IOLYF Chapter 79

Zhao Cheng dialed the number, and it was quickly answered.

Glancing at Han Shao Zhou, who was sitting beside him with a deep expression, Zhao Cheng deliberately put the call on speaker.

“Mo Ming, it’s me, Zhao Ge,” Zhao Cheng said warmly into the phone. “Are you at the hospital right now? Old Han said he saw you here.”

Upon hearing Zhao Cheng mention his name, Han Shao Zhou’s blood boiled, and he glared at Zhao Cheng, warning him not to say anything foolish.

“What a coincidence, Mo Ming…” Zhao Cheng continued, “I’m at the hospital too. Talk about bad luck—last night I got into a car accident while riding in Old Han’s car, nearly lost my life on the Xihuan Bridge.”

On the other end of the line, Mo Ming sounded genuinely concerned. “Zhao Ge, are you okay?”

“Well, I’m in the hospital, so it’s not nothing,” Zhao Cheng replied. “I’m in room * on the 20th floor. Where are you?”

“I’m heading to the 21st floor to handle some personal matters,” Mo Ming said, just as the sound of an elevator door dinged in the background. “I’m in the elevator now. I’ll talk to you later, Zhao Ge.”

The call ended quickly. Zhao Cheng frowned and looked up at Han Shao Zhou, saying, “He didn’t say if he’d come by, but since he’s just a floor above, it would make sense for him to drop by. Do you want to wait here?”

Han Shao Zhou didn’t respond to Zhao Cheng’s suggestion. Instead, he wondered aloud, “He got on the elevator from the 16th floor. He was visiting someone on the 16th floor, so why is he going up to the 21st now?”

“Who knows, maybe he has other friends staying up there,” Zhao Cheng replied.

Han Shao Zhou got up and walked toward the door.

“Hey, where are you going? Weren’t you here to care for me?” Zhao Cheng called after him with a playful smile.

Without turning back, Han Shao Zhou replied, “Going out to buy you some supplements.”

“Really?” Zhao Cheng said. “I don’t believe you.”

Han Shao Zhou: “…”

Starting from the 20th floor, the hospital’s VIP wards offered single rooms equipped with every amenity. Even the hallways looked cleaner and quieter than those on the regular floors.

Inside Shen Qian’s hospital room, along with his parents and uncle, there were two friends from the entertainment industry. And now, with Shen Xixi and the others who had just arrived, the room was crowded with people standing and sitting.

Shen Qian, lying in bed, looked haggard and sickly. His eyes were swollen like walnuts, probably from crying all night, with bloodshot eyes and a small tear at the corner of his mouth. He lay stiffly on the bed, unable to move without causing sharp pain from the wounds below. He felt utterly miserable, torn between the urge to cry and the fear of moving his body too much. The whole scene was pitiful.

Shen Qian’s mother was wiping away tears, sobbing, “My Qian has never suffered even the slightest grievance in his life. I couldn’t even bring myself to scold him at home… I won’t let the person who hurt my Qian get away with it. They will pay!”

Standing by the window was Shen Qian’s lawyer uncle, a man in his forties with slicked-back hair and glasses, giving off an air of authority. He said solemnly, “Sister, leave this to me. Based on what Qian said, I can make sure those people are sent to prison. Don’t worry, not one of them will escape.”

Shen’s mother immediately said with anger, “Especially that Mo Ming! Qian said it was him who set up the trap that led to this. Isn’t he some small-time celebrity? We must expose him, get the media involved, ruin his reputation, and send him to jail!”

Shen Peiling, trying to calm the situation, added, “That Mo Ming is truly despicable. He’s always been at odds with our Wen Ci in the industry. We can’t let him get away with this. By the way, we saw him at the hospital entrance earlier. Wen Ci stayed behind to talk to him—I wonder…”

Just then, there was a knock on the door, and Wen Ci walked in.

Seeing Mo Ming follow behind him, Shen Xixi immediately pointed at him. “Aunt, that’s Mo Ming.”

Everyone in the room turned their gaze to Mo Ming. Shen Qian was especially agitated, tears streaming down his face as he grabbed his mother’s hand and cried, “It’s him! He’s the one who did this to me. He drugged me and got people to… I’m so ashamed I don’t want to live anymore. I really want to die!”

Shen Qian cried pathetically, but when he saw Mo Ming approaching the bed with an expressionless face, his face turned pale, and he shrank back in fear. “Don’t… don’t come any closer!”

Mo Ming stopped in his tracks and coldly surveyed the pitifully crying Shen Qian on the bed. Although the blanket covered him, it was clear that every small movement caused him excruciating pain. Mo Ming could guess just how badly this man was injured.

