After Long Shenyuan and Xing Luo left, Mr. Tong didn’t leave immediately.
After a while, several others entered from outside.
They were all dressed similarly, and their ages appeared to be around their twenties to thirties.
“How’s everything going? Smooth so far?”
“Pretty smooth for now,” Mr. Tong glanced at the two cups of tea on the table, “They haven’t gotten suspicious.”
This “they” referred to Long Shenyuan and Xing Luo.
“How about your side? Is everything arranged? Honestly, I don’t quite understand—there are so many people outside, how did you find Su Qingyu and then separate her precisely from the crowd?”
Hearing Mr. Tong’s question, a tall, thin man with pale skin smiled and walked over to the window, looking down at the bustling crowd in the square below.
His name in the association was Sen Kui, known for his skill in using existing items to set up arrangements.
“We didn’t need to find her or separate her precisely from the crowd,” Sen Kui chuckled, proud of his little trick.
“Instead, we just made the crowd leave her.”
***
“She’s here!”
“Hey, she’s here! Boss Long is here!”
As Long Shenyuan and Xing Luo both stepped out of the building onto the stage set up early in front of the square, the crowd below grew excited.
“Friends, family, this is the scene of Xing Luo’s press conference. Look, I’m just standing right here…”
“Last weekend, the CFO of Xinglong International died by falling from a building here, and today the Board Chairman finally appeared to respond…”
“I heard Xing Baldy used to be some kind of gangster—hey, brothers, we can’t spread baseless rumors. That’s just what the livestream comments say. What? I made up the comments? No, really, it’s the comments saying it…”
Once they arrived, the most excited were the self-media creators holding selfie sticks, all jumping into action.
Su Qingyu was right in the center of this self-media swarm, listening to their various antics with a twitch at the corner of her mouth.
She regretted not swapping places with Bai Xia earlier.
Bai Xia’s spot was indeed better—fewer self-media, mostly traditional reporters carrying huge cameras, and a host standing there doing professional coverage.
Meanwhile, the speeches on stage began.
Long Shenyuan went up first, announcing the establishment of the Mental Health Fund, stating how much money and shares he would dedicate to helping the often-overlooked depression sufferers.
Then he mentioned Zhang Cheng, who had jumped last week—
“Recently, we had to leave temporarily due to certain matters, entrusting the company to my most trusted brother, but we didn’t realize the pressure this put on him. After this incident, I am deeply saddened. It’s not just about a brother, but every ordinary employee deserves care and protection for their mental and physical well-being…”
Listening to his flowery speech on stage, Bai Xia quietly clenched her fists.
Years ago, her father had been deceived by Long Shenyuan’s words, believing he would genuinely care for the warehouse workers, so he handed over the aftermath work to him.
Unexpectedly, they were dragged into a bottomless abyss.
Today, it was time to repay that debt.
***
Compared to her two companions, Bai Xiaoya’s situation was even more difficult to describe.
She was surrounded by some self-media as well, though not as many as Su Qingyu.
But since she stood right there, their cameras naturally focused on her.
At first, they were more reserved, but when a thick-skinned girl held her phone right up close, the others quickly joined in.
Well, in this day and age, only those with thick skins can survive in self-media, so due to survivorship bias, most were naturally familiar and forward.
“Friends, don’t listen to that old man’s speech anymore. Haven’t you had enough of that at school or work? Come, I’ll show you the cutie on site. Wow, such a big cutie!”
“Hey everyone, a big treasure found on site, follow the streamer’s footsteps to take a look.”
“Hi, miss, can you say hi to the tens of thousands in my livestream room… the viewers are eager to meet you.”
Phones were practically shoved up to her chest. Bai Xiaoya had no choice but to force a smile.
“Hello, I’m just a college student, passing by, just having a look.”
“Yeah, yeah, you can tell, a real coo~l college student.”
“Thank you, but I think we should focus on the main event,” Bai Xiaoya suggested, “The second speaker is about to start.”
“Right, the second speaker is the second founder of Xinglong International, also a bald guy. Let’s hear what he has to say.”
Though the streamer introduced the speaker, the phone cameras stayed glued on Bai Xiaoya.
Stuck on her, not moving an inch.
Bai Xiaoya could only ignore them and turn her gaze to the stage, seeing the bald man wiping tears in front of the audience.
Unlike the polished Long Shenyuan, Xing Luo took the emotional route, voice choking from the start:
“Zhang Cheng was my good brother. Though not by blood, we started struggling and doing business together early on—from scratch to building this company. Finally, we saw success, but my foolish brother… just wasn’t born with a wealthy fate!”
He was genuinely emotional, speaking tearfully.
Even the self-media streamer next to him clicked their tongue in admiration:
“So heartfelt, friends. I believe Xing Baldy and his brother really mean it. So sincere. Hey, look, the miss even cried—so kind, so beautiful, big heart and big… well, you know.”
Huh? What?
Did I cry?
Bai Xiaoya blinked, suddenly feeling a slight itch and coolness on her face.
She raised a hand to wipe it—indeed, a few small tears had fallen.
But she thought her empathy shouldn’t be that strong. Besides… wait.
In an instant, Bai Xiaoya realized something.
Looking up, she saw Xing Luo suddenly stop his speech, his face pale.
“Pfft—!”
The next second, he spat out a mouthful of black blood, and Long Shenyuan did the same beside him.
The two tried to support each other briefly before collapsing together.
“Ah!”
“Someone’s dead! Someone’s dead!”
The lively square immediately descended into chaos.
Some tried to flee, others grew even more excited, furiously filming.
It was a total mess.
“Oh my god, oh my god, another death! Did you see that, friends? I told you, this place has bad Feng Shui—Hidden Dragon Severed Head. The streamer is risking his life to show this to you…”
The nearby streamer babbled on, while Bai Xiaoya turned to see Su Qingyu make a gesture—meaning stick to the plan.
—If something goes wrong, leave by the main road.
She and Bai Xia were already heading out.
Bai Xiaoya also took quick, small steps toward the main road, her pretty face filled with panic, mouth slightly open like a frightened ordinary college girl.
With such an accident, they definitely couldn’t continue their plan for now.
They’d take a taxi back to Su Qingyu’s place and discuss together.
Bai Xiaoya was lost in thought, not noticing how the crowd around them gradually thinned.
By the roadside, a taxi was waiting with its door open.
“Driver, wait a moment.”
She walked to the car door, calling out, hands pressing on top of the door, waiting for Bai Xia and Su Qingyu to catch up, casually glancing at the driver.
He was fairly young, wearing a gray shirt without a tie, and had thick noise-canceling headphones on his ears.
Oh, so trendy, listening to music like that—can he even communicate with passengers?
Before Bai Xiaoya could ask, someone behind suddenly shoved her into the car.
Bang—!
The door slammed shut, locked, and the car sped away.
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