Xiao Anjing woke up early and habitually checked the news on his phone while lying in bed.
His eyes, still heavy with sleep, widened as he saw the headlines, freezing him in place. His hands trembled as he clicked to open the content.
They were all from reputable media outlets; it couldn't be a rumor.
He hadn't expected Shu Yan to proactively offer marriage to him the last time they met, only for her to turn around and marry someone else within a few days.
He immediately sat up in bed and dialed Shu Yan's number.
The call was answered quickly, but there was no sound.
"Shu Yan, is that you?" Xiao Anjing asked. "Are the headlines in all the major media this morning true? Are you marrying that young master of the Han family? Someone like him isn't worth entrusting your life to! If you want to get married so badly, marry me. I've thought it through; at my age, it's time to settle down..."
"It's too late, everything is too late," Shu Yan's tearful voice came from the other end of the phone. "My marriage to the Han family is already set, there's no room for reconsideration. From now on, you should act as if you never knew me..."
"What happened? Did your family force you? I'll come to your house to find you right now!" Xiao Anjing said, preparing to get out of bed.
Shu Yan was crying, her voice choked with sobs, but she still managed to say hoarsely into the phone, "Don't come looking for me... Don't! This is all Gu Susu's fault, she caused this... Instead of looking for me, you might as well go ask your good brother, Qin Tianyi..."
"Gu Susu? How did she harm you?" Xiao Anjing asked.
But before he could get a response from Shu Yan, she had already hung up.
Xiao Anjing immediately sensed that there was more to the story and did some more searching online.
Some gossip suggested that last night, during the Shu Corporation's centennial celebration banquet, Shu Ya and the Han family's young master couldn't contain themselves and engaged in indecent acts in the banquet hall's lounge, which were coincidentally discovered by someone, making it public knowledge.
These gossip articles were accompanied by photos from the event. The faces of the man and woman were blurred, but the image of them embracing in disheveled clothing was suggestive enough.
He hadn't attended the celebration last night because he hadn't decided on his response to Shu Yan and didn't want to face her awkwardly.
However, Qin Tianyi should have brought Gu Susu to the celebration last night. Could it be that Gu Susu deliberately framed Shu Yan? He couldn't confront Qin Tianyi about this. Moreover, regardless of whether Gu Susu set a trap for Shu Yan, having such photos taken would inevitably force the Shu family to marry Shu Yan to the Han family's young master to save face. Otherwise, such a scandal could not be properly covered up.
He hesitated, but upon learning that Shu Yan was determined to marry someone else, he felt regret and a heavy heart. Without washing or eating breakfast, he got up early, opened a bottle of wine, and drowned his sorrows.
He had drunk nearly half a bottle when the doorbell started ringing incessantly.
"Who is it!" he grumbled, annoyed by the noise, and opened the door with a drunken sway.
Qin Tianyi stood at the doorway, glaring at him with a stern expression, saying nothing.
Seeing Qin Tianyi had come for him, he took another swig from his wine bottle and said impatiently, "I'm not in the mood to go to work today. Can't I take a day off occasionally? Do you, a young master, really need to manage my attendance even at my home..."
Qin Tianyi, his anger boiling, strode forward, swung his fist, and landed a heavy blow on Xiao Anjing's jaw.
Caught off guard, Xiao Anjing was stunned for a few seconds before immediately blocking Qin Tianyi's next punch. "Are you crazy? What is this for!"
"Bastard! You betrayed me behind my back!" Qin Tianyi, seeing his punch blocked, delivered a solid kick to him.
Xiao Anjing felt as if the bone in his leg was about to break from the kick, and he retorted angrily, "If you hit me again, I'll fight back!"
Qin Tianyi adopted a posture as if to strike him again and provocatively beckoned him with a finger. "Come on, fight back."
Xiao Anjing stood up, enduring the pain in his leg, and began to retaliate, but he was no match for Qin Tianyi. He was beaten to the ground and couldn't even get up, only managing to shield himself.
"Hit me, just kill me, and it'll all be over."
Qin Tianyi abruptly stopped his fist, calmed down, and sat on the ground, panting. "When did you get me to sign the supplementary agreement? Do you know this will cause Aoxiang to go bankrupt in ten years?"
Seeing that Qin Tianyi had finally stopped, Xiao Anjing lay on the floor, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth, and said weakly, "Shu Zhongze approached you, so you know everything? I agreed to his terms back then for Aoxiang's sake, trying to get you to agree to this supplementary agreement. But at that time, you still couldn't let go of Gu Susu. I was afraid you wouldn't agree, so I slipped it in with other documents and brought it to the hospital. Your injuries hadn't healed then, and you were in a bad mood, so you wouldn't have read the contents carefully when signing..."
"That's because I trusted you," Qin Tianyi felt his heart grow cold.
"But I didn't expect you to break off the engagement back then. I thought your marriage to Shu Yan was a done deal. No matter what, you wouldn't offend the Shu family for a woman, would you? Not disregard Aoxiang's survival." Xiao Anjing said, also feeling indignant. "As long as you married Shu Yan, that supplementary agreement would be as good as a blank piece of paper."
Qin Tianyi glared at him through gritted teeth. The issue with the agreement had now been resolved with half the equity from the second phase, but Xiao Anjing still didn't believe he had done anything wrong.
"What else have you hidden from me? Tell me everything now, or if I find out later, I'll deal with it as I see fit, and I won't forgive you."
"Nothing," Xiao Anjing tried to get up, but several of his bones felt broken, making it impossible. He simply lay on the ground, half-dead, and said, "Everything I've done has been for the benefit of Aoxiang. I have a clear conscience."
"A clear conscience, indeed. If Shu Zhongze hadn't been envious of the amusement park's success, how long were you planning to keep this from me?" Qin Tianyi realized something else. "You knew Shu Zhongze held the supplementary agreement, so you've always advocated for the second phase project to cooperate only with the Shu Corporation..."
"I did this for Aoxiang's good too!" Xiao Anjing exclaimed. "Shu Yan originally wanted to marry me. But I couldn't figure out the Shu family's true intentions in having Shu Yan marry me, so I never agreed. With this missed opportunity, she's going to marry someone else! Unlike you, my personal feelings mean nothing compared to Aoxiang."
"Good, very good. You're so noble for Aoxiang," Qin Tianyi's tone was laced with sarcasm.
Xiao Anjing asked painfully, "Why did Shu Yan suddenly decide to marry the Han family's young master? Was it Gu Susu's doing? Do you know the inside story of this?"
Qin Tianyi chuckled. "It's not just me who knows the inside story; everyone who attended the Shu Corporation's centennial celebration last night knows. What are you planning to do? Win Shu Yan back from the Han family?"
"Why won't you all just leave her alone?"
Qin Tianyi burst out laughing. "Wake up. It's good you didn't agree to marry her. No one is leaving her alone; she's the one who won't let others go."