He had made a bet with his brother — that Shiyao didn’t love him and only liked his money.

If he lost, he would give everything he had to help his brother persuade their mother to convince their father to agree to let his brother marry Shiyao — and then his brother would hurry back to marry Shiyao and run the company.

If he won, his brother would break up with Shiyao and come back home properly to manage the company.

As it turned out, Shiyao hadn’t disappointed him. Shiyao did indeed love his brother’s money.

He had finally made it through.

His brother’s illness had made him suffer in that company even more than his brother had.

After a brief silence, Qi Qingchen said, “Dad is still angry. The company……”

Qi Qingxian looked as though facing a great threat. “He’s not angry anymore, not angry at all. Brother, once your surgery is done and you’ve recovered, come back to the company immediately.”

The urgency in his voice was such that he seemed afraid of losing half a second.

“Not angry?” Qi Qingchen was clearly unconvinced.

“Dad had you leave the company so you could recover without worry. As for the deal you struck with Yanyu’s brother — Dad was angry enough to be hospitalized, but it wasn’t because he was upset that you let the Xuan Group benefit. He was upset because you did it for Shiyao.”

Qi Qingchen pressed his lips together. Thinking of Shiyao, he lowered his head slightly.

“Brother, after the scene Shiyao just caused — if she comes to you begging for help, please, don’t ever help her again.”

Qi Qingchen looked up in puzzlement. “Come begging for me?”

“Mm.” Qi Qingxian reached into his suit pocket, pulled out his phone, and opened the Qi Group’s official account, handing it to Qi Qingchen.

[Just didn’t think much of her. “Smiling.”]

[@XuanGroup, an undeserved calamity.]

[@XuanGroup, the ignorant thought you had profited at our expense — little did they know it was a win-win. “Image.” “Image.”]

[@XuanGroup, we owe you an apology. For all future project collaborations, whenever the Xuan Group speaks, the Qi Group will always give you first priority in signing contracts.]

Qi Qingchen read this and the corner of his mouth twitched. “Half a year without a single post, and now you’ve caught up on it all in half a day?”

“Brother, that’s not the half of it. Xie Yan, Pei Shunian, Jiang Zhibai, and the rest of those company presidents — all of them have reposted our official statement and the Xuan Group’s declaration and lawyer’s letter. Shiyao has made a huge mess of things this time.”

Qi Qingxian switched the phone to the Xuan Group’s official account and opened their most recently posted video.

The first clip was from inside the Xuan residence — Shiyao suddenly clutching her abdomen, and the black-clad bodyguard Ye Chen carrying her out of the main hall. The final frame of the clip was Shiyao’s hospitalization record from that day.

Captioned: [Didn’t she feel unwell on her own? Who is there to blame?]

The second clip was from inside a boutique. Yan Yunning and He Qingxia had been given adorable little cat-face overlays, while Shiyao strutted about demanding the dress off Yan Yunning’s back. The clip also ended with the hospitalization record from that day.

Captioned: [Hilarious — failed to make trouble for someone else, and then worked herself into a hospitalization. And somehow blamed it all on our President Xuan.]

The third clip showed Shiyao mopping the floor and then deliberately falling. The editor had even zoomed in on the calculated look in Shiyao’s eyes before cutting to the hospitalization record from that day as well.

Captioned: [And who was she scheming against this time? Oh — looks like our President Xuan again. After all, someone did say that President Xuan caused her to be hospitalized three times.]

After the videos finished, Qi Qingxian scrolled further down and opened the official statement for Qi Qingchen to read.

“Brother, public opinion has already reversed. The netizens who had just been misled by Shiyao into insulting Yanyu’s brother are now all apologizing.”

Qi Qingxian paused, then continued, “Brother, the Xuan Group has these three clips playing on their outdoor display screen, and as you know, their outdoor screen is connected to……”

In any case, Shiyao had truly brought trouble down on herself this time — she had become quite the celebrity.

And it wasn’t over yet. Just as Qi Qingchen took out his phone to check on the public opinion, another audio recording was released — one that Yan Yunning had arranged through a marketing agency, with her own name bleeped out.

