Before he could come up with a plan, Madame Kong couldn’t wait to spread the news of Su Ning’s concession to Nanjing, and of course she didn’t forget to mention that she held the screening rights.
As expected.
Even before she returned to Nanjing, calls started pouring in one after another.
No hawk would strike without first spotting its prey.
To maximize her gains, she kept her lips tightly sealed, taking the opportunity to casually embellish and gossip about Su Ning’s critique of Antonio, adding plenty of spice to the story.
That comment was indeed explosive.
For a time, terms like “eight generations of legitimate descent,” “bastard son,” “unworthy,” and “a stain on the family name” spread like wildfire.
Although it was somewhat amusing,
many actually agreed with Su Ning’s words—there was indeed a clear distinction between legitimate and illegitimate birth. Word had it that foreigners practiced monogamy, and Antonio was nothing but a true bastard son of a concubine!
“And he’s a mixed-blood foreigner to boot, impure in bloodline, the lowest of the low—how could he be worthy of Miss Su?”
“He’s got nothing but a pretty face.”
“A gold digger, that’s what he is.”
With certain people stirring the pot, Antonio received all this information from every direction. He flew into a raging fury, smashing the room to pieces:
“A bunch of gossiping scoundrels! If circumstances hadn’t forced my hand, I wouldn’t even give that venomous woman Su Ning a second glance. Vicious and cunning, and now she wants to burn the bridge after crossing it? No way. I won’t let her get away with it!”
After venting his anger,
he frowned and pondered for a moment… then turned to his father’s trusted advisor for guidance—
“What do you think I should do?”
The advisor: …
If you don’t know, don’t pretend you do.
He felt like throwing in the towel, but since he was drawing a salary, even if the boss’s son was a lump of mud, he had to try to mold him into something decent.
“Young Master, you actually don’t need to worry too much. According to the agreement you signed, as long as nothing goes wrong before the shareholders’ meeting, Miss Su can’t back out. In the end, the chairman’s seat will still be yours.”
“But that’s just in name. No one will genuinely respect me.”
Antonio was unwilling to settle.
He hadn’t gone through all this trouble just to be a puppet!
“I asked you to come up with a solution. That was practically useless,” he said, eyeing the advisor with suspicion and dissatisfaction. “Didn’t Father say you were very capable? Why can’t you think of a decent plan? Are you disloyal?”
The advisor nearly couldn’t believe his ears.
What nonsense!
You were the one with water in your brain when you signed that terrible agreement, and on top of that, you couldn’t even succeed at your own strength—romance. Now you’re coming to me for a plan.
The best plan would be to go back to the day you signed that agreement and slap you hard enough to wake you up!
He took a deep breath to suppress his anger.
“I have no disloyalty, but I advise you not to speak so loudly. Beiping is Miss Su’s territory.”
“What does that matter?”
Antonio waved dismissively. “This backward, ugly city has no one who understands Portuguese… Wait, are you trying to change the subject? In any case, you have to give me an answer.”
“Let me think.”
Both of them were too caught up in their emotions to notice that, outside a third-story window, in a pitch-black, narrow, but concealed nook, Miguel’s eyes sparkled with intense excitement.
He knew it, he just knew he would dig up some news from Antonio.
Although it wasn't the solid evidence of infidelity—photos and messages that he had hoped for to humiliate Suning—it was still good enough. Miguel had already thought of the headlines:
"Love Behind Cold Transactions: The Ambitious Chinese Female Tycoon"
"Lovers Turned Enemies: The Real Reason Revealed"
His excitement peaked.
Miguel even risked changing his position for a better shot.
Click, click, click.
"Wait, I think I heard something," his trusted aide said, sharply alert. He stood up and began pacing around the room.
Miguel closed his eyes nervously.
Silently prayed to God.
The footsteps grew closer, closer. In his position, all the aide had to do was pull aside the curtain, and he would see everything at a glance... and then God answered his prayer—
"I don't hear any sound at all. You're just making up ghosts because you can't think of a way out," Antonio's sarcastic voice rang out.
At that moment, the aide's hand had already touched the curtain.
He turned around in disbelief.
"What did you say?"
"Was what I said earlier not clear enough?"
