A loud "bang!" caught my attention.
My father struck Beichen hard again with the stick. The walnut-colored stick slammed into his back, and blood gradually appeared on his white shirt. My heart clenched, and I gasped.
Bei Chen remained kneeling with his head down, saying nothing.
"None of you can help me with the business, and all you do is cause me trouble! And all this messy, rotten stuff!"
My father's face was ashen, veins bulging on his forehead. He pointed the stick at Beichen and then at me, scolding us with a tone of utter disappointment.
I can understand how he feels.
The company was still in turmoil, and Beichen and I kept getting caught up in trouble, especially these kinds of embarrassing "scandals." People's words can be terrifying; if they keep spreading, others might start to believe them.
How will outsiders view our family? What will become of our family's reputation?
The most fatal flaw is that Shengshi is a listed company, and any slight disturbance in our family's business is directly reflected in the stock price.
"Dad, I'm sorry, please calm down. Someone is deliberately trying to smear Beichen and me behind our backs. Should we call the police? That photo is definitely fake. Let the police examine it, issue a statement, and clear our names!"
I walked up to my dad, looked up at him, and said confidently.
After a few days of not paying attention, my father's temples have turned much grayer.
He has been working tirelessly for the company lately.
My father neither confirmed nor denied it, which I took as tacit approval, so I picked up my phone to call the police.
"Qiaoqiao, leave the calling the police to me." My mother came over to stop me. "What's the problem if you call the police? You're almost thirty, and you're still so naive..."
The photo was fake to begin with, so why would I need to pull strings?
I don't understand.
Just then, my phone beeped with a message notification, and I swiped to open it.
"Li Kele, a popular online influencer specializing in Photoshop skills, has determined that the bed photos of the Shengshi siblings were taken with the original camera lens of a mobile phone and show no signs of Photoshop editing. In addition, the ambiguous and kissing photos of the Shengshi siblings that were previously circulating also show no signs of Photoshop editing..."
As I read, I fell silent, feeling as if the air pressure around me was so low that it was hard to breathe.
The low air pressure came from Dad.
His face was ashen.
"Who is this person? They're just trying to swindle money from our family again!" the mother said angrily. She picked up her phone and made a call.
"Go find this internet celebrity and get him removed from the public relations team!"
The mother called the company's public relations department directly and gave a stern explanation.
I haven't seen this decisive and efficient side of her in a long time; she used to be involved in company management.
However, shortly after she hung up, her phone rang again. It was the public relations director calling to tell her that the Photoshop influencer had not accepted their public relations offer.
He firmly stated: The photos are genuine.
Right now, the scandal of my incestuous relationship with Beichen and her brother is trending on social media.
"Send him a lawyer's letter! Immediately issue a PR statement, insisting it's a photoshopped image; a lie can't be made true." The mother's attitude was firm as she instructed the man into the phone.
After hanging up, she went to the tea room to make another call.
Dad snorted and walked away.
"Beichen, get up quickly." I helped Beichen up.
"Sister..." he called out in a hoarse voice, looking down at me.
"It's nothing serious, Mom will take care of it. Your back is bleeding, I'll go and put some medicine on it for you," I reassured him gently.
"Qiaoqiao! Don't worry about your brother. It's so early in the morning, he hasn't had breakfast yet. Go get something to eat. Beichen, go upstairs, I'll call the doctor over."
My mother's voice came from the tea room.
"Sis, go eat." Beichen let go of my hand, said this, and quickly went upstairs.
I thought that with my mother involved, the controversy surrounding this fake photo would quickly subside, but unexpectedly, it remained a trending topic all day.
Online tutorials have even appeared, teaching netizens how to identify whether a photo has been photoshopped, and netizens have been sharing their test results using that bed photo.
My phone was bombarded with calls, so I had to turn it off.
There were many media reporters and online celebrities waiting downstairs to broadcast live on their phones.
However, the police arrived quickly and chased them away.
The following day, Shengshi's stock price plummeted again.
I didn't sleep all night, and when I went downstairs, my dad was throwing a tantrum again.
Bei Chen knelt down again.
"Sheng Beichen, tell me the truth, who is the woman in the photo?!"
However, the question Dad asked is also the question I wanted to ask.
I was bored at night and didn't know what to do, so I spent the whole night on my computer analyzing that bed photo according to online tutorials. There were no signs of Photoshop editing.
But I know for sure that the woman who looks so much like me, but whose lower half of her face is covered, is definitely not me.
Mom came in from outside, carrying a bag and looking travel-worn. "Why did you punish Beichen again! I've investigated this matter thoroughly. There's a powerful force behind this deliberately targeting our family!"
"Whether it's targeted or not, the photo is real! Sheng Beichen, I want the truth from you!" Dad said sternly.
He raised his foot to kick Beichen, but his mother quickly stepped forward to stop him.
“I know who this woman is!” Mom exclaimed.
"You know?!" Dad looked surprised.
I was stunned too.
"She's Beichen's ex-girlfriend. They broke up years ago. She suddenly pops up to cause trouble for our family. She's probably trying to extort money from us again!" Mom said angrily.
Bei Chen's ex-girlfriend?
How come I didn't know he had an ex-girlfriend? And they broke up several years ago?
And, she looks a lot like me...
Faced with my father's and my doubts, my mother continued, "Beichen was dating her when he was in college in Jiangcheng. She was just a young working woman who seduced Beichen, even faking a pregnancy to force him to marry her."
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