Going home for the Chinese New Year with a year-end bonus of 100 million

Xiao Lei—Zhang Lei—adjusted his glasses, a smug smile playing on his lips:

"This is nothing. I just posted a few more posts on the school's online forum."

He pointed to the screen: "Look, the forum is full of people cursing them now."

"I asked a few classmates to help bump the thread, but the popularity just won't go down."

Looking at the glaring headlines on the screen, Sister Zhang couldn't stop grinning:

"Good, good, good! Son, you're really something! Who told them their business to be so good, stealing our customers? They deserve it!"

"Mom, don't worry." Zhang Lei leaned back in his chair, looking like he was in complete control.

"I've already sent messages to several large group chats at school."

"We've already contacted the administrators of three school groups and distributed all the 'victim experiences' we made up."

Zhang Lei scrolled through the screen, and new replies kept refreshing.

"There are at least a hundred students posting comments criticizing their family right now."

Sister Zhang leaned closer to the screen, her cloudy eyes gleaming with greed:

"Wow, this post about finding a cockroach in your food is so realistic! And this one about diarrhea... Xiao Lei, your writing is pretty good!"

"It's all just a routine," Zhang Lei said dismissively, scoffing.

"There are plenty of templates online; you just need to modify the details."

"The key is to have a picture—" He clicked on a post that included a blurry photo of what looked like slices of meat with small black dots. "Even if it's photoshopped, there has to be 'evidence'."

"Good, good, good!" Sister Zhang rubbed her hands together, her face contorted with laughter.

"Business has been noticeably better these past few days! Around lunchtime, the shop is packed! It never used to be like this!"

She patted her son on the shoulder: "Keep it up! Once we drive these outsiders away, this street's business will still be ours!"

"Don't worry, Mom." Zhang Lei pushed up his glasses, a cold glint flashing in his eyes behind the lenses.

"I've already checked. Their family is just an ordinary out-of-towner with no special background."

"That young man driving the Mercedes is probably just a nouveau riche with a little money."

"They can't cause any trouble on our turf."

He turned back to the computer, his fingers flying across the keyboard: "I'll drop a few more bombshells. I'll say they put poppy shells in their soup base, and that it's addictive... This kind of rumor is the most deadly."

Sister Zhang was terrified: "This...this is too harsh! What if..."

"What are you afraid of?" Zhang Lei interrupted her, his tone ruthless beyond his years.

"Rumors need to be ruthless, so that people are afraid to even try to verify them."

"Mom, you go ahead and get busy. I'll take care of things here."

"Okay, okay, Mom will make you some chicken soup to nourish you." Sister Zhang left with a big smile, gently closing the door behind her.

The only sound in the small room was the clatter of a keyboard.

Zhang Lei stared at the ever-growing number of malicious posts on the screen, his smile growing wider and wider.

He felt like a general hidden behind the scenes, manipulating public opinion with his keyboard and driving his opponents into a corner.

This sense of control fascinated him.

……

The atmosphere on the second floor of "Qianweifang" was somber.

Xiaoya kept scrolling through her phone, and with each new post spreading rumors, her face grew paler.

"Brother! They're going too far! Now they're even saying we put poppy shells in our soup! They're trying to ruin us!"

Lin Xiaoyu, her eyes also red, handed a glass of warm water to Wang Xiuying.

Wang Xiuying took the water, but her hands were trembling slightly, clearly indicating that she was very angry.

Li Cuihua and Lin's mother sat to one side, sighing repeatedly.

They have worked hard all their lives, and they have never experienced such a scene of being splashed with dirty water.

It feels like falling into a quagmire, and no matter how hard you try to wash yourself out, you can't get rid of it.

Yang Fan stood by the window, looking calmly at the students who occasionally passed by downstairs but avoided his shop.

But those who know him well can see a coldness hidden deep in his eyes.

"Brother, what are you thinking?" Xiaoya stamped her foot anxiously.

"Are we just going to let them slander us like this?"

"Don't rush." ​​Yang Fan turned around, his tone still calm.

