Chapter 289: Public Opinion Ferments

At 8:12 PM on Sunday, an explosive piece of news appeared out of nowhere, and major media outlets in Jingdu City and across the country erupted.

【Sheng Yu's illegitimate child】

【The real reason Ning Huaiqing went abroad】

【So Ning Huaiqing really was Sheng Yu's first love】

The top ten trending search terms on social media platforms were almost entirely occupied by this topic; clicking into them, everything was about Ning Huaiqing, Sheng Yu, and their illegitimate child.

There were even photos captured of the three of them together as a family, and even a scene of Sheng Yu patiently wiping the corner of Youyou's mouth.

Sheng Yu looked at that photo, a coldness flashing in the depths of his eyes.

Situ was stunned, "Isn't this from that morning?"

Sheng Yu turned off his phone, "Sheng Hongyao had been waiting for this day since then."

That day, when he took people to the villa to collect hair from Ning Huaiqing and Youyou, aside from the people he brought, the villa was full of Sheng Hongyao's people; it was too easy to take a photo like this.

The phone suddenly rang.

Sheng Yu glanced at the caller ID and slid the screen with an expressionless face.

"A Yu, how did the matter of Ning Huaiqing and her child get exposed?" Yu Weixiong asked worriedly on the other end of the line.

Sheng Yu said indifferently: "What is meant to come will always come; you should focus on recovering your health first and don't worry about these things."

"How could I not be worried? This is no small matter. I am setting off right now to help you come up with some ideas."

Sheng Yu looked at the neon lights outside the window with deep eyes, "You guard the Yu Family well and don't let anyone with ulterior motives take advantage of the situation. As for the Sheng Family side, you don't need to worry about me."

"Alright, if anything happens, you must call me. The entire Yu Family is your backing."

Just as Sheng Yu hung up the phone, Qi Ce's call came through.

"Did these media outlets grow guts of steel? They dare to report this kind of thing? Where are you now? Yuan Fengye and I are coming over."

Sheng Yu said calmly: "I'm not even in a hurry, what are you rushing for?"

Qi Ce had a breath stuck in his throat, then suddenly paused, "You guessed long ago that this day would come?"

"It wasn't a guess."

Qi Ce took a breath; that meant he had calculated it.

"You guys come to the Hot Spring Villa; we haven't played cards in a long time." After Sheng Yu finished speaking, he hung up the phone.

That night, media outlets captured photos of cars from the Yuan Family and the Qi Family driving into the Hot Spring Villa.

The outside world was full of speculation, saying that Sheng Yu was in big trouble this time, having actually produced a two-year-old illegitimate child, and his two brothers went to his residence overnight to offer him advice.

……

At 8:30 AM on Monday, the Board of Directors was being held in the conference room of the Sheng Group.

Although Sheng Hongyao no longer held the position of Chairman, he was still one of the directors of the group and had a seat on the Board of Directors.

However, he used the excuse of feeling unwell today and did not come to attend the meeting.

Sheng Yu listened to Situ's report that he had gone to Ning Huaiqing's villa both days over the weekend.

The meeting proceeded according to the agenda, and as the meeting was nearing its end, someone brought up the issue of a successor.

Sheng Yu looked toward the source of the voice; it was Director Zhang, an old director of the Sheng Group and one of Sheng Hongyao's people.

Once he raised this question, everyone else went quiet.

Some were looking at Director Zhang, others were looking at Sheng Yu.

Sheng Yu hooked the corner of his lips with a hint of roguishness.

"I am only twenty-six years old. Why are you in such a hurry to have me name a successor? What, is Director Zhang afraid I won't live past tomorrow? Cursing the Chairman—what are your intentions?"

He leaned back lazily against the chair, arrogant and revealing a cold, biting chill. It had been a long time since he had gone on a rampage at a general meeting, making people almost forget that this gentleman did not have a good temper at all.

Back when he was still the President of the group, he could already disregard the Chairman.

Director Zhang's old face flushed red from being choked by his words, "Chairman, how can you say that? Isn't everything I do for the future of the group? When your father was your age, you were already born."

Sheng Yu sneered, "Then did he name me as his successor?"

"This..." Director Zhang's momentum suddenly dropped a few notches.

"This what?" Sheng Yu gave him an encouraging look, "Speak boldly."

The facts were nothing more than that Sheng Hongyao not only failed to name him as his successor but also tried in every way to obstruct him from becoming a high-level executive of the group.

These facts—these old scoundrels probably wanted to pretend to forget them.

