Chapter 10: The Reward

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◎Well answered, here’s a reward◎

The blond motorcycle boy was named Zheng Fan, two years younger than Cen Mo. Although their ages were close, Zheng Fan still respectfully called Cen Mo “Teacher.”

Cen Mo met him the year she first arrived in Z City. At that time, she was preparing for the college entrance exam as a social candidate, working part-time in a restaurant, and living in a communal dormitory with meager earnings.

By chance, she saw an online advertisement for a private tutor position and decided to apply. The student she tutored was Zheng Fan, then a sophomore in high school.

Initially, Zheng Fan’s parents were against Cen Mo tutoring their son because she lacked formal qualifications and was very young. However, after a few days of trial, they quickly changed their minds.

Not only was Cen Mo an excellent tutor, but more importantly, she could manage Zheng Fan’s rebellious nature.

Zheng Fan was a delinquent who spent most of his time playing games and often argued face-to-face with his parents. Yet inexplicably, he listened obediently to Cen Mo’s instructions, following her guidance without question.

Of course, only Cen Mo knew the hardships behind this. She was a hot-tempered girl herself back then and had to put in tremendous effort to handle this rebellious teenager.

Anyway, whenever Zheng Fan saw her afterward, he would obediently greet her with a “Hello, Teacher Cen.”

As they grew closer, Zheng Fan’s grades improved slightly, and their conversations during breaks became more frequent.

Zheng Fan was genuinely curious about Cen Mo’s life. From her clothing and appearance, he could tell she was struggling. Preparing for the college entrance exam while working day and night would have crushed most students, but she never complained and kept working hard.

Zheng Fan admired her and gradually gave up gaming, elevating his grades to the upper-middle level in his class.

He was fond of browsing various forums and once stumbled upon a local forum where Cen Mo’s photo was posted with a hateful nickname and vicious insults attacking her character.

Countless users followed up with equally repugnant comments, as if competing to outdo each other in cruelty.

Knowing Cen Mo’s true character, Zheng Fan was furious at first sight. How could such a kind and hardworking person be described so maliciously by people hiding behind their keyboards?

After much thought, he decided to tell Cen Mo about it.

Her reaction was calm; she glanced briefly at the content and immediately closed the webpage. “It’s just online chatter. As long as it doesn’t affect my real life, it’s fine.”

“That won’t do! Do you know how many people have viewed those posts? If strangers see this, they’ll misunderstand you,” Zheng Fan said angrily.

“So what if they misunderstand? Other people’s opinions don’t concern me,” Cen Mo raised an eyebrow.

Zheng Fan was rendered speechless by her attitude, so he grabbed a textbook nearby and started flipping through it noisily.

He initially thought of ignoring it, but after a couple of days, he checked the forum again and saw the hateful posts increasing. Feeling deeply unsettled, he contacted friends and managed to find the forum owner.

Since Zheng Fan often played games online and had many acquaintances, it was easy for him to handle this. Within days, the forum owner deleted all the posts and banned the IDs of those who posted or supported the insults.

Zheng Fan didn’t tell Cen Mo about this; she discovered it herself and thanked him.

“Thank what? You’re my Teacher Cen. Who dares slander you? Wait until I deal with them,” Zheng Fan said proudly, puffing out his chest.

After Cen Mo was admitted to university, she continued tutoring Zheng Fan for another year until he also entered college.

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Zheng Fan was an art student. His score of 450 wasn’t very high but enough for a good university. His parents held a grand celebration and gave Cen Mo a big red envelope.

When the banquet ended, Zheng Fan came out to see Cen Mo off. The boy patted his chest, his face flushed from the drinks but his voice clear: “Teacher Cen, I don’t know what you went through before, but don’t worry. I’ve got your back. With me around, no one can say bad things about you online!”

They exchanged contact information after that, and though they seldom met afterward, Cen Mo always regarded him as a younger brother.

She thought he was joking, but over the years, several times when slanderous posts about her appeared online, Zheng Fan was there to help remove them.

He kept his promise.

From her heart, Cen Mo was very grateful to Zheng Fan. She had heard he liked motorcycles and even saved up to buy him an expensive helmet. On his birthday, she treated him to a meal.

Because of those past incidents, when someone suddenly recognized her on the street this time, she immediately sensed another online post was behind it and came to find Zheng Fan.

