Acting as the Powerful Background Character in a Scummy Alpha Novel - Chapter 29

No one was idle; everyone was determined to get to the bottom of the matter. Surveillance footage was pulled, handwriting was compared and analyzed, and the origins of both the packaging and the toads were being traced.

Because of the preparations for Xiao Shuyuan’s coming-of-age ceremony over the past few days, there had been a constant, messy influx of people at the estate. Furthermore, there were no surveillance cameras inside the side wing, making it difficult to determine who had delivered the gift. However, one point was proven: Jing Shen had not entered the side wing at all during this period. Due to her change in curriculum, her lessons were held in the main building, and she had no reason to go there.

This corroborated Jing Shen’s claim that she hadn’t sent Shuyuan a gift. This should have cleared her, but Shuyuan refused to accept it. She argued that even if Jing Shen hadn’t gone in person, she could have mailed it or commissioned someone to deliver it. Ultimately, they had to check the receipt records.

It was then that the results of the handwriting analysis came back.

“Miss Jing Shen, the bad news is that this signature was indeed written recently; it’s not old. However, the good news is that based on the stroke analysis, it can be proven that it is not your handwriting. The imitator managed a 99% likeness, but modern technology can clearly see the flaws. In this regard, you are cleared.”

Butler Lin handed the forensic report to Jing Shen.

Jing Shen was a bit surprised herself. She had thought it was her own handwriting—it was incredibly similar, with every tiny detail and even her subtle habits perfectly mimicked.

Xiao Shuyuan didn’t believe it. She snatched the report from Jing Shen’s hand and scanned it. The black-and-white text was clear: it wasn’t Jing Shen’s writing.

“Then who else could it be?” Shuyuan dropped the report, frustrated, and crossed her arms as she glared at Jing Shen.

Jing Shen was thinking the same thing. Why would someone go to such lengths to frame her? It had to be someone with a vested interest. And who would that be?

“We found something!” the person in charge of investigating the surveillance footage shouted as they entered. Everyone perked up.

The gift had been delivered shortly before the ceremony started. It had arrived in a larger cardboard box that was opened during the routine security check. The security guard remembered the box, but they hadn’t opened the exquisite inner packaging because the sender listed on the outer box was Xiao Linchu.

The name caught everyone off guard. Shuyuan gritted her teeth, a possibility flashing through her mind, and she turned to leave.

She believed Xiao Linchu would dare send her such a thing, but Linchu usually sent things openly. This had happened before, which was why Shuyuan never opened Linchu’s gifts and simply threw them away.

But this time, someone else had tampered with the signature—someone very familiar with the people involved.

Jing Shen stood her ground. She didn’t believe Linchu would go out of her way to frame her, but the matter had to be cleared up. She called Linchu directly. Despite it being nearly midnight, the call was answered quickly, though Linchu’s voice sounded groggy, clearly woken by the phone.

“Xiao Linchu, did you send Xiao Shuyuan a gift?”

“Huh? Yeah, I did. Did she open it?” Linchu’s reaction was slow, but she admitted it readily.

“What did you send?”

“Toads. I had someone catch them specially. Guaranteed to be lively and hopping.” Linchu yawned, her tone lazy.

Jing Shen: “…” You sound quite proud. “But why was my name on it? Shuyuan didn’t know; she thought it was from me and opened it in front of all the guests. The ceremony ended early, and they’re investigating now.”

“Your name? Impossible. I clearly signed my own name.” Linchu finally perked up. “Is Shuyuan giving you trouble?”

“Not really, they’re just investigating. My suspicion has basically been ruled out, but it’s still unclear who changed the signature on the gift.”

The scope of suspects was actually very small, but Jing Shen didn’t want to suspect that specific name just yet. There was a brief silence on Linchu’s end as she thought.

“Who else could it be? You have no enemies. The only people capable of driving a wedge between us and framing you are either Xie Qingyu or Chu Yuelan—or Shuyuan directed this farce herself. But at such an important moment, Shuyuan definitely wouldn’t sacrifice her own face just to hurt you. Then again, her parents might have had a hand in it.”

There were only three possibilities; the answer could be easily found through a process of elimination.

Jing Shen had reached the same conclusion. “Alright, go back to sleep.”

“Do you need me to come back? Even if you’re cleared, Shuyuan isn’t exactly a reasonable person. She’ll likely find ways to make your life difficult.” The sound of Linchu putting on clothes came through the phone; she was ready to return immediately.

“It’s not that serious. I’m usually in the main building, and she can’t find me there. Since there’s no evidence it was me, she can’t just harass me for no reason.”

Jing Shen’s words calmed Linchu down. True, Jing Shen was protected by Xiao He in that house. Linchu lay back down but still warned her uneasily, “You’d better be careful. Their logic is always hard to understand; they might vent their anger on you for no reason.”

“I understand.”

Jing Shen hung up and looked thoughtfully toward the side wing.

At the same time, inside the side wing, Chu Yuelan was woken by a loud crash. She sat up in a hurry and turned on the light to see Xiao Shuyuan having kicked her door open in a rage. Chu Yuelan suppressed a frown.

“What are you doing in the middle of the night?”

“Chu Yuelan, did you do this? Swapping Linchu’s gift with Jing Shen’s name and putting it in the pile for me to open during the ceremony just to make me look bad?!”

Shuyuan’s cooperation with Chu Yuelan was only verbal so far, so after her investigation, she turned her suspicion toward Yuelan without hesitation.

