Chapter 20

Song Chunfeng didn’t scream right away.

It was only then that he realized, in extreme shock, the brain can freeze up.

For a good three or four seconds, he was like someone had hit the pause button, his face completely blank and motionless.

And in that time, the fresh excrement had enough time to slowly slide down his chin, in a slow-motion scene from a movie, and plop onto Song Chunfeng’s leg.

“Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!”

He finally let out a scream, frantically taking off his coat and pulling out wet wipes to furiously clean his face.

And his mouth.

The driver visibly gasped, silently unscrewing the cap of a mineral water bottle: “Y-Young Master…”

But Song Chunfeng didn’t even acknowledge him, almost kicking open the half-closed car door and charging at Ruan Zhen like a madman: “I’ll kill you!”

“Click.”

In the daylight, the flash wasn’t very noticeable.

But it was enough to bring Song Chunfeng back to his senses a little.

There stood Ruan Zhen on the steps, holding his phone and smiling as he pressed the shutter button.

The people around them also seemed to wake up from a trance, covering their noses while taking out their phones to take pictures of Song Chunfeng.

Taking photos without permission is wrong.

But this didn’t quite count as taking photos without permission.

Because everyone was taking photos openly and confidently!

In this situation, insisting on manners would be a disservice to the First Young Master’s earlier arrogance. The driver, who had just been beaten for no reason, was still in shock, and the scene before him left him speechless.

Song Chunfeng had been wearing a pristine white suit, spotless from head to toe, so when he was splattered with filth, it was…

Too impactful.

And, as expected of a large golden retriever.

It really did produce a lot.

It looked so healthy!

Ruan Zhen couldn’t help but smile in relief, nodding slightly.

He hoped his own dog would also be healthy, eating and defecating well.

After a moment of shock, Song Chunfeng finally reacted, turning and rushing back into the car, his facial muscles trembling uncontrollably: “Drive! Go!”

The driver didn’t dare turn around, holding his breath and decisively stepping on the gas, speeding away.

Only the murmuring crowd was left behind.

“Did you get it? The First Young Master got his face…”

“Ew, he deserved it!”

“I heard his father just passed away recently. Why was he driving a luxury car for fun?”

Ruan Zhen put away his phone and calmly walked through the crowd.

The dejection from earlier was gone, replaced by his usual lazy demeanor, which seemed somewhat sluggish but those who knew him well knew that his mind was full of mischief.

After walking a block, Ruan Zhen waited for the bus and called the butler.

“Hello?”

The butler’s tone was very respectful, completely different from the condescending attitude in the café.

“Yes, Little Madam, please speak.”

“I won’t be coming back for dinner today,” Ruan Zhen said casually. “I have something to do outside, so tell the Young Masters they don’t need to wait.”

The butler paused. “Understood.”

He knew about the incident with the Second Young Master, but no one dared to discuss it openly at home. Hearing that Ruan Zhen said they didn’t need to wait, he was shaken.

Would the Young Masters come back for dinner today…

The Second and Third Young Masters were in the hospital, and the Fourth Young Master said he had something to do. The only one who might come back was the First Young Master.

“By the way, has the music room been cleaned?” Ruan Zhen continued. “If I come back, I might sleep there tonight.”

The butler hurriedly replied, “It’s been cleaned. Little Madam, you can sleep wherever you like when you come home.”

After hanging up, Ruan Zhen smiled.

That place didn’t deserve to be called home.

The bus stopped in front of him, and Ruan Zhen got on with the crowd, walking to the last row and sitting down. He took out his phone and opened his account balance.

Before university, Zhang Laotou had firmly refused to let him do anything to help with household expenses, patting his chest and saying, “Don’t worry, I have plenty of money.”

Ruan Zhen would look up at him and say, “Grandpa is a hero.”

After adulthood, he had always used his free time to do part-time jobs, making milk tea, distributing flyers, and tutoring. He had done almost all the part-time jobs that were friendly to college students, but it only covered his tuition and living expenses, and the amount he could save wasn’t much.

The number appeared on the screen.

It was enough.

Ruan Zhen closed his phone.

As the bus announced the stops, he leaned his forehead against the window, looking at the blurred tree shadows and the various people passing by outside.

So beautiful.

A sight that could never be seen from the dark, sunless prison.

Song Chunfeng couldn’t help but vomit on the way home.

