The Ex-Wife-to-Be Is Acting Weird After Losing Her Memory - Chapter 59

Chapter 59: Song Without Words Nine

“What do you mean, they’re gone? You guys are truly useless, you couldn’t even keep an eye on a woman and a child!”

Zhen Ming’s face was grim in his office, his phone clutched tightly in his palm. He lowered his voice and said: “The compensation matter will be decided today. Under no circumstances can that mother and daughter appear. I will figure out how to find people, you two hurry up and get over here!”

Two weeks had passed since the accident. Due to the severe damage to the crucial piece of evidence—the driving data recorder—it was still undergoing restoration in the lab. However, for the public following the matter, this felt like dragging their feet. Zhen Ming intended to exploit this psychology, forcing the company to pay compensation under the pressure of public opinion.

As the person directly responsible for Tianfeng, Zhen Zhen had spent these past few days secluded in the lab. She neither accepted interviews nor offered any defense for herself at the executive meeting. All of this was done with Old Master Zhen’s tacit approval, so although some shareholders had complaints, they couldn’t cause any major uproar.

Zhen Ming believed that “data restoration” was just Zhen Zhen’s excuse. The car was so badly exploded that it was impossible to cross-verify anything. Furthermore, his cousin had been somewhat withdrawn since childhood, and now, after enduring such immense public pressure, she was surely scared and wanted to avoid reality.

He tapped his fingers rhythmically on the desk, an unconscious thud-thud sound, while his mind drifted.

Going to the US was a spur-of-the-moment decision. Ever since attending a friend’s gambling session on New Year’s Eve, the distressed Zhen Ming had surprisingly found that gambling could make his heart race so much, as if he had discovered a massive life pleasure.

Unfortunately, his luck wasn’t good this time. After losing two races in a row, he saw the news of Tianfeng Technology’s victory in LA on the hotel screen. Looking at the smug Zhen Zhen on camera and thinking about his own predicament, Zhen Ming felt a surge of anger.

Since his two drivers happened to know Cheng Changan, Zhen Ming felt this was an opportunity for revenge sent by fate. He instigated the two drivers to invite Cheng Changan to “play a round,” promising a large sum of money to trick him into undermining Zhen Zhen.

According to his original plan, Cheng Changan only needed to deliberately lose the demonstration race to satisfy his spite. Unexpectedly, things took a sharp turn, and the man ended up dying in the US.

Amidst the overlapping panic and anxiety, malice instantly bred. With a mindset of in for a penny, in for a pound, Zhen Ming conceived a bolder idea, intending to exploit Cheng Changan’s death for profit.

Since he had nothing now, he might as well capitalize on this incident and make a hefty sum.

Zhen Ming reached into the bottom drawer, pulled out another phone—a similar model to the one on his desk—and dialed a number.

“Release the plan I gave you this morning,” he instructed the person on the other end.

This was a marketing team he privately cultivated, specializing in smear campaigns. For today’s negotiations, Zhen Ming decided to send Zhen Zhen another big gift.

Weibo was too fast-paced to be the main battleground. This time, he chose a more vertical arena, a professional forum that car manufacturers and tech enthusiasts couldn’t ignore: the Leka Auto Community.

At ten in the morning, the first peak period of online activity occurred. On the famous automotive technology forum “Leka Auto,” a post highlighted by the administrator made it to the trending list.

In a short video titled, ‘High-Energy Review of the Tianfeng Incident: Blogger 1:1 Restoration of the Key Cause of the Accident!’, an uploader simulated the driving path of the Lightning-S during the LA test race and raised a query.

“This simulates the video of the speed race track. Based on the specifications of the Lightning-S, it is a sports car with a carbon fiber chassis, lighter than the Extreme Speed model. However, when cornering, the two cars appeared to be neck-and-neck, indicating that the drifting technique adopted by the Lightning itself posed an extreme danger.”

As the simulated car racing scene appeared in the video, it was clearly visible that the car tilted slightly while turning. If the driver hadn’t slowed down in time, the vehicle would have been in danger of overturning. The blogger consequently deduced—to win the competition, Tianfeng made a decision that disregarded the safety of the navigator.

“It is thus evident that the accident was not a coincidence but an inevitability. Navigator Cheng Changan died because of Zhen Zhen’s eagerness for quick success and the capital’s pursuit of profit at all costs. Tianfeng’s delay in releasing the investigation results shows they have something to hide!”

This piece of information, complete with video, data, and seemingly well-founded content, immediately provoked a fierce reaction from some “netizens.”

“Like before watching! Lots of words, seems reasonable! Which class representative can summarize it for me?”

“Tianfeng Technology confirmed for ‘blood racing’! Pushing for speed while disregarding the navigator’s safety—is this the so-called “limit of technology” you pursue?”

