Chapter 24: The Adopted Daughter of a Wealthy Family Leaks Telepathy 24 New Story Started “Mom…

Chapter 24: The Wealthy Family’s Adopted Daughter Speaks Her Mind

New story now available: "Mom..."

After that, whenever Ding Jie tried to contact Xu Ziyan, he found himself blocked, which frustrated him immensely. It wasn’t until he noticed Xu Ziyan swiping his card to buy expensive jewelry and designer bags that he finally relaxed, thinking she must just be acting up and would be easy to coax back in a few days.

Xu Ziyan intended exactly that—keeping him hooked. The plot wasn’t finished yet, so she couldn’t afford to completely sever ties.

She no longer resisted following the plot. By exploiting loopholes, she could complete many storylines. Even if things didn’t unfold exactly as expected, as long as the plot progressed, she could survive—and how wonderful that would be! She could live out her days as a wealthy heiress!

Especially with this card in hand—use it or lose it. Xu Ziyan deliberately dropped a hint to Yang Anni: "If you find promising talent, just poach them. Cover their buyouts if needed—money isn’t an issue. Pick good-looking ones; I’m a total looks person."

Yang Anni laughed. "I noticed your preference for looks long ago—otherwise, why would you have taken a liking to me at first sight? Don’t worry, our company will be packed with gorgeous people."

Yang Anni worked efficiently, quickly assembling a crew to shoot a new drama. On the day of the filming kickoff, she specially invited Xu Ziyan, the investor, to attend the ceremony and dine with the main cast.

With a handsome man on her left and a beauty on her right, Xu Ziyan found the meal delightful—especially since she was spending Ding Jie’s money. She enjoyed herself thoroughly, body and soul.

Ding Jie, however, had a much tougher time. His father, humiliated by the fight between his two sons, took out his frustration on Ding Jie—the only son still around. Every encounter was filled with icy remarks and scornful glares.

At the company, shareholders and employees kept their poker faces, but Ding Jie occasionally caught them giving him sideways looks, as if they saw through his true nature. Even the team preparing for the esports tournament was eerily quiet, sticking to all work, no play, without any of their usual lively discussions.

This left Ding Jie choking on the tension, whether at work or at home.

Bai Qingqing, unemployed and staying at home, waited two days without hearing any concern from Ding Jie. Unable to hold back, she video-called him, forcing a smile as she asked, "Are your injuries better? Sorry, I’ve ran into some trouble these past few days and couldn’t reach out."

Normally, Ding Jie would have anxiously asked what happened, interpreting her expression as distress and rushing to defend her. But this time, after confronting Xu Ziyan and reviewing the surveillance footage, he eyed Bai Qingqing warily. Born paranoid, once doubt took root, he could no longer trust her as blindly as before.

Besides, he’d been exhausted lately, and with the esports tournament at a critical stage, he had no energy to spare for Bai Qingqing. He replied dismissively, "The doctor checked—I’m much better. Focus on your own matters; don’t worry about me."

Bai Qingqing was stunned, her words stuck in her throat. Had Xu Ziyan said something to Ding Jie? Why was he reacting like this? Was he abandoning her?

When someone interrupted to discuss the game, Ding Jie said, "I’m busy. I’ll find you later."

Bai Qingqing stared at the ended call in disbelief. That was it? Not even a single extra question? She had planned to mention being fired by Xu Ziyan, testing whether Ding Jie would arrange a job for her. Based on her past understanding of him, she’d even speculated he might buy the flower shop for her.

But now? Had Xu Ziyan discovered her existence, making Ding Jie reconcile with her? What did that make Bai Qingqing? Just a rich playboy’s fling? And not even one who got anything out of it?

Bai Qingqing had never considered herself a social climber—just a little vain, hoping to present her best side and earn praise. It was Ding Jie who had approached her first, showering her with attention until she developed feelings. Now she felt used. Did he see her as some stray cat or dog to toy with?

Whatever Bai Qingqing thought, Ding Jie currently had no room for romance. His entire focus was on the esports tournament, hoping to redeem himself and win back his father’s and the shareholders’ clout.

Soon, the game development competition arrived. Both Ding Jie and Fu Qiming emerged as underdogs, advancing all the way to the finals.

Ding Jie grew anxious and privately contacted Li Dong: "Didn’t you say Fu Qiming had no new game and wasn’t a threat? What’s going on?"

Li Dong was equally frantic. "I really don’t know! He’s been absent from the studio a lot lately, acting depressed. I—I—"

"Clearly, he was guarding against you. You’ve been exposed, you moron!" Ding Jie hung up angrily, warning his team to avoid mistakes at all costs—they had to win.

Fu Qiming’s new game was excellent, full of creativity, but given the short development time, it couldn’t surpass the meticulously crafted one Ding Jie had stolen. In the end, Fu Qiming took second place, while Ding Jie won the championship.

As he stood on stage waiting for his trophy, Ding Jie finally relaxed, grinning like he’d won the lottery.

