Chapter 219

During this time, Fang Hong was busy with work, while Liu Tianxian rested at home for a few days.

With nothing else to do, she made a date with Fang Hong's mother for a spring outing.

Since she's not filming anymore, she's really got nothing to do.

"I'm sorry, I can't go out with you today—I have plans."

Xu Liyun put on her new clothes, slung her bag over her shoulder, dressed herself neatly and beautifully, wearing a necklace—all items Liu Tianxian had bought her.

She was speaking to Jiang Shuying.

"Auntie, who are you meeting?" Jiang Shuying asked casually.

"It's not convenient to say—go on ahead. I'll find you again when I'm free," Xu Liyun remembered her son's advice and kept Liu Tianxian's identity secret.

"Oh, alright, Auntie."

Jiang Shuying's eyes dimmed.

After all her efforts, she still couldn't match up to someone else's date—how utterly disappointing.

"Hey, Xiao Jiang, let me ask you—have you been accompanying me this long for some reason?" Xu Liyun turned back.

She wasn't stupid—she just didn't assume ill intent in others.

"You've misunderstood me—what reason could I possibly have?" Jiang Shuying smiled awkwardly.

She had always wanted to use Xu Liyun to get close to the Principal, but that man—he never accompanied his mother.

All this time, she'd never seen the Principal take his mother out once—leaving her with zero opportunity.

To treat one's mother like this? Truly unheard of!

It's not surprising at all—Fang Hong himself never goes out to have fun, so why would he take his mother?

Besides, the things he does aren't suitable for his mother!

"Better not have any—though if you do, I'll help as much as I can."

Xu Liyun went on at length: "But I need to make this clear—my son now has a girlfriend. You have no chance."

"Hehe, you've misunderstood," Jiang Shuying laughed awkwardly.

"Better that you have."

Xu Liyun had said everything she needed to say—she made things clear.

She said this because she didn't want other women messing around with her son.

Playing the field? That's not allowed!

Though she usually ignored her son's life, she still had to manage his private affairs.

Live well, marry properly, have children, keep the family harmonious, avoid all that messy nonsense—this was her most basic belief.

She felt genuinely grateful toward Jiang Shuying—for keeping her company and easing her loneliness, she was the first friend she'd made in Beijing.

But as long as it didn't cross moral boundaries, she'd help within her means.

After chatting a while, Xu Liyun left for her appointment.

A quiet, elegant café, its exterior resembling a wooden cottage, entirely wrapped in lush greenery.

If Fang Hong were here, he'd recognize it immediately—it was the same place where he'd first borrowed money from Liu Tianxian three years ago.

The scenery hadn't changed in three years, but the people had.

Outside the cottage, Liu Tianxian's long hair flowed freely; she wore a chiffon floral dress reaching her knees, revealing slender, fair legs.

Over it she'd draped a pink leather jacket—professional yet youthful, exuding elegance and grace.

"Oh! Auntie Xu, you look so beautiful today!" Liu Tianxian stepped forward, smiling brightly.

"Hehe, right? You bought this for me—proof of your good taste," Xu Liyun beamed, unable to stop smiling, growing fonder of the girl with every glance.

"You're the only one who understands me. Fang Hong always says my taste is terrible, calls me a female loser." Liu Tianxian linked arms with her.

"My son has no appreciation—he just likes to talk. He's never bought me a single piece of clothing. I buy everything myself, and then he criticizes it—this is bad, that's worse."

"You're absolutely right," Liu Tianxian agreed.

"You're the only one who treats me well—buying me clothes, buying me jewelry. Thank you so much," Xu Liyun patted her hand, speaking with deep gratitude.

For the first time in her life, she'd received so many valuable gifts—her heart was full.

"Oh, don't say that—earning money is meant to be spent," Liu Tianxian smiled.

The two chatted merrily as they entered the wooden cottage, where two guards in black suits bowed respectfully at the entrance.

Xu Liyun felt slightly uncomfortable—she'd never been to such an upscale place before.

"This is a private club," Liu Tianxian explained.

"Oh!" Xu Liyun nodded.

This time they didn't go upstairs—instead, they followed a winding path deeper inside, as if entering an ancient courtyard.

Externally, it looked like a wooden cottage; internally, it resembled a garden.