Just as he planned, the engagement was deliberately driven up. A smile flickered in Zhen Ming’s eyes. He instructed his assistant to screenshot the most vocal negative comments online, ready to share them at the upcoming executive meeting.

With the public opinion frenzy, coupled with the two “actors” scheduled to appear today, the company would inevitably choose to spend money to appease public anger, whether for humanitarian reasons or simply to make the problem go away.

Just as Zhen Ming was smugly envisioning the outcome, his phone rang again. Hearing the response from the other end, his expression instantly turned dark.

“Take them to a deserted place first, and make sure no one sees them! I’m coming right away.”

As soon as Su Qing and her daughter appeared near the Zhen Corporation building, they were spotted by the bodyguards who had been waiting for a long time. Su Qing, being physically weak, couldn’t put up much of a struggle and was quickly apprehended, taken to a closed office, and temporarily guarded.

Locked in this empty office, her uneasiness gradually intensified.

Recalling the fragments of conversation she had unintentionally heard last night, even if she wasn’t very clever, she somewhat guessed that the dynamics of the situation were subtly wrong. This CEO Ming claimed to be from the Zhen Corporation, yet he was collaborating with outsiders to discuss how to force Zhen Zhen to pay compensation. Moreover, listening to him, the cause of Changan’s death seemed not to be simple.

She absolutely couldn’t stay in that villa. With this thought, Su Qing didn’t bother to go back for her belongings and hastily carried her daughter down the mountain overnight. She didn’t know where to go. The only thought left in her mind was to find Zhen Zhen.

Even though the overwhelming public opinion online suggested that Zhen Zhen had caused Cheng Changan’s death, Su Qing had a vague feeling that the female boss, who was always cordial and seemed very refined, would not be that kind of person.

Unfortunately, she lacked experience. She was caught just as she was about to reach the entrance of the Zhen Corporation.

Looking at the several men in suits, whose faces betrayed a ferocious look, Su Qing quietly held her daughter closer.

The sound of footsteps came from the doorway. Moments later, the locked door opened again, revealing Zhen Ming’s familiar face.

He looked at Su Qing and her daughter, maintaining his slightly arrogant demeanor: “Why go through all this trouble? This was a simple matter, yet you insist on complicating it.”

Su Qing subconsciously swallowed but still tried to muster up her courage: “I need to see CEO Zhen to find out the truth. Changan… Changan’s remains, I want to see them. He’s all alone… and no one has handled his funeral arrangements…”

“Didn’t I tell you? Once the matter is settled, you’ll naturally be allowed to go back,” Zhen Ming said unhurriedly. “As a widow and orphan, whether it’s for the funeral or your future life, you always need money.”

“I don’t want money,” Su Qing became agitated at the mention of the word, tears welling up in her eyes. “He’s gone. What use is money?”

As she spoke, she took her daughter’s hand: “CEO Ming, I appreciate your kindness. My daughter and I are not ungrateful people. Please let us go…”

“But if you walk out that door, your child will become the daughter of a fraudster. Is that okay with you?”

This sentence successfully made Su Qing stop. She looked back hesitantly and said: “What did you say?”

Zhen Ming pursed his lips: “Sit down, and I’ll tell you the truth.”

A struggle showed in Su Qing’s eyes. Zhen Ming scoffed inwardly, continuing: “I’ll be frank with you. Cheng Changan tampered with the car because he owed gambling debts. Your husband died because of his own greed… However, if you are obedient, I guarantee your husband will remain an unfortunate victim. Otherwise…”

Su Qing’s eyes widened in disbelief, her lips trembling. She was rooted to the spot, seemingly paralyzed by his words.

Seeing the thin woman tremble violently, as if struck by a massive blow, Zhen Ming knew his words had been effective. He sighed unhurriedly: “The person is already dead, but the living still have to live. Mrs. Cheng, you cool down here and wait for the result.”

He instructed the bodyguards to watch her and turned to leave without a word.

The scheduled meeting time was fast approaching.

Due to the attention on the Tianfeng incident, the large conference room was fully occupied. The impeccably dressed group executives were discussing in low voices, and many were scrolling on their phones.

Zhen Ming confidently pushed the door open, not forgetting to utter his pre-rehearsed, professional opening line: “Apologies for being late. I assume everyone has seen the sudden negative news online. I was just dealing with it urgently…”

However, the reaction was not what he had anticipated. Hearing his words, everyone present looked up, their expressions highly complex.

Stung by their gaze, Zhen Ming unconsciously stopped speaking.

What’s wrong? There’s nothing wrong with that sentence. Why do they all look at me like I’m a giant panda?

“Is CEO Ming following this negative news?” An executive cleared his throat and asked very seriously: “The handling method is quite unique.”

