Official statement: Tongwei is dead! You chose Ruijin, didn't you?

When Liang Lu received the call, she was sitting in the underground parking garage of the most upscale shopping mall in Jingzhou.

She had just bought an iced Americano, hoping to calm down the anger she had felt from arguing at home that morning.

The phone call was from the family's nanny, her voice filled with desperate sobs:

"Miss Liang, the sky has fallen! The police and the supervisory team have stormed in, and the eldest and second young masters have been taken away! The boss... the boss fainted from anger, and the ambulance just took him away!"

clack.

Liang Lu slammed her iced Americano onto the steering wheel, splashing brown liquid all over her, and even the limited-edition Hermes bag on the passenger seat wasn't spared.

But she didn't bother to wipe it.

She remained frozen in the leather seat, her mind buzzing.

Before leaving home that morning, her pouty remark, "This might be the last meal you eat out," turned out to be an accurate death prophecy.

The Liang family's sky didn't just collapse; the supervisory team completely uprooted them!

Liang Lu hurriedly grabbed a tissue and wiped her face haphazardly before taking out her phone to make a call.

The first call was to Liang Wentao, but his phone was off.

The second call was to Liang Wenjie, but his phone was off.

The third call was to Liang Qunfeng's chief secretary, which rang for half a ring before being hung up.

Liang Lu's heart sank to the bottom.

This is the true speed of officialdom in Handong.

When you're in power, even your farts will smell sweet; when power falls, you won't even find a ghost to answer the phone.

Holding her phone, she dialed Wu Huifen's number almost unconsciously.

The phone rang for a long time.

Just when Liang Lu thought that even Wu Huifen was going to cut ties with her, the call was answered.

"Liang Lu?"

Wu Huifen's voice was flat, without any hint of regret or deliberate polite consolation.

When others mention them, they always say that the two were old best friends from their time at Wuhan University. They studied together when they were young and shared their secrets with each other. However, the years and two troubled marriages have long since worn away that affection.

Over the years, they have only met and nodded to each other in the family circle, and rarely visited each other in private to have heart-to-heart talks.

But at that moment, a calm call reached Liang's ears, and the facade of dignity she had been maintaining for so long collapsed instantly, and tears could no longer be held back and streamed down her face.

"Sister Huifen..."

Liang Lu's voice was hoarse, "My dad fainted, and my two older brothers were taken away."

There was a two-second silence on the other end of the phone: "I understand."

Liang Lu gave a wry smile: "You found out pretty quickly."

"Because I saw it here at the hospital; Mr. Liang had just been taken into the emergency room."

Liang Lu gripped the steering wheel tightly:

"What...what should I do?"

She herself found the question absurd as soon as she asked it.

On the other end of the phone, Wu Huifen did not answer immediately.

In the special needs ward of the provincial hospital, Gao Yuliang was leaning against the rocking hospital bed, holding a glass of warm water in his hand.

Wu Huifen covered the phone's microphone, looked at him, and lowered her voice:

"It's Liang Lu calling. She's asking what to do."

Gao Yuliang didn't even lift his eyelids.

He wasn't surprised at all.

The Liang family is now like a hornet's nest that has been stirred up. Liang Lu, a spoiled young lady who has been pampered since childhood and seems mean but has never experienced a real beating, will be the first to collapse when faced with such a catastrophic disaster.

"Tell her not to go back to the Liang family, but to come directly to the hospital."

Gao Yuliang took a sip of water. "If she keeps running around outside like a headless fly, there are only three possible outcomes. None of them will save the Liang family, but they will definitely provide ammunition for Liang Qunfeng."

Wu Huifen's heart skipped a beat: "You mean, Liang Qunfeng will use her?"

"What's a biological daughter compared to absolute self-interest?"

Gao Yuliang ruthlessly tore away the fig leaf of officialdom: "Liang Qunfeng faked a heart attack to go to the hospital, playing the victim card. If Liang Lu were to get into a car accident right now, or have a mental breakdown and cause a public disturbance in the street, Liang Qunfeng could immediately write to Beijing, crying that the supervisory team 'forced a family member to death and engaged in political persecution.' At that time, the waters of Handong, which had just been cleared, would be muddied again."

