After returning to school, Meng Shuyao and Winnie hurried to find witnesses to the incident.
One girl knew the whole story.
It had started because those two guys had been talking about Meng Shuyao behind her back, and had even maliciously spread rumors on the forum that she was being kept by an old man. Mia happened to overhear them and told them to delete the post and apologize. Not only did they refuse, they provoked her instead, saying some extremely nasty things.
In a moment of impulse, Mia grabbed an empty beer bottle and smashed it over one of them.
Meng Shuyao hadn’t expected that it had started because of her.
Winnie’s brows were tightly furrowed. “Serves him right for getting hit.”
Meng Shuyao quickly tried to think of a solution. “Let’s go to the hospital.”
Winnie nodded. “Okay.”
They asked around and found out the injured boy’s basic information: a junior majoring in photography, a rich young master from a wealthy family.
On the way to the hospital, Winnie seemed to remember something. “Yaoyao, isn’t that guy the one who confessed to you before?”
Meng Shuyao had no impression of it. “I don’t really remember.”
Winnie thought back carefully. “It was him. I’m sure. That time we were watching people play basketball at the court, he suddenly confessed to you in front of so many people, and then you rejected him.”
Thinking of it that way, his motive was clear.
“He must have felt humiliated after you rejected him and started holding a grudge. People like that are the classic type who’d rather destroy what they can’t have. Truly tasteless.”
It cost nothing to spread sexual rumors about a girl. Just fabricate a few details and spread them around, let everyone point fingers, and the goal would be achieved.
Meng Shuyao had no time to worry about all that. The most urgent matter was to get Mia out of the police station as soon as possible.
The hospital wasn’t far from the school, about a thirty-minute drive.
It was already past eight in the evening. Traffic flowed endlessly, and the streets were brightly lit.
When they arrived at the hospital, they headed straight to the service desk, asked for the room number, and took the elevator upstairs.
It was a single room. The door wasn’t closed. The person inside was lying in bed watching TV and eating fruit.
Meng Shuyao raised her hand and knocked on the door.
The man with a head of dyed red hair looked over, somewhat surprised. “Why are you here?”
Winnie said sarcastically, “Here to check in on you, of course.”
For such a minor injury, was there any need to be hospitalized? Anyone who didn’t know better would think he’d lost an arm.
“To check in on me?” He got straight to the point. “I think you’re here for that crazy woman.”
As expected, this person had a foul mouth.
Winnie held herself back and sized him up. “You don’t look like anything’s wrong with you. You can move around just fine, and your complexion is so good.”
His hospitalization was simply a waste of medical resources.
The red-haired man’s tone was hostile. “Do you not see the gauze wrapped around my arm? That crazy woman smashed me with a beer bottle. I needed several stitches.”
Winnie really wanted to curse, Serves you right. They should have stitched his mouth shut too.
Meng Shuyao didn’t beat around the bush. “We’ll cover all of your medical expenses and compensation for emotional distress in full. I hope you can communicate with the police and stop pursuing this matter.”
“Why should I stop pursuing it? Do you think I’m short of money?” The red-haired man sneered twice. “I’m injured like this. Of course she has to pay the price.”
Winnie gritted her teeth and flayed him eight hundred times over in her heart.
Meng Shuyao spoke calmly. “If you have any conditions, you can bring them up and we can negotiate. There’s no need to make this matter bigger. That wouldn’t benefit you either, would it?”
“It’s not impossible to negotiate.” The red-haired man stared at her, his gaze naked and obscene. “If you sleep with me once, I’ll contact the police right away and have them release her.”
Winnie could no longer endure it and burst into curses. “What did you say? Say that again! Why don’t you look in the mirror and see what you look like? Have you no shame? Is that thing growing on your neck a tumor, or is your head growing out of your crotch? You’re like a male dog in heat. From head to toe, the only thing driving you is sperm!”
The red-haired man was stunned by the scolding, his face twisting hideously. “What are you doing? You want to hit me too? Go ahead. Then you can go into the police station and keep your friend company.”
“I’ll make sure to beat you crippled before I go in!”
If Meng Shuyao hadn’t been holding her back, Winnie really would have charged up and beaten him.
The red-haired man was certain they wouldn’t dare make a move. “What did I say wrong? She can be kept by someone and still pretend to be pure? My skills aren’t bad either. She wouldn’t lose out—”
Before he could finish speaking, a cup of water was suddenly splashed all over his face.
Meng Shuyao set down the empty cup and warned him, “If you spread rumors about me, I can sue you.”
The red-haired man instantly looked like a drowned rat, water dripping from his soaked hair. He was both disheveled and furious. “Go ahead and sue. I have people at the police station. Let’s see what you can do to me.”
Winnie suddenly understood. “No wonder they aren’t following normal procedures. So you’re the one making trouble!”
The red-haired man wiped his face and curled his lips into a smile. “So what if I am? If you want your friend to get out, then obediently compromise.”
“In your dreams.” Meng Shuyao was too lazy to waste words with him and pulled Winnie out of the room.
Along the way, Winnie cursed nonstop, rage with nowhere to vent. She used every vulgar word she knew in this life on that man. “What do we do now?”
At that moment, the only person Meng Shuyao could think of seemed to be Pei Yuzhou.
-
New York, Upper East Side.
Night spread through the air, and the mansion was brilliantly lit.
In the study, the phone vibrated twice.
The video conference had not yet ended.
The group executives were reporting on risk control for a new project.
Pei Yuzhou spoke to pause them. “Ten-minute break.”
He turned off his microphone and answered the call.
The girl’s soft, gentle voice came through, mixed with a trace of urgency. “Mr. Pei.”
Pei Yuzhou leaned back slightly in his office chair. “Speak.”
“My friend has been detained at the police station. They won’t allow visits. Can you help me?”
“What did she do?”
“Someone spread rumors about me on the school forum. My friend stood up for me and hit him.”
“What rumors about you?”
Meng Shuyao paused, then said softly, “That I’m being kept by you.”
She added, “But don’t worry. They don’t know who you are.”
Pei Yuzhou tapped the tabletop lightly. “Go to the police station and wait for her.”
With that one sentence from him, Meng Shuyao immediately felt reassured. Even her voice became much lighter. “Thank you, Mr. Pei!”
The call ended.
Winnie had just come back from the convenience store next door with two boxed meals. “What did he say?”
Meng Shuyao relaxed. “It should be fine. We just need to go to the police station and wait for Mia to come out.”
“Heavens, how is that possible?” Winnie was greatly shocked. “Just what kind of background does that person have?”
Meng Shuyao could only put it tactfully. “A background with some influence.”
She couldn’t reveal too much about Mr. Pei’s identity. Besides, she actually didn’t know all that much herself.
By the time they returned to the police station, it was already ten o’clock.
A flashy blue Porsche was parked by the roadside. A man got out of the car, wearing a striped shirt and light-colored trousers. His hair was slightly messy, and every gesture carried the air of a cynical, wealthy young master.
Meng Shuyao greeted him. “Mr. Zhao.”
Zhao Hesong yawned as he spoke, his voice languid and tired. “That Mr. Pei of yours disturbed my sweet dreams and made me come to the police station in the middle of the night to bail someone out.”
“That Mr. Pei of yours.”
The way he said it sounded somewhat ambiguous.
Meng Shuyao lowered her eyes uncomfortably. “Sorry to trouble you.”
Zhao Hesong accepted his fate. Who asked that person to be the almighty client?
He had been inside the police station for only fifteen minutes when Mia came out.