Chapter 88

Chapter 88

The police immediately summoned Song Manman, who was still in Mingcheng, for questioning.

She flatly denied Zhou Jiarou's claims, calling them excuses made by Zhou Jiarou after a failed extortion attempt.

Her ex-husband, Su Wanlin, simply couldn’t be bothered to argue with Zhou Jiarou. Given the Su family’s vast wealth, what did it matter if they gave her some money?

Moreover, the Su family was embroiled in the false young master scandal at the time. Su Wanlin worried the drama would affect Su Group’s stock prices and thought going along with it would resolve the matter faster, so he casually dismissed her.

Hadn’t anyone noticed that in the two recordings she leaked, Su Wanlin never once mentioned Su Shengli’s true origins?

"Besides, who knows how she obtained those photos? Nowadays, there’s no shortage of people trying to scam the wealthy. She should think—even if there were complications during my delivery, I would’ve been in a private delivery room. How could I possibly have shared a room with some... minimum-wage laborer from the bottom rung of society?"

Song Manman’s eyes darted sharply.

"I truly don’t know how my child was switched. If Liao Anyang hadn’t come forward, I wouldn’t have known about Su Shengli’s background until he was arrested."

"But I don’t want to deal with this anymore. I’ve divorced Su Wanlin, so don’t drag me into the Su family’s goddamn brotherly power struggles."

With that, Song Manman called for her house manager and left.

The two remaining police officers exchanged helpless glances.

Song Manman’s house manager stepped forward. "There’s no concrete evidence that Ms. Song switched the children back then. If there are any more shakedown attempts, the Song family will take legal action."

After her visit to the police station, Song Manman took to the official social media accounts of both the Song and Su Group to declare her innocence.

She then ignored the social media storm entirely.

Song Manman subtly insinuated that Zhou Jiarou’s online outburst was orchestrated by someone aiming to seize the Su family’s assets.

Surprisingly, netizens ate it up.

These days, no one believes in filial piety and brotherly harmony in wealthy families.

If even ordinary families fight over trivial matters, how much worse must the scheming be in a wealthy household? That’s why the public never bought into the Su family’s image of brotherly harmony and parental love. The false young master scandal was what truly sent them viral.

And the drama between the Su family and Su Shengli was particularly juicy.

False young master, beloved adopted son, debts of upbringing, enemy bloodline, expulsion from the family, seemingly reconciled...

If there wasn’t something shady going on, netizens wouldn’t believe the world could be so genuinely good.

Would you trust the Su family’s innocence, or believe that netizens are all genius detectives?

The public was already captivated by Zhou Jiarou’s sudden revelations, and now Song Manman’s blatant hints about internal family strife diverted their attention further.

For a time, Su Group’s stock decline halted, and Su Linyuan, under subtle and not-so-subtle pressure from executives and Su Shengli, finally got some breathing room.

Su Shengli immediately went to Su Linyuan’s office to explain that Zhou Jiarou hadn’t acted on his orders.

Su Linyuan put on a smile and claimed to understand—only to then strip Su Shengli of his position at Su Group, asking if he understood his reasoning.

Su Shengli nearly lost his composure.

Those damned Sus.

Back when Su Shengli was still with the family, Su Linyuan had played the role of the ever-accommodating big brother, always ready to help whenever Su Shengli asked.

But once Su Shengli became embroiled in scandal, Su Linyuan’s attitude grew ambiguous. At the time, Su Shengli had thought his brother was simply indecisive. Now, he realized Su Linyuan had known everything all along—playing dumb and acting only in his own interest.

When Su Shengli could bring resources to the family, Su Linyuan feigned concern, sweet-talked him back into the family.

Now that Su Shengli’s presence hindered Su Linyuan’s control of the group, he was shoved aside without hesitation.

Su Shengli’s expression turned icy, his entire expression turned frosty.

He made no effort to hide his displeasure, but Su Linyuan turned back with that same infuriating smile, as if oblivious.

The atmosphere grew tense.

Su Shengli stayed silent, and Su Linyuan ignored him.

Finally, Su Shengli took a deep breath. His smile returned, as though he’d calmed himself, and he bent slightly, offering Su Linyuan an out.

"Big brother, this is my fault."

"You took over in such a hurry, and before you could even settle into the group, Zhou Jiarou turned around and blamed us online, causing Su Group’s stocks to plummet and the employees to grow unruly."

"At a time like this, I should’ve been helping you, but instead, I threw a tantrum like an ingrate. I... Big brother, I’ll go write my suspension report now."

Su Shengli’s eyes darkened.

Su Linyuan finally looked pleased—but he didn’t see the cold smirk on Su Shengli’s lips or the tight clench of his hidden fists.

That night, as Su Linyuan opened his car door in the parking lot after work, a cloth suddenly pressed over his face from behind. He passed out instantly.

