Chapter Sixty-One: Combating Routine and Combating Rumors – A Two-Pronged Approach
On her way home, Luo Yan felt uneasy.
Jiang Sui did not reply to her messages or answer her calls.
Could it be that the aftereffects of those "deadly drinks" from yesterday have kicked in and he passed out at home?
Luo Yan turned around, exited the subway station, hailed a taxi, and sped all the way to Jiang Sui's house.
As soon as I opened the door, I saw Jiang Sui slowly walking in from the balcony. Her hair was slightly damp, and she looked refreshed, without even the haggardness of a hangover.
Luo Yan rushed in, grabbed him, and looked him up and down anxiously: "Are you alright? Are you feeling unwell? Why didn't you reply to my messages or answer my calls?!"
"I've been busy all day and didn't notice," Jiang Sui said casually. "What's wrong?"
"What's wrong?!" Luo Yan's temper flared up instantly. "I thought you were lying at home unconscious from alcohol poisoning!"
A hint of a smile flashed in Jiang Sui's eyes. "So worried about me?"
Seeing that he was completely unharmed and even looked radiant, Luo Yan breathed a sigh of relief: "It's good that you're alright... You go ahead with your work, I'll head back now."
Just as he turned around, Jiang suddenly exclaimed, pressing his temples and frowning, "I'm a little dizzy. I did drink too much yesterday, and the aftereffects are only starting to hit me now."
Luo Yan rushed over, "Why did you faint again?"
Jiang Sui leaned against the entryway cabinet, closed her eyes, and said, "I don't know... could you pour me a glass of water?"
Seeing his "weak" appearance, Luo Yan quickly turned around and went to the kitchen to pour water. When she returned with the water glass, she saw Jiang Sui half-lying on the sofa, pressing his forehead and making a painful gesture.
She handed him the water: "Should I go downstairs and buy some hangover medicine?"
"No need, I'll be fine after a rest."
Jiang Sui put down her water glass, took her wrist, and pulled her to sit beside her. She tilted her head and leaned on her shoulder. "Don't move, let me lean on you for a while."
The refreshing scent of his shower gel filled her nostrils, and the strands of his hair tickled Luo Yan's neck, making her feel a little distracted.
Something's not right, this dizziness came at just the right time!
Luo Yan immediately snapped out of her daze: "Jiang Sui, are you acting again?"
"I wasn't acting." Jiang Sui tightened his arms around her, holding her even closer. "I'm genuinely dizzy."
Luo Yan: "..."
She looked at his face, so close to hers, his eyes closed, and he looked surprisingly innocent.
To hell with innocence!
Didn't notice? He has so much work to handle every day, he practically has his phone welded to his face 24/7, how could he not notice? He was full of energy just a moment ago, and then he suddenly felt dizzy just as she was about to leave?
The male fox is using tricks on her again!
"Jiang Sui, step aside."
Luo Yan's voice turned cold.
Jiang Sui looked up at her slightly: "What's wrong?"
"Did you do this on purpose?" Luo Yan stared into his eyes. "You didn't reply to my messages or answer my calls, just to make me come here, and then you pretended to be dizzy to make me stay?"
Jiang Sui looked at her silently, neither admitting nor denying, and this tacit acceptance made Luo Yan even angrier.
"Is it fun?" She tried to break free from his embrace. "Is it interesting to watch me get anxious and upset?"
"It's not that I don't want to go back..."
Jiang Sui sat up and explained softly, "I didn't know how to answer. If I said something was wrong, you would worry. If I said nothing was wrong... you wouldn't come. You would rather go back and hug Jiang Xiaosui than hug me."
Seeing his seemingly "pitiful" appearance, Luo Yan softened her heart and her tone became gentler.
“I fall for your tricks because I care about you, but that doesn’t mean I enjoy being tricked by you. Once or twice is just for fun, but if it happens too often, I’ll feel like you’re not serious. If you want to see me, just call me and say, ‘I miss you, can you come over?’ It’s that simple.”
Jiang Sui blinked: "You'll come if I tell you?"
Luo Yan patiently and gently persuaded, "That's not the point. The point is your attitude and approach. I'm not a bug in your project. I don't need you to use various methods to 'debug' or 'optimize' me, understand?"
Jiang Sui frowned, his eyes unusually filled with the clear-eyed stupidity of a slacker.
"I will change."
"Will it really be changed?" Luo Yan expressed her doubt.
"They really know how to change."
Jiang Sui nodded sincerely and then said, "You can stay tonight, right?"
Luo Yan: "..."
This guy... is he really that aloof male god who used to have "Don't touch me" written all over his face and made her lose her mind?
For the next few days, Luo Yan refrained from contacting Jiang Sui, intending to teach him a "lesson" to show her protest against his abuse of tactics.
Jiang Sui acted as if nothing had happened, sending good morning and good night greetings and liking Jiang Xiaosui's daily posts, but never mentioning how to correct the situation.
Luo Yan was even more frustrated.
Is he genuinely ignorant or pretending? Or is this just another of his "tricks"?
When Luo Yan entered the office that day, she sensed that something was wrong.
Her colleagues looked at her with a hint of unspoken inquiry, and their whispers stopped abruptly when she entered. Even Liu Su looked away, as if she were constipated.
"What happened?" Luo Yan put down her bag and looked at Liu Su. "Is there something on my face?"
