Pretending to Be a Chaste and Noble Woman

The Next Day.

A piece of tabloid news topped the trending charts: the eldest son of the Huo family, Ho Beiting, got drunk, caused a scene at a hotel by performing a striptease, and was taken away by the police.

In the video, Ho Beiting was completely out of control, drunkenly dancing and ranting while naked. Eventually, a bystander called the police, and he was arrested.

By the next morning, Ho Jianjun had personally bailed him out, and he reeked of alcohol.

Slap! Slap!

Two loud slaps hit his face.

"Are you sober yet?" Ho Jianjun asked coldly, having spent the entire night cleaning up the mess, calming the Huo family's employees, and spreading the narrative that Tianyuan's strength would lead to a brighter future for the Huo family. This morning, the stock prices had stabilized, and the 20% stake seemed to be the only price to pay.

He didn't expect his son to cause such a public disturbance.

"Dad, Jin Kai tricked me! He told me that if I drank those shots, he'd help me!" Ho Beiting wailed, his clothes wrinkled and smelling like sour pickled vegetables.

"He stripped me and left me in the hotel lobby!"

Ho Beiting was more embarrassed than anything. The humiliation felt worse than death.

Slap!

Ho Jianjun slapped him again. "Pull yourself together! History is written by the winners! Those scandals don't matter when you have power and position!"

Ho Beiting cried in sobs, his body trembling. "What should I do?"

"Wait," Ho Jianjun said with a dark look in his eyes.

"Wait until your grandfather's 70th birthday, when he'll hand over 30% of his shares to us. For now, lay low!"

Ho Beiting quickly nodded, no longer acting arrogantly.

"Also... you need to have the Su family invest to cover our losses. The condition is that you marry Su Weiwei." Ho Jianjun sneered. "It'd be best if you get her pregnant—your grandfather likes children."

These were all bargaining chips.

He didn't even remember how he'd belittled Su Weiwei in the hospital.

"Okay, I'll make her pregnant, as a gift for Grandpa's birthday," Ho Beiting said, suddenly more motivated, his thoughts turning darker.

Father and son, birds of a feather.

"Tell Zhuo Feng to stay quiet for a while. Your grandfather is starting to get suspicious."

"But Ho Xingzhou…"

"He's useless! Once we have the shares and control over the Huo family, we'll get rid of him for good!"

Ho Beiting gritted his teeth and nodded.

After her brief leave, Qiao Xi returned to work at the hospital.

Dr. Yan praised her for her solid foundation and, when things got too busy, assigned her to handle simpler cases. She spent the day administering acupuncture to patients, leaving her with a sore back and aching limbs.

"小乔, it's getting late. Go home soon." Dr. Yan said while reviewing a patient's chart.

He admired the young woman and had decided to promote her despite the usual procedures.

"Okay."

Qiao Xi packed her things and left the hospital.

The night had already fallen, and the streets were growing quieter.

Under the dim streetlights, she walked along the tree-lined path to the bus stop, just in time to catch the last bus before 10 PM.

Qiao Xi pulled out her phone and checked the time. Usually, by this hour, she'd already finished her acupuncture session with Ho Xingzhou.

Suddenly, a new message popped up on her phone—a bunch of messages from a college roommate she hadn't been in touch with much.

The first message she saw made her freeze.

"Qiao Xi, Ye Manman is dead."

"I heard she owed more than 200,000 yuan in online loans and was being harassed by the loan companies. Her compromising photos were exposed. Her family and relatives back home disowned her. Ye Manman went into hiding to escape the debt, but she was hit by a car and died on the spot."

Qiao Xi's fingers tightened, gripping the phone.

She couldn't believe it—Ye Manman was dead.

The news left her with an unsettling feeling she couldn't quite name.

She stood there, stunned, until someone shoved her from behind.

"Qiao Xi, I finally found my chance." A sinister voice came from the side, and Chen Xu, holding a knife that gleamed in the dim light, pressed it to her neck.

Qiao Xi was taken hostage, and the bus stop was deserted. Chen Xu's breath was like the hiss of a snake, repulsive. "I'm watching you. Don't even think about using your needles on me. Or I'll slit your throat!"

"What do you want?" Qiao Xi's forehead was covered in cold sweat, but she forced herself to stay calm.

"Bitch! So you've already married that cripple from the Huo family! My Chen family went bankrupt because of you, and now I'm going to make him experience what it's like to deal with a broken shoe!" He dragged her towards the thick bushes.

"Once I'm done with you, let's see if he still wants you!"

It was disgusting!

"I'll call the police!" Qiao Xi said coldly.

"Playing the virtuous woman?" Chen Xu sneered.

He was unkempt, reeking terribly, and even pulled out a rope to bind her hands.

Bang!

A loud crash echoed.

Qiao Xi felt the person behind her fall to the ground. She turned and saw a man in camouflage throwing a stone back into a roadside flower bed.

"Madam, you're safe now. Leave this man to me. The Young Master is waiting for you in the car."

He expertly dragged the unconscious Chen Xu away.

Qiao Xi quickly asked, "Where are you taking him?"

"To the police station, of course."

It turned out this was a law-abiding citizen, and Qiao Xi felt a wave of relief.

She quickly walked toward the Rolls-Royce and got in. Once inside, she breathed a sigh of relief, still shaken.

"Mr. Ho, was that man sent by you to protect me?"

The man, with a cold expression, glanced at her pale face and replied, "I was worried something might happen to you." He had originally arranged the protection to guard against Ho Beiting's possible retaliation, but it turned out to be useful today.

"Chen Xu said his family went bankrupt because of you. Did you do that?"

Her eyes were clear as she looked at him.

"His family invested in a few projects recently, but they all failed. That's why they went bankrupt." He didn't answer directly. The projects were ones he had instructed Zhou Yu to assign to Chen's family.

If they hadn't been so greedy, they wouldn't have gone bankrupt.

Nothing good falls from the sky, but the Chen family was greedy.

"Mm."

Qiao Xi sighed heavily, clearly upset.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"I'm just a bit tired. It feels like a lot has happened today," she said, frowning. "Grandma wants to leave the hospital and go back to the countryside. I don't want her to, but she says there's no one to talk to in the hospital, and she misses her friends back home."

"You're worried about her being threatened by the Su family if she goes back?"

"Yes."

"I'll hire a female bodyguard for her. She'll be protected and taken care of."

He thought it through carefully and proposed the best solution.

"But that would put more burden on you. Mr. Ho, I already owe you so much."

"Just consider it a debt for now. I'll need your help later," he said, no longer using the excuse of "employee benefits."

"Qiao Xi, you're very valuable. Don't underestimate yourself."

"Okay." Qiao Xi looked up at him earnestly, remembering everything in her heart.

Ho Xingzhou's expression softened slightly. "Let's find a weekend and send her back to the countryside."

"Mm-hmm," Qiao Xi nodded obediently.

Just as Ho Xingzhou was about to say something else, his phone vibrated. He looked at the number, and his expression grew serious as he answered the call.

He didn't respond, but his face grew colder with each passing second.

"Bring him to the villa!" Ho Xingzhou's voice was ice-cold.