Xu Liyun looked around—stacked rock formations, miniature bridges over flowing streams, birdsong, fragrant air—all meticulously arranged, the scent of flowers and greenery lingering in the air.

"How serene and refined!" she couldn't help but exclaim.

"I used to come here with Fang Hong," Liu Tianxian chatted casually.

"Oh? My son has this kind of taste?" Xu Liyun was surprised, thinking her son had finally matured.

"No—he never came. I invited him."

"Hehe, that explains it."

Xu Liyun's face remained filled with a satisfied smile.

Liu Tianxian recalled the past—back then, Fang Hong was just a penniless student.

He'd scammed and connived everywhere to raise investment.

Now he was a big boss, yet unchanged: still busy, too busy to spend time with her.

"Don't blame him either. A man has to put his career first—no career means nothing, he couldn't protect anyone." Xu Liyun seemed to know what she was thinking.

"I know." Liu Tianxian understood.

"In my family, my husband passed away early. Otherwise I wouldn't be this worn out. Sometimes I just have to swallow the cold looks. If I so much as talks to any man, people gossip. I'm a widow. There's an old saying: a widow's door attracts trouble."

Xu Liyun spoke of her past.

That was also why she had few friends, why she always seemed to be alone. In this world there will always be people who mock others' sore spots.

If she had a man to protect her—even one without a career of his own—she wouldn't be this exhausted. The bitterness inside, few could understand.

But her son had to have a career, otherwise he wouldn't be worthy of this girl.

"Things will get better from now on."

Liu Tianxian silently played the listener; this wasn't something she could comment on.

The two sat facing each other in a pavilion, with bright flowers and greenery not far away.

The staff here served them a pot of tea.

"This is rose tea, please try it."

Liu Tianxian poured two cups and pushed one toward Xu Liyun.

Xu Liyun cupped the teacup in both hands and took a sip: "Mm, it's really good." "Right?" Liu Tianxian squinted and smiled softly.

Just as Liu Tianxian and Xu Liyun were enjoying the spring outing, Fang Hong got hold of Ceng Aizi's nude photos.

There were also several close-ups, very clear.

Fang Hong held the stack of photos at arm's length, head tilted back, eyes slightly narrowed, brows tightly furrowed as he looked.

He only looked this way because the photos were too eye-searing.

The photos showed the shorty naked, squatting on the toilet with both legs to poop.

Not sitting, but squatting.

And a frontal close-up at that—imagine how eye-searing. Of course, this was only one of them.

There were also photos of him wandering around the bathroom naked, that dangling thing, delicate and small—eye-searing just to look at.

Hard to imagine this guy had such a hobby—truly perverted.

No idea how his son-in-law managed to take these shots, even capturing photos like these. Probably hid a camera in the bathroom—truly a talent.

Fang Hong put down the photos and looked at Huang Bing across from him: "Use these photos to squeeze some money out of him."

"Boss Fang, that's not right." Huang Bing said it tactfully—this was blackmail.

"What's wrong with it? Which celebrity doesn't buy back their own dirt?"

Fang Hong spoke as if it were the most natural thing: "Just keep your name hidden, use a burner phone. Besides, do you have to expose your identity? Online contact is enough. I spent so much money, he has to pay it back."

Bought for several million—Ceng Aizi has to spit it back out, and after he spits it out, then it gets leaked.

Meaning he didn't spend a cent, and even made money, and completely finished off Ceng Aizi.

Perfect!

And he didn't take those who had teamed up against him seriously at all—in his eyes they were just a rabble.

Anyway, no matter how many fronts they came at him from, he'd just handle them one by one—first finish off Ceng Aizi.

The internet now wasn't real-name registered, all kinds of messy chaos. As long as you wanted to hide, you basically couldn't be traced.

Back when Liu Tianxian was being cyberbullied at its worst, the tech people traced the people slandering her and could only trace them to an internet café, and then nothing—no way to find the person.

Later when real-name registration kicked in, every celebrity started suing the trolls, because they could no longer hide.

But by then Liu Tianxian had figured it out, become open-minded—let people say whatever they want.

After hearing Fang Hong's words, Huang Bing was completely numb. The Principal was way too damn sinister, actually pulling a stunt like this.

Truly, if you're not ruthless, you don't stand firm.

