21 S H M

Xiong Zhi stared at the flash drive in her hands for a moment.

"Gu Zhen, can I borrow your laptop for a minute? I just want to check one file."

Gu Zhen's first thought was to refuse because he normally hated other people touching his treasures, but fortunately, he remembered that Xiong Zhi was about to gift him another treasure later. Thus, Gu Zhen decided to be magnanimous and allowed her to use the laptop.

Xiong Zhi inserted the flash drive into the port, opened a file, took out her phone, and snapped a picture of the file. After the series of movements, she finally put way the flash drive.

"Thank you. Excuse me for a moment, I will just make a call."

She went outside the classroom and moved towards an open space devoid of people.

She dialed a number and waited for someone to answer.

"Hello, this is SHM, Shi Hua Media Company. How can we help you?" A lazy voice answered the call.

"Good morning, I'm an anonymous person who would like to share what I have discovered to the media. I got hold of a very interesting piece of proof of CJ Company's corruption. Since I trust your company the most, I decided to give you this scoop. As proof, I'll send you a picture of the file I have here. Call me back later if you are interested." Xiong Zhi ended the call.

She was confident they would call back.

Inside the office of Shi Hua Media, three men were sitting comfortably on the sofa with various positions. The chubby guy was munching on food happily while watching anime on his laptop. He was leaning back and his feet rested on top of the table. The thin guy beside him leaned on his shoulder, his mouth chewing gum, his hands scrolling on the phone as his feet laid on top of the crossed legs of the muscled guy on the corner of the sofa. The last guy held a game controller and was extremely focused on the screen not far away from him.

Suddenly, the door opened and a decent-looking lean man with eyeglasses on barged in.

"Guys! We have work to do!" the lean man said excitedly.

"..."

The three guy did not bother to look at him. Only after he stared at them long enough that the skinny man with the phone languidly asked.

"Whose affair?" 

Their company was rated very low, pretty unknown, and poor. There were only four employees. With all the above conditions, the type of scoops they could only get were gossip, love affairs, and more gossip.

These four guys were the creators of Shi Hua Media, or usually called SHM. The chubby guy was the writer, the skinny man was the cameraman, and the muscled guy was the editor. Finally, the decent-looking lean man was in charge of handling people, their so-called PR. 

They were all long-time friends and classmates. After they graduated, they worked under different media companies. However, the hidden rules such as bribery, fake news, and cover-ups did not fit well with them, the idealistic youths. In other words, only money and power mattered. Fed up, the four guys decided to quit and pursue their own passionate justice. After twists and turns, they finally created this small company. They named the company Shi Hua, meaning 'truth', as pledge that they would only release truthful news.

However, after the company was formed, they finally realized the difficulty of only delivering truthful news: it was both thorny and expensive. There were innumerable hindrances to getting credible news, and digging up the truth required a lot of money.

That was why until now, these four guys did not have any decent work. They were all mainly releasing minor news such as the trashy minor scandals of the entertainment industry, low-rank politicians, and businessmen. Still, they were ignored and was suppressed by money.

All these, Xiong Zhi knew.

However, these four guys' media company later on became famous after they tirelessly helped Xiao Mei spread the truth of the CJ's corruption despite all dangers. From then on, their good qualities shone through and they only climbed up the ladder with their credible and daring news.

Xiong Zhi chose them because she had observed that they were actually reliable and talented if they were given a chance to grow, with proper equipment and financial support.

It was also a small calculation by Xiong Zhi. Since they were bound for greatness, why not lend them a helping hand while they were still humble to gain favor? Her action held the same rationale when she helped out Fang Dien. Call her utilitarian, but wasn't that a good quality of businessmen, especially of one surnamed Xiong? At least, it was a win-win situation for both parties.

She would also not change their fate, she would simply just make it happen sooner.

"I'm not going to be the cameraman for some love affair today. I'm too lazy," the thin guy declared.

"I'm busy, too. Mu Fian, you're free, it's your turn to tail someone," the chubby guy said.

Mu Fian, the muscled guy, did not take away his eyes from the screen.