Director Zhang was somewhat annoyed by Sheng Yu's dog-teasing behavior, "I am also thinking about the future of the group. Back then, although your father didn't directly name you as his successor, you are his only son; this position will be yours sooner or later. What does it matter whether it was set or not? At the very least, he had a successor."

"Taking precautions is a level of ideological awareness that a group leader should have."

Several other old party members of Sheng Hongyao echoed him, one after another.

"What a high-and-mighty hat to put on me." Sheng Yu fiddled with his cufflinks in a leisurely manner.

The public opinion regarding the illegitimate child continued to ferment, and the outside world was accusing Sheng Yu of being irresponsible and inactive, which had already affected the company's stock.

The behavior of these people at the meeting was undoubtedly instigated by Sheng Hongyao; they were the vanguard.

Sheng Yu's single sentence, imposing without anger, made everyone present subconsciously hold their breath.

But most of the company's directors were old enough to be Sheng Yu's father, and after being intimidated by him, they quickly steadied their minds.

After Director Zhang spoke, Director Liu cleared his throat and said: "Chairman Sheng has not held this position for long, and his foundation is not yet stable. The rumors outside about that child are spreading like wildfire, which has a great impact on the group and a great impact on you."

As he spoke, Director Liu looked at the crowd, "I believe everyone has seen this morning's stock market."

Once these words were out, the crowd, who had originally been intimidated by Sheng Yu, began to discuss it one after another.

Sheng Yu's gaze swept coldly over everyone's faces, and he curled his lips, "Since everyone likes to gossip so much, then today's meeting ends here. This conference room can be provided for you to share gossip resources."

"Meeting adjourned."

Sheng Yu stood up and walked out of the conference room with a sharp aura.

Successor.

Heh.

After leaving the conference room, Sheng Yu tore off his tie and glanced at the time: nine o'clock.

He walked quickly, yet his pace remained steady; Situ almost couldn't keep up with his stride.

"I am going out for a while. If anyone comes to the office to see me today, don't let them in. Let the public opinion continue to ferment; there is no need to manage it."

After tossing aside his tie, Sheng Yu took the elevator downstairs.

Situ put the tie away, only then remembering that today was Monday.

……

An off-road vehicle drove into Ancient Street.

Pei Ling glanced at Zhu Yuan, who was sitting beside him; her eyes were curved, and she looked to be in a very good mood.

"Do you like this street very much?"

Zhu Yuan blurted out, "There is a lot of good food on this street."

However, she noticed that Pei Ling was very concerned about her feelings; he had asked her if she liked this place, and then asked her if she liked this street.

Pei Ling stared at her smiling face, the corners of his mouth curling up involuntarily; he had expected her to say something heartfelt, but he hadn't expected her to only think about eating.

That was true, too; she was already showing, which meant the fetus in her belly had grown quite a bit, and since one person was eating for two, it was easy to get hungry.

What's more, it was already twelve o'clock.

"By the way, Pei Ling, I want to go to a soybean paste noodle shop to eat; will you eat?"

Seeing her turn around to ask him, Pei Ling quietly moved his hand away from his stomach where he had been pressing it, "I won't eat; what is so good about noodles?"

"Eat some, the taste is really quite good."

The Bodyguard driving the car was the same one who had accompanied Zhu Yuan to the soybean paste noodle shop twice before; hearing Zhu Yuan say this, he couldn't help but mutter to himself—the last time they went to eat noodles, the taste was okay, but it wasn't as good as Zhu Yuan claimed.

In fact, the noodles they ate the first time could be described as inedible.

It showed that the shop's culinary skills were inconsistent.

Pei Ling wanted to accompany her to eat, but his stomach was hurting severely right now.

If he accompanied her to the shop and ended up not eating a single bite, she would worry again.

"If you want to eat, you go eat," he said, leaning against the seat back and closing his eyes to rest, "I don't like eating noodles."

"Alright then, Pei Li, you accompany Second Master to get something to eat, and then we will regroup after I finish."

Hearing Zhu Yuan naturally ordering his subordinate around, the corners of his mouth curled up carelessly, and his stomach pain even eased quite a bit.

Zhu Yuan and several Bodyguards who were mingling in the crowd entered the shop one after another.

After she ordered a portion of soybean paste noodles, she found a seat in a corner and sat down.

The proprietress was anxious; this young lady was truly a woman of her word and had come again, but since that young gentleman hadn't shown his face yet, what was she supposed to do?

Returning to the back kitchen, the proprietress thought it over and dialed a number.

The call connected, and she let out a sigh of relief.

However, before she could even speak, the man on the other end of the line said coldly, "I will arrive in ten-something minutes; you stall for time."

Zhu Yuan looked at him, her eyes calm and without a single ripple.