That button was indeed magical; when it popped off, it flew directly onto Lu Man, startling her.

Without thinking, she looked up at Yu Qiao Qiao.

What she saw was a vast expanse of white.

She paused for a moment, then couldn't help but ask, "Qiao Qiao... you?"

Yu Qiao Qiao's face flushed red as she quickly covered her chest, yet she didn't forget to follow up with Lu Man, "Sister Man Man, you just said Chen Yan is doomed, what did you mean by that?"

Hearing Yu Qiao Qiao's words, Lu Man was struck by a thought: She had forgotten she even said that.

Sensing Lu Man's self-doubt, Yu Qiao Qiao prompted her, "Just now, you just suddenly whispered that Chen Yan is doomed."

Upon saying this, she paused, then asked with confusion, "Did I hear wrong?"

Yu Qiao Qiao's prompt made Lu Man recall the incident.

She was annoyed at herself for carelessly speaking her thoughts aloud and quickly tried to think of a way to remedy the situation.

As she considered her options, an idea suddenly struck her and she said, "Oh, right. That's what I just said."

Her facial expression seamlessly shifted to one filled with worry, "Ah, you have no idea. Chen Yan has recently encountered many problems in his business."

Hearing Lu Man's explanation, Yu Qiao Qiao was indeed intrigued and couldn't help asking, "What problems?"

Lu Man said, "He's offended a powerful faction that spans politics and commerce, extremely influential."

"He simply hasn't been developing long enough to counter such forces."

"That's why I said he's in trouble now."

By now, Lu Man's acting skills had vastly improved compared to two years ago, making it easy for Yu Qiao Qiao to believe her words.

A bit nervously, she asked, "Then... is Chen Yan really in trouble?"

Lu Man, with a sorrowful look, nodded.

After nodding, she observed Yu Qiao Qiao's expression, felt inspired, and then said to her, "Qiao Qiao, since Chen Yan is finished, why don't we run away?"

"Run?" Yu Qiao Qiao was puzzled.

Lu Man nodded "seriously," "Yes. Look, we are people close to Chen Yan. If something happens to him, we'll easily be caught up in it."

"Don't think it's impossible. It's always portrayed like this in TV dramas. When the nest is overturned, no egg remains intact; if Chen Yan fails, we won't end well either."

"However, we have saved up quite a bit of money over the past two years. Our livelihood for the rest of our lives is absolutely secure."

"So, as long as we run fast, Chen Yan's enemies won't be able to catch us."

Hearing Lu Man's words, Yu Qiao Qiao stared at her in shock, her expression then solidified, "Sister Man Man! How could you think like that?"

"Chen Yan has been so good to us. Now that he's in trouble, how can we just run away?"

"We should stand by him and face this crisis together!"

Hearing Yu Qiao Qiao's words, Lu Man countered, "But he has no chance of success right now."

"Knowing the outcome will be a failure, why should we go down with him?"

"Isn't it better to save ourselves first?"

Yu Qiao Qiao looked seriously at Lu Man and said, "If we don't try, how will we definitely know it will fail?"

"According to you, Chen Yan's chances of winning are slim; if we all don't support him, won't his chances be even slimmer?"

Observing Yu Qiao Qiao's expression and listening to her words, Lu Man sighed inwardly.

'Sure enough, I shouldn't have hoped for that.'

'Right, if she was someone who would easily give up, Chen Yan wouldn't love her so much...'

Assessing Yu Qiao Qiao in her thoughts silently, Lu Man eventually stopped acting, her enthusiasm waned as she casually said, "Alright, if you won't leave, neither will I. I'll stay and accompany Chen Yan too."

But as she withdrew, Yu Qiao Qiao didn't.

She still thought all of this was real.

So, hearing Lu Man say that, Yu Qiao Qiao's face showed hesitation.

"Man...", she started to say but swallowed her words again.

After a moment, she sighed and whispered, "Sister Man Man. If you want to leave, just go."

"I won't stop you, and I won't tell Chen Yan."