It was too disgusting, and he couldn’t even tell anyone.

He had never felt that the way home was so long. The moment the car stopped, before the servants could open the door, Song Chunfeng tumbled out of the car.

The butler at the door looked shocked, watching the usually elegant First Young Master run while taking off his clothes, in a very awkward and bizarre posture, rushing upstairs.

He rushed into the bathroom.

And in a flash, he turned on the shower.

The moment the warm water started flowing, Song Chunfeng almost cried. This was the longest shower he had ever taken, ignoring the chaos outside. He almost used up an entire bottle of fragrance, but Song Chunfeng still felt it wasn’t enough. After wrapping himself in a bathrobe, the first thing he did was open a bottle of perfume.

Only when he felt thoroughly perfumed did he put down the perfume bottle, his expression dazed.

The sky outside was dark, and Song Chunfeng stood there, motionless.

It was too humiliating.

From being slapped at the funeral by Ruan Zhen, to being hit with a shoe, and then being splattered with filth, he hadn’t gained any advantage and ended up in such a miserable state.

It shouldn’t be like this, Song Chunfeng couldn’t understand where he went wrong.

It was just a powerless nobody, and he had looked at him, giving him face!

And there was something important.

Song Chunfeng swallowed and carefully picked up his phone, opening his social media—

What he saw was a series of extremely popular photos.

The first one showed his bodyguard being arrogant and violent, and the following ones were all close-up shots of himself.

From various angles, extremely clear.

The caption read: “Young Master, I really got shit on my face!”

The comments section was filled with joy and laughter.

Song Chunfeng’s hand trembled as he scrolled through, cold sweat breaking out.

He shakily opened the contact list and roared into the phone, his eyes bloodshot.

“Why, why did you let the photos spread? Why didn’t you take down the news? Are you all just eating your meals for nothing? Huh?”

The company had a public relations department. No matter what outrageous things he did before, someone would clean up the mess, ensuring that nothing leaked online, at most a few people who knew the inside story would chat about it over tea, but it was nothing serious.

He never thought it would appear so openly!

No wonder he had a bad feeling while showering. He continued to roar, “Investigate! Find out who took the photos and posted them online. I want them to be torn to pieces!”

The PR manager stammered, “Young Master, calm down. This happened in a public place, and there were too many witnesses. We can’t delete everything…”

“How can’t you delete everything?”

Song Chunfeng almost threw his phone. “When I hit someone at school before, there were also many people taking photos, but nothing happened, right?”

“This time is different…”

The person on the other end seemed to gather courage. “The first post was made by the Little Madam on the company’s internal network, so we really don’t know what to do…”

The last few words were getting softer and softer.

Song Chunfeng suddenly realized.

It was Ruan Zhen!

Ruan Zhen had directly posted his embarrassing photos on the company’s internal network, and the PR department, considering her status, didn’t dare to delete the post. They also couldn’t reach Song Chunfeng, who was locked in the bathroom, completely unaware of the chaos outside.

The PR manager was also frustrated.

For adults, there are often four maxims.

During the New Year, if you’re here, it’s still a child, and the dead are respected.

Song Qinwen was dead, so they should show respect to his wife.

This Little Madam, who had just become a widow, used the deceased President Song Qinwen’s account to post the First Young Master’s embarrassing photos. If it were inappropriate photos, they could label them as pornographic and handle them, but this content was too tricky, leading to speculation about internal family conflicts.

After all, according to his observations, real business wars often use the simplest methods.

What seemed like a tumultuous love-hate entanglement might be just as simple.

Humiliating the First Young Master was so easy.

The PR department chose to play dead.

Family matters!

Song Chunfeng’s voice trembled. “Delete it, delete it now. Remove the original post and all the content on the website.”

“Okay,” the manager immediately replied. “We’ll contact the website now, but for the internal network… it’s the Chairman’s account, and we don’t have the authority to log in.”

“Then do what you can!”

Song Chunfeng roared and threw the phone.

He wanted to kill someone.

He didn’t have the authority to operate his father’s account, and he didn’t know how Ruan Zhen managed to do it… The only person who could delete the post was—

Song Chunfeng clutched his head in pain.

He didn’t dare to go to Song Shuling because of this.

“Young Master?”

There was a knock on the door, accompanied by the butler’s cautious voice. “Would you like dinner?”