"Can't you see I'm playing? Besides, I did it last week. It is Lin Ruo's turn now."

Lin Ruo, the glasses guy, fumed at these bunch of lazy guys.

"You three, I'm talking about decent work! We have to meet someone!"

"..." The three continued their lazy countenance.

Lin Ruo threw the bait. "It's a matter of CJ's corruption."

The three guys froze. Their wolf ears perked up instantly.

Seeing that he finally got their attention, Lin Ruo continued.

"I got a picture of the evidence. It was only a part of it, though. But it appears to be true."

True.

Hearing this one word, the three guys on the sofa simultaneously shed off their laziness.

Xian Tao, the chubby guy, closed his laptop and took off his legs from the table.

Gi Pieng, the thin man, tucked his phone into his pocket and sat up properly.

Mu Fian, the muscled guy, put down his legs and put away the controller.

"The evidence?" the three of them asked seriously.

Beholding the scene, Lin Ruo was satisfied. He pulled out his phone, connected it to the screen and selected a picture.

An image of a document could be seen. The three guys read what was written in the document and was instantly startled.

"Oh my!" the three of the exclaimed.

"Who gave this?"

"How did you get this?"

"There should be more from that person right?"

"Did you ask them for meet-up?"

The three of them bombarded Lin Ruo with questions.

'This... this is surely a bomb!'

Just this one picture was enough to cause an uproar.

The picture contained the accounting of diamonds of how much CJ had bought. It was not complete, as it was a picture. But from the part that could be seen, one could see the amount of diamonds and the money recorded. Anyone who could do math would know that those diamonds were imitations. 

What shocked them the most was the bottom part of the paper. It was signed by the president himself and the auditor! They had already heard that the CEO's assistant was the culprit, mixing the true diamonds with fake ones. But this document told a different story. It told people that the president himself knew this transaction and have been doing it for a long time!

The three men felt the burning passion of journalism in their hearts fire up once more. They were the self-proclaimed heroes of justice! They must absolutely inform the truth to the people.

"We must meet them!"

_________

Less than ten minutes after Xiong Zhi phoned them, her phone rang.

With a small smile on her lips, she pressed the answer button.

"Hello, this is SHM. We would like to meet you. Please bring more evidence. Once we confirmed them, we will surely make the truth known to all the citizens they had been fooling. We, Shi Hua Media, will expose CJ's corruption and crimes. Justice will prevail," the voice said firmly, with an extremely strong hint of long-term second-grade syndrome.

Although Xiong Zhi did not know what 'chuunibyou' was, she still felt amused at the words from the other side. "En, 6pm, at XX coffee shop. I'll be wearing a school uniform." 

Xiong Zhi did not intend to hide her identity anyway. She had plans for them.

"OK, let's see each other later. Thank you."

Lian Ruo ended the call. He was very excited. 

Finally! The biggest scoop!

'Wait, what did she say again? En... school uniform?'

_________

Xiong Zhi put her phone away when she saw Gu Zhen running over to her.

She threw him a look that said, 'how about class?'

Sensing her questioning gaze, Gu Zhen explained.

"I'm more excited about the gift of yours than the class." Then, he stretched out his hand.

Xiong Zhi took out the key and gently laid it on his palm. A drop of water landed as well.

It started to rain. They quickly turned and ran towards the nearby shed to take cover.

Gu Zhen took off his eyeglasses and wiped off the water stains. Lightning flashed, followed by thunder.

*Snap*

Xiong Zhi looked around. She seemed to hear something else.

'What was that?'

"Xiong Zhi, about the place, when are you going to take action?"

Xiong Zhi threw the suspicious feeling behind her back and refocused her attention on Gu Zhen. 

She faced Gu Zhen and asked, "Is your father going to be home later?"

"…He should be."

"Then later."

"..."

___________

After class, Xiong Zhi kept her promise.

She waited for her driver and Linfeng. When they came, she told them that she would be going to her friend's house.

The driver was happy that his Young Miss acted like a normal girl for the first time.

'A friend's house! Not a hospital nor a police station!'

