True and False Daughters 22
Jin Li managed to steady herself a little. While waiting for her assistant to arrive, she scrolled through her phone again… In less than ten seconds, her flagship phone abruptly black-screened and died.
She tossed the phone aside, carefully pressed on the wound at the back of her head, and felt only a bit of blood seeping out. The pain wasn't so bad, so she muttered, "What rotten luck, even drinking cold water would get me choked."
At that moment, the doorbell rang. She opened the door, and sure enough, her assistant appeared, looking grim.
Because her assistant was a trusted aide whom Jin Li had invested time and effort to cultivate, Jin Li knew that even after being deeply shaken by 'He Jingzhou's meteoric rise', the assistant had never considered betrayal, and her favorability toward Jin Li remained positive.
Jin Li changed her clothes, tucked her purse under her arm, and, supported by the assistant, headed swiftly and quietly through the VIP passage to the underground parking lot, planning to leave the hotel as quickly and inconspicuously as possible.
However, just as the two of them entered the underground garage and got into the car, they ran straight into the three "sellouts" who had returned with an armful of snacks.
These three rich kids had watched the news and sent congratulatory messages to He Chunxi, though she had yet to read them.
None of them were anxious: they might not have latched onto a new backer yet, but at least they'd managed to stay clear of a sinking ship, so their prospects looked secure enough! Now that they had all escaped together, their shared look decided it for them: tonight, they’d drink well and properly celebrate!
When they tried to call the hotel front desk to order food and drinks, the receptionist politely refused—every premium ingredient and vintage wine had already been reserved. The receptionist, not wanting the young masters to misunderstand, added that all VIP guests had shown full understanding and agreement.
They understood immediately. Now was not the time to fight for attention unless you had a death wish. The three set off downstairs together to buy their own food and drink. On the way back, they saw Jin Li and her assistant driving away. About ten seconds later, a black business van pulled out and followed Jin Li’s car at a steady distance.
The three young men exchanged glances in the car, all thinking the same thing: close call. No need to guess, something is seriously wrong with Jin Li!
Jin Li’s face was pale as she left the hotel with her assistant—Gao Wen received word and immediately passed it on to his boss.
Even as he, his boss, his boss’s beloved daughter, and Shang Xi all busied themselves replying to the torrent of congratulatory messages.
Qin Jingzhou, after posting “Thanks, my phone is about to overheat, I’ll reply to everyone later” on social media, finally responded to Gao Wen. “Don’t let her have a chance to delete her account and run.”
Gao Wen replied earnestly, “Yes, boss. I’ll pass on your instructions right away.”
It had to be said, Jin Li had money, had BT001 in her head, and had her still-unknown charm ability. If those assigned to watch her slipped up even once, allowing her to sneak off to some dodgy clinic and get plastic surgery, she might very well vanish like a cicada shedding its shell.
Should Jin Li and BT001 flee the country, it was almost certain that they’d collude with various foreign forces to set up some new group and bide their time for a comeback. Besides, the boss’s ex-wife Ms. Xiao was also overseas, and despite repeated contact attempts, she flat-out refused to return.
Who would believe there wasn’t something shady going on here?!
The higher-ups quickly held a brief meeting specifically about Jin Li and BT001. They reached a consensus within minutes: at all costs, under no circumstances could Jin Li and BT001 be allowed to leave the country.
Soon after, the Elder assigned to liaise with Qin Jingzhou and Academician Qin called to offer formal congratulations, mention how the officials were handling those who stirred up storms over the past couple days, and finally, to tell him of their decision regarding Jin Li and BT001.
Qin Jingzhou was direct. “That puts my mind at ease.”
After hanging up, he went with his daughter and the others to the top floor of the hotel, where they attended the “wedding banquet” enthusiastically hosted by the Ji family in the usually off-limits sky garden.
It truly looked like a wedding banquet: red carpet at the entrance, red banners overhead, waist-high shrubs in the garden hung with red lanterns, and even the tablecloths were bright red. Smiling hotel management stood by, and in front of them the whole Ji family, father, son, and daughter, held an enormous flower bouquet… Father Ji and Ji Chun were all smiles, but only Sister Ji revealed a subtle expression.
As usual, He Chunxi clung to her father’s arm for a while but couldn’t hold it in and burst out, “Dad, are they trying to marry you?”
At this, even Du Jiaying, who had spaced out behind Qin Jingzhou, couldn’t help but laugh.
Qin Jingzhou squinted and pinched his daughter’s nose. “Naughty girl. You’re punished, go accept the flowers.”
Father Ji and Ji Chun’s smiles froze. The two of them looked so awkward, it was as if they could dig two ocean-side villas right there with their toes!
Sister Ji quickly snatched the huge, elegantly scented bouquet from her silly dad and brother, jogged over, and handed it to He Chunxi.
He Chunxi passed the flowers straight to her boyfriend Shang Xi, who was quick to reach out. She then picked a yellow rose from the bouquet, snapped the stem, and tucked it into her father’s suit pocket.
She slightly lifted her chin and beamed. “Dad, you’re the handsomest!”
Her words were like pressing a strange switch. Gao Wen, the Ji family, and everyone else suddenly awakened: Damn, is Professor He actually this handsome?! Why hadn’t they… It wasn’t that they thought Professor He wasn’t good-looking before, but they’d never realized how striking he was! And He Chunxi—is she really this beautiful too?!