"I think you're right; now that Chen Yan is in trouble, it could affect the people around him, so I can't selfishly ask everyone to stay with him. That's not fair."

"After all, your relationship with him is just business, so it's right to prioritize your safety."

Hearing Yu Qiao Qiao's words, Lu Man couldn't help but ask, "What about you?"

Hearing Lu Man's question, Yu Qiao Qiao's face broke into a sunny smile, a smile that seemed to warm everything,

"I'm not leaving. I will face this with Chen Yan."

"No matter what he faces, whatever the outcome, I won't regret..."

Staring at Yu Qiao Qiao's pure eyes, devoid of any impurity, looking at her innocent, fair face, Lu Man was momentarily spellbound.

After a long while, she hugged Yu Qiao Qiao tightly, cooing, "Qiao Qiao! Ditch Chen Yan and come with me~"

"What's so good about that big oaf."

"No sense of romance and doesn't know how to care for someone."

"Sister here is better, I will cherish you."

Saying so, Lu Man bore Yu Qiao Qiao to the bed amidst her giggles.

The two beautiful girls instantly entangled into one...

...

After a silent night, the next day, Yu Qiao Qiao got up from the bed, glanced at Lu Man, who was clutching her, mouth open, sleeping sweetly without any grace, a slightly bashful expression appeared on her face.

Then she discreetly removed Lu Man's arm from around her and tiptoed out of the bed.

Wrapping herself in an outer garment, Yu Qiao Qiao walked downstairs to the living room.

Looking out the window, Yu Qiao Qiao's thoughts inevitably returned to the situation with Chen Yan that Lu Man had mentioned the night before.

"Is Chen Yan really in trouble?"

"Should I help him now?"

Thinking this, Yu Qiao Qiao also recalled the note she kept in her hand.

Maybe it was time to use it?

With that thought, Yu Qiao Qiao silently made up her mind...

...

Meanwhile.

Chen Yan was also getting up from his bed, though with much more difficulty than Yu Qiao Qiao.

Zhao Ying was notoriously restless in sleep, entangling him like an octopus.

Moreover, given her inherent strength,

sometimes during her dreams, when she suddenly tightened her grip, Chen Yan found himself jolted awake.

And getting up in the morning felt like engaging in an arduous battle.

Chen Yan really exerted all his might, akin to an oxen or tigers' strength, along with a desperate effort, to peel Zhao Ying off him.

And due to this, Chen Yan finally affirmed one thing: Zhao Ying must actually like him.

If she wasn't holding back her strength, Chen Yan felt not even ten of himself would suffice against her.

Getting out of bed, Chen Yan went to the kitchen to make breakfast and then reconsidered his plans for the day.

After ensuring there were no issues, he left a note for Zhao Ying and then called Jiang Xiaoyun to drive him to Juilang headquarters to meet with Cao Weiguo.

On the way, Chen Yan took out his mobile phone, about to catch up on the day's news when he noticed a pop-up notification from a game the night before.

Chen Yan tapped to see the details and discovered it was a failure alert.

["Ultimate Test of Hell failed. Please wait for the next trigger."]

Looking at the prompt, Chen Yan was puzzled.

Failed? When did he fail?

Chen Yan thought he had handled everything perfectly last night, doing everything according to what Zhao Ying said, complying with all her requests. How could it have failed?

Thinking so, Chen Yan checked the time of the alert.

It was at 11:45 PM.

Chen Yan then reviewed the time he triggered the ["Ultimate Test"] and estimated the interval.

After calculating a few times, he roughly figured it must have been around bedtime when the system determined his test had failed.

Chen Yan started recalling the situation backward from that point.

He remembered Zhao Ying had asked him if they could fight again tomorrow, and he had agreed.

Before that, she had asked if he could teach her the "magic," and he had said he would when he had time.

Anything earlier than that was too distant from the timestamp.

Finishing his recollection, Chen Yan was thoroughly confused: his responses should have been correct. He had agreed to everything. So, why the failure?

Was he supposed to refuse?