It seemed like he was really wrecked down there…

Shen’s mother erupted, pointing at Mo Ming and cursing him wildly. If her brother hadn’t held her back, she might have attacked Mo Ming. It wasn’t until Wen Ci spoke up to calm her down and explained that Mo Ming was there to give an explanation regarding Shen Qian’s situation that the room finally settled down.

Shen’s mother wiped her tears, glaring icily at Mo Ming. “Don’t even think about it. I won’t accept any apology or compensation. You ruined my son’s life, and you’re going to jail for it.”

Mo Ming finally spoke. “All I did was have a drink with your son. Why should I go to jail for that?”

“Stop playing dumb,” Shen Xixi said righteously. “You drugged Qian and set him up to be….”

“Do you have any evidence?” Mo Ming asked.

Shen’s mother raised her voice. “Qian was last seen with you, and you’re the one who sent him to that room. Qian’s word is evidence enough!”

Shen Qian’s uncle, dressed in a suit and tie, adjusted his glasses and said coldly, “There’s no need to deny it. I’ve already arranged for my colleagues to obtain the surveillance footage from the bar. If what Qian says is true, I can tell you now that your actions could land you in prison for at least five years. And since you’re a public figure, I’m sorry to say, your career in entertainment will be over.”

The room was filled with people who were all clearly pleased to hear this.

Mo Ming looked at the refined man with glasses and politely asked, “You’re quite knowledgeable about the law?”

Shen Xixi immediately chimed in, “My uncle runs a law firm that even works with Shengda. What do you think?”

“Good, then maybe you can help me with something,” Mo Ming said calmly. “Someone tried to drug me and hired people to assault me, but because they were too stupid, they ended up getting hurt themselves. Can I sue that person? And if I do, how long might they be sentenced?”

Shen’s uncle was clearly taken aback. He wasn’t stupid and understood who Mo Ming was referring to. He instinctively turned to look at Shen Qian, who was lying in bed.

Shen’s mother immediately shouted, “Oh, so now you’re turning it around and accusing Qian! Do you have any proof?”

Mo Ming didn’t want to waste time arguing with these people. He turned on the large LCD TV embedded in the wall near the bed. Having spent a night in this kind of hospital room with Han Shao Zhou before, he knew the TV could cast from a phone.

He directly cast his phone screen onto the TV, displaying a long, spliced-together image of various chat logs he had taken from Shen Qian’s phone last night.

On the TV screen, the chat logs were magnified dozens of times. Mo Ming scrolled slowly so that everyone in the room could clearly see the contents.

Shen’s mother stood there with her mouth half-open, staring blankly at the screen. Shen’s uncle, who had been standing by the bed, walked closer to the TV, his face growing more serious by the second. Wen Ci’s expression also darkened visibly.

Shen Qian was completely dumbfounded. He had no idea how Mo Ming had gotten hold of the private messages from his phone.

“That’s forged,” Shen’s mother suddenly shouted, her voice trembling with emotion. “Don’t think I don’t know what kind of person you are, Mo Ming. You sleep with rich men for fame, you target Wen Ci in the entertainment industry, and you’ve been taking advantage of your filthy relationship with Han Shao Zhou to steal Wen Ci’s resources. And you’ve been messing around with Wen Ci’s ex-husband, Gao Chen. We know all about your dirty secrets.”

Shen Peiling, holding a Chanel bag, looked composed and dignified, unlike Shen Qian’s mother, who was disheveled. She spoke with the authority of an elder, “Qian just turned eighteen; he’s still a child. How could he have such malicious intent and methods?”

Mo Ming cast a sidelong glance at the two women but said nothing. Instead, he calmly opened two audio recordings on his phone.

The recordings were clearly Shen Qian’s voice, and they played out loud for everyone in the room to hear:

[Voice Recording: I want the kind of drug that can turn a good girl into a slut in seconds, so Mo Ming looks like he’s having consensual sex in front of the cameras, all excited and compliant, haha.]

[Voice Recording: Don’t worry, he won’t dare pursue this afterward. Make sure those guys understand that they’re to say Mo Ming voluntarily came to them. And with that video in hand, if Mo Ming dares to say a word, I’ll make sure he’s too ashamed to live. Everyone will have a copy of the video, and if anyone fancies him, they can use the video to toy with him. He won’t dare refuse.]

The large hospital room fell silent in an instant. Everyone exchanged glances, their expressions growing more awkward by the second.

