The beginning of the conspiracy
The appearance of Ah Xiu was like a depth bomb dropped into a calm lake, causing a huge stir at Mrs. Zhou's birthday party.
She said nothing, did nothing, just stood there quietly, and she had already won the whole war.
The ladies who had just been smearing her in the newspapers and gossiping about her private life behind her back now came forward with wine glasses in hand, chatting with her, their words filled with undisguised praise and flattery. Their enthusiasm formed a sharp and cruel contrast with the coldness and ridicule they had shown towards Chuntao just now.
"Master Ah Xiu, the cheongsam you are wearing is simply the most beautiful dress I have ever seen!"
"Yes, this design, this embroidery... it's absolutely amazing! I wonder if it can be custom-made?"
Chun Tao stood not far away, watching Ah Xiu, surrounded by everyone like a star, with jealousy almost bursting from her eyes. She clutched the crocodile leather handbag tightly, her nails digging deep into the leather.
Why?!
How could a wild girl who emerged from some poor mountain valley be so successful?!
Her cool aura and embroidery style inevitably reminded Chuntao of the deceased woman, Ling Xiuqing. But the Ah Xiu before her was more sharp than Ling Xiuqing back then, and knew how to use her strengths better. Like a thorn that could not be removed, it pierced her heart fiercely!
She was unwilling to accept this! She had finally climbed to the position of Mrs. Han and was enjoying it all. She would never allow another woman to take away all the glory that belonged to her in this way!
Han Shaoheng's face was equally gloomy, like iron gray. He had meticulously orchestrated a campaign of publicity, hoping it would discredit Ah Xiu and leave her in disgrace. But he had never imagined this woman would be so formidable, using such a devastating method to rebuff all the slander.
He looked at Ah Xiu's cold face, and an unprecedented sense of crisis and loss of control gripped his heart tightly.
This woman must be eliminated!
Otherwise, there will be endless troubles!
Halfway through the banquet, Han Shaoheng and Chuntao could no longer stay and left in shame.
Sitting in the car on the way back, the atmosphere in the car was so oppressive that it seemed to be frozen.
"Useless! They're all just a bunch of useless!" Chun Tao couldn't help herself and screamed hysterically, slamming her briefcase against the car window. "We spent so much money and hired so many writers, and what's the result? They just walked around in rags, and we've become the laughing stock of all Shanghai!"
Han Shaoheng tugged at his tie irritably and shouted coldly, "What are you yelling about! Is this the time to lose your temper?"
"What will happen if I don't lose my temper?" Chun Tao cried, her makeup smudged. "Shao Heng, look at her! She doesn't even take us seriously! If we don't find a solution, she'll trample us to death sooner or later!"
"What's the solution?" A hint of cruelty flashed in Han Shaoheng's eyes. "To deal with a woman like this, fair and honest business methods are no longer effective. She's protected by Jin Meiling and Murong Bai now. We can't touch her."
"What should we do? Should we just let it go like this?" Chuntao asked unwillingly.
Han Shaoheng was silent for a moment. The changing neon lights outside the car window cast mottled light and shadows on his handsome and distorted profile.
After a long while, he finally squeezed out a few words from between his teeth: "Since we can't defeat her openly, let's try secretly."
He turned his head and looked at Chun Tao, his eyes dark and gloomy. "Her foundation is still that small 'Zhi Xiu Fang' after all. If you destroy her shop and cut off her source of income, she will be nothing."
Chun Tao was stunned for a moment, then she understood something, and a malicious light flashed in her eyes: "You mean..."
"I remember that you have a good-for-nothing cousin. What's his name? Is he hanging around at the docks, and has a group of desperate criminals under his command?" Han Shaoheng asked coldly.
Chuntao's heart skipped a beat. She looked at Han Shaoheng with some fear: "Shaoheng, what...what do you want to do? This is a society ruled by law..."
"A society ruled by law?" Han Shaoheng sneered briefly and coldly. "Rule of law is a rule for the rich. As for a powerless orphan girl, I have plenty of ways to make her disappear without a trace."
He leaned close to Chuntao's ear and whispered a few words in a voice that only the two of them could hear.
As Chuntao listened, her expression gradually changed from initial fear to excitement and distortion.
"...Is this okay? Isn't it too risky?"
"Fortune and honor are sought in danger." Han Shaoheng leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, and spoke without emotion. "I don't want her to be seriously injured, but to... never be able to recover. I want everything she's worked so hard to build to be reduced to ashes overnight."
…
After the birthday banquet, Ling Xiuqing's "Zhixiufang" firmly established itself as a top-tier fashion brand in Shanghai. Orders poured in like snowflakes, and even the wives of foreign consuls came to visit. The door was practically packed with customers.
The studio expanded rapidly, and Ling Xiuqing recruited several skillful female workers. Everything seemed to be thriving.
She devotes herself wholeheartedly to her career, spending every day designing, making clothes and managing, which is busy and fulfilling.
She knew Han Shaoheng would never give up, but she assumed that the next phase would be even more intense business competition. She had already made all the necessary preparations for a protracted business war.
However, she still underestimated the evil of human nature.
She didn't expect that Han Shaoheng's revenge would come so quickly and be so... unscrupulous.
On a seemingly ordinary late night, when the whole of Shanghai was asleep, several dark shadows, like ghosts, appeared silently in the back alley of "Zhi Xiu Fang".
The leader was Chuntao's desperado cousin.
He glanced at the sketch of the store structure in his hand, and weighed the heavy bucket of... gasoline in his hand.
A ferocious smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
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