Qin Jingzhou knew full well it was probably something to do with Jin Li and her center-of-attention system getting her in trouble again. Everyone previously influenced by her had now snapped out of the filter.
He put in a not-very-sincere word to save their dignity. “You’ve probably been hanging around in a stinky fish shop too long.”
Not only the Ji father and son, but even Gao Wen was at a loss.
Sensing her biological father was in a good mood, Du Jiaying carefully asked, “Because of… Jin Li?”
Qin Jingzhou, for once, smiled at his own daughter. “You’re teachable.” He unceremoniously took command, “Everyone, sit down.”
Gao Wen adjusted his glasses, looking a little flustered, and thanked Du Jiaying.
The “banquet” started, and the atmosphere soon grew warm and lively. Meanwhile, all across major social media… sites exploded.
The trending topic “31st Hua Country Science & Technology Prize Winners Announced” topped every platform, and clicking into the topic, the very first post was always the Hua Country Channel One news clip.
When the “Hua Country Science & Technology Prize” first shot to number one on the trending list, clueless onlookers had still optimistically assumed it was just a namesake.
Very soon though, official news pieces were pushed across all platforms, and beneath those clips, the accounts of the three winners on social media were linked—the admins had verified these identities with awardees’ workplaces, so there was no doubt.
Netizens, especially those who had once ruthlessly attacked He Jingzhou, clicked on “He Jingzhou” with mixed feelings: the profile pic was the Capital University emblem, and the most recent post, just two days ago, had shared Ms. Xiao’s accusatory essay with a single, lonely question mark added.
Quite a few sentimental users were instantly shaken.
Almost at the same time, Capital University’s official account congratulated Professor He on winning the Science & Technology Prize, posted a backstage screenshot, and continued to issue statements in a flurry, none of which the platform dared suppress.
The Shang Group showed no mercy either, firing off three successive lawyer’s letters and making it clear they were ready to go to court with the platform. Even Shang Xi’s father, whose account had been sheepishly restored by the admins, tagged the platform’s official handle, leaving just four words: “See this through to the end!”
Faced with such ironclad evidence, the platform gave up resisting, letting Capital University and Shang Group rocket into the top five trending topics within ten minutes.
The platform surrendering sent a strong signal. From two days ago until now, all the marketing accounts and influencers who had painted He Jingzhou as some unforgivable criminal and pressured Capital University to fire him suddenly suffered collective amnesia. Most were desperate to delete their posts and accounts, while the savvier ones opted to perform a “heroic sacrifice” and applied to deactivate their accounts.
It was then, to their shock, that the platform sent every one of them the same reply: Relevant posts and accounts cannot be deleted, only temporarily hidden for inspection by the supervising authorities.
Only now did they fully realize: Finished!
Some, out of spite, kept hurling abuse at He Jingzhou, but more marketers and influencers started uploading screenshots of their “commissions,” selling out their clients without a second thought.
Ordinary netizens, gorging on this drama, couldn’t help but kick the fallen, jeering at the marketers: Everyone’s always known you get paid to be scum. This is what you deserve!
Of course, not a few users were genuinely curious about Professor He Jingzhou’s research. The official sources refused to reveal details, and, crucially, there was not a single photo of Professor He Jingzhou to be found online.
If you searched “He Jingzhou” on Capital University’s official site, he was listed of course, but the bio was brief and had no picture. He didn’t even have a Wikipedia-style page—this world required written consent from a person to create one, or it had to wait until after their death.
Thus, “the mysterious Professor He” shot up the trending list, quickly climbing to number three.
In fact, the front hall of Capital University’s School of Life Sciences had simple profiles and ID-style photos of all faculty and staff. But really, could Capital students and staff upload their professor’s photo for a few clicks, right when it was obvious someone was spending big to take him down?
The next morning at 8:30, when Qin Jingzhou joined his daughter and the others for breakfast, he asked his assistant if there was any news. Gao Wen handed over a tablet: “The mysterious Professor He” was now number one on the trending list, with attention nearly double that of number two.
He smiled and asked, “Boss, do you want to give a short interview?”
At this point, Qin Jingzhou’s research no longer required him to keep a low profile, nor could he have hidden if he wanted. The official authorities also genuinely hoped to make him a positive example.
He agreed.
The entire crew of the travel variety show had been urgently recalled by higher-ups. Qin Jingzhou, already wanting to relax on holiday with his daughter, was in no rush to return, so he told Gao Wen to ask any interested reporters if they’d be willing to travel over for an interview—he would reimburse their full travel expenses.
Gao Wen grinned. “No need for that.”
That evening, Hua Country Channel One uploaded a short video across all platforms: an exclusive with this year’s Science & Technology Prize winner, He Jingzhou.
Curious netizens clicked it, only to find the clip showed just the interviewer, with not a single frame of the interviewee… They had to admit, when it came to keeping things mysterious, Channel One was truly the master.
Though all they heard was the voice and not the man, they listened as Professor He Jingzhou spoke in a deep, clear tone: “When I was young, my wish was for my alma mater to hang a banner in my honor for a whole month. That’s come true, it seems. My next wish is for everyone to please use their brains well.”
The over ten million viewers who opened the video first: ……
But soon enough, they would discover that Professor He… was absolutely serious!