Chapter Ninety-Two: Clearing the Field

“My boyfriend is Ling Nianbai. This dress of mine is the latest summer design from Chanel and cost tens of thousands. You dirty food-delivery boy could work for a year and still never make that much.”

As soon as the video of that imperious woman was posted, it shot up to more than a hundred thousand views. What made it even more explosive was that the account belonged to En Hui herself.

There was also a caption attached beneath the video.

You ruined my shopping mood with my boyfriend, hmph. That filthy food-delivery guy will never even taste a decent meal in his life. What a disgusting spoiler.

If one had to say En Hui was determined to get into the entertainment industry, she truly had a gift for it. Her performance was pure instinct, so convincing that she made the image of a nasty, hateful girl come alive.

Even Jin Liu and the others, who knew the truth, had clenched their fists.

Naturally, the comments beneath En Hui’s video were a storm of abuse.

At first everyone was simply cursing her, but En Hui kept opening her mouth to say that her boyfriend was the fourth young master of the Ling family in Jiangcheng, and that people should be careful or he would deal with them.

That brazen provocation immediately ignited the netizens’ fury.

At first the online crowd merely hammered away at their keyboards, denouncing En Hui and Ling Nianbai. More heated ones rushed to the comment sections of the two videos to hurl insults, at most sending a few abusive private messages.

Who would have thought that several local netizens in Jiangcheng, who had not been paying close attention, happened to be filming not far from Ling Nianbai? The enraged Ling Nianbai personally led a few lackeys over in a rage.

How dare they curse the Ling family’s fourth young master? They were simply courting death.

Not long after he left, a video of Ling Nianbai beating people in a swaggering frenzy was exposed.

In the video, Ling Nianbai was not only arrogant but vicious as well. The timid ones all said they felt physically ill watching it. He even threatened the victim, saying they were not allowed to call the police, or next time he would break their legs. When a bystander on the roadside could not stand it and stepped in, he beat the passerby too.

The common people were furious.

He had beaten someone and still acted so high and mighty, even daring to strike a righteous passerby who spoke up for justice.

In no time at all, the comment section was flooded with condemnations of Ling Nianbai.

Yet the man did not take it seriously. He even posted another video to provoke the netizens.

“If you’ve got guts, come to Jiangcheng and find me.”

The netizens were astonishingly enraged.

Jiangcheng had long suffered under the Ling family’s fourth young master, and people began posting one video after another showing Ling Nianbai’s misdeeds.

Someone even submitted a实名 report, attaching footage of Ling Nianbai using banned drugs in Jiangcheng.

At just that moment, because Ling Nianbai had taken those illegal substances before beating someone, he was overly excited and fast asleep on the bed. En Hui, who had turned on the livestream feature, casually called the police.

Within moments, the police burst in.

“The fourth young master of the Ling family?”

The officers’ expressions were grave, and the team captain immediately began contacting his superiors.

“Do you know who my boyfriend is? Get out of here, all of you.”

On the screen, En Hui looked like an ignorant, shrewish termagant. She fished another phone out of her bag. “I’m going to call. I’m going to call Ling—”

Just then, the livestream call was discovered. The camera jolted, and the broadcast was cut off.

That only set off the netizens’ fury even more.

Around six in the evening, Ling Nianhan finally learned that Ling Nianbai had been arrested for using banned drugs.

“That damned dog will die sooner or later on those powders.”

Ling Nianhan was furious beyond restraint. Yet as the eldest of the Ling family, he could not simply ignore his younger brother.

He called, but after a long while there was still no answer. It was obvious the other party had blocked him.

Ling Nianhan’s expression changed. His eyes narrowed.

Ordinarily, that number would never have been treated this way. Then he thought of how Ling Nianbai had been caught red-handed by the police that had suddenly appeared.

And crucially, there had been a livestreamer present.

They were trying to use public opinion to prevent the Ling family’s influence from being brought into play.

“Go. Find out what background this En Hui has.” As he spoke, a ruthless gleam flashed in Ling Nianhan’s eyes. “And go bring that streamer to me.”

Beside Ling Nianhan stood a short man in a suit. He nodded.

The man was under five foot seven, with an utterly unremarkable face. But whenever Ling Nianhan was not speaking, he seemed like a wooden post.

Yet the moment he nodded, the light in his eyes looked more like a vengeful spirit that had soaked for years in rotten corpses, making the fear in people’s hearts rise cold and sharp.

Before the short man even reached the door, it was kicked open from outside.

The receptionist apologized in panic. “Mr. Ling, these people insisted on barging in. I couldn’t stop them.”

“It’s fine. You can leave. Tell everyone in the company to get off work.”

“All right, Mr. Ling.”

The receptionist let out a breath of relief, gratitude brimming in her eyes.

While Ling Nianhan studied the people who had forced their way in, he also sent a message to HR.

“What is this, so furious?” Ling Nianhan swept his gaze over the intruders one by one. Most of them were strangers to him, except for the one standing at the very back.

The boss of Yijia Aesthetic Medicine in Jiangcheng.

The Ling family also held shares there.

“Mr. Wang, come in and sit. If there’s anything to say, we can always say it after sitting down.”

“No need.”

Jin Liu gave a cold snort. “We’re here on Mr. Wang’s behalf. We’re demanding that you hand back all the customer data from the hospital.”

That was the very reason the Ling family had taken a stake in it: the customer records and data.

“Gentlemen, are you sure you understand what you’re saying?”

Although he knew Mr. Wang knew nothing about the experiments at the aesthetic medicine clinic, the words from Jin Liu and the others stirred a murderous intent in him.

Those experiments absolutely could not leak.

Otherwise, not even the Ling family would be able to withstand the wrath of the public and the full force of an official crackdown.

“Of course we know.”

Jin Liu raised a finger and jabbed it at Ling Nianhan’s nose. “You’ve got three minutes to think it over. Either hand over the customer records, or we men will smash up your lousy company.”

Pfft.

Ling Nianhan could not help laughing.

This was the first time anyone had called a Ling family technology company lousy.

“Just the lot of you?” Ling Nianhan shook his head in boredom. “I knew there wouldn’t be any surprises. I should have dealt with you downstairs.”

As soon as he finished speaking, several burly men in security uniforms rushed in from outside.

Not only were they massive, but veins stood out all along their necks. At a glance, they were the kind of men full of brute strength.

Moments ago, Mr. Zhou and the others had been fierce and aggressive. Now they huddled together, one after another, afraid to show too much of themselves for fear Ling Nianhan would notice. Mr. Wang, in particular, had buried himself entirely behind Jin Liu, his face already bloodless.

Back then, he had been bewitched by Wu Pipa’s words and believed they could bring down the Ling family, so he had come here to Ling Biotech with these people. He had never imagined that the other side could crush them with nothing more than security staff.

“What’s going on here, some kind of grand council?”

A teasing voice came from outside, and Liu Wenhong and Xue Yishou walked in together.

“Liu Wenhong?”

The moment he saw Liu Wenhong, a barely perceptible change crossed Ling Nianhan’s face.

“Aren’t you in Linhai running your real estate business? What are you doing here in my Jiangcheng?”

“Your Jiangcheng?”

Ling Nianhan was only in his thirties, not much older than Young Master Liu. Liu Wenhong could not be bothered bickering with a junior like this. He said lightly, “I bought this building. I’m here to clear it out.”