Linfeng did not show much emotions, but it did not escape his eyes how Xiong Zhi did not look at him even once.

Xiong Zhi saw Gu Zhen enter his car. She also went inside her car and told the driver, Mr. Ji, to follow. "Mr. Ji, follow the car in front."

'Eh...? They are really going to her friend's house, correct? Not to tail someone, is it?'

But Mr. Ji dismissed the thought. He really could not understand his Young Miss's thoughts. 

Following the car, they arrived in front of a villa. After the car in front entered the gate, Xiong Zhi dialed a phone number.

"I'm outside your house."

Soon, the gate in front opened and a servant politely signaled them to enter.

Xiong Zhi was about to enter when she stopped. She looked back at Linfeng who remained standing beside the car.

"You're not coming in?" Xiong Zhi gathered her courage and asked him, her first initiative for some time.

"Does Young Miss Zhi need me inside?" Linfeng asked with a polite tone. It was just a friend's house. He thought that there was no need for him to be there, too.

"I need you with me," Xiong Zhi seriously said while looking at his eyes.

Linfeng's heart lightly shook again. For a moment, he mistook that there was a deep meaning behind her words. But it was just momentary as he instantly calmed down. Perhaps, the Young Miss Zhi just wanted him to accompany her inside.

Both of them were welcomed by the maids. Xiong Zhi and Linfeng was led to the living room. On the sofa, a father and son was in a heated argument.

"You must be lying! I haven't seen you with a friend before. You will just go to some place with your computer, isn't that it? Zhen, after high school, you will be in the army. You must focus on training, not in your computer alone!"

"I'm telling you the truth, dad! My friend is coming today! We'll need to finish a project."

"Then let me see that friend of yours!"

"She's here now—" Gu Zhen saw Xiong Zhi in the corner of his eye.

"Xiong Zhi!" he called out and suddenly pounced on her. He led her towards his father.

"This is my friend, dad, Xiong Zhi. Xiong Zhi, my father."

"…" Xiong Zhi.

"..." Mr. Gu.

'This boy! Is this how he introduces me to his friend?!'

Xiong Zhi quickly recovered. She was startled earlier when Gu Zhen pushed her suddenly towards his raging father like an offering.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Gu. I'm your son's classmate and friend, Xiong Zhi," she politely bowed in greeting.

Mr. Gu had no choice but to act courteously for a moment. He would settle things later with his unfilial son!

"Good afternoon, too. Please take a seat. It's rare for my son to have visitors."

"Thank you, Mr. Gu. I just came today because Gu Zhen said that he needed your permission to work on a project with the two of us alone. I hope you don't mind."

Mr. Gu was about to ask Xiong Zhi when his eye caught Linfeng behind her. He recognized Linfeng.

"Isn't this the Young Master Zhou? What is Young Master Zhou doing here?" 

Mr. Gu knew the Zhou family. In fact, all wealthy families knew them. Zhou was one of the most well-known families after all, filthy rich and powerful. They were also the main reason why the Xiong family was revered and feared. Mr. Gu had seen Linfeng who attended parties and banquets with his father since young as part of his training. No one could easily forget the strong presence and exquisite facial features of this young lad.

"I'm here to accompany my young miss," Linfeng answered.

"…"

Mr. Gu was stunned. The only person they obey and follow without a doubt… was the first line of the Xiong family.

'Young Miss....' He had an ominous premonition as his gaze fell on the girl.

'She said her name was Xiong Zhi…'

'This is the eldest daughter of Xiong family?!'

Xiong Zhi had never attended banquets or parties in the past, thus, Mr. Gu did not recognize her.

Mr. Gu recovered from his shock and looked sharply at his son.

'This boy…' he gritted his teeth. 'He should have told me that his friend was not ordinary at all. In fact, a Xiong...'

He suddenly stood up straighter with impeccable grace.

"Forgive my impoliteness and careless ways. I did not greet you properly." 

Xiong Zhi just raised a brow. People could easily be suppressed by power.

'How come I did not use it in the past? I was really a fool...'