He let out a helpless sigh after finishing, finding the old man rather difficult to deal with.
"Daddy, don't worry. Grandpa must have just learned the news and is having trouble accepting it. I'll go coax him in a bit."
She sounded confident, as if her success was already assured.
However, Liu Yifeng still had to go to the company, so this important task could only fall to Tongtong.
After thinking about it all night, he felt that Peng Zhou's idea was worth considering. So, he had Lu Fei notify Peng Zhou, and upon receiving a positive response, Peng Zhou directly brought the contract over.
It seemed Peng Zhou had already guessed that Liu Yifeng would agree, as he had the contract prepared in advance.
Fortunately, Peng Zhou was quite principled. Knowing that the project was a gamble, the contract contained many clauses that were favorable to Liu Yifeng, which further solidified his decision to invest.
"I feel that since President Peng sought me out, it means he thinks highly of me. Therefore, I can only support this project and trust you. If it succeeds, we'll both make money; if it fails, I hope President Peng remembers that I stood by him when he needed me most."
Liu Yifeng's words deeply moved Peng Zhou. "Rest assured, Mr. Liu, you can trust me to handle things."
After discussing a few more details, Peng Zhou left to begin preparations for the project's launch.
It was just as Liu Yifeng had thought: if Peng Zhou weren't his adversary, he would have been an excellent partner. This confirmed his assessment.
At the very least, Liu Yifeng didn't have to worry about being sabotaged in his dealings. He considered this successful partnership the most significant accomplishment.
Liu Yifeng finally regained some energy. The next task was to deal with his father, which might be a long process, and since it didn't involve any vested interests, he could take his time.
"It's bad, it's bad!"
Just as he was about to rest in his boss's chair, Lu Fei rushed in again, in a fluster. It seemed troubles never came singly.
"What is it now? Is it about Peng Zhou?"
Seeing Lu Fei's anxious state, he also started to panic, his mind racing through a hundred possible bad scenarios.
"No, no, it's about you and Su Wanru."
Lu Fei, breathless, explained, "Quick, look at your phone!"
Liu Yifeng took out his phone, and the first thing he saw was a trending headline: "The young man from the Liu family who grows organic vegetables and his secret wife have a child in secret."
It was truly bizarre. Anyone could trend these days. If he weren't the subject, he would never have imagined such a headline appearing online.
"Heh, this is quite strange. They even managed to take secret photos of me. Have I reached celebrity status?" Liu Yifeng was merely surprised; he knew there was something fishy going on.
Lu Fei shook his head. "You're a big shot now, leading the entire village to prosperity. Every move you make will surely be noticed."
He had finally recovered his breath and refuted Liu Yifeng's words.
"Go investigate and see where this came from." He recognized the photos; they were taken when he took Tongtong to the amusement park. This meant his whereabouts were well-known. Could Su Wanru have deliberately arranged this?
The thought flashed through his mind but was quickly dismissed. He felt she wouldn't be foolish enough to shoot herself in the foot.
Elder Liu also saw the news. Now, things were even worse. The matter he was already reluctant about had escalated.
"What did I say? Look, look! We haven't even agreed to let Tongtong go to school yet, and this news has been exposed. If he goes to the school they recommended, who knows what will be said!"
Liu Chunsheng threw his phone at Liu Yifeng, more convinced than ever that he had to prevent Tongtong from interacting with the Su family.
"You can see from this news that someone must have taken the photos. If the Su family wanted to interact with Tongtong, why would they expose this information now? Wouldn't that thwart their own plans?"
Liu Yifeng finished speaking. Liu Chunsheng remained silent, his face full of resentment, as if contemplating further arguments.
"I will investigate this thoroughly. At the same time, the decision is made. Tongtong will attend school, the one that Wanru and I chose together. I have also sought Tongtong's opinion, and he agrees."
After saying this, Liu Yifeng returned to his room, choosing not to argue further with Liu Chunsheng. Even if he reasoned with him a hundred times, his father would stick to his own logic. It was better to simply inform him and let him know his objections were in vain.
"You rascal! You always go against your father. I'd like to see how you'll resolve this!" Liu Chunsheng shouted loudly behind Liu Yifeng, asserting his stance.
Liu Yifeng ignored him, sighing and lying on the bed, looking at the website link Lu Fei had sent him.
However, the information from this website needed to be investigated by a professional. Once the source of the website was found, they could trace the publication location and discover who was behind the scheme.
He was truly tired today and didn't pursue these questions further. He simply watched videos about organic chili cultivation and slowly drifted off to sleep.
The news had been fermenting for about a week. Liu Yifeng thought that by ignoring it, it would eventually be forgotten.
However, he did not expect that by not addressing the issue, it would only worsen, and the other party even released information about him and Su Wanru looking for a school for the child.
"I know you must think I released this news. I'm here today to tell you that I would never do anything that harms everyone. We want to coexist peacefully with Tongtong. Exposing this would make it impossible to achieve what we desire."
Without notifying anyone, Liu Yifeng was surprised when he saw Su Wanru.
"I never said this was related to you," Liu Yifeng said with a smile. It seemed his indifference had made Su Wanru anxious.
Su Wanru frowned. "I don't know your true thoughts. I'm here today to tell you that I will definitely find the instigator of this matter and prove my innocence."
"No need. I don't suspect you, nor do I think you did this. Rest assured. Someone deliberately wants to do this. The reason I haven't responded is that I want to see what else they have up their sleeves and wait for them to contact me. They're after money, aren't they? Who knew you'd be the first to lose patience."