Sure enough, it was so.

Cen Mo didn’t really want to know the content of those posts, as it would only add needless trouble. But such posts kept appearing. Normally indifferent, Cen Mo couldn’t help feeling annoyed this time.

Another motorcycle pulled up nearby. The rider was tall and slim. When she took off her helmet, it turned out to be a rather delicate-looking girl with a short buzz cut and sparkling earrings—a very distinctive style.

Someone called out to her: “Su Miao, Sister Miao!”

The girl rolled her eyes and kicked back without politeness: “Who are you calling ‘Sister’? Go away!”

Cen Mo found this amusing and glanced at her a few more times.

Zheng Fan said beside her, “Actually, this isn’t hard to solve. Judging by the tone and wording, I think all these posts are from the same person. You should keep the evidence and sue them in court. Maybe you’ll win and find out their real identity.”

“I’ll do it when I have time,” Cen Mo nodded and added, “Next time you see such posts, let me know first.”

They chatted a bit more, then Cen Mo checked the time and prepared to leave. Zheng Fan stood up to see her out.

As they reached the training ground entrance, the buzz-cut girl came toward them. She and Zheng Fan exchanged glances, lifted their heads disdainfully, and passed by without a word.

“Do you know her?” Cen Mo asked.

Zheng Fan ran his hand through his hair and grunted unhappily, “Who knows her?”

His tone suggested he did know her but that there was some conflict.

Cen Mo smiled and didn’t ask further. She thanked him again, then unlocked a shared bike and rode home.

…

Cen Mo stayed in the CEO’s office cubicle lounge for four days.

Having learned from before, she no longer waited idly inside. She came out to eat on time and left work normally in the evening without asking for permission from Su Xingzhi.

He was truly cold and aloof, always giving brief and concise tasks. The rest she had to figure out on her own.

After memorizing all the images on the first day, he tossed her a batch of documents the next day and required her to read and remember the main content.

This time, Cen Mo spent two days on it.

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On the fourth day, she received a USB drive containing charts and PowerPoint files. She reviewed everything, gaining a solid understanding of the company.

As an ordinary secretary, she didn’t need to know so much—just serving tea and organizing files would suffice.

But after spending days observing, Cen Mo realized the newly appointed CEO Su Xingzhi seemed to dislike socializing. She was the only secretary, and there were no plans to hire others.

What was this—more work for the capable?

Cen Mo felt the burden on her shoulders was quite heavy.

…

Monday was the weekly meeting day.

After the departmental meetings, the executives gathered for a high-level meeting, and Cen Mo was responsible for delivering the content. Having followed Su Yangqing before, she had already learned to recognize most department heads, so it wasn’t difficult.

At the appointed time, she followed CEO Su into the meeting room. It was already full of executives chatting, but they all fell silent and sat upright as Su entered.

Cen Mo scanned the executives and noticed many were middle-aged, likely loyalists from Su Xingzhi’s father’s era. Few newcomers were present.

She roughly identified them; all were recorded on the USB Su gave her.

These people looked unfriendly toward the new CEO.

It was understandable—after the sudden death of the former leader, the young and inexperienced new CEO naturally provoked doubt and concern about the company’s future.

Being a trust fund heir wasn’t easy. From Cen Mo’s perspective, Su Xingzhi worked extremely hard. Except for lunch, he was constantly busy with documents, calls, subordinate reports, and sudden issues.

This workload was impossible for an ordinary person, especially while grieving.

Cen Mo wanted to take notes but was stopped by Su, who pointed to a corner of the room. She obediently stood there.

The meeting began.

What should have been a routine report felt more like a public condemnation. The older executives took turns standing and railing against the new CEO’s shortcomings.

Su Xingzhi raised his eyebrows but listened quietly.

When the last person finished, his eyes sharpened. He signaled backward, and Cen Mo handed him a stack of files.

Su slammed the files on the table one by one, his tone calm but words biting, listing all recent careless mistakes made by the departments.

Coincidentally, all these projects were overseen by those very executives. Silence fell instantly.

Cen Mo understood why some dared openly challenge the CEO. From the materials Su gave her, it was clear these outspoken executives were in a rival faction, instructed to show the new CEO who was boss.