Marrying the Scumbag Gong’s Villainous Older Brother [Transmigration] - Chapter 4

After Jing Xun’s series of maneuvers, that video continued to circulate on the internet as expected.

Even though the trending searches on Weibo were suppressed, the topic remained high because the video persisted. Moreover, it exposed the behavior of rich second-generation heirs who had poor character and toyed with lives, which accurately triggered the public’s resentment toward the wealthy.

Lin Li and the others wanted to pay to have the video deleted, but they found it impossible. The video was like wild grass after a spring rain; as soon as one batch was cut, it grew back rapidly elsewhere. Later, they hired hackers, but they also failed to get what they wanted.

In fact, not only could they not delete it, but they couldn’t even find the reason why it wouldn’t go away! All they knew was that the video was hosted on a domain with a firewall that was far too high. As for who did it, how it was done, or how to overcome it… for the time being, no one could explain the situation.

Lin Li and his group were in a frantic state, and even Shen Bohan, who was involved, was having a hard time.

Although he didn’t appear on camera, Lin Li and the others were his social circle, and his family knew it. Now that those few were being mocked by netizens and the heat wouldn’t die down, the matter naturally reached the ears of his elders.

Shen Bohan was directly called back by his mother for a lecture: “I heard you were also at that club last night? What is wrong with you? How old are you, and you’re still fooling around with them!”

As Shen Bohan’s biological mother, Yang Nianjiao had become a second wife at a young age. She was just over forty this year, and her face still looked young and beautiful, but even exquisite makeup couldn’t hide her exhaustion.

The truth about why the youth in the video went to the rooftop and why those heirs forced him to jump… others might not know, but Yang Nianjiao, who paid close attention to every aspect of her son, could guess.

She leaned on the sofa, her tone severe: “What is the current situation in the Shen family? Everyone outside is talking about how great your eldest brother is, and here you are, proactively exposing your weaknesses to others!”

Hearing about his eldest brother made Shen Bohan feel a bit rebellious. But facing his mother’s scolding, he could only endure it.

The fact that he was almost attacked by the entire internet indeed left Shen Bohan with some lingering fear. He didn’t expect the video to go that viral. Fortunately, he hadn’t gone up to the rooftop yesterday…

“Fortunately, you didn’t go up to that rooftop yesterday.”

Yang Nianjiao said, looking at her son with disappointment: “Can’t you do something proper for once? You said you wanted to hide your identity and study well, but instead, you go and pick up a classmate? Shen Bohan, you really… you always say you’re not satisfied with your brother, so look at him! Whether before or after returning to the country, when has he ever caused such a scandal? Can’t you let me worry less and perform well in front of your grandfather?”

Yang Nianjiao was a strong-willed person and didn’t want to admit others were better, but this time she was truly enraged.

Shen Bohan had always hated being compared to Shen Yijin, but in this Shen family, only he and his mother were on the same side. He knew that if his mother weren’t truly angry, she wouldn’t have said this.

He had no choice but to continue taking her scolding.

“I don’t care how you handle this, but it must be settled as soon as possible, understand?! Or do you want to wait until your grandfather or Shen Yijin finds out and let them step in to fix it for you?”

“…Yes, I understand,” Shen Bohan replied dejectedly.

It was easy to say, but executing it was not that simple. After failing to delete the video, aside from spending money to suppress the heat on major forums, they also tried to hire “water armies” to change the narrative and whitewash themselves.

But how could they whitewash? If they said the people betting were just joking, netizens clearly wouldn’t believe it.

—After all, the video was very long. From Yan Jingxun’s desperate expression going up to the rooftop to the moment he walked down without looking back, everything was caught on camera. The content couldn’t be more real, and Lin Li and the others indeed said many excessive things. They couldn’t even explain it away as netizens taking things out of context.

They tried to shift the blame to Yan Jingxun, saying “flies don’t bite seamless eggs” and that he deserved it.

…Although Shen Bohan initially didn’t want to do this.

But who would have thought the blame-shifting plan failed completely.

—Last night’s Yan Jingxun seemed like a different person; his calm and steady temperament completely outshone Lin Li and the others.

Yan Jingxun’s appearance was that of the currently popular “little fresh meat” style—fair skin and red lips—and in the video, he appeared untainted, pure, and likable. His desperation in the beginning wasn’t fake, and his words later made the netizens who were worried about him feel vindicated. Some netizens even claimed they witnessed a transformation and awakening of a life and even drew a comic strip for this event…

Passersby sided overwhelmingly with him in the video. Compared to him, Lin Li and the others looked ugly and malicious. The difference between good and bad was clear at a glance; how could they shift the blame or whitewash?