Yuelan knew of the old grudge with Linchu, she was familiar with Jing Shen’s handwriting, she was an academic overachiever capable of such a feat, and she had befriended Shuyuan, giving her free access to the ceremony site… All signs pointed to Chu Yuelan as the person most capable of pulling this off.

“Do you have evidence? Why are you throwing mud at me?” Yuelan denied it flatly. “Investigate all you want. If you can prove it was me, I’ll accept whatever punishment you give.”

“I will. Write the words ‘Jing Shen’ right now. Once the handwriting is compared, there will be nowhere to hide.”

Even if one can mimic or change their style, the tiny habits ingrained in muscle memory would still be exposed by machine detection.

Chu Yuelan wrote the words and handed them to Shuyuan, her gaze dark. “You’d rather suspect me than Xiao Linchu? Even now, do you really believe her lies?”

Seeing Yuelan so composed, Shuyuan felt a surge of uncertainty.

Yuelan continued, “You should know that your relationship with Linchu is currently like fire and water. Did you really believe her just because she said she wasn’t interested in the inheritance? If she truly weren’t interested, she would have withdrawn long ago. The past is the past; this is a critical time. Anyone is capable of anything. Don’t think of Xiao Linchu as someone so honorable.”

“I don’t need you to tell me what to do. I know what I’m doing.” Embarrassed by the lecture, Shuyuan took the paper and turned to leave.

It was very late, so Jing Shen went to rest. A nightlight was left on in Xiao He’s room. The woman had already fallen asleep, her sleeping face looking unusually soft under the dim yellow light—a side of her Jing Shen rarely saw.

Not daring to make her gaze too obvious, Jing Shen lay down carefully and stole a few more glances. Xiao He’s trust in her today was her greatest source of confidence. It didn’t matter if others misunderstood, as long as Xiao He still believed in her.

She fell into a deep sleep. The next morning, seeing Shuyuan and Chu Yuelan still acting harmoniously, she quietly asked Butler Lin and learned that Shuyuan had indeed gone to see Yuelan the night before and compared two sets of handwriting.

Jing Shen saw photos of the two samples; one was indeed Chu Yuelan’s. It seemed her thoughts from yesterday were correct—Shuyuan had the same suspicions. But it was proven that it wasn’t Yuelan. Given Shuyuan’s temper, if she hadn’t completely cleared Yuelan, she would never have let her off so easily.

The trail went cold again. With Chu Yuelan cleared, only other options remained. Xie Qingyu should have been a primary suspect, but he truly hadn’t been in the mood for trouble lately; he hadn’t even shown up for the ceremony, appearing completely indifferent to the whole affair. Investigations confirmed he had nothing to do with it; based on the footage, he was also ruled out.

It seemed there was only one final possibility. Jing Shen watched the reactions of Xiao Tan and Sun Mei. The two were constantly busy with something, their expressions grim, and they didn’t even seem to have much time to care about the gift incident.

Jing Shen had expected a thorough investigation to the end, but as the days passed, the matter simply faded away. Shuyuan seemed to have decided to just “hold her nose” and endure it.

Jing Shen found this unbelievable. She wasn’t sure if she should keep investigating, so she made a mental note and set the matter aside for now. Everything seemed to return to a state of calm, though a certain answer had been quietly placed on Xiao He’s desk.

Butler Lin looked at Xiao He’s calm face, unable to guess her thoughts. “President Xiao, about this matter…”

“Let it be for now. As long as the schemes between them aren’t too excessive, I won’t interfere. Who loses and who wins depends on their own ability.”

Xiao He put the “answer” into the nearby paper shredder. Her meaning was clear. Butler Lin wasn’t surprised; understanding her intent, he left the study.

The incident didn’t cause a major stir, but that didn’t mean there were no repercussions. Jing Shen heard from Chu Yuelan that the rumor identifying her as the culprit who ruined the ceremony was still circulating.

“Jing Shen, I’m really helpless here. The fault should have been Linchu’s, but she’s acting as if it has nothing to do with her. You know Shuyuan—she’s always stubborn. Since she couldn’t find the real culprit and couldn’t blame Linchu, she just pushed it onto you. Fortunately, you aren’t going to school right now, or I’d really worry about your situation.”

Chu Yuelan looked at Jing Shen with concern. “But there’s a new activity next week. You can’t just not go, can you?”

Jing Shen hadn’t been to school, but she had received some malicious texts, which proved Yuelan was telling the truth. Linchu had been right; Jing Shen finally realized how shameless people could be. This total disregard for others seemed to be nothing special in their eyes.

“Then I just won’t go. It doesn’t seem to matter much.” Jing Shen didn’t want any more trouble, but things didn’t always go as she wished.

“But this activity is a ‘Campus Tour.’ We’ll be visiting nearly twenty prestigious universities at home and abroad. It would be such a shame if you didn’t go.”

Chu Yuelan leaned in closer. “Don’t worry, just stay with me during the trip. I won’t let those people do anything to you.”

The proximity made Jing Shen uncomfortable; she pulled away subtly while weighing the pros and cons of going.

“Jing Shen, you know this activity isn’t that important for those who have already chosen their target schools, or for those who can afford to visit on their own. But for us, it’s a rare opportunity. Or would you rather miss this and have President Xiao arrange it for you separately later?”

Seeing Jing Shen hesitate, Chu Yuelan continued her persuasion.