The people who had just been feeling sorry for Shiyao all rushed in to condemn Shiyao and her scheming family members — heartless, shameless, and worse.

Just as Qi Qingxian had predicted, not even an hour after Shiyao had left, she came back to the apartment.

“Qingxian, you’re here too?” Shiyao noticed Qi Qingxian and her gaze shifted slightly. She smiled and said, “Did you come to see Qingchen? Have you eaten? If not, I’ll go cook.”

Qi Xingyou shrank further into Qi Qingxian’s arms and clutched his neck tightly, not letting go. Yaoyao’s mother was back — did that mean Daddy wasn’t going to Grandpa and Grandma’s house after all?

Qi Qingxian patted the little girl’s back and looked at Shiyao with an unreadable expression. “Miss Shi, I came here for you. Your livestream today caused significant damage to the company, and I’ve come to seek compensation from you and my brother.”

“My brother has no money left, so I can only come to you for it.”

Shiyao was startled. “I don’t have any money.”

Qi Qingxian smiled, the corners of his eyes curving slightly. “No money is fine — my brother said he’ll start helping you look for a job tomorrow. I’m in no hurry; you two can repay it gradually.”

Shiyao bit her lip lightly. “Qingchen is your older brother, and he’s still ill. Are you really just going to leave him to fend for himself?”

“Miss Shi, my dad went to a great deal of trouble to push my brother out of the company. Honestly, I’d love it if he never went back. Since you want to be with my brother, you should understand — my brother is never going back to that company.”

Shiyao’s complexion paled slightly.

“You should go now,” Qi Qingchen said, taking the little girl from Qi Qingxian’s arms.

“Brother!”

Qi Qingchen tilted his head to the side, signaling him to leave.

Qi Qingxian looked at Shiyao with dissatisfaction. “Don’t forget to find a way to compensate for the damage you’ve caused the company.”

After Qi Qingxian left, Qi Qingchen handed the little girl off to a helper, who carried her into a room. Once the bedroom door closed, he looked at Shiyao. “Why have you come back?”

Shiyao was seething inside, but fearing that Qi Qingchen would change his mind about working and ask for the card back to give to Qi Qingxian, she softened her tone. “Didn’t you say you wouldn’t let Xuan Yanyu come after me? He put out those videos — why didn’t you stop him?”

She hated having people pointing and whispering at her whenever she went out.

Qi Qingchen gave a faint laugh. He poured a glass of water and turned it in his fingers. “If Yanyu were truly coming after you, you wouldn’t be standing here right now.”

“Qingchen.” Shiyao stepped closer to him, resting against his shoulder in a soft, coquettish manner. She took his hand and placed it on her abdomen, her voice honeyed and sweet. “Qingchen, go beg Xuan Yanyu to take down the video — for the sake of our baby.”

“Otherwise, how am I supposed to go out? If I can’t go out for some fresh air, how can my mood be good? And if my mood isn’t good, the baby won’t be able to……”

“Yaoyao.” Qi Qingchen cupped her chin, holding her gaze directly, not missing the flash of unconcealed revulsion in her eyes. He gave a self-deprecating laugh.

“All the money I have, I’ve given to you. You’re the one who caused this trouble. Qingxian is asking me to compensate the company for the losses. Why don’t you take it out first to give Qingxian, and then I’ll……”

Shiyao shot to her feet, berating him furiously. “Qi Qingchen, keep dreaming.”

Qi Qingchen looked up at her with utterly flat eyes. “Are you sure, Shiyao?”

“Of course. I’m not giving you the card. You figure out how to get Xuan Yanyu to take down the video, and then figure out how to compensate the company’s losses. I’m so fed up.”

Without even bothering to keep up a pretense, Shiyao added, “As it happens, I’m taking my parents, younger brother, and younger sister on a trip. When I get back, you can suppress all the negative news about me.”

“Issue a public apology.” Qi Qingchen’s voice was very calm.

Shiyao bit down hard. “What did you say?”