Chapter 151

The final result of the investigation turned out to be shocking—not her, but rather a member of the student council.

Zhong Ning was stunned, while Xie Shiqing frowned deeply, clearly dissatisfied with the outcome.

When the blame finally fell on the culprit, the girl spat at Zhong Ning with hatred in her eyes. “What are you so proud of! Just because you’re rich, you think you can do whatever you want!”

Zhong Ning hastily dodged the spit, flustered and confused like a young deer fresh out of the forest. “What did I do?”

“Still pretending, are you? Can you honestly say you didn’t try to seduce Yun Wei?” The girl, though already restrained by bodyguards, still struggled violently to pounce, completely out of control, as if possessed by some kind of hysteria.

Zhong Ning stood frozen, her wide eyes filled with pure confusion. “Who is Yun Wei? I don’t even know her!”

“Still acting dumb! She’s the goddess of the Economics Department—everyone knows that!” The girl gritted her teeth with fury, as if forcing out the most repulsive words imaginable.

“It rained on November 29th. You gave her an umbrella at the library entrance—I saw it! And you still claim you weren’t trying to seduce her?”

With a specific time and location mentioned, it was easier to recall. Zhong Ning sifted through her memory. “So her name is Yun Wei.”

“I saw that student stranded in the rain, in a hurry to get back, and she didn’t have an umbrella. That’s why I gave her one. What does that have to do with seduction? I didn’t even know her name!”

Zhong Ning felt completely wronged. She even had spare umbrellas in her dorm. Her roommate had lent her own umbrella to Zhong Ning, so the two of them had shared one on the way back. Zhong Ning, seeing this, simply gave one of the spare umbrellas from the dorm to her roommate.

It was just an umbrella—how much could it even be worth? If she had truly wanted to seduce someone, would that really be the method? What a joke.

Xie Shiqing had been waiting right at the door that day, and it was only a few steps away. Zhong Ning had even told her directly about the incident, feeling rather pleased with herself for doing a good deed.

How did this turn into “seduction” in someone else’s mouth? That was downright ridiculous.

“If you weren’t trying to seduce her, why can’t Yun Wei stop thinking about you? She wanted to return the umbrella, and you wouldn’t accept it. Wasn’t that on purpose, leaving it with her as some kind of token?” The girl screamed, eyes red with rage.

Her words left the surrounding onlookers speechless.

Zhong Ning had nothing more to say. “It was just an umbrella. She insisted on treating me to a meal and giving me a gift—it really wasn’t necessary. I only helped her out in passing. Honestly, if you hadn’t brought it up, I’d have forgotten all about it by now.”

“I have someone I love. I’m already engaged. I would never try to seduce someone else.”

She declared firmly, “You’re the one making baseless assumptions, ignoring the facts, and even went so far as to secretly purchase such a vile inducer. Did you not think about the consequences?”

The girl shouted, “I just want Yun Wei to see your true colors!”

Someone muttered, “With a secret admirer like you, poor Tang Yunwei is really out of luck.”

Zhong Ning blinked from the side. “Huh? So her surname is Tang, not Yun…”

Well, turns out she really didn’t know anything at all.

Since the real culprit had been found, Fu Nanshuang called the police, who arrived to take the suspect away for legal processing.

Several prominent families jointly emphasized that the matter must not be made public. It should be handled discreetly—those who needed to go to jail should go, those who needed to pay compensation should pay—but under no circumstances should word of this incident get out.

The others also agreed, promising to keep their mouths shut.

However, after such an incident, the one-week cruise had to be cut short, and everyone returned early. No one was in the mood to enjoy the trip anymore.

Fu Nanshuang said, “I still think Zhong Zinuan was behind it. She definitely played a role in connecting the dots.”

Zhong Ning rubbed her face and sighed. “If there were any connections, Shiqing would’ve found them.”

“Even if it really wasn’t her this time, she definitely didn’t have good intentions. Who knows what kind of trap she’s planning for you.”

Fu Nanshuang rolled her eyes. “How can someone be so disgusting! You better be careful.”

“I know, I know.”

When they came, Xie Shiqing had arrived by helicopter. But on the return trip, she took the cruise with the others. At the dock, everyone parted ways and headed home.

Not long after getting into the car, Xie Shiqing received a phone call—she had to go to the company.

Zhong Ning stopped her, got out of the car herself, and decided to take a taxi home. Unexpectedly, she also received a call and ended up going to the company too.

There had been a major crisis at the Zhong Corporation’s shopping mall.

It was clear this had been deliberately orchestrated.

The mall housed many vendors, with both domestic and international brands. Among them, one particular brand had been exposed—its manager had posted numerous discriminatory remarks on foreign social media platforms. These comments had crossed the public’s bottom line and provoked widespread outrage.

Under normal circumstances, when a brand causes trouble, the brand itself is the one boycotted. But somehow, the blame was shifted onto the shopping mall. People were saying that the Zhong Corporation had been irresponsible—why didn’t they thoroughly vet their partners during collaboration? Did this mean they shared the same discriminatory views?

Such a heavy accusation was no small matter.

If this crisis wasn’t handled properly, it would have a huge impact on the Zhong Corporation. Zhong Ning wasn’t yet capable of participating in the actual decision-making; she went to observe and learn.

But what was strange was that just as this issue was resolved, another problem emerged—allegations of fire safety violations.

Each issue was more serious than the last, keeping everyone running non-stop.

During this time, the Head of the Zhong family wore a dark expression every day and dismissed quite a few employees. But while those at fault could be fired, the damage to the Zhong Corporation’s reputation was harder to repair. There were even conspiracy theories circulating, claiming that these scapegoats had been deliberately pushed forward.

“Temporary workers.”

“Unaware of the situation.”

Xie Shiqing had also been incredibly busy lately, practically living at the company. As the New Year approached, a light snowfall fell—fine snowflakes like crushed salt sprinkled a thin layer on the ground, so delicate it melted away without even needing the next day’s sun.

It was a rare sight, as fleeting as a night-blooming flower, but Zhong Ning hadn’t shared it with anyone. Xie Shiqing was too busy, and so was she.

She hadn’t even noticed it had snowed at all—it wasn’t until she saw photos on her social feed that she realized.

For some reason, a wave of melancholy washed over her.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep