The next day.
Early in the morning.
As Bai Shuxin walked carelessly out of her bedroom wearing a tight, vacuum-sealed little bear nightgown, she never expected... to find an extra person sitting on her living room sofa!
"Brother Xiuqi, why are you here?"
"Did you forget what happened last night?"
Li Xiuqi twitched the corner of his mouth, looking somewhat helpless.
Hearing this, Bai Shuxin froze slightly, her mind racing as she desperately tried to remember.
Yet in her memory, there were only scenes of her attending the banquet at the Zhong Family estate; beyond that, her mind was almost a complete blank.
"I drank too much and can't remember very clearly..."
As she spoke, she instinctively lowered her gaze to look at the skimpy nightgown on her body, and her delicate frame instantly gave a start, a flash of imperceptible shyness crossing her eyes.
"Th... this couldn't have been put on me by you, right?"
This nightgown was far too light and thin, revealing her fair skin beneath the fabric in hazy outlines.
Bai Shuxin's pretty face flushed red, and she hurriedly fled back into her bedroom.
Soon, Li Xiuqi's voice came from outside the door.
"Don't get any ideas, you changed the clothes yourself, and you even took a shower while you were at it."
Inside the room, Bai Shuxin tapped her own head, knowing full well this was simply muscle memory formed from too many business banquets.
"Brother, why did you stay here the whole night?"
Having changed her clothes, Bai Shuxin came out of the bedroom, her pretty face still carrying an unnatural, rosy flush.
"No reason, just looking through some documents, and before I knew it, dawn had broken. I'll drive you to work."
"Oh, thanks, Brother."
For some reason, hearing this made Bai Shuxin feel somewhat relieved yet somewhat disappointed. She dizzily followed behind Li Xiuqi and got into the car with him.
Ring, ring, ring!
Suddenly, an abrupt phone ring interrupted Bai Shuxin's thoughts—
"President Bai, something major has happened at our company!"
"What else could possibly have happened?"
Bai Shuxin massaged her temples, feeling utterly overwhelmed.
Hasn't the company been through enough disasters lately?
It had almost gone bankrupt!
Fortunately, after reaching a partnership with Zhong Dafu, Danxin Technology was finally able to catch its breath and come back to life!
Soon, a lowered voice came through the other end of the phone.
"A reporter has come to the company named Jia Youya. She's a nationally renowned female reporter, and she claims she's here to investigate our company for selling fake medicine that killed hundreds of people!"
"What? These reporters have no conscience at all! Those are nothing but rumors. Where on earth did she get such gossip, and by what right does she come to investigate our company!"
"There's nothing we can do either, President Bai! You'd better hurry back!"
The voice on the other end of the receiver spoke in a fast, panicked rush.
"This Reporter Jia is not someone to be trifled with. They say she has massive backing and is even funded by foreign organizations!"
"With her reporting this, our scandal will spread all over the world, and even Mr. Zhong won't be able to protect us!"
"Alright, I'm heading over right now!"
Realizing the gravity of the situation, Bai Shuxin's expression turned slightly flustered.
She had indeed heard of Jia Youya's reputation. To outsiders, she was seen as a conscientious beauty reporter, flying a lofty banner and claiming to establish the heart for heaven and earth, and secure life for the people.
Because of this, she was pursued by countless people and boasted tens of millions of followers!
However, insiders all knew that this Jia Youya was funded by foreign organizations, acting as their black-mouth hitman, and was extremely adept at manipulating public opinion.
Often, funded by competitors in foreign industries, she would drag out specific topics to stir up hype!
Once she targeted someone, she targeted the entire industry!
Bai Shuxin's face tightened, her entire body trembling slightly.
She could already feel the heavy atmosphere of an impending storm.
Li Xiuqi, who was driving, turned his head to glance at her, looking somewhat surprised.
"Just a reporter, and it's enough to scare you like this? Yesterday when Sun Huihuang gave you trouble, you weren't this panicked."
"Brother, you don't understand. People like Jia Youya kill without drawing blood; they're much more terrifying than the underworld!"
"Once you're targeted by them, you can't clear your name no matter how you try, and it's worse than being dead!"
Bai Shuxin sighed mournfully.
Afterward, she began introducing Li Xiuqi to Jia Youya's various battle records.
Having practiced her trade for over a decade without a single defeat, any individual, enterprise, or even entire industry targeted by her would be easily blown to pieces as she spun the narrative with a single mouth!
"So formidable. Could it be that no one can deal with her?"
"She's a nationally renowned beauty reporter!"
Bai Shuxin wore a gloomy expression, suddenly feeling as though her head were twice its normal size.
"A conscientious reporter like that, with tens of millions of fans—back in ancient times, she'd be considered a stream of pure virtue, a saint whom even emperors wouldn't dare touch. From top to bottom, who would dare provoke such a person? You'd easily end up covered in filth!"
A conscientious reporter? Heh, so what?
As long as someone is human, they have weaknesses!
Li Xiuqi smiled indifferently, gently soothing her: "That's just because she hasn't provoked me yet. If she really is here to give you trouble today, keeping the promise I made to your sister, she's going to lose very miserably."
"Brother, isn't your tone a bit too big?"
Bai Shuxin sighed, simply assuming Li Xiuqi was trying to comfort her.
"Stop trying to humor me. I reckon that even a big figure like Mr. Zhong wouldn't dare provoke someone who controls the power of public opinion. Whether you're human or a ghost depends entirely on a single word from them."
"Hahaha, then just wait and see."
Li Xiuqi raised an eyebrow, freeing one hand to take out his phone, and sent a message to Yanhji.
He instructed her to dispatch hackers from the Dragon Pavilion to investigate this beauty reporter's entire call and chat logs, financial flows, hotel check-in records, and even online shopping history, to check whether she had ever bought any little electric toys.
After all, human beings are never completely flawless!
Meanwhile, as he drove toward Danxin Technology, inside the company's reception room, Jia Youya was wearing a grey uniform with long trousers, sporting sharp, cropped hair. Her exquisite face wore a pair of square-rimmed glasses, and a faint smile played at the corners of her mouth.
Her assistant, Zhen Shiwei, a seemingly upright-looking middle-aged man in a suit, stood at the door negotiating with Bai Shuxin's secretary, Yun Xiaoqiao, lecturing her until sweat poured down her face.
"Look at the time, it's almost ten o'clock, why hasn't your President Bai arrived yet? When our Reporter Jia comes for an interview, no one has ever dared to make her wait. Why do you people have no sense of decorum at all?"
Yun Xiaoqiao looked wronged, yet she dared not offend the other party.
"Reporter Jia, I'm truly sorry. You arrived so suddenly and our company wasn't prepared. President Bai's usual office hours start at ten."
"Hmph, if we had notified you in advance, wouldn't that have given you the chance to fake evidence?"
Jia Youya put down her teacup, raised her hand to glance at her exquisite ladies' watch, and said in a breezy tone, "Don't forget, I represent not just myself, but hundreds of millions of viewers across the Dragon Kingdom!"
"I am investigating for them, speaking up for the people!"
As she spoke, within the orange handbag beside her, the eerie green light of a hidden pinhole camera flashed and vanished.