Chapter 144: Good People Are Taken Advantage Of

The next day, following a brief adjustment and after contacting Hu Rongqiang, Lin Yu took the three women with him to the police station to see the two detained celebrities, Lin Yaqing and Wang Bing.

The moment Lin Yu and his group appeared, both Lin Yaqing and Wang Bing wore cold and haughty expressions. They harbored a deep and burning hatred for the culprit who had dragged them into this quagmire. If this incident resulted in a major scandal and negative publicity, their situation would become even more tangled, potentially ruining their once-shining paths to stardom. They had wanted to contact their manager, Liang Tian, to handle the aftermath, but their phones had been confiscated, cutting off all communication with the outside world.

Facing their hatred, Lin Yu merely smiled faintly, thinking to himself, "You don't know what's good for you. I am actually saving you from a fire pit."

However, he clearly had no interest in these two glamorous-looking actresses. He simply turned to Xiao Qiangwei and said, "Sister Qiangwei, go talk to them. If they are willing to listen to you and testify against Liang Tian to bring him to justice, you will be free in the future and won't have to live in hiding anymore."

"I'll try my best. Could the three of us have a moment alone?" Xiao Qiangwei asked, looking at the others with a pleading gaze.

At that moment, Lin Yaqing and Wang Bing also spotted Xiao Qiangwei. They had never really liked Xiao Qiangwei, who always maintained a haughty and aloof attitude, and they often bullied her during routine work. But the current situation was crystal clear: Xiao Qiangwei was their only lifeline if they wanted to contact Liang Tian.

Possessing rather formidable acting skills, the two women instantly reddened their eyes and called out affectionately, "Qiangwei! Qiangwei..."

Hearing their cries, Xiao Qiangwei, who was already somewhat naive by nature, felt her own eyes grow moist. Leaving the others behind, she hurried over and tightly embraced the two women.

Seeing this, Lin Yu sighed softly and said to Hu Rongqiang, "Uncle Hu, let them have some privacy for a while. A big fish is involved in this case, and I hope they can turn over a new leaf and point the finger at Liang Tian, the most prominent manager in the country."

"Alright, then let's go chat in my office," Hu Rongqiang replied with a nod. After issuing a few brief instructions, he led Lin Yu, Qi悦 (Qi Yue), and Yang Zhilin to his office.

The office was sparsely furnished, containing only a simple desk, a coffee table, a sofa, and a telephone—fitting Hu Rongqiang's straightforward and unpretentious personality. Once they were seated, Lin Yu began to recount the entire sequence of events.

After he finished speaking in a low tone, Hu Rongqiang grinned and said, "Man proposes, Heaven disposes. Little Yu, you really are the lucky star of our faction. No wonder you dared to slap that old geezer Jia Quan across the face. It turns out you had it all figured out from the start."

As he spoke, Hu Rongqiang cast a sidelong glance at his family friend's niece, Yang Zhilin, a playful smile on his face. The two youngsters had thrown caution to the wind and protected each other under the pressure of the municipal party secretary. This in itself proved that their relationship was far from ordinary. The notion of having Yang Zhilin as his daughter-in-law suddenly faded in his mind.

Qi Yue, who was chatting and laughing with Yang Zhilin, naturally missed this exchange, otherwise, she would have grown jealous once again.

Under the knowing gaze of his elder, Lin Yu smiled slightly and explained, "Actually, when I slapped him, I wasn't thinking at all. I just felt like I had been ignited and completely lost control of my temper. But right after I hit him, a sudden clarity came over me."

"Haha, heroes are born young since ancient times. That slap was satisfying. However, the social impact of this incident will be massive, and higher-ups have already dispatched officials to take charge of the matter. Whether we can deal a heavy blow to Jia Quan depends entirely on the intentions of those leaders," Hu Rongqiang said solemnly, taking a sip of the Tieguanyin tea his secretary had just poured.

