DDT - Chapter 41
Chapter 41: School Tyrant × The Pushover (18)
The man's driver had been waiting in the private villa's parking lot the entire time.
As he walked out of the villa complex, the man loosened his collar. The formal attire from the evening banquet had left him feeling a bit breathless. No, perhaps it wasn't the suit. It might have been those two videos of unknown origin. A bad feeling stirred in his heart.
From a distance, the driver saw Mr. Yi Qinglang approaching briskly with his wife in the rearview mirror. Although he found it strange that Mr. Yi was leaving so early, the driver was sensible enough not to show it on his face. He quickly got out of the car and opened the rear door for Mr. Yi and his wife.
The moment Yi Qinglang got in the car, he instructed the driver, "Xiao Liu, take us back to the main residence immediately. Don't delay."
The driver, Xiao Liu, had rarely seen Mr. Yi in such a hurry. He couldn't help but sit up straighter, fasten his seatbelt, and skillfully maneuver the car out of the private villa, heading toward the main residence in the city center.
In just half an hour, Yi Qinglang and his wife were back at their home.
Yi Qinglang took off his coat and handed it to the butler waiting at the door. He asked the butler to bring two cups of hot water to the study in a little while, then hurriedly led his wife upstairs.
The study, located on the second floor in the north wing, was very large. Three of its walls were lined with bookshelves neatly filled with all sorts of books.
Only the space by the window was occupied by a massive sandalwood desk and a heavy laptop computer.
This was the portable computer Yi Qinglang used for work. He normally never opened it outside of work hours, but now, he sat down in the chair and flipped it open.
Yi Qinglang's wife stood behind him, both of them staring at the computer screen with a degree of tension.
The startup screen lit up. Yi Qinglang deftly typed in his password and opened the computer. He launched the IE browser, typed in the address bar, and logged into his private email. In his inbox, he found two emails. He clicked to download the videos, and as the progress bar slowly crept forward, both of their hearts were in their throats.
After about fifteen agonizing minutes, two "ding" sounds indicated that both video files had finished downloading.
In the download folder, the two videos were named. One was "Office," and the other was "Internet Cafe."
Yi Qinglang double-clicked the "Office" video, and a window popped up.
A middle-aged man slammed a stack of homework onto Yi Shuhan's head.
"You little brat! How dare you steal the class funds! Hand over the rest of it right now!"
The very first scene of the video struck the hearts of Yi Qinglang and his wife with incredible force. Yi Qinglang froze for a second before reacting, slamming his hand down on the laptop's keyboard with a "smack," instantly pausing the video.
Both of their eyes were filled with utter disbelief and a sudden surge of fury.
"Qinglang, keep playing it." Yi Qinglang's wife's voice sounded cold. Her hand, resting on the back of the chair, gripped it tightly.
The two took a shallow breath, and Yi Qinglang hit the spacebar. The video resumed. "So young and already up to no good! With your sticky fingers, all you know is how to steal. I bet you stole your first-place grades too! You shameless little bitch."
The middle-aged man, Jiang, spoke with a harsh and severe tone, heaping a pile of accusations onto the young girl before him.
Upon hearing the words "little bitch," Yi Qinglang violently slammed his fist on the sandalwood desk, causing the two mugs on it to clatter together with a crisp sound. The butler, who was just about to enter with the tea, was so startled that his hands trembled, nearly dropping the two cups.
The butler took a deep breath and quietly stepped aside, deciding to wait until his master's anger subsided before going in. Now was not a good time to interrupt. It would be no good if he accidentally saw or heard something he shouldn't.
In the study, the video continued. "Is this the phone you bought with the class funds?! Fucking shameless! Did your parents give birth to you just so you could be a petty thief?"
A phone??
Yi Qinglang started to connect the dots. A while ago, Auntie Wang had called to say Shuhan's phone had gotten wet. He had transferred a sum of money to Auntie Wang, asking her to buy Shuhan a newly released model. How had the phone now become something Shuhan bought by stealing class funds?
Yi Qinglang and his wife were not fools. They immediately guessed that someone had framed their daughter.
Sure enough, in the following part of the video, several girls claimed with their own mouths that they had personally seen Shuhan take the class funds, and then this phone appeared. Immediately after, the middle-aged man in the video pulled a brand-new phone out of a drawer and smashed it violently on the floor.
"Is this the phone you bought with the class funds?! Fucking shameless! Did your parents give birth to you just so you could be a petty thief?"
Hearing this sentence, the couple's faces had already turned uglier than a toilet bowl.
Then, the middle-aged man once again smashed the heavy books from the desk onto Shuhan's head.
Seeing this, Yi Qinglang finally couldn't hold back anymore. He shot up from his seat, grabbed the limited-edition mug from the desk, and hurled it to the floor.
The mug collided with the ceramic tiles, instantly shattering into pieces with a tremendous crash that clearly reflected its owner's furious mood.
The first video ended with the sound of Yi Shuhan's crying.
Yi Qinglang didn't click on the second video for a long time. He and his wife fell into silence.
Before Yi Shuhan started middle school, the couple had been very dedicated to accompanying her as she grew up. They had held Yi Shuhan in the palm of their hands, cherishing her at the very core of their hearts.
