Rose Manor: Tycoon's Relentless Chase-Chapter 304 - 285: Apology and Clarification

Unfortunately, Ni Yiqiong miscalculated. Fu Jichen was not provoked by her words; his steps remained as steady as ever, without any pause, nor did he look back at her.

Ni Yiqiong felt like she was punching into cotton, utterly defeated.

She stood in the chilly hallway in her thin pajamas, and it wasn’t long before her body lost warmth, as if she had turned into an ice sculpture, with the corners of her eyes reddened from the cold.

The elevator numbers jumped to the twenty-sixth floor, Ni Yiqiong knew that the man had returned.

He had her in his grasp, knowing she would do as he said, so from the start, he never intended to waste more time on her, showcasing the demeanor of someone in a position of power to the fullest.

From beginning to end, in his eyes, she was just an insignificant passerby.

Perhaps, more decisively, he never regarded her at all.

Why?

What is so good about that Shen Jianian, who is ambiguously involved with other men, that Fu Jichen could endure this and still personally come for her.

Ni Yiqiong shivered, hugging herself as she returned to the room.

The computer screen on the coffee table had already gone dark. She kneeled stiffly on the carpet and lightly touched the touchpad, and the screen lit up.

The Weibo interface was clearly presented in front of her; the netizens’ scolding words aimed at Little N seemed like boomerangs, all hitting back at her.

She had no doubt about the truthfulness of Fu Jichen’s words; he was so cold-hearted that if she didn’t read the situation right, what awaited her would only be an unbearable ending.

Even if she was unwilling, she had no choice but to yield.

Ni Yiqiong bit her lower lip until it bled, tasting the metallic flavor of blood; she closed her eyes briefly and deleted that Weibo post, then redrafted one to clarify and apologize to the Little N mentioned in the article.

The previous Weibo post had sparked a heated discussion, and now with such self-contradictory actions, the fans would surely abandon her. This was a lighter consequence; the worst was that those bystanders eating popcorn would turn and attack her.

She had no choice, knowing that Fu Jichen was watching her Weibo, and if her clarification didn’t satisfy him, he still wouldn’t let her off.

Ni Yiqiong didn’t dare to click open the comment section; after sending out the clarifying blog post, she shut down the computer, as if it were a bomb, no longer daring to touch it.

On the twenty-sixth floor, Fu Jichen silently lay on the bed. Perhaps due to the chill clinging to him, Shen Jianian moved her brow when she got close, her head retreating into the blanket, without waking up.

Fu Jichen lightly patted her back through the blanket, like soothing a child to sleep. Once she was sleeping soundly, he lit up his phone and refreshed the "Jade Palace" homepage.

The newest update was her clarifying and apologizing blog post; it seemed she understood the consequences well and responded quickly.

Fu Jichen set down the phone, turned off the bedside lamp, and cuddled the person beside him to sleep.

The blanket was warm inside, Shen Jianian slept until past seven in the morning without waking; she rubbed her eyes, and her arm inadvertently bumped into firm muscle, nearly jolting her heart into her throat.

"Awake?" Fu Jichen had been tortured all night, getting less than three hours of sleep in total, but with a fixed biological clock, he woke early, stiff as a log, his voice hoarse to the extreme. "Did you sleep well?"

Shen Jianian took half a minute to restart her brain, remembering Fu Jichen’s stayover from last night, her face flushed all of a sudden.

"You, you get up first." She touched her pajama; although it was very conservative, a two-piece set with long sleeves and pants, after sleeping, the hem had slipped up to her armpits, nearly leaving her naked.

She silently pulled the hem down under the blanket.

The curtains were drawn; the bedroom’s lighting was dim, creating a suitable atmosphere.

Today is New Year’s Eve, the last day of the lunar calendar, and Fu Jichen has a whole day off, wanting to do nothing but linger in this warm domain with her.

Shen Jianian felt a hot presence approaching and instinctively held her breath, retreating her head backward, but a large hand controlled the back of her neck, pressing her towards him.

"Haven’t brushed your teeth..." Shen Jianian, clear about his intent, muttered in shy annoyance, pushing against his chest.

Fu Jichen turned over on top of her, watching her flit like a sparrow in his arms, seized the chance to kiss her lips, after which she obediently quieted, leaving only a dissatisfied whimper.

Getting out of bed was past eight. Shen Jianian stepped into slippers and went to the bathroom to wash up, remembering the chaos earlier in bed, causing her toes to curl.

She raised her head, seeing her own flushed face in the mirror, feeling somewhat unfamiliar.

The next second, Fu Jichen squeezed in, picked up her toothbrush, squeezed out toothpaste, and handed it to her: "I’ll go back to the old house to have a New Year’s reunion meal at noon." 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

Shen Jianian made a sound of "hmm," averted her gaze, and did not look at the mirror.

The sink was cluttered with men’s facial cleanser, aftershave, and a razor, placed alongside her skincare products. The two glass mouthwash cups were close together.

