying, "Let's let things play out for a while and see what they're really up to."

"Alright then, Sister Ying, I'll listen to you."

After hanging up the phone, Song Ying put it aside and went into the bathroom to take a hot shower as if nothing had happened.

When they came out again, Qin Shu had already prepared dinner.

A bowl of white fungus and lotus seed soup, served with a side of thin-skinned wontons, and a plate of fruit for dessert—just the right amount.

"How come you're not worried at all?"

On the way back, Qin Shu already knew that SLOVEY was in trouble.

But judging from Song Ying's demeanor, she didn't seem nervous at all.

"The truth will never be hidden, and the falsehood will never be made true—and you're the same way, even watching the show with a smug look on your face."

"Anyone can plagiarize, except you."

There's nothing else to it; the main thing is trust.

-

Meanwhile, on the other side of the city.

Inside the KTV, dazzling lights flashed and the music was deafening.

Several middle-aged men, reeking of alcohol, were surrounded by women, their faces beaming with undisguised smiles.

"Isn't Song Ying just pretending to be high and mighty and creating a persona? Now that she's been accused of plagiarism, let's see what she can do! This time, even if she doesn't die, she'll be badly burned! Where can an artist with a tainted reputation go? With such a small foundation, she thinks she can compete with all of us? What a pipe dream!"