Chapter 35: Brought to Justice

“President Xu, some negative comments about Miss Lin and Miss Xia have appeared online.”

Secretary Xiao Li hurried into Xu Wei’s office. Her expression looked quite grim. Xu Wei motioned for her to calm down.

“What happened? Don’t panic. Just say it slowly.”

“It’s like this, President Xu—the PR department noticed that starting from last night after office hours, a huge number of online users suddenly began spreading false rumors.”

“For example?”

“For example… claims that Miss Xia and Miss Lin are secretly in a relationship, or that Miss Xia’s three championship titles were only won because she pulled strings for inflated scores…”

“Hah—”

Xu Wei let out a breath. While serious, this wasn’t the most explosive form of public opinion she’d worried about.

And the moment Xiao Li explained it, Xu Wei immediately guessed whose handiwork it was.

A sudden wave of accounts, all targeting Lin Xiyue and Xia Jinnian, focusing especially on Xia’s three championship titles in the youth singing competition—this was basically the same as writing “Wu Li did it” in big red letters.

“How utterly shameless!”

Xu Wei almost never showed anger, but she struck the armrest lightly.

This Wu Li—after hiring bot farms and a ghost singer to steal the girls’ championship, she now dared to go on the offensive, spreading malicious rumors?

And why were they “malicious”?
Because whether it’s “Lin and Xia are secretly dating,” or “Xia’s championship was obtained by connections,” neither are easy to disprove. There’s no way to verify innocence.

Once the seed of conspiracy is planted, it becomes a nightmare.

Any close interaction between the girls would fuel dating speculations; any minor mistake by Xia would have people questioning if her titles were fake…

Recording Studio

Unlike Xu Wei, the two girls—being the actual targets—felt no pressure at all. They even sat together between vocal exercises, scrolling through the forums and laughing at the posts.

“They’re saying we secretly have that kind of relationship~”

“Well, it doesn’t really matter. Who’d believe it anyway? But you, Xixi—why do you look so happy about it?”

Xia Jinnian squinted suspiciously at her friend. Lin Xiyue forced a laugh.

“Isn’t this proof we’re close enough to be misunderstood? That’s a compliment~”

“You better really believe that~”

Xia muttered, then dropped the topic.

“But I can’t believe Wu Li takes that teen singing championship this seriously—actually wasting money on smear campaigns just to hurt me. She must really hate me…”

If her previous actions—vote-rigging and ghost-singing—at least gave Wu Li benefits, this round of rumor-spreading was pure lose-lose. Just spite.

“Small-minded people are like that. We don’t stoop to her level. Our goals are way bigger. If she treats a simple school-level contest like life or death, then that’s all she’ll ever amount to.”

Lin Xiyue stretched comfortably, leaning back. Her phone buzzed in her pocket. She glanced at it—Ran Zhu had messaged her.

[I got the original recording from that day!]

[Huh? Really?!]

[Of course. When has your Brother Zhu ever lied to you? Though there was a little complication.]

[What complication?]

[The judge lady kept saying something about “principles” and refused to give it to me. I almost asked a friend to sneak it out. But then this morning, she suddenly contacted me herself and said I could have it—just not to say she gave it.]

[…]

[Weird, right? I think so too. But who cares—hurry and send it for voiceprint comparison. I’m sending it to you now.]

Lin Xiyue stared blankly at her phone for a moment—then burst out laughing so hard Xia Jinnian jumped.

“What is it?”

It took her a while to stop laughing. Then she explained.

It was perfectly normal for the judge to refuse the recording—she had no personal stake in the matter and didn’t want to get involved.

But now?
Wu Li’s smear campaign claimed Xia’s championship was obtained through connections. Wasn’t that directly slapping the judges in the face? Of course the judge would retaliate.

“So she ended up smashing her own toes with the rock she threw—did she really think the judge doesn’t use the internet? Hahaha~”

Xia froze for a moment before understanding. Lin Xiyue had already run off to tell her mother the good news.

Even Xu Wei, who had seen her share of storms, was speechless at the dramatic reversal. But she didn’t hesitate—she immediately packaged all materials and sent them to the voiceprint analysis institute.

The recordings included Wu Li’s entries from the past three years. Her voice remained extremely consistent throughout high school—so the “going through puberty” excuse was impossible.

“This really is a textbook case of evil eating its own poison.”

Xu Wei sighed.
If Wu Li hadn’t maliciously spread rumors about Xia, she wouldn’t have angered the judge into handing over evidence.

“Exactly. Good deeds bring good, evil deeds bring ruin. No one escapes that.”

Lin Xiyue added softly.
There was one more part both mother and daughter tacitly left unsaid.

This also applied to Lin Ziyu.

Outskirts of Guangnan City

A nondescript warehouse

A sign reading “XXX Network Technology Co., Ltd.” hung crookedly at the entrance. Despite being midday, the metal door remained tightly shut—suspiciously so.

Inside the warehouse, twenty to thirty employees were hard at work—some typing feverishly at their computers, others operating rows of phones on racks.

Clearly, this was a classic bot-farm “black PR” operation, currently busy churning out rumors.
Some poor celebrity out there was being smeared to death without even knowing why.

“BANG—!”

The warehouse door slammed open. Workers froze like rats caught in the gutter, staring in horror at a squad of uniformed officers.

“Nobody move! Guangnan Public Security Bureau!
Our investigation shows your company is suspected of operating illegal paid-troll and bot-farm services. Everyone will come with us—”

One man, apparently the manager, tried to handle some files quietly, but an officer immediately pinned him against the desk.

“Tampering with evidence is a crime. Come with us for questioning!”

Within minutes, everyone in the warehouse had been handcuffed and taken to police vehicles. Officers collected all devices and documents, checked every corner to ensure no one escaped, then left with sirens blaring.

Nearby residents gathered to watch the commotion, their short videos forgotten as they eagerly devoured this real-life drama.

“Serves them right! Evil never escapes justice!”