Chapter 30
Lu Ye was struck dumb, frozen in place. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Yu Miaomiao pulled Jiang Chengyi into the car.
Only after the vehicle drove out of University A did Yu Miaomiao breathe a sigh of relief, and only then did she have the leisure to pay attention to other things.
Thanks to her keen hearing, she quickly realized that the seemingly empty parking lot actually had quite a few people sitting in the cars.
That was absurd, so she grabbed Jiang Chengyi and announced to everyone that they were together.
Yu Miaomiao silently closed her eyes. For some reason, she felt that she had lost control of her emotions more times recently than in the past ten years combined.
But she wasn't one to run away from things. After gathering her thoughts, she decided to explain to Jiang Chengyi first.
She glanced to her left, but Jiang Cheng kept his eyes fixed on the road ahead, driving intently. They encountered a red light, so he slowed down in advance and came to a steady stop at the intersection.
The red light was long, and Yu Miaomiao thought this was a good opportunity, so she said, "Just now... I was just saying things in anger, you don't need to take them to heart."
Jiang Chengyi's voice sounded somewhat nonchalant. He didn't directly answer Yu Miaomiao's question, but said, "You seem to care a lot about that person."
She looked at Jiang Chengyi, as if asking a question in return, or perhaps asking herself, "Why should I care about him?"
With one hand on the steering wheel and the other rolling down the window, he said, "If you don't care about someone, you won't let their emotions affect you, and you certainly won't lie to make them angry."
He tilted his head slightly and looked at Yu Miaomiao. His dark eyes were focused, unlike the nonchalant tone of his voice.
"What do you think?"
The fresh, slightly chilly air rushed in through the car window, calming Yu Miaomiao's mind. She suddenly felt that there was no point in continuing to hide her true feelings from Jiang Chengyi.
"He is my father, by blood."
Ignoring Jiang Chengyi's reaction, Yu Miaomiao continued, "He disappeared when my mother was pregnant and has not been heard from since. He suddenly reappeared recently, saying that he had his reasons and cried and begged my mother to make it up to me."
“But my mother has been dead for 12 years. I have never met him. We have no other relationship except for blood ties. What is the point of this belated compensation other than satisfying his own guilt?”
She stared at Jiang Chengyi, her eyes filled with undisguised hatred and anger. "Don't you find this hilarious?"
The green light came on, and the vehicles slowly started moving.
Yu Miaomiao was pushed back against the seat by the recoil. She stared at the traffic ahead, one car after another rushing past. In a daze, reality and illusion intertwined. She seemed to be at that intersection on that rainy night. The gray asphalt road was soaked by the rain and turned into a deep bluish-black. The wreckage of a car lay there alone, blood flowing out and mingling with the rain, staining the entire road surface a light red.
She wanted to yell at Jiang Cheng to stop so she could get out of the car and save her mother, but reason told her it was just an illusion.
My mother is dead.
She trembled all over, her fingertips were icy cold.
"for you."
Yu Miaomiao snapped out of her daze, looked down, and noticed that Jiang Chengyi's right hand had been placed in front of her at some point, with a toffee in his palm.
"Medical evidence shows that eating sweets can relieve feelings of sadness."
She looked down at his palm, but he was driving intently, as if he hadn't been the one who had just spoken.
With trembling fingers, she picked up the candy, tore open the wrapper, and put the small brown sugar pill into her mouth.
The rich caramel aroma quickly reaches the tip of the tongue, the toffee softens at oral temperature, and the sweet aroma of cream and butter spreads throughout the mouth.
"It's so sweet, it doesn't taste good at all."
Yu Miaomiao complained in a hoarse voice.
It was so sweet. After Yu Jianqing died, she had never eaten cake or anything so sweet. It was so sweet that her throat hurt and felt like it was on fire.
-
Half an hour later, the two arrived at the CatJoy Company building. The receptionist led them to the public relations department's conference room, where Xu Lan and several employees were already waiting.
"Mr. Xu, the two of you have arrived."
Xu Lan quickly ushered the two in, "Miao Miao, Cheng Yi, sit down quickly."
On the large TV screen, comments from netizens under the promotional video were playing on a loop. Judging from the employees' distressed appearance, the negative public opinion surrounding Yu Miaomiao had a significant impact on Maomaole.
Xu Lan looked somewhat apologetic, "It was the cat-related fun that affected you."
"Most of those marketing accounts that spread the word were paid for by Maomaole's competitors."