The Principal could stand so firm precisely because he was ruthless and vicious!

Without further ado, Huang Bing took out his phone and swapped the SIM card on the spot. This was the burner number he used to expose people's dirt—single-line contact, untraceable.

Meaning it could only call out, not receive calls.

In their line of work, without some concealment tricks you simply couldn't last.

After all, they frequently bought publicity drafts, frequently dealt with all kinds of celebrity dirt—being caught with evidence would be bad.

Of course some people guessed who did it, but guessing is one thing, solid evidence is another.

Their line had many celebrities' numbers. Huang Bing first sent a text, then dialed out.

"Hello, Mr. Zeng."

Huang Bing changed his tone: "I think you've already received the text I sent you!"

"What do you want? Where did you get them?"

Ceng Aizi's hoarse voice came through the phone, seeming very agitated, firing off two questions in a row.

Fang Hong leaned back in his executive chair, watching calmly.

"You don't need to worry about where I got them. As long as you give me a sum of money, this won't be leaked."

Huang Bing didn't answer where he got them, only stated his demand.

"How can I trust you?" Ceng Aizi's expression was grave—he knew how serious this was.

If this got leaked, he'd be locked away for good in Neidi, and on top of that, lose his identity entirely.

"You can choose not to believe me. I don't need you to believe me. Anyway, all we want is money. If you don't pay, the media will naturally be interested." Huang Bing said it lightly.

Meaning if you don't pay, it gets sold to the media!

Ceng Aizi was miserable, but still rational: "I can give you the money, but you must destroy the negatives and all those photos, guarantee they won't be released."

Huang Bing sneered: "Mr. Zeng, get your position straight. You're in no position to negotiate terms with me. Right now you can only gamble—gamble that you pay and I don't release. And let me be clear: if you don't pay, I will release."

Those words made Ceng Aizi's face extremely ugly—pay the money and still have to live in fear, with the leverage in someone else's hands.

"How much money do you want?" he asked.

Huang Bing looked at Fang Hong, who held up one finger.

"One hundred million," Huang Bing said.

*Clatter*—Fang Hong nearly tumbled off his chair, his face full of shock.

Huang Bing glanced at Fang Hong and mouthed: "Too little?"

Fang Hong waved his hand, signaling him to keep negotiating. Originally, when he held up one finger, he meant ten million, not one hundred million.

This person had simply added a zero for him!

"That's too much, I don't have that much money," Ceng Aizi said, troubled.

"Who are you trying to fool? I hear you have hotels and investments worth seven hundred million, property developments worth three or four billion, plus a chain of hot pot restaurants with annual revenue in the billions—did you think I didn't know?" Huang Bing rattled it all off like counting family treasures—truly worthy of someone in this line of work.

Fang Hong genuinely hadn't known this. He'd only assumed these Hong Kong stars had money, but at most a few tens of millions, topping out around a hundred million.

He hadn't expected these veteran Hong Kong stars to be this rich—richer than him, even. No wonder the Hong Kong film and TV industry later made movies with no box office, kept filming nonstop, and kept losing money.

Because they really were that rich!

Still, it was easy to imagine—back then, Neidi was developing at top speed, and buying a few properties would bring in massive profits.

If you invested in stocks, the returns were even more spectacular.

And that was the accumulation of decades. Fang Hong had only been developing for a few years; having this kind of capital was already impressive.

"Those are all investments, spread across many areas—not all mine alone. I don't have that much cash on hand either, and a lot of the assets I've already divided up among my children. I really don't have that much money on me," Ceng Aizi protested.

"I don't care. No money? Figure it out yourself. I'll give you three days. If I don't see the money in three days, I'll release it. Think it over carefully," Huang Bing said, not caring at all.

"Hey, hey!" Zeng thought he was about to hang up: "Can it be a little less?"

"No!"

Huang Bing forcefully hung up the phone.

"If he pays, route it through an overseas account. Don't bring that money to Neidi," Fang Hong instructed.

That money was dirty—bringing it over would cause trouble!

Huang Bing indicated he understood. In fact, those celebrities buying their own dirt cost more than a hundred million a year in transactions.

That guy—what's his name, Zhuo something Wei—got rich enough to be financially free off this.

The Principal was still being overly cautious.

(End of chapter)