While Yu Lan was unaware, a storm was brewing on the internet due to an article published by an anonymous person.

Although the article did not mention any names, words like nouveau riche, marrying into a wealthy family, and true love CP directly led netizens to associate it with the previous marriage of the Gu family.

[Holy crap, the true love CP broke up?]

[Speechless, I used to ship them with true feelings, now I just want to punch my past self.]

[After all, that person is already over thirty. Having a child seems normal… But marrying into a wealthy family and abusing a stepson, isn’t that a situation where you can call the police?]

[What’s the use of calling the police? The big shot probably doesn’t even know. It must be hidden very well. Maybe it’s a deliberate move to elevate and destroy her!]

Some people did not believe it: [No way, no way, in this day and age, someone still believes marketing accounts??? Pulling this kind of stunt, be careful or you’ll receive a lawyer’s letter from the Gu Corporation~]

The Gu Corporation’s lawyer letters were known to be as timely as Song Jiang^[1]Song Jiang (宋江) is a well-known figure from the classic Chinese novel Water Margin (《水浒传》), one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. In the story, Song Jiang is a … Continue reading often catching netizens off guard.

One second, they were still happily posting on Weibo, and the next second, they would receive a lawyer’s letter in their inbox.

Moreover, unlike some celebrities who only send threatening letters, the Gu Corporation actually sues people, regardless of whether they are office workers or elementary school students; all would see them in court.

This is also why there were very few negative rumors online about the Gu Corporation and Feiyi.

Some people in the comment section probably realized this and had already begun quietly deleting their comments.

Just as the situation seemed about to calm down, a person claiming to be a classmate of the “female protagonist” in the article suddenly appeared.

Dreamlike Time: [LMAO, it’s obviously talking about YL. Back when she was in school, she was especially snobbish. I heard she dropped out to marry into a rich family after hooking up with a big shot.]

First Comment: [Just curious, even if that’s true, the big shot still had to choose her, right?]

Reply to First Comment: [A big shot like him has seen all kinds of women. There’s no way he’d fancy her. YL threw herself at him, saying she could help take care of his child. The big shot just wanted to deal with his family, so he agreed. Who knew that after marriage, YL would act one way in public and another in private? Anyway, we often heard her brag about how she emotionally abused her stepson. Now, that poor young master has been forced to live in the school dorm.]

[I can confirm this. If what the blogger said is true, I recognize the person in the photo. He’s a top student in the class next to mine. He used to be a day student but suddenly started living in the dorm recently.]

Netizens were shocked. The young master lives in the dorm?

If he wasn’t being terribly bullied, why would he leave his mansion and live in a dorm?

The topic, which was initially dying down, heated up again and even climbed to the bottom of the trending list.

Some people who had been following the gossip for a long time were still confused: [Just a soft question, who is the big shot? And who is YL?]

Reply to Above: [Take a look at your phone’s logo (lights cigarette)]

[Checked. Changyi Technology? Could it be…]

[That’s right, exactly who you’re thinking (dog head emoji)]

[Then who is YL?]

[Don’t dare say it, don’t dare say it]

[Move aside, I’m bold, let me say it—Isn’t it the daughter of the Yu family who used to sell fish, Yu Lan?]

One led to another.

Gradually, people claiming to be classmates, neighbors, and distant relatives began to emerge like bamboo shoots after a spring rain, each revealing more, and the entire internet was enjoying the gossip with great excitement.

Someone even managed to dig out Yu Lan’s alternate account. They saw that she had once posted a message that seemed to be subtly mocking her stepson. Comparing the time, it was right after she married into the wealthy family.

All of a sudden, overwhelming insults flooded Yu Lan’s Weibo alt account. Meanwhile, the follower count in the top-right corner skyrocketed, increasing from a few thousand to two million in just a couple of hours.

Gu Sui’an secretly opened a social media account.

He did not use Weibo, so he had temporarily registered a new small account. The profile picture was a dark, shadowy figure, and the ID was randomly generated—just a string of letters and numbers.

He opened the comment section.

