The Mysterious Heiress: Researcher In Disguise

In the capital, at the Xu Family’s residence…

Fu Zhi brought the painting to Xu Jiuzhou.

Xu Jiuzhou was the head of the Xu Family in the capital, as well as an expert at restoring relics and antiquities.

The Fu Corporation had yet to respond to the claims that Fu Zhi owed the Ford Family nearly 2 billion dollars. At one o’clock that afternoon, Xu Jiuzhou contacted the largest museum in China and donated the painting “Moonlight of Spring River”.

The donation of cultural relics was considered a big issue. On top of that, the painting “Moonlight of Spring River” had been taken back from the Ford Family with a dishonest approach. For a moment, the internet was divided once more. Some people were happy about it, while others were filled with apprehension.

Even though a lot of reporters wanted to interview someone from the Fu Corporation, no one could get to them at all. As a result, they could only praise the president of the Fu Corporation for his patriotism as well as boast about Xu Jiuzhou’s superb craftsmanship and his dedication to promoting traditional Chinese culture.

Someone commented on the post.

[What the hell? Don’t you know that Fu Zhi stole the painting from the Ford Family?]

[Honestly, this dude is smart. Not only did he shirk his responsibility to return the money after being scolded by the internet, but he also immediately passed the painting to Xu Jiuzhou and asked him to hand the painting back to the museum. I’m guessing he wants Xu Jiuzhou to pay for the painting as well!]

[Ugh, he disgusts me. I’m not using any products of the Fu Corporation anymore!]

Where there was the sound of opposition, there was the sound of support as well.

As more and more people replied to the post, another group of opposing views popped up right then and there.

[We’re just getting back artifacts that belong to our country, so why should we pay for them? The apple never falls far from the tree. Mia is a thief, so I’m sure her father is more or less the same!]

[I’m confused. The Fu Corporation is the biggest corporation in our country. Do you guys really think they need this kind of thing to promote themselves?]

[If you guys like them so much, then go and stay with them! In my opinion, I think President Fu has done the right thing. Also, to answer the guy who said he doesn’t want to use any products of the Fu Corporation anymore, you may not be aware of it, but the internet you’re using right now is developed by the Fu Corporation as well. If you don’t want to use any products of theirs, then you might not even be able to be a keyboard warrior anymore.]

…

Different netizens had different points of view. Some of them were against this, while others supported the Fu Corporation. The argument between the netizens caused the post to receive more and more attention from different sectors. Several commercial accounts that were hellbent on bringing the Fu Corporation down copied the post, edited it, and published it on Weibo, giving rise to even more turmoil.

Since the topic was related to an elite family, it caught the attention of the netizens on Weibo.

It was just that they could not convince each other, as all of them were very firm on their own viewpoint. In the end, a small group of more mature netizens showed up and called for a ceasefire, asking everyone to stay calm and wait for the official explanation of the Fu Corporation.

However, there were also a few bigoted netizens who went to leave hate-filled comments in the official Weibo account of the president of the Fu Corporation.

[Go and cry with Gu Yan in jail, thief!]

…

Ever since Fu Zhi had taken over the helm of the company, the Fu Corporation had ceased participating in network marketing to promote their products in the past two years. Unless there was a free product, they would not show up in public.

When Xi Man, Fu Zhi’s secretary, saw those posts, he frowned. He could not fathom why those people had to be so harsh to Fu Zhi, and he wanted to pick up his keyboard and fight with them to defend her.

“Ah Man.” However, before he could put his thoughts into action, a clear voice erupted behind him. “When the situation on Weibo settles down a bit, help me publish this video on our official account.

“Also, don’t forget to run a check on those paid posters. They are very familiar with how the Fu Corporation does things, so they wouldn’t simply sling mud at us. I’m sure someone is backing them up. Perhaps it’s one of our competitors.”

After Fu Zhi finished speaking, she grabbed a pillow, pulled it into her arms, and dropped down on the couch to catch up on her sleep.

Xi Man did not know what to say.

He did not know why, but Fu Zhi seemed rather unconcerned by the fact that she was in the eye of the storm right now.

That said, since Fu Zhi had given this order, he could only obey. Therefore, he did not publish the video, for the war on the internet had not ended yet.

Just as everyone was busy sharing their own opinion on the matter, Xu Jiuzhou reposted a post that accused Fu Zhi of making Xu Jiuzhou her scapegoat so he would pay the 750 million dollars to the Ford Family and commented, [The painting “Moonlight of Spring River” is a masterpiece of calligraphy made by the hand of my grandfather, Master Xu Lan, and has been passed down from generation to generation until my great-grandfather’s generation.

