Chapter 78. Twist: I want to go to Brother Zhou Du's concert...

After the National Day holiday, Shanghai experienced several rain showers, and the previously scorching autumn heat finally cooled down.

During this National Day holiday, several juicy stories trended on social media, keeping viewers entertained and on the go.

Initially, it was the long-absent Chenzhoudu that finally came forward and released the second announcement, but it was issued through the official account of Asia Ocean Group.

The announcement claims that Xia Chan's father, Zhang Guozhong, had extorted money from Mr. Shen Jinghai, the chairman of Ya Hai Group and also the father of Shen Zhoudu, and therefore a lawyer's letter has been issued to file a lawsuit.

At the same time, a criminal judgment from eight years ago was also released, with the execution location being Qingshui Town, Tongcheng.

The judgment clearly states that Zhang Guozhong was indeed sentenced for assaulting his daughter, gambling, and extortion, and the judgment was made in accordance with the law and regulations. Shen Zhoudu and Ya Hai Group, among others, have not interfered with the public security, procuratorate, or judicial system. They urge everyone to stop spreading rumors and slander. If any further defamation or slander against Mr. Shen Zhoudu and Ya Hai Group occurs, Ya Hai Group will take legal action to defend itself.

These two statements immediately stirred up another wave of controversy online! They not only proved that what Zhang Guozhong had said to the media before was a lie, but also revealed the true background of Chen Zhoudu.

Since his debut, Chen Zhoudu has been rumored to come from a well-off family, but there has never been any official way to prove it.

Now that the official account of Asia Ocean Group has spoken out for him, many casual netizens are naturally surprised. Although Shen Jinghai is pragmatic, Asia Ocean Group has always had a good reputation in the industry, and the fact that Shen Zhoudu is Asia Ocean's only son adds another layer of protection to his image.

Throughout his many years in the entertainment industry, he has never once mentioned his family background in public.

Even though he was attacked by the entire internet recently, he did not use his family's influence to try to retaliate against netizens and marketing accounts, which can be described as low-key and humble.

Suddenly, keywords such as #ChenZhouDuLowKey#, #ChenZhouDuYaHai#, and #ChenZhouDuTrueYoungMaster# all trended on social media, and his reputation reversed overnight, gaining him a huge new wave of fans.

As for Xia Chan, after learning that she was indeed a victim of domestic violence by her biological father, netizens couldn't help but feel a sense of reversal and pity for her.

But soon, the exposure of another incident dragged her into a second quagmire.

A media outlet has released an audio recording and bank transfer records. The recording shows that nine years ago, Xia Chan asked Shen Zhoudu's father, Shen Jinghai, for 600,000 yuan, promising never to have any contact with Shen Zhoudu again.

The transfer records show that the 600,000 yuan had already reached Xia Chan's hands nine years ago.

This revelation became even more sensational than the previous news about Chen Zhoudu almost instantly! Fans angrily criticized netizens for their involvement, accusing Xia Chan of being greedy and insatiable.

It turns out that what Shen Zhoudu thought was an unavoidable separation in his youth was nothing more than a "long-planned scheme" by Xia Chan. And since Xia Chan had already accepted the money from the Shen family and promised not to appear in front of him again, why did she reappear nine years later? And why did she have to appear at his family's hotel!

It's impossible not to suspect that it was intentional.

Shen Zhoudu was clearly unaware that Xia Chan had received money from his family, and had even stepped in to find a lawyer for her to fight the case.

If Zhang Guozhong is a villain, then Xia Chan is clearly not a kind person either!

As expected, like father, like son; even their extortionate behavior is inherited. During this time, Shen Zhoudu was like a fool, completely manipulated by the father and daughter. Netizens exclaimed that she was a beautiful, strong, and tragic character, and hundreds of bizarre stories circulated, keeping hashtags like #ShenZhouduIsSoTragic# and #ShenZhouduIsAboutToBreakUp# trending on social media for three days.

Xia Chan had naturally heard about the rumors and gossip outside, but she paid no attention to them.

Having survived two rounds of cyberbullying, the voices calling her a "scumbag" or "greedy" have almost no effect on her now.

With Siyi's situation pressing, she had no extra thoughts or energy to care about anything else.

After a plateau in her recovery, Siyi's condition deteriorated rapidly again. Even walking ten steps a day seemed extremely difficult, and her lips turned a pale purple.

One day, while discussing the next treatment plan with the doctor as usual, Xia Chan couldn't help but ask, "How much longer does she have?"

The doctor hesitated for a moment and said, "Without a heart donor, it will take at most a month."

One month...

Xia Chan closed her eyes deeply.

When I returned to the ward, Siyi was resting with her eyes closed.

She was too tired... Lately, even a few simple actions or a few words seemed to exhaust her energy. She was resting with her eyes closed and her brows slightly furrowed, her face full of fatigue.

She seemed to hear someone returning, and she weakly opened her eyes, seeing their purplish lips curving into a smile, "Sister..."

Xia Chan smiled at her too. She then asked hesitantly, "Am I... going to die soon?"

"How could that be?" Xia Chan gently stroked her forehead. "The doctor said that this is just a plateau in your recovery. Many patients experience this. As long as we get through this, get proper treatment, and listen to the doctor, you'll get better soon."

But her eyes were already red, and when she glanced to the side, she saw that Huang Mao and La La's eyes were also red.

Although Siyi understood everything in her heart, she still managed a weak smile and said, "Okay... then I'll be a good girl and get well soon... Once I'm better, I want to go to Brother Zhoudu's concert. I want to go home..."

Xia Chan's official punishment at the Ya Hai Tian Ze store was announced soon, and as she expected—she was dismissed.

