Xu Maotong had no choice but to secretly give the directors a lot of benefits and promise them even more dividends in the future to suppress their objections. He had never felt so humiliated in his entire life! Of course, he had to vent his anger!
His first suspect was Xu Zifan. If Xu Zifan knew the truth of what happened back then, then his turning against him would make perfect sense. Xu Maotong wanted to expose Xu Zifan's scandal to improve his own image; for those unfamiliar with them, fighting fire with fire would be the most effective approach. But after thinking it over carefully and asking his assistant a few questions, he discovered that Xu Zifan actually had no dark history!
Xu Zifan never passes his exams, and Liang Yujie always ruins any relationships he gets along with. He has no good friends, doesn't race cars, gamble, frequent prostitutes, or do drugs, and doesn't even attend disreputable parties. He's truly self-disciplined. He just seems ignorant and has very low taste, but can that be used as a point of ridicule?
Now, Xu Zifan runs his own club and earns a lot of money. He's lost weight and looks much better. His clothing, hairstyle, and everything else are very fashionable and not at all tacky. So his past controversies are completely unfounded. If you really use those to mock him, netizens might even sympathize with Xu Zifan, thinking how much oppression he must have suffered to deliberately make himself look so miserable. He must have been a pitiful little thing under the control of a scumbag father and his mistress.
Xu Maotong wouldn't do something he wasn't sure of, so after thinking it over for a long time, he decided to make his move at a recent banquet. It was roughly the same method as Xu Zifeng's, only he was more thorough in his planning. This banquet was for a wealthy businessman in the industry to celebrate his father's birthday. The businessman was very filial, and if Xu Zifan were to foam at the mouth and collapse at the banquet, it would completely ruin the event and be extremely unlucky.
Even if the hospital later discovers that Xu Zifan ingested some kind of medication, the wealthy businessman will still blacklist him. Given the businessman's connections and status, even if he doesn't say anything, others will discreetly distance themselves from Xu Zifan, and might even sabotage him behind his back. Even if no one sabotages him, Xu Maotong can still arrange for someone to quietly cause trouble for Xu Zifan, and no one will suspect him; they'll only suspect that Xu Zifan offended the businessman and was punished.
On the day of the banquet, Xu Maotong's family would find a plausible excuse not to attend. With them absent, Xu Zifan would lower his guard and be more likely to fall into the trap. And with them absent, no one would suspect them. As long as the person in charge was clever enough, the whole thing could be done completely undetected.
This tactic is simple, brutal, and underhanded, but it's the most effective. Xu Maotong hasn't even revealed the identities of his people. It's a purely monetary transaction; those who need to get things done won't know who they're dealing with. Even if he's caught, interrogation won't reveal who orchestrated it.
Xu Zifan did attend the wealthy businessman's banquet, but he kept a close eye on Xu Maotong. Although he didn't discover what Xu Maotong had done, Xu Maotong had just lost a major project and should have been at such a banquet to discuss cooperation with others. Why didn't he come? Moreover, this kind of banquet was always Liang Yujie's favorite place. She liked to associate with people in high society, as if she were one of them, and she especially liked to hear others politely call her Mrs. Xu, as if she were already the legal wife.
But neither of them showed up. He was very cautious in this world, and whether it was intuition or not, he sensed a conspiracy and became even more careful at the banquet.
Xu Zifan first greeted the wealthy businessman and the birthday celebrant, presenting the prepared birthday gifts. The businessman was pleased and casually praised him a couple of times, and those around him echoed his sentiments. It's rare to see a second-generation heir like him, only 25 years old, not wasting his life but focusing on his career, especially considering his previously notorious incompetence. Seeing his composed demeanor now, everyone paid him some attention. The businessman was particularly pleased because Xu Zifan had lost weight and reached 80 kilograms. Although still a bit chubby, he was remarkably fair-skinned and handsome, his plump figure looking especially festive.
Isn't a birthday banquet all about good fortune and celebration? A wealthy businessman would greatly appreciate someone like Xu Zifan, with his cheerful appearance and thriving career, and casually struck up a conversation with him. Little did they know that this conversation would lead them and those around him to a completely new discovery: who said Xu Zifan was a fool! No matter what they said, Xu Zifan could respond, and respond well and meaningfully. Even when discussing business, Xu Zifan spoke eloquently and knowledgeably. If it weren't for the occasion, they would have loved to continue the conversation.
This is astonishing! A good-for-nothing couldn't possibly grow so much in such a short time unless he's always been this outstanding. So why was he a notorious good-for-nothing before? The group exchanged glances, understanding each other implicitly, and unanimously began to despise Xu Maotong. What was wrong with Xu Maotong that he would suppress such an excellent son to promote that troublesome brat? The most taboo thing for a head of a large family is being too self-serving. If the selection of an heir is this chaotic, the Xu family is likely on the decline.
This is just one of their ideas, but if they have the opportunity to cooperate with the Xu family in the future, they will probably think about it more. Given other options, the Xu family will definitely be abandoned.
Other guests arrived, and Xu Zifan politely left, not wanting to interrupt their conversation. A young master followed behind him, asking curiously, "You seem quite capable. How come I've always heard you're a good-for-nothing, unable to do anything, and even failing your exams?"