Ding Yao, now closely connected to the Fu family, knew something was about to happen. He deliberately provoked his father into attending the competition.

After seeing Fu Qiming’s impressive game, Old Man Ding had frowned throughout—only smiling at the final result. He remarked leisurely to Ding Yao, "You called your brother a flashy fraud, but I think he’s actually quite talented. At such a young age, he’s already highly capable. I can put him in charge of more at the company."

Ding Yao snorted in silent contempt.

"Congratulations, system, for completing the plot: helping Ding Jie win the game competition championship and gaining his father's praise!"

Xu Ziyan took a sip of her boba tea and stood up to leave. She had deliberately asked Fu Qiming to wait just to wrap up this plotline.

At that moment, Fu Qiming suddenly spoke up, "Ding Jie, did you ask for my permission before using this game for the competition? This is my creation."

His words caused an uproar in the venue. Even the host and the award presenter froze, unsure whether to proceed.

Ding Jie's expression darkened. "The game is in my possession. Don’t spout baseless accusations to disrupt the event—you’ll only embarrass yourself."

"Oh really?" Fu Qiming projected onto the screen. "This game was developed by me and my team, and I have solid proof. Are you going to claim I sold it to you? Wrong. I gave it to my older sister because she wanted it, but you stole it. Just because you’re close friends with my sister, just because she lets it slide, doesn’t mean you can claim the game as your own."

The screen displayed a clip of Ding Jie swiping the hard drive from Xu Ziyan’s bag, followed by Xu Ziyan returning, checking her bag, and anxiously searching around. Another clip showed Fu Qiming personally storing the game on the hard drive, which bore the initials "FQM"—his initials.

Ding Jie felt the tables turning but remained composed. "I don’t know what you and Ziyan discussed, but she gave this to me." He turned to Xu Ziyan for confirmation, only to find she had already left.

Fu Qiming countered, "Show me the transfer paperwork? There isn't one, is there? How could stolen property come with paperwork? And since you stole it, you wouldn’t know its flaws. This game is unfinished and has major glitches. I planned to fix it for my older sister when I had time, but you stole it instead."

Fu Qiming keyed in a command on his laptop, and the projection switched to Ding Jie’s submitted game. With a few keystrokes, he triggered a hidden flaw, causing the entire game to crash and all files to auto-delete.

Ding Jie immediately turned to his team, but they looked just as stunned. They genuinely hadn’t detected such a well-hidden flaw. Only the game’s creator could have embedded something so subtle. Even if they knew about the flaw, debugging it would take forever. In short, a game with such a critical defect broke tournament rules and had to be disqualified.

Meaning, the championship would now go to Fu Qiming!

Ding Jie finally understood—this had been a trap from the start. That’s why obtaining the game had been so easy. Fu Qiming had waited until today to deliver a crushing blow, branding him a thief in the industry.

Taking a deep breath, Ding Jie improvised, "Ziyan is my girlfriend. We don’t need formal agreements—she even holds my bank card. You’ve misunderstood. If anything, I suspect you planted that flaw to sabotage me."

Fu Qiming acted shocked. "That’s hard to believe coming from a businessman. In business, contracts are essential. My older sister and I have one—here, see? She gave me the game, but she authorized me to handle all related matters."

He produced a notarized power of attorney, proving he held full rights to the game. Ding Jie’s face twisted in frustration.

Fu Qiming smirked. "Whether I had time to refine the game for my older sister is between us. That you stole it and failed to spot the flaw is your problem. If you claim the money in your account was payment, where’s the amount? Or should we draft an agreement today? Legally speaking, modifying, submitting, promoting, and operating my older sister’s game without authorization is indefensible."

He handed over a pre-signed contract, offering to sell the game to Ding Jie at a ridiculous markup. Ding Jie was cornered. Refusing to sign would mean admitting he lied, turning this into a scandal. Signing would force him to pay an exorbitant sum for a flawed, tarnished game with little profit potential.

Seeing his son outmaneuvered by the Fu family and Ding Yao’s mocking smirk, Ding Senior scoffed and stormed off.

With no better option, Ding Jie gritted his teeth and signed, ending the farce. At least the game was now legally his—just a case of poor paperwork between him and Xu Ziyan, not theft.

But with the game disqualified, he was ushered off the stage. The original fourth-place winner, now the bronze medalist, bounded up, grinning at Ding Jie and saying, "Thanks!"—adding insult to injury.

Fu Qiming, holding the championship trophy, happily dashed to the parking lot to find Xu Ziyan, declaring they should celebrate at home.

Xu Ziyan teased, "Didn’t someone just call me ‘sis’? Sounded nice. Say it again."

Fu Qiming flushed. "Do you even act like an older sister? If anything, you should call me ‘bro.’"

Xu Ziyan rolled her eyes and scrolled through her phone. Fu Qiming could tell she was silently complaining—but then he realized something startling. He could no longer hear her thoughts!