Because of this, Shen Bohan and his group suffered a major financial loss: they had to constantly stir up new topics, buying trending spots and hype for several celebrities in turns to divert the netizens’ attention and suppress the video’s heat.

The rich kids who caused the trouble and lost money had to hide at home and stay low for two days, waiting for the storm to pass.

During this time, Jing Xun had returned to the classroom as a normal university student.

Hosting the video on the network was his doing, but the subsequent public opinion against the heirs was something Jing Xun hadn’t expected. An unexpected joy? Regardless, he didn’t feel bad at all about the miserable situation of the scum gong and his small clique.

If it hadn’t been him yesterday and the original owner had really been forced to jump and was mocked for not loving himself, who would have stepped in to delete that video? Not to mention the grudge over that spiked glass of water…

Of course, Jing Xun didn’t want to go out of his way to punish those people alone. He considered whether to add fuel to the fire mainly because he knew those heirs, led by the scum gong, were just twenty-somethings living in an ivory tower—students with no real abilities who relied on their families for everything.

He had dealt with many such rich kids before. Only then, they had to respectfully call him “Professor.”

Deliberately keeping the video online was also a way to ensure their families found out, so the parents would step in to discipline their “bratty” children.

More importantly, it was for his own sake—to get rid of the scum gong’s pestering.

—He remembered his senior saying that the scum gong and the ultimate villain boss in the book were paternal half-brothers, and they had a bad relationship since childhood. Later, for reasons unknown, their relationship completely broke down.

Furthermore, this old-fashioned novel wasn’t a modern “face-slapping” power fantasy. The villainous elder brother’s business capabilities were a hundred times stronger than the scum gong’s. The scum gong, priding himself on being a Shen descendant, always wanted to compete with his brother and was crushed every time.

It was said the author wrote such plots to explain the scum gong’s character—Shen Bohan was constantly compared to his brother and fell short everywhere, which made him increasingly twisted as he grew up. His hot-and-cold treatment of the shou, feeling annoyed when he had him but chasing him frantically after the shou left… these sensitive and fragile traits were vividly portrayed in the book.

Admittedly, this was a magnified portrayal of distorted human nature.

However, to handle the scum gong’s mental journey, the author didn’t spend much ink on the plot or other characters. Even for the ultimate villain of the book, the author only used words like “tyrannical, moody, and fierce-looking” to describe him.

Jing Xun remembered Senior Pei expressing that, as a reader, the villain was clearly more likable than the scum gong.

“The elder brother is also quite pitiful,” the senior had said. “Strictly speaking, his life is much more tragic than Shen the Second’s, but he isn’t twisted like the scum gong… though you can’t call him a normal person either. But the feeling he gives is—God, this villain is so handsome! Even though the author always writes that he’s very scary, hahaha!”

No matter how scary he was.

The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Jing Xun didn’t mind doing a small favor and delivering a “gift” to that villainous elder brother.

Putting the scum gong aside for now, Jing Xun, like all university students, traveled across the campus: waking up early for the library, listening to lectures in large halls, going back to do homework, and running on the track at night for exercise…

This life, which seemed so ordinary to many, was something Jing Xun once dreamed of but could never have. Over the past two days, not only did he feel no discomfort, but he felt light. He was so happy he felt like he was flying.

…So happy that Jing Xun even had an erotic dream while sleeping at night.

The dream was fragrant and vivid; the scenes and positions were unfamiliar. Only the partner remained the same. His vision was filled with that man’s handsome, ascetic appearance. Reaching out, he could touch the man’s robust and powerful body…

The strong stimulation shifted between dream and reality. When he woke up with a start, though it was pitch black, Jing Xun felt as if the man’s deep, pleasant voice was still echoing in his ears.

He was drenched in sweat. Jing Xun clutched the quilt, dumbfounded.

In his past life, his body was so weak he never had such thoughts, let alone erotic dreams. It took him a long while to realize what had just happened.

Although it was just a dream, the feeling was actually quite nice… Jing Xun thought, smacking his lips in summary. Not only did he “try the forbidden fruit,” but he also unlocked a new skill… definitely a win.

At that moment, a bolt of lightning flashed with a “crack.” Jing Xun realized it was raining again. This city truly was rainy. He climbed down from the bed, navigated through the cluttered dorm in the dark, and went to the balcony to close the window while his roommates snored.

For some reason, seeing the lightning and hearing the thunder made that man’s image flash in his mind again, making him recall last night… His own performance—well, he was basically a fish on a cutting board, at the mercy of others. There was no “performance” to speak of.

