79: Chapter 79 A gambling father, a sick mother, a younger brother in school, and a broken woman.

Less than half an hour later, a message came back: "Found it. The guy is named Zhang Fan, and he's the boss of Singularity Technology. Their company just released a game recently called 'star path: reboot', and it's quite popular."

"Singularity Technology? 'star path: reboot'?" Pei Yunxiao's pupils constricted. "Damn! This, this..."

That's right! He still had this game installed on his phone! Just a few days ago, he was showing it off to his classmates, saying how well the starry sky scenes were made in this game. He never expected the boss to be the person who "snatched" Song Zhiwei away!

A mixture of humiliation and anger surged into his heart. He felt like a fool, playing someone else's game while that person had pried away his "possession."

He clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white, and a flash of sinister murderous intent flickered in his eyes: "Zhang Fan... Singularity Technology... I won't let you off easily!"

He took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. As a college student who only knew how to act rich by relying on Song Zhiwei, he had no connections and no real skills; his mind was filled only with petty schemes regarding romantic entanglements.

He first thought about finding a few buddies to "teach" Zhang Fan a lesson, but then he reconsidered—'star path: reboot' supposedly had tens of millions of players. As the boss, how could Zhang Fan not have bodyguards? If he failed to hurt the other party and ended up sending himself to the police station instead, it wouldn't be worth the loss.

"I can't use force, so I'll ruin his reputation!" Pei Yunxiao's gaze turned sinister. He recalled how, in order to make Song Zhiwei jealous before, he had hired online trolls to smear a "competitor" on the school forum, and the results had been quite good.

He pulled up a number in his contact list labeled "Li the Troll" and dialed it, his tone vicious: "Old Li, help me pull something off—spread a rumor that Singularity Technology relies on the Song Family's capital to launder money, packaging 'star path: reboot' as a 'legitimate game' when it's actually a money-laundering tool. Money is no object. I want everyone to know that Zhang Fan is just a gigolo who relies on women!"

Li the Troll on the other end of the line agreed immediately: "Don't worry, Brother Yunxiao. I'm familiar with this. By tomorrow morning, the rumors will be plastered all over game forums and social media platforms!"

After hanging up the phone, Pei Yunxiao leaned back in his seat, a self-righteous smirk curling the corners of his lips. He believed that as long as he ruined the reputation of Singularity Technology, Song Zhiwei would see Zhang Fan's "true colors" and obediently return to his side.

Meanwhile, Zhang Fan had just finished organizing player feedback for 'star path: reboot' and was preparing to go to sleep. Before bed, he habitually glanced at the system interface, and a vague red warning suddenly popped up: [Warning: Target Pei Yunxiao has contacted a troll team and plans to launch a public opinion attack against Singularity Technology tomorrow. The core rumor is "capital money laundering."]

Zhang Fan frowned, but he wasn't too nervous—the Fu Family's large-scale public opinion suppression hadn't brought down Singularity before, so the trolls hired by Pei Yunxiao, a student with no foundation, probably wouldn't amount to much.

However, he was always cautious in his actions, so he still opened the chat box with Gu Jingshen and sent a message: "Old Gu, help me keep an eye on the game forums and social media platforms tomorrow. Someone might hire trolls to spread rumors about our company. Once there's any movement, contact the Cyberspace Administration immediately to delete the posts, and check the source of the trolls while you're at it."

Gu Jingshen replied quickly, adding an arrogant emoji: "Don't worry! Trolls only have that much ability; they want to play a public opinion war with us? I'll have people watch it 24/7. Oh, and I'll tell Xiaoxue as well. I guarantee that as soon as he posts it, it'll be wiped clean!"

Zhang Fan looked at Gu Jingshen's reply, smiled, and put down his phone.

He lay in bed, thinking about the information on Pei Yunxiao in the system.

Although he hadn't met him, judging from the system intelligence, this person had a significant influence on Song Zhiwei, so it was better to be on guard; preparing in advance was never wrong.

Moonlight from outside the window shone through the gap in the curtains, landing on the 'star path: reboot' statistical report on the nightstand. Zhang Fan yawned, with only one thought in his mind: no matter what tricks Pei Yunxiao played, it couldn't affect the operation of 'star path', and it definitely couldn't hinder the development of Singularity Technology.

What he didn't know was that after hanging up the phone with the trolls, Pei Yunxiao dialed another number—that was Ruan Shu's number.

That's right, Ruan Shu was exactly the person who liked Pei Yunxiao in Song Zhiwei's previous life. Because she was jealous of Young Master Pei's "special care" for the "little maid," she often bullied Song Zhiwei in various ways. Because Ruan Shu was skilled at acting like a "white lotus" and also had good grades, her classmates all helped speak up for Ruan Shu.

Ruan Shu's home was squeezed into the most dilapidated residential building in the old city of Jiangcheng, on the top floor—the seventh floor. When it leaked in the summer, she had to set out three basins to catch the water, and in the winter, the wind blew in through the window cracks, freezing people into a ball at night.

Her family was exactly the kind often seen in short dramas: "A gambling father, a sick mother, a student brother, and a broken her."

She didn't want to endure days like this for another day. She lay by the window, watching the luxury cars occasionally driving by downstairs, her heart full of resentment.

Why should Song Zhiwei, the daughter of a servant, be able to receive Young Master Pei's care, eat the Pei Family's delicacies, and ride in the Pei Family's luxury cars?

While she could only wear a washed-out school uniform, walk to and from school every day, and couldn't even bear to buy a new lipstick?

She started watching those short dramas about "rich young masters falling in love with poor heroines," watching the heroines in the dramas use their gentle, sensible, and pitiful appearances to capture men's hearts and climb up from the bottom, and she gradually came up with an idea.

She didn't have a mother working as a servant in a big family, and her gambling father had turned their home into such a mess; the only "opportunity" she could grasp was Pei Yunxiao.

She knew that Pei Yunxiao liked gentle and sensible girls, so every time she spoke to him, she deliberately softened her voice, as if it were coated in sugar.

If he casually mentioned that "homework is hard to write," she would stay up all night organizing notes and bring them to him.

She disguised herself as a harmless white lotus, carefully currying favor, because she knew too well that Pei Yunxiao was the person closest to a "good life" in her entire existence. A pair of old sneakers he threw away would be enough for her mother to buy a month's worth of medicine; the money for one meal he treated her to could pay for her brother's tuition for half a year.

Just then, the phone she was using to watch short dramas suddenly vibrated, and the words "Young Master Pei" popped up on the screen. Ruan Shu's eyes lit up instantly.

She understood men's minds too well—Song Zhiwei was a cautionary tale. That fool held Pei Yunxiao in the palm of her hand and was at his beck and call, but what was the result? Pei Yunxiao didn't take her seriously at all. Only by making a man "wait a little" would he care more.

She patiently finished watching the finale of the short drama before slowly calling Pei Yunxiao back. "Young Master Pei~ I'm so sorry, I was doing my homework earlier, and I had my phone on silent, so I didn't see your call."