Chapter 68. Revenge: Let's see who dies faster, you or me...
Chenzhoudu only stayed in Qingshui Town for two days before heading back.
Since he already knew about Xia Chan's excuse for asking for leave, there was no need for her to hide in Qingshui any longer, so she decided to go back with him.
Before leaving, the two made a special trip to visit Vice Principal Liu.
Vice Principal Liu is now the principal of Qingshui Experimental Middle School, and has been in office for three or four years. Under his leadership, Qingshui Experimental Middle School has been thriving in recent years, with its campus expanding to a more impressive scale, and the number of students admitted to Tsinghua and Peking Universities has doubled for several consecutive years.
When Principal Liu saw Xia Chan and Shen Zhoudu appear before him together, he was still in a daze.
Upon learning about their later experiences and stories, he was even more surprised and delighted, and repeatedly expressed his feelings.
"Alright, alright, after all this time, you two have finally gotten together! Remember how worried we teachers were back then..."
"I'm genuinely happy to see how well you're all doing now. Being doing well is the most important thing!"
When talking about Xia Chan, Principal Liu still sighed with mixed feelings of emotion and reproach, scolding her, "You little brat, you're the most heartless one! You just left without a word back then, and haven't sent a single letter all these years. All those years of being so good to you have been for nothing!"
"Alright, Lao Liu, I was just thinking that I'm a troubled girl, and I don't want to be influenced by bad company and affect your future!" Xia Chan laughed casually. "But I'm a manager now, a small leader, so I haven't let you down, have I?"
"Manager is not enough! You should be a prime minister!" Principal Liu snorted.
The three of them couldn't help but laugh. Just then, a student hurriedly pushed open the office door and ran in, shouting, "Principal! The playground—"
"What are you doing, being so reckless! Don't you even know how to knock?"
Everyone was startled, and Principal Liu instinctively turned his head and shouted.
Xia Chan's heart skipped a second, then she quietly moved closer to Chen Zhoudu, trying to shield him.
"Oh..." The student was stunned for a moment after being scolded, staring fixedly at Chen Zhoudu and Xia Chan, as if he had discovered something.
"What are you looking at! Get out of here!" Vice Principal Liu stood up and chased him out, kicking him out the door and closing the door behind them.
After a short while, Principal Liu returned, and Chen Zhoudu, already wearing a hat and mask, was about to take his leave.
Students of this age are most prone to speaking without thinking, so Xia Chan specifically asked Principal Liu to keep an eye on the students' movements. Principal Liu reassured them repeatedly and personally escorted them out through a side gate.
In the afternoon, I took a flight from Tongcheng back to Shanghai. To avoid attracting attention, I booked a first-class ticket, and airline staff picked me up and accompanied me throughout the flight.
While waiting for their flight, the two started talking about something else.
Since Chen Zhoudu knew that Xia Chan's previous reason for requesting annual leave was false, he naturally also knew about the complaint against her. Combining this with the photo that appeared online, he guessed that the two things were probably done by the same person.
Before coming to Qingshui, Chenzhoudu had already helped others investigate the account and IP address of the person who posted the photos on the Little Red Book, but there were no results yet.
At this moment, he wanted to ask Xia Chan if she had any clues.
“I…I don’t know, but I guess it must be someone from our department,” Xia Chan said. The dark corner where Xia Chan and Xie Xuan argued that day was the most secluded corner in the northwest corner of the Tianze store park, which was connected to a SOHO work park, so it was naturally a corner of the SOHO park.
If Xia Chan hadn't been certain that there were usually few people around there, she wouldn't have dared to take her there.
The Tianze store area and the SOHO area are separated by an iron fence and a green belt. There is a small gate in the middle, but the gate is locked all year round and no one goes in or out of it. Over time, apart from the green maintenance staff, no one goes there anymore.
Xia Chan carefully examined the photo of the two of them that had been secretly taken from behind the green belt in the SOHO park, but she still felt that this matter should have nothing to do with SOHO.
Firstly, the targeting of the recorded report was too obvious.
She had no grudges against the employees of SOHO Park, so there was no reason for them to report her.
