Chapter 58 – Crisis
“Alright, that’s enough, enough.” Lin Yan pushed away the food Lu Heng kept putting into his bowl. “I really can’t eat anymore.”
When he woke up in the morning, Lin Yan had planned to eat at home, but Lu Heng insisted on dragging him to the company to eat instead. He already had no appetite in the morning, yet Lu Heng kept forcing food on him.
Lin Yan puffed out his cheeks in complaint.
If this kept going, he would definitely gain weight. Then he’d have excess fat on his body.
“I’m not eating anymore.”
“Eat a bit more. Look how thin you are,” Lu Heng said indulgently. “Just a little more.”
“Then I’m going to the gym tonight,” Lin Yan said.
“Okay.” Lu Heng agreed without thinking.
Then he suddenly thought of something and added, “I’ll renovate one room into a gym. You can work out at home.”
“Huh? Why?”
“You’re not allowed to go out to exercise,” Lu Heng said.
He didn’t know where this possessiveness came from—he wouldn’t even allow him to go to the gym.
“I don’t want others to hear you panting,” Lu Heng said calmly, his expression unchanged, as if his heart weren’t racing at all.
Lin Yan happened to be drinking coffee at that moment and instantly choked.
“Cough—cough!”
He patted his chest repeatedly.
Lu Heng reached out to pat his back as well. “Drink slowly.”
It wasn’t because he drank too fast— it was because of what Lu Heng had just said.
Yet that man showed no embarrassment at all, completely shameless.
Just then, He Lingchen suddenly rushed in.
“President Lu.”
Seeing the panic on his face, Lu Heng immediately sensed something was wrong. Secretary He had never barged in like this before.
He glanced at Lin Yan sitting beside him.
Lu Heng understood at once. He pulled out a tissue, then gestured for He Lingchen to step outside to talk.
When they reached the door, Lu Heng finally asked, “What happened?”
“Please take a look.”
He handed his phone to Lu Heng.
Lu Heng scrolled down the screen. The further he looked, the deeper his frown became. Soon, even the hand holding the phone began to tremble slightly.
The screen was filled with intimate photos of Lu Heng and Lin Yan—some taken at the company, others inside the car.
Every single photo clearly captured both of their faces.
Lu Heng didn’t think much of the photos themselves. What truly mattered was the headline—and the comments underneath it. They were dragging Lin Yan into a bottomless abyss.
[Angry Snort]: Damn, I hate people who climb their way up using their ass the most.
[Jigg]: Do you have no shame at all?
[Art Student Is Me]: What’s the difference between this kind of person and that celebrity who’s been getting trashed lately? Both got ahead by selling their bodies.
[Egg Roll]: Wait—are you serious? A few photos prove what exactly? Do they prove this person isn’t capable? Anyone who can get into this company isn’t ordinary. Maybe take a look at your own level before judging others. This is honestly ridiculous.
[Smile That Topples Cities]: Sounds like the one upstairs wants to sell their ass too.
[Only You’re Capable]: If you did it, why can’t people talk about it?
Reading these comments made Lu Heng’s heart pound violently.
He couldn’t stand others slandering Lin Yan, and he feared even more that Lin Yan would be attacked without reason. This kind of harm always made him feel that he was the one who brought it upon Lin Yan.
He didn’t want that.
But he quickly pulled himself together. Now wasn’t the time to feel distressed—he needed to deal with it.
“When did this happen?” he asked.
“Last night,” He Lingchen replied, then changed his tone. “But the trending topic disappeared very quickly.”
“Was it handled by the company department?” Lu Heng asked.
Future Technology had a specialized cybersecurity division. Part of their responsibility was monitoring all public activity related to the company’s president.
Whether a company rose or fell was closely tied to its main executive. If the person in charge had negative news, it could be devastating for the entire company.
That was why the cybersecurity department remained on constant alert, afraid that any inappropriate rumors might surface.
When the news broke last night, it had already been widely reposted, with views exceeding ten million. But by the time cybersecurity stepped in, all related trending topics had already vanished.
