Chen Yubing’s pretty face, flushed crimson with shame and indignation, instantly drained of all color, turning ashen white like paper.
Fine beads of cold sweat uncontrollably seeped from her temples, quickly wetting the few strands of hair on her forehead, sticking messily to her smooth skin.
She subconsciously wanted to raise her hand to cover her collarbone, but then felt that such a movement would be akin to a confession.
Her phoenix eyes, usually filled with coolness and aloofness, were now fixed on Lu Xuan, not so much with coldness, but with a mix of terror, shame, and a hint of venomous desperation.
“You… you…”
Her lips trembled. She wanted to say something harsh but found her throat as if gripped by an invisible hand, unable to form a complete sentence.
“Student, I… I warn you!” Chen Yubing finally squeezed out a sentence, her voice trembling in a way she herself didn’t notice.
“You are talking nonsense! This is slander! You… if you continue like this, believe it or not, I’ll call the police right now and have the school arrest you! Spreading these… these dirty things, the school will definitely discipline you and prevent you from graduating! You are ruining your own future!”
She finished in one breath, her chest heaving violently, like a cat whose fur was bristling but was also terrified.
She tried to use these tactics to scare off Lu Xuan, a display of authority she was accustomed to as a “Director,” but unfortunately, in the face of absolute evidence, these threats appeared so pale and powerless.
Upon hearing this, Lu Xuan seemed to have heard the biggest joke in the world. He first sneered, then his laughter grew louder and louder, finally turning into an undisguised belly laugh.
“Hahahahaha… cough cough, I say, Director Chen, are you performing a stand-up comedy act? Calling the police? Disciplining me?”
The laughter abruptly stopped, Lu Xuan’s expression changing as quickly as a June sky.
He suddenly reined in his smile, his eyes instantly turning cold and deep like an abyss, staring directly at Chen Yubing, saying each word clearly: “You dirty bitch, it’s come to this, and you’re still putting on airs with me? Do you really think I was scared as a child?”
He took a step forward, and the invisible pressure made Chen Yubing uncontrollably shrink back.
“Calling the police, is it?”
Lu Xuan pulled out his phone from his pocket and slapped it onto the desk in front of Chen Yubing with a loud “bang,” making a considerable noise that caused Chen Yubing’s shoulders to tremble.
“Here, the phone is here, call now! I’d like to see, when the police arrive, who will be in more trouble, you or me!”
He looked down at her, a highly mocking arc curving at the corner of his mouth: “You despicable people, is there a screw loose in your heads? When something happens, instead of thinking about how to make amends or repent, the first thing you think of is calling the police, threatening? Do you really think the law is a protective umbrella for people like you?”
Chen Yubing’s face turned crimson from his words. Her fingers gripped the edge of the desk tightly, her knuckles white from the effort.
She looked at the phone on the table, not daring to touch it at all.
Lu Xuan snorted, giving her no chance to breathe, and suddenly reached out, grabbing her collar with lightning speed.
“Ah!” Chen Yubing screamed, instinctively trying to dodge, but she was nowhere near as fast as Lu Xuan.
With a soft “rip,” the collar of her black lace-edged tight T-shirt was roughly yanked down by Lu Xuan. Immediately, the patch of fair skin below her left collarbone, and the tiny, light-brown beauty mark on it, were exposed without any concealment to the air and to Lu Xuan’s sight.
That mole was exactly the same as the one revealed in a certain angle in the video screenshot! Ironclad evidence!
Lu Xuan sneered inwardly, the system’s products never disappointed him.
“What are you doing! Let go of me!”
Chen Yubing completely lost her composure, desperately covering her chest with both hands, trying to conceal the exposed skin, her voice becoming sharp and piercing from extreme shame and fear.
“Lu Xuan! This is a crime! You are playing the hooligan! I warn you, get out of here right now, or else… or else I…”
“Or else what?” Lu Xuan released her, watching her disheveled state at his leisure, the mocking smile at the corner of his mouth growing thicker.
“Chen Da Zhuren, it has come to this, and you still want to be stubborn? Don’t you know that those ‘artistic photos’ and ‘life documentaries’ you took are also on the verge of being illegal and criminal? Especially for someone of your status, spreading such things has an extremely negative impact, enough to make you reflect inside for ten or eight years!”
“Ten or eight years?”
She thought of her future, of her family’s reputation, and even more so of her father, who held a high position in the military and valued his face more than his life.
Lu Xuan seemed to read her mind and slowly added another blow: “Oh, right, your father is the Chief of Staff of the Tianjin Military Region Headquarters, a full division-level Senior Colonel, isn’t he?”
“Tsk tsk, I wonder, if his old man knew that his proud darling daughter was such a ‘versatile’ welfare girl behind his back, would he have a cerebral hemorrhage on the spot?”
“By then, the entire Tianjin, no, the entire military, would probably lose face for your Chen family! Hahahaha…”
Lu Xuan’s laughter was unrestrained.
“No… don’t say it… please, don’t say it…”
Chen Yubing finally couldn’t bear the repeated blows, and her psychological defenses completely collapsed.
She desperately covered her ears with her hands, her body curled up in the large office chair, trembling, tears streaming uncontrollably, mixing with sweat, leaving messy streaks on her pale face.
Gone was any trace of her usual arrogance and aloofness, replaced only by endless fear and despair.
“Please… don’t send them out…”
She choked, her voice as faint as a mosquito’s buzz, “You… what exactly do you want? As long as you don’t send those things out… any condition… as long as I can do it… I will agree to it…”
She finally gave in.
Lu Xuan looked at her pathetic appearance, but there was no pity in his eyes; instead, a playful smile flickered.
He leaned down, closer to Chen Yubing’s tear-streaked face, so close he could almost feel her hot, tearful breath.
“Oh?” He deliberately drew out his tone, his voice carrying a hint of mockery.
“So, now you admit those things are yours? Not being stubborn anymore?”
“I thought Director Chen was going to resist me to the end, putting on a show of a chaste and virtuous woman who would rather die than surrender.”
Chen Yubing trembled all over, stimulated by his frivolous tone, and a wave of humiliation drowned her.
She suddenly looked up, her bloodshot eyes glaring fiercely at Lu Xuan, squeezing out a few words through gritted teeth: “Don’t… talk nonsense! Say… your conditions!”
Her voice was cold and hard, as if pulled from an ice cellar, but the uncontrollable trembling exposed her inner weakness.
“My demands, well…”
Lu Xuan straightened up, rubbing his chin, a meaningful smile appearing on his face. To Chen Yubing, that smile was even more terrifying than a devil’s. “Actually, it’s very simple.”
He paused, enjoying Chen Yubing’s extremely tense expression, before slowly uttering the latter half of his sentence.
“Since Director Chen has so many wonderful talents, how about…”
“You give me a live performance, let me open my eyes, how about it?”