20: analyze

At 6:55 PM, Lu Chuan, riding his small cart towards the public restroom, felt a chill down his spine.

But when he turned his head, he saw the other stall owners on both sides of the road busy with their own business, and immediately thought he was overthinking things.

However, when he rounded the corner and was about to see the public restroom, he was startled by the huge crowd before him.

And when Lu Chuan appeared from around the corner with his small cart, the hundreds of people who had been standing or sitting in front of the public restroom all turned their heads in unison.

Many people's eyes revealed a strange light, and after exchanging glances, they pulled out their phones and rushed towards Lu Chuan and his small cart like a stampede.

The scene was incredibly bizarre for a moment.

“Σ(っ°Д°;)っ?”

(Lu Chuan's shocked face.)

Lu Chuan, completely unaware of what had happened, was so shocked that his jaw nearly dropped to the ground.

He watched as he and his small cart were about to be surrounded by the surging crowd.

Just then, Leng Hui appeared with several other youths, all in excellent physical condition, and immediately blocked Lu Chuan's path.

They stood like an iron wall, separating the two sides with their bodies, and their stern, cold demeanor made everyone afraid to take another step.

The Yellow-Haired Vendor, mixed in the crowd, was also somewhat stunned by this scene.

But his eyes darted around, realizing this might be a good opportunity to escalate the conflict, and immediately began to shout.

“Are you accomplices of this unscrupulous vendor? If not, get out of the way!”

Sure enough, as soon as the Yellow-Haired Vendor spoke, the crowd, which had been somewhat hesitant, immediately gained confidence and began to raise their phone cameras, denouncing Lu Chuan.

“Yes, move aside, let us smash his stall!”

“We also want to shove a microphone into his mouth and make him cry and repent!”

“This kind of unscrupulous merchant who doesn't care about others' lives and health, only caring about making ill-gotten gains, should be hung up and beaten!”

The sound, like a hundred ducks quacking, was irritating.

Many uninformed passersby, who were just curious, began to gather from the tree-lined sidewalk outside.

As the protagonist of the incident, Lu Chuan, listening to the repeated accusations from over a hundred “ducks” in front of him, roughly understood what was going on.

What? Making stinky tofu with sewage?

What are these people saying? Are they talking about him?

Lu Chuan looked at the contempt and anger in their eyes, and listened to their complaints and insults, and immediately began to tremble with anger.

No, I can't cry!

I cannot show weakness because of such groundless slander.

Despite his face turning pale and his eyes red with anger, Lu Chuan still didn't allow himself to show a weak side.

But the injustice in his heart was real.

To complete the mission, he used only the best ingredients.

Food hygiene was taken to the extreme.

Yet now, so many people were slandering him, claiming he used sewage to make stinky tofu.

And the reason was simply because he set up his stall next to a public restroom, and the stinky tofu smelled particularly strong.

How!!!

Ridiculous!!!

Lu Chuan, whose teeth were grinding audibly, stared back defiantly, even though he was being watched by hundreds of people.

This scene, in the eyes of Li An, who was in the crowd, made him even more guilty and he began to shrink back.

He anxiously prayed in his heart, hoping his thoughts would be heard by the Your Devilishness.

“Oh my, Your Devilishness, please calm down, these people are also being used. Please calm down, I will find out who framed you and give you an explanation then.”

He repeated this several times, but seeing Lu Chuan's continued anger.

He inwardly cried out in distress, fearing that the Your Devilishness would suddenly reveal his true form and slaughter everyone here, so he quickened his pace through the crowd.

At this time, also moving through the crowd were Qi Yuan's trio and Worker Meng's quartet.

It turned out that before Lu Chuan even arrived to set up his stall, Qi Yuan, Worker Meng, and the others had already arrived here. After understanding each other's intentions, they met to discuss countermeasures.

Then Li An, who was terrified and planned to make a humble apology, arrived here and was also seen by Qi Yuan and the others, who pulled him into the discussion.

It must be said that, after all, they were high school students with the highest average IQ. After listening to Li An's description of the entire incident, Qi Yuan keenly noticed something was amiss.

He immediately pulled Li An aside and asked him to describe in detail the overall atmosphere of the comment section after the video was first posted.

Upon hearing that the comments were initially almost all praise, even Worker Meng and Old Chen now sensed something was wrong.

“It sounds very much like a competitor hired internet trolls to post malicious reviews.”

And Li An, who was slow to catch on, finally realized what was happening.

“That son of a bitch, that rotten ass, that immoral scumbag with no asshole, your entire family dying is definitely the retribution for all the evil you've done, ...”

Li An, exasperated, stomped his foot and cursed angrily.

“Alright, alright, Old Li, cursing them won't help now, let's think about a solution first.”

Worker Meng, standing nearby, couldn't listen anymore and quickly pulled Li An aside. Then he looked at Qi Yuan opposite him and said with approval:

“Little brother, you have a quick mind, you must have already thought of a solution.”

Qi Yuan's lips curved into a smile.

He adjusted his glasses, and the frame glinted with a cold light.

“If it were before, I really wouldn't have any ideas. But now that we've guessed it's a competitor, it's simple.”

With that, Qi Yuan smiled and extended an index finger, attracting everyone's attention.

“I personally enjoy reading some extracurricular books on crime investigation and have found that most criminals, intentionally or unintentionally, return to the crime scene. The reasons are nothing more than understanding police movements to find and fix loopholes, or satisfying pathological psychological needs.”

Hearing Qi Yuan's words, everyone showed a thoughtful expression.

“Since we have determined that this public opinion incident was created by a competitor who hired internet trolls.”

“Then if I were this competitor, I would most likely incite netizens to come to the scene. On one hand, it's to guide the public opinion at the scene and prevent unexpected situations from disrupting the rhythm.”

Qi Yuan paused, moistened his somewhat dry lips, and continued:

“On the other hand, it's to enjoy the helpless and wronged expressions of the victim.”

As if he was getting excited, Qi Yuan even let out a strange “hehehe” laugh.

However, after he finished laughing, he found that everyone's gazes at him were not quite right.

At this moment, Li Qihong and Zeng Yucheng, who had been listening in, suddenly tapped him on the shoulder and said:

“Qi Yuan, you're laughing so perversely. Also, you must not go astray, kid.”

Worker Meng and Li An also nodded in agreement.

Qi Yuan immediately became displeased and was about to protest.

Just then, a large hand suddenly pressed on his shoulder, and the immense force made him stumble.