In the rented apartment, Su Jing eyed the beautiful girl in front of him warily and asked urgently, “What did you mean by what you said on the phone?”  

The person sitting across from Su Jing was none other than Song Zhining.  

As Su Jing sized her up, Song Zhining was also observing him. The client had mentioned that before being reunited with his biological family, his surname had been Su.  

So, the Su Jing before her was the wealthy client from the future.  

Thinking of the 8-million-yuan advance payment he had given her as a reward, Song Zhining’s fondness for him skyrocketed.  

On her way over, Song Zhining had already prepared her story. She fabricated a tale about encountering difficulties two years ago and how she had been inspired by Shen Xingyi to strive for self-improvement.  

“…My friend and I both believe Shen Xingyi is innocent. All those scandals were fabricated to frame him. Shen Xingyi is a kind and gentle-hearted person.”  

Finally, someone else who believed Shen Xingyi was good-hearted like he did?  

Su Jing’s eyes reddened, and his wariness toward Song Zhining diminished significantly.  

Back when Shen Xingyi was at the peak of his fame, he had countless fans. At every event, fans would excitedly scream their love for him.  

But after the smear campaign, those so-called fans either abandoned him or turned into haters, cursing Shen Xingyi. They didn’t believe in him at all—some even cyberbullied him.  

Su Jing couldn’t imagine how painful it must have been for Shen Xingyi, who had always been sincere with his fans, to witness all this.  

Apart from him, it seemed no one else believed in Shen Xingyi anymore.  

But now, two true fans had appeared.  

He thought that if Shen Xingyi knew, he would surely be happy.  

“During this time, my friend and I have been gathering evidence to clear Shen Xingyi’s name. Now, we’ve collected everything we need. If we use it wisely, we can help him.”  

“I know you might not trust me right now, but take a look at this evidence, and you’ll understand.”  

With that, Song Zhining forwarded Su Jing all the evidence the client had sent her to help Shen Xingyi.  

Su Jing opened the files skeptically, but with each document he viewed, his excitement grew. By the time he finished, his refined face was flushed with exhilaration.  

He stood up, unable to contain his excitement, his eyes glistening with tears and his voice choked with emotion. “This is amazing! With this evidence, we can definitely clear Shen Xingyi’s name if we use it right.”  

He wiped his tears, but his eyes were filled with joy.  

“Thank you… thank you both.” At this moment, Su Jing finally believed in Song Zhining.

Only a true fan of Shen Xingyi would believe in him and go to such lengths to gather this evidence.  

“By the way, how did you manage to collect all this?” Su Jing knew it must have been incredibly difficult to obtain these materials.  

This girl and her friend must have significant connections to pull it off.  

“I can’t really disclose that. We have our own channels, but everything here is genuine. To be honest, most of the effort came from my friend. However, due to certain reasons, he couldn’t come in person. But he’s been paying attention all along—he never stopped believing in Shen Xingyi.”  

Su Jing nodded in understanding.  

Song Zhining gazed at Su Jing. What she didn’t tell him was—  

That “friend” was actually him, five years in the future. From beginning to end, it was him who believed in Shen Xingyi, gathered evidence, and fought to clear his name.  

In this commission order, Li Jing had instructed her to claim credit for collecting the evidence.  

But Song Zhining had no intention of taking undeserved recognition, even if no one else would ever know.  

So, she fabricated a “friend”—even if this friend remained nameless, what belonged to him couldn’t be forgotten.  

After his initial excitement, Su Jing suddenly remembered something else. “Wait, you mentioned earlier that Shen Xingyi would commit suicide—what did you mean by that?”  

Song Zhining sighed. “Haven’t you noticed how off Shen Xingyi’s mental state has been lately? You’ve seen the evidence—none of those things were his doing. He was framed, yet everyone misunderstands him. His fans have abandoned him, cursing and condemning him.”  

“Shen Xingyi is too kind-hearted, too soft.”  

“In such a situation, how could he not fall into depression? And the most severe outcome of depression… is suicide.”  

“He might not have attempted it yet, but I’m certain he’s already started self-harming.”  

As Song Zhining spoke, Su Jing’s expression darkened with realization.

The more he thought about it, the more he realized it made sense.  

This year, Shen Xingyi had changed so much. He had become increasingly withdrawn, often depressed, and lost interest in many things he once enjoyed.  

He would often space out alone, sometimes even forgetting to eat.  

And even when he did eat, he would sometimes throw it back up.  

At the time, Su Jing had thought it was just a stomach issue—how had he never considered depression?  

Frantic, Su Jing searched online for symptoms of depression. “…Severe insomnia, loss of interest, loss of appetite—it all matches. Every single thing matches.”

Tears streamed down his face as he looked up, like a helpless child who had just realized a terrible mistake. “How could I not have realized Shen Xingyi was suffering from depression?”  

Then he read further—about how, in later stages, depression could lead to self-harm, even suicide. Su Jing couldn’t hold back any longer. He crouched down and sobbed uncontrollably.  

But just moments later, he forced himself back up, not even bothering to wipe his tears, and immediately started packing his things.  

“We need to go find Shen Xingyi right now. We have to stay by his side. I’ll watch over him—I won’t let him do anything reckless.”  

“Miss Song, will you come with me? Let’s show him this evidence together. He needs to know there’s still hope.”  

Song Zhining had already planned to do just that. She nodded firmly. “Of course.”  

The two took a taxi to Meicheng Residential Complex.  

“Shen Xingyi rents a place in this neighborhood…” Su Jing spoke as they walked, but then his footsteps suddenly halted. Following his gaze, Song Zhining saw a crowd of at least twenty or thirty people loitering outside the complex.  

There were reporters with cameras, as well as groups of young men and women. They lingered, occasionally peering into the residential area.  

Su Jing clenched his fists, his expression tense, his eyes brimming with sorrow.  

“Ever since those scandals about Shen Xingyi broke online, these paparazzi have swarmed Meicheng like flies. And those anti-fans—they even snuck into the complex before, pretending to be delivery workers to trick Shen Xingyi into coming out, just to splash paint on him.”  

“See that girl with the teddy bear keychain on her bag? She comes from a family that favored sons over daughters—she couldn’t afford school until Shen Xingyi stepped in and sponsored her education. And yet, she was the one leading the charge when they threw paint at him.”  

How? Shen Xingyi had been so good to them. Why would they believe the rumors instead of him?  

To be betrayed by the very people he had helped—how heartbroken must Shen Xingyi be?