The Abusive Novel System Pleads with Me to Resign

Lu Linwei was initially incredulous upon hearing this, but he obeyed Shen Ying’s words without hesitation, immediately signaling his men to restrain his cousin.

Deep down, he refused to believe that Lu Linqi—this utter fool—had the cunning or malice to pull such a stunt. The guy was one of the few genuine idiots in the entire Lu family, which was precisely why Lu Linwei had always treated him differently.

But when it came to selling out his little brother for the sake of his girlfriend, hesitation wasn’t an option.

Lu Linqi erupted on the spot: "Bro? Bro, what are you doing?"

He then turned his fury on Shen Ying: "What the hell are you implying? You think I’m in cahoots with the people who tried to harm you?"

"I don’t like you, and I don’t think you’re good enough for my brother, but I’m not that despicable."

"I just happened to be at the restaurant next door having dinner with friends when I saw you enter a hotel with some guy. That’s why I tipped off my brother."

Shen Ying smiled faintly. "With such an exciting incident today, was your brother the only one you informed?"

Lu Linqi replied defiantly, "Of course! I’m not an idiot—why would I let people mock my brother?"

Shen Ying pressed further. "Are you sure? You didn’t explain your whereabouts to anyone else, or drop even a hint?"

Lu Linqi was about to answer when a flicker of guilt crossed his face.

But he quickly regained his confidence. "Even if I contacted someone during that time, it was only to explain why I suddenly disappeared. I definitely didn’t say a word about what was happening here."

*Just because you think you didn’t reveal anything doesn’t mean you didn’t*, Shen Ying mused silently.

She asked, "Who chose the restaurant where you had dinner?"

Lu Linqi snapped, "Me! But don’t you dare accuse me of anything shady. I booked that place days ago—how could anyone have predicted you’d show up there?"

Shen Ying continued, "Who recommended the restaurant to you?"

Lu Linqi scoffed, "None of your damn business! What, now someone recommending me a place to eat makes them suspicious in your eyes? Are you trying to pin blame on people ten blocks away?"

Shen Ying rephrased her question. "Then let me put it this way—what did someone do at that exact time that made you step out of the restaurant and coincidentally spot me?"

"If you’d stayed inside the whole time, you wouldn’t have seen me. You must’ve left the private room for some reason."

"Like someone calling you, saying they had something urgent to discuss, and asking you to step outside for privacy."

Lu Linqi’s face paled. The sheer number of coincidences Shen Ying effortlessly deduced made it seem like his accidental encounter with her had been a carefully orchestrated scheme.

But he quickly shook off the thought. He wasn’t about to distrust someone just because of this woman’s wild accusations.

Shen Ying, however, didn’t care about the fool’s misplaced trust. She simply turned to Lu Linwei, whose narrowed eyes now carried a dangerous glint, and said, "Confiscate all his communication devices. Make sure no one with ulterior motives can reach him for now."

Lu Linwei was equally furious that someone would dare manipulate an idiot like this. "Don’t worry, I’ll keep an eye on him," he assured her.

Then he turned to Lu Linqi. "Seems like we need to arrange your marriage as soon as possible."

"After your last meeting with Madam Huang, she was quite taken with you. She’s been looking for an excuse to invite you over to try out her new *bedding set*."

"I’ll set up another meeting for you two tomorrow."

Lu Linwei smirked coldly. "Better than staying single and getting taken advantage of. If anyone dares use you as a fool again, I’m sure Madam Huang will hunt them down and smash their head in."

He patted his cousin’s shoulder solemnly. "Consider this my way of finding you a protector."

Lu Linqi looked like he was about to shatter into pieces. Meanwhile, Shen Yao—oblivious as ever—chimed in, "Bro Lu, what kind of *bedding set* are we talking about here?"

"The kind for beds or the kind for sugar mommies?"

Lu Linwei fell silent for a moment before ordering his subordinates, "Tomorrow, deliver several crates of practice exams to him and arrange six tutors. If he doesn’t get into Tsinghua, he’ll be retaking the college entrance exam next year."

Shen Yao: "…"

*What did I even do?*

On one side, the poor fool was being saddled with an impossible academic goal, his only warmth being the freshly earned 200 yuan in his pocket.

On the other, Shen Ying was already efficiently contacting the mastermind behind Zhuang Yi.

**[Apologies, but after some thought, I realized that even though you paid well, I can’t afford to face Lu Linwei’s wrath head-on. So I decided to slip away early.]**

**[But I’m not the type to take money and run. Here are some post-event photos—I’m sure they’ll still be useful to you.]**

**[Image]**

**[Image]**

Shen Ying selected a few well-angled, foolproof photos and sent them.

As expected, the other side showed *"typing…"* for a moment before going silent upon receiving the images.

