Lu Xuan's fingertips tapped lightly on his phone screen, and from the 14,888-page PPT, he carefully selected one page and took a screenshot.
The content wasn't much: a slightly blurry surveillance footage still, accompanied by a few lines of text, recording how Dongting City Education Bureau Deputy Director Zhang Jianguo, half a month prior, had a cordial conversation with a certain 'friend' in a private room of a high-end teahahouse, and ultimately 'helped' that friend's child secure an admission slot at a key elementary school.
Compared to the 1353 shocking instances of quid pro quo, this was merely a drop in the bucket.
Lu Xuan chose a recent incident to remind Zhang Jianguo, otherwise Lu Xuan was worried that Zhang Jianguo would not remember the previous ones, after all, he had handled so many matters over the years.
He sent the screenshot to Zhang Yining via social media, attaching a brief message:
"Let your father take a look. Does he find this scene very familiar?"
"My patience is limited. Regarding my cousin's matter, I hope to see a satisfactory result tomorrow. You know, I'm impatient and don't like to wait for people."
The message was sent successfully.
Meanwhile, Zhang Yining had just barely recovered from the nightmare of that public kneeling, hiding in the dormitory bathroom, haphazardly splashing cold water on her tear-streaked face.
Her phone chimed softly, startling her and making her almost drop it into the sink.
Seeing that the sender was 'Lu Xuan,' her heart instantly leaped to her throat, and she tremblingly opened it.
When she saw the screenshot and the text below it, Zhang Yining felt her vision go black, her legs turn to jelly, and she nearly collapsed to the floor.
In the photo, the middle-aged man smiling with a face full of wrinkles in the teahouse, who else could it be but her father, Zhang Jianguo?!
"Dad..." Zhang Yining's lips trembled, her face ashen. Lu Xuan... how could he have something like this?! Who exactly was he?!
Fear, like an invisible hand, tightly gripped her throat.
She no longer cared about her reputation or composure, grabbed her phone, and rushed out of the bathroom, ignoring the strange looks from her roommates, stumbled to the balcony, and dialed Zhang Jianguo's number.
The phone rang for a long time before it was answered. Zhang Jianguo's voice, tinged with a bit of alcohol, came from the other end, seemingly in the middle of a social engagement: "Hello, Yining, what's up so late? Dad's busy here!" His tone carried a hint of annoyance at being disturbed.
"Dad!" Zhang Yining's voice immediately turned tearful, almost a shriek, "Dad! Something's happened! Something big has happened!"
"What are you panicking for! Has the sky fallen or something?" Zhang Jianguo was somewhat irritated by his daughter's distraught tone and lowered his voice to scold her, "Speak properly! Crying and sniffling, what kind of behavior is that!"
"Dad... Lu Xuan... he... he has a photo of you..." Zhang Yining spoke incoherently, trembling as she relayed the screenshot and text content Lu Xuan had sent, all at once, to Zhang Jianguo.
On the other end of the phone, Zhang Jianguo's voice, which had still been somewhat tipsy, instantly sobered up considerably.
When he finished listening to his daughter's narration, especially the phrase "helped your friend's child secure a key elementary school slot," his heart, which had been relatively calm, suddenly sank.
"Photo? What photo?" Zhang Jianguo was completely sober, his voice betraying a hint of imperceptible tension.
He quickly recalled that half a month ago, at a teahouse, there had indeed been such an incident.
Helping an old friend's friend's child get an elementary school slot, for him, was merely a simple favor. He handled countless such matters every year.
"He... he also said... to ask you if it looks familiar or not..." Zhang Yining sobbed, repeating Lu Xuan's exact words.
Zhang Jianguo held his phone, a fine layer of cold sweat seeping onto his forehead, and his back felt somewhat chilled.
This Lu Xuan, how could he get his hands on something like this? Was it a coincidence, or...
He forced himself to sound calm and said into the phone: "Yining, don't panic yet. It's just a photo, what can it prove? Is your boyfriend trying to scare me with this?"
"Dad! He's not trying to scare me! Don't forget he knows about my college entrance exam!" Zhang Yining finally blurted out the most crucial sentence, her voice filled with despair.
"Ah, right! I was confused!" This sentence was like a bolt from the blue. Zhang Jianguo felt his head buzz, and he almost crushed his phone.
His daughter's college entrance exam matter was something he had personally handled, believing he had done it flawlessly. How could this Lu Xuan know?!
"He... he knows everything... he said he has detailed evidence... a PPT..." Zhang Yining's voice grew softer and softer, filled with intense fear.
Zhang Jianguo was now both shocked and angry, but more than that, he felt a chill from being targeted by an unknown force.
He was silent for a few seconds, his mind racing. This Lu Xuan was definitely not simple!
"Yining, give me his contact information. No, you tell him I want to see him. I'll book a flight right now and rush to Yanjing tonight! I want to see what kind of monster he is!"
Zhang Jianguo's voice became somber, carrying the oppressive authority of someone long in a high position.
He mused to himself, a college student, even if he had some dirt on him, how much trouble could he really cause?
He had been in the officialdom for decades, what kind of situations hadn't he seen? Most likely, this young man was ignorant of his own limitations and wanted to extort some benefits.
"Dad... he... he's not to be trifled with..." Zhang Yining tried to say more, but Zhang Jianguo interrupted her.
"Enough! Don't worry about it! Send me your location. When I arrive, I'll go directly to your school to find you, and then you'll take me to see him!"
Zhang Jianguo's tone was unquestionable, "A little brat, I can't handle him? Don't worry, with Dad here, tonight I'll make sure he keeps those so-called secrets strictly to himself!"
After hanging up the phone, Zhang Jianguo immediately told his secretary to book the earliest flight to Yanjing.
At the same time, he used his connections within the education system to retrieve Lu Xuan's academic records.
A few minutes later, detailed information about Lu Xuan was sent to his phone.
"Lu Xuan, male, 19 years old, Yanjing University Computer Science freshman..." Zhang Jianguo read word by word, his brows furrowing tighter and tighter.
When he saw the family background section, which stated that his parents were ordinary farmers, his family was poor, and they had only recently managed to escape poverty, his tightly furrowed brows suddenly relaxed, and a cold sneer even appeared on his lips.
"Heh, I thought he had some extraordinary background. Turns out he's just a poor student?"
The stone hanging in Zhang Jianguo's heart immediately dropped by more than half. In his opinion, this kind of poor kid with no power or influence was the easiest to deal with.
Either give him some money to silence him, or apply a little pressure, and he would obediently comply.
"A freshly escaped-from-poverty brat, daring to play tricks in front of me? He doesn't know what's coming!"
Zhang Jianguo snorted coldly, a hint of disdain and ruthlessness flashing in his eyes.
He had already thought of seven or eight ways to make Lu Xuan "obedient."
As for what his daughter said about a PPT, or detailed evidence, he didn't really take it to heart.
Most likely, this kid had heard some rumors from somewhere, then exaggerated them, trying to extort money.
His "small matter" of helping an old friend's child secure an elementary school slot, even if it was truly photographed, so what? At most, it would be considered a procedural violation, and he could suppress it with some maneuvering.
He completely failed to realize that what Lu Xuan had sent him was merely the tip of the iceberg, an appetizer.
And that 14,000-plus-page "main course" was enough to completely bury his entire career, along with the rest of his life.
Zhang Yining was still immersed in immense fear. She had been unable to clearly describe Lu Xuan's terrifying nature to her father, nor had she conveyed Lu Xuan's almost monstrous methods and ruthless disposition.
In her opinion, her father was a Deputy Director, powerful and influential, and surely capable of solving everything.