Chapter 103: Protect Him
Hearing this, Ming Qian's face instantly turned pale.
Hao Lin sneered twice: "I can't believe it. You actually dared to cross President Chang's bottom line, finding another man outside."
"It's not true, I didn't, I..."
Hao Lin said: "What's even funnier is that the man is actually Feng Changheng, Yin Chengjue's half-brother."
Hearing Feng Changheng's name, Ming Qian's face instantly turned even more unpleasant. He never would have thought that Feng Changheng, who should have been in school attending classes at this time, would go to find Hao Lin.
"Do you want to know why he came to me?" Hao Lin stared sharply into the rearview mirror, looking at Ming Qian sitting in the back.
Ming Qian opened his mouth, but knew he could no longer deny it, so he resignedly said: "Why?"
"Because he is truly at the end of his rope and wants to borrow money from you." When Hao Lin said this, his voice was full of unconcealed sarcasm: "Now guess, why didn't he come directly to you to borrow money, but instead took the roundabout way to come to me?"
A flash of anger crossed Ming Qian's seemingly well-behaved and harmless face.
Although it was only for a moment, Hao Lin, who had been watching him closely, saw it. Without waiting for Ming Qian to answer, he continued: "Because, from who-knows-where, he got the news that your money is all controlled by me. You are like a poor little wage worker... no, even wage workers can control their own money, but you can't. You are so, so pitiful."
Hao Lin: "Why don't you guess again, who should have told him this, or rather, who tricked him into believing this?"
Ming Qian secretly clenched his fists, his bottom lip already bitten until he tasted the metallic tang of blood.
Ming Qian then remembered that not long ago, Feng Changheng had tried to borrow money from him.
Actually, it wasn't really borrowing, it was asking Ming Qian to pay back a portion of the money previously spent on him, used to buy trolls for votes and chart manipulation, so Feng Changheng could use it to get by.
However, in Ming Qian's view, once something was taken, there was no reason to give it back. Besides, when Feng Changheng had been frantically spending money on him before, he had never mentioned wanting it back later.
Suddenly being told by Feng Changheng to pay back a portion of the money, how could Ming Qian accept it in his heart?
But the persona he maintained in front of Feng Changheng was always that of a gentle, delicate, innocent white flower, a polite older brother. So, to avoid breaking that character, Ming Qian had no choice but to lie to Feng Changheng, saying that all his money was withheld by his agent.
As he spoke, tears fell. He sobbed and claimed that he now felt like a puppet, controlled by his agency and his agent, completely without any freedom. He said he could only work desperately to earn money for them.
Feng Changheng was, after all, just a junior high school student. Although Ming Qian was only two years older, he had already spent some time in the entertainment industry. While he might not have developed other skills, he had learned a thing or two about being persuasive. These tactics might not work on everyone, but they were more than sufficient to handle a teenage boy like Feng Changheng, who was still sheltered from the real world.
Under Ming Qian's tears, Feng Changheng naively chose to believe him, and indeed stopped pestering Ming Qian afterwards, only sending the routine good morning and good night messages every day.
Ming Qian secretly looked into why Feng Changheng wanted to borrow money. It turned out the medical expenses for Feng Chengda's hospitalization were too high, and upon his imminent discharge, a large amount of money was still needed for recuperation supplies.
Yin Chengjue had very decisively refused to pay Feng Chengda's medical fees, which made things even worse for Feng Chengda's financial situation, especially since he had divorced Yin He and lost the support of the Yin family.
Su Zi repeatedly tried to use public opinion to pressure Yin Chengjue, but Yin Chengjue perfectly countered each time by pointing out the large medical expenses he had previously paid for Feng Chengda.
When Su Zi threatened Yin Chengjue with legal action, Yin Chengjue outright presented the direct cause of Feng Chengda needing ICU rescue — Feng Changheng himself hitting Feng Chengda on the head, and Su Zi delaying calling an ambulance.
These matters were initially suppressed by Su Zi spending money, but later, when Yin Chengjue found out, he decisively used them to threaten Su Zi.
Because, Feng Chengda actually didn't know about Su Zi delaying the ambulance call, which nearly caused his rescue to be too late.
Su Zi knew very well that if this matter were exposed, she would be completely abandoned by Feng Chengda and face severe retaliation—she knew all too well what kind of person Feng Chengda was.
Helpless, Su Zi could only swallow her anger alone, not daring to trouble Yin Chengjue again, afraid that if Yin Chengjue happened to be in a bad mood, he would throw all this information online.
She was now even afraid of seeing any news online that slandered Yin Chengjue, because she was afraid Yin Chengjue would suspect it was her doing, or that he would be in a bad mood and take it out on her.
Upon seeing any news related to Yin Chengjue, she would immediately steer clear. This perfectly described Su Zi's current state.
Since Su Zi didn't actively go to Yin Chengjue for money, Feng Changheng was even less likely to go. Feng Changheng truly perfectly inherited Feng Chengda's sense of pride. While not exactly having ridiculously high ambitions, that stubborn refusal to yield or be subordinate to others was even stronger than Feng Chengda's.
Asking Yin Chengjue for money was undoubtedly like taking his own head off and throwing it on the ground to be stepped on. How could he bear that?
After weighing his options, Feng Changheng decided he would rather borrow money from his old, fair-weather friends to pay back Ming Qian than bow his head to Yin Chengjue.
Although he never said it aloud, but in his heart, Feng Changheng had already secretly begun competing with Yin Chengjue, vowing that one day he would surpass him and crush him under his heel.
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