Although CAE holds a high status, its influence is limited to the industry. A few days ago, Yu Miaomiao made it to the top of the trending searches because she entered the finals. This was thanks to Maomao Le's support behind the scenes. And now, the negative public opinion against Yu Miaomiao is also fueled by Maomao Le's rivals. Otherwise, it would never have reached its current scale.
An employee wearing black-rimmed glasses stood up. "Mr. Xu, I just found out that the initial promotion and marketing accounts for this video were purchased by Zhang Mingxuan himself."
Another employee gritted his teeth and said, "Zhang Mingxuan is definitely no good. What kind of victim would buy marketing materials on their own?"
Yu Miaomiao nodded, showing no surprise; she had anticipated both of these events.
As the person in question, she knows better than anyone who wrote the code, and Zhang Mingxuan, this plagiarist, has chosen to release a video to seize the initiative, so his methods are definitely not limited to this.
Another employee, whose face remained expressionless, turned around and said, “President Xu, the most important thing now is to see if the person involved can produce more compelling evidence to refute Zhang Mingxuan. Only on this basis can we proceed. Otherwise, in this environment where the trend is inevitable, no matter how many online trolls we invest, it will be of no use, and may even have the opposite effect.”
After saying that, he glanced at Yu Miaomiao, intentionally or unintentionally.
Xu Lan realized this as well, and she looked at Yu Miaomiao, "Miaomiao, can you show us the evidence you mentioned on the phone?"
Yu Miaomiao nodded; she had brought her laptop specifically for this.
...
A moment later, everyone looked at Yu Miaomiao with admiration, even Jiang Chengyi looked surprised.
The bespectacled employee cheered, "That's amazing! Once this evidence is released, Zhang Mingxuan's face will be slapped to pieces."
Xu Lan felt much more at ease. "Miao Miao, release the evidence as soon as possible, and we'll contact the media and lawyers."
At this moment, an employee exclaimed, "President Xu, you're trending again!"
She operated the public screen to access the Weibo homepage, where #YuMiaomiao'sGrandmaReveals# replaced #ZhangMingxuanConfess# as the top trending topic.
"Click in and take a look!"
The employee clicked on the trending topic and found an interview video posted 20 minutes earlier by an unknown media outlet, the description of which was full of sensationalism.
Cold-blooded and ruthless? Abandoning family and friends? The true face of Yu Miaomiao, the top student at A University!
Upon opening the video, the face of an elderly woman with white hair appeared on the television screen; she looked kind and gentle. She wore a worn-out cotton coat, and the background consisted of dusty walls and an old-looking wooden sofa, highlighting the family's poverty.
"Yes, my granddaughter's name is Yu Miaomiao."
"Do you see her often?" the voice-over asked.
"I don't see her often."
Why?
“Xiaoqing, that’s her mother, was stubborn when she was young. She wouldn’t listen to my advice and insisted on marrying an older man who had no parents. Later, the man ran away when she was pregnant, and she raised the child alone. Maybe she was ashamed. I called her but she didn’t answer, and I went to find her but she wouldn’t see me.”
She shook her head, looking very sorry for her daughter.
What kind of person do you think she is?
"Miaomiao was smart since she was little. I was so happy when she got into A University. But she was a loner and didn't like to communicate with others. I haven't seen her since she went to university."
"What could be the reason for this?"
“I’m also confused. Xiaoqing died in a car accident years ago. I wanted to adopt Miaomiao, but she refused and insisted on going to the orphanage herself. When I went to visit her, she wouldn’t allow it either. A while ago, I called her and she cursed at me and blocked me.”
"How could this happen? Living with family is always better than being in an orphanage. Besides, you shouldn't have blocked Grandma's calls, right?"
"I was puzzled at first, but then I thought about it and realized it was probably because of that money."
"What money?"
"Xiaoqing passed away and received three million yuan in compensation. I don't know how it was divided. Anyway, they said it would all be saved for Miaomiao and given to her when she comes of age. She was probably afraid we would ask for money."
The old lady showed the reporter a recording in which Yu Miaomiao's cold voice sounded extremely sharp.
[Yu Suhua, this is my money. You won't get a single penny. If you want it, come and try.]
The old lady turned her head away to wipe her tears, looking very aggrieved and sad. "Actually, I just wanted to ask her how she was doing. Miaomiao is Xiaoqing's only daughter. If you want to give her the money, then give it to her. As an elder, how can I take it from her?"
Next, the reporter interviewed the old lady's two sons, both of whom appeared honest and unassuming. According to their introductions, one ran a small restaurant and the other was a low-level civil servant, both of whom seemed quite poor.
There's also her grandson, who looks young and honest. "My little sister Miaomiao studies computer science. She's been smart since she was little. I heard she started taking on projects and making money in high school. She can earn tens of thousands of yuan from one project. Our whole family combined can't earn as much as she does."
