The Supporting Male Characters Who Died Alone All Those Years Later

Sima Yongqing, who had held a high position for a long time, was naturally displeased when provoked by a young nobody.

He immediately took action against He Dongchen’s company after returning.

He Zhenglan, having been coerced and tempted by Sima Yongqing onto the stage, was directly affected, and soon the company was thrown into chaos.

He Zhenglan, overwhelmed and increasingly irritable, left early and returned late every day.

One night, after working late, he saw He Dongchen eating a late-night snack in the restaurant and flew into a rage, storming over to confront him.

“Why couldn’t you just record the show obediently! Why did you have to provoke Sima Yongqing? Now look at the mess the company is in; are you satisfied?”

He Dongchen leaned back slightly to avoid He Zhenglan’s angry spittle and spoke unhurriedly, “Mr. He, your words are quite interesting. The troublemaker is Sima Yongqing, and Sima Yongqing was summoned by He Sijia. No matter how you look at it, it shouldn’t fall on me.”

“According to your logic, why not blame yourself? You mishandled things and got caught by the other party.”

He Zhenglan was left speechless, retreating repeatedly.

He Dongchen didn’t let up, continuing to add insult to injury. “What kind of bad deeds did you do in your past life, raising someone else’s daughter with all your heart, only to have her bring disaster in the end?”

“No, wait,” He Dongchen stroked his chin. “He Sijia might not know anything; she’s innocent. Everything is Sima Yongqing’s own doing.”

After speaking, He Dongchen stood up and walked towards the kitchen with his bowl.

Behind him, He Zhenglan’s face was dark, his emotions brewing. He turned and frantically contacted He Sijia, hoping she would persuade Sima Yongqing to back off.

He Sijia hadn’t returned home since the day she recorded the show, and it was evident that Sima Yongqing had taken her away.

As for He Juan, she had long been thrown out and returned to her old, run-down house.

The system asked curiously, [Boss, are you really not going to interfere with the He family’s company?]

He Dongchen shrugged. “Money can be earned anytime, but opportunities to make the He family feel distressed are rare. Just look at these past few days; He Zhenglan has been running around frantically, almost going crazy.”

****

He Zhenglan had contacted He Sijia after 2 days of trying.

When he finally got through, he immediately began, “Hurry up and get Sima Yongqing to back off! He Sijia, the He family raised you with all their heart and soul! How could you let Sima Yongqing go after the He family? Has your conscience been eaten by a dog? Your actions are even more vicious than He Juan’s!”

He Sijia was stunned by the reprimand and stammered after a while, “What do you mean? Why is Yongqing going after the He family?”

“Because of you! The company is on the brink of bankruptcy. Sijia, you need to have a conscience.”

After hanging up, He Sijia leaped out of bed and, barefoot, ran to the adjacent study. Ignoring Sima Yongqing, who was in a video conference, she barged in and demanded, “Are you going after the He family?”

Sima Yongqing frowned slightly, ended the meeting, and carried He Sijia to the sofa. “You’ll catch a cold walking around barefoot. Your fever still hasn’t subsided.”

“Don’t change the subject!” He Sijia, her eyes red, asked, “Why are you going after the He family? That’s my family. How am I supposed to face them now?”

Sima Yongqing replied lightly, “It’s just a lesson, nothing that will cause serious harm.”

With just a few words, Sima Yongqing managed to calm He Sijia down.

After she had taken her medicine and rested, Sima Yongqing instructed his subordinates to escalate their efforts.

***

At that moment, Sima Yongqing’s elder brother came to visit and scolded him severely.

“Are there no other women in the world? Why do you have to get involved with my daughter and engage in these dirty dealings right next to her?”

When Sima Peiting learned that her close friend was dating her uncle, past memories suddenly resurfaced. For example, several times when He Sijia came to visit her, she had taken a nap halfway through, and when she woke up, He Sijia’s lips were red. There was also the time at a wine party when He Sijia came out of the restroom, and her dress was disheveled.

What she didn’t understand before was now all too clear!

She had been nothing but a naive shield! Sima Peiting went home and cried to her parents, which led to today’s events.

Sima Yongqing frowned. “Elder brother, don’t speak so harshly. I’m serious about Sijia.”

“I disagree!”

The brothers parted on bad terms.

Unbeknownst to them, He Sijia had already been awakened by the argument and was hiding behind the door, secretly wiping her tears.

Sima Yongqing not only suppressed the He family but also had the television station air the program, buying a large number of online influencers to stir up trouble.

He Dongchen watched the program, speechless and choked up.

The content had been heavily altered and was disordered. Despite He Juan concealing the truth about her child, the edited version portrayed her as someone who was obsessed, every year secretly weaving a hat. Eventually, she followed some so-called expert’s advice and worked in the cafeteria, where she found her biological daughter.