Mo Ming turned off the TV, pocketed his phone, and politely addressed Shen Qian’s uncle. “Lawyer, how should this be judged?”

Shen’s uncle’s face turned a mix of green and white, and he struggled to say a word… The situation had completely reversed. If pursued, it was clear that the one who should be judged was Shen Qian.

After a long silence, Shen’s uncle turned to look at Shen Qian, who was lying in bed.

Shen Qian was paralyzed with fear, unable to utter a word. He was still trying to figure out how Mo Ming had gotten hold of his private messages. His lock screen password was a random six-digit code that only he knew. Even if Mo Ming had his phone, he shouldn’t have been able to unlock it…

Shen’s mother was rendered speechless, her mouth hanging open. After a while, she weakly muttered, “But, but Qian is the one who got hurt. Doesn’t that make you at least somewhat responsible?”

Wen Ci, who had remained silent, finally spoke up. He looked at Mo Ming with sharp eyes. “Mo Ming, this was indeed Qian’s fault, but since you knew the outcome of this situation in advance, why didn’t you step in to prevent this assault? If you had even a shred of empathy, you could have stopped Qian from getting hurt. But you stood by and did nothing. Don’t you think you bear some responsibility?”

Wen Ci’s words seemed to reignite Shen’s mother’s anger. She furiously turned on Mo Ming. “Yes, you’re cold-blooded, completely heartless!”

Mo Ming ignored Shen’s mother and instead looked expressionlessly at Wen Ci. “Are you sure you want to stand on this moral high ground and debate responsibility with me?”

Wen Ci’s gaze was icy. “What are you implying?”

“I believe you received a message from Shen Qian last night,” Mo Ming said slowly. “It said: [Tonight at 9 PM, I’ll be in Room 804 upstairs at Mi Feng Bar, destroying Mo Ming for you].”

Wen Ci’s pupils constricted as he stared at Mo Ming in disbelief.

From the bed, Shen Qian muttered in confusion, “Huh? I didn’t send any such message.”

Mo Ming continued to look straight at Wen Ci. “When you saw that message, what did you think?”

“That message… it was you who sent it…”

“The time and place were clearly detailed, hinting at what was about to happen. Yet, you didn’t show up all night,” Mo Ming echoed Wen Ci’s earlier words. “If you had arrived in time, if you had shown a shred of empathy, you could have prevented this from happening. But you ignored that message. Or perhaps, you were eagerly anticipating how I would be destroyed…”

Wen Ci’s face flushed with shame, his trembling lips tightly pressed together.

“Mr. Wen, not everyone is qualified to stand on the moral high ground,” Mo Ming said. “And you’re certainly not one of them.”

Wen Ci’s breathing became heavy, and just as he was about to speak, Shen Qian’s mother suddenly widened her eyes in horror and asked Wen Ci, “Did… did you really get that message? Why didn’t you call Qian to stop him? You let him take such a risk—did it not matter to you what happened to him?”

Shen’s mother suddenly lunged at Wen Ci, her voice full of despair. “Qian did this for you, and you let him take the fall? You received such a message and didn’t do anything—why?! If you had a shred of decency, you wouldn’t have stood by and done nothing!”

Shen Peiling saw Shen Qian’s mother go berserk on her son and rushed over to pull her back. “What are you doing? What does this have to do with Wen Ci? Let him go!”

But Shen Qian’s mother was utterly unhinged. She slapped Wen Ci hard across the face.

Wen Ci couldn’t believe he had been struck. For years, he had been the most cherished among all the family’s younger generation, always praised by everyone. But now…

In a room full of elders, Wen Ci had no choice but to bite his tongue and maintain his composure. But Shen Peiling wasn’t as restrained. Seeing her precious son slapped so viciously, she immediately retaliated, hitting Shen’s mother in the face. “You crazy woman! How dare you hit my son!”

The room erupted into chaos as everyone tried to break up the fight.

Taking advantage of the confusion, Mo Ming approached the bed, his expression cold as he leaned in close to Shen Qian, who was so scared he nearly wet himself.

“I have the video from last night. Do you want it?” Mo Ming asked quietly.

Shen Qian broke down into sobs, tears streaming uncontrollably. He knew that whether he ended up in jail or became a public disgrace was entirely in Mo Ming’s hands.

“I was wrong, I’m so sorry! I really messed up, Brother Mo! I won’t do it again, I’m a complete idiot. As soon as I’m discharged, I’ll leave Chuanhai and never show my face in front of you again. Please, I’m begging you, just give me a chance…”

Mo Ming’s eyes curved slightly in a faint smile, but he said nothing. Without another word, he turned and left the hospital room.