Chapter 158

Chapter 158: Paying the Price Jiang Shixu quickly walked over to Ruan Chutang, his face full of concern. "Tangtang, are you alright?" He had also gone to the police station earlier to inquire about the progress of Ruan Jiaojiao's case, and learned from the officers that Chutang had just been there. He immediately chased after her, searching the streets for Ruan Chutang. Before long, he spotted her. It wasn't until he got closer that he heard the woman standing before Chutang hurling profanities at her. With a single look from Jiang Shixu, his personal bodyguard immediately stepped forward to restrain the woman. Hearing her cursing nonstop, Jiang Shixu realized the woman was one of Chen Wan's brainless fans—the same kind as the glasses-wearing man who had thrown sulfuric acid. Jiang Shixu's long eyes turned cold and fierce, his gaze sweeping over the kneeling fan like a blade of ice. His presence was overwhelming; a single look made the fan tremble in fear. The fan's spine went rigid instantly, cold sweat beading on her forehead. Just who was this Lawyer Ruan? Why did she have bodyguards protecting her? The fan had completely lost her earlier arrogance. Kneeling on the ground, she looked utterly pathetic as she apologized and begged for mercy. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry, I was wrong. Please, you're a big person, don't hold a grudge against someone like me. Forgive me..." Chutang narrowed her eyes slightly, clearly unsatisfied with the apology. The fan secretly glanced up at Chutang and saw her face cold as frost. Her heart skipped a beat, and her body couldn't stop trembling. She immediately pressed her forehead to the ground, kowtowing to Ruan Chutang. "Please, spare me! I really know I was wrong. I won't dare do it again, sob sob sob..." The woman's forehead hit the ground with loud thuds. After a long moment, Chutang finally spoke coldly: "Call the police." This was already the second incident of a brainless fan provoking trouble. Chutang had no intention of letting this slide. Both of these fans were adults who knew exactly what they were doing. They had to pay the price for their actions. The woman's face went pale at the mention of calling the police. "No! Please don't call the police! I really won't do it again, please spare me!" Chutang ignored her. One bodyguard took out his phone and called the police. "You—" Chutang pointed at another bodyguard. "When the police arrive, record a video." The bodyguard looked bewildered and instinctively glanced at Jiang Shixu. Jiang Shixu gave a slight nod, and only then did the bodyguard say respectfully, "Yes, Miss Ruan." The police arrived quickly. Following Ruan Chutang's instructions, the bodyguard filmed the entire process of the fan being arrested. "Tangtang, you should bring bodyguards when you go out these days. This is too dangerous." Jiang Shixu's eyes were filled with worry. Chutang curled her lips, her gaze icy. "None of your business." The girl continued walking forward, and Jiang Shixu followed. Chutang paid him no mind, heading straight for the open-air parking lot nearby. She had parked her car there when she went to the police station earlier. Open the door, get in, close the door—all in one fluid motion. Jiang Shixu was shut out. Ruan Chutang started the engine and drove off, leaving a trail of dust behind. ... Back home, Chutang took out her phone and watched the video the bodyguard had recorded. "Heh, so you like using the internet to twist the truth and incite your fans to cyberbully me, huh." A cold smile curled at the corner of Chutang's lips. "Chen Wan, Chen Wan... when you did all this, did you ever think you'd face the backlash?" ... The next day, Senior Sister Wanwan was on the trending searches again. Not just one—she made it onto three. Except this time, not a single one of the three trending topics was in her favor. #REVERSAL! Senior Sister Wanwan Is the Real Third Party# #Senior Sister Wanwan Incited Fans to Provoke Trouble in Person# #Senior Sister Wanwan Is a Fake Socialite# Each of the three trending topics came with evidence. The post exposing Chen Wan as a mistress included chat logs from when she first returned to the country—her conversations with Gu Zechuan, as well as her messages provoking Lawyer Ruan, Gu Zechuan's actual girlfriend. The top comment under that post was from someone claiming to know Senior Sister Wanwan in real life. [She's the third party. When she came back to the country, President Gu hadn't even broken up with his current girlfriend yet. Everyone in our circle knew.] Netizens eagerly piled on with furious condemnation. Of course, some fans tried to defend her, claiming the chat logs were fabricated. The second trending topic, about Chen Wan inciting fans to cause trouble, included videos of the glasses-wearing man who threw sulfuric acid and the brainless fan who cursed Ruan Chutang in public being arrested. The police also issued an official statement explaining the situation. It explicitly stated that a certain Zhang, surnamed Zhang, had harbored resentment after his account was banned by a certain streamer surnamed Chen, and had deliberately sought revenge. The case had been filed and investigated as intentional assault. It also stated that a certain Wu, instigated by streamer Chen, had committed public nuisance by verbally abusing someone on the street and had been detained for fifteen days. With videos, photos, and the police statement, this chain of evidence sealed Chen Wan's fate. The comment sections were flooded with outrage. The last trending topic exposed Chen Wan's true identity. She was never some wealthy socialite heiress. Her family was only moderately well-off. She had inserted herself into Gu Zechuan and Lawyer Ruan's relationship purely for money—those designer bags were all things she'd weaseled out of Gu Zechuan by seducing him. The comments section of this Weibo post had people commenting that Lawyer Ruan was the true heiress of a wealthy family. Someone posted photos of Ruan Chutang at the Ruan family estate banquet, along with pictures of her driving a luxury car and having afternoon tea at a five-star hotel. 【LOL, I'm an insider and I'm here to spill the tea too. The Lawyer Ruan you all talk about is the real heiress—her family has an estate, countless luxury cars and designer goods. That gold-digger Chen can stay far away.】 【A streamer wannabe dares to ride on the coattails of the Jiangcheng Ruan family's daughter? Truly both stupid and malicious.】 【Wanwan's brainless fans, your precious sister isn't even fit to shine Ruan's shoes.】 【I actually know this person from the grapevine. I can't believe someone would spread rumors that the Jiangcheng Ruan heiress is a mistress. That's a first for me. I was her classmate in university—she's turned down more handsome guys than you've eaten grains of salt. Rumors really do start with a single mouth!】 In an instant, public opinion online did a complete 180. Chen Wan scrolled through post after post, her features twisting with rage. She slammed her phone onto the ground with a bang, cursing furiously, "Bitch!" ... Jiang Family base. In an airtight underground basement, a bespectacled man was tied to an iron pillar. Jiang Shixu's subordinate Lu Ze, wearing protective gloves and holding a glass bottle, looked at the man before him with keen interest. "You really like sulfuric acid, don't you?" The bespectacled man's eyes were full of panic, his face drained completely white with fear. He stammered, "No... I-I-I don't... please... please don't..." Lu Ze's long eyes gleamed with cruelty, his smile sinister. "Let's see how it feels to be corroded by acid..." "Ahhh—" "Help, someone help—" The man's screams rang out without end. But the more Lu Ze heard, the more excited he became. "Tsk tsk, compared to the concentrated sulfuric acid you threw at Miss Ruan, this diluted stuff is nothing, don't you think?" Although the acid was diluted, it was still corrosive. The man's face was burned and eaten away into small holes by the acid, looking horrifying and barely human. "Ah—" The man howled in agony. "Kill me, kill me! Just kill me and put me out of my misery!" Lu Ze let out a mocking laugh. "Mercy? Do you deserve it?" With that, he used a dropper to draw up half a tube of acid and dripped it onto the back of the man's hand. "This is how you play it slow—that's what makes it fun..."