They probably realized there was no point arguing with an unscrupulous cheat like this and chose to save the photos first before dealing with the weasel later.

Finished with that, Shen Ying pointed at Zhuang Yi and said to Lu Linwei, "Take this guy back first. Make sure no one tracks his whereabouts."

Having lost both face and dignity after today’s ordeal, Lu Linwei was now compliant with all her requests.

Sure enough, shortly after returning, Lu Linwei’s private phone rang.

The caller was Qiao Mingyue. Without a second thought, he rejected the call.

She tried several more times, but he ignored every one.

Finally, Qiao Mingyue had no choice but to send a message.

Attached was one of the photos Shen Ying had sent hours earlier, along with a single line—

**[If you want to know more, let’s talk in person.]**

Lu Linwei almost laughed in anger. If not for Shen Ying’s plan to extort her first—and her order not to act yet—he would’ve stormed into the Qiao residence immediately.

Predictably, just as he was about to reply, Shen Ying snatched his phone and typed out a response—

**[Fine. You pick the place.]**

The other side immediately sent the address of a private restaurant. Only then did Shen Ying return the phone to Lu Linwei.

Lu Linwei said, "If you’re after compensation, I can demand it directly for you."

"Not a chance," Shen Ying retorted. "This is my side hustle, earned by my own skills. Why should I share credit with you? Otherwise, Boss Lu might start asking me for a cut—and then what? Should I pay up or not?"

Lu Linwei: "…"

*Yet you had no problem exploiting my name to extort money earlier.*

The next day, Qiao Mingyue woke up early to prepare for the meeting, trying on more than ten outfits with Qiao Mingfei’s input.

Qiao Mingfei maintained a patient and gentle demeanor, but inwardly, she was seething with impatience and malice.

*My foolish cousin… With Lu Linwei’s pride, how could he possibly look favorably upon someone who delivered evidence of his woman’s betrayal?*

*He’ll only feel humiliated and resentful—and direct that resentment straight at Qiao Mingyue for forcing him to face it.*

After finally settling on the perfect outfit and applying flawless makeup, Qiao Mingyue arrived at the restaurant ahead of time.

The private room had even been decorated at her request—romantic ambiance and all.

She was already imagining how she’d comfort Lu Linwei when he arrived, heartbroken and disillusioned.

The door to the private room swung open. Qiao Mingyue’s eager expression twisted into fury in an instant.

Because the person walking in wasn’t Lu Linwei at all—it was Shen Ying, the very woman from the photos.

Casually strolling inside, Shen Ying took in the room’s decor with exaggerated delight.

"Oh? Did Miss Qiao go to all this trouble just for me? I’m truly flattered."

Qiao Mingyue nearly choked on her own rage. "Why the hell are *you* here?"

Shen Ying responded with bafflement, “Miss Qiao, you’re the one who asked to meet me.”

Qiao Mingyue snapped, “Bullshit! That was Lu Linwei’s phone.”

Shen Ying shrugged. “He gave it to me a while ago. It’s just a phone—haven’t you ever gifted someone one?”

Qiao Mingyue let out a bitter laugh. “Do you take me for a fool? You pulled some shady stunt and hid Lu Linwei’s phone because you were afraid of getting caught.”

“You think ruining this meeting will save you? Unless you lock him up, those photos will find their way to him eventually.”

Shen Ying nodded. “Actually, President Lu has already seen them, so no need to worry on that front. If you’d like to share more private photos of me with him, I’ve got plenty to spare.”

Qiao Mingyue sneered. “Still playing tough, huh?”

Shen Ying sighed helplessly, then pulled out her phone, opened a video, and slid it across the table.

Qiao Mingyue eyed it warily. The footage began with the exact scene from the photo she’d sent Lu Linwei.

But then the camera panned out, the forced perspective illusion dissolved, and the full picture came into view—Shen Ying’s clothes were perfectly intact, save for a single slipped strap, and the two on the bed weren’t even close.

This so-called “compromising shot” was pure fraud.

Then came the moment that made Qiao Mingyue’s blood run cold.

As the camera pulled back further, more people came into view—Lu Linqi, three bodyguards, and finally, standing at the edge of the frame, was none other than Lu Linwei himself.

He held Shen Ying’s coat in his arms, glaring at the man on the bed with undisguised displeasure.

Qiao Mingyue’s face twisted in shock. “You—what the hell is this?”

“Who the hell is playing me?”

She slammed her hands on the table and stood, turning to leave.

But Shen Ying’s voice drifted after her, cool and amused. “Miss Qiao, you can’t just walk away like this.”

Qiao Mingyue scoffed. “Try and stop me.”

Shen Ying chuckled. “The bodyguards in that video work for President Lu. Lu Linqi and the man on the bed are already under his control.”

“Logically, no one outside that room should’ve known what happened. Yet within hours, you sent me photos from a private video we shot on a whim.”

