When it came to He Ya’s generosity, Xie Changyu waved his hand. “Thanks, Sis Ya, but there’s no need~ We’ll just divide it according to everyone’s investment ratio!”
“As friends, how could I take advantage of everyone?”
Wang Chaoming was quick to praise him with a laugh. “Boss Xie is certainly generous!”
That was exactly the opening Xie Changyu had been waiting for. He grinned and immediately began digging a hole for him. “Brother Chao, what are you talking about?”
“When I start working on my research projects in the future, I’ll still have to rely on all you big bosses here for your generous support~”
Zhang Motong glanced at Wang Chaoming, who had fallen straight into the trap, and couldn’t resist showing off. “Luckily, I’m not quick with my mouth!”
“Research is such a money-burning business. It’s obvious something like that isn’t within my budget!”
Wang Chaoming reacted just as quickly. “Don’t flatter yourself. I was praising the other Boss Xie just now—your little sister, Xie Tangning!”
“For a major project like this, go ask your brother for investment!”
Xie Changyu, the high-maintenance baby, was dissatisfied. His lips puckered and his expression changed. “That’s not fair~”
“I don’t care! As good friends, isn’t supporting my dreams with a little investment the right thing to do?”
“If you guys dare not to invest, I’ll go hang myself outside your houses!”
The moment he said this, another roar of laughter erupted throughout the private room.
“Pfft~”
“No problem. I’ll make you a pink urn, since pink is your favorite!”
“I’m going to dance at your funeral, so go ahead without a care!”
“That’s fine! If you hang yourself outside my house, I’ll be able to achieve yacht freedom in no time. How wonderful!”
“That’s right, darling~ No matter how many yachts you want, we can burn them for you!”
Xie Changyu: “…”
Where on earth had he found this bunch of horrible friends?
They were utterly ruthless—like a panda ordering bamboo shoots for delivery, only to get bamboo shoots so sharp they’d cut straight through the roof!
Seriously!
Even that jerk Xie Tangning, who regularly fed her emotional intelligence to frogs, couldn’t come up with lines like these!
The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. He simply stopped talking, puffing out his cheeks as his eyes swept from one person to the next.
He looked as though he were warning them that if they didn’t take back their words, he would really die right in front of them!
Fortunately, for all their vicious teasing, his friends still knew how to placate him.
After soothing the “child,” the group finally began “plotting” their grand money-making scheme.
…
Ever since Su Xiaoye had decided to sue Shi Jiahui, Shi Jiahui had immediately gone to the hotel where Su Xiaoye was temporarily staying as soon as she received the court summons to cause a scene.
She held up a banner outside the hotel and loudly cursed Su Xiaoye as an ungrateful ingrate, hoping to rally passersby into condemning her.
However, she had overestimated her own influence. The crowd’s sympathies were not on her side.
She had barely caused a commotion for two minutes before the onlookers tore into her so thoroughly that she was practically drenched in verbal abuse.
The hotel security guards did not indulge her either. They directly handed her over to the police for causing an illegal disturbance, giving her a one-day tour of the police station.
In the end, it was Su Yue’er who bailed her out. What she never expected was that Shi Jiahui had barely walked out the front door before she herself was taken in.
After all, Ms. Qiu was a decisive woman in a position of power. The moment she received the helpful citizen report from the Lu Corporation, she immediately followed up on the evidence provided by helpful citizen Lu Huaiyu and began an investigation.
Sure enough, she uncovered a great many problems, involving quite a number of people.
The seriousness of the matter was even enough for Ms. Qiu to move up another level after resolving the case.
Perhaps she might even be promoted two levels at once!
Ms. Qiu took the matter extremely seriously. She was also highly capable, and in less than three days, she had thoroughly investigated the money-laundering crimes in which Su Yue’er had participated.
Since Su Yue’er had been involved, she naturally could not escape legal punishment.