Thinking of this, Jing Xun hurried back to bed and dove under the covers. Still felt a bit embarrassed. Fortunately, that man didn’t laugh at him.

…

Under the covers, Jing Xun covered his still-warm cheeks and fell back asleep without knowing it.

The next day, on the way to the cafeteria after class at noon, Jing Xun passed the school bulletin board and stopped in front of the digital screen. He had the ability to read ten lines at a glance since childhood, and that skill remained after he became Yan Jingxun.

In a single pass, Jing Xun noticed the content—a company was in urgent need of software developers and would hold a recruitment fair on campus tonight.

“Xunxun?” The two roommates walking with Jing Xun expressed their confusion when he suddenly stopped.

As finals approached, even the most slacker roommates had to study day and night to avoid failing. And when they discovered Yan Jingxun seemed to know every answer—or could quickly explain a problem after flipping through the book—they naturally started following him to review together.

Now noticing Jing Xun’s gaze, they followed his look to the announcement.

“Eh? This is for Computer Science majors, and it requires a Master’s degree or higher… let’s not even think about it.” Speaking of this, the roommates sighed. They were almost seniors and had to decide whether to take the postgraduate entrance exam or go for internships. They were a dorm of slackers; they likely wouldn’t pass the exam, and they didn’t know what they could do for an internship… they couldn’t help but worry.

However, Yan Jingxun was better than them. He used to have quite good grades, was the class monitor, and was highly regarded by the department counselor, serving as the student union president. If it weren’t for that scum junior…

Two days had passed, and Jing Xun’s roommates knew about the situation. They originally only knew he was involved with a junior, and later heard the junior’s identity wasn’t simple. But Yan Jingxun never spoke of the specifics, and they didn’t ask.

However, ever since that video appeared, the roommates and other classmates looked at Jing Xun with a bit more pity—it was clear the scum junior had intentionally faked being poor to deceive their Xunxun.

Back then, Yan Jingxun was still the student union president and naturally looked after the new, “struggling” junior. Others thought they were developing feelings over time. Who would have thought… what kind of boyfriend would allow his friends to insult his lover and force him to jump?! Scumbag!

The roommates felt indignant, and no one dared mention it to Jing Xun. But looking at Yan Jingxun, he had been eating and drinking well these past two days and sleeping more than before. Whether in studies or life, he was in a great state, and his personality was much more cheerful than before—the old Yan Jingxun had heavy thoughts and liked to bottle things up.

But over these two days, he had started joking with them. When the scum junior was mentioned, he could even smile and say they were never actually together… overall, the feeling was different. He wasn’t a completely different person, but the current Yan Jingxun… always made people want to look at him, observe him, and be close to him.

Seeing Yan Jingxun staring at the board and seriously reading the various introductions about the recruitment—his well-carved side profile written with formality and seriousness—the two roommates couldn’t help but take it seriously as well.

One roommate asked: “Axun, have you become interested in computers lately? That day too, I saw you up early tinkering with it.”

Jing Xun replied: “A little bit of interest.”

Interest was there, but not necessarily in computers or programming specifically. He liked everything related to numbers and logic. Software development was clearly a good challenge. This was why Jing Xun had always been in contact with this field.

Coming to this world, there was nothing bad so far. Except for one thing that required attention: the original owner’s family condition wasn’t great. Living expenses and tuition had to be earned by himself. Before this, Jing Xun had zero experience working. Next year’s tuition and living costs…

“I want to go see the recruitment fair tonight,” Jing Xun said.

He’d go look, but he didn’t expect the company to break rules and hire a junior. However, software development was his “old trade.” He could take on private freelance work, and it was good to understand the situation at the recruitment fair first.

Jing Xun thought this, but the roommates naturally assumed he wanted to watch the excitement to prepare for the autumn recruitment next semester.

“As expected of Xunxun’s foresight,” Tang Jingyuan praised.

“Then let’s go see it too,” the other roommate Yang Yi proposed, adding: “After all, the company coming for campus recruitment this time is Yiwei Technology! For such a big enterprise, we have to see it! I wonder if any executives will come?”

“Right!” Tang Jingyuan chimed in: “I heard Yiwei has high requirements for employees, but the benefits are the best in Long City… so envious, I wonder who will get the chance…”

Yiwei?

Hearing them talk, Jing Xun couldn’t help but think of the novel’s setting.

That Yiwei Technology… wasn’t it the company founded independently by the scum gong’s villainous elder brother?