“Miss Qiao, you’ve got quite the reach.”

Qiao Mingyue stiffened. Shen Ying continued, “No offense, but the guy in that photo is my college classmate. Someone paid him to drug me—too bad he was an idiot who got himself caught.”

“I was furious. I wanted to know who’d stoop so low, so I played along, gave them the ‘scandal’ they wanted, and cut off all outside communication for everyone involved.”

“That way, whoever came forward with ‘evidence’ of my affair would expose themselves.”

“But I never imagined it’d be you, Miss Qiao. I thought even if you resented me, you’d never resort to something this vile.”

Qiao Mingyue’s face burned with humiliation. “It wasn’t me! I got those photos from an unknown number!”

She’d been thrilled at first, convinced Shen Ying was the cheating snake she’d always suspected.

But now it was clear—she’d been used as a pawn.

Shen Ying tilted her head. “The proof is right here. Even if I believe you, do you think President Lu will?”

“Bullying some nobody from a working-class family is nothing to the Qiao family. But the Qiao heiress conspiring to humiliate the woman Lu Linwei publicly claimed?”

“Miss Qiao, are you—and your family—declaring war on the Lu family?”

Qiao Mingyue’s eyes reddened with frustration. There was no way to clear her name now.

Through gritted teeth, she hissed, “What do you want? You came alone—you’ve got another scheme, don’t you?”

Shen Ying smiled brightly. “Of course. A feud between our families benefits no one. I just want fair compensation for the trouble I’ve endured.”

Qiao Mingyue nearly choked on her rage. She couldn’t believe she was being extorted—again—for something she hadn’t even done.

Shen Ying added, “From our past dealings, you know I keep my word.”

“If I’m compensated, I’ll have the energy to dig for the real mastermind.”

“But if I’m left unsatisfied, well… when I start lashing out at suspects, you’ll be first in line.”

Qiao Mingyue understood the threat—this greedy woman would whisper in Lu Linwei’s ear and pin the blame on her, money or no money.

And with how perfectly she’d walked into this trap, she had no defense.

Defeated, Qiao Mingyue muttered, “Fine. You’ll get it.”

She watched, humiliated and blinking back tears, as Shen Ying sauntered out.

Not long after, her cousin Qiao Mingfei emerged from a nearby lounge. “Don’t be upset, sis. I told you those photos were suspicious. We just slipped up this time.”

Qiao Mingyue wiped her eyes, hatred simmering. “She won’t gloat for long. I’ll make her pay for today—or I’m not a Qiao.”

Qiao Mingfei’s smile deepened. “No, she won’t last much longer.”

So make sure everyone sees just how much you despise her, dear cousin.

When Shen Ying returned home, Lu Linwei took one look at her satisfied grin and knew she’d profited handsomely.

He crossed his arms. “Can I deal with the Qiao family now?”

Shen Ying waved a hand. “If you retaliate right after I leave, it’ll make me look dishonest.”

Lu Linwei’s temper flared. “Do you even realize what they tried to do? You got lucky this time—what about next time?”

She couldn’t let him slaughter her golden goose. The real show hadn’t even started yet—these petty payoffs were nothing.

“That’s my problem,” she said breezily. “Wait a while. If you don’t, I’ll tell everyone it was just a joke between Miss Qiao and me.”

“If the ‘victim’ drops it, you’ve got no grounds to intervene, right?”

Lu Linwei fumed, but this mess had started with his own decisions. He couldn’t argue.

Shen Ying knew the timing was perfect. Her feud with Qiao Mingyue had reached its peak—it was time to cash in.

So when her brother Shen Yao called from school one afternoon, she wasn’t surprised.

“Sis,” he stammered, “I got in a fight. The teacher wants a parent.”

Before she could scold him, he rushed on, “I didn’t start it! That idiot kept provoking me today—he was harassing Lili too. I lost my temper.”

“Please come quick. And don’t tell Mom and Dad!”

Shen Ying smirked. “On my way.”

She summoned a driver and headed out without a hitch.

Lu Linwei might claim to have her confined, but with how content she acted, he rarely bothered restricting her movements.

So off she went.

The car drove out of the Lu family's private estate and continued along the highway for over ten kilometers before suddenly swerving onto a road that didn’t lead to the university.

Shen Ying, seated in the back, spoke up, "Driver, this isn’t the right way, is it?"

The man glanced at her through the rearview mirror with an unsettling smile. "Don’t worry, Miss Shen. We’re on the right path."

After several more kilometers, the car came to a stop on a desolate stretch of road, where another vehicle was already waiting.

Three men with vicious-looking faces stepped out and approached. One of them replaced the driver, while the other two entered from opposite sides, flanking Shen Ying.

"Let’s go," one ordered.

And just like that, Shen Ying was silently taken away by the three burly men.