519: Chapter 519 No Big V Before the Law

The light from the corridor spilled through the door crack onto the carpet, pressing the atmosphere in the room to the extreme.

Xiao Fan's legs went weak, and he collapsed directly onto the floor.

His mouth hung open, emitting meaningless syllables from his throat; he couldn't even manage a complete sentence.

The person who had just been fantasizing about celebratory banquets and champagne was now like a heap of mud.

Wu Liang struggled to stand up from the sofa, the beer can in his hand dropping onto the carpet.

Beer mixed with white foam flowed all over the floor, soaking the designer slippers on his feet.

"Comrade, is there some mistake?"

Wu Liang swallowed, his voice wavering as he made a final struggle.

"I am the victim now! That student from Qingbei University, you should be arresting him!"

The lead police officer's expression was as calm as water, his sharp gaze nailed to Wu Liang's face, filled with oppressive force.

"Wu Liang, you are suspected of picking quarrels and provoking trouble, using the internet to fabricate facts, and inciting large-scale dissemination of false information."

The officer's voice was steady, every word and sentence resounding with weight.

"You are now summoned according to the law to the agency for investigation; please cooperate."

Wu Liang's face turned pale, the veins on the back of his hands bulging.

He took a half-step back, pointed at the sponsor advertisement on the wall, and began to shout loudly.

"You can't just arrest me! I am a big V with over six million followers! I just finished streaming, and millions of people were watching me!"

"If you arrest me, believe it or not, my fans will make this a big deal tomorrow! When public opinion rebounds, can you take responsibility for it?"

The lead police officer remained unmoved and took out a registered mobile phone from an evidence bag.

He placed the phone in the center of the coffee table and tapped on the numbered and registered audio file.

Clear dialogue emanated from the phone's speaker.

The sound quality was excellent, even recording the wind in the background clearly.

"Your content model is very fixed. First, find a remote, dilapidated place with no voice..."

"When editing after filming, cut off the beginning and the end. Only leave the most exciting clips..."

It was exactly Lin Que's terrifyingly calm analysis from earlier that day in Muchuan Town.

Immediately following, the audio played Wu Liang's arrogant and exasperated remarks.

"This backwater..."

"You say I pushed someone, who can prove it?"

"Even if I post the video online, who do you think the netizens will believe? With over six million followers watching, they will only say the people in this place are unfriendly!"

This recording was secretly made by Lin Que at the time; facing the lack of surveillance in Muchuan Town, he naturally had to leave a backup plan.

The moment he heard the recording, Wu Liang's legs went soft.

His mind flashed with the calm face of the young man, and he finally understood that he had long fallen into the trap the other party had set.

The young man had not panicked from the very beginning.

Even calling the police was just to stabilize them; the real killing move had long been hidden in his pocket.

"Comrade, is there some misunderstanding here!"

His psychological defense completely collapsed, and Wu Liang crawled forward using his hands and feet, with no dignity left to speak of.

"I can donate all the money I earned from the live stream today! I can apologize publicly! Can't we discuss this? I'll pay, I'll pay whatever you want!"

"The internet is not a place outside the law. There are no big Vs before the law."

Wu Liang lunged at the phone on the table, but the lead police officer grabbed his wrist with one move, taking restrictive measures according to the law.

The sound of metal clashing rang out, and silver-white handcuffs fell onto their wrists.

The two were escorted out of the apartment and stuffed into a police car.

The police car sped into the street, and Wu Liang looked at the flashing neon lights outside the window, his face ashen.

Only now did he fully realize what kind of terrifying monster he had provoked for the sake of a little traffic.

From the very first second, that young man had been coldly watching him drill into a dead end.

Meanwhile, Wu Liang's fans on the internet were still celebrating.

The trending topic remained high, and countless people posted, looking forward to tomorrow's follow-up revelations.

"Hold on, Brother Liang! We'll keep charging tomorrow!"

"Qingbei University is still playing dead; do they really think they can cover the sky with one hand?"

"Everyone go leave comments on Qingbei University's official website; they must give an explanation!"

Just as public indignation reached its peak, an entry with the blue text "Joint Announcement from Qingbei University" was released and quickly climbed the rankings.

The eyes of netizens across the entire web were instantly drawn to it.

The content of the announcement was heavy with every word.

Not only did it include a detailed case explanation from the local police, but it also released the complete recording submitted by Lin Que, as well as evidence videos from multiple residents of Muchuan Town.

In the videos, Old Zhou limped as he recounted the process of being pushed, and the grocery store proprietress held a bamboo ruler, angrily accusing the two influencers of their malicious behavior.

These materials strung together the whole process of Wu Liang and others pushing the elderly, editing clips, and inciting cyberbullying.

The trolls and followers who had been jumping around in the comment section instantly fell silent collectively.

The refresh rate of the comment section suddenly slowed down, and the accounts that had just been spamming went quiet all at once.

