Episode 69 Rumors
Lin Ying made an illegal sudden stop on a main road, nearly causing a rear-end collision. Wang Duo was quick to pull over and swap seats with her. He took the helm while Lin Ying took the back seat.
The summer camp teacher then explained the truth:
On the way back, the camp arranged for the children to go to the service area to relieve themselves. Ruxing was fast asleep and did not get off the bus. The driver happened to get off the bus to smoke, and when he came back to count the number of people, he found that two were missing - she and Jiaze.
A child getting lost is a big deal. The teacher in charge thought that if the child could be found within an hour, there would be no need to inform the parents immediately to avoid a false alarm. But it was obvious that he had made a mistake.
Lin Ying's thoughts were like rotten threads that had been ravaged and stuck in paste. Before she could figure out any more, Cheng Xinran's phone call suddenly popped up again.
"Lin Ying, check the trending searches! What happened to you and your brother?!"
A handful of blood rushed back into my chest, constantly pushing the trending headlines, and the red and explosive headlines instantly filled my vision...
#富门大梦: Jianglin Group’s CEO-to-be revealed the “illegitimate daughter scandal”, is her biological mother his stepsister?
#TheUnrecognizedDaughter: From crawling in the dark to counterattacking life, from running errands assistant to gallery manager?
#She wants to give birth to her brother's child and also interfere in other people's marriage to get ahead. She wants both?
#Wealthy concubine's daughter vs. legitimate son - Jianglin Group has its own sea of hatred and love
#The kidnapped man is suspected to be the grandson or grandson of the chairman of Jianglin Group? Is this hype or a revelation?
…
When Lin Ying saw terms like "kidnapped" and "hype", she clicked on them without hesitation - these financial and entertainment marketing accounts, all of their pictures and texts were forwarded from information released by a zombie account.
The comments on the content all pointed directly at Lin Ying herself...
Is this still Chinese? My stepsister is my stepfather's illegitimate daughter, and my stepbrother is her biological father? Is that even right?
[No, Jiang Lin's popularity is going to continue, right? Just like his son, now his daughter is doing it again? This is the first time I've heard that Jiang Lin Group has a daughter?]
[Hey, I know this woman! She gave a presentation at our college before. She's the director of some Hong Kong-funded cultural enterprise. I thought she had a great personality back then, but it turns out she's the disgraced daughter of the Jianglin Group?]
[What a scoop! My sister used to work for her as a receptionist. She's an artist, a real gossipmonger. She had an affair with an intern, and she was tangled up with her boss. She even has a daughter. Holy crap, so the daughter is Jiang Shu's... Do you think this is a scoop?]
So the daughter of an illegitimate daughter is still an illegitimate daughter? Genetics is still too authoritative… Let's continue from last time. This orthopedic literature is too harsh to be applied to reality.
"That's not right. Wasn't she married to the son of a Jianglin veteran? She only joined her current company after her husband died. It's a Hong Kong-funded company. She climbed to the position of director in just three years. I don't know how she did it. Thinking about it this way, her shady ways make sense. She's a stepmother who doesn't love her and her biological father who doesn't recognize her. She's quite capable of doing her best!"
[Who is that person upstairs? He knows so much. Could it be that the melon owner himself is here to prove himself? No one cares about the wealthy couple.]
All sorts of rumors, true and false, bombarded him with criticism. For the first time, Lin Ying experienced the thrill of being at the center of public opinion, stripped naked and lying bloodied in front of everyone.
Although they had no grudges against each other in normal times, at this moment, looking at her naked body, some people started to bump into her for no apparent reason like pigs in heat, causing her pain and confusion, but the pigs themselves were very happy.
It turns out that someone like her who took the initiative to remove herself from Jianglin Group, once caught up in the whirlpool of topics, would be enough to stir up a thousand waves.
But at this moment, Lin Ying had no time to care about these rumors, her mind completely focused on her daughter's safety. She was absolutely certain that the child's disappearance was related to the public opinion storm. They had taken the child away, but still refused to ask for a ransom from her. They must have ulterior motives... Since they were targeting her and Jiang Shu, and had also brought the child into the mix, stirring up public opinion again and steering the topic in a direction that was favorable to them—it looked like someone's handiwork.
She subconsciously looked at Wang Duo and urged him in a hoarse voice:
"Take me to see Lin Jidong."
Facing Lin Ying's determined eyes at this moment, Wang Duo hesitated to speak several times. He wanted to comfort her, but he felt that she didn't seem to need it at the moment.
They became grasshoppers on the same rope - after all, it was not only Ruxing who disappeared, but also Jiaze.
He could never have imagined that Jiaze was also involved.
But what was even more unexpected was that before the two arrived at the Jianglin Group building, Lin Jidong's assistant informed them in advance that he had been admitted to the hospital due to a sudden cerebral infarction a week ago. Since public opinion was suppressed by Jiang Yueling last week, Lin Jidong's old illness relapsed. Fortunately, he was sent to the hospital in time and his life was not in danger.
Inside the hospital, cold light fell on the tiles and the air was filled with the smell of disinfectant.
Lin Ying pushed open the door to the ward, and was greeted by the ticking sound of machines. Lin Jidong, lying on the bed, was wearing an oxygen mask, his face sallow. He had been sleeping soundly, but after sensing someone intruding, he raised his eyelids as if by reflex, but his vision was not clear, and he even called out to Lin Ying's outline -
"Age in months?"