Hearing this, Lin Yu fell into a brief contemplation before breaking into his signature smile. "There shouldn't be any major problems with this. I clearly remember Mayor Wang saying the probability of this succeeding is one hundred percent. With him around, Jia Quan and his son will hardly have a chance to make a comeback."

"That's true. Little Yu, you've matured really fast lately, and Uncle Hu is very gratified. I'm also happy for your father," Hu Rongqiang continued, praising Lin Yu.

"Uncle Hu flatters me. Actually, Hubin and Zhilin are the truly outstanding ones. Their academic results leave your nephew far behind, utterly impossible to catch up to!" Lin Yu replied with polite modesty.

After exchanging these words with Lin Yu, Hu Rongqiang playfully began to tease Yang Zhilin and Qi Yue. "You two little girls, what do you think of my great nephew? Is he suitable to be a boyfriend?"

Before the two girls could answer, however, a young police officer burst into the room.

"Chief Hu, Chief Hu, this is bad! The girl who went to visit the suspects just now—she's been beaten by them!"

"What? This is lawlessness! Damn it, those two ungrateful wretches have really lost their minds!" Upon hearing this, Hu Rongqiang flew into a rage and slammed his hand hard on the desk. The freshly placed teacup lid bounced into the air and clattered back down onto the table.

Before anyone else could react, Lin Yu bolted out the door and ran downstairs. He was extremely worried about Xiao Qiangwei; after all, she was a girl devoid of malice and possessed an inherently innocent soul.

Before even stepping into the room, Lin Yu spotted Xiao Qiangwei squatting in the hallway, weeping silently. He hurried over, squatted down beside her, and asked gently, "Sister Qiangwei, what on earth happened? Did they hit you?"

Xiao Qiangwei raised her head, her eyes brimming with crystalline tears, and began to explain what had transpired.

It turned out that after everyone else left, the other two women exchanged a few pleasantries with her before demanding that she take out her phone and call Liang Tian.

Xiao Qiangwei, who had intended to persuade them to testify against Liang Tian, naturally refused to comply. Instead of taking out her phone, she earnestly tried to reason with them: "Qingqing, Bingbing. Actually, the reason I came today is to persuade the two of you to testify against Liang Tian."

"What, let us testify against Boss Liang? Qiangwei, have you lost your mind? Besides, what is there to testify about? Bribery? With his influence, he can easily smooth over trivial matters like that. If we do that, Bingbing and I will surely be left without a burial place," Lin Yaqing snapped angrily.

Seeing this, Xiao Qiangwei sighed and said timidly, "I actually thought we could all go together and testify about how he forced us to go out and entertain clients."

"Testify about that? That would be committing career suicide! Even if we succeeded, the scandals would ruin the stardom we've worked so hard to build," Wang Bing retorted coldly, her gaze turning frosty.

"I feel that sacrificing ourselves and living under constant oppression for the sake of so-called stardom is simply not worth it!" Xiao Qiangwei continued to persuade them.

"Not worth it? We are not like you. You're a pure and untainted virgin, all high and mighty. But Bingbing and I are already used goods, trampled over by thousands of men. We might as well keep going down this path; at least we can make a bit more money for our retirement," Lin Yaqing laughed aloud, her tone deeply malicious.

Failing to catch the subtext of her words, Xiao Qiangwei continued trying to reason with the two of them, genuinely acting out of concern for their well-being.

Little did she know, the more she spoke, the deeper Lin Yaqing and Wang Bing's resentment grew. Eventually, they unreasonably began to blame Xiao Qiangwei for their past experiences of wining, dining, and sleeping with clients.

In the end, the more they looked at Xiao Qiangwei, the more they loathed her. When she repeatedly refused to hand over her phone, they suddenly flew into a rage and physically attacked her.

Lacking the courage to fight back or even cry out for help, Xiao Qiangwei had simply endured their bullying.

Gazing at Xiao Qiangwei’s disheveled hair, her innocent eyes, and her silent sobs, Lin Yu was instantly consumed by a blinding fury.