Old Master Lu didn’t notify anyone in advance. He simply had his assistant inform the public relations and lawyer teams, then announced on social media: Lu Zhentong would serve as Executive Vice President of the Lushi Foundation. Due to health reasons, Lu Jiuxiao would no longer hold the position of President of the Lushi Foundation.
In a family like the Lu clan, whose wealth had lasted five generations and truly had a "throne" to inherit, the selection of an heir followed a particular process. That’s right—generally, the Lu family's chosen successor would always serve in a key position at the Lushi Foundation.
With Lu Jiuxiao stepping down and Lu Zhentong promoted, Old Master Lu’s preference and intentions were clear as day.
The Lu family, with assets reaching hundreds of billions, was a constant hot topic, so as soon as Old Master Lu's public relations and lawyer teams released the official statement, it skyrocketed to number one on the trending searches.
In this world, Hua Country still had only huge capitalists rather than true financial conglomerates, so curious netizens freely discussed the dramas of wealthy families without restraint.
At first, the overwhelming majority of netizens made snarky comments such as "The Lu family’s ruthlessness really lives up to its royal succession vibes."
Some well-informed netizens added, "Lu Jiuxiao is probably still in the ICU and not out of danger yet, but Old Master Lu has already stripped him of his position... First the car accident left him disabled, then disfigured in a fire—barely alive and in such a sorry state, yet they won't even spare him a single hope..."
So most people sympathized with Lu Jiuxiao’s plight and sarcastically slammed Old Master Lu as inhumane.
Just then, someone claiming to have "inside information" listed everything Lu Jiuxiao had done over the years, determined to prove that Lu Jiuxiao was a scumbag who absolutely deserved "karma's retribution." According to them, Old Master Lu ousted him in a fit of anger because, despite being raised with care in the Lu family, Lu Jiuxiao had favored his birth father—the real scumbag. He sought reconciliation with his biological father and even wanted to split the great fortune he received from the Lu family with that man, instead of leaving it to his wife Gu Su and their son Baobao.
Beneath this rant about "Lu Jiuxiao isn't even human" were two attached audio clips. One was a conversation between Lu Jiuxiao and Gu Su, dripping with sarcasm and acrimony. The other—just by the sound, you could imagine how deranged Lu Jiuxiao had been at the time.
PR accounts who had already accepted deposits quickly caught the signal and forwarded the post widely. They refrained from extra commentary just in case it backfired.
Soon, public opinion turned on Lu Jiuxiao. Since he didn't have public accounts on any major social media platforms, emotionally charged netizens flocked to Gu Su’s feed to leave messages like "Heart aches for Miss Gu." Others spammed the Lushi Foundation’s official account with things like "Old Master Lu, you’re the beacon of justice."
It had to be said, Old Master Lu’s move really was impressive. Without uttering a word himself, he managed to stamp the heavy labels of "twisted, ungrateful, even suspected of domestic violence" squarely on Lu Jiuxiao’s head, while securing the moral high ground for himself.
Qin Jingzhou was playing a game in his study, though his mind was in chaos. All he could do was be resigned, as his foolish son lost fortune and luck right under his nose.
At this moment, his idiot son probably didn't know what had happened. He called out to Qin Er, "Let him hear what his dear grandfather did."
Qin Er and the others were busy intently learning the secret techniques for handling rare medicinal herbs, so they hadn’t been paying attention to social media. But each of them had at least one assistant.
As soon as the assistants discovered that Old Master Lu had first slung mud and then thrown his grandson out of the house, they immediately notified their respective bosses: in their view, Old Master Lu was venting his anger on his grandson... What Old Master Lu really hated was Cheng Jingzhou, Master Cheng.
After reading the dramatic rants sent over by their assistants, everyone saw the truth instantly: this was Gu Su’s revenge. The fact that Gu Su could influence Old Master Lu—that took skill. Lu Jiuxiao really got what he deserved.
After exchanging looks, the group silently agreed that Qin Er would be the one to step up. She went over and gave Lu Jiuxiao a nudge. "Something’s happened. Don’t you want to see your family’s true colors?"
Lu Jiuxiao slowly turned his head, glanced at Qin Er, and his eyes landed on the tablet in her hands.
His grandfather being so ruthless had caught him completely off guard. Even if he didn’t want to admit it, he could sense that Gu Su was truly devious. She had been putting on an act around him all these years, not one bit sincere, but as for his grandfather...
The more he thought about it, the worse he felt, and he couldn’t help blurting out, "In Old Master Lu’s eyes, does he like Gu Su more than me? So all their feelings for me... were fake too?"
Qin Jingzhou carelessly wiped out a few players trying to ambush him, left his in-game character idling in the main city, then finally looked up and answered, "Not quite. To your mom, you’re her only son. You know exactly how she treats you. As for me, I despise you for being a fool and a lunatic, and that’s perfectly true."
Lu Jiuxiao stared blankly at him. "Don’t you just hate that I’m ugly?"
Qin Jingzhou got up and walked to the living room. Grabbing his idiot son by the collar, he made him sit up from the sofa, then picked at a small scab on his son’s forehead, revealing the newly grown skin beneath.
That patch of skin was light pink and, crucially, perfectly smooth.
Qin Er, Xu Chen, and Li Assistant all came over in tacit understanding, and on that patch of skin, the fine hairs and pores could be clearly seen!
They all knew what burned skin looked like, even after healing down to the dermis. Even though they were sure Uncle Cheng would do his absolute best treating his son, they were still shocked by how fast and effective the results were.