Every second, hundreds of new comments appear. And the language in each of them was extremely harsh, causing Gu Sui’an’s brows to furrow tighter and tighter the more he read.

Finally, he came across a comment from an account claiming to be a servant in the Gu family, saying Yu Lan usually did not let him eat.

Who in the villa was that?

ss437949d45: [She never denied me food.]

Gu Sui’an thought that clarifying it personally would clear Yu Lan’s name. Unexpectedly, the moment he refreshed the page, his reply was buried under countless new comments and became completely unnoticed.

Occasionally, someone saw it but thought he was being sarcastic, liking the comment: [Bro, if you can talk like that, say more.]

Gu Sui’an: “……”

“You’ve been looking at your phone for a while now. What exactly are you looking at?”

Yu Lan had just finished applying medicinal liquid to the wound on her leg. When she looked up, she saw Gu Sui’an biting his lips so hard they had turned pale, as if using a great deal of strength. Her suspicion deepened.

Gu Sui’an quickly turned off his phone. He did not dare let her see those comments.

“I’ll help you apply the medicine.”

“Alright.” Yu Lan stretched out her leg, lazily enjoying Technician Gu’s massage, and said casually, “Don’t forget to walk the dog for me tomorrow. Pi Dan likes playing in the park. Do you know why?”

Gu Sui’an absent-mindedly shook his head.

“Hahaha, because every morning, there’s a pretty little female dog there. Pi Dan is a total slave to beauty.”

Yu Lan laughed with curved eyes and brows.

After doing it several times, Gu Sui’an had already become skilled at applying the medicine. This time, it only took him a few minutes to finish. Since it was late and he had to wake up early for school the next day, he returned to his room to rest.

After he left, the smile on Yu Lan’s face vanished. She picked up the phone that had been placed aside.

Recalling the glimpse she caught earlier, Yu Lan logged into Weibo.

Instantly, the sound of notifications came rushing in like a tide. There were so many that the phone actually froze.

Yu Lan had to restart it. This time, she successfully logged in, but was stunned when she saw the long list of private messages.

“Are all of these cursing the original owner?”

She was shocked. Just what kind of unforgivable thing had the original owner done online to be condemned by netizens like this?

As she was speaking, three new chat boxes popped up at the top.

The system was also confused: [According to our investigation, the novel did not depict this aspect.]

Yu Lan felt that something was wrong, so she began reading the private messages. She finally saw one that read: “[Original post] Sharing this. Disgusting. A chicken is still a chicken. Even if it flies onto a branch, it cannot become a phoenix. If President Gu knew that you were torturing his son, he would definitely not let you off!”

Yu Lan: “?”

She clicked on it, read it, and took a deep breath after three seconds.

She understood.

And she also understood why Gu Sui’an said nothing.

Although the content of the post was exaggerated, it could still be linked to reality to some extent. For example, the original owner did indeed look down on her stepson, which made the sensitive Gu Sui’an notice his stepmother’s dissatisfaction with him and take the initiative to move out of the villa.

However, most of it was false. Many were things that might have happened in the previous life but did not occur in this one.

Even if one were to take ten thousand steps back, the original owner had only just married the old man. Her virtuous wife and good mother image had not been completely torn apart. Even the complaint posted on her alternate Weibo account was just venting and had not been acted upon.

Yu Lan clicked on the post again. This time, her gaze paused for a moment on the ID of the so-called classmate.

“Dreamlike Time”? Xu Jiajia?

Yu Lan found it amusing. Since their parting at the Sky restaurant, she and this plastic friend of the original owner had gone their separate ways. She had not expected the other party to still be so obsessed with her.

Her slender fingertips touched her chin. Yu Lan quietly stared at her phone, not knowing what she was thinking.

The system grew a little anxious: [Host, what should we do now? What if Gu Yi wants to divorce you because of this matter…]

If she left the Gu family, given the Yu family’s status, Yu Lan would have fewer opportunities to come into contact with wealthy families. At that point, it would be even harder to complete the mission, and there was even a possibility she would be sent to prison early by the male lead, causing more harm than good.

Yu Lan had also thought of this.

Although she felt this marriage would eventually end, at the very least, not now.