It could be said that the program team’s imagination was boundless!

He Dongchen had been reasonable and justifiable in his confrontation on stage, which had pleased many. However, in the released video, they had specifically chosen unflattering stills of him, adding fabricated commentary.

For instance, there was a scene where He Dongchen coldly looked at He Juan, who was kneeling on the ground, and said, “It’s all your fault.”

He Dongchen finished watching and commented, “The lip-syncing doesn’t match; poorly done.”

The system was anxious and frustrated; [People online are cursing you! This is infuriating!]

If it were possible, the system would have liked to shut down the topic directly. However, it couldn’t be done; the boss was waiting to make a counterattack at the peak of the situation.

On the other side, the five hundred audience members who had participated in the recording were furious about the program’s devilish editing and distortion of facts. They were so enraged they felt like they might burst from anger!

One by one, they rolled up their sleeves and spoke out online to clear He Dongchen’s name.

[It’s snowing in June! This trash program! It was bought off to clear He Sijia’s name! During the recording, they didn’t let He Dongchen speak and didn’t give him a microphone! They even tried to have him kicked off the stage! It was us, the audience, who stopped them!]

(T/N: “it’s snowing in June”/”June snow” = a symbol of injustice and something highly unusual or absurd happening.)

However, the voices of the five hundred people, when gathered online, were like a drop in the ocean. With Sima Yongqing’s people stirring the pot, it couldn’t create much of a wave.

***

“Don’t you he a backup plan? When is it coming out?” Zheng Dongdong watched anxiously, wishing she could dive into He Dongchen’s phone to release the evidence.

He Dongchen waited until the evening peak hours and finally had the system release the complete video.

Zheng Dongdong, who had been following closely, finally sighed with relief. The truth remained intact.

Similarly, the program team and Sima Yongqing, who had been closely monitoring the situation, also saw the full picture.

The program team was disheartened. This video was clearer and more complete than what their thirty-six cameras had captured. It was like seeing a ghost!

Sima Yongqing remained calm and ordered the platform to suppress the heat of the topic. He wanted to prevent the topic from trending. As long as the heat died down, the public would retain only the initial impression that He Dongchen was narrow-minded and He Sijia was innocent and kind.

The system noticed the platform’s actions and gritted its teeth, saying, [Push it up!]

Soon, the topic surged to the forefront, even reaching the top.

The platform was dumbfounded!

Which tech master had run amok in our house? This was outrageous!

The system was omnipotent online, and the platform was helpless, forced to watch as the topic trended.

Only then did Sima Yongqing’s strategic demeanor show a moment of hesitation, urging someone to quickly contact a tech master.

As the topic gained popularity, more and more people saw the comparison between the two versions of the video and started to curse loudly.

The devilish editing was already a point of contention, and the program team’s skill in distorting the truth had viewers exclaiming in disbelief.

At this point, the earlier comments from the audience defending He Dongchen were being up voted one by one.

Who could have imagined that in the internet age, they would witness such a blatant reversal of truth, as if it were snowing in June?

He Dongchen registered an account and directly posted a lawyer’s letter, accusing the program team of defaming his reputation.

He also addressed Sima Yongqing, with a caption declaring that [Justice will prevail.]

By now, everyone knew that Sima Yongqing had created the episode to clear his girlfriend He Sijia’s name.

Because He Dongchen hadn’t cooperated on the show, Sima Yongqing had even pressured He’s company.

The public’s sense of justice was shattered.

The He family was so unfortunate; they had already suffered from raising an enemy’s daughter, and now they were being undermined by He Sijia’s boyfriend.

He Dongchen was even worse off, having endured hardships for 18 years. Finally, he returned, only to be forced to forgive and face various slanders. If the He family went bankrupt, it would mean more suffering ahead.

Having money and power didn’t justify bullying honest people!

The netizens were enraged and began digging into Sima Yongqing’s background.

He ran a well-known public relations company.

Then it dawned on them! No wonder the skills in twisting the truth were so refined; he was a PR expert.

***

Cases handled by Sima Yongqing’s company were scrutinized one by one, with netizens using magnifying glasses to pick apart every detail.

Many of his partners were anxious, never expecting that one day they would be scrutinized because of a PR company’s actions.

He Dongchen had the system gradually release the collected materials.

For example, last year, a high-ranking executive from a conglomerate falsely claimed to be single and involved with a female college student. When the scandal broke, Sima Yongqing’s company devised a strategy to twist the facts, falsely portraying the female student as willingly involved and exaggerating her flaws to paint him as a perfect victim. In the end, the executive’s wife forgave him, and he escaped unscathed.

Despite being the victim, the female student was defamed and driven to the point of suicide to prove her innocence, only to be ridiculed for supposedly staging her own tragedy.

