CHAPTER 41: CHAPTER 41: BAI YUEGUANG’S STAND-IN

Afterwards, he carried her into the bathroom.

Throughout, Jiang Lai never opened her eyes, comfortably enjoying Shen Liao’s gentle tenderness.

Exhausted, Jiang Lai quickly fell asleep, unaware that the man beside her never took his gaze away, planting gentle, cautious kisses on her forehead one after another.

"I’m sorry, I won’t let you go again this time."

Knowing his own scandalous past, knowing how despicable and low he’s been, even someone as proud as Shen Liao could feel humble and timid, afraid that she’d continue to dislike him, even more afraid that she’d run further and further away, like before when he knew she was somewhere out there, he’d at least think and steal a glance or two.

But now, Jiang Lai had voluntarily come back.

Shen Liao felt as if his heart was swelling, never losing that warm, comforting heat.

He knew this was Jiang Lai giving him a chance, and in his ecstatic joy, Shen Liao cherished this hard-won sentiment and affection all the more.

The next morning when Jiang Lai opened her eyes, there was no one beside her. After going downstairs barefoot, she found breakfast already laid out on the dining table. Dressed in casual homewear, Shen Liao walked over from the stairs, and seeing her barefoot, he immediately lifted Jiang Lai into his lap, not planning to let her down even while they ate.

The moment Little Buding came online and saw this scene, he dry-heaved and then went offline again.

"Aren’t you going to work?"

It was already past nine, yet Shen Liao didn’t look like he was going anywhere.

"No, today I’m staying with you."

"Won’t you get your salary docked if you don’t go to work?"

"Even if I never go for the rest of my life, no one would dare to dock my salary, don’t worry."

After saying this, he placed another kiss on Jiang Lai’s lips, making Jiang Lai shy away while laughing and scolding him as a dog.

Shen Liao wasn’t angered, instead even curled his lips.

"Hmm, I’m a dog, and you’re the meat, no amount is ever enough."

"..."

Help, are all men like this in love?

How can they spout such nauseating words?

At this moment, the system automatically prompted:

Favorability increased, current favorability value: 90

Jiang Lai looked at Shen Liao, shook her head helplessly.

Ah, this damned charm of hers.

——

The clamor online had grown more and more intense because several wealthy socialites had voiced support for Mu Chen on Weibo.

Alice Nan Nan: "What else does she want to say in such a dark environment? Is our Chenchen sneaking into your room to steal your drafts?"

Li Yahan lily: "I’ve seen this draft of Ms. Chenchen’s as early as last year, honestly. Not recognizing your own status, plagiarizing and still not admitting it, disgusting!"

Da Wei: "All of us were having a party that day at the West Suburb Yanlai Villa, which this girl, originally named Jiang Lai, attended A University Media undergrad, then hooked a rich elder and got kicked out, then slunk back to her hometown Yao City Han County, Ms. Jiang. Are you saying Chenchen went to your house to steal the draft?"

The three of them were white and beautiful with a fan base on Weibo. Now, when they spoke up together to support their sister, the online conversation swerved sharply.

Before long, Jiang Lai issued a statement as well.

"How do you know that the villa where you had your party isn’t my home?"

The comment section erupted in a slew of curses.

"Haha, this is hilarious. West Suburb Yanlai is 300,000 per square meter. Lady, are you out of your mind?"

"Stop trying to intrude into the wealthy circle of those white and beautiful girls. Honestly, it’s better if you just admit it, stubbornly denying it is just pointless."

"The villa in West Suburb Yanlai is worth several billion, and it’s supposed to be your home. Uh-huh, I’ve concluded; this girl has lost her mind."

"According to industry insiders, West Suburb Yanlai has a price but no market, and having fixed assets under ten billion even disqualifies you from purchasing rights."

"Are your parents selling fruit? It’s one thing not to be grateful to them, but you’re here loving wealth and scorning poverty, disgusting."

"Who plagiarized whom is no longer important. Now I just want to see this lady make a fool of herself."

...

The public opinion continued to intensify.

The Xiang Family gave out a final ultimatum.

Cancel Jiang Lai’s collaboration, and have her pay ten million in breach and compensation fees.

Xu Guang stepped forward to suppress it a bit and asked Jiang Lai.

"They were indeed having a party at West Suburb Yanlai that day, heard it was Shen Liao’s house, are you seriously... haih, posting that video wasn’t even necessary."

Xu Guang was at his wit’s end, yet Jiang Lai remained unfazed.

"Don’t worry, it will all be resolved."

"How can I not worry, unless Shen Liao can prove that you belong to his family now."

Jiang Lai raised an eyebrow, glancing at the man busy cooking in the kitchen, leisurely reclined on the couch.

"Why not? More so, he’s in my family."

Saying this, she hung up the phone and walked into the kitchen, wrapping her arms around Shen Liao’s waist from behind, muttering.

"Shen Liao, someone is bullying me."

Shen Liao turned around, unable to embrace Jiang Lai because he had just cut some onions.

"What’s wrong? Who’s bullying you?"

"Look, here’s what’s up."

Jiang Lai handed her phone to Shen Liao, and the man quickly understood the context of the situation, his face turning icy cold instantly.

"Why didn’t you tell me sooner?"

"I was worried... after all, that person is Mu Chen..."

Seeing the expression of disappointment on Jiang Lai’s face, Shen Liao’s heartache deepened as he realized how much online abuse and criticism she had endured in the past few days.

"Don’t worry, I’ll have all this sorted out by tomorrow."

"No, this is my issue, just help me out with a favor, come on, post a Weibo."

At 1:30 in the afternoon, the time when people finish lunch and swipe through Weibo during their break, they saw the trending top headline explode.

#Statement by Longheng Group’s Shen Liao#

Longheng Group?!

Shen Liao?!

Clicking inside, a recently registered Weibo account had just been verified, with the latest post.

Shen Liao: "To clarify, I am Ms. Jiang Lai’s boyfriend, she belongs to me, and the West Suburb Yanlai Villa is also hers @JSlove."

Jiang Lai quickly reposted it on Weibo.

"Yes, good boy, I’ll add a drumstick for you at dinner."

The dark red "to explode" instantly pushed the plagiarism scandal to its climax.

The statement from the big boss of Longheng Group made the comments section reel.

"Am I dreaming? Is the Ugly Duckling and Dominant CEO combo trending nowadays?"

"This big boss seems to have never spoken in public before, I’m totally onboard!"

"Jiang Lai is amazing, please teach me how to woo men!"

"So Jiang Lai got a villa worth several billion and the Longheng Group valued at several trillions?"

"Wow, doesn’t that prove the video was indeed shot in the villa?!"

"That what’s his name basically admitted they were partying in the villa that day, talk about self-sabotage."

With Shen Liao stepping forward to verify, the situation quickly reversed.

It left the bystanders completely baffled and stupefied, while those who had previously yelled that Jiang Lai was a plagiarizing unattractive person vanished, leaving only melon-eating onlookers in the comments.

There’s no need to contemplate, it’s the classic move of the dominant CEO.

On the other hand, Li Yahan, Wang Nan Nan, and Wei Fu’s group started panicking.