"What? Did I send someone to Modu to break all of Ma Hongtu's limb joints?"
After hearing Grandma Zhao's question, Li Qianfan was stunned.
He immediately blurted out, "Grandma Zhao, even if I disliked that surname Ma, I wouldn't do something so beneath me. If I really wanted to deal with someone, would I need to sneak around in the dead of night?"
When Grandma Zhao's "Qianfan cub" caused trouble—
It was always done in broad daylight!
The Si Jiu Du family, the Xu family, the Miao family, and the Tianbei Feng family could all attest to this.
"I knew you wouldn't do such a thing. A mere Ma Hongtu isn't worthy of my Qianfan cub's clandestine attention."
Grandma Zhao breathed a sigh of relief over the phone and quickly recounted what she had heard from the call.
"Ma Hongtu, who called me on the morning of the third day of the Lunar New Year, ordering me to meet with CEO Chen in Modu on the ninth, was severely injured? And before breaking his limbs, he shamelessly claimed I sent people. Who is this kind soul doing good deeds anonymously?"
As Li Qianfan thought this to himself.
A beautiful woman sleeping in a corner of his mind surfaced.
Jiao Yin!
This kind soul must be the third president of the dark web!
Because Jiao Yin was by his side when Ma Hongtu called Li Qianfan that morning.
Damn it—
Li Qianfan cursed under his breath as Grandma Zhao said, "Cub, I'll hang up now. Your grandfather will probably call you soon."
"Grandma Zhao, thank you."
Li Qianfan said, "You don't need to worry about these trivial matters for me in the future."
Grandma Zhao snorted, "Hmph, I just can't stand those people always bullying you, calling you an honest child."
Li Qianfan felt a little ashamed.
Was he an honest child?
Or rather—
What kind of honest child had openly challenged four prominent families around this year's Spring Festival, and in less than an hour at the Liushui Pavilion in Tian Dong province, raked in ill-gotten gains of 3.1 billion?
"Oh, right, one more thing."
Grandma Zhao suddenly recalled something, "Junzi told me this morning that a rapidly reposted post appeared on some forum. The post content claimed a certain beautiful empress was pregnant with a certain young star's child. There was also a record of a certain beautiful empress undergoing a medical examination. Alas, I knew long ago that woman was a femme fatale! Unless she's completely shelved, anyone who gets involved with her will have endless trouble."
What?
A certain beautiful empress pregnant with a certain young star's child?
Who is this beautiful empress?
And this certain young star—
Could it be referring to me!?
After his conversation with Grandma Zhao, Li Qianfan, still bewildered, quickly opened a certain forum.
Good heavens!
This post, uploaded to a certain forum at 3:30 AM today, showed signs of going viral within just a few hours.
The content of the post had absolutely nothing to do with Li Qianfan or Su Nan Guanyin.
The post, over a thousand words long, didn't even contain the characters "Li" or "Su."
The provided medical examination documents only proved that a certain woman showed pregnancy reactions for about one month.
It didn't name the hospital or specify which medical examination report it was.
There was also a photo.
A back view of a man and a woman walking arm in arm on the street.
The man was handsome and dashing, and the woman was graceful.
The background of the photo was also a street, with vehicles and buildings on both sides blurred out.
However, the man was wearing a dark blue outfit, and the woman was wearing a white mink coat.
This was precisely the back view of Li Qianfan walking arm in arm with Su Nan Guanyin to visit CEO Zhao on the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year!
The most crucial point—
This post was being frantically reposted by many influential self-media personalities with large followings!
Li Qianfan's head began to ache.
This post had elevated the scandal to a new level.
After all, a certain empress was pregnant, wasn't she?
As Li Qianfan's head throbbed, an unspeakable weariness washed over him.
He didn't want to be in China anymore.
There were too many restrictions.
If this were overseas—
Anyone who dared to play subtle tricks on Li Qianfan would be met with forceful retaliation!
But not in China.
Even with heaven-defying abilities, even if one were a mass murderer, actions had to follow the rules!
Anyone who didn't follow the rules and thought they were all that were truly digging their own graves.
Everyone knows about "Cut One."
The advertising for "Cut One" in China was unrestrained and free.
But what about "Cut One" after it landed in the Americas?
If it advertised that clicking on a red envelope would grant a certain amount of money, you would receive that exact amount.
If the advertising was inconsistent with the facts, the company would be shut down!
In the East—
Some things must adhere to rules, but some things are like: "I'd only believe a scoundrel like you."
Li Qianfan sat cross-legged on the bed, looking out the window with eyes filled with unspeakable disappointment, disgust, and helplessness.
The urge to escape the East grew stronger with each passing second!
He pondered, "If I want to thrive in China, I'll have to become someone like Jiao Yin or Bai Yu Jing. At the very least, I need to be someone like Du Tian Ci or Tang Wen Yuan."
This post was more nauseating to Li Qianfan than Jiao Yin's "help" in crippling Ma Hongtu.
It was also suffocating!
*Bzzzzzt.*
The urgent vibration of his phone interrupted his reverie.
The caller was Shen Hui Teng from the Shen family in Si Jiu: "Li Qianfan, I swear to heaven. The post on a certain forum claiming Su Nan Guanyin is pregnant with your child has absolutely nothing to do with our Shen family!"
Li Qianfan—
Smiled.
His intense urge to escape the East instantly vanished!
The Shen family of Si Jiu was known as the foremost prestigious family in the East.
Yet, Shen Hui Teng, this arrogant patriarch, called Li Qianfan as soon as he saw the post, swearing that it had nothing to do with their Shen family.
Why did Shen Hui Teng do this?
It was because—
The Shen family was terrified of Li Qianfan!!
"If I can't be liked, then I'll make them fear me. As long as I'm ruthless enough, no one will dare to plot against me again. Then I can still live a leisurely life in China."
Li Qianfan muttered to himself and said into the phone, "Patriarch Shen, rest assured. I know that with your intelligence, you wouldn't do something like this. Alright, I have other matters to attend to."
Before Shen Hui Teng could say anything, Li Qianfan ended the call.
He then began to call Bai Zi Yan.
The call rang for a long time before Bai Zi Yan groggily asked, "What is it?"
Li Qianfan said straightforwardly, "Help me check an IP address on a certain forum. That IP posted a detrimental post about me, and it's being widely shared by many influential figures. Also, make a list of those who are making the most noise. I'll be paying them a visit one by one later."
When Bai Zi Yan spoke again, her voice was much clearer, "Is there a fee?"
Li Qianfan replied, "Yes."
Bai Zi Yan asked, "How much?"
Li Qianfan, being very generous, said, "Name your price."
Bai Zi Yan, demanding a high price, said, "I want one hundred million."
Li Qianfan agreed without a second thought, "Deal!"
Let alone one hundred million.
Even if Bai Zi Yan had asked for ten billion, Li Qianfan would have agreed without batting an eye.
After all, this money—
Whoever was the mastermind behind that post would have to pay!
Plus Li Qianfan's labor fee for collecting it!!
The ironclad fact proved—
As long as there were sufficient benefits, Bai Zi Yan's work efficiency was lightning fast.
Li Qianfan had just walked out of the restroom when Bai Zi Yan called, "The poster is from Modu. I've already locked onto their identity and am analyzing their call records for the 12 hours before posting, as well as eavesdropping on their calls for the 24 hours after posting."
"The poster is from Modu?"
Li Qianfan raised an eyebrow and slowly said, "It seems I really do need to make a trip to Modu."