The two of them had defied their families' expectations to be together for love. The family in the capital would not tolerate Yi Qinglang being with an ordinary master's graduate with no background. So, in a fit of anger, Yi Qinglang took his wife, Shu Ming, far away from the capital, traveling a thousand miles to Qingyun City to start from scratch.
It could be said that the only son of the main branch of the Yi Family in Beijing was destined for greatness. In just a few short years, his and his wife's company had grown large and strong. They also had a child, the fruit of their love, Yi Shuhan.
They had originally just wanted to live together as a harmonious family, so they never had overly high expectations for Yi Shuhan. They also did their best to be present for her as she grew up.
In the year Yi Shuhan was about to enter middle school, a major upheaval occurred in the Yi Family in Beijing. The old master of the Yi Family was critically ill, and several of the collateral branches of the family were coveting the position of the main family head. The old master had only one son, Yi Qinglang, and naturally didn't want his position to fall into the hands of a side branch. So, for the first time in over a decade, the old master swallowed his pride and called Yi Qinglang, hoping he would return to inherit the family business.
At that time, Yi Qinglang's own enterprise had already made a name for itself nationwide. He had originally been disinclined to return and inherit the Yi Family's business. However, with his father critically ill and personally calling him, the bond between father and son had not been erased by time. Yi Qinglang's heart softened, and he agreed to the old master's request. Thus, when 13-year-old Yi Shuhan returned home after her exams, she found only an empty house and Auntie Wang, the nanny who worked part-time cooking for them.
Later, Auntie Wang went from part-time to full-time. And it became increasingly difficult for Yi Shuhan to see her parents.
The old master was critically ill and had made a will stating that everything he owned would be inherited by his only son, Yi Qinglang. The matter should have been settled. Who would have thought that after Yi Qinglang returned to the main family, the old master's condition would improve, and he would be moved out of the ICU? The collateral branches began to stir again. For a time, the main Yi household was rife with undercurrents and hidden dangers. Yi Qinglang, who had planned to transfer Yi Shuhan's household registration to Beijing, had to temporarily shelve the plan. After several perilous "accidents," Yi Qinglang and his wife became even more determined not to bring Yi Shuhan to Beijing so soon, otherwise, they wouldn't even know how she might be harmed.
The old master seemed to be aware of their concerns. For the first two years, he used various excuses to keep Yi Qinglang in Beijing, forcing him to constantly learn about and take over the Yi family's businesses and connections. He even used the pretext of spending the Spring Festival with elders to forbid Yi Qinglang and his wife from leaving Beijing. Unwilling to risk bringing Yi Shuhan to the capital, Yi Qinglang had no choice but to protectively leave her in Qingyun City for the time being.
As a result, when Yi Shuhan was 13 and 14, she spent her New Year's Eves alone at home, watching the Spring Festival Gala on TV. Auntie Wang would usually prepare her dinner and then go home to celebrate with her own family.
It was from those two years that Yi Shuhan gradually grew distant from her parents. She didn't know what they were doing or why they didn't come home, only vaguely understanding that it was to earn money.
Over the next two years, after a cutthroat, life-and-death struggle against the other branches in Beijing, Yi Qinglang and his wife felt an increasing need to quickly cultivate Yi Shuhan's independence and ability to stand on her own. This was to prevent her from being unable to survive the intense competition when she eventually came to the capital. After all, Yi Shuhan was Yi Qinglang's only daughter; it was impossible for her to completely sever ties with the family. This led to the later scene where Yi Shuhan called her parents for help, only to be cruelly rejected. His wife, Shu Ming, hoped that Yi Shuhan could find her own solutions instead of shrinking away or constantly running from difficulties, as that would be detrimental to her future survival and development in Beijing.
But they had never, ever imagined that Yi Shuhan would be hit!
This was their precious treasure, the apple of their eye! Although a deep rift had formed between them over the years due to a lack of communication, it didn't mean they would allow others to casually insult and bully her!
The study door opened. The butler served them tea and then quietly withdrew.
Shu Ming's hand rested gently on Yi Qinglang's shoulder. The two of them clicked on the second video.
"Hmph, so what if you called the police, Sister Chi? The rumor that Yi Shuhan is being kept by an old man has already spread throughout the whole school! Haha, let's see how Yi Shuhan can hold her head up in front of her classmates now!"
…
The couple's faces had turned as black as coal.
They now had a general idea of what had happened. Seeing the same few girls appear in both videos, and the final scene of them being taken away by the police, they confirmed that these were the girls Shuhan had mentioned were bullying her.
How vicious were the minds of these girls! So young, yet already scheming how to ruin someone's reputation!
Since their intentions were so malicious, they shouldn't blame them for being merciless.
Yi Qinglang closed the video and called his secretary, instructing him to investigate the middle-aged man and the group of girls, as well as the school's leadership.
"Oh, and that girl called Sister Chi, look into her as well." Yi Qinglang rubbed his temples and added another instruction. He had a faint feeling that this girl was the one who had sent him the two videos, but he had no idea how she could have his private email address.
"Also, book me two plane tickets to Qingyun for tomorrow morning."
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