From humble beginnings to the pinnacle of life

I hesitated, then reached out and pulled her tightly into my arms, my chest feeling heavy and uncomfortable.

I do not hate Su's parents.

From their perspective, they did nothing wrong.

Parents in any wealthy family would most likely have made the exact same reaction.

They are not bad people, but simply staunch defenders of established worldly rules.

But precisely because they are not evil people, this obstacle seems so unsolvable.

Su Qing quickly broke free from my embrace, turned around and patted my back, comforting me:

"Don't overthink it. Didn't we already agree that we'd deal with whatever comes our way?"

Looking at her resolute face, I forced a smile and nodded heavily at her.

At that very moment, my phone rang abruptly, the shrill ring breaking the oppressive atmosphere in the room.

I snapped out of my daze, reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone. The screen displayed the name Luo Peng.

I quickly composed myself and pressed the answer button.

As soon as he uttered the word "feed," Luo Peng's urgent and angry voice came through the receiver.

"Brother Ye! Someone online is maliciously stirring up trouble behind your back, relentlessly smearing you!"

Hearing this, my heart sank, and I immediately asked, "What happened?"

Luo Peng sighed heavily, calmed his rapid breathing slightly, and continued:

"I just saw this on the trending topics. Someone dug up all your old experiences, from when you were fired as a food delivery driver to when you worked as a courier, and deliberately took things out of context, edited and pieced them together!"

"Now new negative headlines are popping up everywhere, saying that you approached Su Qing with ulterior motives and wanted to climb the social ladder by relying on a rich girl."

"There are even quite a few people who openly suspect that our incredibly dangerous crossing of the no-man's-land was all staged and acted!"

A surge of anger welled up inside me, almost making me swear.

Su Qing was standing right next to me, and the phone was quite loud, so she heard everything I was saying clearly.

She had been trying to remain calm, but her face instantly tightened and her brows furrowed tightly.

Before I could respond, Luo Peng's voice came through, the situation was worse than I had imagined.

"It's not just online opinion! I just spoke with Chen Yunqing, and someone in their outdoor community has already made arrangements to block your outdoor route resources!"

"From now on, high-end time-travel projects, official collaborations, and sponsorships from major brands will almost all be closed to you!"

After hearing these words, my heart sank.

It's truly a case of misfortunes never coming singly; one wave subsides only for another to rise.

But I immediately ruled out Su Qing's parents in my mind.

Even if the Su family doesn't approve of me, at most they'll cut off Su Qing's family's resources; they wouldn't do something as insidious as trying to destroy my career.

A name immediately popped into my mind.

Fang Heng!

I understood it immediately.

During the month and a half we were in the no-man's-land, he was quiet for a while.

Now that we've returned alive and are riding high, he's jumped out again and tried the same old tricks.

The same old routine, nothing new.

However, it must be admitted that these insidious methods are extremely lethal.

He wanted to completely ruin my career, force me to lose everything, and compel me to leave Su Qing.

Besides him, I can't think of anyone else who would go to such lengths to deal with me.

Su Qing's face was as cold as ice, and she snatched the phone from my hand.

Speaking into the hands-free microphone, his tone was sharp as he said to Luo Peng, enunciating each word clearly: "Luo Peng, don't panic. Let them stir up trouble online."

"Let them do whatever they want with the industry-wide blacklisting. I, Su Qing, am making this clear."

"I helped Lin Ye build his career. I helped him establish his reputation step by step."

"No matter who is hiding in the shadows and trying to play dirty tricks on us, I, Su Qing, will fight them to the end."

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, then Luo Peng quickly spoke up: "Brother Lin, should I contact those old guys I used to work with on food delivery and ask them to come out on the website and clear things up for you?"

I quickly weighed the pros and cons in my mind and immediately rejected the idea.

"No. The more we rush to stand up and defend ourselves in response to these issues, the more outsiders will think we have something to hide and are deliberately covering it up."

"Then... what can I do now?" Luo Peng asked anxiously.

I understand Luo Peng's passion, but given the current situation, many of his actions might backfire.

Often, the best counterattack is not to rush into it.

I can even guess that Fang Heng, hiding behind the scenes, is just waiting for us to get angry and come out to argue, so that he can take the opportunity to throw out more dirt on us and continue his attack.

I deliberately defied his wishes, letting his powerful punch land squarely on cotton, leaving him powerless.

I suppressed the anger surging within me and spoke calmly into the phone:

"You don't need to do anything right now. We just came back from the no-man's-land, so everyone should rest for a few days. Once my company is officially established, there will be plenty of things for you to do."

"Okay, then I'll just stop watching short videos for the next few days to avoid giving me a blood pressure spike. I'll just go back to my hometown to fish and find some peace and quiet."

Luo Peng agreed, and the call ended there.

After hanging up the phone, Su Qing looked up at me, her usually bright and lively eyes now filled with a sharp and piercing gaze.

"It's Fang Hengqian's, isn't it?" she asked almost with certainty.

I took out another cigarette, lit it, took a deep drag, and said, "As it stands, I can't think of anyone else besides him."

Su Qing bit her lip, her tone incredibly certain: "It's him. My parents object to us because they think we're not a good match for each other, and it's out of concern for my future."

"But Fang Heng, he's utterly vicious. He can't stand seeing me with you, so he'll stop at nothing to completely destroy you."

I reached out and gently ruffled her hair, forcing a smile:

"This has always been his style of doing things; he just went quiet for a while before."

She stepped forward, hugged my waist tightly, buried her head in my chest, and said in a slightly aggrieved tone:

"Knowing me is an inconvenience for you."

Afraid that the smoke would bother her, I quickly took the cigarette out of my mouth and stubbed it out in the ashtray.

Reaching out, I hugged her tightly and whispered:

"It's not that I feel wronged. To be honest, even if I weren't with you, I would settle all the scores he made against me with sooner or later."

I released Su Qing from my arms; her warm breath still lingered in my embrace.

As dusk slowly descended outside the window, the evening breeze from the riverbank drifted through the gauze window into the courtyard, carrying a cool, moist atmosphere.

Fang Heng's move was indeed quite underhanded.

I have no family background, and I finally found a way out, but he wants to use the same old trick to blacklist me in the outdoor community.

I've spent my whole life venturing out of the no-man's land, and it took me so much effort to build up my fanbase, yet he tries to wipe it all out with a few underhanded tricks.

That's absolutely impossible!