Her Rose – Chapter 75

Feng’s Food Group headquarters, President’s office.

A crystal-clear glass ornament fell to the ground, instantly shattering into sharp, scattered fragments.

“Useless! Haven’t you deleted it yet?”

Feng Nan stood in the center of the spacious room, his face flushed red like a crazed beast.

Before him stood a row of senior executives from Feng’s public relations department. Their heads were all bowed low. Even when a glass fragment scratched a bloody mark on one of their faces, they only flinched slightly, not daring to make any major movements.

When that Flying Pigeon post first appeared, they had noticed it. At first, they thought it was that ungrateful Xu Qing making a comeback. They contacted the Flying Pigeon operators, who had previously taken a large sum of money from them, to delete the post. At the same time, they planned to report the matter to President Feng’s secretary, so that President Feng’s unsavory connections could go and teach this person another lesson.

Before Feng Nan truly took power at Feng’s, they were just law-abiding junior employees who did their jobs for a salary. But in just these few short months, they had become quite accustomed to disregarding their conscience and breaking the law.

Of course, they knew what Xu Qing would face if they reported it. But sometimes, someone else’s life or death truly wasn’t as important as one’s own livelihood. Their old leader, a senior and upright man, had been unceremoniously laid off by Feng Nan. Now, the only ones left in the department were those unwilling or too afraid to resist.

But they soon discovered that today’s situation was unlike any they had handled before. Five minutes later, the Flying Pigeon post was still completely intact; not even the image had been deleted.

They immediately contacted their liaison at Flying Pigeon. From the other party’s frantic tone, they could tell it wasn’t a deliberate attempt to screw them over; they had genuinely run into a ghost in the machine.

“Fuck! We don’t know what’s going on either! We’ve issued over a dozen delete commands, and there’s been no response at all. We even just unplugged the server for that section, but that damn thing won’t budge! Do you know how many complaint calls we’ve just received from people who can’t log into their Flying Pigeon accounts?”

Realizing the matter was beyond their capabilities, the public relations department immediately reported it up the chain. Then, they were dragged over by a furious Feng Nan to be berated.

But despite the scolding, they still had to find a way to solve the problem they had created.

An employee, having been thoroughly chewed out, timidly raised his hand. “Since we can’t delete it for now, why don’t we issue a response first? We can say that person’s death has nothing to do with us, that it was just a misunderstanding. We can offer to compensate his family. That way, we can still… Ah!”

Before he could finish, a heavy kick from Feng Nan cut him off. The man cried out and fell to the ground. The others remained silent like quails, but inwardly, they were all smiling bitterly—laughing at this brainless greenhorn, and also at themselves.

A misunderstanding? Easy for you to say. A single incident could be called a misunderstanding, but they had handled at least thirty similar cases during this period. Could that still be called a misunderstanding?

To put it bluntly, Feng Nan lacked his mother’s talent. Ever since Feng Ying fell gravely ill and Feng Nan took over Feng’s, virtually all of Feng’s employees had sensed an unavoidable trend of decline.

Feng Nan couldn’t manage the Feng’s Group, which had grown too large under Feng Ying’s hand. So his best option, in fact, was to immediately cut off the non-essential parts and do his best to manage the core business that was within his capabilities.

But for some reason, this President Feng, instead of shrinking the company’s scale, launched a massive expansion as soon as he took office, instantly pushing the already precarious Feng’s Group to the edge of a cliff.

And his method for dealing with the disastrous consequences of this blind expansion was so simple and brutal it was appalling.

To him, those low-level suppliers weren’t human beings like himself, but merely disposable pawns.

He didn’t think there was anything wrong with delaying payments or making others take the fall. On the contrary, he felt that for those guys who depended on his favor to dare to resist him was simply outrageous insubordination.

So, he contacted some “companies” from who-knows-where that specialized in handling such incidents, paid them high commissions, and had them find ways to “settle” these people.

The vast majority of those who resisted chose to back down due to the omnipresent threats. Xu Qing’s father was one of the few who held out until the end.

His stance was the most resolute, and his end was the most tragic.

He was the example Feng Nan made to warn the others.

Such methods were ruthless but extremely effective. After Xu Qing’s father died, the few other resisters who had held out all chose to swallow their anger and disappear without a trace.

It seemed Feng Nan had won this war, but such methods had one drawback: they absolutely could not be brought out into the open.

No one with a conscience could tolerate such a thing happening in modern society.

So they had always been very careful to guard against it.

But today, it seemed that heaven could no longer stand to watch Feng Nan’s actions and had decided to deal with him personally.

That terrifying Flying Pigeon post had already been pushed to the top of the trending list. The Flying Pigeon employees, unable to delete it no matter what they did, had practically given up. They even brought the people from Feng’s into their control room to prove they weren’t slacking off.

It was truly beyond their power!

The Flying Pigeon post stayed at the top of the trending list for a whole day. It wasn’t until evening that Feng’s official account published a brief response.

The central message was essentially one sentence: “It has nothing to do with us. We welcome a police investigation.”

