Chapter 20

At the same time, Tong Zhichen rescued Jiang Manwen, who had been trapped in the Yueyue villa.

Jiang Manwen had been confined abroad for several months and then trapped in the Yueyue villa for another month. She had become extremely emaciated, and every day she was looking for an opportunity to escape.

When Tong Zhichen found her, she was running a high fever, barely conscious. She vaguely heard someone calling her name—it seemed to be Tong Zhichen, but she wasn’t sure, thinking it was just a dream.

When she woke up again, she was in a hospital, with Tong Zhichen sitting by her bed. It was then that she realized she hadn’t been dreaming.

“Ah Chen.”

Her voice was hoarse from the illness.

Tong Zhichen, who had been sleeping lightly, was instantly awake when he heard her voice. Seeing that Jiang Manwen had regained consciousness, he was overwhelmed with emotion and joy and immediately embraced her.

“Manwen, you’re awake!”

“Let go of me first, I can’t breathe.” Jiang Manwen patted him weakly, her face pale. “How did you find me?”

These people had been very meticulous in their actions, kidnapping her, impersonating her, and leaving no clues. They had kept her under close surveillance, and she hadn’t found any chance to send a signal for help.

Tong Zhichen then explained everything he had heard from Qiao Chuchu about the strange voices.

Jiang Manwen was stunned. “Is there really such a bizarre thing in real life?”

“Yes, this operation was all thanks to her.” Tong Zhichen gently touched her thin face. “When you’re better, we’ll go thank her.”

—

What started as a beautiful banquet turned into a scene for capturing scammers. A dozen of Tong Zhichen’s hired thugs rounded up the scammers and sent them all to the police station.

After understanding the full story, the police attached great importance to the case, immediately interrogating the scammers and launching an operation to arrest the rest of the gang. They rescued two more victims and helped many others who had been scammed to minimize their losses, recovering some of their stolen money.

The final fate of these scammers was—prison.

Jiang Manwen could never figure out who had made the strange voice she had heard on the backyard lawn, or how the person had discovered their secret!

—

This operation was conducted secretly. Aside from the guests who attended the banquet and the hired thugs, no one else knew about it.

However, the secret of Tong Zhichen’s marriage was leaked to the public. It made headlines and trended on social media. Now, the whole internet knew that he was already married.

#TongZhichenMarriedForAYear

#TongZhichenIsNotSingle

#TongZhichenWife

Tong Zhichen’s fans were devastated, crying and refusing to believe it was true!

【I don’t believe it’s true! This must be a smear campaign from my husband’s rivals!】

【Married for a year? No way! My husband just said he was single on a variety show not long ago! Can’t these people make up rumors with more care?!】

【Chenchen is single! Even if he has a wife, it’s me and my sisters! No arguments accepted!】

【Heh, Tong’s fans are really deceiving themselves. It’s already this time, and they still pretend not to see the truth. Ridiculous.】

【Tong Zhichen is married! He’s not single anymore, but he shamelessly kept up the single persona to harvest fans’ support. How embarrassing!】

—

This incident sparked widespread controversy. While the fans fought to defend Tong Zhichen, insisting that he was being slandered by rival fans, Tong Zhichen disappointed them.

He publicly admitted his marriage on Weibo, and the news immediately became a trending topic, sparking a new round of discussions across the internet.

Fans were crying, anti-fans were laughing, and passersby were enjoying the drama and gossip.

The entire internet was flooded with topics about Tong Zhichen’s marriage. The sheer volume of people following the event even caused Weibo to crash, making it impossible to load pages.

Qiao Chuchu also got the first-hand gossip. In the original storyline, Tong Zhichen had only discovered that his wife was fake six months later, and his real wife was already gone. The Jiang family’s wealth had also been completely stolen by the scammers.

Tong Zhichen never had the chance to announce his marriage. After the incident, he withdrew from the spotlight and faded from the public’s eye.

But now, Tong Zhichen had changed his storyline, and for him, this was a much better ending. He probably didn’t care about the criticism anymore.

