The next day, Shen Zhifei took a day off and stayed at home.
The injury on her forehead had healed considerably, but first, such a rapid recovery wasn’t convenient to expose in front of ordinary people, and second, it would create significant pressure on the employees if the boss showed up with an injury. Shen Zhifei didn’t want to start any strange trends in her own company.
Of course, work still needed to be handled; she just changed the office location from the company to her home.
Watching her fingers swiftly typing on the keyboard, Zhao Xiaokui’s eyes sparkled with admiration.
This was the woman she admired, so impressive.
Shen Zhifei remained expressionless, but her back sitting on the chair became even straighter, silently absorbing the admiration.
From the side, her posture became more upright.
Her movements were subtle, but Zhao Xiaokui wasn’t a fool.
As someone who constantly watched her beloved, how could she not notice this change?
She moved a chair closer, pouting, “Mu—”
Shen Zhifei didn’t dodge and got kissed directly.
“—Uah.”
Having successfully stolen a kiss, Zhao Xiaokui, like a mouse that stole oil, quickly ran out of the study.
Staring at the computer screen, Shen Zhifei, who hadn’t absorbed a single word, only touched the spot on her cheek where Zhao Xiaokui had kissed after she left.
On the screen, a face with a slightly upturned corner of the mouth was reflected.
In the bathtub, Zhao Xiaokui’s smiling face gradually became covered by a tired expression.
Extraordinary beings could go for several days and nights without eating, drinking, or sleeping, but the expenditure from last night was just too significant.
Everything else was minor; the energy used during soul digestion was the major part.
It can be said that she is currently in a completely drained state.
However, the brain, despite being extremely tired, stubbornly refuses to easily fall asleep, exciting the nerves to the point where Zhao Xiaokui feels like she could get up and dance at a disco.
She knows this is a consequence of devouring a soul, but what can she do about it?
It’s not like she can just regurgitate1In a literal sense, it refers to the action of bringing food or other material back into the mouth after it has been swallowed, especially by some animals. what she consumed, right?
She can only use her weak hands to support herself on the edge of the bathtub and reluctantly scroll through her phone.
Then she realizes that she has become a hot topic.
Curious, Zhao Xiaokui clicks into it—
#Zhao Zijin Secretly Goes to the Hospital, Suspected of Pregnancy#
“Pfft—”
Her emotions are too stirred up, and she almost drops her phone into the water.
When she went to the hospital, nobody noticed because she used extraordinary means.
But when she came out, the Night Walker’s car was waiting downstairs, and she didn’t give herself the invisibility buff.
Who would have thought that even in official actions, paparazzi would dare to point their cameras at them?
Tsk tsk, truly commendable courage.
Especially in the photos, Lin Bai is opening the car door for her, and Gou Rixin stands on the other side with a vigilant look. Both of them are dressed in black Night Watcher uniforms, and at first glance, they look like bodyguards.
The topic also contains so-called insider gossip, such as her getting pregnant a long time ago, Shen Zhifei enduring humiliation, and taking care of the mistress for the sake of the family’s reputation. After going through the entire topic, Zhao Xiaokui has only one thought: Admirable, admirable, you guys are so good at making up stories, why not become writers?
They might not even be able to match the brilliance of the stories these people come up with.
In the comments section of these topics, there are various revelations.
Under the guise of being Zhao Xiaokui’s elementary school classmates, middle school classmates, high school classmates, etc., people from various perspectives provide evidence that she has been a calculating schemer since childhood.
If she weren’t the person involved, Zhao Xiaokui would almost believe these things.
She gets into it, deciding to pass the time with these absurd news stories.
What’s more enjoyable than being a spectator when the gossip is about yourself?
Zhao Xiaokui can’t sleep, and Wang Junwu and others also can’t sleep.
As the team leader, while the team members can go back to get some rest, he cannot. A pile of follow-up matters awaits his attention.
Sleep? You’re an extraordinary being, endure a bit, it’s okay.
Lin Bai and Gou Rixin, on the other hand, are affected by Zhao Xiaokui’s situation. When the water column soared into the sky, they were the closest ones.
During the mission, including Zhao Xiaokui, everyone wore the Night Walker’s internally distributed recording devices.
When Zhao Xiaokui left, she handed over her recording device.
However, her recording device didn’t capture much. Besides showing that she is good at navigation, everything turned pitch black when she entered the water.
Only the sound of rushing water could be heard.
On the contrary, in the recording devices of Lin Bai and others, the spectacular scene of the water column soaring into the sky was captured.
“… Very spectacular, right?” Yu Youmin, the current only first-tier extraordinary in S City and the captain of the general team, looked at the scene in the video and said.
He turned to ask Lin Bai and Gou Rixin, “You two were the closest. How did it feel?”
Gou Rixin looked bewildered, “It’s… very impressive?”
Yu Youmin decided to ignore this confused opinion.
Lin Bai said, “The extraordinary fluctuations I felt on the scene are approaching the first tier. I believe that with training, she can easily advance to the first tier in a short time.”
“You mentioned that her perception is also powerful, right?” Yu Youmin asked again.
Lin Bai nodded, “When we encountered an ambush in the forest, she was the first to notice people hiding in the dark. The helicopter was also found by her. In addition, her sixth sense should be very powerful. After the explosion, Gou Rixin and I realized that we had crossed a landmine field.”
Yu Youmin sighed, “Indeed, she’s a promising talent…”
He looked at Wang Junwu and Zhang Hongyi, “Which one of you can recruit her? I’ll give credit to whoever succeeds.”
