Chapter 27#

The righteous are indignant, bystanders watch the drama, and insiders remain silent.#

These words seemed completely beyond Jiang Yunhan’s expectations. His face turned pale instantly, and his clenched hands trembled slightly, his knuckles turning white. “How is that possible… Dad, Father, he…”

He kept repeating the words “Dad” and “Father,” as if only by uttering these intimate terms could he convince himself. While he was in disbelief, strange memories kept surfacing in his mind, shaking his beliefs. The person he had always been closest to and trusted most was his successful father.

But now, someone was telling him that his father had known long ago that he had a younger brother, and not only refused to acknowledge him but was also monitoring them at all times.

“Dad did it for our safety…” Kidnappings were frequent; this seemed like the only plausible reason.

Qin Mu sneered inwardly. A hint of coldness gradually appeared in his eyes as he looked at Jiang Yunhan’s naivety, though he hid it well in the blink of an eye. “It might make sense to monitor you for safety since you are Jiang Sheng’s son, but why monitor Jian Yunchen? Who would even know about him?”

Jiang Yunhan could no longer find any words to refute. His shoulders slumped.

Qin Mu softened his tone. “Most of these photos are just a matter of angles. They look intimate but there was no actual substance. You and he look so much alike; how could I possibly do anything to Jian Yunchen? I helped him only because of you, Xiaohan. You are too naive. The reason I kept it from you was that I didn’t want you to be saddened because of Uncle Jiang.”

The gentle tone slowly soothed Jiang Yunhan’s fluctuating emotions. Gradually, his eyes turned red, and crystal-clear tears gathered at the corners. He sniffled, lowered his head, and replied muffledly, “Thank you, Brother Qin Mu.”

Qin Mu smiled slightly, pulled a tissue from the desk, and handed it over. Jiang Yunhan took it and somewhat embarrassedly wiped away the moisture from his eyes.

“Xiaohan.”

Jiang Yunhan looked up.

Qin Mu frowned slightly as if troubled. “Right now, there is something I need you to do to help Jian Yunchen.”

A major event happened today.

It wasn’t unusual for Qin Mu to make the headlines. Lately, he had been keeping a low profile, and his figure was rarely seen in private. After many days, he was back on the headlines, and he had created a massive scandal right away.

“Stand-in,” “Kept Man,” “University Student”—conspicuous keywords paired with blurry background images. Qin Mu’s figure was easy to identify: his dazzling peach blossom eyes paired with a gentle smile, holding a youth in his arms who had fair skin, black hair, and black eyes, wearing a mask that covered half his face.

The main cover image only showed the two of them embracing, but the further one scrolled, the more unsightly it became, with several photos even being pixelated.

At most, such news could only be considered wealthy family gossip; it didn’t seem unusual for wealthy young masters to be indiscriminate in their private lives.

What shocked everyone was that this was a game where a wealthy young master used force to satisfy his private desires.

The righteous were indignant, bystanders watched the drama, and insiders remained silent. The news, which broke in the early morning, had trended on the hot search list more than ten times.

By the time Qin Yanchen arrived at the company, the situation had reached a fever pitch. Deleting the hot searches was useless. The company’s legal and PR departments were mobilized in full force, yet they couldn’t stabilize the turbulent stock market. Qin Yanchen almost blacked out from anger.

Early in the morning, Qin Mu received an emergency message: an immediate board meeting for all senior executives was being held on the top floor. He turned off his screen and stepped into the elevator.

The elevator was already full of people, many of whom had heard rumors about the meeting’s agenda. They watched as Qin Mu entered as if nothing were wrong, even politely greeting them, and they collectively chose to remain silent.

Only Qin Zheng gave a cold laugh. His voice wasn’t loud, but it was just enough for everyone to hear: “You actually have the nerve to smile? Do you know how much trouble you’ve caused?”

Qin Mu gave a frivolous smile and replied airily, “I look good when I smile. What, are you jealous?”

The level of refinement in their features was roughly equal, but their temperaments were worlds apart. Qin Mu was like flowing water—affectionate and soulful, with eyes like dazzling stars that could easily draw others’ attention. Qin Zheng, on the other hand, was like sharp ice—stern and aloof. Someone like that, no matter how excellent, would always maintain a certain sense of distance.

Qin Mu was right; he did look good when he smiled. No one could refute that.

The elevator stopped, reaching the top floor. Everyone hurried out, not wanting to be caught in the crossfire. Qin Zheng lagged behind, and when only the two of them were left, he dropped a sentence: “I hope you can still smile this happily after today.”

Qin Mu’s eyes curved into crescents as he thanked him sincerely: “Thank you.”

Qin Zheng was momentarily speechless and walked toward the office.

Inside the office, Qin Yanchen had long been waiting in the head seat. Seeing everyone arrive, he first glanced at his assistant. The man standing by the side bowed slightly, closed the door, and walked out.

The atmosphere froze for a few seconds.

Then a massive shock erupted. The image displayed on the projector was the very topic that had swept the city in heated discussion this morning.

Seeing those sensationalist headlines again, Qin Yanchen still couldn’t control his rage. He slammed the remote control in his hand down hard. The black remote shattered instantly, and several small fragments grazed the cheeks of those sitting upright, yet no one dared to make a sound. At this moment, even the sound of breathing was deliberately slowed.

The only one acting as if nothing were wrong was Qin Mu, sitting to the side.

He sat with his legs crossed, leaning against the back of the chair, lazily scanning the displayed photos. He inwardly commented that the photography skills were indeed mediocre.

Qin Yanchen grew even more furious seeing him like this and scolded him sharply: “Do you know how much trouble you’ve caused?”

Qin Mu blinked and turned his gaze to Qin Yanchen in the head seat.

His face was flushed with anger. The composure and calm he had previously maintained were now completely shattered. For a moment, Qin Mu didn’t know whether to be surprised that the father and son were so alike—even their words were nearly identical—or to feel pity for the original “Qin Mu.” Despite being biological father and son, the other man’s scolding always seemed to arrive before any trust.

It seemed that in this matter, what Qin Yanchen cared about wasn’t the so-called truth, but rather who could bring profit to the company and who could only bring drawbacks.

Qin Mu had no intention of arguing. With a cold smirk on his lips, he quietly listened to everyone’s condemnation of him.

After the CEO started, the words of the others naturally followed. Before long, the entire office was filled with various voices of denunciation.

When the stock price falls, the victims are often the minority shareholders who hold a certain amount of stock. When retail investors see the price drop, they cut their losses and sell their shares, which only leads to the Qin Corporation’s stock becoming increasingly worthless.

Right now, the most urgent matter was to quickly stabilize the stock price and the investors.

For the Qin family to set an example by having Qin Mu undergo an investigation was the most rational choice at this moment.