Liu Su looked around, then leaned closer and whispered, "Sister Yan, look..." She handed over her phone screen, which belonged to a local blogger.
[A civil servant surnamed L from the Culture and Tourism Bureau of Y City has a decadent lifestyle. She is not only two-timing her elite boyfriend (a senior executive surnamed J at a leading IT company) and a young male colleague surnamed Z, but also has an entanglement with a married lawyer surnamed W, driving his wife to a public breakdown. There are photos to prove it!]
Below are a few low-resolution photos taken from unusual angles: one is of her and Zhou Jiaqi leaving get off work at the entrance of her workplace, with Zhou Jiaqi smiling and supporting her, the posture looking rather ambiguous; the second is of Wu Yuzhou grabbing her wrist downstairs, it really looks like they are pulling each other; and the last one is a photo of Jiang Sui's black SUV parked opposite the Cultural and Tourism Bureau, with faces and license plates thoughtfully blurred.
Judging from the reading data, they probably also bought promotions. There aren't many comments below, but almost all of them are malicious speculations and vile insults.
Luo Yan felt all the blood rush to her head, a mixture of anger, absurdity, and a touch of nausea.
Who did this? It's so hard to guess!
At that moment, Director Zheng's voice came from the doorway, carrying an unprecedented seriousness: "Luo Yan, come to my office."
As soon as he entered the office, Director Zheng closed the door and slammed his phone on the table with a livid face.
"Do you have any explanation? We're practically asking for your ID number! Do you know how bad this is? It's even gotten to the police station; they just called to ask about it!"
"Director Zheng, this is pure fabrication and slander. The photos are all taken out of context and manipulated. The executive surnamed J is my boyfriend, whom I have been openly dating. You also know Fei Yang Jiang Sui. The colleague surnamed Z is Zhou Jiaqi. We only have normal working relationships. As for the married lawyer surnamed W, he is Wu Yuzhou, a lawyer at Zhengwang Law Firm. He has harassed me unilaterally many times. I recently reported him to the police, and the police station has a record of it. The person who posted this is probably Wu Yuzhou's wife, Yang Xin. I suspect that her motive is to attribute the reason for her unhappy marriage to me and to seek revenge."
"Is everything you're saying true?"
“I have a police report receipt as evidence. In addition, my relationship with Jiang Sui can also be subject to organizational investigation.”
Seeing Luo Yan's calm attitude, Director Zheng's expression softened slightly. "Even if it's a rumor, it's a fact that it has caused a bad influence. As a civil servant, it's important to have strong political qualities and professional abilities, but personal conduct is equally important. Go back and write a detailed explanation to eliminate the impact as soon as possible."
Luo Yan felt aggrieved, but arguing was pointless now, so she could only nod and say, "I understand, Director Zheng."
Jiang Sui had just returned to his office after a meeting when he received a message from Jiang Qiming, which was a Weibo post.
- It seems your upright and righteous civil servant girlfriend only sees you as one of her many options.
Upon clicking the link, his eyes instantly froze. He quickly put away his phone, strode out the door, and drove straight to Zhengwang Law Firm.
Wu Yuzhou was facing his computer, his face grim, clearly having also seen the Weibo post.
Just then, the door was pushed open from the outside, and Jiang Sui walked in, closing the door behind her.
Wu Yuzhou was taken aback; it was clear the visitor was up to no good. "President Jiang? What brings you here?"
Jiang Sui sat down and placed her phone face down on the table.
“Attorney Wu should know that your wife has been spreading rumors online to slander Luo Yan, right? This matter started because of you, so it should be resolved by you.”
"Yang Xin and I are in the process of getting a divorce, and I have no control over her behavior..."
"That's your problem. Besides, you're not divorced yet, are you?"
What do you want?
"It's not about what I want, but what you, Attorney Wu, plan to do..."
Jiang Sui leaned slightly forward, staring into Wu Yuzhou's eyes, and said, word by word, "You are a legal professional and know more about the law than I do. You should be aware that the evidence collection and litigation process in defamation and reputation cases can be very agonizing for both parties. And who can guarantee that your soon-to-be ex-wife won't reveal more 'interesting stories' about you and your marriage?"
Wu Yuzhou's face turned pale instantly. He knew that Jiang Sui was not bluffing, and he was even more afraid that Yang Xin would be cornered and reveal all his shady dealings.
"I will handle it." He said this almost through gritted teeth. "Yang Xin will delete the post and issue a public apology within 24 hours to minimize the impact."
"That would be best. Otherwise, if your clients find that you can't even handle your own family matters, how can they trust that you can handle their cases?"
As Jiang Sui turned to walk to the door, she turned back and said, "Luo Yan is not a second-best option for you. Please respect her, and you will also respect yourself."
"Are you so sure she'll stay with you forever? We grew up together..."
“Attorney Wu, we’re all adults now. It’s childish to keep bringing up things from our childhood. Let’s save some face for ourselves. I don’t want things to become irreparable.”
"what you up to?"
"What can I do? Lawsuits are Attorney Wu's specialty, but as for other things... I'm not so sure."
Jiang Sui glanced at Wu Yuzhou with undisguised contempt, then walked away without looking back.
Wu Yuzhou looked at the closed door and suddenly swept the documents off the table.
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