Chapter 26
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Volume 1 + Chapter 26: Irreversible
“Riiing~”
Early in the morning, Bai Yuxuan was jolted awake by the urgent ringing of the phone.
“This is…”
Upon seeing the caller ID, Bai Yuxuan instantly became alert, sat up straight, and answered the call.
“It’s me, Bai Yuxuan.”
“It’s Xiao Liu, young master. I’ve already looked into the matter you asked me to investigate. That boiler factory does indeed have a very serious problem with its exhaust treatment, and…”
“And what?”
“It seems this issue has already alarmed the higher environmental authorities.”
“What did you say!”
At this, Bai Yuxuan sprang out of bed.
“Alright, I understand. Arrange my itinerary for me. I need to go to that boiler factory immediately.”
After saying this, Bai Yuxuan quickly changed clothes and dashed out the door without even having breakfast. About ten minutes later, a sedan stopped in front of her.
“Young master.”
A woman in a suit stepped out of the car and opened the door for Bai Yuxuan.
“Mm, Xiao Liu, there’s no time to lose. Let’s go.”
And so, Bai Yuxuan quickly got into the car, urging Xiao Liu to head to the boiler factory.
When they arrived, Bai Yuxuan had just stepped out of the car when she was nearly choked back inside by a pungent stench.
“Are they crazy? With a smell this strong, anyone could tell just by breathing it in that their emissions are severely over the limit.”
Without hesitation, Bai Yuxuan rushed toward the factory building.
There, to her surprise, she discovered the building had already been sealed with official tape.
“W-What’s going on here?!”
She quickly turned to the factory’s gatekeeper.
“You didn’t know? Just yesterday, the higher environmental authorities launched a full overnight inspection of the plant. The person in charge was taken away for further investigation.”
“What! So fast? Were we still too late?”
“Then young master, what do we do now?”
The woman in the suit asked anxiously.
“Take all the funds I currently have access to and use them to compensate the residents whose health has been affected. After all, public health must come first.”
“And after that?”
“Use every connection we can to try to minimize the impact of this incident.”
So for the entire day, Bai Yuxuan ran around dealing with the fallout. However, that evening, the higher environmental authorities held a press conference regarding the pollution incident, publicly criticizing Xijiang Boiler Co., Ltd. and announcing that the legal representative of the company had already been taken into criminal custody.
“Damn it! Were we still too late?”
By now it was the early hours of the morning. Watching the news rebroadcast, Bai Yuxuan smashed her fist into the coffee table, shattering the glass into pieces.
“Young master, I’m back.”
At that moment, the woman in the suit knocked on Bai Yuxuan’s door.
“Xiao Liu, come in.”
“Young master, don’t be so pessimistic. Though your father put you in charge of the company’s affairs, you’re not the legal representative, so you won’t bear direct responsibility.”
“You’re too naive. The greater impact of this incident on me comes from the family—specifically, the main Bai family.”
“This boiler factory is one of the Bai family’s core projects. Even the Bai family can’t overlook this level of loss, and the damage to the family’s reputation is significant. Everyone in the business world knows this factory was funded by us. For businessmen, reputation can sometimes be more important than money—because reputational damage causes ripple effects. I estimate the stock prices of Bai family subsidiaries will drop several percentage points because of this.”
“Then… the Bai family members…!”
“Exactly. They definitely won’t let me off. Even if they kick me out of the Bai family immediately, it would be entirely justified.”
“How could this happen…”
“What about Father…”
At this moment, Bai Yuxuan’s expression turned grim.
“Young master, during today’s investigation, I discovered something… I’m not sure if I should say it…”
“Go ahead. Things are already this bad.”
“While I was contacting Mayor Chen to ask him to step in, he told me that he had already informed your father a week ago about the higher environmental authorities planning to investigate the boiler factory.”
“What! So it really was Father!”
“And based on what I’ve found, the document your father gave you may have been falsified.”
“I see. I finally understand his intention. He wanted me to take the fall—to protect his position of power in the Bai family!”
“Unbelievable. I never imagined he could be that heartless…!”
Xiao Liu, standing nearby, spoke out in indignation on Bai Yuxuan’s behalf.
“Hmph, this is the real him. For a moment, I actually thought he was acting like a father. I was too naive. Alright, Xiao Liu, you’ve had a long day too. Go get some rest.”
“But, young master…”
“Go. Let me be alone.”
Xiao Liu looked at Bai Yuxuan worriedly before leaving the apartment.
At that moment, Bai Yuxuan sat hugging her knees, staring blankly out the window. Though she had put on a calm front in front of Xiao Liu, her inner world was in turmoil. If it weren’t already the middle of the night, she would’ve stormed home to demand an explanation from her father—why he had treated her like this.
After all, she had always followed his every command like a tool. But in the end, he made her take the fall and discarded her like a pawn.
By the next morning, Bai Yuxuan hadn’t slept a wink. Still sitting in the same position on her bed, hugging her knees, her phone rang again—this time it was her father’s secretary, informing her of a family meeting she needed to attend.
She rushed out of the apartment and headed straight to the meeting location.
When she arrived, she finally saw the person she most wanted to see—in the hallway leading to the reception room—her father.
She immediately ran up to him.
“Father, why did you do this to me?”
However, this cold-hearted man showed little emotion upon seeing his daughter.
“Yuxuan, let me give you an example. If a leader makes a mistake and has his subordinate take the blame, should that subordinate accept it or not?”
“The answer is yes, they should. Because the severity of a mistake made by a subordinate is not the same as that made by a leader. If you make a mistake as a subordinate, people just think you lack experience or ability. But if a leader makes a mistake, people will think they’re incompetent—‘how could someone in such a high position still make mistakes?’ So, do you understand what I mean?”
At this point, her father patted her on the shoulder.
“Don’t worry, Yuxuan. You are the most outstanding among the younger generation in the family. They won’t do anything to you.”
And with that, Bai Yuxuan’s father walked into the meeting hall.