Qin Er blurted out, "Holy crap! Is this instant cosmetic surgery or what?"
Qin Jingzhou pushed at the top of his idiot son’s head, inspecting the few bald spots that had been scorched. "You may never be as handsome as me but at least you look better than Lu Zhentong." With that, he headed back to the study, blocking dozens of DMs from players flaming him. "Register a social media account for me. Use a medicine cauldron as the profile pic, then tag the Lushi Foundation and ask them if they want to maintain any dignity. Keep an eye on any PR accounts that get involved."
Li Assistant smiled. "Yes, boss."
Lu Jiuxiao slumped on the sofa, staring blankly ahead. It took him a long time to react.
Half an hour later, Qin Er couldn’t stand it any longer. "Uncle Cheng just touched your head and you’re this shocked? Have some backbone!"
Lu Jiuxiao snapped, "Get lost!" Then he hugged his head in silence.
Qin Er knew not to forget the task Uncle Cheng gave him and wouldn’t miss any chance to spur Lu Jiuxiao on. He gave his buddy a meaningful look.
Xu Chen went to the guest room and came back with a mirror, standing in front of Lu Jiuxiao.
Qin Er gave Lu Jiuxiao a little shove. "Look in the mirror!"
Though they always squabbled, deep down, Lu Jiuxiao respected Qin Er the most... He instinctively looked up at the mirror and immediately fixated on the light pink patch of skin on his forehead.
Qin Er said, "In your grandfather’s eyes, you’re a lost cause. So he might as well squeeze the last bit of value from you for your nephew Lu Zhentong. Besides, do you really think Old Master Lu doesn’t know who Gu Su’s son’s real father is? Don’t underestimate your grandfather."
Lu Jiuxiao still said nothing. He just reached out carefully and pressed the new skin.
Qin Er kept pressing the advantage. "With Uncle Cheng’s incredible beauty skills, he could start a company just licensing patents and go public with a valuation rivaling the Lu family’s. I’m telling you, buddy, heal up properly and take over for Uncle Cheng. Even if he dislikes you, he hasn’t abandoned you."
That last comment hit home for Lu Jiuxiao.
His whole life, he’d had more people adding flowers to the brocade than sending charcoal in the snow... Other than his father, he could hardly think of one. When he first took a liking to Gu Su, it was because, after his car accident, she was the only one to comfort and truly care for him.
Looking back now, he realized he’d been blind. Gu Su really had no heart.
Lu Jiuxiao cupped his face and muttered softly at the mirror, "Gu Su was fake, but I really did love her..." Suddenly he raised his head and looked through the study door at his biological father. "I’m just a bit crazy."
Seeing his foolish son on the verge of tears, Qin Jingzhou was, for once, moved to rare pity and didn’t say anything more.
Meanwhile, in the game, plenty of players had seen the trending stories and, spurred on by the water army hired by Xiang Feng, joined in the flaming, some of it really nasty. The original host’s life had been dragged out for all to see—being a son-in-law to a powerful family drew lots of scorn. As for how much was genuine contempt and how much was jealousy, that probably didn’t need to be teased out.
But a priest girl who often ran dungeons with the original host messaged him privately: "I’m seriously curious what you look like… Sorry if that sounds bad, but my family has some connections. Do you need help?"
When he didn’t reply immediately, the priest girl added, "Don’t be upset! The rumors about you being a cheater are nonsense—I’ve known you so long, I know none of that is true!"
After years of gaming, the original host, aside from boasting and being a bit hard to get along with, was basically decent. In a situation where almost everyone was baying for blood, to still have someone willing to trust and help him must have brought comfort to his soul, wherever he was.
Qin Jingzhou typed back, "Don’t worry. I know what I’m doing. Want to know what I look like? I’ll have my assistant post a photo—check social media."
The priest girl sent a string of question marks. "You have an assistant!"
Qin Jingzhou teased her on purpose. "Do I look like an unemployed deadbeat?"
"No!" she replied in seconds. "They said you… just sit around playing games at home! And your photos make you look like some greasy middle-aged creep!"
"I do spend all day playing games, but lying around isn’t really how I’d describe it." After sending that, Qin Jingzhou instructed Li Assistant, "Once the account is set up, remember to post a photo."
Li Assistant was full of questions: as far as he knew, his boss was indeed narcissistic and had the right to be, but he also hated trouble and would never bother explaining himself...
Boss waved him over, so he went to stand by his side in the study, glanced at the monitor, and seemed to get it. "I’ll grab the high-res camera!" Someone had questioned his boss’s looks. This could not stand!
Qin Jingzhou stopped his assistant from overthinking it. "Just use a phone for a quick shot."
Li Assistant finished registering the account, got official verification, then tagged the Lushi Foundation, asking if they wanted to keep any dignity. He posted a recent photo of the boss and even spent money to get the photo post a promoted spot in the trending section.
Gossip-hungry netizens saw the promoted topic, clicked in, and—wow! Someone could actually look like this!
Within five minutes, the top-liked comment was: "If I were Miss Lu, divorcing him would make me half-blind." And the third most popular said, "If I were Lu Jiuxiao, I’d stick with my real dad too!"
With so many private messages, even Qin Jingzhou’s game started lagging. He lit a cigarette and happened to lock eyes with his fool of a son.
Lu Jiuxiao was holding his phone, slightly dazed. "No one’s calling me a jerk anymore. If I said Gu Su cheated on me, the netizens would just say she didn’t know what’s good for her."
Qin Jingzhou smiled. "Not bad. You’re acting normal for once."