In a few exchanges, the two finally started arguing. Miguel, having escaped disaster, gasped for air and smiled, grateful to the foolish young master Antonio.
Not long after.
Bang—
The aide stormed out, slamming the door. The sounds of things being thrown echoed again inside the room. Miguel snapped a few shots from different angles, feeling he had enough material, and began figuring out how to get down.
Then the door opened again.
This time, the sound was very soft, almost completely masked by a woman's exclamation. Miguel couldn't believe his luck; his nostrils flared with excitement as he looked inside the room—
"You... Why are you here?"
Antonio scrambled to greet her, but as he got close, he stopped himself with restraint. Seeing this, Mu Wan awkwardly turned her face away.
She handed him the basket in her hands.
"I came to bring you some nourishing soup. You've helped me so much, and I don't have anything good to repay you with. This is all I could do. I hope you don't mind."
"How could I mind?"
With that, Antonio took the basket as if it were a treasure.
He tried to invite Mu Wan to sit down, but the room was a mess, a total wreck. He froze in place. Seeing this, Mu Wan shook her head understandingly: "No need, I'm fine standing."
"But what happened to make you so angry?" In her eyes, this foreign young man was warm and kind, as if blessed by the sun. Something that could make him lose control...
"Is it related to Miss Su?"
Seeing Antonio's expression confirm her guess, she sighed.
"So it is her."
An unhappy love can change a person beyond recognition. The more heartless side doesn't care, leaving only the one still holding on, shattered and broken.
Mu Wan understood that feeling all too well!
Basking in her compassionate and sympathetic gaze,
Antonio couldn't help but open his heart and pour everything out to her.
Of course, he had "slightly" embellished the story.
For example, he claimed he signed the agreement because he was drawn to Suning, conveniently omitting the threats from his siblings at the time.
"...I thought I was lucky enough to find a lifelong partner, that love had blessed me. But the more time I spent with her, the more I realized she wasn't the one. And after you appeared, that feeling only grew stronger."
Mu Wan's face blushed.
She could feel the intensity of his passion.
But, but, it was too late—she had already given her heart to Jixing...
“I’m in pain.”
“No!” Hearing this, Mu Wan’s eyes softened with sympathy as she looked up:
“Don’t torment yourself. This love affair was a mistake from the start. Su Ning only wanted to use you, to exploit your love and enthusiasm to get her hands on Pacific Shipping. You’re just a victim.”
Antonio felt a flicker of guilt.
Outside the window.
Miguel rolled his eyes skyward. Su Ning wasn’t exactly a good person, but Antonio wasn’t so innocent either… At best, they were scheming against each other—he just wasn’t clever enough.
As he grumbled to himself.
He didn’t forget to take photos either. When he tried to capture a side angle, Mu Wan suddenly turned her face away, nearly making him drop the camera. He cursed under his breath.
Then he heard her say:
“Anton, I’ve actually thought of a good way to help you.”
“What is it?”
“Simple: a hero saving a beauty.” Mu Wan explained: “Su Ning is cold-blooded. I even suspect she has no emotions at all. Ordinary methods won’t work. Only this might give us a fighting chance.”
“And if it still doesn’t move her?”
“That’s okay too. A life-saving debt outweighs the heavens. With that debt of gratitude, you can gain a lot—much more than you have now.”
Antonio was thoroughly intrigued.
The question was, how to pull off the hero-rescuing-beauty act? The two discussed it with enthusiasm, so absorbed that they didn’t even notice the commotion Miguel made downstairs.
Though he was especially careful.
He still stumbled when landing, but Miguel felt no pain—only one thought: to get the story out as fast as possible.
This way, Su Ning would lose face.
And he could make a name for himself with this earth-shattering scoop!
No, no, no.
He couldn’t do that, Miguel thought. He had to wait until Antonio succeeded before leaking it. By then, Su would be utterly heartbroken—and powerless to change a thing.
Decision made.
Having settled on his plan, Miguel hailed a rickshaw and climbed in:
“Quick, to the train station.”
But the rickshaw didn’t move.
Miguel frowned. Just as he was about to curse, the rickshaw puller turned around and said in clumsy Portuguese:
“Welcome to Peking. Miss Su Ning sends her regards.”