[My father used to say that my great-grandfather was a porcelain master of the Xu Family. He was also a trailblazer that protected China’s intangible cultural heritage. When the Nation Alliance invaded China and tried to take our family’s porcelain-making technique, he was the one who hid my grandfather in the wine cellar, smashed all the porcelain, and set up a fire to burn the Xu Residence to the ground to protect the porcelain-making technique that belonged to our country from falling into wrongful hands. Unfortunately, we couldn’t ship out a few paintings, such as “Moonlight of Spring River” and “Dynasty Flower”, in time before they were stolen by Captain Ford from Country M.

[My great-grandfather was a humble man, but he was as great as other cultural relic conservationists. He perished in this war, which was not known to many people but was then forgotten with time.

[Like the proverbial elephant, although the internet has an infallible and durable memory, most of the netizens only remember that the Fu Corporation was reluctant to pay for the cultural relics. However, do you guys remember that those cultural relics were taken away from us? And are you familiar with the fact that in the past few years, the cultural relics that were paid out because of the cession, each of them amounting to more than a billion, were redeemed at the Fu Corporation’s expense?]

…

Xu Jiuzhou was an archeology bigwig, and his post was the most intuitive and positive explanation for the whole incident.

The entire internet was both shocked and filled with disbelief.

However, there was always a group of people that thought differently from the masses. Their statements were often misleading if one did not pay attention to what they said. Immediately, Xi Man released a video through the official account of the Fu Corporation. The video had a dark tone, and cultural relics that were displayed in Country M’s museum appeared in the video one after another.

On top of the video was a caption edited by Fu Zhi: [If cultural relics can be measured with money, how should the lives of the conservationists be measured?]

In particular, to facilitate the display of some of the paintings, the Ford Family had utilized the mounting method developed by Country R and glued the paintings onto wooden boards before hanging them up for display. To speed up the transportation process, they had cut off the limbs of the Buddha statue, and even the mason jars that they used to store pickled vegetables were made of porcelain of the Qing Dynasty. All these things could be seen on Mia’s Instagram.

The National Museum also added that several museums from other countries had sent professional help more than once to restore Chinese relics in Country M, only to find themselves unable to do so because the cultural relics were badly damaged by the early tawdry operations.

This was an undeniable fact. The younger generation of netizens swarmed into Mr. Ford’s Instagram, and the accounts of the netizens from Country M cursed President Fu.

The netizens from Country M mocked them for their bad manners, while the netizens from China argued. [You guys should be thankful that I can’t travel overseas now, or all of you would have been as good as dead. President Fu is the greatest! He’s the protector of our country’s culture, and if you guys don’t return our cultural relics, we will boycott the products of Country M!]

All the netizens were already infuriated since learning it was Mia who had asked Gu Yan to steal Fu Zhi’s flash drive. Right now, they finally found a window to unleash their pent-up anger, so they created countless accounts and filled Mr. Ford’s Instagram with anger-ridden comments.

At the same time, in China…

The Fu Corporation had formed a Cultural Relics Preservation Support Association with the National Museum, calling on those abroad who had seized China’s cultural relics to come forward and return the relics so that the relics could be returned to the country they originally belonged to.

Riding on the clout brought forth by the hot searches on Weibo, a number of patriotic and enthusiastic young people joined the association.

Other than a few stubborn netizens, numerous netizens flocked to President Fu’s Weibo.

[President Fu, I want to bear a child for you!!]

Even Fu Zhao’s Weibo could not escape the fate of getting swamped with countless netizens.

[Dad, do you need a daughter-in-law? Please look at me. I’m not coveting your son. I just want to help the Fu Family continue the family line by bearing a child!]

Each and every one of them attached a photo of themselves after leaving a comment. There were both girls and boys, and all of them were good-looking.

However, Fu Zhi had not expected to see a certain person in the comment section of her main Weibo account.

Xu Wei: [Ahhh! My husband is so handsome and cool!]

Fu Zhi was speechless.

‘I treat you as my mother, and you want to be my wife?’

Fu Zhi clicked into Xu Wei’s Weibo. Xu Wei was very low-key. She just shared some flower pictures, selfies, and some news of her idols on her Weibo.

Fu Zhi thought for a while, logged into her main Weibo account, and left the comment “You’re pretty” on one of her selfies to make her happy.

A second later, she received a message from Lu Jingqing, who had been keeping a watchful eye on Xu Wei’s Weibo this whole time.

[Please behave yourself, President Fu. Xu Wei has a family, and she’s the mother of two sons and a daughter. Please do not interfere with other people’s families and cause a series of unnecessary emotional disputes.]

Fu Zhi instinctively replied to her father’s comment, [Dad, you have misunderstood.]

She did not realize that she was using her main Weibo account, and Lu Jingqing was dumbfounded when he received the message.

‘President Fu called me dad? Could he think I’m Xu Wei’s father?’

Lu Jingqing’s face sank. “I’m Xu Wei’s husband, not her father. Even if I was her father, I would not allow you to come after Xu Wei. I’ll say it one last time: Please behave yourself, President Fu!”

