They surrounded me right after the breakup.

That evening, public opinion continued to ferment.

The topic of the exposé remained on the trending searches, climbing from third to first place.

New comments kept pouring in, some criticizing Jiang Han, some criticizing Shen Qingning, and some accounts claiming to be insiders taking advantage of the chaos to fabricate stories.

It was already dark when Xia Yutong left the company.

She sat in the car, staring at her phone for a while.

Several more related terms have appeared on the trending search list:

"#Shen Qingning the Third Party#"

"#JiangHanShenQingNingJiBochang#"

"#Jiang Han, Chairman of Xingyue Media#"

The comment section on Weibo is full of insults.

Xia Yutong was so angry that she trembled and immediately dialed Jiang Han's number.

She stated directly: "Ji Bochang's actions are suspected of infringing on reputation and privacy rights, and we can take legal action."

Jiang Han paused for two seconds on the other end of the phone: "What do you think public opinion will be like if we sue him now?"

"Netizens will feel that we are using the law to silence them."

Xia Yutong opened her mouth, but then felt that Jiang Han was right.

When Ji Bochang published his long article, he specifically wrote that he welcomed Jiang Han to sue him; he was just waiting for Jiang Han to file a lawsuit.

The more you sue him, the happier he becomes.

"What do you mean?" Xia Yutong asked.

"No rush, let's see what other dirt he has to spill first. It's too early to make a move now."

Xia Yutong remained silent for a few seconds.

She has worked as a lawyer at Junhe for many years and has handled many crisis public relations cases.

Jiang Han's approach differed from that of lawyers. Lawyers always prioritize securing evidence and sending legal letters, while Jiang Han thought further ahead.

"Understood, I'll prepare the materials first."

"it is good."

Just as Xia Yutong was about to hang up, she added, "Junhe can use all its resources. My dad said he'll be personally overseeing this."

"Please thank Director Xia for me."

"Why are you being so polite with him?"

After Xia Yutong finished speaking, she realized that she had spoken too casually and quickly hung up the phone.

The tone of his voice was so natural when he said this, as if he were talking about a family member.

Xia Yutong patted her face, started the car, and drove home.

I hadn't driven far when my phone vibrated again.

"dad!"

"Did you tell President Jiang?" Xia Guodong's voice came through the microphone.

"I told him, and he said there's no rush."

"Mm," Xia Guodong replied.

"Ji Bochang must have someone directing him from behind; the timing was perfect. Xingyue Media is rapidly expanding its business, and once President Jiang gets bogged down in public opinion, all of these things will be affected."

"Dad, can you find any connection between Lee Myung-bak and Ji Baek-chang?"

"Even if we find out, we can't bring it to the table to say." Xia Guodong paused for a moment.

"But Junhe has been in Jingzhou for so many years, he still has connections."

"I had someone investigate Lee Myung-bak's background. He switched to Universal Music, and I had someone compile the relevant materials on his violations, which will be useful in the future."

Hearing this, Xia Yutong felt much more at ease.

"Tell Jiang Han to rest assured, I will prepare everything that needs to be prepared. I will provide the materials whenever he makes his move."

"Also," Xia Guodong lowered his voice, "Yutong, you've been getting too close to Jiang Han lately."

"Dad isn't saying you can't get close to him, but he's your client, and also your sisters'..."

Xia Guodong didn't continue: "Never mind, you should know your own limits."

"I see."

Xia Yutong hung up the phone, tossed it onto the passenger seat, and stepped on the gas.

The chat group with my girlfriends has been nonstop since evening.

Lin Yaoyao was the first to explode.

She sent more than a dozen messages in the group, cursing everything from "Ji Bochang is an idiot" to "Lee Myung-bak is no good either."

After venting her anger, she still felt unsatisfied and started tagging Qiu Siyao, asking if she could find someone to hack Ji Bochang's account.

Qiu Siyao replied, "What's the point of hacking his account? He can just switch to another account and post again."

"Then what do you suggest we do?"

"Don't rush."

"What are you waiting for!" Lin Yaoyao sent a table-slamming emoji.

Xiao Xiao suddenly appeared at this moment.

Instead of stirring things up as usual, she sent a very serious message.

"Is there anything I can do to help? My family knows a lot of media outlets, and we can get a few major accounts to temporarily stop reposting his content."

Xia Yutong saw the message and replied in the group.

"It's no use not reposting it now; the hype has already built up, and everyone who wanted to see it has already seen it."

Liu Meng also chimed in: "Yu Tong is right. If we argue with him now, we'll only be helping him generate more buzz."

Lin Yaoyao sent a sighing emoji: "Just watching? Doing absolutely nothing?"

"It's not about doing nothing." Xia Yutong typed slowly. "We'll prepare everything we need to, and then we'll talk about it after he releases the next batch."

Xiao Xiao replied "Understood", Liu Meng added "+1", and Qiu Siyao agreed.

Lin Yaoyao didn't reply to the message, but sent a fist-clenched emoji.

In a group chat of six people, five of them are talking.

Shen Qingning never appeared from beginning to end.

Liu Meng tagged her once: "Qing Ning, are you alright?"

No one replied.

A few minutes later, Liu Meng posted another message: "No matter what, we'll stand together this time."

The group chat stopped at that handshake emoji, and no one spoke again.

The usually noisy best friends were unusually united.

At the entrance of Yunqi Mountain Villa.

Jiang Han had just parked the car when he received another call from Xia Guodong.

Xia Guodong talked with him for more than ten minutes, explaining the legal options, and finally said that Junhe was ready to serve at any time.

Jiang Han hung up the phone, pushed open the door and went inside. The aroma of food wafted out of the house.

Qiu Siyao stood in front of the stove wearing an apron, the oil in the pot still sizzling.

Lin Yaoyao was chopping vegetables nearby, the sound of the knife hitting the cutting board was very frequent.

"You're back?" Qiu Siyao turned around and glanced at him. "Wait ten more minutes."

Jiang Han changed his shoes and went inside. There were already three or four dishes on the stove, but they didn't look very appealing.

"Did you two make this?"

"Siyao insisted on making it herself, saying she was tired of eating out."

"I said I'd make it," Qiu Siyao interjected. "Don't complain if it doesn't taste good."

Jiang Han didn't say anything and turned to wash his hands.

By the time he sat down at the table, Lin Yaoyao had already served all the dishes.

Four dishes and one soup: scrambled eggs with tomatoes, stir-fried seasonal vegetables, braised pork ribs, cucumber salad, plus a bowl of seaweed and egg drop soup.

Two girls sat down on either side of Jiang Han, staring at him expectantly.

He picked up a piece of pork rib and took a bite.

The meat was stewed until very tender, but it was a bit salty.

"How is it?" Qiu Siyao asked.

"It's edible."

Lin Yaoyao laughed out loud from the side: "The way you're saying that sounds like you're insulting someone."

Qiu Siyao felt a little embarrassed by what was said and lowered her head to eat a mouthful of rice.

The three of them were eating, and the TV was on.

The news broadcast on the screen ended, and it switched to a variety show, with laughter coming from the speakers.

The insults, trending topics, and comments outside seemed to be kept out of this room.