The Useless Stepmom Brings Her Kids to Reality TV Shows to Photograph Them

131 Lemon Turned Genie

As they descended the steps, Lin Wan and Li Yanchen strolled hand in hand. They used to be reserved around the kids in the past. They were now just short of kissing in front of the kids.

It had been almost a month. When Li Zexuan and the others first arrived home, their father was already intimate with Lin Wan.

At six in the evening, the name list of the ones who had made it to Bai Si’s second floor was on the hot search.

[C-position, Chenxin.]

!!

Yi Man, Ni Shang, and the 72 others, who had failed, hired an Internet Army to defame Li Yanchen in the comments.

[Didn’t you say that Bai Si’s bidding was fair and open? Why Li Yanchen?]

[Shadow is a domestic brand that only came into existence in the past two years, and it’s completely incomparable to the previous brand on the second floor of Bai Si till now.]

A photo appeared in the comments.

Li Yanchen’s family had gone to the Su family’s old residence, and they had accidentally taken a picture of it. They thought it wouldn’t matter.

[Internal connections? What the hell is going on? they had mobilized so many people for a month, and Yi Man and Ni Shang were just throw-aways.]

[Li Yanchen even said that he would never resort to using internal connections to get the spot! What a farce!]

[I definitely won’t buy from Chenxin again. Let’s go to the Second floor of Baisi!]

In the afternoon, they were celebrating in the conference room, but in the evening, they ended up on the hot search. The comments were very negative.

Secretary Han returned to the company without even taking a shower.

Li Yanchen was still in the restaurant. Considering that there were plenty of vegetables in Lan village, but very little fresh meat, the three sons chose to have beef hotpot.

When Secretary Han called, Li Yanchen was just about to put a beef tripe on Lin Wan’s plate. He turned on the speaker.

“Boss, have you seen the hot search?” Secretary Han’s tone was anxious.

“What’s wrong?”

“The news about us winning made it to the hot search. In the past, the C-position was never given to small brands. Everyone suspects that Chenxin used internal connections of their relationship with the Su family to get the bid! They say you used young master’s friendship with Tutu.”

Li Yanchen put the phone on handset mode. Lin Wan put down her chopsticks and opened her Weibo to take a look.

The top few commenters did not even have a profile picture.

Li Zekai also heard Secretary Han mention his name. He looked up in confusion. “Dad, why is Secretary Han talking about me?”

After listening to Secretary Han’s explanation of the trending topics, Li Yanchen furrowed his brows. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Jiejie, they just don’t understand the situation,” said Li Yanchen. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Grandpa Su wasn’t even home that day,” Li Zexuan said slowly.

“Are we still going to the Su family’s old mansion tomorrow?” Lin Wan hesitated.

“I don’t mind. The plan remains the same.” Li Yanchen patted the back of Lin Wan’s hand.

At the Su family’s Villa, Huo Meijun saw the hot search. Her husband had said that Chenxin had won the spot by their own capabilities. He had told her that even if she hadn’t mentioned Chenxin, he had already decided to give them the spot. The online criticism was too harsh.

Huo Meijun released a statement mentioning that Chinxin had won by their own ability. She only liked Lin Wan so she had invited them for a small lunch. She or the Li family had no ulterior motive beyond that.

Sure enough, as soon as Huo Meijun’s statement was released, there were more than a thousand comments.

[Mrs. Su, aren’t your words contradictory? You say that Chenxin relied on their own ability. But you also say you liked Lin Wan. Since you have been in touch with Lin Wan and her family, isn’t it fair to assume that the decision of Bai Si might have been biased?]

[Xu Xiaoxiao’s incident happened recently also. You didn’t even know about it before. Why did you hate Xu Xiaoxiao so much? Lin Wan was criticized so badly in the first episode of the show, but you said you like her. Are you two the same?]

Lin Wan’s reputation was getting better, but after Huo Meijun’s words, she was attacked again.

[What did Lin Wan do wrong? She used her connections to get to the top. She’s just a lemon turned genie.]

[We’re angry at Bai Si for using the excuse of fairness and justice to secure a partnership with someone they know personally. I’m Yi Man’s supporter!]

[Yes, that’s what I mean. If Bai Si wants to be biased, they should be upfront.]

[What if Chexin did win because of their capabilities? Their product quality is good.]

Comments were divisive.

Huo Meijun, who had been in a pleasant mood before, was now furious after hearing the news. Su Mingsheng was equally enraged.

Su Mingsheng interrupted Huo Meijun’s attempt to make another statement. “I’ll have the public relations department handle it. Don’t complicate matters further.”

Su Wei volunteered. “I will do it. Don’t forget that your son is still in a media company.”

“Alright,” he said. Su Ming Sheng anticipated how many skepticisms there would be before sending out this list of names.

“Did you see that, old Su? I previously warned you not to prioritize foreign companies. Why did you abandon the top locations for international brands? We should support more domestic businesses since we are in China. Li Yanchen won the bid, but he is being condemned for it. In the future, kindly alter Bai Si’s policies!” Huo Meijun criticized her husband.

“Alright. I’ll listen to you.” Su Mingsheng was most afraid of his wife’s nagging.

“I asked Lin Wan to teach me how to make a crystal suit tomorrow. I hope she is still willing to visit after hearing this news. It’s so frustrating. I will give her a call,” said Huo Meijun. “Also, old Su, Chenxin’s bid was already decided even before I told you, right?”

“Yes,” Su Mingsheng said firmly.

At the beef hotpot restaurant, the Li family members chatted as they ate.

Lin Wan thought back to the conversation she had with Huo Meijun at the time. Huo Meijun told her that Su Mingsheng was about to open up for business and was frequently traveling for work. Despite being so elderly, he was still unable to let go. He would travel to the company, the mall, abroad, and his home every day.

And today, when Li Yanchen went back home to finish his job, she noticed that it was likewise a Bai Si-related project and casually brought it up with Huo Meijun. She did not want preferential treatment from Su Mingsheng.

‘Could Huo Meijun have misunderstood her and talked to Su Mingsheng?’

Lin Wan found her chat history with Huo Meijun and showed it to Li Yanchen. “Is this all happening because of this?”

Li Yanchen looked through the conversation. Li Yanchen had also been revising the bidding document for Bai Si recently, but Lin Wan had not made any Bai Si-related announcement.

“You also think that we won the bid because of our relationship with Su Wei? Su Mingsheng is a sly fox. Su Wei liked Xu Xiaoxiao so much, but he still didn’t relent. Do you think he would give such an important position to Chenxin just because we participated in an episode with Su Wei and went to his house for lunch once? It has nothing to do with this,” reassured Li Yanchen.

“Oh, I thought I did something wrong.” Lin Wan felt a little guilty.

...

Just then, Huo Meijun called.

“Auntie Huo, please don’t say anything more.”

Even though she was in a bad mood, Huo Meijun still smiled when the call had gone through. “Wanwan, you’ve seen the news, right? I just wanted to tell you that Su Wei is already handling it. Don’t bother with those people. You can come here tomorrow.”

Lin Wan was stunned for a moment. “Auntie, why did you call me? I would have come there tomorrow anyway.”

“That’s good. I’ll see you there tomorrow. Also, old Su said that Li Yanchen won everything fairly. He is also making changes to the policies to include more local brands from now on. There will be disputes anyway. Don’t take this to heart.” Huo Meijun was afraid that Lin Wan would overthink.