Not a single new comment refreshed, not a single bullet comment floated by.

Immediately after, public opinion reversed like a bursting levee.

Rational netizens and fans who felt fooled flooded into Wu Liang's homepage, and the style of the comment section changed abruptly.

"Scum! Bullying even a disabled old man!"

"Eating human blood buns to earn traffic, has your conscience been eaten by dogs!"

"Strongly demand the platform to immediately ban such disreputable influencers!"

"We were actually used as pawns by such trash, disgusting!"

Those comments that had previously insulted Lin Que and questioned the Qingbei University recommendation qualification were frantically liquidated by angry netizens.

Several marketing accounts that had previously led the trend were so scared that they deleted their posts overnight and issued long, lengthy apologies, fearing the fire would burn them.

Countless people lined up to leave comments under Qingbei University's official account.

"I'm sorry, we misunderstood Student Lin."

"This is the responsibility of a top university student. Facing cyberbullying, he remained calm and sent the scum to the station!"

"Lin Que is awesome! This move was too steady! He is worthy of being the genius who could write such an article!"

Chen Jiahao, far away at the agricultural market in the Northeast, saw the announcement and slapped the pork stall's cutting board, laughing out loud.

"I knew it! I knew it! Uncle Hu, how could my Master Que suffer a loss!"

Chen Jiahao excitedly sent a message to the group.

"These guys, they've kicked an iron plate this time!"

Xu Changge replied in the group:

"Only by staying calm can you strike accurately. Lin Que played this move beautifully."

In the office of the Shaanxi Writers Association, Tao Zhiyan looked at the announcement on the computer screen, let out a long sigh of relief, and drank the tea in his cup in one gulp.

"This kid..."

Tao Zhiyan shook his head with a smile, his eyes full of approval.

The short video platform reacted rapidly and issued the maximum penalty directly.

Wu Liang's account with over six million followers was instantly and permanently banned.

All videos on the homepage were cleared, leaving only a glaring blank space and a red ban notice.

The platform subsequently froze the 470,000 in tipping revenue during Wu Liang's live stream and initiated a user refund process.

It also issued a notice reminding netizens to pay attention to distinguishing public opinion.

Inside the detention center.

Wu Liang, who had just finished his statement, was informed of the account ban and the freezing of his huge funds.

He grabbed his hair with both hands and collapsed, crying bitterly on the spot, his face covered in tears and snot.

"My account! My money!"

Wu Liang wailed, his voice echoing between the walls.

He had completely lost all his support.

On the other side, the MCN agency that Wu Liang belonged to quickly released a severance statement across the entire network.

The statement used the most official and ruthless rhetoric to announce the termination of all contracts with Wu Liang and pushed all responsibility away.

"Our company expresses deep condemnation of Wu Liang's personal behavior, has initiated contract termination procedures, and reserves the right to pursue his breach of contract liability."

Once the statement was released, Wu Liang was completely reduced to an abandoned pawn, and even his last hope for public relations vanished into thin air.

In the interrogation room of the handling area, Xiao Fan could no longer hold on.

Faced with ironclad evidence and the ruthless cutting off from the outside world, the timid Xiao Fan's psychological defense completely collapsed.

In order to strive for lenient treatment, Xiao Fan sat in the interrogation chair and voluntarily turned against him.

"Hello, comrade, I want to report!"

Xiao Fan's voice trembled, and he confessed everything like beans pouring from a bamboo tube.

"Wu Liang once edited a video of a conflict in a village, causing the person involved to be hospitalized for a long time, and later he spent money to find someone to suppress it!"

The handling police officer immediately attached great importance to it and quickly initiated a joint investigation procedure.

In the next interrogation room, Wu Liang learned that Xiao Fan had turned against him and exposed the old case; his eyes rolled back, and he collapsed directly on the chair.

Once the old case was merged into the investigation, what awaited Wu Liang would far exceed a ban and an apology.

Muchuan Town deep in the Qinba Mountains.

Lin Que sat at the desk in the guesthouse, news pushes about Wu Liang's arrest and account ban popping up on the screen.

Watching the mosquito that flew the highest finally get slapped to death, Lin Que's eyes were devoid of waves.

The carnival and curses on the internet were equally cheap.

He casually flipped his phone screen face down on the wooden table, completely isolating that void of clamor outside the door.

Outside the window, the morning mist gradually dispersed.

Sunlight pierced through the clouds and sprinkled onto the gray building outlines of Muchuan Town.

Lin Que withdrew his thoughts and placed his hands steadily on the keyboard.

His gaze fell on the document that carried more than half a month of mud and rust from Muchuan Town.

Accompanied by the crisp tapping of the keyboard, Lin Que poured his final emotions into his fingertips.

For the work "qin opera," which carried the gravity of gritty reality, he typed the final chapter.

The document was saved, and the word count settled at 130,000.

This weight, born from the soil, would finally be polished into shape.