Secondly, the person who took the photos didn't seem to want to make a big deal out of it. Otherwise, even if the paparazzi took the photos to Chenzhoudu Studio to ask for money, it would seem to be more profitable than posting them online.
Xia Chan had actually thought about it carefully after being suspended from her post that day, guessing who the person who made the recording was. She had a general idea of who it was, but no evidence.
At first, she thought it shouldn't be someone from the front office, because the front office staff at the time were either at the front desk or in the staff room, and there wouldn't have been enough time for them to rush to the SOHO park to take photos.
But then she thought, the recording only had the second half; the first half was missing.
Either this person was afraid of Xie Mei and deliberately cut out the first half before editing and reporting it;
Or perhaps this person didn't even have time to record the first half, and by the time they arrived, she was already arguing fiercely with Xie Jun.
However, regardless of the circumstances, this person's actions were directed at Xia Chan. And those at the hotel with whom she had a clear conflict of interest…
Before boarding, Shen Zhoudu received a phone call. After hanging up, his expression turned serious. "I found it."
The Xiaohongben app requires a real-name phone number for account registration, and the owner of the number that posted the photo is named Yuan Lihong, who happens to work in the SOHO Park and whose IP address is usually in Suzhou.
"Yuan Lihong?" Xia Chan repeated the name several times, confirming that she didn't recognize it. "I don't know him."
"But he has an ex-girlfriend, you must know her."
Xia Chan was confused. Chen Zhoudu said, "Yu Lianxin."
-
At eight o'clock the next morning, Xia Chan calmly stepped into the hotel when he was changing shifts at Tianze Store, and the front desk staff were surprised to see him.
"Manager Xia? What brings you here? Weren't you still...on vacation...?"
"There were some tasks that weren't explained clearly before, so I came here specifically to clarify them." Xia Chan smiled at her and glanced around, just in time to run into Yu Lianxin, who had just come out of the staff room.
Yu Lianxin was on the early shift today and had just changed shifts. When she saw Xia Chan from afar, she couldn't help but be taken aback.
Xia Chan walked straight up to her and said with a smile that she had some work to hand over to her, and asked her to come with her.
Upon arriving at the staff room, Xia Chan asked the others to leave for a moment.
Yu Lianxin frowned slightly, a hint of impatience in her expression. "What is it?"
The moment the staff room door was locked from the inside—Xia Chan suddenly grabbed Yu Lianxin's shirt and shoved her against the wall! This caused Yu Lianxin to scream.
"Ah! What are you doing!"
"Yu Lianxin, I'm not beating around the bush," Xia Chan said indifferently. "Hand over the recording you have."
Yu Lianxin paused for a moment, then glared angrily at her, her brows furrowed with furious rage. "What are you saying? What recording? I don't understand! Let me go!"
"You probably don't know what I used to do." Xia Chan simply restrained her violent struggle with a light touch. Her experience in boxing made it easy for her to immobilize the girl with just one arm.
He reached his other hand directly into her pocket to take her phone.
"Ah! Someone come here! Xia Chan, she—"
Yu Lianxin tried to call for help, but Xia Chan suddenly grabbed her neck with one hand, pinching her chin with her thumb and forefinger and lifting it up so that she couldn't say a word.
Her gaze was icy and chilling as she stared at her. "If you dare utter a single word, I'll fight you to the death today!"
Yu Lianxin was almost scared to tears. She stared at Xia Chan in horror, her eyes red, and dared not shout anymore. After Xia Chan indifferently shook off her hand, she coughed twice and said fearfully, "Xia Chan... are you going to kill someone here?!"
"Of course I can't kill anyone," Xia Chan said with a faint smile. "I'm just here to settle some scores with you."
Her phone was already in her hand, and Xia Chan raised the screen to her face to unlock it.
Yu Lianxin instantly closed her eyes tightly, turned her head, and hurriedly shouted, "What are you trying to do! It's illegal to pry into people's privacy!"
Without a word, Xia Chan turned her face towards her, successfully unlocked the phone, and quickly found a recording in the midst of her near-collapse struggle.
—Chanchan, I know…I was very sorry to you back then;
—But what can I do…Tell me what I can do!
