What did she throw into the river?
Was it evidence? Did she destroy any evidence? The signal jammer? Or something else?
Yan Zhen felt as if his head was about to split. He closed his eyes wearily and said, "Got it."
Just then, his phone rang.
He opened his eyes, took out his phone, and saw that it was an unknown number.
He was in no mood to talk to anyone at the moment, so he silenced his phone and tossed it aside. However, the caller kept dialing persistently. Finally, on the fourth attempt, Yan Zhen answered the call impatiently.
"Who is it?" he snapped.
"Hello, Young Master Yan Zhen. My name is Li Mao. I'm a journalist," came the voice from the other end.
The name Li Mao made Yan Zhen pause for a moment. Then he sat up straight, and his voice grew a bit sharper. "It's you!" He had just read those news stories online. How could he not know who Li Mao was?!
Why was this guy calling him?
On the phone, Li Mao said,
"Seems Young Master Yan Zhen knows who I am. That's good. I was worried about how to introduce myself to you."
"What do you want from me?!" Yan Zhen gritted his teeth and asked.
Li Mao said, "Young Master Yan Zhen may already know that I've turned over a new leaf and now plan to be a journalist who bravely exposes others' misdeeds. I'm sorry to bother you in this way, but I have something very important to tell you. I've captured something related to Miss Yuan Yaer. If this gets out, it will surely affect Young Master Yan Zhen's and the Yan family's reputation. I wonder if Young Master Yan Zhen is interested in sitting down with me to take a look at this and have a chat?"
...
Having eliminated a major concern, Yuan Yaer hummed a song as she drove back to the new house she shared with Yan Zhen.
It was still early, and Yan Zhen hadn't returned yet. She first went to the room and looked at herself in the mirror. She saw clear finger marks on her neck. She quickly found some foundation and concealer and carefully applied them on her neck, trying to cover up the marks. But even after using most of the bottle of foundation, there were still some faint traces. So she rummaged through the wardrobe and found a turtleneck sweater, planning to use the collar to hide the finger marks.
But as she was changing clothes, she suddenly changed her mind. She put on a low - necked woolen sweater instead and used makeup remover to wipe off most of the foundation and concealer on her neck, making the finger marks look faintly visible.
Looking at herself in the mirror, she nodded in satisfaction. Then she turned around and walked downstairs. She sat in the living room, turned on the TV, and waited for Yan Zhen. But after waiting for a while, she got bored. Suddenly, she had an idea. She walked into the kitchen and said to the servant inside:
"Aunt Cui, what are you planning to make for dinner tonight? Teach me. I'll cook. Since I'm already Brother Yan Zhen's wife, I should act like one."
The servant praised her, "The young mistress is so virtuous. You're planning to cook for the young master on the second day of your wedding. The young master is really lucky to have a wife like you!"
Yuan Yaer lowered her head shyly and said, "Don't tease me. I'm just a bit bored and want to find something to do to pass the time while waiting for Brother Yan Zhen to come home."
The servant noticed the finger marks on her neck and asked in surprise, "Young mistress, what happened to your neck?"
Yuan Yaer avoided Aunt Cui's gaze and whispered, "It's nothing, Aunt Cui. Don't ask..."
Aunt Cui didn't surf the Internet much, but she had her own sources of information. In the morning, she had heard from other servants in the community what had happened at the wedding. Seeing Yuan Yaer's evasive manner, her curiosity flared up, and she pressed on:
"Young mistress, what on earth happened?"
"If you've been wronged outside, just tell Aunt Cui. I'll help you as long as I can!"
Yuan Yaer bit her lip and said, "I just wanted to get the finger marks on my face removed while Brother Yan Zhen was out. Unexpectedly, I ran into Sister Xiaoxi outside..."
She exaggerated what had happened in the beauty salon. After finishing, she hesitated for a moment and said to Aunt Cui:
"Aunt Cui, don't tell Brother Yan Zhen about this. I don't want to put him in a difficult position. After all, Sister Xiaoxi used to be with him."
Aunt Cui pouted and said, "So what if they used to be together? She was the one who wronged the young master first. Young mistress, you're already the young master's wife. Don't think about those past things. It's most important to live a good life with the young master."
Yuan Yaer nodded and smiled, "Let's not talk about these unhappy things. Aunt Cui, come and teach me how to cook."
...
In a private box of a certain private club, Yan Zhen met Li Mao, who had suddenly called him.
Li Mao looked like a frustrated middle - aged man. He had changed a lot compared to four years ago.
But with just one look, Yan Zhen remembered that early morning four years ago when Li Mao had followed him and Yuan Yaer with a camera and walked into that hotel room that led to the abyss.
The pent - up hatred in his heart immediately surged towards Li Mao in front of him. He stared at Li Mao fiercely, wishing he could pounce on him and tear him to pieces.
If it weren't for this man taking those photos and spreading them around, his Xiaoxi wouldn't have become the target of public criticism, and he wouldn't have been laughed at by everyone for wearing a cuckold!
After doing such things, how could this man still dare to show up in front of him?
However, it was just as well. He did have some things he wanted to ask this so - called "righteous" journalist.
The hatred in Yan Zhen's eyes was so obvious that it made people a bit uncomfortable. Li Mao lowered his eyes slightly, avoiding his gaze, and took out his phone and handed it to Yan Zhen sitting opposite.
"Seems Young Master Yan Zhen is a man who dotes on his wife. As soon as you heard what I said, you rushed over without hesitation. To show my sincerity, let me first show Young Master Yan Zhen a short clip."
Yan Zhen pressed down Li Mao's hand and tightened his grip on his wrist. He gritted his teeth and said,
"I'm here to see you not for this. I have other things to ask you."
Li Mao said calmly, "Ask whatever you want."
"I think you should remember what we all saw that morning four years ago. The photos weren't photoshopped. They were real. I know it was Uncle who told you to convey this to the public on purpose, in order to clear Yuan Xi's name."
A hint of mockery flashed in Li Mao's eyes behind his glasses. He said, "Well, actually, it wasn't all distorting the truth. At least it was Ji Xinyue who asked me to do that back then. Afterward, she gave me two million. I took that money and hid in the countryside for four years, living with a guilty conscience."
"What about Yuan Yaer?" Yan Zhen stared intently at him and asked, "Did Yuan Yaer get involved in this? Did you see her conspiring with Ji Xinyue?"