Wu Huifen felt a chill run down her spine upon hearing this.

She always felt that after Lao Gao jumped off the building, he became more and more like Qi Tongwei.

She released the receiver and said into the phone, "Liang Lu, listen, don't go home, come straight to the provincial hospital."

Upon hearing this, Liang Lu suddenly let out a nervous laugh:

"That's really interesting. The provincial hospital might as well change its name to the Handong Karma Retribution Center."

"Liang Lu, this is not the time to talk nonsense. Come here right now and be careful."

After hanging up the phone, Wu Huifen sighed: "Are you really letting her come? What if she causes a scene?"

"She's here, right in our sight, and under the control of the supervisory team."

Gao Yuliang looked out the window, his eyes deep. "Zhou Zhengming will naturally send people to keep an eye on her. Qi Tongwei has already died unjustly enough; there's no need to drag another life into this."

On the other side, Liang Lu stepped on the gas and sped out of the underground parking garage, heading straight for the provincial hospital.

She kept mentally preparing herself: Don't cry, don't say anything carelessly, don't let others laugh at you. The Liang family's integrity cannot be lost.

But when the car arrived at the entrance of the provincial hospital and she saw the police cars, the disciplinary committee's special vehicle, and the cordon tape around her, her pitiful psychological defenses collapsed instantly.

Once, these machines, representing state violence, were tools used by the Liang family to crush others; now, the muzzles of these machines are all pointed at the Liang family.

She had just opened the car door when her phone rang again.

An unfamiliar number.

She took a deep breath and answered the call.

"Comrade Liang Lu, hello. I'm Xiao Lin, a staff member from the Central Supervision Group's Petitions Team. Are you at the Provincial Hospital now?"

Liang Lu froze: "You even know where I am? You've been following me?!"

"Please don't get agitated. At this critical juncture, even flies in Handong have to report their flight routes, let alone you."

Liang Lu trembled with rage: "You've ruined my family like this, and now you're spying on me?!"

"Comrade Liang Lu, let me correct you."

Xiao Lin's tone remained unchanged, but every word was piercing: "Your two older brothers are suspected of serious violations of discipline and law and are cooperating with the organization's investigation. We didn't take them away in a sack. Old Master Liang suddenly had a health problem, and we called the best doctor in Handong immediately. You can scold me if you want, but don't scold the wrong person."

Liang Lu was so choked up that she couldn't say a word.

She wanted to get angry, but found that although the young man's words were irritating, they were also perfectly tactful.

Xiaolin continued, "Please come in through the side entrance of the emergency room now, don't go to the regular outpatient hall. It's crowded there, and if you're emotionally unstable, you're more likely to be photographed. Although we've controlled the scene, everyone has a phone these days, and no one can guarantee that no onlookers have slipped through the net. You don't want to be trending on social media tomorrow, do you?"

"I'm perfectly calm!" Liang Lu said through gritted teeth.

"Yes, your stability is evident to all."

Xiao Lin smiled. "Professor Wu is waiting for you in the inpatient department. Please see her first, then see Professor Liang. The order is important."

Why?

"Because if you see Professor Liang first, you might faint from crying at the entrance of the emergency room, which would affect the doctors' ability to remove the tubes... oh no, it would affect the doctors' ability to save you. If you see Professor Wu first, at least someone will advise you not to tear down the hospital on the spot."

"Are you always this annoying to talk to?!" Liang Lu completely lost her temper.

"It depends on who you're talking to. I'm more reserved with my superiors, but for someone like you with high-risk emotions, I'll focus on effective communication." Xiaolin hung up the phone decisively.

Standing in the wind, Liang Lu was so angry that she laughed.

Following the directions given by Xiaolin, she walked into the inpatient department like a puppet on a string.

Wu Huifen stood at the elevator entrance.

The two women's eyes met, but neither spoke first.

Finally, Liang Lu spoke first, her voice revealing undisguised exhaustion: "Sister Huifen, am I ridiculous? I've spent half my life fighting and scheming, and in the end, I don't even have anyone to answer the phone."

Wu Huifen looked at her with a complicated expression: "You're not in a good position to judge yourself right now. Go sit down for a while."

Liang Lu shook her head, her gaze passing over Wu Huifen.

"I can't sit still."