Scandals and disgrace were laid bare for all to see.
Yet, it seems the wise and righteous were still in the majority.
More people were questioning Zuo Tingting and Wang Qing.
"How could Shen Ci, with his choices in women, ever fancy someone like Zuo Tingting? Unattractive face, not even fair-skinned—if they said Shen Ci accidentally got her pregnant, I might believe it. But tangled up with her? Hard to believe."
"If Zuo Tingting truly liked Shen Ci, she wouldn’t make a scene at school. Why not settle it privately? She’s clearly trying to harm Shen Ci."
"Exactly, her very first sentence told us she had never discussed privately with Shen Ci before. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have needed to specifically mention her pregnancy."
"Ugh, could be someone who likes Meng Chuyue hiring them to smear Shen Ci’s reputation."
See, every era has its share of imaginative minds.
Meng Chuyue and Shen Ci kept silent during the accusations, opting only to speak up after everyone had almost had their say. Then, Meng Chuyue produced an audio recorder and played its contents for everyone.
The recording featured Zuo Tingting and Wang Qing plotting to find a man to impregnate Zuo Tingting, then pin it on Shen Ci.
It continued with conversations after Zuo Tingting got tangled up with another man, discussing with Wang Qing how to use the baby to force Shen Ci into submission.
There was a commotion after everyone had listened.
"Oh my God, has this woman gone mad? To do something so outrageous, it’s just shocking."
"No, I think it’s not madness, it’s stupidity. How incredibly foolish, ridiculously so."
"I feel like her older cousin has a lot to do with this. She couldn’t have been intentionally harming her, could she? Is this what a cousin is? More like an enemy."
After a session of cursing Zuo Tingting and Wang Qing, people began to question something else.
"Damn, the thing Meng Chuyue pulled out was a recording pen, right? They actually had one? Agh, where did they buy it? I wanna ask."
"I want to know too..."
Many were curious about the recorder, but it was too late to ask.
Zuo Tingting and Wang Qing covered their faces and fled as soon as the first part of the recording played.
Shen Ci and Meng Chuyue left as well.
Everyone thought that would be the end of it.
But two days later, the police came looking for Shen Ci, saying Zuo Tingting had been found murdered and dumped in the woods.
During the time of Zuo Tingting’s death, Shen Ci was in class with teachers and classmates to vouch for his alibi; still, many suspected he had someone murder Zuo Tingting.
Although more people argued that Shen Ci hadn’t been pressured enough by Zuo Tingting to kill her, some insisted on slandering him.
Meng Chuyue immediately sent Erhu to find the real culprit behind Zuo Tingting’s death, in hopes of putting an end to the matter, yet the killer remained elusive.
Just a few days after, tragedy struck the Shen Family again.
Shen Wenqian was accidentally choked to death by Shen Wenxiu.
Was Shen Wenhao that weak?
He was at a loss for words, unsure whether to feel relieved or regretful that he hadn’t teamed up with Shen Wenhao against Shen Wenxiu.
He couldn’t be certain that, had he and Shen Wenhao worked together, Shen Wenhao wouldn’t have been choked to death by Shen Wenxiu.
After Shen Wenhao’s death, all the recordings Shen Ci had given Shen Wenhao were seized by the police.
Hence, the sordid affairs of the Shen family slowly became public.
First to learn these secrets were members of the Shen Family themselves. Therefore, upon realizing he had been cuckolded, Shen Zhiwei immediately divorced Xiao Jing and kicked Shen Wenqiu out of the house.
This left only him, Shen Wenxi, and Shen Wenqian in the family.
Among those tapes were recordings of Shen Wenqian fooling around with others, and Shen Wenxi bullying classmates.
This effectively left no one in the Shen Family with a reputable standing.
Seeing his family’s business on the brink of ruin, Shen Zhiwei thought of Shen Ci.
Looking haggard, he arrived at the Blue Sky Fast Food Main Store to seek an audience with Shen Ci.