A masked figure in a black cap shoved Su Linyuan into the car, then drove it out of the city.

Days passed without Su Linyuan showing up at the company.

Only when they tracked down Su Shengli—who had been attending classes at Mingcheng University since his suspension—did everyone belatedly realize Su Linyuan had vanished.

Su Shengli panicked and immediately called the police.

Security footage showed Su Linyuan’s car had been driven out of the province. By the time authorities traced it to a remote ravine, the car was empty—Su Linyuan was nowhere to be found.

A heavy rain had washed away all traces inside.

Su Group was suddenly leaderless. In this crisis, Su Shengli was thrust into leadership, temporarily taking over Su Linyuan’s duties.

But Su Shengli lacked experience. Several of Su Group’s surefire deals were snatched by competitors.

Seeing this, executives began lining their own pockets, while middle and lower-level employees were left groaning under the strain of crushing overtime demands.

When conscientious managers confronted Su Shengli, they were met with nothing but vague excuses and helpless shrugs.

Within days, capable mid-level leaders began defecting to competitors with their teams.

With two consecutive CEOs proving utterly incompetent and Su Shengli appearing weak and ineffectual, Su Group’s stocks went into freefall once more.

The chaos even reached Gu Yubai, recuperating at an overseas rehabilitation center.

Yet Su Linyuan’s grandfather, who had recently returned, remained completely unfazed.

Even Su Wanlin, now wheelchair-bound, wore a strange expression when Gu Yubai brought up the topic.

The old man lowered his eyes. "Every generation must find its own way. Su Group is too big to fail easily—let the two boys back home sort out their own mess."

Gu Yubai's eyes gleamed faintly, deep in thought. From Old Master Su's meaningful words, he caught a faint glimpse of the truth.

The recent chaos in Su Group likely had Old Master Su and Su Wanlin's deliberate meddling behind it.

Was Su Linyuan's disappearance really just a simple disappearance?

Coincidentally, Su Shengli was also pondering this question.

Where the hell had Su Linyuan gone?!

He had taken over Su Group as he wished, still funneling its profits to the company of his collaborator as planned.

But according to the original scheme, all this should have happened after Old Master Su died at his birthday banquet, Su Wanlin and Song Manman died in a car crash, and Su Linyuan was left mentally shattered from the successive blows—only then would he step forward as the savior.

Of course, his motives were anything but pure. He had never cared about Su Group's operations.

The man in black he collaborated with wanted Su Group's resources and profits, while Su Shengli wanted the entire Su family to pay dearly, to regret and suffer for never having valued him before!

Su Shengli watched himself twist and drown in hatred with clear eyes, yet he had zero desire to go back.

Unfortunately, Old Master Su hadn’t died, Su Wanlin was still alive, and now even Su Linyuan had gone missing.

Some unseen force was disrupting Su Shengli's arrangements.

His phone suddenly rang. Su Shengli answered, and the voice on the other end reported:

"Master Su, Old Master Su and Su Wanlin have been holed up in the sanatorium all this time. Neither has left, nor has anyone visited them."

"There’s another matter—I’m not sure if I should mention it—but the former True Young Master of the Su family, Gu Yihong, and his elder brother Gu Yubai have been staying at the sanatorium recently. Word is that their adoptive father, Gu Mingliang, is about to wake up."

"Gu Mingliang is waking up?"

Su Shengli's mind stirred, a trace of disdain flashing in his eyes.

"A vegetable, actually has a chance to wake up. The bastard's lucky."

Why didn't he die in that car crash?

Su Shengli was indifferent.

Still, he held no grudge against Gu Yubai now. Even now, outsiders still believed that the impostor Gu Yihong was the Su family’s True Young Master—showing Gu Yubai wanted no part of the Su family.

How clever.

Knowing the Su family was no good place, he kept his distance completely.

Compared to Gu Yubai, he himself had been much more foolish, letting the Su family play him for a fool.

The news of Gu Mingliang’s awakening crossed Su Shengli's mind briefly before being dismissed.

But the mention of the Gu brothers reminded him of something he had once seen in the records.

A thought occurred to him: "The Gu brothers once visited a psychiatric clinic. Are they still on medication? Dig into that for me."

If Gu Yubai and Gu Yihong were still undergoing psychological treatment, he could certainly exploit that.

At the same time, Su Linyuan—who had been secretly sent overseas by Old Master Su and hidden under the Yu family’s protection—scowled at the documents he had obtained through the Yu family’s connections, his face darkening.

He never would have imagined that, had he disappeared even a moment later, he would have ended up as a walking organ donor for some chaotic foreign gang, delivered there by Su Shengli himself!

He knew Su Shengli was no angel, but he hadn’t expected such cruelty.

To disregard even the slightest trace of their childhood bond!