“I think it’s not very realistic,” Lin Bai shook his head, “Luxury brand V has recently announced its latest global spokesperson, who happens to be Zhao Xiaokui. I think she probably has no intention of joining the Nightwalkers.”
“Even if she doesn’t, can’t we create that intention for her? Besides, being a Nightwalker and a celebrity aren’t conflicting roles, right? With an additional first tier, our advantage could increase significantly. She may not have the idea, but can’t you guys create one for her? Moreover, having her with a hidden identity makes it more convenient for many things. We lack talents like her,” Yu Youmin said to his subordinates.
Zhang Hongyi: “…”
Wang Junwu: “…”
Lin Bai: “…”
Bang, bang—
Holding her phone, Su Mingyue glanced at the approaching people and said to Yu Youmin, “Zhao Xiaokui asked me about the situation of off-duty personnel. Who wants to accompany me to talk to her?”
Yu Youmin’s eyes lit up, clapping his hands, “Look, this opportunity has come! Who wants to go with her?”
Zhang Hongyi: “…”
Wang Junwu: “…”
Lin Bai: “…”
—
Scrolling through Weibo, Zhao Xiaokui gradually couldn’t force a smile.
If the slanderers were all strangers, she naturally wouldn’t care much, but several accounts were claiming to be her acquaintances, and surprisingly, they were people she had known before.
There were childhood friends who had skipped classes together in elementary school, classmates from middle school who secretly exchanged books with her, and someone from high school who had shared a tent during a field trip.
The once kind and lovely faces now uttered words sharper and more piercing than the previous ones, pouring buckets of dirty water with increasing vigor.
Some of the things Zhao Xiaokui had no recollection of were completely fabricated.
Some she remembered, but they were actions done by others, and she was merely an unrelated spectator.
She threw her phone aside and submerged herself in the water.
She felt a bit suffocated in her chest.
She didn’t care how others slandered her, but she couldn’t understand—
How did these people become like this?
Zou Meng was Zhao Xiaokui’s elementary school classmate.
At first, when she found out that her classmate had become a star, she was happy and flaunted having a famous classmate in her social circle repeatedly.
Even though she had almost cut off contact with her elementary school classmates.
Later, some people would mention how they were with Zhao Xiaokui in elementary school every now and then. Some would provoke her, asking if she could contact Zhao Xiaokui, or even set up a meeting to let them see the big star in person.
To satisfy her vanity, she contacted several classmates one after another, finally obtaining Zhao Xiaokui’s current contact information.
When Zhao Zijin was inexplicably sought out by an elementary school classmate, Zhao Xiaokui blacklisted the number without hesitation.
Not to mention that she was not the main character, even if she was the main character, and even if she had some so-called elementary school classmates’ relationship with Zou Meng, she would not waste her energy just to satisfy Zou Meng’s vanity.
With so many people she had known since childhood, if everyone came knocking on her door like Zou Meng, treating her like an object to show off, would she still have a life?
If Zou Meng had some ability, connections, or means, perhaps there could be another perspective, but she was just an ordinary office worker, earning a few thousand yuan a month, living with her parents, and had nothing unique. What was there for Zou Meng to value?
Zou Meng didn’t think she was bothering others; on the contrary, she believed that after Zhao Xiaokui became famous, she turned her back on old friends, forgetting the camaraderie with her former classmates.
And that’s how Zou Meng became Zhao Xiaokui’s anti-fan.
Taking advantage of her identity as an elementary school classmate, she continuously fabricated negative information about Zhao Xiaokui online.
Zhao Zijin’s methods were superb, and the few pieces of negative information spread by Zou Meng couldn’t even create a ripple in front of her.
It’s just that Zhao Xiaokui didn’t bother to deal with it, and the manager arranged by Shen Zhifei for her also didn’t take it seriously, which gave her the space to frolic.
But not everyone could tolerate a grasshopper hopping around in front of them.
Just when Zou Meng, taking advantage of work hours, was hiding from the boss and engaging in a heated war of words with Zhao Xiaokui’s fans, suddenly someone called her.
She looked up and saw a colleague she didn’t know well, switching her window to the work page, and asked with confusion, “What’s wrong?”
“The boss wants you to visit his office.”
Zou Meng recalled her recent work and found nothing particularly outstanding, but there were also no significant mistakes. Generally speaking, she was doing just fine. Why would the boss summon her?
As she looked at a lawsuit document, she was completely stunned.
She dryly laughed, “Th-this must be a joke. Why would anyone sue me? I haven’t done anything wrong, have I?”
“Xiao Zou, the court summons has been delivered to the company. It says you’ve been defaming and spreading rumors online, which is not good for the company’s image.” The chubby-faced general manager shook his head and said, “You better think carefully about what you’ve done.”
Zou Meng returned to her workstation, plopped down on her chair, and looked at the summons in her hands.
A dazed expression on her face.
How could this be? How could this be?
She had only said a few words…
—
“Have all the summons been sent out?”
“Yes, they have,” the assistant replied, then asked with some doubt, “President Bai, isn’t this approach too aggressive?”
Bai Jingru turned to look at her, “Do you think I’m being too aggressive?”
The assistant, who used to be by the side of the old President Bai, was now assigned to assist Bai Jingru in taking over the business of the Bai family. Although she didn’t understand why the atmosphere became so intimidating after the return of the young lady who had been missing for two months, she had no thoughts of objecting to the orders given by Bai Jingru. Under the gaze of those eyes, she felt a shiver down her spine and dared not harbor any thoughts of resistance.
