Hear this life

Before dawn, Wen Tingli started running around.

It was only through this busy schedule that she realized that burying a person requires so many procedures.

She ran to several streets just to buy a suitable coffin. In addition, she had to arrange the embalming, tailoring, renting a mourning hall, etc. All these matters were taken care of immediately. She didn't even have time to grieve because she was overwhelmed by the many specific and complicated things.

Fortunately, the next morning, Zhao Qingluo and Yan Zhenzhen rushed to help as soon as they heard the news. Huang Yuanshan heard that Wen Tingli could not rent a mourning hall temporarily, so he immediately helped call the funeral company to find someone to mediate.

The news spread more and more. In the afternoon, Principal Zou led a group of pragmatic students to pay their respects. Qiao Baoxin and several old classmates of Xiu De came to visit Wen Tingli. Before leaving, Qiao Baoxin held Wen Tingli's hand for a long time in silence and said, "Take care of yourself."

In the evening, Lawyer Bao and Liu Yaqiao also arrived. Sister Yaqiao handed a paper bag to Wen Tingli. In addition to the condolence money given by herself and Lawyer Bao, there was also a stack of unnamed cash.

Wen Tingli knew that this was Li Chengying who asked Lawyer Bao to pass it on.

She couldn't say a word because tears and heat were stuck in her throat. From the time of the incident till now, every friend around her has tried their best to help her through this difficult time.

With everyone's help, the mourning hall was successfully set up that afternoon. The Wen family had very few relatives and friends in Shanghai, so they planned to keep the body for only five days before burying the body.

Dong Qinfang sent a large wreath and personally paid her respects in front of the coffin.

In the late night, a few furtive reporters suddenly came outside, claiming to pay their respects, but in fact they kept taking pictures of Wen Tingli, who was wearing plain clothes. After taking the pictures, they left quietly like when they came.

Huang Yuanshan and others were wondering who had informed the newspaper, but Wen Tingli had no intention of investigating. The next morning, she and Mrs. Zhou were busy serving breakfast to the guests when Yan Zhenzhen suddenly pulled her aside.

"Look." Yan Zhenzhen was holding this morning's newspaper in her hand.

An article in the newspaper reads:

[Ms. Wen Tingli, the hot favorite for 'Flower of Shanghai', may miss the final].

Wen Tingli's brain was much more numb than usual, and she was unable to react to the long text for a long time.

Yan Zhenzhen had no choice but to help her read word by word: "Father Wen passed away due to illness the night before, and now Miss Wen is immersed in grief..."

Wen Tingli shuddered all over.

Because of her father's affairs, she completely forgot about Xinxin's competition.

It turns out that the day after tomorrow is Friday.

When Dong Qinfang came to pay her respects yesterday, perhaps because she saw that she was too sad, she did not mention the matter in front of her. However, both of them knew very well that at least half of the audience who bought tickets came for her comedy show.

After reading the newspaper, Wen Tingli felt her hands and feet cold. It turned out that this was Qiu Dapeng's real purpose!

He came that day to kill his father. He knew his father's temper too well and knew how to give him a fatal blow. If soft methods didn't work, he would use hard methods. In short, he would never give up until he achieved his goal.

He finally got his wish.

After her father's death, no matter how much preparation she had made for the finals, or how many tickets Xinxin had sold in the early stages, she had to put everything aside to prepare for her father's funeral.

And if she is absent, Xinxin's game will undoubtedly be in turmoil.

The higher the audience's expectations were in the early stages, the greater their disappointment and anger were when they learned that she had withdrawn from the competition.

Xinxin will lose badly in this game.

After figuring this out, Wen Tingli was almost certain that the White Dragon Gang had shares behind Yifeilin, otherwise Qiu Dapeng would not have come up with such a vicious trick to kill people without bloodshed.

My poor father became a victim of the White Dragon Gang for their own profit. He was so humble, like a speck of dust. He had no power and even his death was a conspiracy of the villains.

A sweet and fishy smell surged in Wen Tingli's throat and she almost fell backwards. Fortunately, Yan Zhenzhen was quick to support her and she did not fall in front of the coffin.

Huang Yuanshan and the others rushed over: "What happened?"

***
In the afternoon, everyone sat together to give Wen Tingli some advice: "Just focus on participating in the competition. We will take care of the funeral hall for you. A competition only lasts three or four hours. You can leave after performing your own program. Things like awarding prizes can be made up later. Just say hello to Miss Dong in advance."

Wen Tingli shook her head slowly.

Qiu Dapeng was eager to inform the familiar newspaper of the news, and he must have thought of the next move in advance. Whether she chooses to participate or withdraw, she will face a storm.

Sure enough, two evening newspapers published the story in the evening, but the headlines were completely different from those in the morning. The gist was: Xinxin Department Store’s management department has not yet received the news of the contestant’s withdrawal, which shows that the popular contestant Miss Wen attaches great importance to this performance. Her father’s death cannot prevent her from shining on the night of the finals. The audience who bought Xinxin’s tickets before will have a feast for their eyes that night... and so on.

Zhao Qingluo was so angry that her nose almost twisted: "Why are these words so sarcastic? She almost pointed at Tingli and said that she was a person who only cared about showing off and had no filial piety!"

Wen Tingli said sarcastically, "Just wait. If I don't withdraw from the competition, the news in the newspaper tomorrow will be even worse."

Dong Qinfang seemed to have guessed that all this was instigated by Yi Feilin. In the evening, she drove to the funeral hall and asked solemnly: "What do you think? Don't worry. If you choose to withdraw from the competition, I, Dong Qinfang, will help you with the rest. But you have to tell me your decision as soon as possible."

Wen Tingli just frowned and thought. Her father had just passed away, but she was performing a comedy on the stage. Even if her performance was wonderful enough that night, she would be branded as unfilial in the future.

But if she didn't go, Dong Qinfang and Xinxin would inevitably be put in an embarrassing situation.

Besides, she had finally made it to the finals, so how could she let it all go to waste because of Qiu Dapeng's conspiracy?

She could imagine how proud Qiu Dapeng was at the moment, and this was the most unacceptable thing for her!
Huang Yuanshan suggested: "At worst, I can ask Duan Miaoqing from our company to come over and save the situation that night. For the sake of these big stars, even if there are some audience members who are dissatisfied, it won't get out of hand."

"It won't work." Dong Qinfang said, "To be absolutely sure, the White Dragon Gang will definitely arrange for someone to fan the flames at the scene that night. No matter who comes to save the situation, they will be scolded in the end."

Just when everyone was at a loss, Wen Tingli suddenly said, "I have an idea."

After hearing what Wen Tingli said, Huang Yuanshan was pleasantly surprised: "Wen Tingli, you are really good! The method is really good! But the question is which merchant is willing to come out and be the bad guy?"

Xinxin Department Store definitely won't do that, after all, they are the organizer of the competition. If they follow Wen Tingli's method, Wen Tingli will certainly have sufficient reasons to continue participating in the competition, but it will also arouse the audience's resistance to Xinxin Department Store.

Then you will have to find another merchant temporarily.

Dong Qinfang was a straightforward person. She immediately stood up and said, "Since you've come up with such a brilliant idea, it would be wise to find someone as soon as possible. I'll go and give it a try first. Whether Xinxin loses or not is secondary. I really can't stand their despicable tactics."

Several people stood up to see Dong Qinfang out, but no one was sure. It would take a lot of time just to convince the merchants to play the bad guys, not to mention measures such as drafting contracts and placing advertisements in newspapers.

And now there are only two days left until the final.

As expected, there was no movement from Dong Qinfang until the next morning.

Accordingly, as there was no news of Wen Tingli's official withdrawal from the competition, the White Dragon Gang began to publish articles in newspapers, which were full of unbearable words such as "the contestant surnamed Wen is indifferent to his father's death", "he only wants to be famous", and "he is heartless and ungrateful".

Overnight, the small number of citizens who had been paying attention to the game went from being interested in Wen Tingli to being disgusted with her, and many called Xinxin to request a refund for their tickets.

Huang Yuanshan could no longer sit still. If this continued, Wen Tingli's reputation would be completely ruined. She began to look for help everywhere, but she regretted that different industries are like different mountains. Although her friends in the film industry could think of a way to get public opinion, no one could solve Xinxin's dilemma.

Wen Tingli's heart was heavy.

In the evening, Yan Zhenzhen and Zhao Qingluo went home to take a shower, and Mrs. Zhou took everyone out to eat. Huang Yuanshan did not return because of something, so Wen Tingli was the only one guarding the huge mourning hall.

She knelt in front of the coffin and burned paper silently when she suddenly heard footsteps outside the door.

Wen Tingli turned around in surprise and happened to see a tall man lifting the curtain and coming in. It was Meng Qiguang. He was wearing a solemn black suit. After coming in, he glanced at Wen Tingli at the door and walked straight to Wen Desheng's tablet.

Wen Tingli bowed solemnly and returned the greeting to Meng Qiguang.

"Mr. Meng."

Meng Qiguang lit a stick of incense in front of the coffin and turned to look at the table on the right where the gift money book was registered.

The Wen family had only a few relatives, and the names on the gift book were pitifully small. Most of the recent guests were Wen Tingli's classmates, and naturally the students could not be generous. After a certain ranking number, each person even gave only five cents.

After looking at these, he raised his hand, took out an envelope from his jacket pocket and placed it on the table.

"Please accept my condolences." Meng Qiguang's tone was much more solemn than usual.

Wen Tingli was silent. Considering her relationship with Meng Qiguang, she really could not deserve such a heavy gift of condolence.

She hurriedly came out from behind the table, picked up the envelope and said to him, "Mr. Meng."

Meng Qiguang pushed her hand back.

"I always give gifts in this amount. Money, once given out, cannot be taken back. If you really don't want to accept it, just burn it."

Wen Tingli was about to say something, but Meng Qiguang interrupted her: "Why, Dong Qinfang hasn't come up with a good solution for you yet?"

Wen Tingli was stunned.

"I don't want to know." Meng Qiguang said calmly, "But it's all because of the newspapers making such a fuss these past two days. The competition was hosted by Dong Qinfang, and now her own players are in trouble. How is she going to solve it? She can't just watch your reputation go to waste."

Wen Tingli didn't say anything. She didn't forget that Meng Qiguang and Gao Tingxin were good friends. It was impossible for Meng Qiguang to help Xinxin for both emotional and logical reasons.

Meng Qiguang curled his lips and said, "Miss Wen, you really don't have to think too badly of me. In business, there are gains and losses. If I lose this time, I can win it back somewhere else. Although I am one of the shareholders of Yifeilin, it is not worth it to harm a little girl so badly for a little business."

There was a strong sense of sarcasm in his eyes, but I didn't know who he was mocking.

Although Wen Tingli was still on guard, her tone softened a bit.

"Thank you for your concern, Mr. Meng. I have been busy with my father's funeral these days, so I haven't had time to discuss it with Miss Dong."

Meng Qiguang did not comment, probably knowing that she was not telling the truth. However, he did not keep asking questions. Instead, he turned around and looked around the mourning hall, carefully reading the names of the mourners on each wreath, and suddenly a hint of teasing appeared in his eyes.

Wen Tingli didn't know what Meng Qiguang was looking for. Meng Qiguang seemed to think for a moment, then turned around and looked at her again.

She looked very haggard.

"I am indeed here to help you today. Just think of it as me speaking out for justice. If Dong Qinfang still can't come up with a good solution tonight, I will help you solve this problem."

Wen Tingli still said nothing, and he took out a business card from his pocket.

"When my father died, he left me with a mess. In this respect, I am quite similar to you - we both conquered the world with bare hands."

He looked around the snow-white mourning hall again, as if he was quite touched. He lowered his head and was silent for a moment, then said in a self-deprecating tone: "Because I have fallen so many times along the way, I have developed a personality that weighs the gains and losses of everything. But I don't like to ask for compensation every time. For example, this time, I came to help you sincerely." Seeing that Wen Tingli was reluctant to accept it, Meng Qiguang sneered and put the business card on the table next to her: "When you have made up your mind, call me."

He left without looking back. Wen Tingli was silent for a long time, then walked over and slowly picked up Meng Qiguang's business card. She could see that Meng Qiguang had no selfish motives this time.

But as he himself said, he has long been accustomed to calculating the gains and losses in every relationship. Even if he can do without expecting anything in return this time, what if there is a next time?

As she gets used to asking Meng Qiguang for help, the boundaries between the two sides will become more and more blurred, and what he wants is definitely not just a normal return.

Therefore, for her, this bottom line cannot be easily touched, and this principle must always be adhered to.

Suddenly, she heard Huang Yuanshan talking outside. Wen Tingli couldn't find a place to put Meng Qiguang's business card, so she just put it in her wallet.

***
Wen Tingli waited until morning, but still did not receive a reply from Dong Qinfang.

It seems that Dong Qinfang encountered considerable resistance last night.

But tonight is the final night, and according to the method she came up with, she will have to fight back by daytime at the latest.

She decided to go to Xinxin Department Store in person.

Fortunately, by the third day of the funeral, there were fewer guests and chores. Wen Tingli asked Huang Yuanshan and others to help look after the funeral for two hours, while she changed into casual clothes and went to find Dong Qinfang.

Passing by a newsstand on the way, Wen Tingli remembered Zhao Qingluo and Yan Zhenzhen's sneaky behavior of hiding newspapers in the morning, and couldn't help getting off the car to buy two newspapers. As expected, although there were a few more articles in the newspaper that spoke for her thanks to Huang Yuanshan's efforts, most of the headlines were more disgusting than yesterday.

[Shame on you? A beauty pageant contestant has ignored filial piety in pursuit of fame and fortune.]

[You can be glorious for a while, but not forever. I advise you to turn back and not be blinded by the temporary vanity.]

Wen Tingli's face turned pale as she clenched the newspaper. She didn't care about anything else, but she was worried that this would affect her admission to Hujiang University. After all, students' conduct has always been one of the assessment criteria of universities.

A newsboy not far away looked at Wen Tingli, then looked at the newspaper in his hand, compared it back and forth several times, and made a face at Wen Tingli with great disdain. Wen Tingli was too lazy to pay attention to him and jumped into the car and rushed to Xinxin Department Store.

Dong Qinfang was not in the office. Someone from the management department told her that Dong Qinfang had said this morning that she would go to the Sassoon Building to do some work.

Wen Tingli was extremely anxious and rushed to the Sassoon Building as soon as possible.

The Indian concierge at the entrance of the building stopped her.

"Who are you looking for, miss?"

Wen Tingli took out Dong Qinfang's business card and showed it to them before they were allowed in.

But there are many factory offices in this building, and Wen Tingli didn't know which floor Dong Qinfang was on, so she decided to wait for Dong Qinfang to come out in the lobby on the first floor.

There were many benches in the hall. Wen Tingli found an inconspicuous corner and sat down. She leaned her head back on the chair and sighed tiredly.

This scene happened to fall into the eyes of a middle-aged man passing by.

The man was stunned at first, then his eyes fell on the white flower on Wen Tingli's temples. He looked at her puzzledly for a long time. He was about to step forward to ask something, but because there were too many followers around him, he couldn't get away for a while, so he had to leave the building and get into the car.

The man was Fang Da, who went to Cixin Hospital to pick up Lu Shicheng that night. Fang Da took a car straight to Lu's mansion. The mansion's steward, Lao Chen, came out and said, "The young master just returned to Shanghai from Ningbo at five in the morning. I heard that he didn't sleep all night and is still in his study replying to letters."

Fang Da said he understood, entered the study, closed the door, and respectfully placed the letter in his hand next to Lu Shicheng.

"Old Kuang sent a telegram from Malaysia. It turns out that Third Master Lu has indeed withdrawn a large sum of money from the sugar factory account. It seems that he intends to transfer it to the White Dragon Gang later. Do you want to stop it?"

【Stop.】 Lu Shicheng threw the telegram back on the table.

Fang Da hurriedly agreed. At this time, Manager Chen came in to serve tea and brought this morning's newspaper.

Fangda glanced at the morning newspaper, and said in a daze: "I see."

He looked up and explained to Lu Shicheng, "I saw Miss Wen at the Sassoon Building just now. I was a little hesitant to recognize her at first because I hadn't seen her for just a few days and she had lost so much weight. It looked like there was a funeral in her family and she was wearing white flowers in her hair—"

Before he could finish, Lu Shicheng snatched the newspaper.

