Who are you?
Why did you break into my room?
Zhang Fan didn’t bother asking such questions. Taking advantage of the people at the door being distracted, she charged straight out. She didn’t even bother with her shoes—kicked them off and ran barefoot.
At the elevator, the doors happened to open just then. Without even looking, she dashed straight in.
“Huff… huff… huff…”
She gripped the elevator handrail, gasping for air. When she finally calmed down and looked up, she saw that face again.
What a small world… talk about running into your worst enemy!
“What’s the matter? Partied a little too hard and got tracked down by your enemies?”
Zhou Wenzong leaned against the elevator car, his eyes full of disdain.
His only response was a roll of Zhang Fan’s eyes.
“Phew…” She let out a breath, straightened herself up, and smoothed down her dress.
Even barefoot, she could still hold her head high like a princess.
Never lose your composure!
The elevator doors opened, and Zhang Fan strode quickly to the front desk: “Please call the police for me. Someone broke into my room, and I feel my life and property are under threat!”
The front desk clerk looked a bit stunned, but judging by her expression, she didn’t seem to be joking.
They immediately notified security but didn’t call the police.
Before long, security brought the intruders downstairs to the lobby.
“Zhang Fan, if you hadn’t done anything guilty, why would you run?”
A woman pointed her finger right at Zhang Fan’s nose and started cursing loudly. Behind her was Jiang Manning’s icy-cold face.
“We’re her classmates, here to catch her in the act. You’d better not meddle in our business!”
With that shout, the hotel staff exchanged uneasy glances and indeed fell silent.
That was laughable—catch her in the act? What act exactly?
“Did you call the police?” Zhang Fan glanced at the front desk. They stammered and hesitated—clearly, they hadn’t.
If the police showed up, the hotel’s reputation might suffer.
“Miss, if you call the police about something like this, it probably won’t end well for you either, right?”
The front desk clerk tried to shirk responsibility.
With so many people against her and no one to back her up, there was no way to reason with them.
Zhang Fan looked at the front desk clerk very seriously: “Let me make this clear—I paid for my room, I’m your guest, and you have an obligation to ensure my personal safety. Please call the police for me right now, thank you!”
“Oh, alright!” The clerk was intimidated by her presence and picked up the phone.
“Still calling the police?” The woman looked Zhang Fan up and down with contempt:
“Call the police, and get yourself a criminal record, so you can get expelled from school, is that it? Look at what you’re wearing—if you’re not here to sell yourself, then what are you doing?”
The woman’s words grew more and more outrageous, and in the end, she even reached out directly, trying to grab Zhang Fan’s dress.
Just then, a large hand seized her wrist.
“Defamation and slander, in serious cases, carries up to three years in prison. Willful destruction of another’s property, in large amounts, carries three to seven years!”
The man’s voice carried a hint of impatience as he flung the woman’s wrist back forcefully and pulled out a handkerchief to wipe his own hand.
“The outfit she’s wearing is a haute couture runway piece, worth about one hundred fifty thousand. The necklace is cheaper—forty-nine thousand eight hundred. Whichever one you damage, it’s enough to file a case—and it qualifies as a large amount!”
Zhou Wenzong stood there, his eyes cold with a sharpness that warned others to keep their distance.
The woman involuntarily took two steps back but still craned her neck and asked, “Who are you? Don’t tell me you’re the one she’s here to do business with?”
Such dirty water splashed—how was the accused supposed to defend herself?
Zhou Wenzong, however, let out a cold snort and pointed at the surveillance camera on the hotel wall. “Defamation and slander—that’s another charge against you! I’m not like her. I have a team of lawyers. You’d better apologize right now!”
“You—?” The woman tried to talk back, but Jiang Manning stepped in and pulled her back.
“My apologies. We were just worried that our classmate might be led astray and wanted to help her!”
She curled her lips into a smile, her beautiful features radiating charm.
“The apology I want isn’t that simple!” Zhou Wenzong didn’t take her bait. Hands in his pockets, his cold gaze was full of pressure.
The two women struggled for a moment, then Jiang Manning shot her accomplice a look.
Though reluctant, the other woman obediently bowed and said, “I’m sorry, I misspoke!”
After the perfunctory apology, they tried to flee.
“Stop right there!”
The man’s voice was almost magical, freezing them in their tracks.
“If an apology were enough, why would I keep a team of lawyers?”
His words left everyone dumbfounded.
For such a trivial matter, was a legal team really necessary?
“Then what else do you want?”
Jiang Manning stopped trying to please him, her tone turning defiant. “Don’t think you’re the only one with lawyers—my family has them too! This is such a small thing, do you have to make a mountain out of a molehill? You got your apology. What more do you want? Money? Fine, tell me how much, and I’ll pay you right now!”
“Oh, that would be a lot!”
Zhou Wenzong sneered. “Your single rumor could affect my company’s stock. One day of limit-down would cost tens of millions in losses. Can you afford that?”
“Tens of millions! Are you crazy for money?”
Jiang Manning’s accomplice shouted, but Jiang Manning quickly silenced her.
Her teammate might lack foresight, but she didn’t.
Judging by the clothes the man was wearing, even if his words were exaggerated, they probably weren’t far off.
“We apologized in time—it had no impact on you at all. Even if you took this to court, there’s no way they’d order us to pay that much!”
She was educated too; she wouldn’t be easily intimidated.
“Mm,” Zhou Wenzong nodded. “But you haven’t apologized to my girlfriend yet. Slandering her like that also has a very negative impact on me!”
“Girlfriend?”
Jiang Manning was surprised, but Zhang Fan was even more startled and instinctively spoke up to clarify:
“Mr. Zhou, that’s not a funny joke. We’ve only met twice!”
“Can’t she be my girlfriend after meeting twice?”
Zhou Wenzong looked down at her. “I’m saying you are, so you are. You’re so scared you’re about to lose your wits—can’t you even ask them for an apology?”
So, he was deliberately standing up for her?
Maybe this man wasn’t so unpleasant after all.
His intentions were good, but she had her own way of handling things and didn’t want to owe him a favor.
After a moment’s thought, Zhang Fan said, “Thank you!”
She turned to Jiang Manning. “You were recording videos and livestreaming earlier, right? I want you to clarify today’s incident online right now and post an apology on the platform. Otherwise, I’ll not only call the police and sue you in court, but I’ll also notify the school!”
“Threatening me?”
Jiang Manning scoffed dismissively:
“What did we do? What are you going to report us for? You have a dorm but won’t stay in it, and instead you come to a hotel. Out of concern for you as classmates, we were afraid you’d go down the wrong path. Maybe our methods were a bit extreme, but our intentions were good. Besides, if word gets out about you going to the boys’ dorm today, who knows who the school would expel!”