When Su Xiaoye heard the news, she couldn’t say that she was happy, but she couldn’t say she was unhappy either.
She merely sighed that those who did evil would ultimately be punished, and that the disordered world governed by broken rules would never appear again.
Flesh and blood would continue to grow freely, and no one would ever again be reduced to a paper-thin character.
Not long after Su Yue’er was taken away, Li Boyan was also brought in for investigation. He had colluded with senior executives at his former company and crossed multiple legal lines.
This included conspiring with overseas capital in an attempt to disrupt the normal functioning of the market.
As for Shi Jiahui, she was released on bail after causing a scene outside the hotel, but less than two days later, Su Xiaoye successfully sent her back inside.
After all, the things the husband and wife had done in the past had left behind more than enough evidence!
The female lawyer representing Su Xiaoye declared that she had never fought a case with such abundant resources behind it.
And so, a spectacular scene unfolded.
Former top star Li Boyan, former popular actress Su Yue’er, and Su Yue’er and her mother all gained stable “government positions” on the very same day.
Although they had not yet been formally sentenced, the three of them could not escape legal punishment.
When Director Zhang received the news, he wasn’t surprised in the slightest. He had already had more than enough experience dealing with guests whose careers had collapsed.
He had also prepared for situations like this long ago. In any case, the show had not finished filming, so the remaining payments had not yet been given to those two.
The money saved on their remaining fees could be treated as post-production expenses, though they certainly wouldn’t need that much.
After all, his usual post-production editing style was simple and brutal.
He would just cover the disgraced guest from head to toe with a fifty-cent special effect, and that was that.
Cheap, shoddy effects were often even more eye-catching precisely because of how bizarre they looked, and thus attracted more viewers.
So the program’s public-relations department immediately issued an announcement stating that two regular cast members had become “legal-problem celebrities” and would be unable to participate in the finale.
The remaining two regular cast members, Su Xiaoye and Xie Wanwan, would automatically form a team and continue filming the finale one week later.
One had to admit that Director Zhang understood both traffic and publicity. Su Xiaoye and Xie Wanwan, as the partners dragged down by two “legal-problem celebrities,” already came with plenty of built-in attention.
There was no way Director Zhang was going to let the two of them off the hook. Besides, he had signed contracts with them and paid them!
They had no reason not to continue filming!
As for S.D., the company had suffered devastating losses after being besieged from all sides. It was only a matter of time before Yisen was forced out by members of his own family.
Given their current reputation, they had virtually no chance of entering the market of any country, no matter which one they targeted.
A brand that had lost the trust of consumers was destined to lose its competitiveness in the marketplace.
What was more, so many rivals were waiting to carve up their share. It was only a matter of time before S.D. was completely divided among them.
But S.D. was ultimately still a colossal entity. Even a centipede could keep crawling for a while after its death.
For it to collapse completely within just a few days would require an expert to manipulate the stock market.
Yet doing that could easily trigger a financial crisis and cause violent market fluctuations, at which point the authorities would intervene.
If things were not handled properly, he might end up sending himself to prison instead.
That was why Lu Huaiyu had all the patience in the world to swallow this enormous prey one bite at a time. With the crisis in the plot resolved, he now had nothing left to fear.
The Xie Family Estate
Since Director Zhang had scheduled the final filming session for a week later, the interval was rather long.
Xie Tangning and Xie Changyu had spent several days holed up at home and had finally experienced something resembling an actual vacation.
The siblings sighed over it again and again.
One sighed that, in the end, she had managed to spend seven whole days of summer vacation on a proper long break. Who else could say they had done that?
The other sighed that he finally had no schedules to deal with and could enjoy his vacation as recklessly as he pleased!
But there was a problem!
Once a person had too much free time and nowhere to put all that energy, they either ended up playing with the cats and dogs at home or went around provoking one person after another.
And so, one chaotic scene after another unfolded across the estate.
The victims and the ways they were victimized are listed below:
