Life countdown begins, ice queen bursts into security room

1:30 PM, outside the Baishizhou Archway.

Jiang Fan got out of the taxi, wearing an ordinary white T-shirt, blending into the crowded throng and going unnoticed.

He walked along the old street.

The sunlight was blocked by tall buildings, making the alleyway dark and damp, with the smell of sewers in the air.

Five minutes later, he saw the gray Jetta with the license plate ending in 438 in front of a bungalow.

Jiang Fan walked over and glanced inside the car; no one was there.

He turned to look at the old, single-story house where the Jetta was parked.

There are only two households in the courtyard.

A strong smell of smoke wafted from the crack in the door of the house on the left.

Through the dusty window, Jiang Fan saw a man with a scar near his eye sitting in front of a computer, holding a bowl of instant noodles, his eyes fixed on the screen.

Jiang Fan walked to the door, raised his hand, and knocked.

"Who is it?" came Wang Meng's hoarse voice from inside.

"Check the water meter."

"I just paid it last month! Get lost!"

Without wasting words, Jiang Fan took a half step back, his right leg muscles tightened instantly, and he kicked the door lock hard.

boom!

The old wooden door made a dull, loud thud.

The metal latch on the door frame broke off, and the door panel slammed heavily against the inner wall, shaking off a large amount of white plaster.

Wang Meng, who was inside the room, trembled with fright, and the instant noodle bowl in his hand overturned, spilling greasy noodle soup all over the table.

He suddenly stood up, grabbed a fruit knife from the table, and pointed it at the door.

"Who the hell are you?!" Wang Meng cursed.

The sunlight from outside shone on Jiang Fan's face.

When Wang Meng saw who it was, he froze on the spot.

He had magnified that face countless times on his computer screen over the past few hours.

Jiang Fan stepped into the house, closing the rickety, dilapidated door behind him.

His gaze passed over Wang Meng and landed on the computer screen on the desktop.

In the center of the screen is a high-definition photo of Xu Qingya walking into room 1208 with her hat brim pulled low.

Wang Meng swallowed hard, his hand gripping the fruit knife trembling uncontrollably.

"You dare trespass? Believe me, I'll call the police right now!"

"Report it." Jiang Fan said calmly, pulling over a broken plastic chair to sit down. "It'll be good for the police to check how many illegally filmed videos you have on your computer, and also check your blackmail records."

Wang Meng's expression changed drastically, and his eyes flickered.

"How much money did Chen Lan promise you?" Jiang Fan suddenly asked.

"Five...five million," Wang Meng answered instinctively, then his expression turned ferocious. "None of your business! You pretty boy, don't think you can get away with anything just because you slept with Xu Qingya. I only need to click the mouse, and you'll both be finished!"

Jiang Fan nodded.

"Order."

Wang Meng was stunned; he hadn't expected Jiang Fan to react this way.

Shouldn't a normal person kneel down and beg for mercy or offer money to keep quiet at this point?

In the instant he was stunned, Jiang Fan moved.

Jiang Fan pushed off the ground with his right foot, propelling his body forward at an astonishing speed.

Before Wang Meng could react, Jiang Fan's left hand had already precisely gripped his wrist holding the knife and twisted it outwards with force.

A sharp pain shot through him, and Wang Meng screamed as his fingers loosened.

The fruit knife flew out of his hand and landed with a clatter on the floor some distance away.

Immediately afterwards, Jiang Fan pressed down on the back of Wang Meng's neck with his right hand, while simultaneously thrusting his right knee upwards.

A dull thud resounded.

"Ugh!" Wang Meng clutched his stomach and collapsed to the ground, curled up, and dry heaved, unable to utter a complete sentence.

Jiang Fan didn't look at him again, turned around and walked to the computer.

He gripped the mouse and dragged the folder named "XQY-1208" directly into the recycle bin, emptying it.

He then removed the SD card from the card reader, broke it in half, and threw it into the nearby trash can.

"Big brother... Brother Fan! I was wrong!" Wang Meng recovered his strength on the ground, trembling all over, his voice trembling with tears. "You deleted all the photos, and destroyed the negatives too! Please, have mercy on me this time!"

Jiang Fan opened the drawer of the computer desk, rummaged around for a bit, took out a black portable hard drive, and threw it in front of Wang Meng.

"I can spare you, but I have one condition."

"Please say it! Please say it! As long as you don't call the police, I'll agree to any condition!" Wang Meng scrambled over to get closer.

"Copy all the dirt on Sheng Hai Media's top executives and artists that you have." Jiang Fan looked down at him.

Wang Meng raised his head, his eyes filled with disbelief.

He originally thought Jiang Fan was just an amateur contestant who wanted to settle things for Xu Qingya, but he didn't expect this person to have a bigger appetite than him.

Sheng Hai Media is one of the top capital giants in the industry, controlling a large amount of film, television and variety show resources.

Hua Xingyu, the star mentor of "The Rising Star", is the heir of Shenghai Media.

"What...what do you want Sheng Hai's dirt for?" Wang Meng asked in a trembling voice.

"This isn't your problem." Jiang Fan kicked the hard drive on the floor. "Copy the data. I'm only giving you five minutes."

Wang Meng dared not ask any more questions and climbed onto the computer chair using both his hands and feet.

His hands trembled as he operated the mouse, opening a hidden drive with multiple layers of encryption, and dragging several folders labeled "Sheng Hai - Top Secret" into the external hard drive.

Jiang Fan stood to the side, his gaze sweeping over the filenames.

"Hua Xing Yu - A True Account of Nightclub Concubines Selection"

"Shenghai Vice President Liu Qingyang - Yin-Yang Contract Ledger"

Recording of Trainees Being Forced into Transactions

..........

Five minutes later, the data copy was complete.

Jiang Fan unplugged the portable hard drive and put it in his pocket.

"Keep today's events to yourself. But if I see a single word about Xu Qingya on any platform tomorrow..." Jiang Fan paused, his tone still flat, "I'll make you realize that calling the police is actually the best protection you can have."

Wang Meng nodded frantically, cold sweat dripping from his forehead onto the keyboard.

Jiang Fan turned around, opened the broken door, and stepped into the shadows of the alleyway.

2:50 p.m.

Shanghai, Tianyu Media Building.

Chen Lan sat in the conference room, her head spinning, the coffee in front of her long since gone cold.

Zhang, the public relations director, was typing furiously on his keyboard, sweating profusely. Several other managers beside him were also pale-faced and dared not utter a sound.

They have prepared three contingency plans.

The first tactic is to deny everything, send a lawyer's letter as a warning, and simultaneously ban related keywords across the entire internet. However, this move is extremely risky. If Wang Meng releases the high-definition, uncensored video, Tianyu Media's public relations credibility will be completely ruined.

The second plan is to admit that Xu Qingya went to the hotel, but insist that she went to discuss work, shifting all the blame to Jiang Fan, and hiring online trolls to create a narrative that Jiang Fan deliberately seduced her and then blackmailed her by secretly filming her. This is also the plan most favored by the company's senior management.

The third strategy is to let things cool down. They'll forcefully divert attention by using other celebrities' scandals. Old Zhang has already contacted several paparazzi he knows, preparing to break the news of a top male star's infidelity.

However, no contingency plan can completely eliminate the negative impact of Hsu Ching-ya's "Ice Queen" persona collapsing.

There were only ten minutes left until the three o'clock mark set by Wang Meng.

The call from higher-ups came just ten minutes ago, pressuring Chen Lan to make a decision by 2:55 p.m., or the company would take over Xu Qingya's social media accounts and forcibly implement the second plan.

2:55.

Old Zhang stopped typing and looked at Chen Lan.

"Sister Lan, it's time."

Chen Lan gritted her teeth and stared intently at the phone on the table.

"Wait a little longer."

"Sister Lan, we can't wait any longer! Once it's past 3 o'clock, Wang Meng will send the photos to the marketing accounts, and we'll be completely at a disadvantage!" Old Zhang slammed his fist on the table in his anxiety.

2:58.

The conference room door was pushed open, and the vice president of EE-Media walked in with a cold face.

"Chen Lan, immediately hand over Xu Qingya's Weibo account password. The public relations department must issue a statement immediately, forever branding that contestant named Jiang Fan with shame!"

Chen Lan stood up, placed her hands on the table, and strained until her knuckles turned white.

"Mr. Wang, Qingya is the company's cash cow. We can't force a statement against her wishes. That would destroy her trust in the company!"

"She's courting disaster; does the company have to follow suit?" the vice president scoffed. "Release the statement precisely at 3 PM!"