The tone was earnest, but in his heart, he really didn’t want to ask!

The butler kept praying, don’t open the door, don’t open the door, and he would run after finishing his task. By the time the First Young Master’s mood improved, he wouldn’t take it out on them.

“Bang!”

The door almost hit his nose as it was pushed open.

The room was dark, and Song Chunfeng stood at the door like a ghost. “Bring Xie Qiu to me.”

“What, what?”

“The singer I played with last month, Xie Qiu. Do you understand?”

Song Chunfeng roared. “Tell him to get his ass over here!”

He couldn’t take it anymore.

He couldn’t even bring himself to open his phone and call the singer.

His anger was about to explode, and the only thought in his mind was that whoever lay on his bed right now, he would torture them mercilessly to vent his frustration.

Xie Qiu, an orphan who sang in bars to make a living, was someone Song Chunfeng originally looked down upon, but he was obedient and cooperative, knowing exactly what to do after a slap.

Most importantly, he looked somewhat like Ruan Zhen.

Perfect.

If he didn’t make Xie Qiu suffer tonight, he wouldn’t be a Song!

Less than thirty minutes later, Xie Qiu appeared at the door.

Called and he came, so obedient.

Song Chunfeng pounced on him like a hungry wolf, dragging him into the room and throwing him on the bed.

Xie Qiu yelped as he hit the bed, and before he could catch his breath, his clothes were roughly torn off, revealing his pale, thin body.

Song Chunfeng panted heavily, reaching under the pillow for the handcuffs. “Did you bring it?”

“Yeah, I brought it… Ah!” Xie Qiu cried out in pain. “Slow down!”

Song Chunfeng slapped him. “You think you have the right to ask me? Endure it!”

Seeing the marks on that similar face, he felt excited… but it still wasn’t enough. The contours were somewhat similar, but the eyes were very different. Song Chunfeng, feeling restless, handcuffed him to the headboard, stretched his neck, and reached for the bag on the floor.

The items he had instructed Xie Qiu to bring.

“Can you go a bit slower?”

Xie Qiu lay on his back, hands raised high, legs curled up uncomfortably. “I’m a bit scared…”

The only response was the sound of the packaging being torn open.

Song Chunfeng turned around, holding a rose-shaped candle, and smiled coldly.

He wanted Xie Qiu to be afraid.

He hoped he would cry until he fainted, feel the pain until he convulsed, and be as helpless as a rag doll, completely at his mercy.

The lighter clicked, and a pale blue flame shot up, igniting the candle—

Xie Qiu’s pupils shrank, looking at the flickering flame with fear.

Fortunately, it was a low-temperature candle, so it wouldn’t cause real injury.

He actually didn’t like this, but Song Chunfeng did. He enjoyed watching the sticky liquid gradually dry and solidify on the slightly red skin, then raise the whip and strike the most hidden and sensitive areas.

Song Chunfeng smiled and tilted his arm.

But the wax didn’t drip onto Xie Qiu’s body as expected; it slid down the edge and onto Song Chunfeng’s wrist.

He instantly let go.

It was too hot!

The burning candle fell directly onto the soft bedding—

The flame spread quickly.

“Help! Help!”

Xie Qiu screamed. “It’s on fire, let me go!”

Song Chunfeng blinked, as if doused with cold water, instinctively stepping back. “I, I’ll call for help!”

The pure cotton bedding burned quickly, and Xie Qiu curled up his body. “Help! Let me go first!”

His hands were still handcuffed to the headboard, and the friction from struggling had made his wrists red, but it was no use.

Song Chunfeng stumbled out of bed and searched for the key on the desk. He had planned to leave Xie Qiu handcuffed all night and had thrown the key on the desk. But now, was it more important to get water to put out the fire? To maintain the old-style villa, there were no smoke alarms installed on the ceiling, and the bathroom water—

He suddenly stopped.

The commotion woke up the servants in the outer courtyard, and the butler rushed to the front.

“Young Master! What’s wrong?”

Song Chunfeng strode out, closing the door behind him.

“Nothing,”

He leaned against the door, smiling slightly, his tone calm.

“I smoked too much and accidentally burned a hole in the carpet.”

“Achoo!”

Ruan Zhen came out of the internet cafe, wrinkling his nose in discomfort.

He hated the smell of smoke.

But just now in the cafe, a few men were sitting next to him, smoking and shouting loudly.