When she received the message, Xia Chan didn't show any emotion. Or rather, she had been taking care of Si Yi in the hospital these past few days, and she inexplicably felt that many things had become indifferent. She simply accepted the store manager's offer that she would take some time to go to Tianze store to pick up the items in the coming days.

On the day she returned to the hotel to retrieve her belongings, Du Na and several of her close female colleagues from the front office were there. They were both surprised and saddened to see her. "Manager Xia!"

Xia Chan talked with them for a while, as if she had never left.

Du Na and the others also chatted with her about some recent developments and gossip at the hotel.

They said they had seen the rumors circulating online, but they didn't believe them.

They had all spent time with her and knew her character, so they all chose to trust her;

They said that after she left the meeting that day, although there was a lot of discussion about her within the group, store manager Hu Shiwei tried many times to protect her by lobbying the senior management of Tianze store, and even threatened to resign.

However, the decision to fire her came from the next level of management, and even the senior management and store manager of Tianze Store couldn't do anything about it.

Xia Chan was both surprised and unsurprised by this. She was surprised that someone had actually fought for her in a place she didn't know about.

Unsurprisingly, she knew without even guessing that the dismissal order must have come from Shen Jinghai.

"Oh, right, and Yu Lianxin, she's getting engaged to Song Yalin, did you know?" Du Na said.

"Huh?" Xia Chan was genuinely surprised.

Duna said that they were actually quite surprised as well.

Since Xia Chan was suspended, Yu Lianxin has temporarily taken over as the front office manager. Suddenly, she became very energetic, and life in the front office department suddenly became extremely difficult.

Yu Lianxin is someone who cares a lot about external appearances. She requires them not to take leave or change shifts, and even if they work overtime the day before due to unforeseen circumstances, they cannot clock in late the next day.

Even after finishing their work, they can't use their phones; they can't sit at the front desk if there are no customers, etc., which has caused a great deal of discontent throughout the front office department.

But these are, after all, just work-related matters.

Two weeks ago, Yu Lianxin came over in high spirits, handing out wedding candies to everyone and announcing that she was about to get engaged to Song Yalin.

Everyone was surprised. Although Yu Lianxin did not mention any details of her relationship with Song Yalin, she subtly reminded them not to mention Song Yalin and Xia Chan together again. She said this with the air of a victor, as if she had finally defeated her in both love and career.

Du Na and the others were initially speechless, but then they remembered that Xia Chan had already clarified that she and Song Yalin had no relationship. Besides, with the Sunken Boat Crossing the River, who would want Song Yalin anymore? They silently complained for a moment and then let it go.

“I really didn’t know about this.” Xia Chan smiled faintly after her initial surprise. “However, she got what she wanted.”

Xia Chan never expected that she would see Yu Lianxin again.

That afternoon, as usual, she and Huang Mao accompanied Siyi for her check-up. Xia Chan was filling up her water at the self-service water dispenser at the end of the corridor when she suddenly heard a familiar yet unfamiliar voice.

"Oh dear! You can't even do this simple thing right? Are you even capable of anything?!"

"Oh dear... looking like this, I really don't know what Yalin saw in you! How can you possibly take care of Yalin like this in the future!"

"Yalin is really something! Every time he chooses someone, it gets worse and worse, not even as good as the first one! Oh dear, stop doing this! It's getting more and more unbearable!"

Xia Chan paused and looked back, only to see Yu Lianxin bowing repeatedly in apology at the entrance of the orthopedics department not far away.

On a bench in the orthopedic corridor sat a middle-aged woman dressed in fine clothes, her leg in a cast, with a pair of crutches beside her.

She was Song Yalin's mother.

A bowl of wontons had been spilled at her feet. After apologizing, Yu Lianxin immediately squatted down and began to tidy up the mess.

Song's mother was still grumbling incessantly.

Many people around couldn't help but turn their heads to look in that direction again.

Yu Lianxin finished preparing the wontons and said she would go throw out the trash first and then pour her some water.

Song's mother waved her hand, seemingly somewhat impatient, and told her to leave.

Xia Chan overheard the conversation between Song's mother and her fellow patient.

"Sister, is this your daughter-in-law? She's beautiful!"

"What's the use of being pretty! She can't do anything right, she can't even hold a bowl of wontons properly, she's so delicate!"

"Young people these days are all like this. Young girls can be taught slowly! I saw your son the other day, he's really a handsome young man!"

"My son is certainly doing well! He's a store manager..."

...

Xia Chan had no interest in listening to other people's gossip. She filled the water container and was about to leave when she bumped into Yu Lianxin.

One meal.

Yu Lianxin stood before her, her expression unreadable. But her eyes held a fierce resentment, tinged with the bitterness of being exposed. She pursed her lips and whispered, "Xia Chan, are you satisfied?"

She said, "Seeing me like this, you're very proud of yourself, aren't you? Aren't you especially proud and wanting to laugh right now? Do you really want to tell the whole world what you heard and saw today? Laugh all you want, Xia Chan! But let me tell you, I won't admit it! Even if you tell Du Na and the others about today, I still won't admit it! I'm still no worse than you!"

Xia Chan simply watched her expressionlessly. Pian Qing's lips curved slightly as she said, "Yu Lianxin, why should I be happy?"

She said indifferently, "What does it matter to me whether you're doing well or not? Besides, don't you think my situation is worse than yours right now?"

Yu Lianxin's eyes flickered slightly as she stared at her in a daze.

“Yu Lianxin, you made your own choices. No one forced you. Everyone has to be responsible for their own choices. You should understand the principle of no regrets once a move is made.” Xia Chan brushed past her, but stopped before leaving and said to her, “But life isn’t a game of chess. Even if you lose, you still have countless chances to play again. And your opponent isn’t me. I haven’t seen you today. Good luck.”