Fang Da suppressed his shock and leaned forward while reading the newspaper, saying, "The concierge said Miss Wen came to see Miss Dong Qinfang from Xinxin Department Store, but I didn't have time to ask for details. Look at this headline [Contestant surnamed Wen is clearly in mourning, but is keen on...] This is really outrageous! It's sad enough that her father passed away, and she was criticized for refusing to withdraw from the competition. The newspapers are very sharp. If this continues, Miss Wen will be unable to get rid of the reputation of being 'unfilial'. But from what I saw at Cixin Hospital that night, Miss Wen really has nothing to say about her sick father."

After he finished speaking, he looked up and saw that in the morning light, Lu Shicheng's face looked extremely ugly. He finished reading the article with a stern look in his eyes, picked up the phone on the table and was about to make a phone call, but he suddenly came to his senses, suppressed his emotions, turned around and pointed at Fang Da, asking him to help him pass the message immediately.

***
The lobby on the first floor of Sassoon Building.

"Miss Dong." As soon as Dong Qinfang appeared, Wen Tingli ran towards her.

Dong Qinfang shook her head as soon as she saw Wen Tingli. It turned out that she had looked for more than ten familiar merchants last night, and the answers she got were surprisingly consistent: they couldn't help.

As the situation has developed to this point, everyone has more or less guessed that the White Dragon Gang is behind Yi Feilin. If they stand up to help Wen Tingli and Xinxin at this critical juncture, it would be tantamount to openly singing a different tune from the White Dragon Gang. In business, harmony is the most important thing. Why offend a group of hooligans for an unrelated girl?

"Don't worry." Dong Qinfang was used to being calm. "Anyway, there's still a lot of time left. I'll go find my friends who own restaurants and coffee shops. With such good conditions like yours, and your willingness to help the company shoot commercials for free for a year, anyone would be tempted. If it still doesn't work, I'll sign a contract with you in Xinxin's name."

"But in this case, Xinxin becomes the culprit."

"At least I can help you get out of this, right?" Dong Qinfang patted Wen Tingli's shoulder generously. "To put it bluntly, this matter all started because I insisted on challenging Yi Feilin. You are just a contestant. There is really no reason for you to bear the consequences."

He regretted again, "If I had known that there was the White Dragon Gang behind Yifeilin, I would not have participated in this competition. In business, I am not afraid of healthy competition, but I am afraid of these fishy means."

At noon, Dong Qinfang came to Wen Tingli with her own contract.

"There is no other way." She said helplessly, "Let's just get through this first."

Wen Tingli knew that this was not the best way, but she had no choice but to do so due to the situation. Just as she was about to sit down and sign the contract, Gao Xiaowen happened to come over.

The people in the room hurried to hide the contract. Although they trusted Gao Xiaowen, they were afraid that Gao Xiaowen would accidentally leak the news to her eldest brother.

Gao Xiaowen, however, had very sharp eyes and snatched the contract first.

"Great! I was so worried about Wen Tingli, but it turns out you guys have already thought of a solution."

After looking at it for a while, he shook his head again: "It's a good idea, but the company is wrong. Wen Tingli and Xinxin Department Store are now sharing honor and disgrace. If this news gets out, everyone's first reaction is that this is a temporary solution that Sister Qinfang came up with to help Wen Tingli out of trouble. Not only will it not break the situation, it might be used by the White Dragon Gang to make a big fuss. How about this, I will be the villain."

Dong Qinfang asked curiously, "Do you have a company?"

Wen Tingli rubbed her brows: "She has."

Gao Xiaowen solemnly took out a pearl-colored powder box from her golden handbag and shook it in front of everyone with a smile.

"I forgot to inform you all: my 'Ao Shuang Company' was officially established last week." She handed out business cards to everyone in a formal manner. "Our main business is women's cosmetics, and powder cream is our flagship product. I have already agreed with Wen Tingli to let her help me advertise in the movie."

The business card reads:

[Chairman of Aoshuang Company: Gao Xiaowen]

Huang Yuanshan wanted to laugh: "Boss Gao, you have to think it over carefully. You will definitely be criticized for this. Your company is newly established. Can you withstand this?"