So he quickly uploaded Song Chunfeng’s photos to the company’s internal network and left.

The password wasn’t complicated. In the original story, the brothers had fought over power, cracking their father’s account and exposing each other’s secrets.

Ruan Zhen had remembered that string of numbers.

Now, he regretted not finding a way to speed up the conflict among these scoundrels.

And if Song Shuling could push things along, it would be even better.

Ruan Zhen bought a pancake from a street vendor, crunching through the leaves on the shaded path as he ate.

He still wasn’t sure about Song Shuling’s intentions.

The original book didn’t provide much detail.

The only thing known was that Song Shuling had very complex feelings towards his elder brother. On one hand, he respected him, but on the other, he disapproved of his actions, and there were other hidden reasons, which led him to stay away from home, rarely returning.

If not for Ruan Zhen’s awakening, Song Shuling would have left long ago.

Without his restraint, the Young Masters would have been even more reckless.

The savory aroma of the pancake filled his mouth, and Ruan Zhen chewed quietly, thinking about how the seemingly bleak ending had come about.

Now, it seemed Song Shuling had a change of heart and realized the misdeeds of his nephews, so he planned to use Ruan Zhen to set things right.

Good, a mutually beneficial arrangement.

Finishing the pancake, Ruan Zhen wiped his mouth with a tissue and opened a cold soda, feeling satisfied.

Today’s humiliation of Song Chunfeng was too satisfying.

He would do it again.

His phone rang, and an unknown number appeared on the screen.

Ruan Zhen didn’t hesitate, pressing the answer button. “Hello?”

A steady male voice came through. “Ruan Zhen.”

Well, the only person who could call him by his name so formally was Song Shuling.

He started school early and was one of the youngest in his class, so his classmates called him Little Tangyuan or Sloth. At home, Zhang Laotou called him Kid, and at the Song residence, he was called Little Madam.

Ruan Zhen was in a good mood. “What’s up?”

“Was it you who dealt with Chunfeng and posted the photos?”

“Yeah.”

Ruan Zhen responded nonchalantly, impressed by Song Shuling’s quick reaction. After all, he had posted it in the most prominent place on the internal network.

There was a laugh on the other end.

Ruan Zhen caught the hint of amusement. “Do you think I did a good job, Third Lord?”

Song Shuling was supportive. “Not bad.”

Oh, well.

Ruan Zhen was quick to follow up. “Is there any reward?”

Whether material or spiritual, anything would do!

He was almost broke.

When he got entangled with the Song family, all his part-time jobs were forced to stop, and his social connections were severed. Ruan Zhen had no income now, and sometimes he couldn’t even afford to do mischief.

“What do you want?”

The old fox had thrown the ball back.

Ruan Zhen slowly walked down the street, thinking.

Song Xiaoyu had been thoroughly humiliated and wouldn’t be causing any trouble in the near future. Song Qiuguang had opened the door to a new world and could wallow in his own troubles. As for Song Dongbai, he was still keeping a low profile and hadn’t jumped into the fray.

What remained to be seen was how Song Chunfeng would react after this ordeal.

This man prided himself on his intelligence and believed he was deeply calculating, but in reality, he was as fragile as a house of cards, no different from a superficially decorated flower.

And he was extremely “fragile.”

He was likely to take out his frustrations on innocent people tonight.

“Perhaps you should educate your nephew?”

Ruan Zhen pondered for a moment. After all, there was a clear culprit and a clear victim. If Song Chunfeng had suffered at his hands, it wasn’t wrong for him to turn and bully others. It might be best to pass the problem to Song Shuling. Let the uncle and nephew lock themselves in a room and argue as much as they wanted. It might keep the other man in line for a while.

This would also give Ruan Zhen the chance to submit his documents at the school.

The acceptance letter had been torn up, and the leave of absence had been processed.

But he was still here, a living, breathing Ruan Zhen standing in the sunlight, and he had the chance to fight back and never give up.

“Alright,”

Song Shuling mused for a moment before agreeing. “I will meet with him tonight… and you, Ruan Zhen,”

A water truck passed by slowly, sprinkling a faint, almost invisible rainbow in its wake.

Ruan Zhen’s attention was drawn to it, and he only snapped back to reality once the vehicle had disappeared around the corner.

He then heard the second half of Song Shuling’s sentence.

“Could you also meet with him?”