Chapter 103: Thunderous Counterattack (3)
The thorn in Yu Ling's heart was easily removed by his calm narration. She could even imagine the focused and powerful Zhao Chen, racing against time in the library and laboratory. He was completely different from the "playboy" image that Gu Qianqian had described.
"So...where's Gu Qianqian?" Yu Ling couldn't help but ask, her voice soft. This name was the source of all the chaos tonight.
Zhao Chen's eyes instantly turned cold, like a frozen pond. He didn't answer immediately, but instead picked up the remote control again and pressed a few buttons.
The screen switches again!
This time, it wasn't the campus system that appeared, but a cold, hard-edged surveillance video interface! The timestamp clearly showed it was earlier this evening, and the location was marked: the entrance to the VIP lounge of a top women's clothing store in Plaza 66.
In the picture, Gu Qianqian has exquisite makeup and is wearing the latest suit of the season. She is holding Su Xiao's arm intimately, with an impeccable social smile on her face, her red lips opening and closing, as if she is saying something passionately.
Su Xiao's expression changed from surprise and confusion at the beginning to shock and disbelief, and finally only deep worry and panic remained!
This was exactly the emotion Yu Ling felt on the phone! Gu Qianqian's hand was still seemingly resting on Su Xiao's phone, her fingertips seemingly tapping the side of the screen (implying a possible recording or message operation)!
Then, the screen switched to another angle, showing the surveillance footage from the underground garage at Plaza 66. After Lidya Su left, the smile on Gu Qianqian's face instantly vanished, replaced by a deep-seated resentment and complacency.
She quickly pulled out her phone and began swishing across the screen. The interface she was working on was magnified and highlighted—it was an encrypted, overseas social media platform! The content she was editing was exactly the same draft updates filled with malicious innuendo that Yu Ling had seen on Su Xiao's phone! Finally, she hit send, a grim smile of triumph playing on her lips.
The evidence is irrefutable!
It was Gu Qianqian who took the initiative to find Su Xiao!
It was Gu Qianqian who deliberately spread rumors!
It was Gu Qianqian who personally packaged the rumors and pushed them to the public platform!
Yu Ling felt a chill run from her feet straight up to her head, her anger nearly bursting through her chest! So that's it! Lidya Su was being used! She was deceived by Gu Qianqian's carefully designed verbal trap and performance! This woman's scheming was terrifying!
The picture finally freezes on Gu Qianqian's smug and distorted face after she sent the status message.
Zhao Chen's voice was as cold as ice beads hitting a jade plate, and every word was filled with chilling coldness:
"As for her?" He sneered, his laughter filled with utter contempt and disgust. "She tried to use various 'chance encounters' and 'family background' as bargaining chips at Stanford, but after being clearly rejected, she became angry and humiliated, turning love into hatred... She's nothing but a clown. Her 'pursuit' is, to me, an inconvenience and harassment that I cannot avoid. Her 'love' is cheap, calculated, and disgusting."
He picked up the remote and pressed the button on the screen. The frozen image of Gu Qianqian's smug sneer instantly shattered and disintegrated like a shredder, transforming into countless flickering pixels before vanishing completely into the darkness of the screen, leaving no trace.
"Now," Zhao Chen threw away the remote control as if he was throwing away a piece of dirty garbage. When he turned to look at Yu Ling, all the coldness and hostility in his eyes disappeared without a trace in an instant, leaving only pure tenderness with a bit of credit-seeking, and even a hint of imperceptible grievance?
He leaned in close to her, his nose almost touching hers, their warm breaths blending together. "The rumor buster's work report is complete. Chef Zhao's truffle chicken stew is almost ready to be served... Leader, can you give me a five-star rating?"
His eyes were wet, like a large canine that had just completed a difficult task, wagging its tail and waiting for its owner's praise. Where was the ruthless decisiveness he had just shown through the screen, freezing all of Gu Qianqian's overseas accounts with cold commands and precisely delivering the tax bomb?
Yu Ling looked at his handsome face so close to her, and saw the undisguised dependence and craving for praise in his eyes. The anger and chill in her heart were like ice and snow in early spring, instantly melted away by the scorching warm sun, leaving only a heart full of bitterness and emotion.
This man who seemed mysterious and powerful to the outside world and could make things happen with a wave of his hand, was, to her, the clumsy husband who mistook truffles for mushrooms, the lover whose ears turned red when teased as a "farmhouse chef", and the clingy guy who immediately switched to "asking for hugs and praise" mode after crushing all malice with thundering means just to protect her peace.