"Who told me that this matter was caused by my elder brother?" Gao Xiaowen said nonchalantly, "I can't just watch Wen Tingli being harmed and turned into a street rat. At worst, I will change the name of the company after this matter is over. Wen Tingli, don't look at me like that, I know you are deeply moved - you don't have to kowtow to me three times and nine times, who told me that you are a big star in the future! You just need to show your face a few more times in the movies. Okay, okay, time waits for no one, I will ask our company's accountant to draft a contract right away."

Wen Tingli choked with sobs and hugged Gao Xiaowen. Gao Xiaowen screamed in an exaggerated manner, but in the end he couldn't help but gently patted his good friend's shoulder.

During lunch, everyone's appetite improved, especially Wen Tingli. She felt extremely happy when she thought about what Qiu Dapeng's face would be like after he saw the newspaper.

Unexpectedly, after waiting for an hour, Dong Qinfang suddenly called the mourning hall to look for Wen Tingli.

"Come to Xinxin as soon as possible."

Wen Tingli was just wondering why it wasn't Gao Xiaowen who called: "What's wrong? Is the contract not going well?"

"No." Gao Xiaowen was on the other end of the line, her tone even more excited than Dong Qinfang's. "Sister Qinfang and I were just about to send the article we wrote to a familiar newspaper, but the newspaper said someone just sent another manuscript over. Someone actually came up with the exact same solution as you did! Who? You'll know for yourself when you come over. By the way, remember to buy a new copy of the Xinshen Evening News on the roadside when you come over. I guarantee you'll be so happy after reading it."

***
At the White Dragon Gang headquarters, Qiu Dapeng played chess with Cao Zhenyuan with a smile on his face.

Qiu Dapeng played a vital role in Yi Feilin's great victory this time. Boss Cao looked much better than in the past few days. He even called Ling Yun to the table to keep him company at noon today. Anyone with a discerning eye could see that after this battle, Boss Cao trusted them father and son even more than before.

But I never expected that Wen Tingli was so stubborn and refused to withdraw from the competition even when forced to that point.

Then you can't blame him for being cruel and ruthless!
Suddenly someone knocked on the door and Alu came in hurriedly.

Boss Cao asked with a smile on his face, "How is it? Have most of the tickets for Shanghai Flower been refunded?"

"Something seems to be wrong." Aru gritted his teeth and handed the newly arrived evening papers to the two of them.

Qiu Dapeng leaned over to take a look, and those shocking words went straight into his heart.

It was a very brief piece of news, but because it was published in the Xinshen Evening News, which had the largest circulation, it had unusual weight.

The title is [Ms. Wang Anping, Vice President of the Shanghai Women's Association, protests against Qiuhua Company for being rich and unkind and forgetting morality when it sees profit.]

"This afternoon, our newspaper received a report from President Wang that Qiuhua Company had signed a cooperation agreement with Miss Wen Tingli, a hot contestant in the Shanghai Flower Contest. It was agreed that after the finals, Miss Wen would film an advertisement for the company as the [Shanghai Flower Contest Champion]. Miss Wen lacked social experience and did not discover the trap in the contract... A few days ago, because her father suddenly passed away, Miss Wen decided to withdraw from the competition. The person in charge of Qiuhua Company demanded that Miss Wen compensate the company ten times for its losses on the grounds of breach of contract..."

Attached below the article was a photo of the original contract between Qiuhua Company and Wen Tingli, and the signing date was clearly last month.

Qiu Dapeng's face turned from red to blue, then from blue to black, and finally to deathly gray.

This is indeed a very clever method. In this way, not only will Wen Tingli become a complete victim, but people will also run to support her out of sympathy. Yifeilin will probably be doomed to fail!

"It's fake!" He gritted his teeth, "It must be fake, this is clearly a fake contract that was temporarily drawn up by a fake company to help Wen Tingli out! I don't believe that there would be a regular company willing to do this for an unrelated girl!"

Cao Zhenyuan was so angry that he threw the newspaper at Qiu Dapeng's face: "Stupid! It's already been published in the newspaper, and you are still stubborn! Seeing you being so smart makes me angry! Get out of here, or I'll shoot you! You bastard! What are you guys doing standing here? Why don't you find out the details of Qiuhua Company!"

Alu said with a stiff face: "I have checked it out. It is a company under the name of the Lu family. The shareholder is... Lu Shicheng."

(End of this chapter)