At the end of the video, the old lady holds Yu Jianqing's portrait, and the family pleads emotionally, "Miaomiao, please come back. We don't want money, we just want you to come home for a meal."
After the video ended, the employee clicked into the comments section.
I never imagined Yu Miaomiao was this kind of person. Just a few days ago, I idolized her.
[This mother is so love-struck! She eloped with a man and wouldn't let her daughter acknowledge her grandmother even on her deathbed. How psychologically twisted must she be?]
[Well, indeed, academic qualifications and personal qualities are not the same thing.]
[Given the situation at her grandmother's house, Yu Miaomiao wouldn't even stoop to being a penny-pincher; what kind of selfish miser is she?]
Am I the only one who disliked Yu Miaomiao at first sight? I was terrified the moment I saw her photo because she reminded me so much of an NPD I met before. These kinds of people are extremely self-centered and inconsiderate of others' feelings.
[Grandma wears tattered clothes and lives in a dilapidated house, while her granddaughter, Meimei, receives three million in compensation. This vampire trait is truly inherited!]
Don't forget, there's another project with a reward of tens of thousands.
[It seems the plagiarism allegations against Zhang Mingxuan are pretty much confirmed. Someone who's willing to sever ties with their family for compensation is capable of anything.]
Objectively speaking, her mother eloped with an older man and was then abandoned; essentially, she brought it all on herself.
After watching the video, everyone in the office fell silent.
After a moment, Xu Lan asked, "Miao Miao, how real are the things in the video?"
Of course, she wouldn't be foolish enough to believe the video was real.
During her time on set, she didn't see Yu Miaomiao answer any calls from her relatives, which is enough to prove that the old woman in the video didn't care about her granddaughter as much as she claimed.
Yu Miaomiao remained calm, seemingly unaffected by the comments, and spoke indifferently:
"Apart from the three million, which actually exist, you can treat everything else as bullshit."
Xu Lan perked up a bit. "Investigate who's behind the video."
Employees immediately got to work. CatCatJoy has a deep partnership with a marketing giant, so its channels are very wide, and it was found in a short time.
"Mr. Xu, it's the marketing company that Zhang Mingxuan is working with!"
The implication is that Zhang Mingxuan was likely behind this trending topic.
Xu Lan rubbed her temples, her tone tinged with disgust, "Why is Zhang Mingxuan everywhere?"
She pondered and made a plan, "Xiao Li, find someone to take down Yu Suhua's trending topic. Xiao Zhang, contact the media and investigate Yu Suhua's family, and..."
Yu Miaomiao opened her phone, and her Weibo notifications were flooded again. Compared to the video comments, the comments under her Weibo posts were even more offensive.
[Give birth to a beast like you, your mother deserved to die.]
[Does it feel good to berate your family? You motherless brat, sorry [laughs], that seems to be true.]
[Your mother's grave is overgrown with weeds, and you still won't stop causing trouble. Are you determined to drive your grandmother to her death?]
Because of you, your mother will only be reborn as an animal in her next life. Will your three million be enough for her salvation?
[I'm the driver who hit your mother back then. Your mother begged me to run her over, saying her daughter was a jinx [grinning face]]
[I just peed on your mother's grave, it's still warm, filial daughter, come and drink!]
She looked at the comments, but unlike before, she was no longer expressionless; her fingers, gripping the phone tightly, turned white from the force.
When I slid to the next page and saw the picture photoshopped with Yu Jianqing's portrait, I finally couldn't help but close my eyes, letting out a rapid breath.
She could ignore the insults directed at her because the netizens' impotent rage had no effect on her. But Yu Jianqing was her bottom line. Whether it was Zhang Mingxuan, Yu Suhua, or these incited netizens, they all trampled on her bottom line.
She would never tolerate it.
"Miaomiao, after we've investigated the whole thing and issued a clarification, you can release a clarification about the code plagiarism incident at the same time. That would be the most effective way, Miaomiao?"
Xu Lan didn't get a response, so she walked closer to Yu Miaomiao, saw the comments on her phone, gently touched her hand and found it was ice cold. She sighed softly, "Miaomiao, these people are just venting their emotions. Don't take their words to heart."
Yu Miaomiao turned off her phone, let out a breath, and looked up at Xu Lan. "Sister Xu, now is not the best time to issue a clarification."
Xu Lan suddenly felt that the girl in front of her was somewhat unfamiliar. Her eyes were still indifferent, but no longer calm.
Like... a ferocious beast poised to break free of its cage.
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