Xu Zifan lowered his eyes, considered for only a second, and said, "I did fail the exam. If I had excellent grades, I probably wouldn't have been able to finish my studies. As for the reputation of being a good-for-nothing, that's obviously something someone deliberately spread to make me look like one. I'm independent now, and I have enough ability to protect myself to be free. If I had a choice, who would want to be ridiculed as a good-for-nothing?"
The last sentence is so true. The young master thought about it and realized that it was true. Looking at the troubles Xu Zifan had with his family, he must have had a hard time in the past to swallow his anger and let others slander him. Otherwise, why would he have been ridiculed for so many years?
The young master looked at Xu Zifan with sympathy. "Now it's all right. My dad admires you. If you need help, you can try asking him."
The young master had just been standing next to the birthday celebrant. Xu Zifan guessed he was a relative of the wealthy businessman, but having never seen him before, he was hesitant to acknowledge him. He hadn't expected him to be the businessman's youngest son. He looked to be in his teens, somewhat spoiled and naive; otherwise, the family wouldn't have asked him such direct questions. But this was perfect. As the young host of the banquet, many second and third-generation heirs would surely try to befriend him and chat with him. Xu Zifan believed that this compassionate young master would definitely spread the word about him.
Xu Zifan chatted with him for a couple more minutes, and seeing that he had been called away by his friend, he went to the food section to get something to eat. A waiter passed by him and politely asked if he wanted some champagne. Xu Zifan glanced at the champagne on the tray, shook his head, and said, "No, thank you."
He went to pick out something to eat, and after finishing, he went to the restroom. When he came out, a passing waiter asked him if he wanted wine or champagne. Xu Zifan glanced at him and smiled, "No, thank you."
As the waiter left, he stared at his retreating figure for a while, then walked to a corner, took out his handheld computer, and typed rapidly. Moments later, he hacked into the banquet hall's surveillance archives. Xu Maotong was a villain who had killed people, and he had to be extremely careful to protect his life, especially since he constantly infuriated Xu Maotong, who probably dreamed of killing him.
This feeling of suspecting someone is trying to harm me every day is quite novel, but Xu Zifan likes it. It seems to make his life more fulfilling, as he has to complete the task of making his scumbag father angry every day.
He located the waiter in the surveillance footage, quickly searched using facial recognition, and soon found all the footage of the waiter appearing. He quickly scrolled through the footage and saw that the waiter who had asked him questions both times was the same person, and both times the waiter had seen him deliberately walk up to him beforehand. To be honest, the waiter acted very naturally, and if he hadn't been overly cautious, he would never have noticed anything amiss. Furthermore, if he didn't know hacking techniques, he wouldn't have noticed the waiter's unusual behavior at this point.
Xu Zifan continued flipping through the tray and discovered that every time the waiter served champagne to someone, he would cleverly rotate the tray, leaving a glass in the lower left corner. That glass of champagne was definitely suspicious.
He stroked his chin, chuckled, and casually returned to the banquet hall, putting away his laptop. He wouldn't stoop to something as underhanded as causing trouble at someone's birthday banquet, but he was quite interested in that glass of champagne. He wandered around for a moment, and sure enough, the waiter approached with his head down. This time, he extended his hand, and the angle at which he was facing the spiked champagne was perfect.
After the waiter left, Xu Zifan sent the CCTV screenshot of the waiter to the bodyguards outside. He had brought four bodyguards with him today, guarding all sides, so no matter which door the waiter came out of, they were sure they could catch him.
Xu Zifan walked into the crowd, passing several ladies who were chatting. Suddenly, someone called out to him, "Hello, are you the only one from the Xu family here today?"
Xu Zifan turned his head and saw a lady who had a lot of contact with Liang Yujie. Some of the others had contact with Liang Yujie, while others did not. So he smiled and said, "I'm sorry, I don't know. I haven't seen them yet."
The man asked in surprise, "You mean you're not in contact with them anymore? I remember seeing you at the banquet last time, and Yu Jie was with you the whole time. You... you don't actually believe those baseless rumors online, do you?"
Xu Zifan raised an eyebrow. It seemed this person was a friend Liang Yujie had asked to help clear her name at the banquet. Although the effect might not be significant, leaving people with the impression of being wronged was good enough. In this kind of occasion, no one would say anything too impolite; ambiguity was sufficient. But Xu Zifan didn't play by the rules. His smile vanished as he said, "Excuse me, have you known my father and his family for over twenty years? Otherwise, how would you know what is a rumor and what is the truth? I would never do something like recognizing a thief as my mother. It's perfectly normal for me not to associate with Ms. Liang."
The man probably didn't expect him to say that. Wouldn't most people just brush it off with a casual remark? What grown man would actually talk about family scandals with a woman like that! But Xu Zifan did say it anyway. She smiled awkwardly and said, "I'm sorry, maybe I didn't understand clearly. I just thought those might be rumors because I saw that Yu Jie has always treated you extremely well, far better than her own son. If not, then, then I apologize to you."
She adopted such a humble attitude that, logically, others would subconsciously assume she was right. But Xu Zifan immediately followed up with another sentence.