—Have you forgotten what your father was like? I've really been like this for so many years...and finally had a chance to get out of that quagmire. I'm really scared, Chanchan!
...
—Didn't you ask me how much money I wanted?
No matter how many, it's not allowed!
...
It's the full version of that recording.
Xia Chan listened silently and chuckled softly. Yu Lianxin's face had turned completely pale, and she dared not shout anymore, looking at her with apprehension.
Xia Chan met her eyes again, her gaze slowly turning cold. "Yu Lianxin, you've got some nerve."
Her tone was icy, "You already know Xie Mei is my mother, yet you still dare to do this. Aren't you afraid of the Guan family causing you trouble?!"
"So what if she's your mother!" Yu Lianxin had almost stopped thinking. She felt that Xia Chan was too different from usual today, terrifyingly so, and was completely forcing herself to confront her.
"Even your own mother doesn't acknowledge you... and even if she found out, she might not protect you! As for Chen Zhoudu... he's too busy taking care of himself. If his fans found out about you two, he might not protect you either! He's a celebrity, do you think he'd be the first to abandon you for his own future and popularity!"
Xia Chan narrowed her eyes and chuckled softly, "Yes." Her breath was sweet as orchids.
“My mom won’t protect me, but if she finds out you did this, do you think she’ll punish you to protect her own interests? Whether she protects me or punishes you isn’t mutually exclusive. Do you really think she can marry into a wealthy family just because she’s a pushover?”
Yu Lianxin's face turned pale.
"I'll give you two choices." She tossed the phone back into her arms and said coldly, "First, you withdraw your report and apologize to me, saying that you slandered and defamed me. I can pretend that nothing happened, and you can still continue to be the deputy manager of your Tianze store."
"I--"
"The second one!" Xia Chan interrupted her before she could finish, "We'll fight to the death. I'll go and announce to the world that you recorded this. Anyway, the barefoot have nothing to fear. Since you want to drag me down, I'll take you down with me even if I die. Let's see who dies faster, you or me!"
Yu Lianxin was stunned, glaring at her angrily incredulously, yet gritting her teeth in resentment, "Why should I listen to you!"
She retorted indignantly, "And you say I recorded this, so it's true? Who would believe that! I'd say you're slandering me! Xia Chan... you're nothing but someone who climbed the ladder by relying on men, from Song Yalin to Guan Bohan, Chen Zhoudu... you've got quite a few tricks up your sleeve! So many people you've secretly hooked up with to help you, do you really think you got this manager position through your own merit and can put pressure on me? Now you're the one begging me!"
Yu Lianxin and Xia Chan were classmates in college, but they didn't interact much during their time at university until they were assigned to the Tianze store together after graduation.
Yu Lianxin's family is from Shanghai, and she got into Asia Ocean University through connections back then. She was originally expected to be rated as excellent among that year's management trainees, but unexpectedly, she was overshadowed by Xia Chan, who was recommended by Song Yalin.
Six months ago, the original manager of Tianze Store in Yuhui District was promoted, and both Yu Lianxin and Xia Chan were qualified to compete for the position of front-of-house manager.
But in the end, the store manager still promoted Xia Chan, which Yu Lianxin has held a grudge against ever since.
Xia Chan sneered and didn't bother to waste words with her. She simply took out her phone from her pocket and pressed a button.
—Yu Lianxin, you've got some nerve! Knowing full well that Xie Mei is my mother, you still dared to do this!
So what if she's your mother! Your own mother doesn't acknowledge you... Even if she found out, she might not protect you!
—And you say I recorded this, so it's true? Who would believe that! I'd say you're slandering me! Xia Chan, you're the one begging me now!
Yu Lianxin's face turned deathly pale instantly.
She instinctively reached out to grab the phone from her hand. Xia Chan easily dodged it, then shoved her with her other hand, sending her crashing into the wall.
"Yu Lianxin, I told you long ago, I have nothing to lose and I'm not afraid of those who are wearing shoes."
She slammed her shoulder against the wall and cried out in pain. Xia Chan watched her indifferently as she clutched her shoulder and cried out in pain, and said coldly, "Even if you kill me, I'll take you down with me. It's better to fight to the death!"
"I'll give you three days!"
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