That sounded even stranger… Zhen Ming was puzzled but continued based on his own understanding: “It’s difficult to suppress negative public opinion all at once, especially with such seemingly well-documented videos. We can only apologize first, take the hit, and then slowly counter…”

With every point he made, the expressions of the people present became more and more peculiar. Finally, Zhen Ming couldn’t bear the awkward atmosphere and cast an inquiring look at his assistant, who was squeezed into the back.

The assistant had wanted to remind him from the moment he walked in, but Zhen Ming was too caught up in his inner smugness to notice him. Now, the assistant scurried over to his boss and quietly handed him a tablet.

Just one look at the content on the screen, and Zhen Ming’s face instantly changed.

Was this screen full of bizarre emojis and familiar rhetoric really the Leka Auto Forum he knew?

“LOL, who is this irrelevant nobody trying to grab attention here? It’s common knowledge that Lightning is a driverless car. This ‘restoration’ of yours is a bigger disaster than the actual accident! Slander is cheap talk. Thumbs down!”

“I’m the PO’s great-uncle-in-law. The PO just escaped from the mental hospital. I’m tying him up and taking him to **** now. Everyone, please disperse!”

In addition to the screen being flooded with aggressive, foul-mouthed comments and profanity directed at family members, another clear trend was also very noticeable.

“Newbie report! Do I need to post a photo? Just got back from a spring outing with my girlfriends. Here’s a set of beautiful spring photos first. Everyone enjoy the beautiful scenery and people, give me a like and a heart!”

“Refuse to believe rumors, only waiting for the official explanation. Support Zhen Zhen, support China’s driverless technology to push forward! Zhen Zhen fly bravely, true fans will always follow!”

“An hour ago, after this negative public opinion broke out, suddenly many accounts that had just passed the 24-hour newbie posting restriction appeared on the forum,” the assistant quickly explained the situation. “The PR department hadn’t even had time to start guiding public opinion, and the entire forum was already overwhelmed…”

The planned public opinion assist was completely derailed by these nonsensical comments. Zhen Ming composed himself, trying his best to keep his expression steady, and walked straight to the podium.

Don’t panic… After all, he still had a backup plan. As long as those two drivers came in and made a scene as planned, the negotiations could still continue. He cleared his throat and calmly began: “The PR department’s view remains consistent with before. We must negotiate with the victim’s family as soon as possible. As a company, we need to demonstrate the necessary humanistic care and social responsibility…”

He spoke with confidence, completely unaware that the previously closed conference room door had been opened again. A figure appeared in the doorway. Her gaze was cold and serious. It swept over everyone and landed directly on him.

The long-unseen Zhen Zhen walked into the conference room. Her tall figure stood straight, like a long, sharp sword just drawn from its sheath. She walked straight through the dense crowd, right up to Zhen Ming, and then, before anyone could react, the usually gentle, refined, and thoughtful CEO Zhen suddenly raised her hand and delivered a powerful slap to Zhen Ming’s face.

“Shut up,” she said indifferently. “You hypocrite.”

The entire large conference room fell silent. Everyone seemed stunned by Zhen Zhen’s sudden slap.

It was Zhen Zhen who struck the blow—the CEO Zhen who was known to everyone as gentle, warm, and considerate. Just hearing the sharp crack and seeing Zhen Ming’s face rapidly swelling and turning red was enough to imagine the force of that slap.

Zhen Ming’s head spun with stars. He barely managed to steady himself, muttering incoherently: “What are you doing!”

This was the first time he had been so publicly humiliated by Zhen Zhen. Zhen Ming was furious. He tried to speak but aggravated the injury at the corner of his mouth, forcing him to grimace and say: “Zhen Zhen, I’m your older brother! How dare you lay a hand on me?”

“Slap—”

The answer was another crisp crack. Zhen Zhen slapped him again with the back of her hand without hesitation.

The frozen onlookers finally reacted, hurriedly pulling the siblings apart. However, the side restraining Zhen Ming was noticeably stronger, while the female employees standing beside Zhen Zhen were much gentler in their movements, continuously advising: “CEO Zhen, please calm down.”

Zhen Ming: …

However, what Zhen Zhen said next truly chilled him to the core. Encouraged by the surrounding crowd, Zhen Zhen reluctantly took a step back. She seemed to be trying hard to control her anger and declared loudly: “I slapped you this time for Cheng Changan! The second slap is for the entire Zhen Corporation! Zhen Ming, you have immense audacity to do such a thing!”

As her voice fell, several Tianfeng researchers quickly walked into the large conference room. They were carrying several strange-looking instruments in their hands, their expressions solemn, and walked to the front of the stage to start connecting the projector.

“After more than ten days of rescue efforts in the lab, we still couldn’t completely restore the data from the driving data recorder. But the partially recovered data… is enough to reconstruct some of the conditions at the time of the accident…”

Zhen Zhen spoke slowly and clearly. Her right hand was clenched into a fist behind her back. After the researchers set up the equipment, she signaled for everyone to look at the large screen.

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