The public relations department didn’t know if the company Feng Nan had hired had cleaned up all the loose ends, but they had no other choice.

If they backed down now, the original resisters would immediately jump out.

At that point, they would truly be doomed.

Although, they were pretty much there already.

Feng’s stock plummeted even more disastrously today than when Feng Ying’s illness was exposed. Countless ongoing negotiations instantly fell through, products were pulled from shelves, and they lost a month’s worth of revenue in a single day.

But the employees of Feng’s didn’t know that this was all just the beginning.

Not long after Feng’s official account responded, that small account posted a second Flying Pigeon.

“If something happens more than three times, we can no longer view it as a coincidence.”

The content of this Flying Pigeon post was more substantial than the last. It basically laid out everything Feng’s had done over the past few months for all to see.

Still, there were no subjective, critical words. The other party simply posted those bloody facts for everyone to see.

In truth, nothing more needed to be said, because the cruel truth is more powerful than a thousand impassioned speeches.

Everyone was enraged. Countless people gathered under the official Flying Pigeon account of the mainland police, demanding a thorough investigation into the matter.

That night, the main gate of Feng’s Food Group was pelted with rotten vegetables and eggs until it looked like a work of art.

The culprit was caught on the spot but received no condemnation. A Flying Pigeon post demanding his pardon was pushed to the top of the trending list.

People’s financial status and position may differ, but human dignity and human life must not be trampled upon.

At least, not trampled upon under the bright light of day.

#Today, we are all the person pushed from the tall building#

When he saw this hashtag hit number one on the trending list, the newly appointed head of Feng’s public relations department slumped powerlessly in his chair.

He knew it was all over.

Even if these things weren’t true, with such a huge uproar, the police and all the various related departments wouldn’t let it go until they had turned Feng’s upside down.

If it were the Feng’s under Feng Ying, it might have been able to withstand these inspections. But now, the inside of Feng’s was riddled with so many holes, big and small, like a beehive, that the fines alone could bankrupt them.

What’s more, those things were true.

He gazed at the deep night sky outside the window. As someone who didn’t believe in ghosts or gods, for the first time, he felt that perhaps, above the clouds, there truly was a pair of indifferent eyes watching them.

Watching them commit evil, watching them flee for their lives.

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The filming of 《Return》 had recently reached a particularly crucial stage, and Jiang Hanguang had been staying off the internet for a while.

She usually didn’t read the news while working, to avoid letting her emotions affect her performance.

But this matter with Feng’s had blown up too big, and what’s more, 《Return》 was funded by Feng’s. The entire cast and crew had been on edge these days.

“Did you hear? The police went to Feng’s today. Man, that long line of police cars… if you didn’t know better, you’d think they were taking everyone away.”

“Sigh, with something this big, the authorities definitely have to make a statement.”

“Do you think it’s actually true? I was so scared after reading about it I couldn’t sleep all night.”

“Who knows what’s true and what’s not? Anyway, even if Feng’s doesn’t go bankrupt this time, it’s going to be severely wounded. I just hope our production doesn’t get dragged into it. We’re all just working stiffs. I’ve been filming for so long, only to get screwed over by that good-for-nothing grandson Feng Nan.”

Jiang Hanguang, who had just come off the set and hadn’t yet returned to her dressing room, heard a name she’d rather not have heard. She instinctively looked up at the two people speaking.

The two immediately scattered like birds and beasts. She could only ask Cheng Ying, who had just walked up to her, “What happened with Feng’s?”

Cheng Ying looked nonchalant and said casually, “Seems like they killed a supplier or something. Some companies have no conscience, things like this happen all the time. Don’t worry, for an investment of this level, the money is definitely paid upfront before filming starts. Even if Feng’s goes bankrupt, we can just find another investment company. It won’t have a major impact.”

Jiang Hanguang hadn’t expected that Feng’s was on the verge of bankruptcy. After all, as the ex-wife of the young master of Feng’s, she knew the scale of the company better than others.

So even though Cheng Ying’s words were light, she still sensed the gravity of the situation and couldn’t help but go online to take a look.

Nowadays, checking the progress of the Feng’s incident was easier than taking a stroll downstairs. The moment Jiang Hanguang opened the Flying Pigeon page, she was hit with a deluge of information.

Reading through the posts, she saw that three days had passed since the first Flying Pigeon was sent. Today, the police had gone to Feng’s to collect evidence. Although no one had been arrested, it showed the authorities’ attitude of investigating thoroughly. Feng’s stock had hit its daily limit down for consecutive days, and its main entrance was completely blocked by people. What Cheng Ying had said about bankruptcy was by no means an exaggeration.

Jiang Hanguang’s gaze fell on the picture that was a bloody mess even through the mosaic, and her brows furrowed tightly.

Although her kind nature made her want to believe this poor person had died in an accident rather than being murdered in despair, recalling Feng Nan’s unstable mental state, she clearly understood that it was highly likely Feng Nan was behind this.

As she was lost in thought, a long, slender hand suddenly covered her phone screen.

