The majority of people present weren’t particularly concerned with how precious or meaningful the video was. What they cared about was the value behind the video and the opportunity to cooperate with Yu Corporation. As the auction began with the host’s call, the bidding became lively. Prices rose quickly as everyone raised their paddles.

Chu Shangluo glanced at Wen Zhengyang, who hadn’t raised a paddle, remaining calm as always. He touched his own paddle, brewing something in his mind. When the speed of the bidding slowed, Wen Zhengyang, who had been silent until now, finally raised his paddle. This was the moment Chu Shangluo had been waiting for. He curved his lips into a smirk and raised his paddle right after Wen Zhengyang.

From then on, every time Wen Zhengyang raised his paddle, Chu Shangluo followed suit. The people present quickly realized that Chu Shangluo was deliberately driving up the price. Now, the video’s price had surpassed 100 million, and many people hesitated, unsure whether they should keep bidding.

Wen Yan glared at Chu Shangluo, whose face was full of smiles, feeling extremely displeased. Wen Zhengyang patted Wen Yan’s shoulder, glanced at Chu Shangluo, and then said to Wen Yan, “The price of the video doesn’t matter. I’ve met with the young master before, and some collaborations have already been confirmed. Bidding for this is just to give Yu Corporation some face. Just don’t do anything stupid.”

By now, the video’s price had become extremely outrageous. Seeing that it was almost enough, Chu Shangluo stopped raising his paddle. Lin Zhi whispered, “Why isn’t the boss bidding anymore? It would’ve been great if we could have made the Wen family pay more. The more, the better.”

Chu Shangluo raised an eyebrow, “If we raise it any further, Wen Zhengyang might not follow. It could affect the rest of the drama. There’s something even more exciting coming up.”

The host smiled, “Congratulations to bidder number 25, Mr. Wen, for winning the young master’s donation. Now, please come on stage with the young master to play this precious video for everyone.” Applause erupted in the hall, congratulating Wen Zhengyang for winning the item, though no one knew how sincere that congratulations really was.

Wen Yan looked at his father on stage, a trace of a smile appearing in his eyes.

Shen Jue was pushed onto the stage. He smiled brightly at Ren Jiaoming sitting below and winked at him. As the large screen descended, Shen Jue shook hands with Wen Zhengyang chuckled lightly, and said, “Mr. Wen, you’ll like this video.”

Wen Zhengyang had a vague feeling of unease, but he was already on stage. Below him were “friends” from the business circle, people he often saw but never really interacted with. He steadied his nerves, put on an appropriate smile, and pressed the play button on the video recorder. The lights in the auction hall dimmed, and everyone’s attention focused on the large screen, curious about how “precious” the video would be. The media present also turned their cameras towards the screen.

The moment the villa appeared on the screen, Wen Zhengyang’s face changed, and his breath hitched for a moment. He turned to leave but was stopped by someone holding him in place. Despite the shaky camera, both the sound and visuals in the video were very clear. In the video, three young people in a room appeared, their faces flushed, clearly drunk. Ruan Shu angrily shouted, “Wen Zhengyang, Chu Chendong, you bastards! You call yourselves good brothers!” Chu Chendong hurriedly said, “Ruan Shu, don’t get agitated. There must be some misunderstanding. Let’s talk it out calmly!”

“There’s nothing to talk about!” Ruan Shu yelled, throwing his cup and then grappling with Wen Zhengyang. Chu Chendong intervened, trying to break them up, but the struggle only intensified. Chu Chendong snapped, “Enough! If you’re out of money, I’ll give you some!” He pushed Ruan Shu hard, sending him crashing to the floor. Ruan Shu hit his head on the table and lost consciousness. Chu Chendong slipped and hit his head on the candelabra^[1]Candelabra: a large branched candlestick or holder for several candles or lamps.“candles in iron candelabra shed some light”, also knocking himself out. The candles set the curtains on fire, and the flames spread quickly.

Some of the older people present recalled the mysterious fire at the Ruan family’s house years ago, but they hadn’t realized it was related to this.

The room fell completely silent.

