She took the phone with the shattered screen from her bag. “It has backups of all the evidence: the hotel surveillance footage, the medical records, and screenshots of the chat between Chen Ge and Mu Zhenzhen. There’s also the surveillance footage from the stairwell today—I checked it. From that angle, it should have captured Mu Zhenzhen letting go on her own.”
Xiaoxi’s eyes lit up. “Then hurry and post it! Let everyone see what they’re really like!”
“Not yet.” Qianqian shook her head. “If I post it now, at most it’ll become a scandalous affair. I’m waiting for the right moment.”
“What moment?”
Qianqian did not answer immediately.
She walked to the window and looked at the rain that still had not stopped outside.
Jingbei’s winters were colder than Haicheng’s, but it was her home.
There was her Older Brother, her maternal grandmother, and the traces of her childhood there.
“Xiaoxi, do you know what the cruelest revenge is?” she asked softly.
Xiaoxi shook her head.
“It’s not destroying the other person. It’s living better than he does.” Qianqian turned around, her eyes filled with the determination of someone reborn after breaking free from a cocoon. “I’m going to make him watch and see just how brilliantly I live after leaving him.”
Looking at her, Xiaoxi suddenly felt that her best friend had changed.
The Qianqian who had always been gentle and willing to compromise for love seemed to have disappeared overnight.
In her place stood a woman with a determined gaze and a straight back.
“I support you.” Xiaoxi took her hand. “Whatever decision you make, I’ll support you.”
“Thank you.” Lin Qingqian’s eyes grew slightly warm. “Xiaoxi, thank you for always staying by my side.”
“What are you saying? We’ll be best friends for life.” Xiaoxi hugged her. “But before you leave, there’s something you have to do.”
“What?”
Xiaoxi took out her own phone and sneered. “The Chen family wants to sling mud at you, don’t they? Then let’s see who can sling it harder.”
At seven o’clock the next morning, Lin Qingqian woke up right on time.
Her body clock kept her routine regular even when she was physically and emotionally exhausted.
The swelling in her cheek had gone down somewhat, but the bruises had become more apparent.
She carefully covered them with concealer and applied a layer of foundation before her face looked less frightening.
Xiaoxi was still asleep. The two of them had talked until three in the morning.
Lin Qingqian quietly prepared breakfast. She fried eggs and bacon, toasted some bread, and brewed coffee.
Then she sat at the dining table, opened Xiaoxi’s laptop, and logged into her cloud account.
All the important files were there.
She opened the folder and checked them one by one.
The hotel surveillance video was clear enough to identify the people’s faces.
The medical records bore the hospital’s official seal and the doctor’s signature.
The screenshots of the chat history had a complete timeline.
Most importantly, there was the stairwell surveillance footage she had copied at the hospital the previous day—
She opened the video.
The angle really was excellent. It clearly showed Mu Zhenzhen grabbing her wrist.
Then Mu Zhenzhen let go herself and fell backward.
Before she fell, a smile flashed across Mu Zhenzhen’s face—a smile of satisfaction at having succeeded in her scheme.
Perfect evidence.
Lin Qingqian backed up the video three times: one copy to the cloud, one to another encrypted email account of hers, and one onto a USB drive.
Only after finishing all that did she begin to pack up her things.
It was already seven forty when Xiaoxi came out of the bedroom, rubbing her eyes. “Why did you get up so early?”
“I’m used to it.” Lin Qingqian poured her a cup of coffee. “Breakfast is on the table. I’m going to the office first.”
“You’re still going to work today?” Xiaoxi frowned. “Why don’t you take the day off? You don’t look very well.”
“I can’t.” Lin Qingqian shook her head. “There’s an important project presentation today. I can’t miss it, and…”
She paused. “There are also some things I need to deal with.”
Xiaoxi immediately understood. “Do you need me to go with you?”
“No.” Lin Qingqian smiled. “I can handle it myself.”
Leyu Media occupied a floor in an office building in Haicheng’s CBD, and Lin Qingqian’s Planning Department was on the seventeenth floor.
She arrived at the company at exactly nine. She ran into several colleagues in the elevator, and everyone looked at her somewhat strangely.
It seemed the news had already spread.
Lin Qingqian greeted them with an unchanged expression and walked into her office.
Documents waiting to be processed were piled on her desk. Her computer screen was still displaying the page she had left open when she went home the previous day—
an unfinished project proposal.
She opened a drawer and took out the resignation letter she had prepared long ago, placing it on top.
Then she began organizing the materials for handing over her work.
At ten o’clock, the project presentation meeting began.
As the person in charge of the project, Lin Qingqian had to explain the planning proposal for the new quarter before the senior executives.
She wore light makeup and a high-necked sweater to cover the marks on her neck, but the injuries on her face were still faintly visible.
In the conference room, several executives exchanged glances, but no one said anything.
The presentation went very smoothly.
Lin Qingqian had always been highly capable professionally. Her proposal was logically clear, her data detailed, and her creative ideas especially striking.
When she finished, even the director led the applause.
“Qingqian did a good job.” The director was a woman in her forties who usually looked after her well. “We’ll proceed with this project according to your proposal. I’ll apply for the budget.”
“Thank you, Director.” Weiwei bowed slightly.
“By the way…” The director stopped her and lowered her voice. “Are you… all right?”
Lin Qingqian knew what she was asking about and nodded. “I’m fine.”
“If you need any help, come to me at any time.” The director patted her shoulder. “It isn’t easy for women in the workplace. I understand.”
Lin Qingqian felt warmth in her heart. “Thank you.”
When she returned to her office and had just sat down, the internal phone rang.
The receptionist’s voice was flustered. “M-Miss Lin, someone is causing a scene outside. She says she’s your mother-in-law and wants you to come out and see her…”
Lin Qingqian’s gaze turned cold.
Here she came.
Even faster than she had expected.
“I understand.” She spoke calmly. “Have her wait in the lobby. I’ll be right out.”
After hanging up the internal line, Lin Qingqian took the USB drive from the drawer and slipped it into her pocket.
She was wearing a Chanel suit and carrying a Hermès handbag, dressed in graceful luxury, but the expression on her face was harsh and ferocious.
The moment she saw Lin Qingqian come out, she immediately shouted at the top of her lungs:
“Lin Qingqian! Get over here!”
Her sharp, grating voice echoed throughout the lobby.
Several young women at the reception desk shrank their necks in fright. A security guard tried to step forward and intervene, but Mother Chen glared him back with a single look.
“Mrs. Chen, is something wrong?” Lin Qingqian walked up to her and asked calmly.
“Is something wrong? You have the nerve to ask.” Mother Chen pointed at her nose, her voice rising another octave. “You killed my grandson, and now you want to pretend nothing happened? Let me tell you, there’s no chance of that! You have to give me an explanation today!”
Several onlookers had already gathered in the lobby. Some were employees from other companies in the building, while others were passersby drawn over by the commotion.
Lin Qingqian swept her eyes over the surroundings and noticed someone holding up a phone to record.
Perfect. That was exactly what she wanted.