Jiang Hanguang looked up blankly and saw Cheng Ying turn off her phone screen and tap her on the forehead.

“Don’t look at this upsetting stuff. It’ll ruin your mood.”

Jiang Hanguang’s originally gloomy heart was distracted by the alpha, and she couldn’t help but smile. “I’m not a child. I’m not that easily affected.”

Cheng Ying huffed. “Then just say I’m jealous. I don’t want you looking at news related to that guy.”

Jiang Hanguang shook her head and said seriously, “Don’t put yourself on the same level as him.”

She now somewhat understood how Cheng Ying felt when she heard Bai Ruo claim to be from the same school as her.

In Cheng Ying’s words, it was two words: bad juju.

Cheng Ying was amused by Jiang Hanguang’s serious expression and also found her incredibly cute like this. She couldn’t help but lean closer, taking her hand and stroking it. “Alright, alright, let’s not talk about him. Let’s talk about you. If those things are true, then that guy is a real scumbag. When you divorced him… did he not object?”

This was what Cheng Ying was most concerned about. She had been collecting evidence related to Feng’s these past few days, and the deeper she dug, the more alarmed she became.

Before, calling Feng Nan an animal was just something she said in anger. Now she realized that was actually an insult to animals.

So she inevitably thought of Jiang Hanguang. From any perspective, a good person like Jiang Hanguang stood no chance against Feng Nan.

She thought about Jiang Hanguang having spent ten years with that man, thought about her divorcing him, and hated herself for not being born a few years earlier to pull Jiang Hanguang out of that fiery pit sooner.

She was now even more worried about whether Jiang Hanguang had been bullied. If she had, perhaps she should change her attitude toward Feng Nan.

A dark look flashed in the alpha’s eyes, but she put on a well-behaved expression, ready to listen attentively.

Cheng Ying’s words stirred up some unpleasant memories for Jiang Hanguang. The image of Feng Nan’s ferocious face appeared in her mind, and she subconsciously touched her wrist. But in the end, she shook her head. She didn’t want Cheng Ying to get angry or sad over these past events. “He was naturally unwilling. But at that time, Mrs. Feng’s illness wasn’t particularly severe; she was just recuperating at home. She probably sensed that her body was on the verge of collapse and told me to hurry up and… escape. Feng Nan didn’t dare to defy her, so he signed the divorce papers.”

Mrs. Feng must be Feng Nan’s mother, Feng Ying. And Cheng Ying noticed that Jiang Hanguang had said “escape.”

Jiang Hanguang wouldn’t embellish when relaying a message, which meant those were Feng Ying’s exact words.

From just those two words, Cheng Ying could already imagine how dangerous the situation must have been. Feng Ying, a person who doted on her son but hadn’t lost her conscience entirely, had used the last of her strength to give Jiang Hanguang back her freedom while she could still control her son.

And the reason Jiang Hanguang was able to spend ten years in the Feng family without suffering any indelible psychological trauma was probably also because Feng Ying was protecting her.

The omega before her looked crestfallen. “She… was a good person. I don’t know how she is now.”

Cheng Ying could only pat her shoulder. She couldn’t find any words of comfort. Feng Nan had now completely taken over Feng’s. Even if Feng Ying wasn’t dead, she must have lost her ability to act.

Otherwise, how could she have allowed Feng Nan to ruin the empire she had built with her own hands into such a state?

Cheng Ying opened her mouth and closed it again, finally saying only, “It’s all in the past.”

Jiang Hanguang forced a smile, probably saddened by her own powerlessness. “Yes, it’s all in the past.”

In her life, she always seemed to encounter bad people, yet she was always sheltered by someone when she reached a dead end. She didn’t know if she was lucky or unlucky.

Just as the two fell silent, Cheng Ying’s phone suddenly rang.

Cheng Ying glanced at the caller ID, frowned, but still answered immediately.

Cheng Liang spoke to her in his usual commanding tone. “Tomorrow night at eight, come to the banquet hall in the Cheng’s main building. It’s a formal banquet. Dress respectably. Don’t show up in a bunch of cheap junk and embarrass me.”

The call ended, and Cheng Ying’s expression grew solemn.

Cheng Liang wouldn’t hold a banquet in the Cheng’s main building for no reason. It must be about something major concerning the Cheng’s Group.

The most likely possibility was that this guy had succeeded in his power grab and was preparing to begin his grand enterprise.

In other words, her final battle with Cheng Mo might be coming very soon.

“Xiao Ying, what’s wrong?”

Jiang Hanguang was probably frightened by her expression and called out to her worriedly.

Cheng Ying’s gaze fell on the woman’s delicate face, but a sudden sense of misery welled up in her heart.

One of the saddest things in the world is this: you think you are all alone and have nothing to fear, so you start a war, and even if you perish together with the enemy, you won’t have a single regret.

But on the darkest eve before the war, you meet the person you want to spend the rest of your life with.

Cheng Ying had never feared death as much as she did at this moment.

If she died, what would Jiang Hanguang do?