Fu Zhi was speechless.

It seemed to her that Lu Yumo had infected their father with his air-headedness.

Of course, it could also be because Lu Jingqing did not know she was the president of the Fu Corporation.

Thus, Fu Zhi took a deep breath and replied, “Please don’t get me wrong, Jingqing. I’m not a suspicious guy, and I’m definitely not trying to woo Weiwei. Anyway, just focus on your work and earn more money for your family. Ask Weiwei to go to bed early and don’t let her stay up late to catch up on her drama. It’s not good for her eyes.”

Lu Jingqing was stumped.

‘I’m sorry, but you’ve just made yourself even more suspicious!’

*

On the other side of the city, at the Li Family’s residence in the capital…

Old Master Li was having tea time with a group of his friends.

Most of them were cadres who had retired from the military.

When they came together, they began to talk about the current issues going on in their country.

“I heard that the president of the Fu Corporation is planning something big again!”

“What is he planning to do this time?”

“He’s recruiting a husband for his daughter! The news is all over the internet! I heard from my son that many young geniuses have swarmed into Fu Zhao’s Weibo, begging to be his son-in-law. My son even posted my grandson’s picture and family information, and it was tagged in one of the top three comments in the comment section!”

The old man played with his teacup and grinned. “It would be great if my grandson married Fu Zhao’s daughter!”

Old Master Li’s heart skipped a beat when he heard that. He quickly pulled his phone out, and he could not sit still anymore when he saw the post on Fu Zhao’s Weibo.

He noticed that it was not only men who were going after Fu Zhi. Some women were joining the fray to fight for her as well. Most importantly, Fu Zhao had replied to several comments.

Old Master Li’s heart had never pounded so fast before. He figured that he had to do something, so he jerked up from his chair and left his friends behind.

He went into his car and made a beeline for the Li Corporation. After he took the elevator and barged into the meeting room, he kicked all the executives out and slammed the door shut.

Right now, his brain was filled with images of his granddaughter-in-law running away with another man and the Li Family falling apart because of Li Nanli’s incompetence. Thus, he smacked the table hard and said, “I should’ve let your father eject you on the wall that year. You refuse to read “Men’s Virtues” and you can’t even do your job right as Fu Zhi’s No. 1 bootlicker. Zhizhi is going to marry another man. Are you happy now?!”

The man sitting in the chair frowned. His pretty eyes were thin slits as he said, “What happened?”

“B*stard! You have the nerve to ask that?!” Old Master Li snapped and threw his phone at Li Nanli. “Look! See for yourself! Look how many people are after Zhizhi. The top three pursuers are the descendants of bigwigs of the military, the political scene, and the business sector. Even though the internet does not support them right now, all three of them are good-looking, so it will only be a matter of time before the netizens begin to change their stance!”

Li Nanli raised his head from the phone and looked at his grandfather. Then, in a lazy voice, he said, “But I’m rich.”

He pulled out his phone and called Fu Zhi.

However, the call did not get through, and a mechanical voice rang out. “The number you have dialed is unavailable…”

“See! Zhizhi doesn’t want to pick up your call! She’s avoiding you!” Old Master Li bristled, his voice thick with sobs. “The other day, someone also told me that Fu Zhao is going to hold a matchmaking banquet for his daughter.”

Li Nanli frowned as a hint of annoyance crossed his face. He put his phone away and said, “Don’t think too much. Go home first. I will take care of this matter.”

“How are you going to take care of this matter? Right now, you should write down your information below the post and hire some paid posters to help like your comment so that Fu Zhao will notice you!”

Li Nanli did not know what to say.

Old Master Li gritted his teeth in exasperation upon seeing Li Nanli’s indifferent reaction to the matter. “If I was younger, do you think you’d still have a chance to go after Zhizhi?!”

‘Holy sh*t! What the hell am I talking about?! Argh, it’s all this dumb*ss’ fault!’

Li Nanli pinched the spot between his eyebrows and said, “This matter is between me and Zhizhi. I will take care of it. You don’t have to be so worried about us.”

Old Master Li did not know what to say anymore. He waved his hand in annoyance and began walking toward the door.

“What’s the point of looking for a husband for his daughter? All men are good-for-nothings. Even though my grandson is useless, I will take care of Zhizhi with all my heart. There will not be any relationship issues, and she won’t have to worry about anything at all. How wonderful!”

Li Nanli was speechless.

“Matchmaking banquet, huh…” he muttered.

He figured that he had to hurry up and think of a way to do something about it. In any case, he would not allow anyone to meddle in his relationship with Fu Zhi.

Thus, he sent a text message to Fu Zhi on WeChat. [I’m back in the capital. Are you free tomorrow? Do you want to meet up?]