The next morning, a sharp beep-beep of a car horn pierced the air.
Song Yuncheng slowly opened her eyes. Last night, she had dreamed that after graduation, she joined an e-commerce company in Shanghai. Starting as a salesperson, she climbed her way up to become a senior executive at a listed company, earning an annual salary in the millions.
At that time, Chen Yansen's business had failed, and Meng Jie had left him. When he was at his lowest point, she, like a domineering CEO from an idol drama, said to him, "From now on, I'll take care of you."
Just as she was lost in the dream, a sudden noise woke her.
She struggled to sit up, and the bath towel wrapped around her slipped off. Only then did she realize she was completely naked.
Turning her head, she saw that the "pillow" she had been clinging to in her dream was actually Chen Yansen.
She instinctively wanted to wake him, but then remembered her state of undress and decided to get dressed first.
As she quietly slipped out of bed, she caught sight of the thermometer, cooling patches, fever medicine, and a used towel on the nightstand.
Song Yuncheng suddenly recalled the last thing she remembered: taking a shower. So, she had had a fever?
But how did I end up sleeping in Chen Yansen's arms all night? She couldn't make sense of it.
Chen Yansen was a light sleeper. Even though Song Yuncheng moved quietly, he still woke up.
"You're awake. Still feverish?" he asked with a light chuckle, noticing her bare feet on the carpet.
"Close your eyes!" Song Yuncheng hastily wrapped herself in the towel and shouted.
"I saw everything last night. What's there to hide now?" Chen Yansen yawned and teased.
Song Yuncheng froze, her fair, oval face instantly flushing bright red. With an "Ah!", she grabbed her clothes and rushed into the bathroom.
Three minutes later, she returned.
"Why are you staring? You passed out in the bathroom, and I took care of you all night!" Chen Yansen rolled his eyes, unbuttoning his shirt as he spoke, ready to take a shower and wake up properly.
"I don't believe you didn't take advantage," Song Yuncheng retorted, now fully dressed.
"Just a little," Chen Yansen admitted casually before taking off his shirt and walking shirtless into the bathroom.
Song Yuncheng quickly averted her gaze as he undressed, only stealing a glance once his footsteps faded.
That jerk actually has such a good body!
She swallowed hard, sighing inwardly, then shook her head vigorously, as if trying to dispel the chaotic thoughts.
"Chen Yansen is fine now. Song Yuncheng, you need to keep your distance. His girlfriend is next door—if she finds out, it'll be hard to explain," she silently warned herself, resting her chin in her hand.
"Have you forgotten yesterday's confession? You're the bad guy trying to break up a relationship. Stop pretending."
One thought led to another.
A wave of unease, panic, and guilt washed over her. Song Yuncheng grabbed her backpack and bolted for the door.
Yesterday, she had longed to see Chen Yansen; today, she desperately wanted to avoid him.
Thud!
Chen Yansen, in the middle of applying shower gel, was utterly baffled. He thought Song Yuncheng had gone downstairs to the restaurant for breakfast.
When he came out after his shower, he found her backpack gone too, and a text message on his phone: "Returning to Xucheng."
Is this woman crazy?!
Chen Yansen tossed his phone onto the bed, looking both helpless and exasperated.
He couldn't help but think of Cheng Guo—the girl who'd dress up in different cosplays for him: Spider-Man, Black Widow, Avatar, Angemon… always knowing how to make him smile.
But then he remembered that in 2010, Cheng Guo was probably still in kindergarten, and the sentiment vanished instantly.
Chen Yansen changed into clean clothes and texted Meng Jie as he walked out.
Meanwhile, keywords like "FoxTao Reports to Police" and "FoxTao Offers 10x Compensation for Fakes" quietly climbed into the top ten trending searches.
A bottle of Moutai was priced at 1,499 yuan. Customers could now contact FoxTao's customer service with an authentication certificate from the China National Institute of Food and Drug Control or the Moutai Anti-Counterfeiting Office to receive 14,990 yuan in compensation.
The once-critical comments section suddenly turned harmonious.
Wang Zihao, through his inspection network, obtained contact information for the 23 users who had filed joint complaints. He instructed the customer service team to reach out to each one with a simple, direct approach: ask for their bank account number and transfer the money immediately!
As soon as users opened FoxTao's homepage, a pop-up announcement for "10x Compensation for Counterfeits" appeared.
Before the news of "FoxTao Selling Fake Moutai" could fully spread, Chen Yansen had already used this "10x Compensation" apology to quickly regain user trust.
"Lost out on 15,000 yuan! If I'd known, I would've used two more queue-jumping codes!"
"@FoxTao CEO Chen Yansen, when will you sell Moutai again? I'll definitely support you!"
"Pfft! 'Support'? Just say you want to make money!"
"I think Chen Yansen is a good guy—bold and responsible. Besides, the investigation isn't over yet. Maybe he was framed."
In the Weibo comments, some regretted missing out on the Moutai, some mocked, and others began defending Chen Yansen and FoxTao. This trend grew increasingly evident, with more and people speaking positively about FoxTao.
Eventually, several Shanghai netizens who had bought the fake Moutai spoke up: "Mr. Chen's character is solid. Just for daring to promise '10x compensation for fakes,' I'll keep buying from FoxTao."
After receiving the compensation, the attitudes of those who bought the fake liquor shifted dramatically, all praising Chen Yansen.