This incident, which caused a stir last year, was now being revisited. With He Dongchen’s wrongful accusation still fresh, people began to reassess the situation.

What online information was true, and what was false?

Who was manipulating things behind the scenes, using their gossip, curiosity, enthusiasm, and hostility, leveraging their herd mentality to stir up trouble, distort the truth, and confuse right and wrong?

When the truth could be manipulated, what would become of justice in the world?

This situation had escalated beyond a mere issue of who was the real wealthy heir or matters of underage relationships; it had become a significant issue for public reflection and discussion.

Sima Yongqing didn’t anticipate that things would escalate so dramatically. He spent a sleepless night, sitting dejectedly in a chair, his mind a mess, unable to come up with any public relations strategy to salvage the situation.

Sima Yongqing’s elder brother, seeing his usually invincible younger brother hitting a wall, was both angry and anxious. He was trying to protect himself while also assisting in solving the problem.

After 2 days of effort, he returned to the solemn-faced Sima Yongqing and said, “Prepare to go abroad.”

He had received word from higher-ups about an impending crackdown on online public opinion chaos. Sima Yongqing was likely to be targeted as a typical example.

Sima Yongqing sighed with resignation and said, “It’s too late.”

When the online machine officially took action, no one could escape, no matter how much money they had.

Sure enough, within 2 days, major official media outlets began to speak out, resolutely upholding online security and order, and putting an end to rumors and disturbances.

A large number of troublemaking marketing accounts were shut down and investigated, the program was halted, and Sima Yongqing’s public relations company faced a thorough inspection.

He Dongchen had the system retract its actions and withdrew entirely.

Sima Yongqing, overwhelmed by the situation, was unable to manage his affairs. With the support of enthusiastic online users, the he family’s company gradually recovered.

During this time, He Zhenglan was on edge, feeling as if he were drifting on a knife’s edge. Once the storm had passed and he saw Sima Yongqing being caught up in the mess, he looked at his son, He Dongchen, with newfound respect and a hint of admiration.

“Dongchen, you’re about to start school. I bought an apartment near the school. Here are the keys,” He Zhenglan said, nudging his wife with his elbow.

Lin Xiumei smiled warmly and said, “I cooked your favorite dishes myself today.”

He Dongchen looked at the couple with indifference, nodded slightly, and took the keys.

The couple breathed a sigh of relief, their faces lighting up with joy.

On the eve of the new semester, He Sijia, who had been missing for a month, suddenly appeared at the villa’s door, crying uncontrollably.

“Mom went to turn herself in.”

“She asked me to tell you that she won’t come looking for me anymore.”

The three members of the He family exchanged glances, all recalling He Zhenglan’s words in the meeting room that day.

He Zhenglan had declared that as long as He Juan was alive, He Sijia wouldn’t receive a penny from the He family.

Unexpectedly, He Juan, unwilling to die, had gone to turn herself in.

“What did she do to turn herself in?” Lin Xiumei asked fearfully.

“She said that He Gou knew about my situation and was planning to come over and make trouble, so she secretly lifted the manhole cover… He Gou was drunk and fell to his death.”

He Sijia was completely dazed, overwhelmed by a series of events that crashed down upon her.

Especially He Juan, who had concealed the truth for her 18 years ago, killed He Gou for her 18 years later, and now turned herself in for her.

How could she endure such profound and bloody affection?

He Zhenglan remained silent for a moment, looking at the daughter he had raised for 18 years, and slowly said, “If it weren’t for Sima Yongqing’s actions against the company, I might still be able to support you. But now, my heart feels cold.”

He Sijia could only sob uncontrollably.

It seemed she had done nothing, yet everyone around her had acted on her behalf.

Winning easily in success, helpless in failure.

He Dongchen stood aside, watching coldly.

The system complained, [Indeed, money is the most important thing.]

***

A few days later, with the start of the school year, He Dongchen moved to the school and didn’t return home on weekends. He Zhenglan and Lin Xiumei didn’t dare to press him too hard and could only play the sympathy card in an attempt to soften his attitude.

He Dongchen remained forever indifferent, just as they had been to the original owner in their previous life. With no lack of wealth, there was no warmth.

Later, Sima Yongqing served a prison sentence for several years. He Sijia struggled through college, burdened by too many issues, and remained perpetually disheartened, eventually losing her brilliance and blending into the crowd.

University life was relaxed and passionate. He Dongchen joined the basketball club, playing and sweating after classes.

One day, as he walked off the basketball court holding a ball, a bottle of water appeared in front of him.

“Long time no see.” Zheng Dongdong held up a bottle of mineral water, her blue dress fluttering in the wind, her smile bright, and her eyes crescent-shaped.

The crowd cheered, and He Dongchen accepted the water amidst the teasing.

“Long time no see.”