Chapter 267: The Card Is Frozen

Chapter 267: Chapter 267: The Card Is Frozen

Overwhelmed by humiliation from Nan Zhi and Qi Pei’er’s tag-teaming, Chang Mu finally couldn’t stand it any longer. She turned and fled.

"Anyone who didn’t know better would think *we* were the ones bullying *her*!"

Qi Pei’er scoffed in disdain.

"She can’t even handle this? We haven’t even gotten to the good part yet!"

Nan Zhi just smiled, not saying a word.

But as it turned out, the events that followed wouldn’t require Qi Pei’er to lift a finger at all...

Chang Mu’s assistant was quite capable, managing to finish the draft her ladyship demanded within the 30-minute deadline.

However, when Chang Mu came storming back, she ran right into her assistant.

The assistant, sensing her foul mood, spoke in a much softer voice.

"The draft is ready..."

She handed it over, trembling.

Without even a glance, Chang Mu snatched the tablet and hurled it away.

"What is this? It’s complete bullshit!"

The assistant, feeling wronged, muttered,

"You didn’t even look at it..."

"Do I even need to read trash like this?"

She didn’t. All Chang Mu wanted was a punching bag to take her anger out on.

In that instant, the assistant understood. The fury of an overworked employee erupted from within her, blazing to life.

"Fine, then! Write it yourself!"

Chang Mu had never imagined her meek, submissive assistant would dare to speak to her like that!

"You! You!"

"What about me? What century are you living in? Did you really think that just because you pay me, I have to slave away for you like some feudal serf? Get a grip! The Qing Dynasty fell a long time ago!"

The assistant summoned all her courage, finally unleashing the resentment she had bottled up for so long.

Chang Mu was dumbfounded.

"A-Are you quitting?"

The assistant sneered.

"Fine by me! And for the record, I’m not quitting. I’m firing *you*!"

With that, she stalked off without giving Chang Mu so much as a second glance.

Chang Mu flew into a rage, cursing the assistant up and down.

"Everyone’s bullying me... They’re all bullying me..."

She felt utterly wronged, as if she were the most pitiful soul in the entire world.

The only one she could turn to for help was the system.

But of all times, the system was as silent as a corpse, giving no response to her pleas.

’But... it was just punishing me with an electric shock a moment ago!’

’See? Even the system is unreliable!’

Chang Mu wiped away her tears of indignation and said hatefully,

"Don’t you dare think I can’t manage without you!"

She then pulled out her phone, planning to call her father and have him send two new assistants over...

The call wouldn’t go through.

Chang Mu frowned and muttered to herself,

"Is the signal bad?"

She then tried calling her father’s secretary and his assistant.

The first call wouldn’t go through, and the second went unanswered.

"What the hell is wrong with everyone!"

Chang Mu cursed under her breath, but she had no other way to contact her father, who was abroad.

After wringing her hands for a long while, she finally resigned herself to her fate and picked up the tablet she had just thrown.

She pressed the power button a few times. Thankfully, it still turned on, and she easily found the draft her assistant had written.

Chang Mu glanced over it and huffed,

"It’s barely passable."

With that, without changing a single word, she copied the text directly to her Weibo and posted it.

The apology, written by her assistant, was worded earnestly, each line ringing with sincerity.

It began by apologizing to the public and acknowledging their anger.

It then clarified that her personal relationship with Lai Liang wasn’t close; they were merely professional partners introduced by a third party.

Finally, it acknowledged her share of responsibility in the matter and stated that she would be making a personal donation to an elementary school in a remote, impoverished region as a gesture of her sincerity.

As soon as the apology was posted, the fierce condemnation aimed at Chang Mu died down by at least half.

[That’s a good point. Everyone needs to be rational.]

[Chang Mu probably doesn’t have much to do with that scoundrel. They only partnered up for the show. She got screwed over too.]

[A menace like Lai Liang is one bad apple that spoils the whole barrel. Chang Mu’s original intentions were good, and now she’s been dragged down with him! Such bad luck!]

[I can agree not to bash her, but saying she’s completely innocent is a stretch. I refuse to believe no one in the industry knew what Lai Liang was like. And of all people, Chang Mu just had to pick a Japanese cuisine chef? What was she thinking?]

[Just because Lai Liang is trash doesn’t mean all Japanese cuisine chefs are. I know a chef who’s actually from R Country, and he openly admits that Japanese food was heavily influenced by Chinese cuisine. At least his attitude is right!]

[Exactly. Don’t paint everyone with the same brush. That just makes you look narrow-minded!]

...

As more and more people came forward to speak in Chang Mu’s defense, the flames of outrage that were about to engulf her were extinguished.

Chang Mu breathed a genuine sigh of relief.

Unexpectedly, two minutes later, she received another message. It was from Lai Liang.

He had probably seen Chang Mu’s post online and, feeling resentful, had sent a special message to remind her:

[Remember to transfer the money before midnight tonight. Otherwise, even if I go down, I’m taking you with me, Miss High-and-Mighty!!!]

Changing the payment from tomorrow to before midnight tonight was the condition Chang Mu had negotiated with Lai Liang to get him to leave early.

Chang Mu had even offered to add another 20% to the amount Lai Liang demanded.

All she wanted was for him to shut his mouth for good.

Of course, for the current Chang Mu, this sum of money was nothing.

She had spent more than this amount just on shopping last month.

’Come to think of it, ever since I transmigrated into this body, being able to spend money freely has been my greatest cheat.’

’At least it’s worlds better than my previous life as Nan Zhi, when I had to pinch every penny and still couldn’t afford a single designer bag.’

Chang Mu snorted in disdain and opened her mobile banking app, intending to transfer the money to Lai Liang ahead of time and be rid of this huge nuisance.

[Transfer failed. Please contact customer service.]

"What the hell? Is even the bank trying to mess with me today?"

At that moment, Chang Mu didn’t overthink it, simply assuming there was a glitch with the app.

She tried a second time, and then a third.

It failed again.

A bad feeling finally crept over Chang Mu. Gritting her teeth, she called the bank’s customer service line.

The representative informed her that her bank card had been frozen.

Chang Mu felt as if she’d been struck by lightning. Before she could even think to ask why, she hastily hung up the phone.

She thought of her father’s unreachable phone and bit her lip in a panic.

After a moment’s thought, she called her stepmother.

This time, the call connected.

Her stepmother’s voice was as gentle and fawning as ever.

Even when Chang Mu demanded to know why her bank card was frozen, her stepmother’s tone barely changed as she breezily explained it away.

"Oh, there’s probably just some issue with the bank. I’m not in the country at the moment, but I’ll ask about it for you when I get back."

And with that, she hung up.

Her dismissal was so blatant she didn’t even mention when she would be back.

On top of that, just as her stepmother hung up, Chang Mu thought she heard her father’s voice in the background calling out to her...

"I knew it! That woman is trying to drive a wedge between us!"

Chang Mu screamed, on the verge of a breakdown.

Now, she wasn’t just worried about Lai Liang’s threat, but also the charitable donation she had promised...