"I didn't do anything," Zhang Guo'er said, still engrossed in her phone, oblivious to the gravity of the situation.
"Didn't do anything? Several companies have suddenly suspended our cooperation. They claim we defrauded them and would rather pay breach of contract fees."
Hearing this, Zhang Guo'er felt as if she had been struck by lightning, her eyes widening in disbelief.
"How is that possible? How could they willingly pay breach of contract fees? That would be a loss for them!"
Zhang Guo'er still refused to believe they would act so impulsively.
"Impossible? The calls have already reached me."
Zhang Guodong was so angry his face turned ashen.
"Cooperation is a minor issue. Several of them simultaneously claim we defrauded them. Our reputation is ruined, how can we possibly continue?"
"It's over, everything is over now."
The power of public opinion was terrifying, and Zhang Guodong could already foresee their downfall.
His legs suddenly felt weak, and he sank into a chair.
"Dad, what... what should we do?"
"Our family's reputation cannot be tarnished, absolutely not."
The Zhang family had struggled desperately to enter elite circles. A damaged reputation would be like adding insult to injury.
If nothing else, they wouldn't even be able to host birthday banquets and collect gifts to make money in the future.
Without the money from gift-giving, she wouldn't even be able to pay her tuition, let alone attend a prestigious university.
The more she thought about it, the paler Zhang Guo'er's face became.
"Dad, we absolutely cannot just sit here and wait for death! Dad, think of something!"
"Think of something? What can I possibly think of?"
"I've inquired. The sudden suspension of cooperation is directly related to you. Explain yourself, what exactly have you been doing at school?"
At this moment, Zhang Guo'er's heart completely broke, and her eyes welled up with tears.
She thought she could deceive everyone, but she never expected that the man who released the firework flowers was Yan Jue.
This meant Tang Xiaomin had known she was lying from the beginning, but she didn't expose her.
Instead, she deliberately watched her fall deeper and deeper into the mire, leading to this unresolvable situation.
"What did you do, explain yourself!"
Faced with her father's interrogation, Zhang Guo'er gritted her teeth and stammered out the details of her deception.
...
"Dad, it's all Tang Xiaomin's fault! We were all tricked by her, Dad..."
Upon hearing the truth, Zhang Guodong's chest felt heavy, and he closed his eyes tightly.
"So that's it! I wondered why they were so willing to cooperate with us before, and now suddenly they are. It turns out it was all because of your fabricated friendships!"
"You... you... sigh... what can I say about you."
Zhang Guodong sighed, his strength to even scold Zhang Guo'er gone.
"Dad, we can't just do nothing and let them ruin our family's reputation! Think of a way, Dad."
Zhang Guodong was filled with regret.
If he had known it would come to this, he would have been content with their original situation and not been so greedy.
Unfortunately, regret came too late.
"I'll call those general managers and try to explain things clearly, see if they can overlook this due to our past relationship and not hold it against us."
Zhang Guodong called each general manager one by one. Some didn't answer, while others responded with cold, dismissive words.
After being deceived by such a low-level trick, they were all enraged and wouldn't listen to reason.
After finishing the calls, Zhang Guodong felt even more despair.
He truly had no idea what to do.
...
The next day was the day of Tang Xu's surgery.
The day he jumped off the car, he had a large scrape on his ankle.
The surgical plan the doctor devised was even more complicated: first, a large piece of skin and flesh was taken from his calf, trimmed, and then grafted onto the wound on his ankle.
Then, a smaller piece of skin was taken from his thigh and grafted onto the wound on his calf.
The wound on his thigh was relatively small and was simply sutured directly.
The surgery was a success.
Tang Xu's leg was covered in a dense network of stitches, resembling a giant centipede.
Tang Xiaomin happened to catch a glimpse of it while the doctor was changing Tang Xu's dressing.
The sight could only be described as gruesome.
He wouldn't be able to walk for at least one to two months.
Seeing Tang Xiaomin frown, Tang Xu asked, "Xiaomin, are you worried about me?"
"Cough cough..."
Tang Xiaomin averted her gaze, her expression blank.
"No."
Why would she worry about him?
Seeing him in such a pathetic state, she was simply delighted.
"Do you still hate me then?"
Tang Xiaomin did not answer this question.
At this point, dwelling on hate or not would only bring her unnecessary trouble.
Let it all go.
Tang Xiaomin walked out of the ward in silence.
Tang Xu said helplessly, "It seems she still hates me."
"She's actually quite soft-hearted. As long as you are good to her, she will try to accept you slowly," Tang Yu said.
He suddenly remembered the doctor mentioning Tang Xu's paranoia and felt a pang of concern.
"Don't do such foolish self-harming things again. You're only causing her trouble this way."
Tang Xu let out a bitter smile.
"Is that so? But she said she likes to see me miserable, and after I was hospitalized, her tone and attitude towards me did improve compared to before."
...
Tang Yu's expression grew solemn. Listening to Tang Xu's words, he felt Tang Xu was incurably ill.
"Why do you think that? Do you think your way of thinking is normal?"
"There's nothing abnormal about it. As long as she likes it, I'll do anything. This way, I can compensate her."
Hearing Tang Xu's words, Tang Yu was shocked and couldn't continue the conversation with him.
"You should rest well."
Tang Yu also left the ward and went out into the corridor.
He approached Tang Xiaomin and said, "I want to talk to you alone. Let's go over there."
They walked to the stairwell, and after a moment of hesitation, Tang Yu spoke.
"The doctor said Tang Xu has paranoia."
"And his condition is worse than before."
"I've spoken to the doctor, and he said it's very likely related to you."
"What?" Tang Xiaomin frowned.
"He's sick, why is he blaming me?"
Tang Xiaomin found it inexplicable; the situation was absurd.
However, Tang Yu's expression was serious and earnest.
"I've discussed Tang Xu's situation with the doctor. He said that people with paranoia develop an unhealthy obsession with a certain person or object."
"Tang Yiyi is dead, and Tang Xu's obsession lost its target. Now, he has redirected that obsession towards you."
"Therefore, whether you're joking or serious, even if he knows your true intention is to harm him, he will still carry out your will. He can't even control his impulsive actions."
There were countless strange illnesses, but this was the first time Tang Xiaomin had heard of such a condition.
Listening to Tang Yu's words, and recalling Tang Xu's immediate action of jumping off the car that day, Tang Xiaomin gradually began to believe that Tang Xu indeed suffered from paranoia.