When they searched again, nothing could be found.
He Lingchen shook his head. “No. They showed this to me too. I just confirmed it—this wasn’t handled by the department.”
“Good.” Lu Heng suddenly felt relieved. Since it had already been dealt with, there was no need to worry further. “Then find out who did it and contact Legal to handle the matter.”
“I’ve already informed them, it’s just…” He Lingchen hesitated. “President Lu, have you checked your email?”
Lu Heng’s heart sank instantly.
Whether he had checked it or not no longer mattered. What he didn’t want was for Lin Yan to be dragged into this any further.
He turned and walked back into the office.
At that moment, Lin Yan was looking at his phone. Someone he hadn’t spoken to in a long time had sent him a message.
He exited the email interface.
Gu Han: [Lin Yan, I wish you and President Lu happiness.]
The message was quickly withdrawn, but Lin Yan had already seen it. Then a new message popped up.
Gu Han: [Lin Yan, I wish you happiness.]
…What was wrong with this person?
He opened Gu Han’s Moments and saw that ten minutes earlier, the other party had posted a new update.
Gu Han: [Let go of the past. A new beginning.]
Attached was a photo of an airplane ticket heading overseas.
Did that person go abroad to do a postdoctoral program?
Although Lin Yan looked down on him, he had to admit that Gu Han was indeed outstanding in certain areas.
In past cybersecurity competitions, he had taken first place every single time. It was just a pity that he hadn’t continued specializing in that field—otherwise, Gu Han would have been a rare genius.
Lin Yan wasn’t concerned about anything related to him, nor did he reply.
Soon after, Lu Heng walked in. When he saw Lin Yan holding his phone, a wave of unease immediately rose in his chest.
In fact, Lin Yan had already seen all the news last night.
He didn’t care.
He didn’t care about any judgment from the outside world, because he knew the truth in his own heart—and the people he cared about knew it too. That was enough.
As long as he himself knew he wasn’t that kind of person, it was enough.
He put his phone away and leaned back into Lu Heng’s arms, sleeping especially soundly.
“You…” Lu Heng said tentatively.
Lin Yan replied directly, “I saw it last night.”
Guilt surged through Lu Heng.
Why hadn’t he seen it sooner? If he had, he would have known Lin Yan’s reaction immediately—would have known whether he cared.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Lu Heng asked. There was no blame in his voice, only heartache.
“I don’t care about those evaluations.”
After experiencing so many things, Lin Yan realized that other people’s opinions couldn’t break him. Even if those curses were hurled at him, the people around him wouldn’t change the way they saw him because of that.
So there was no need to care.
None of it would ever change how he felt about Lu Heng.
“Mm. I just feel like you’ve been wronged.” Lu Heng gently rubbed Lin Yan’s head, then leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to his cheek.
“No matter what happens, it won’t change how I feel about you.”
One thing Lin Yan was absolutely certain of was this: Lu Heng had taught him to trust himself—to not fear the past, and not dread the future.
Time would always, at a certain moment, give you an answer to everything.
And that answer often came with healing.
“Lin Yan, thank you.” Lu Heng bent down and pulled him into a tight embrace.
“Hey, did it get sent out?” Zhao Ming said into the phone. “Damn it, I don’t know which bastard pulled everything down.”
Zhao Ming was familiar with the company’s cybersecurity procedures. He knew how to bypass the system and break through so the posts wouldn’t be taken down so quickly.
Yet the heat of the topic had been suppressed again and again until it vanished completely. Zhao Ming found it strange—this couldn’t have been done by the company, could it?
His instincts told him there was someone else behind it.
Unable to think of a better solution, and knowing reposting again would be useless, he decided to wait until morning and send it to everyone’s company email instead.
“Received, Director,” the other party reported in a low voice.
“Damn it—Sun Ning, it was you who leaked those photos, wasn’t it?”
Sun Ning immediately hung up the phone, turning to face the aggressive Chen Xin.
“What are you talking about?”
