Chapter 22 Fairy Tale

Gu Jingting moved his fingers and typed a few words: "Don't follow me, wait for me at the company."

Then, Lin Yike saw the Rolls-Royce Phantom behind her suddenly accelerate, and with a whoosh, it overtook her and quickly disappeared.

Lin Yike gripped the steering wheel and continued to drive at a steady speed.

Just as the car entered the city center, Lin Yike's phone suddenly rang.

It was Milan calling. She had been squatting in front of the municipal government these days, and finally waited for the right opportunity.

"Yike, I just saw your dad and Director Li from the Public Security Bureau together. Come over right away." Milan's voice was urgent.

"Are you sure?" Lin Yike confirmed with her again. Then she hung up the phone and the car suddenly turned around.

"I have urgent business at the municipal government." Lin Yike told Gu Jingting and directly slammed on the brakes, and the car flew out with a whoosh.

Gu Jingting frowned imperceptibly but still didn't say anything.

The car stopped in front of the municipal government, and Lin Yike didn't get out immediately. Instead, she took out eye drops from her handbag and, without avoiding Gu Jingting's gaze, tilted her head back and dripped them into her eyes.

As the eye drops flowed out of her eyes and dripped onto her cheeks, she looked pitiful and teary.

"I still have things to do, you don't need to accompany me. You can take my car and drive away." Lin Yike threw the keys to him. She pushed open the door, got out of the car, and Gu Jingting sat in the driver's seat.

He didn't hurry to drive away, but took out a lighter and a cigarette from his pocket.

On the other side, Lin Yike had already stopped a black Audi business car, which pulled over, and she got into the passenger seat. The driver was beside her, while Lin Jianshan and Director Li sat in the back.

"Dad, Uncle Li." Lin Yike's voice was choked with tears.

"What's wrong, my niece? Who bullied you? Tell Uncle Li, and Uncle Li will take revenge for you." Director Li was the first to speak.

Lin Yike wiped away her tears and didn't say anything. Lin Jianshan's face darkened, and he instructed the driver to drive. "If there is anything, we can talk in my office."

The car moved slowly, and Lin Yike sat up straight, tilting her head slightly to look out the window.

The white Audi A4 was still parked on the side of the road. One side of the car window rolled down, and a man's arm was resting on the outside of the window. His knuckles were distinct, and he was smoking a cigarette.

Their gazes met briefly, his eyes were deep, bottomless, a kind of profound gaze that could pierce through one's heart.

Lin Yike followed Lin Jianshan and Director Li into the vice mayor's office on the third floor of the municipal government.

Lin Jianshan had just returned from a meeting, draped his suit jacket over the back of the chair behind the large desk, turned and looked at Lin Yike with a stern expression, "What trouble have you caused now, coming to me to clean up the mess?"

Lin Yike tearfully recounted the anonymous post on the campus forum and her own punishment from the school. She cried pitifully, presenting herself as an innocent victim.

With her acting skills, she was no worse than Lu Huixin and her mother, she had just been too proud to perform before.

After listening, Lin Jianshan's face was very unpleasant. The scandal of Lin Yike's unmarried childbirth clearly hurt his reputation.

Lu Huixin and her mother calculated everything, but they neglected one thing: no matter what, Lin Yike was his daughter. If her ugly deeds were exposed, it would hurt Lin Jianshan's reputation, and he would not tolerate it.

Furthermore, his old classmate Director Li was also present, making it even more difficult for Lin Jianshan to let this go.

"How could something like this happen at school? Old Li, I need your help in handling this matter."

"Don't worry, I'll take care of it. Whoever dares to bully my niece, I'll make sure to skin him alive when I catch him," Director Li promised solemnly.

And indeed, Director Li was not exaggerating. The resources and efficiency of the Public Security Bureau were not just for show. Just one day later, Song Chengpeng was invited to the city bureau for a chat.

When Lu Huixin and her mother heard that Song Chengpeng had been taken away by the police, they became panicked.

Lu Yuxin hurriedly called her sister, Lu Yutong, who was overseas.

"Sister, Song Chengpeng has been taken away by the police, what if he exposes us? That dog will bite us even if it doesn't bark! And Lin Yike, that clingy girl, ran to dad and played the victim. If dad finds out we were the ones behind this, he'll definitely skin me alive," Lu Yuxin's voice was trembling with tears.

On the other end of the phone, Lu Yutong had been filming for more than ten hours straight and had just started to rest. She was wide awake now.

"I've always said that Lin Yike is very smart, just simple-minded. We were able to deceive her before. But you went and snatched Zuo Ye away, and even she should understand that we are now on opposite sides. Once she becomes aware, it will be difficult for us to deal with her."

Yu Xin, don't panic, listen to me. Uncle and the deputy director of the city bureau are old acquaintances. Make sure they keep Song Chengpeng steady. This fire can't burn you and your mother. Keep a low profile and don't provoke Lin Yike. I'll come back to China immediately after the play ends, and we'll talk more then."

...

Song Chengpeng admitted to anonymously posting false accusations against Lin Yike on the school forum. As for his motive, Song Chengpeng claimed it was because he couldn't win over Lin Yike and he became resentful out of love, but he did not implicate Lu Huixin and her daughter.

He was ultimately sentenced to six months in prison with a two-year probation period, and ordered to pay Lin Yike CNY 120,000 in compensation for reputational damage and mental distress.

Although Lin Yike received the compensation, the outcome didn't satisfy her. The school's punishment against her was not revoked, and she still couldn't graduate smoothly this year.

Perhaps this was what Lin Jianshan wanted to see.

The only consolation was that Song Guohua kept his promise. Lin Yike had received a notice to audition for the role in the drama "Mermaid Princess" and got hold of the script.

At night, she lay in bed flipping through the script.

"Mermaid Princess" was adapted from Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale "The Little Mermaid". The adapted story took place during the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty in 1542.

The crown prince Zhu Qiyu sailed with the fleet and encountered a great storm at sea. He was rescued by a little mermaid named Yiduo. Yiduo fell in love with the young and handsome prince at first sight, but couldn't reveal her identity as a mermaid. So, she handed him over to a fisherman's daughter living by the sea.

Yiduo returned to the sea, but she could not forget the prince. Ignoring her father and sisters' advice, she left the ocean alone. She stayed with the prince as his queen, but he always thought of the fisherman's daughter who he mistakenly believed had saved him.

He searched hard and finally found his true love by the sea. He married her, and Yiduo died of dehydration on the day of their wedding, as she had been away from her sea home for too long.

Lin Yike roughly skimmed through the script and then threw it on the nightstand.

"Haha, it's really a fairy tale," she thought to herself, her hands clasped behind her head. "Chen Dao is so old, yet he still has a childlike heart."