Shen Jianian had never thought she would be this intimate with a man, it felt too unreal.

She bit her tongue tip; it hurt, proving everything was real.

Fu Jichen stared at the mirror as someone zoned out while brushing their teeth, with slightly messy long hair, looking dazed and confused, making one’s heart soften.

While Shen Jianian applied skincare products, Fu Jichen went to the kitchen to make breakfast. She craned her neck to watch his back, and that surreal feeling was especially strong.

The phone rang with a message, Shen Jianian patted toner onto her face with her right hand and grabbed her phone with her left.

On WeChat, Pei Che asked her what time to leave, saying he would drive over to pick her up.

Shen Jianian replied: "I just woke up, haven’t had breakfast yet, I’ll go by myself later."

Pei Che: "It’s hard to get a cab on New Year’s Eve, better I pick you up."

Shen Jianian insisted on going by herself, Pei Che didn’t push further and went along with her wish.

Placing the phone back on the table, Shen Jianian suddenly noticed Bai Changxia’s message under Pei Che’s WeChat avatar. There was no red dot, indicating it had been read.

Full of doubts, Shen Jianian clicked in and read the blog post word by word, realizing that the "Little N" in the article was her, the man the blogger had a crush on was Fu Jichen, and the two people with mosaic cover in the photo were her and Pei Che.

Like Bai Changxia, Shen Jianian immediately guessed the blogger was Ni Yiqiong—when Ni Yiqiong introduced herself, she said her name came from "Jade Palace’s Jade".

With trembling fingers, Shen Jianian replied to Bai Changxia’s message: "I’m going to find Ni Yiqiong and talk to her in person, this is slander."

She was never best friends with Ni Yiqiong, and she didn’t give her advice on pursuing Fu Jichen, much less all those fabricated stories afterwards.

Bai Changxia: "?"

Bai Changxia: "Just woke up?"

Bai Changxia: "The matter is already resolved."

Subsequently, Bai Changxia sent a screenshot, showing the blogger named "Jade Palace" had publicly clarified and apologized, and the comments section was filled with criticism.

Jade Palace V: "I’m very sorry for taking up everyone’s time, hereby clarifying, Little N is not my best friend, we are co-tenants in the same building and have only met a few times. It’s my one-sided crush on that man, I also forced myself into Little N’s birthday party, that man has never shown any interest in me, he’s always liked Little N, and Little N was never ambiguously involved with any other man. It’s my own problem. Out of jealousy, I misunderstood momentarily and maliciously speculated about Little N, causing her negative impact, for which I sincerely apologize. That Weibo post has been deleted, and please refrain from spreading false information. I will be more cautious with my words in the future, and never again will I speak recklessly out of momentary anger. I also request everyone to supervise me, hoping to become a better Jade Palace."

"Damn, have any morals? Turns out the whole thing was self-directed and acted out?"

"Was it exposed, leaving no choice but to apologize?"

"Is there anyone unaware of this blogger’s deeds? This isn’t the first time she’s fabricated stories to attract attention! The internet really has no memory. Two years ago, there was a public spat with a major blogger, supposedly during a company event, she fell for a handsome guy and tried her hardest to seduce him, but the guy was married, and his wife was also a major influencer, thus began an intense spat on Weibo. I followed along and witnessed quite the drama."

"Some people have zero independent thinking skills, deserving the manipulation spinning them in circles. The moment I saw her post last night, I could tell it was made up, the entire article casting herself as an innocent and magnanimous victim, while trying hard to slander others, the level of performing was very evident."

"Who wants to hear your apology! This is called misunderstanding? This damn well is willful defamation! Truly good at excusing oneself! Impressive."

"Little N suffered atrocious bad luck, being maligned by the blogger like this. The mutual affection between them, who are you, a clown seeking presence online after not getting a response in reality."

"Retaliation is inevitable!"

Bai Changxia simply called Shen Jianian via video, and when Shen Jianian answered, Bai Changxia teased first: "Oh, you’re up?"

Shen Jianian pursed her lips, expressionless.

Bai Changxia coughed, reverting to the main topic: "Did you see the screenshots I sent you?"

"I saw them." Shen Jianian was very puzzled, "Why would she apologize voluntarily?"

Bai Changxia rolled her eyes, chuckling: "I texted you last night, you didn’t reply, then I called, Fu Jichen answered, he found out about this matter and probably went to find Ni Yiqiong. Otherwise, did you think she’d clear things up so readily?"

Shen Jianian fell silent, so Fu Jichen had resolved it.

Bai Changxia enthusiastically said: "Ni Yiqiong’s attempt to seduce a married man was exposed, and amid the chaos, that major influencer brought up her past deeds to confront her, it’s bustling online. She’s lucky it’s New Year, the buzz being overshadowed by the festivities, otherwise, with her antics, she’d definitely be trending!"