Translated by translationraven
The people quickly deleted their copies of the clips Ding Mingcheng uploaded. These videos had only been made known to the users of Picture Domain’s intranet, so if they kept this quiet for one day, that was one more day that they would be helping Tang Chi keep this from the public.
The news of the employees’ reactions soon made it to Cao Kun’s ears.
Tang Chi’s videos had caused quite a stir in the company after all, so Cao Kun was sure to hear of it. Yan Qi was present too, coincidentally. He heard of how Song Yucheng was going to handle it, and sighed.
“Ha. That’s Xie Qianchen for you. It’s been years and he’s still so ruthless with his way of doing things.”
“But Ding Mingcheng isn’t like me. He might not hold back just because it will harm others who aren’t his targets.” Cao Kun shook his head, and he sounded doubtful. He didn’t look like he disapproved of Song Yucheng’s methods though.
He’d heard small bits of news that Ding Mingcheng’s uncle seemed to have made some changes, but he could not confirm if this was related to Xie Qianchen. Cao Kun knew, however, that Xie Qianchen would not let go of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. He would take advantage of this and end him!
“So why did you let him off back then?” Yan Qi was a little curious. Cao Kun claimed that he didn’t touch those who were not willing, but there had been two “accidents”. These two accidents were related to Xie Qianchen too. However, Cao Kun had even gone after Lu Wenyuan, but not touched a hair on Xie Qianchen’s head.
“Hah. You know what a true emperor of film is?” A sourness rose in Cao Kun at the mention of past events. “Xia Qianchen won’t resist, but he can make you wilt instantly in bed. Regular people don’t have skills like that.”
“. . .”
Yan Qi understood the reason why Cao Kun had not touched Xie Qianchen in all these years now. It wasn’t because he didn’t desire him, but because he couldn’t touch him. He thought about the incident in the Lucky Cauldron, where Xie Qianchen had made Xiao Lun shoot his load with just his words. He’d thought that it was strange at the time, but with Cao Kun attesting to it now, he suddenly felt uneasy.
This was a person who was a master of acting, able to assume a role at the drop of a hat, but he was unable to act in front of a camera now. Yan Qi really wanted to ask Cao Kun a question — Did you ever regret it?
He opened his mouth, and changed the question. “Qianchen is playing with fire. Isn’t he afraid that the video will be uploaded to the internet before he can do anything about it?”
“Ha.” Cao Kun couldn’t help a laugh. “Why don’t you try downloading it?”
Yan Qi took out his mobile phone and downloaded the video. His phone screen went black all of a sudden.
“Sh*t! A virus?”
“Yeah. I’m guessing that Xie Qianchen has some expert IT guy helping him this time round. I got someone to try, but got nowhere. It isn’t just me — Ding Mingcheng tried too, and he couldn’t get the video leaked.
“He’s not just gutsy, but prepared too,” said Cao Kun. The admiration in his voice grew as he spoke.
But Yan Qi looked at him, and the feeling of danger came over him again. He couldn’t tell if it was because of Cao Kun, or if it was for Xie Qianchen, who was playing his cards illogically.
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Cao Kun and Yan Qi were observing the situation leisurely, but was the complete opposite on Ding Mingcheng’s end.
Ding Mingcheng had vowed not to kill Xie Qianchen, but he had not expected that the “fast pass” connections he’d relied on for years would be blocked now.
His uncle had suddenly cut him off from all the benefits he’d enjoyed, and even seemed like he was trying to draw a clear line between them.
“Uncle?” He was confused when he received a call from his uncle, commanding him to return to the family residence immediately.
Leap Records was in a time where it needed him the most. Xie Qianchen was also working to topple him. If he left now, it would be the same as handing his company over the sharks and surrendering.
But what his uncle said, sneeringly, made his eyes widen in shock right away. “Tang Chi’s already made a police report. That video went straight to the hands of the Yang family too.”
“The Yang family?” Ding Mingcheng was stunned. “What connection do they have to the Yang family?” The Yang family and his uncle were in the same line of business, and were sort of enemies who’ve disliked each other for a long time. Ding Mingcheng’s uncle was cautious around them, and they hadn’t managed to get hold of any of his weaknesses so far. The Tang family would definitely make a fuss about this situation involving Tang Chi, and not let it go lightly.
Xie Qianchen was a lunatic, but had Tang Chi gone mad as well? If this matter got blown up, his history of being taken advantage of would be known by the world wide web. He would never be able to wash himself clean of that. Did Tang Chi not want to be a celebrity anymore?
Ding Mingcheng was stunned. After a long pause, he said, “I’ll go home right now.”
He hurried back to the family residence.
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It was a bit of a distance to the family residence from Leap Records, so almost everyone else had arrived when Ding Mingcheng got there, including his parents.
His grandmother clapped eyes on him and slapped him across the face.
“You animal! What have you been doing out there?” Ding Mingcheng’s grandmother was old and her slap didn’t hurt very much physically, but he felt like he had been flung to the floor. He retorted by reflex.
“What about it? Everyone plays around like this in the industry. I didn’t even go that far. Just look at Cao Kun and Yan Qi — those two guys did just as much as I did.”
“But nothing happened to them. You’re being investigated now, you know that?”
“So what? Tang Chi’s fine.”
“Tang Chi is fine, but that one called Han Feiran isn’t. He’s dead, isn’t he?”
“Who?” The familiar name made Ding Mingcheng’s heart sink. His uncle handed him a picture, and Ding Mingcheng was so scared he felt like his soul was jumping out of his body.
It was an appeal letter typed out in blood red.
Appellant: Han Feiran
Prosecutor: Ding Mingcheng
Prosecution charge: Murder
“I didn’t do it! Han Feiran jumped to his death on his own!”
“He jumped, but according to this appeal letter, you were the main reason which led to his death! It also mentions all the illegal activities you’ve done over the years in Leap Records. Just the page on tax evasion is something you can’t escape.”
“Impossible! Someone must be behind this. Uncle, where is this picture from?”
“Where?” Ding Mingcheng’s uncle grew impatient when he saw that his nephew was still trying to quibble with them. “I’ll tell you where! Anyone who can login to the intranet system has received a copy of this bloody letter! The tech department spent a long time investigating this but found nothing. This letter appeared out of nowhere. You know what they said in the end?”
“What did they say?” This method… uploading things to a company intranet… Cold sweat popped out on Ding Mingcheng’s forehead. What his uncle said made his fear deepen.
“They said that it’s a ghost calling out for justice for these grievances. Mingcheng, this matter’s a big deal. No one can save you now.”
“Uncle?”
“If I’ve guessed right, this case will be investigated together with Tang Chi’s police report. If what’s in the letter is true, the new laws will make it so that you won’t be able to get out of prison for the rest of your life.”