Hearing this, Lin Ying was stunned for a moment, and there was an inexplicable sense of obscurity in her heart - she did not sympathize with Lin Jidong. At this moment, there were people who were more worthy of her concern than her father's illness.
"You were the one who instigated public opinion and hyped up the matter between Jiang Shu and me?"
But given Lin Jidong's current condition, it was difficult for him to even utter a complete sentence, let alone incite public opinion.
He probably recognized that the person was his daughter Lin Ying, and immediately lost his already scattered consciousness, fainting again with a hint of disappointment.
Seeing that her questioning had failed, Lin Ying had no choice but to leave the ward and let Lin Jidong rest. But seeing this, the answer in her heart gradually became clear...
The assistant explained, "The doctor said that Director Lin's illness is partly due to psychological stress. He needs long-term recuperation. He has no time to take care of company matters these days."
Lin Ying knew that Lin Jidong had been in poor health in recent years, and she didn't want him to be dragged down at this time.
This is all such a coincidence.
"Did Aunt Jiang come to visit him after he fell ill?"
The assistant sighed and shook his head: "I notified President Jiang, but you know, they have been at odds for a long time, and with such a big incident happening in the group recently, she wouldn't have had time to come even if she knew."
Speaking of Jiang Yueling, I wonder what she would think of the current chaotic trending searches. Would she still suspect Lin Jidong? Or would she suspect that this was all her own drama, a self-directed and self-made hype?
Lin Jidong's ward is a private VIP ward, with an exclusive floor and a dedicated person to look after him. It is not crowded. Apart from the attending physician and the regular nurse, the only people who can come up are his own people.
Wang Duoren was standing by the window, overlooking the dark night outside the building. He had just finished a phone call.
"I just called the police, and they said they'll search the area near where the child disappeared. But as for the kidnapping... even though it's trending, we haven't received any threatening text messages from the kidnappers yet. They're telling us not to jump to conclusions, saying it might all be fabricated."
Wang Duo spoke very quickly, and his words seemed to be comforting Lin Ying, and also seemed to be comforting himself.
"Regardless of whether the children were kidnapped or not, their disappearance is a fact. You've seen those trending searches. Even if someone wants to take revenge on Jiang Lin, why would they use me as a target? He just wants to ruin my reputation and Jiang Shu's, and completely discredit the Jiang Lin Group."
"So that's why you suspect Mr. Lin?"
Lin Ying shook his head, his brows furrowed.
"I was skeptical before coming here, but with his current health, how could he have the energy to plan all this?"
She stared at Wang Duo's urging eyes behind his glasses, and asked anxiously and seriously:
"But besides him, who else would want to make the scandal between Jiang Shu and me bigger?"
The other party had obviously guessed the answer earlier than her:
"Lin Ying, don't you understand yet?"
Wang Duo sighed and lowered his eyelids. "I don't know why Jiaze also disappeared... But since they didn't ask us for a ransom, it means the kidnappers weren't after money. They deliberately exposed the child's identity, but were ambiguous about the authenticity of the kidnapping. They hired a network of trolls to post it online, causing panic and speculation, and also to criticize the public opinion that Jiang Lin was about to suppress. But do you think such biased media reports will really affect the Jiang family mother and son in the slightest? At this point, it's clear that the person they really want to destroy is not Jiang Shu, but you."
He couldn't help but raise his voice a little, but calmed down as soon as possible and tried to calmly say:
"Have you forgotten why you compromised and married me before? Do you still remember what you promised your stepmother?"
When Lin Ying heard this, his heart was shocked.
Of course she remembered - I would take the children and leave this city, far away from Jiang Shu.
But obviously, she broke her promise last night, so the public opinion was more directed at her and the child than at smearing Jiang Shu.
Jiang Yueling could help her son reverse public opinion, but naturally she could also ruin her reputation - she could have left quietly.
Seeing Lin Ying suddenly fall silent, his eyes lost some of their luster.
Wang Duo knew that she had figured it out after his reminder.
Snap...
A tear suddenly seeped out of the corner of her eye.
This was the first tear he shed after learning that his daughter was suspected of being kidnapped and that he himself was pushed to the forefront of public opinion. It came slower than Wang Duo expected.
She had indeed changed. She was no longer the cautious Lin Ying from three years ago, nor was she the Lin Ying who couldn't help but shed tears when she heard bad news.
He was very pleased to see her grow into the person he liked more - even though she had rejected him an hour ago, at this moment, he still couldn't help but hold her in his arms as if they were sympathetic, and gently patted the back of her head...
"Lin Ying, don't worry. I have some connections in the media and I'm already looking for someone to help remove the trending searches. I'm also following up on the children's news. With me here, everything will be fine."
Just as he finished speaking, the door to the corridor was suddenly pushed open.
There was a loud bang, startling both of them.
Lin Ying pushed people away out of habit, but saw Jiang Shu walking towards them quickly with an aggressive face, looking ill-intentioned.
Before she could even think or ask, the other party's fist had already swung heavily towards Wang Duo's face.
"Wang Duo, don't you see what you've done? How dare you pretend to be a good person in front of Lin Ying!"
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