C42 How Much Hatred Do You Have?

An An's unexpected arrival took the audience by surprise.

"Can it be? Is that really the doctor's daughter? The mother and daughter look nothing alike!"

"Let's be real, with her beauty, who wouldn't want to be her friend? She's like a little angel. Who could resist?"

"Mommy, they're tricking me about having a daughter again!"

The conversation veered off course, and suddenly all eyes were on the little girl, leaving Soong Feifei unprepared for the sudden shift in attention.

Soong Ruanruan spoke softly to her daughter, "An An, sweetheart, Mommy is working right now. Can you go play with your brother for a bit?"

She wanted to keep her child from being too exposed to the public eye.

The young girl nodded, not fully understanding.

Once her daughter had stepped away, Soong Ruanruan's expression became stern, "Since you've stood by your statement, let's show everyone what comes next."

With that, the screen switched to the complete video of the day's recording, displayed in its entirety on the live stream.

Soong Feifei was stunned, taking a while to come to her senses. In a moment of panic in front of the camera, she yelled, "What's going on? Cut the feed now!"

Soong Ruanruan responded icily, "Weren't you so sure of yourself earlier? Isn't it time you gave your supporters an explanation?"

"You...!"

The live stream abruptly ended, but the buzz around the broadcast only intensified.

Leaning on her cane, Soong Ruanruan stepped out of her office, offering Fu Sui a warm smile.

Her composure in the crisis owed much to Dear Sui.

After he had helped her with the video recovery, the little whiz had also tracked down the network IP address for Stars Entertainment. They were just a step away from hacking into their main office for the full recording.

Yet before that final move was made, Soong Feifei's assistant unexpectedly reached out to her with the complete video.

While it made things much easier, she was still astonished by her son's exceptional IT skills at such a young age.

"Dear Sui, you've been a big help to Auntie. What dessert would you like? Just name it, and I'll make it for you."

After a brief pause, Fu Sui answered, "Crème brûlée."

"Alright, I'll bring it to you tomorrow," Soong Ruanruan said, turning to Fu Jingchuan. "Sorry to have kept Mr. Fu waiting. Let's begin the treatment now."

Fu Jingchuan's gaze dimmed as he watched the woman awkwardly walk with her cane.

Fu Sui tugged at his clothing, "Let Auntie rest."

But Fu Jingchuan did not heed his son's plea.

After the session, Soong Ruanruan felt exhausted.

It wasn't that her son was uncooperative; it was her menstrual cycle coupled with a throbbing pain in her ankle that made her feel unwell.

"Mam, does your foot hurt?" Soong Le'ann asked her mother with concern.

As they descended the hospital steps, Soong Ruanruan gripped her daughter's hand tightly. To keep her from worrying, she shook her head with feigned ease, "It doesn't hurt anymore. With you here, Mam is doing just fine."

Fu Sui followed, casting a resentful glance at the man.

Auntie looked so weary, yet her dad still made her work while injured. What a bad guy!

Whether it was the little girl's voice that tugged at the heartstrings or his son's pained look, something stirred in Fu Jingchuan. He finally relented, "We'll postpone the treatment for now."

Soong Ruanruan was taken aback.

Just then, Ji Yu pulled up in his car. "Ling, I'll take you home."

After bidding farewell, the mother and daughter climbed into the car. Fu Sui watched the sedan fade into the distance, murmuring, "I wanted to send Auntie home."

He had come with his dad to bring Auntie to the hospital today, so why couldn't they take her back?

He looked up at his father, puzzled.

Fu Jingchuan's face was hard to read.

He had no obligation to drive the mother and daughter home, but why did his chest feel tight watching them leave in another's car?

Pushing aside the trivial feelings, he lifted his son into their car.

Zhou Chi navigated the vehicle while giving a detailed work report, mentioning a product in collaboration with Soong's.

"President, the momentum of our project with Stars Entertainment has been ramping up. However, given Stars Entertainment's declining reputation and their halted financing, especially as they're pushing Soong Feifei, should we reconsider our involvement?"

He knew he shouldn't have spoken out of turn with those last remarks, but after witnessing the so-called live apology video earlier that day, and seeing Soong Feifei target little Le'ann, he felt compelled to speak up.

Fu Jingchuan's response was icy and unequivocal.

"Pull the funding."

...

"She's so malicious. She showed zero professionalism in her interview, with a terrible attitude, and then she had the audacity to bribe the photographer to distort the truth. What a vendetta!"

"Exactly, calling her 'Dear Fei' is a joke. She might as well be called a baboon! She only picks on those who can't fight back. Let's see her take on the top actress in the entertainment industry if she's so bold."

"You're insulting baboons at this point. A star without any artistic integrity like her should be blacklisted. Her acting is atrocious, and I heard it's all thanks to her father's influence. Well, they say what goes around comes around!"

Online, the scornful comments about Soong Feifei were relentless.

Stars Entertainment's luck had run out, with multiple investments withdrawn. Even banning Soong Feifei couldn't reverse the company's downward spiral.

In reality, such an incident wouldn't normally have such a drastic impact on Stars Entertainment. If they had just decisively cut ties with her, things might have been different. But the termination of their collaboration with Fu's set a precedent, and other investors quickly followed suit, leaving Stars Entertainment out in the cold.

Soong Ruanruan was organizing files in the hospital when she caught wind of the news.

Her ankle was nearly healed, and by the time she caught up with the developments, the situation had escalated significantly.

Stars Entertainment... wasn't that backed by the Soong family's investments?

Their primary income seemed to come from the film industry. If they were to collapse, the Soong family...

Soong Ruanruan abruptly shook her head, dispelling the intrusive thoughts.

She had long since severed ties with the Soong family!

"Mommy, what's wrong?" her daughter, engrossed in her picture book, asked with concern, worried her mother might be feeling unwell again.

"Nothing to worry about." Soong Ruanruan picked up her bag, took her daughter's hand, and descended the stairs.

Outside, as usual, the Fu family's familiar black sedan was parked. Soong Ruanruan always felt uneasy whenever she rode in it.

However, Dear Sui had been diligently offering rides these past few days. Even though Zhou Chi was the driver, there were times when Fu Jingchuan would also be in the car, which made for quite the awkward situation.

Today, it appeared that Fu Jingchuan was not present.

"Brother!" Soong Le'ann exclaimed with even more cheer upon seeing Fu Sui through the car window, struggling to pull open the door.

Fu Sui slightly parted his lips, as if he wanted to say something but then thought better of it.

"Mammy, please—" After managing to open the door, the little girl bowed slightly and struck a pose, "Ladies first!"

Soong Ruanruan couldn't help but laugh, wondering which TV show her daughter had picked up such a gesture from.

Once seated in the car, Soong Ruanruan extended her hand to her child. "Sweetie, come here."

An An leaped into her embrace and unexpectedly sneezed.

Before mother and daughter could continue their conversation, a crisp voice suddenly came from the front passenger seat: "Dr. Soong, An An, it's been a while."

Soong Ruanruan masked her surprise and turned to face Lo Qing, responding with polite detachment, "Miss Lo, hello."

It made sense now why Dear Sui seemed like he was on the verge of saying something earlier. Today, it wasn't Fu Jingchuan who had come, but rather someone else with whom she found herself equally at a loss for words.