All her doubts and anxieties vanished in the complex charm of his frankness, clumsiness and strength.
Yu Ling didn't answer his question about the "five-star review." She simply stretched out her arms, wrapped them around his neck, and hugged him tightly, tightly. She buried her face deep in the warmth and firmness of his neck, greedily breathing in his reassuring scent.
Zhao Chen's body visibly stiffened for a moment, then immense joy exploded in his eyes like fireworks. He immediately folded his arms, pressing her even tighter into his embrace, his chin resting gently against the crown of her head as he let out a long, contented sigh. All the murderous aura, all the cold calculations, melted into a gentle tenderness at that moment.
In the kitchen, the lid of the casserole was slightly bouncing due to the boiling steam, making a puffing sound.
The extremely rich and exotic aroma - the overbearing and strong scent of truffles like the essence of the earth, the mellow and delicious meat aroma of top-quality free-range chicken after stewing, and the simple but indispensable fungal aroma of shiitake mushrooms - blend together perfectly, like the most harmonious symphony, filling every corner of the luxurious apartment.
Outside the window, the neon lights of Haicheng continued to shimmer and flow, like an endless galaxy of stars. Above this cold, steel-clad galaxy, somewhere in Genting Highlands, a single, warm, and resolute light shone, belonging only to two people.
The heavy, soundproof door of the study quietly closed, completely isolating the warm lights and faint sound of the television from the living room. Outside the door was the hustle and bustle of life, while inside was the silent smoke of war.
In the study, the gentle smile on Zhao Chen's face disappeared. The eyes behind the gold-rimmed glasses were now deep and cold, like an abyss tempered by ice, reflecting the data and surveillance images that kept scrolling on the super-large curved screen in front of him.
The screen is divided into several small blocks.
Upper left corner: The interface of several overseas bank accounts under Gu Qianqian’s name is now flashing a glaring red warning sign - "Account abnormality, frozen under review (Code: A7)".
The freezing order was timestamped, accurate to the millisecond, at the exact moment he had given the order in the kitchen with his fingers stained with truffle crumbs.
In the upper right corner, a progress bar rapidly loaded to 100%, displaying "Gu Group's core tax anomaly reports and related-party transaction evidence chain for the past three years have been packaged." Immediately, the status changed to green, indicating "Anonymous delivery successful." The recipients were, surprisingly, encrypted channels connected to several national tax inspection agencies.
In the center: a replay of the surveillance footage from Plaza 66 from a few hours earlier. The high-definition footage magnified the resentful and complacent micro-expression on Gu Qianqian's face to its fullest. Next to it, an IP tracking map of her anonymously controlled overseas troll accounts, which were used to spread smear campaigns, converged on a ghost server in the Cayman Islands. One of the hidden sources of funds from this server had an arrow pointing to an account labeled "Gu Group (Overseas) Entertainment Subsidiary."
Lower right corner: An encrypted communication window, Special Assistant Lin Feng's profile picture lit up, and a new message popped up:
"Boss, the ingredients have been added. Gu Changhai called three minutes ago, begging for mercy, his tone frightened. Gu Qianqian's communication device signal indicates that she has left her Haicheng residence and her whereabouts are unknown. We are tracking her."
Public opinion monitoring shows that the unusually active "water army" accounts under her overseas platform account have disappeared in large numbers, and the related defamatory posts have been forcibly deleted "for violating community regulations." "Do you need to contact Ms. Su Xiao to explain?"
Zhao Chen's gaze lingered on Lin Feng's message for a second, his fingertips tapping on the cold keyboard, his reply brief and cold:
"Gu Changhai? Leave him alone. Gu Qianqian? Find her. Su Xiao? Not necessary for now."
He closed the communication window and leaned back slightly, sinking into the embrace of the top-grade ergonomic chair. The leather made a subtle friction sound. His slender fingers unconsciously tapped the polished mahogany armrests, making a dull and regular sound of "tap, tap".
The cold light of the screen reflected the hard lines of his profile, half in light, sharp as a knife blade; half in darkness, gloomy as the deep sea. He narrowed his eyes slightly, staring at Gu Qianqian's frozen, twisted smile on the screen. A thick, violent rage and a hint of icy boredom, enough to devour all light, surged in his eyes.
Deep.
Deep.
Deep.
The knocking continued.
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