Following the broadcast of Chen Yansen's interview on E-Commerce Morning News and Shanghai News, public opinion shifted sharply. People had initially thought CPS shopping platforms like FoxTao only cared about profits and ignored product quality.
But after watching the interview, they learned FoxTao sent samples of every flash-sale item for testing, with strict quality control by professionals.
The problematic batch of Moutai even had a compliance report from the National Institutes for Food and Drug Control—proof that FoxTao had done its due diligence. The real culprit was likely Jiushen.com.
In an instant, FoxTao became the innocent victim, while Jiushen.com was branded the villain.
Netizens demanded a thorough investigation of Jiushen.com, suspecting it of selling counterfeits mixed with genuine products. Some even called the Industry and Commerce Bureau and the Market Supervision Bureau, overwhelming Liu Zhicheng.
Fortunately, that evening, the inspectors brought good news.
Tracing the shipping route from Yancheng to Shanghai, they finally found a clue at the Yizhou sorting center.
Surveillance footage from December 20 was missing 27 minutes.
Surveillance technology at the time was relatively simple, lacking automatic anomaly detection or package tracking. If the culprits hadn't deleted the footage, the inspectors might never have noticed.
But guilt had driven them to tamper with the recordings.
This counterfeit liquor scandal involved hundreds of thousands of yuan. Both buyers and sellers had filed reports, and an 18-year-old college student entrepreneur was implicated. With constant social media trends, the inspectors were under immense pressure.
Once they had the lead, the rest was straightforward.
It turned out two sorting clerks and a security guard had swapped genuine liquor for fakes, reselling them to liquor dealers for 76,000 yuan.
Chen Yansen scoffed when he heard—he never expected to end up at an inspection station over such a small sum.
The truth was out!
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Jiushen.com immediately contacted several Weibo influencers overnight to release the full story.
They also posted a lawyer's letter on Weibo demanding:
Compensation for reputational damage to Jiushen.com;
Compensation for user complaints and refunds caused by the counterfeit liquor;
Compensation for indirect losses such as reduced orders and customer churn.
An hour later, FoxTao's legal department sent a similar lawyer's letter to Yunsu Express.
The two companies joined forces, determined to crush this courier company!
There was no other choice—no one was truly innocent. If the investigation wasn't thorough, FoxTao and Jiushen.com would have to take the fall.
Jiushen.com, which had aimed to make a big splash in the online liquor market, was suddenly hit by disaster, potentially crippling its plans. As for FoxTao, the impact on its financing and valuation alone was enough to make Yunsu Express pay dearly.
Even if they didn't get much compensation in the end, Yunsu's reputation was ruined. Who would want to cooperate with them now?
Furious, Liao Wei, owner of Yunsu Express, vented his anger on those involved, even using his connections to push for severe punishment for the three. Despite their families offering compensation, Liao Wei refused to budge. He issued a statement overnight:
"Due to management loopholes, significant losses have been caused to Jiushen.com and FoxTao. We sincerely apologize and hereby dismiss the employees involved. We will strengthen monitoring processes in the future..."
His attitude seemed sincere, almost like surrender.
Liao Wei first called Liu Zhicheng, who hung up immediately without a word.
He then desperately sought connections to plead for leniency, but was advised: "Jiushen.com and FoxTao have been trending for two days, and their orders have halved. They need to vent. Just bear it for now."
The big boss of Jiushen.com was from the Tsinghua business circle—a far cry from Liao Wei's rough-around-the-edges background. With extensive connections and resources, he'd secured a partnership with Moutai right after starting his business. He didn't take Liao Wei seriously at all.
Meanwhile, Chen Yansen's Weibo followers skyrocketed to 2.6 million, and his first pinned post was the lawyer's letter targeting Yunsu Express.
Sitting in his office, Liao Wei panicked. If Chen Yansen kept cursing Yunsu on Weibo every day, he might as well be dead.
"Boss, the families of those three employees are still making trouble downstairs. Should we call the police?" The assistant knocked and entered, speaking softly.
"Where are the guards? Are they just collecting paychecks? Get them out of here!" Liao Wei slammed the table in anger.
"Yes, boss!" The assistant nodded and turned to leave.
"Wait!" Liao Wei suddenly had an idea, called the assistant back, and whispered a few instructions.
"Boss, what if they're heartless?" The assistant was stunned, finding the idea unrealistic.
"They're determined to ruin me. What else can I do?" Liao Wei shrugged, looking like a rogue.
"Alright, I'll handle it right away." The assistant understood his boss's predicament. Yunsu was only four years old, and its growth had been strong—it had even signed an exclusive deal with Jiushen.com.
Who could have predicted such a landmine at the start of their partnership?
The assistant left the office, said a few words to the troublemaking families downstairs, then turned back.
He didn't want to deal with these scoundrels. Caught stealing, yet still daring to cause trouble at the company—unbelievable. The world was full of all kinds of people.
Chen Yansen and Meng Jie played until the afternoon of the 26th before taking the high-speed train back to Xucheng.
Three days had passed since he was taken to the inspection station.
The second floor of the startup park was calm again, except for a few empty workstations.
"Brother Sen, you're finally back!"
With sharp eyes, Xiang Pengfei spotted Chen Yansen at the stairwell, shouted, and rushed over with open arms.
Chen Yansen sidestepped, looking at him disdainfully as if to say, What's with the hug, big guy?
The others gathered around too, their eyes full of grievance, looking at Chen Yansen as if he were their father.
During the days he was gone, they had truly been panicked.