Chapter 247

Chapter 247: Throw Him into the Sea Jiang Shixu tilted his head slightly, his gaze sharp as a blade. "Your apology lacks sincerity." Liang Chuman was so frightened that tears streamed down her face. She turned to Chu Tang and sobbed, "I was wrong, Miss Ruan. I truly was wrong. Please let me go. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have slandered you or humiliated you in public. Please give me a chance to turn over a new leaf." Ruan Chutang's eyes were icy. "Post a three-thousand-word apology statement on all your social media platforms, pin it for a month, and compensate me one hundred thousand yuan for emotional distress." Liang Chuman's face went pale, her expression reluctant. "Miss Ruan, I have hundreds of thousands of followers on Weibo and Little Pink Book. I make a living off advertising income. If I post this, my public persona will be ruined..." "So you're unwilling?" Chu Tang looked at her coldly. Liang Chuman bit her lower lip, putting on a pitiful look. "It's not that I'm unwilling, it's just that this kind of apology is really too much to ask. You'd be smashing my rice bowl." At that moment, someone in the crowd said, "Miss Ruan, her online persona is a highly educated overseas-returned rich girl." Chu Tang said coldly, "If you don't want to apologize this way, that's fine too." A flicker of delight passed through Liang Chuman's eyes. "Thank you, Miss Ruan. I knew you—" Before she could finish, Chu Tang said, "Then we'll go through legal proceedings." Liang Chuman's face froze. The onlookers began murmuring among themselves again. "Miss Ruan of the Ruan family is truly merciful. If it were me, I'd humiliate her right back in public." "Merciful?" another person said. "I think Miss Ruan's move is ruthless enough—she's directly smashing Liang Chuman's rice bowl." "That's not quite it. You don't understand the internet well enough. The internet has no memory, and you're underestimating how thick-skinned Liang Chuman is. Once the heat dies down, she'll shamelessly come back to make money again." "Right, I agree with her. The internet has no memory." Liang Chuman's eyes darted around as she weighed the pros and cons in her mind. If it went through legal proceedings, with the Jiang and Ruan families' power, she'd probably face far more than just issuing an apology statement and paying compensation. She might even end up in jail. There was this internet celebrity, Chen Wan, who had spread rumors and defamed people online. Word was she got sued for defamation and was going to prison. Compared to going to prison, having her public persona ruined was nothing. Liang Chuman quickly made her choice. She steeled herself and said, "Miss Ruan, I agree to the apology method you proposed." Tan Bin, seeing that Ruan Chutang was much easier to deal with than Jiang Shixu, turned to Ruan Chutang and apologized: "Miss Ruan, I know I was wrong too. I'll do the same as her—post an apology statement on social media, and I'll pay you two hundred thousand yuan in emotional distress compensation." Chu Tang's gaze cut toward Tan Bin like a knife. "You?" Chu Tang remembered very clearly how Tan Bin had said extremely offensive things at the mall that day. Just then, someone from Tan Bin's social circle in Sucheng, trying to curry favor with Jiang Shixu and Ruan Chutang, shouted loudly, "Young Master Jiang, Miss Ruan, you absolutely can't let Tan Bin off so easily. He was looking for people to investigate Miss Ruan just a couple days ago, and he swore that once he found her, he'd have people toy with her to death." The moment those words landed, Jiang Shixu's eyes darkened. Immediately, bodyguards stepped forward and pinned Tan Bin to the ground from both sides. "I didn't! This is a misunderstanding! Miss Ruan, Young Master Jiang, there's a huge misunderstanding here!" Tan Bin's face was pressed against the ground. "I didn't know you were the young miss of the Ruan family in Jiangcheng. If I'd known, I wouldn't have dared say such things even if you killed me!" "So you're saying ordinary people deserve to be humiliated by you?" Chu Tang's voice was freezing cold. "No, that's not what I meant!" Among the onlookers, someone said, "That's exactly what he meant! Tan Bin is a notoriously infamous rich brat in Sucheng. Quite a few girls have suffered at his hands." "That's right. Tan Bin loves bullying the weak. Don't let him off." Chu Tang sneered, looking down at Tan Bin from above with icy eyes. "Is that so?" Tan Bin said frantically, "No! Don't listen to their nonsense. They're all bastards kicking a man when he's down!" Chu Tang curled her lips coldly. "I'll have someone look into it." Just then, a call came in on Jiang Shixu's phone. He glanced at the caller ID and answered. The person on the other end spoke in a grave tone: "Young Master, Tan Bin, the third son of the Tan family in Sucheng, has been investigating Miss Ruan. He also contacted people in the underworld, gave them Miss Ruan's photo, and paid a hefty sum for them to 'take good care' of Miss Ruan. When the underworld boss saw the photo, he immediately called to contact me." There was a pause on the other end, as if the speaker was hesitant, unsure how to phrase what came next. Jiang Shixu's patience ran out. "Speak." The person's voice dropped noticeably. "The underworld boss told me that Tan Bin wanted to find ten men... to toy with her until she was crippled... and then throw her into the open sea to feed the sharks..." The person on the other end of the line only dared to speak in fragments, their tone trembling with fear, as if relaying the full message to Jiang Shixu would cost them their life on the spot. Jiang Shixu's knuckles turned white. His gaze dropped, coldly looking at Tan Bin on the ground as if he were already a dead man. Tan Bin could feel the murderous aura radiating from Jiang Shixu, fear spreading through his heart, his face growing even paler. After hanging up the phone, Jiang Shixu coldly ordered his bodyguard, "Throw him into the sea." Those three words made Tan Bin's entire body go limp, cold sweat pouring down his back. "Mr. Jiang, please spare me, I beg you..." The crowd gasped. Without a second word, the bodyguard grabbed Tan Bin and dragged him outside. Chu Tang turned to look at Jiang Shixu, her brows slightly furrowed. "Who just called?" Jiang Shixu gently pulled Chu Tang into his arms, embracing her. "It's nothing. I'm here. Nothing will happen to you." The bodyguard hauled Tan Bin to the railing on the outer deck and tossed him into the sea like a piece of trash. Many people went out to watch. Tan Bin's screams pierced the sky. The commotion was loud, and Shu Mingyue, who was still busy upstairs, heard the noise and hurried down. On the deck. The crowd was packed. Everyone gathered by the railing, watching Tan Bin thrashing and struggling in the sea. Shu Mingyue pushed through the crowd, running over with an anxious expression. "What happened?"