Qiao Chuchu also received a barrage of messages from her best friend, Shen Yinyin.

Shen Yinyin: “Ahhh! Chuchu! I’m gonna cry! Tong Zhichen actually got married! He actually got married!”

Shen Yinyin: “His place in my heart just collapsed, and I was buried under it. I didn’t expect my idol to fall!”

Shen Yinyin: “Chuchu, you were right, we can’t just follow one celebrity, we need to follow a whole bunch!”

Shen Yinyin: “I’m really so heartbroken!”

Shen Yinyin: “Wuwuwu!”

Qiao Chuchu sent her a comforting emoji: “(Little cat pats head)”

“Don’t be sad, there are plenty of new idols waiting for you to follow. Tong Zhichen is in the past. We need to move on.”

“When are you coming back? I’ll treat you to skewers.”

Shen Yinyin: “Wuwu, you’re the best, Chuchu! Maybe in a few days, I’m not sure. I’ll contact you as soon as I return!”

“Alright.” Qiao Chuchu flipped through her storyline and saw that the ending of the imprisoned character had turned into an unknown path. There was now a line of blurry words ahead, which she couldn’t read clearly.

She could only remind her, “Take care of yourself and don’t let yourself be fooled.”

—

Shen Yinyin rubbed her red eyes in front of the mirror, touched up her makeup, and put on some lipstick before heading out.

Zhang Wenhao saw her come out, put away his phone, and noticed her eyes.

“What happened? Have you been crying?”

Zhang Wenhao didn’t like her being a fan, so she kept it a secret from him.

Their music performance had gone smoothly, and today they were celebrating at a restaurant.

Zhang Wenhao walked over and put his arm around her, speaking in a gentle tone, “Wasn’t I waiting for you to join me? Once you’re ready, we can head out.”

Shen Yinyin, still upset over her idol’s downfall, nodded sullenly, “Okay, let’s go.”

By the time they arrived at the restaurant, the other team members were already there. They had ordered a full table of food, along with beer, liquor, and wine, and invited a few female friends over to join them.

“Captain, Yinyin, you’re finally here, we’ve been waiting for you, come sit down!”

“Pour them some drinks!”

The team members called a nearby girl to pour the drinks. The girl was dressed fashionably and sexily, and when she poured the drink for Shen Yinyin, she had a fake smile on her face. When it was Zhang Wenhao’s turn, her body deliberately brushed against his arm, as though she was trying to flirt with him.

Shen Yinyin squinted her eyes and raised her glass, saying, “Thank you to this young lady for pouring the drink. You can tell she’s a professional drink pourer.”

The girl was angered by her comment, “What are you talking about?”

Shen Yinyin ignored her and continued, “I’d like to toast to everyone’s successful performance, cheers!”

“Cheers! Yinyin, you’re so generous!”

The team members toasted with her, and they teased that one drink wasn’t enough. Shen Yinyin ended up drinking three glasses. Zhang Wenhao didn’t stop her and even encouraged her to drink. She had learned to drink from him.

Her mood wasn’t great today, and with all the noise around her, she stood up, “I’m going to the bathroom first.”

Zhang Wenhao asked, “Do you need me to go with you?”

“No, I can go by myself,” Shen Yinyin waved her hand and left the private room.

Shen Yinyin didn’t return for a long time, but no one noticed anything unusual. They were getting more and more lively, even pulling Zhang Wenhao to join in.

“Captain, since Shen Yinyin isn’t here, let’s have some fun!”

“Sure.”

Zhang Wenhao didn’t have much feeling for Shen Yinyin. His interest was more in her money and admiration.

However, when they finished eating, drinking, and having fun and were about to leave, a waiter stopped them.

“Sir, please pay here.”

“Pay?” Zhang Wenhao asked in confusion, “Didn’t the girl in the yellow dress pay?”

The waiter smiled, “No, she said she wasn’t feeling well and left early. She told you all to enjoy yourselves.”

Zhang Wenhao, “…?”

What was Shen Yinyin up to?