"Zhou Jin is checking the IP address; it'll take some time. As for these clowns..."

He walked among his family members, his gaze sweeping over their anxious faces:

"The more they jump around now, the harder they'll fall when the truth comes out."

"We have nothing to hide. All our qualifications, invoices, and purchase records are complete and can withstand any investigation."

"Now, let the bullets fly for a while."

He patted Xiaoya on the shoulder: "You have to believe that there are still many sensible people in this world. And..."

He paused, a sharp glint in his eyes: "I'm not without a backup plan either."

As if to confirm his words, Xiaoya's phone suddenly started vibrating continuously.

She looked down and saw a WeChat message from her roommate Zhang Xiaowen, as well as messages flooding the chat in several student entrepreneurship groups that Yang Fan had invested in.

[Zhang Xiaowen]: "Xiaoya! I saw it! I'm so angry! The aunties' place is so clean and hygienic! I'm going to use all my accounts to clarify this for you!"

[Liu Yang from the eSports Club]: "Fan Ge's shop got hacked? Brothers, grab your weapons! See you on the forum!"

[Chen Mo (Xinghai Intelligence)]: "Message received. A team has been arranged to collect evidence of the other party's defamation and to trace the source of the post. Technical support is available at any time."

Looking at the indignant messages on the screen, each expressing their desire to speak out, Xiaoya felt a lump in her throat and almost burst into tears. "Brother...they..."

Yang Fan nodded, a hint of warmth finally appearing on his face:

"Look, this is the human heart, this is justice."

"When we conduct ourselves and do things, we should strive to have a clear conscience. In critical moments, someone will naturally step forward."

However, the battlefield of the internet has never been a simple battle between good and evil.

Two opposing voices quickly emerged on the school's online forums and message boards.

One side consisted mainly of Zhang Xiaowen, Zhou Jin's e-sports club, Chen Mo's team, and other students who had received favors from Yang Fan or were simply acting out of a sense of justice. They posted photos of their clean and bright dining experience at "Qianweifang," along with their spending records, to clarify and refute the rumors and to urge everyone to view things rationally and not be swayed by the narrative.

On the other side were students who were either misled by Zhang Lei's online trolls or simply wanted to join in the fun, and who were unaware of the truth.

Incited by Zhang Lei's carefully fabricated "painful experience" and vague "evidence," they firmly believed that "there's no smoke without fire," and ridiculed the clarification post, even launching personal attacks.

[Netizen A]: "Oh, here we go again, trying to whitewash things? How much did you get paid by the store?"

[Publicly advertised account]: "That 'Wenwen Loves Beauty' guy, I know you. Aren't you just a small-time internet celebrity? You must have collaborated with stores for promotions, right? Making easy money like this?"

[Zhang Xiaowen]: "You're lying! I didn't! I only recommended it because I thought it was delicious! Why are you slandering me!" (The reply included a crying emoji)

[Uninformed Person B]: "Who knows? These days, people will do anything to become famous. Anyway, I wouldn't dare to eat there; the risk is too great."

[Zhou Jin]: "Those people upstairs stirring up trouble, their IDs are all newly registered alt accounts. Do they dare to show their real accounts and speak? We've already started digging into it, just wait."

[Chen Mo's team member]: "We conducted a technical analysis of the images in the earliest posts spreading rumors, and the signs of Photoshop manipulation are obvious. The relevant analysis report has been submitted to the school's network center. Rumor-mongers, you can't escape."

Public opinion has reached a stalemate. Although there have been attempts to clarify, the overall trend remains unfavorable to "Qianweifang" due to the presence of numerous online trolls and negative sentiment.

Many neutral students, adopting a "better safe than sorry" mentality, chose to observe and stay away.

Zhang Lei watched all this from behind his computer and smiled smugly.

That's exactly the effect he wanted.

clarify?

What's the point of a few honest students clarifying things?

(P.S.: Sorry everyone these past few days, I brought my blind date to live with us. We went to her parents' house, and I hope you all share in the joy. I hope everyone can find their other half.)