At some point, a set of photographs identical to those sent to Zhou Shichang appeared online. Wang Cheng was something of an internet celebrity. Although his earlier moment in the spotlight had passed, his status still drew plenty of interest. Someone recognized him almost immediately.
Whoever uploaded the pictures also hired a large army of paid online commenters to insult Wang Cheng, declaring that homosexuals were disgusting and using every kind of crude, offensive language imaginable. A furious argument broke out. Since ancient times, people had always been drawn to appearances.
If the men in the pictures had been ordinary-looking, people might not have had much to fantasize about and would naturally have joined in condemning them. But these two men were handsome, so the reaction was different. At least some people exclaimed that they looked good together. Besides, there was an entire legion of fiercely combative fans of male-male romance online.
Both Wang Cheng and Chu Yifeng were exceptionally good-looking. As soon as the paid commenters poured in, people who had been watching from the sidelines jumped into the fray. A ferocious war of words followed. Then some careful observers noticed a curious pattern: the people attacking Wang Cheng all focused on him, using nearly identical language, but hardly any of them insulted the other man in the photographs.
Why was that?
Clearly, whoever had orchestrated this spectacle had a grudge against Zhou Group’s young heir. Even more dramatically, someone discovered that several of the photographs had been edited. Once the truth came out, the internet erupted. People began playing a collective game of spot-the-doctored-photo.
A malicious spectacle turned into a comedy.
Whether the two men were actually lovers ceased to be the main question. Everyone was mocking the person behind the smear campaign. If they wanted to discredit Young Master Zhou, couldn’t they at least do it properly? Did they really think a few doctored photographs could bring him down? What a pathetic scheme. The paid commenters were caught completely off guard. How could they fight back? The traces of editing were obvious to anyone with technical expertise. Once the defects had been pointed out, even they could see them. With their supposed evidence exposed as fake, what argument did they have left?
The person behind the campaign, who had been preparing to enjoy the results, then received a call from Mr. Li, the man overseeing the paid commenters.
“Well? How’s the response online?” Zhou Lin gestured for Zhao Jiansheng to keep quiet when she saw the caller’s name. She was in an excellent mood. She had been the one to organize this affair.
Mr. Li had assumed his client had been following the online reaction and had been about to ask what to do. But from her tone, she clearly knew nothing of the latest developments. Hesitantly, he told her the truth.
“Madam, there’s a problem with the photographs you gave us. Most are fine, but the crucial one has been altered with software. That was the picture that made people think the men were a couple. Now everyone’s found out it’s fake, and my people don’t know how to answer the accusations. You should go online and see for yourself.”
“Impossible! Those photos were… In any case, they can’t be fake.” Zhou Lin denied it reflexively. She had obtained the pictures from her son. Her father had driven Zhou Cheng out because of those very photographs, and she had confirmed the outcome herself. She had never considered that they might have been doctored.
Zhao Chenlin had no idea his mother intended to release the photographs online. Had he known, he would certainly have stopped her, or at least removed the doctored one. But he did not know, which was why this disaster happened.
Mr. Li rolled his eyes. “Madam, if you don’t believe me, you can look for yourself. Everyone online is discussing it. In addition, we’ve completed the work you hired us to do. Please pay the outstanding balance.”
Hearing this, Zhou Lin grew furious. “The result I wanted was for the people in those photographs to be utterly disgraced. Now public opinion is completely on their side, and you want to walk away? I didn’t pay you to make things worse!”
Zhao Jiansheng used his phone to search the day’s trending news. The photograph scandal was at the very top of the top-ten list. He showed Zhou Lin the comments below it, which were indeed all attacking the uploader. Not only had their plan failed, it might actually have helped clear Wang Cheng of the alleged homosexual scandal. No wonder she was furious.
“Madam, the photographs you supplied were defective. That’s why public opinion turned against you. It has nothing to do with my team. Our job is to make the incident go viral, and I made that clear when you hired us. If you’d told us the truth from the start, we wouldn’t be in this position.”
“You assured me back then that I’d be satisfied. Now something has gone wrong and you want to take the money and leave? Do you think money grows on trees?”
“Are you saying you won’t pay the remaining half of our fee?” Mr. Li could scarcely believe his ears. People in his line of work had their own rules. Even if the results fell short of the client’s hopes, the agreed payment had to be made in full. Otherwise, the consequences could be serious. Most entertainment-industry celebrities who had ever hired paid commenters understood this. Such groups wielded real power, or the industry would never have grown so large.
