2.18

Hao Junli was warded for three days. Feng Mian brought over several clothes, light snacks, and his sketchbook on her second visit.

When Hao Junli woke up, he was not too surprised when the doctor delivered the news of his miscarriage. A range of complex emotions swirled inside him. The child was not his, but there was a deep sense of loss that felt as if they were his own. Hao Junli attributed the residual feelings as belonging to the original owner.

Feng Mian, for the duration of Hao Junli's hospitalisation, had made the ward an extension of her mini office. And even after he was brought home on the fourth day, she still worked from home. Wherever Hao Junli was, was where she brought over her work to. Secretary Hong had to even make a personal visit to the CEO's home to discuss work. Hao Junli could tell that while she was trying to spend time accompanying him, she was very much a busy person.

For the past few days, her phone had not stopped ringing. Feng Mian, in the end, just decided to entirely shut her phone off.

"I'm not sad you know. You don't have to stay with me all the time."

"Oh."

Feng Mian had accompanied Hao Junli so often partly because she was afraid that he was affected by the incident and could turn depressed without someone by his side. Knowing that his emotions were stable, she felt more at ease.

"I saw the news, someone spread over your company's black materials all over the internet." Hao Junli bit into an irregularly cut apple.

At the bedside, Feng Mian continued to unskillfully peel the skin of an apple with a knife. "I saw it too. I think they could have picked a better picture to show, I looked a bit ugly."

In the span of a week, her company had already been dragged through the mud under rumours of financial fraud. Internet trolls with their virtual saliva spat on her intensively, and some investors had already begun to withdraw their shares from the company.

She became the number one public enemy in seven short days. Moreover, her public relations team had stayed quiet much to the stupefaction of the citizen. Everyone in the company but her was panic-stricken. And here she was idling her days, away from public eyes, peeling fruits while chatting with her housemate.

Feng Mian scrolled through the comment sections of the news where she made headlines. Atrocious and nasty comments filled the screen, Feng Mian saw one comment saying that she should find a hole to crawl in and another telling her to go kill herself. She read them amusedly, one by one.

Back at Zhang Wei and Yu Yan's side, they had received an early morning surprise - a court letter from a Mr Li Xiaocheng had landed in their mailbox.

By the eighth day, new news whitewashing CEO Li had circulated. The people from orphanages and charity projects that she had previously donated money to began to speak up and issue their opinions. Statements popped out from their websites one after another, showing full support to Li Xiaocheng.

Charity A: This accusation is unfounded, who knew if those pictures of accounts were real or not? With today's technology, it could be that someone is forging these materials. Mr Li Xiaocheng is a kind-hearted soul who is willing to donate to the poor, it is hard to believe that he would do such things.

Charity B: The full story is not yet known and people are already rushing to throw mud at a good person. Mr Li Xiaocheng has yet to release a full statement of what had happened. We should all wait to listen to both sides of the stories.

Charity C: I call this accusation hogwash spread by those who envy Mr Li's success! You folks don't know this, but Mr Li had donated several million to charity funds. Our company works closely with children's' hospital. Mr Li had fully funded the surgery of fifteen children who would otherwise need to be put on the waiting list for not having enough money. If Mr Li had not put in money, our program would have already been shut down. Mr Li Xiaocheng is a hero!

The two sides began to engage in a heated battle on who's right and who's wrong. A person on the comment spoke up.

Person D: Which rich people doesn't do charity? He's just doing it to get a good name bah.

Person E: If he wants fame, then he would have used his own money and publicized it. It wasn't until now that he is in trouble that those people he helped before began to speak up. My mom was right, good karma will eventually be repaid.

Person F: Hmph, he is only a bit good looking yet people rush to defend him like mother hens. In this world, you can get away with murder as long as you're good looking enough.

Person G: Upstairs, don't blame other people for being good looking. Go blame your parents who shouldn't have given birth to such an ugly son.

Person H: Peh! Just a bunch of water armies attempting to whitewash an evil person. CEO Li's side isn't speaking up because they're guilty, that's why!

Person I: Wei, this person upstairs, you can eat indiscriminately but you can't say whatever you want to say. Did you check the profile of the people from those organisations? They're the real deal ba.

A piece of new news exploded on the internet while the argument was still going on. CEO Li is suing the Director of Moza Industries, Zhang Wei, for stealing private company information!

It was as if oil had been thrown into fire, the internet began erupting into another round of speculation. Why was this progress so sudden? How did it become a battle between CEO Li and Director Zhang?

#

Feng Mian drove to work in a good mood that day. To her surprise, the first person she saw in front of her office was Yu Yan who she assumed would have already quit out of fear. She would, if she was smart enough.

Showing her face in front of the husband whose wife she had just committed attempted murder against is exceedingly stupid. If this was not the office, Feng Mian would have pummeled this teary double-faced whore to the ground.

Even before the other side could start to question or berate her, Yu Yan's rounded eyes began shedding crocodile tears.

'Yo, miss female lead, I haven't said anything yet you're already turning on the waterworks?'

It was as if it was she that bullied her instead.

"Ceo Li! The other day was really an accident. I didn't mean to do it," she cried out.

"Whether you meant it or not, we'll see the footage and let the court decide. Based on what I saw, unless you have a medical history of the Alzheimer disease while you were pushing Junli, you really meant what you have done."

Yu Yan vehemently shook her head despondently. "I- I don't know what came over me. It really was a mistake."

"Why did you do it?"

"I-I…" Yu Yan's ears reddened.

Feng Mian's good mood was ruined by the female lead's nonsense. "Actually, never mind. I don't care why you did it. I only care that you're going to jail for it."

Feeling as if she was wasting her time, Feng Mian abandoned the female lead, sidestepping her to enter her office.

"I love you, Mr Li!" Yu Yan blurted out.

Feng Mian stopped in her steps.

"It seems like I underestimated you, Ms Yu. I knew that you were brash and incompetent, but I didn't know that you were capable of being a homewrecker too."

Yu Yan had already gone off the deep end, her voice rising in pitch. "Why is it her, Wan Junli?! Why can it be Chun Hua?! Why can't it be me?! What does Wan Junli have that I don't? She doesn't even match up to you in terms of status. Do you know that her father had already filed for bankruptcy? Their family is planning to leech off of you!"

The look in Feng Mian's eyes changed. Her momentum scared Yu Yan so much that she retreated three steps backwards. Feng Mian's voice had also gotten more severe, her tone cold. "Who cares who her father is? Do you know who her husband is?"

Yu Yan felt hot breath fanning her cheeks, but the words from Feng Mian's lips intimidated her into a cold sweat. "It's me, you bitch."

Yu Yan was already backed into a corner and her mouth had run dry. She had never been this scared her entire life. She felt that she and Li Xiaocheng were predestined from the start, and knew that they were meant to be with each other since the first time she laid eyes on him. Now, it felt like fate had played a joke on her.

"Don't show up in this building again, or I'll have the guards throw you out into the streets. The next time I see you will be in court, in front of the judge."

Feng Mian walked cooly without sparing her another glance.