Chu Shangluo looked at the screen, thinking about the scene when Chu Chendong pushed Ruan Shu, causing Ruan Shu to fall unconscious, and the fire at the Ruan family’s house. That was the part of the video that Ren Jiaoming had edited out when showing it to him. Although his father hadn’t intentionally committed murder or arson, he was still part of the reason the tragedy unfolded. Ren Jiaoming cut that part out, probably not wanting to upset him, but Chu Shangluo couldn’t thank Ren Jiaoming for that. He felt Ren Jiaoming had ulterior motives.

Ren Jiaoming looked at Chu Shangluo. Yes, he had his reasons. He wanted Chu Chendong to appear completely innocent in Chu Shangluo’s eyes. Since he didn’t have a father, he understood better than anyone how important a father’s image was in his son’s heart. At the same time, he wanted to make the relationship between him and Chu Shangluo simpler.

In the video, Chu Chendong was unconscious, and Ruan Shu had collapsed. Wen Zhengyang seemed to be thinking deeply. He then walked over to Ruan Shu, took a bottle of medicine from his clothes, and threw it into the fire. He moved Ruan Shu closer to the flames, then lay down on the floor.

Everyone in the room was stunned, their eyes glued to Wen Zhengyang, who was now motionless and under police control. Wen Zhengyang’s heart was pounding wildly, his face pale, his hands and feet cold. He had never imagined that this video would be found by Shen Jue.

When he learned that his ex-wife might have recorded the video, he relentlessly interrogated her about its whereabouts, but she always denied it. He didn’t believe her and locked her up, thinking that as long as she didn’t leave, even if she had recorded it, the video would never be leaked.

Now, seeing Ren Jiaoming’s cold gaze from the audience, and noticing how Shen Jue’s eyes resembled his ex-wife’s, everything became clear. He closed his eyes, unable to accept his fall after being so high up for so long. The events of that day resurfaced in his mind. After Ruan Shu collapsed, he threw away his asthma medication, placing Ruan Shu near the fire to provoke an asthma attack. Ruan Shu woke up from the attack and realized the house was on fire. He immediately rushed inside to find his two children, then later returned to search for his asthma medicine. While searching, he leaned against the scalding railing and lost consciousness. Later, when Chu Chendong woke up and called to him, the fire raged, and they ran out together. When the firefighters arrived, they only saved the two children. Ruan Shu died from suffocation due to an asthma attack. At that time, surveillance equipment was not advanced, and even if there had been, he had an explanation. After all, he hadn’t directly killed anyone. Ruan Shu’s death was linked to an asthma attack—how was he responsible? If there was any charge, it would be for failing to rescue him in time.

Afterwards, he told Chu Chendong that he had started the fire. He wasn’t technically lying, as the fire had indeed started due to Chu Chendong’s carelessness. Later, he found out that his ex-wife had also been at the scene. Always suspicious, he immediately locked her up to prevent her from calling the police.

If asked whether he had ever feared the truth being exposed, or feared punishment, his answer was no. Back then, he wasn’t afraid. After becoming a son-in-law to the Ruan family, he was constantly looked down upon. He worked hard to earn money, but Mr. Ruan devalued him, making him feel worthless. He hated them, wishing they were dead. When he finally got rid of the old man, the inheritance was passed entirely to Ruan Shu, leaving him nothing. From that moment, he became corrupted, no longer fearing death but rather dreading a life full of disdain from others.

So, he set up a scheme to steal money from Ruan Shu. When Ruan Shu found out and threatened to expose him, he became murderous.

As the woman’s suppressed sobs echoed, the screen showed Wen Zhengyang glancing at the camera as he ran out, and then it ended.

Everyone in the room was stunned into silence. The media’s flashlights went off, all aimed at Wen Zhengyang, who stood on stage with his eyes closed, his head held high. His expression remained resolute, showing no fear. Wen Yan’s face turned pale, and as he overheard the whispered conversations around him, his anger surged. He stood up, thinking that his father couldn’t possibly have committed murder.

When the truth was finally revealed, Chu Shangluo found that it wasn’t as satisfying as he had imagined.