“You failed to deliver what I asked for in the first place.” Zhou Lin did not care much about the tens of thousands involved, but she had no intention of letting anyone take advantage of her.
Mr. Li laughed in disbelief. He had never met such an unreasonable client. “Fine, madam. Remember what you said today.”
“Wait a moment.” A man’s voice suddenly came over the line.
Mr. Li paused at the change of speaker. He did not hang up immediately. If he could still get the money, he wanted it. The funds were not all his; he had to pay the commenters working under him. Without the money, he would have to cover their wages himself.
“My apologies. The lady was upset by the online comments and took her anger out on you, Mr. Li. The rest of the agreed payment will be transferred to your account shortly.” The speaker was Zhao Jiansheng. He did not fully understand the rules of the online world either, but he was wary of the power wielded by paid commenter networks. If they offended the man, he might retaliate.
“At least you know what’s good for you.” Mr. Li snorted and hung up. Despite Zhao Jiansheng’s decent attitude, he decided to blacklist the couple and refuse any future jobs from them.
“Who does that man think he is, speaking to us like that?” Hearing his tone over the speakerphone, Zhou Lin grew angrier still.
Zhao Jiansheng explained helplessly, “You haven’t dealt with people in that business before. It’s better not to offend people online casually. Whatever happened, he did what we initially asked him to do. If he retaliates and exposes us, it’ll be difficult to face your father and your older sister.”
“I was only angry, that’s all,” Zhou Lin protested.
Zhao Jiansheng did not challenge her excuse.
Zhou Lin stared at her husband’s phone and refreshed the page to read the newest comments, only to find a message saying the page no longer existed. She assumed the internet connection had failed and refreshed several more times, but the result was the same.
Soon other internet users began complaining about the same thing.
It wasn’t merely that she could no longer access the page. The original link had been deleted, and other related posts were disappearing at astonishing speed. People soon realized that someone powerful had intervened. Most assumed it was Zhou Group. Zhou Lin and Zhao Jiansheng suspected the same, but they were wrong.
Zhou Lin and Zhao Jiansheng were somewhat afraid of Chu Yifeng. That was why they had instructed the hired commenters to target only Wang Cheng. Very few people online knew Chu Yifeng’s true identity, so they had thought it would be easy to steer the discussion.
But targeting Wang Cheng alone did not mean others would stand by. Wang Cheng was famous at Capital University too. In the past, people had referred to him as Wang Ziyu’s second older brother. Now they called him Zhou Group’s young heir, so quite a few people paid attention to his affairs. Students browsed the internet for gossip when they tired of studying, and someone shared the photograph scandal on the university forum. The campus erupted. News reached Lei Yunze, and from him the Chu family learned what had happened. Before Old Master Chu even gave an order, the younger members of the family used their connections to have the photographs removed from websites.
Although the original links were wiped out, nothing could be done about photographs people had already saved. Some Capital University students posted copies. On seeing the pictures, several took them at face value and declared themselves heartbroken. The two men were so handsome that they ought to have been a gift to women everywhere. How could they end up together and leave the girls with nothing? Even so, most university students were not particularly opposed to the idea. Young people tended to be less rigid in their thinking, and fans of male-male romance were a formidable presence. Once one group began saying the couple looked great together, others joined in.
As soon as Qian Baobao heard, she raced to Wang Ziyu’s classroom, eager to share the incredible news. But her classmates told her Ziyu had already left. Baobao hurried back to the dormitory, expecting to find her there, only to discover she had not returned either.
“Mi Li, have you seen Ziyu?” Qian Baobao called to Mi Li on the upper bunk. Mi Li had only two classes that afternoon and had finished earlier than the others. Exams were coming in a couple of days, but Mi Li was never the sort to cram at the last minute, so she had been returning early lately.
“No,” Mi Li replied. “Didn’t she just get out of class? Maybe she’s gone to the cafeteria.”
“Impossible. If she went to eat, she’d definitely ask us what we wanted,” Baobao said, shaking her head.
Mi Li finally looked up from her book with an expression that seemed to ask why she had to share a dorm with this idiot. “Are you stupid? Can’t you call her?”
Qian Baobao finally remembered and laughed sheepishly. In her hurry she had completely forgotten. She pulled out her phone. It rang four times before someone picked up, but the voice at the other end was not Wang Ziyu’s. It was a man’s voice.