“Don’t play dumb with me. You were the only one who touched my phone yesterday.”
When Chen Xin saw the photos, her scalp had gone numb in an instant. She knew those pictures were taken by her—but she had never sent them to anyone except Lin Yan.
Then she remembered Sun Ning, who had picked up her phone during the day.
It had to be him.
But at this moment, she had to apologize to the person involved. Otherwise, she would regret it endlessly.
cx Little Angel: [Brother Yan, I’m sorry. This is my fault. You can blame me.]
Lin Yan Yan Yan Yan~: [It’s okay. I know it wasn’t you.]
No one would be stupid enough to do something bad and then expose their own identity.
So Lin Yan knew it wasn’t her. As for who it really was—that person would have to be dragged out eventually.
“I don’t even know your phone password. How could I possibly look through your photos?” Sun Ning argued.
“Stop pretending! If you wanted to know, you could figure it out in minutes!” Chen Xin was nearly furious.
“Then by that logic, you also know my phone password, don’t you?” Sun Ning shot back.
“You—”
Yang Yang walked over and pulled Chen Xin back. Turning his head, he said coldly, “Whoever did it knows very well in their own heart. Daring to do it but not daring to admit it—despicable.”
After saying that, he turned and gently patted Chen Xin’s back.
“Don’t be angry, don’t be angry, baby.”
Chen Xin was filled with regret. Why hadn’t she locked her photo album too? After thinking it through painfully, she swore that from now on—absolutely, definitely—she would change her habit of taking random photos.
After all, danger was everywhere.
After hanging up the call, Zhao Ming received another call—from his wife.
These past few days, he had been pretending to be away on business, claiming he was busy, not daring to let his wife know that he had already been fired from the company.
“Hello, what’s wrong?” he asked.
“Husband, are you busy?” his wife asked. But without waiting for his answer, she continued, “I was just chatting with a teacher from our daughter’s school admissions office. They praised our girl!”
“Mm.”
Zhao Ming could only listen patiently. Once his wife started talking, she never stopped—if he didn’t listen, he’d really suffer later.
Besides, he had already lost his job and felt guilty around her, so he simply kept listening.
“The teacher said our daughter is the only student who’s ever won an award in programming.” His wife was smiling so widely she couldn’t close her mouth.
Hearing this, the anxiety that had weighed on him for so long eased a little.
Perhaps that was how life worked—when one side fell, the other would make up for it.
Then he suddenly remembered that he had asked Lin Yan to help with that programming competition.
The realization made his confidence falter instantly.
But after hearing the next sentence, Zhao Ming was filled with deep regret. He never should have acted so impulsively.
“The teacher also said that if President Lu hadn’t written a recommendation letter, such an outstanding child would have been completely overlooked.”
His heart went cold in an instant.
So it was President Lu who had helped him back then.
But why?
Why help him?
His emotions became tangled and bitter. Perhaps it was jealousy—perhaps hatred had taken the upper hand—that made him lose his rationality and dump all his failures onto an innocent person.
Suddenly, he remembered something else.
Even the position of director he held back then had been obtained by stealing Lin Yan’s project.
Everything now was nothing more than returning things to their rightful owner.
He slowly lowered his phone.
The other person’s voice was still coming through the receiver.
“You really have to properly thank President Lu when you get the chance. Maybe I’ll go with you that day—he’s a huge benefactor to our family.”
“Hello?”
“Hello?”
“Are you listening?”
“Why’s the signal so bad?”
The line ended with a series of beeps.
And Zhao Ming knew clearly—he had no way out left.
…
“Have you notified Legal?” Lu Heng asked.
“Yes,” He Lingchen replied. “We’ve identified the person. It’s Zhao Ming.”
“Have Legal contact him directly.”
Lu Heng had thought Zhao Ming would quietly disappear on his own. He hadn’t expected him to pull something like this again. It seemed there was no reason to show mercy to someone like him.
Soon after, he received a phone call—from overseas.
He booked two tickets abroad.
He planned to take Lin Yan with him—let him relax and clear his mind.