“Butler He, please help me find a few lawyers.”

–

In reality, Gu Yi truly had not seen those entertainment news posts.

The reason he was away on a business trip this time was because Changyi was preparing to expand into the overseas market. As the president, Gu Yi had to personally handle everything and was so busy that his feet barely touched the ground.

While the public opinion was fermenting, he happened to be meeting with a client. The two engaged in deep discussions on overseas markets and products.

Even lunch was delivered by his assistant. The meeting lasted five hours, and it was not until dusk that the two finally walked out of the office. The blond, gray-eyed, pot-bellied man smiled cheerfully, “After hearing what Mr. Zhou had to say, I am very confident about this cooperation.”

“This is our responsibility.”

Gu Yi had an elegant demeanor and spoke with grace. His manner, neither too cold nor too warm, made the client feel very comfortable.

Only the assistant knew that the boss had not slept for an entire day and night.

Gu Yi was thirty-two this year, but time seemed to favor him especially. Other than the calmness that came from extensive experience, his appearance had not changed much.

Broad shoulders, a narrow waist, and a tall figure—his suit fit him perfectly, neither too tight nor too loose, just right.

After seeing the client off, Gu Yi pinched the bridge of his nose and revealed a trace of fatigue: “Pour me a cup of coffee.”

He intended to finish the remaining work before resting.

However, the assistant handed him a phone: “Boss, there are some negative comments online about you and the madam.”

“What?”

The assistant hesitated: “You’d better take a look yourself.”

Seeing this, Gu Yi frowned and took the phone.

Newlywed wife and son—no matter which side he stood on, it would be awkward. The assistant wanted to say something, but seeing the increasingly silent expression on his boss’s face, he dared not breathe too loudly.

Gu Yi quickly scanned through the content.

His brows furrowed for just a moment before relaxing again. He directly threw the phone back to the assistant: “Contact the PR department. Find a way to delete all these posts.”

Huh? That’s it?

“What about Madam…”

“Don’t bother with her. Call and ask Butler He.”

Gu Yi did not trust Yu Lan, but he also did not believe the things said online were true. In fact, after the incident at the old house, he had asked Gu Sui’an whether he would like to study abroad.

Gu Sui’an had declined.

Gu Yi had been very busy recently, so busy that he could not spare time for such trivial matters.

After arranging things with the assistant, he returned to work. As for the netizens galloping across the internet, they soon discovered that their posts had been hit with 404 errors.

Those who refused to give up posted new threads, only to find their accounts banned as well.

–

Everyone in the villa knew that Madam had been in a bad mood recently.

Because of this, the servants acted very cautiously while working, not daring to make any noise.

Even Gu Sui’an, apart from applying medicine to her wounds each day, was nowhere to be seen for the rest of the time.

He was deeply worried but did not know what to do at the moment.

It was at this time that Xu Zonglei came to visit.

This time, he brought along the prepared contract to show his sincerity.

When Yu Lan was called downstairs by the butler, she had not yet woken up. Her long hair was messy and tangled, which in the eyes of others, clearly indicated she had been affected by the online situation.

The butler sighed, thinking about whether to contact the master. Although most of the posts had been deleted and the lawyers were gathering evidence, emotional wounds still needed to be cared for with compassion.

Little did he know, Yu Lan looked this way because she had stayed up all night playing video games.

The online comments had almost no effect on her. After all, the insults were directed at the original owner. What did they have to do with her, a little fairy?

Moreover, this sort of thing was better left to the lawyers. The more the others cursed, the more money she could get.

At this moment, she was bargaining with the system: “Wasn’t it only a few thousand yuan before? Why is it one hundred thousand this time!”

[The mission difficulty increases step by step. The host has been too lazy lately, which is why this has happened.]

Yu Lan: “…” How am I lazy? Shopping, eating, and walking the dog every day—don’t those things require physical effort too?!

System: [Mission time is fifteen days. If the mission fails, the forced plot progression mode will be activated.]

Yu Lan did not have time to complain about how short the time was when a voice suddenly came from not far away: “Madam Gu, I finally get to see you!”