Li Mengjiao was completely oblivious to Wang Shuang’s little thoughts. She was still fuming on Wen Ying’s behalf.
On the way back to the hotel, she spent the entire ride cursing Blue Whale.
“That plagiarising dog still had the nerve to schedule her signing on the same day as Yingzi! If I hadn’t been held up by the show recording, I would’ve rushed over and smashed her stupid head!”
Faint from anger?
Fainting would be letting Blue Whale off too easy!
Wen Ying cautiously reminded the raging Li Mengjiao, “Actually, Blue Whale’s signing was scheduled first. Mine was set later…”
Li Mengjiao’s eyes widened. “So what? You can pick whatever date and venue you want! Does she think she gets to call the shots? If she had even a shred of shame, she’d avoid any event you’re at!”
“…”
Being protected by a friend felt amazing.
Wen Ying smiled and agreed. “You’re absolutely right!”
Li Mengjiao huffed proudly. “Whatever, it doesn’t matter. We’re coming to Shanghai for university anyway. Same city—there’ll be plenty of chances to run into Blue Whale. Sooner or later I’ll smash her head~”
“Yes, yes, yes, everything you say is right.”
When Li Mengjiao was in full hedgehog mode, Wen Ying was an expert at smoothing her spines.
Would they really run into Blue Whale?
Maybe!
By then, though, Wen Ying would definitely have already sued her. Once Blue Whale lost the lawsuit, it’d be hard for her to stay in the literary world. Li Mengjiao probably wouldn’t get the chance to smash anything.
Li Mengjiao grumbled, “Not necessarily. Some people are so thick-skinned they keep going even after losing. Didn’t that one author get sued for plagiarism and still publish new books?”
The silly girl suddenly got smart, leaving Wen Ying momentarily speechless.
The law could punish plagiarists, but brainless readers would forgive them.
If Blue Whale was shameless enough, losing the case wouldn’t stop her from writing—Wen Ying, a former legal professional, couldn’t cure brainless readers’ blindness. All she could do was sue for maximum damages and make Blue Whale cough up every cent she’d earned from plagiarism!
Blue Whale copied *Starry River With You*, so Wen Ying would sue over that one book.
If Blue Whale didn’t learn and plagiarised again, this lawsuit would serve as a successful precedent, encouraging other authors to fight back!
Thinking this way cleared Wen Ying’s mind. She comforted Li Mengjiao instead: “People who do wrong must face punishment—it’s only natural. If Blue Whale keeps publishing shamelessly, fine—as long as she doesn’t plagiarise again, we’re good. But if she shows any sign of it, we’ll keep teaching her how to be a person. A few rounds of this ‘convincing with virtue,’ and I’m sure she’ll mend her ways.”
True.
Li Mengjiao snickered. “I love this kind of convincing with virtue.”
They could speak freely in the van because everyone from assistant to driver was on their side.
As for Wang Shuang… after his glorious midnight dorm-door-kicking crusade, he clearly loved “convincing with virtue” too.
Li Mengjiao’s assistant didn’t dare say a word, sitting in the air-conditioned van yet breaking into a cold sweat.
If Li Mengjiao actually hit Blue Whale, it would be front-page news!
The company would clean up the mess, and the assistant would be out of a job.
To distract her, the assistant bravely suggested, “Tianjiao’s Shanghai office is already renovated. Shall we go take a look?”
Wen Ying and Li Mengjiao exchanged a glance and answered in unison: “Let’s go now!”
Wang Shuang finally found a chance to speak. “Hehe, let’s go! I helped a ton with the renovation!”
They had originally planned to rent, but in the end spent 26 million to buy the space outright.
With ownership secured, Mrs Wang had gone all out on the decor.
Whenever Wang Shuang skipped class, he’d help out. Because he’d been so busy with it, he hadn’t had energy to supervise the e-commerce side properly—leading to his epic fall at Hang Xiaowen’s hands.
Halfway back, the van made a detour—not to the hotel, but straight to Tianjiao’s new Shanghai headquarters.
As they neared the building, Wen Ying got a call from Xie Qian asking if she was with Wang Shuang.
“Yes, we just picked up Mengjiao at the airport and decided to check out the new office. Are you done with your stuff?”
Gong Sheng had dragged Xie Qian out first thing in the morning; Wen Ying hadn’t seen him all day.
Hearing Li Mengjiao was there, Xie Qian sounded a little vague. “Pretty much done. I’ll just text you.”
After hanging up, Li Mengjiao waggled her eyebrows at Wen Ying.
The college entrance exam was a watershed.
Dating in high school was “puppy love” and had to be hidden from teachers and parents.
After the exam? Totally fair game~
As the head CP shipper, Li Mengjiao was waiting for Wen Ying and Xie Qian’s official announcement. And she wasn’t alone—she carried the hopes of the entire CP fandom on her shoulders!
Wen Ying had no idea what this silly girl was thinking. Her phone buzzed—Xie Qian’s text.
“Just left the logistics company. Saw Wang Shuang’s ‘Senior Sister Hang’ hanging around the entrance of the residential complex we visited last night.”
The complex from last night was Wang Shuang’s rented “office”—also the clothes warehouse.
It was super close to the airport and to Xie Qian’s logistics company, which was how he spotted Hang Xiaowen. The key point: she was this persistent.
Wen Ying checked the time—10:30 pm.
Wang Shuang had blocked her, so Hang Xiaowen couldn’t call or reach him at school. Her only option was to camp at the warehouse and wait.
Makes sense.
Wang Shuang could cut contact, but he wouldn’t abandon tens of thousands of yuan worth of inventory.
Hang Xiaowen must have checked the unit, confirmed the clothes were still there, and decided to wait at the gate like a hunter for the rabbit to appear.
Wen Ying couldn’t exactly say Hang Xiaowen was wrong—most ordinary people who wanted success needed that kind of relentless tenacity, alongside smarts and luck.
But when that tenacity was aimed at clinging to Wang Shuang, Wen Ying found it extremely annoying.
Li Mengjiao secretly shipped Wen Ying × Xie Qian; from Wen Ying’s perspective, Li Mengjiao × Wang Shuang was basically locked in as a classic enemies-to-lovers pair.
Now someone was trying to forcibly break up the ship. Wen Ying was not happy!
Li Mengjiao and Wang Shuang didn’t have to end up together—they each had the right to date whoever they wanted. Even if they stayed friends, that was fine… as long as Wang Shuang didn’t pick a scheming girlfriend.
Wen Ying had promised Wang Shuang not to mention the failed start-up in front of Li Mengjiao. After thinking it over, she forwarded Xie Qian’s text to Wang Shuang verbatim.
The van had just parked beneath the Tianjiao building. Li Mengjiao was bouncing with excitement to tour the new office.
Wang Shuang read the message and froze solid.
Is Hang Xiaowen insane?
They had only tried starting a business together—not a marriage! Why was she sticking to him like super glue?!
He looked at Wen Ying with pleading eyes: Save me! What do I do?!
Wen Ying lagged a step behind and whispered, “I can’t save you this time. Come clean early~”
