Her eyes were fixed on the cracked phone screen, so angry she could barely breathe, her body trembling.
On that rainy night, how had Shi Xinxin recorded the conversation! Su Li took a deep breath. If she had known Shi Xinxin was so cunning back then, she should have kept up the act!
Now, she was still caught by her with another handle, and the split-screen on the internet had already started attacking her. If this continued, she would only face endless negative comments, and it might even have a significant impact on the company!
The thought that her painstakingly managed company would be affected by this matter gave Su Li a bigger headache. Her bloodshot eyes were filled with hatred.
Just then, her phone, which had been thrown against the wall, suddenly rang, breaking through the chaotic plans in Su Li's mind.
Her mood grew more irritable. She strode forward several steps, picked up the phone, and almost broke down, "Who is it!"
From the other end came Ding Xi's equally furious voice, "You dare to ask me who it is? Do you know how much trouble I'm in because of you!"
Hearing it was Ding Xi, Su Li's tone improved slightly. She frowned, "What's going on?"
Ding Xi sneered, "What's going on? I think you know best. You tricked me into spreading rumors about Shi Xinxin online with you. But now, all the rumors about her have been cleared up, and our scheme has been exposed to the public!"
"I don't know where she got the recording from. I was unaware of it, which is why I wanted to cooperate with you," Su Li said, her head spinning. She paced around frantically, extremely annoyed.
Now her meticulously laid plans were in ruins, and she had lost the trust of Ding Xi, her most beneficial partner. What should she do next? Su Li tightly clenched her hands, her fingernails digging into her palms, causing a sharp pain.
Ding Xi continued, "I don't want to hear your excuses. Go and see how many people are scolding me on Weibo. In any case, I want you to come forward and personally clarify all of this, stating that these matters have nothing to do with me!"
CL, for some reason, had found several witnesses from the mall that day and had also retrieved surveillance footage of Ding Xi and Su Li together in the mall.
This information was posted online, and it spoke for itself. Coupled with a public account exposing the events of the previous banquet, netizens had almost figured out the whole story.
It was simply two jealous and vicious women who wanted to conspire to ruin Shi Xinxin's reputation. The online consensus for this explanation had reached a staggering seven hundred thousand likes! And the comments beneath Ding Xi and Su Li's posts were filled with nothing but sarcastic remarks.
If this continued, Ding Xi couldn't bear to think of the consequences. Her already tarnished reputation would only worsen!
"Don't worry, I'll find a way to resolve this. Don't let this become a rift between us."
Ding Xi was the best person to exploit right now, so Su Li had to patiently placate her.
Ding Xi snorted dismissively, "If you had a solution, you would have solved it already. Why wait until now?"
"Listen carefully. I want one of two outcomes: either you clarify the entire process of this matter, or you clarify about me and clear me from this incident!"
Hearing this, Su Li's eyes slowly widened, and her voice gradually rose, "What do you mean by that? You want to distance yourself from this matter?"
Ding Xi admitted, "Yes, I can't let my reputation be further damaged because of this. Anyway, you were the one who brought this up with me in the first place. At most, I was just an onlooker."
Listening to her eagerness to distance herself, Su Li's chest heaved, and she clenched her fists tightly. "So, you want me to bear all of this alone?"
"It was your idea from the beginning. Is there anything wrong with you bearing the consequences now?" Ding Xi said coldly.
A surge of anger shot up into Su Li's chest. Without thinking, she blurted out, "Impossible! The public knows that you and I are allies. If you try to distance yourself now, it's simply impossible!"
Ding Xi scoffed, "It's just a matter of spending some money to hire some internet trolls. I can afford that."
She delivered her final ultimatum: "If I don't see a clarifying statement about me by tomorrow, then you'd better wait and see how soon your company goes bankrupt."
"You!" Su Li roared.
Before she could angrily retort, Ding Xi had already hung up the phone.
Su Li was left holding the phone, her hands trembling with rage!
The situation was already bad enough, and she had been planning to use Ding Xi as a scapegoat to get herself out of it. Now, Ding Xi had turned the tables and completely disrupted all of Su Li's possible solutions!
The next moment, malice flashed in Su Li's eyes. She would not let Ding Xi get away with her plan so easily. If she couldn't have a good time, neither should Ding Xi!
In any case, it was worth having someone to take the fall for the consequences of this incident!
No, Su Li quickly abandoned this thought. She leaned back, her gaze vacant as she stared at the ceiling.
She thought of what Ding Xi had said before hanging up, and her heart sank further into the abyss.
After spending so many days together, she had long understood that Ding Xi was as arrogant, foolish, and vicious as rumored. She left no room for anyone.
If Su Li impulsively exposed her, Ding Xi would likely, as she threatened, use her influence to crush the Su family.
The Ding family behind Ding Xi was fully capable of this. It was possible that the Ding family, to protect Ding Xi's reputation, might even use their influence to attack the Su family. This was the worst-case scenario!
Su Li couldn't let the Su family end up like this. She forced herself to calm her agitated heart and racked her brain for methods she hadn't yet considered.
Just then, her phone, which she had thrown on the sofa, buzzed with a message notification.
Su Li picked up her phone with a grim expression to check the message. It was from her company assistant, informing her that the Shilo Competition would be held in Country S next week.
Seeing the words "Shilo Competition," Su Li thought of something, and her heart, which had sunk to the bottom, gradually began to rise. Light gradually appeared in her eyes.
Her fingertips tapped on the screen as she typed: Participate.
The next day, Shi Xinxin was still worried about the safety of the three little treasures. So, she reluctantly made them stay at home for a few days, and only after confirming there was no danger outside would she let them attend their advanced classes.
However, considering that these three might come up with new tricks while she was away, Shi Xinxin made them take online classes with the teachers from the advanced class.
The teachers from the advanced class were more than happy about this. Although these three were geniuses, it was precisely because of this that all their teaching methods were ineffective on them. They had already understood the knowledge and philosophy better than the teachers.
This made the teachers from the advanced class very distressed.