The video that Ren Jiaoming gave him had many omissions. It not only lacked the scene of his father pushing Ruan Shu, but also the final moment when Ruan Shu collapsed in the fire. But at this point, he wasn’t concerned with the fact that Ren Jiaoming had lied to him; instead, he felt distressed. No one could bear to see their own father fall into a fire. If it were him, he would have gone crazy with anger, not caring about anything except wanting Wen Zhengyang’s life. It was hard to believe that Ren Jiaoming had endured all these years. Chu Shangluo took a deep breath, unable to describe the emotions swirling inside him.

The chatter in the auction hall grew louder, and people in the audience began pointing at Wen Zhengyang. Wen Yan’s eyes were bloodshot as he shouted, “Impossible! This must be Chu Shangluo’s scheme, you’re all framing my dad!” He rushed toward the stage, but before he could act, he was quickly subdued and handcuffed.

Wen Yan was shocked, and his years of gentle facade fell away completely. “Why are you arresting me? I haven’t done anything wrong!”

Shen Jue on the stage smiled, “Really? Then let’s see what foolish thing Young Master Wen did today.” He pressed a button on the video recorder, and the screen showed Wen Yan in a corner, talking to the event staff.

The people in the hall exchanged confused looks, not understanding what was going on. Shen Jue, with a hint of amusement in his eyes, looked at the now pale Wen Yan and thought how incredibly foolish he was. Wen Zhengyang was bold and daring, but how did such a stupid son come from him?

Shen Jue, who was in charge of the charity auction, had caught the staff member who had swapped the apple right after the incident. When he found out the staff member’s surname was Wen, he couldn’t help but admire how Wen Zhengyang had spread his influence in the capital over the years. To think someone so close to Wen Yan had been used for such a small task. The auction house manager had a good relationship with him, so he decided to use this to his advantage. He would let the auction finish before revealing the truth. As long as nothing valuable was lost, the timing of the truth’s release wouldn’t matter. However, Shen Jue didn’t share his plans with Ren Jiaoming. He only told him to wait and watch. Ren Jiaoming’s way of doing things was to solve problems immediately, decisively. If he had told him about the apple swap and the culprit, Ren Jiaoming would have insisted on revealing everything right away. But Shen Jue didn’t like that approach. He enjoyed letting the enemy feel happy for a moment before bringing them down. He thought Chu Shangluo might also appreciate this method, so he sent him a message about his plans. Chu Shangluo didn’t care what the others thought of him and wasn’t in a hurry to clear his name. He liked Shen Jue’s way of raising an enemy up only to bring them crashing down.

Although Shen Jue hadn’t told Ren Jiaoming his full plan, Ren Jiaoming had probably guessed it. But Ren Jiaoming, already in love, didn’t want the person he cared about to suffer even a temporary humiliation. So he bid high on the apple. This sentiment made Shen Jue a little puzzled. Was this still the same emotionally naive nephew he knew?

The host explained, “The staff member who swapped the jade apple with Mr. Chu’s white jade apple is the one here. We’ve already found the jade apple, and the staff member has confessed that Young Master Wen instructed them to do it.”

The guests in the hall were completely stunned. This grand spectacle had truly caught them off guard. The father and son from the Wen family were both equally awful.

Wen Zhengyang turned his head away, not wanting to look at his foolish son any longer. He realized that this idiot had ruined him. Wen Yan’s chest heaved violently as he struggled in his last attempts: “Shen Jue, mind your own business! Is there no one left in the Ruan family? Why are you stepping forward?”

Shen Jue glanced at Ren Jiaoming and said, “To be honest, I am Ren Jiaoming’s uncle. Ren Jiaoming is the eldest son of the Ruan family, and he is the true heir to the Yu family.”

“!!!” The entire room erupted in shock.

Soon, plainclothes police officers took away the well-known Wen father and son from the business circle. The news spread through the business world at lightning speed. With so much information revealed, it became the talk of the town after the event. The gossip was all about this incident.

In the world of wealthy families and business circles, strange and tangled matters were not uncommon, but today, a decades-old issue had been brought to light. The truth left people speechless. Wen Zhengyang’s selfishness had destroyed the two good brothers who had once helped him. Truly, a white-eyed wolf.

Once everyone left, the once-crowded hall was now empty. Only Ren Jiaoming remained seated alone in the audience, silent and unmoving.