Or...

Chen Yan paused.

A suddenly daring thought crossed his mind: Could it be... he should have agreed on the spot and started teaching Zhao Ying the "magic"?

Perhaps leading naturally to the second stage: knocking her down?

Chen Yan was momentarily stunned.

This couldn't possibly be the way to pass the test, could it?

Chen Yan hesitated.

Honestly, if it were any other girl, Chen Yan would've definitely tried right after having such a thought.

But with Zhao Ying...

Life only happens once. Chen Yan genuinely feared he might inadvertently lose his...

As Chen Yan was hesitating internally, the car slowly arrived at Juilang headquarters.

Chen Yan snapped back to the present, deciding to postpone dealing with this matter until he had handled the urgent issues, deciding to think over it slowly before bedtime.

So, he got out of the car, exchanged a few words with Jiang Xiaoyun, and walked straight into Juilang headquarters.

When Chen Yan entered, Cao Weiguo's secretary was already waiting there, quickly shepherding him upstairs.

Returning to Cao Weiguo's office, Chen Yan's mood was different from that of yesterday.

Once the door closed, Chen Yan took the initiative to walk over to the sofa and sit down, then spoke to Cao Weiguo, "Brother Cao, I have made the plans for what follows. Now it's up to you."

From Chen Yan's entrance, Cao Weiguo sensed something different about him today.

Although Chen Yan had always carried himself with the presence of someone in a high position, he had lacked a bit of dominance and assertiveness.

Such traits were exceedingly rare among young, successful billionaires like Chen Yan.

Yet today, Cao Weiguo saw them.

So he also became fully alert, asking, "General Manager Xiao Chen, what plans do you have?"

Chen Yan looked into Cao Weiguo's eyes quietly and then stopped inner monologues within his headphones, speaking slowly, "I want to press Zhao Qingtian."

Cao Weiguo's brows furrowed slightly.

Chen Yan, listening to his internal voices, continued speaking, "Remember the incident that Zhao Qingtian suppressed before?"

He answered his own question, "It was about his son's hit-and-run, and how he was unjustifiably recruited into university."

Cao Weiguo nodded.

Chen Yan stated, "I want to stir this matter up again."

Cao Weiguo hesitated before saying, "Wasn't this matter settled?"

Chen Yan smiled, "Who said it was over?"

"As long as people's mouths aren't shut, this matter will never end."

Cao Weiguo shook his head, stating, "General Manager Xiao Chen, this matter isn't as simple as you think."

"It involves many people who shouldn't be mentioned."

"So, once this matter gets exposed, there will be pressures from all sides requesting us to delete or reduce its exposure."

"I..."

Chen Yan interjected, "You can't offend them, can you?"

Cao Weiguo smiled wryly, "How should I say it? It's not that we can't offend them."

"But... there's no need."

"For such a small matter, it simply can't pose a threat to them or Zhao Qingtian."

"If Elder Brother Zhao wasn't in trouble, perhaps we could have applied some pressure on Zhao Qingtian, even use it to drive him out of Zhao Family. But now that Elder Brother Zhao is in trouble, there's no one to cooperate."

"Never mind those unmentionable people, even Zhao Qingtian wouldn't be affected."

"So, since it won't impact them, why offend them over such a trivial matter?"

Chen Yan smiled again, then said, "Since you don't want to offend, then let's not offend. If they want the post deleted, shield it, just delete and shield."

Cao Weiguo: ???

Cao Weiguo stared dumbfounded at Chen Yan, struggling to follow his logic.

Then he heard Chen Yan say, "Just, make your deletions and censorship not seem too petty."

"Don't just pull from trending topics. Make it clean."

"Delete it as soon as someone mentions it. If someone continues to post, then mute or ban them."

"When dealing with official media, don't be soft-hearted at all, delete and mute straight away."

"The cleaner and more thorough the task, the better. Understand?"

Hearing Chen Yan's instructions, Cao Weiguo felt a jolt, suddenly recalling a tactic often used by a certain group: Amplification…

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