Chapter 60: The Internet Turns Its Fangs

Sang Zhiyi has now proven with facts that it can.

The paper and brushstrokes of this painting clearly show some age, making it obvious that it was created earlier than Chen Junze’s college entrance exam painting two years ago.

As long as someone with a little knowledge of these matters conducts an appraisal, they will come to the same conclusion.

And even if this painting cannot be used as definitive proof, so what?

Sang Zhiyi’s goal is not necessarily to prove that Chen Junze cheated on the college entrance exam, but rather to ruin his reputation.

If one layer of attack is not enough, add two layers, three layers, or even more.

As long as a person has enough stains on them, then no matter what they say or do, others will instinctively think the worst.

Sang Zhiyi always leaves herself a way out when she does things.

The time she spent in Chen Junze’s hometown, a full ten days, was not just for that one piece of evidence.

Sang Zhiyi’s analysis was correct: Chen Junze was a repeat offender.

Among Wang Hongzhi’s old sketches, Sang Zhiyi also saw a familiar image.

Shi Qiongqiong had originally become fascinated with Chen Junze himself because she liked his paintings.

With such an admirer who wholeheartedly appreciated him by his side, given Chen Junze’s personality, he would show her any new work as soon as he finished it.

Even if it was just the first stroke, when nothing could be made out yet, he would still receive all kinds of praise from Shi Qiongqiong.

With his girlfriend being such an enthusiastic audience, Chen Junze naturally became quite pleased with himself, and was very willing to tell Shi Qiongqiong about his past glorious achievements and show her photos of those works.

Among them, a work that Chen Junze was particularly proud of, which had won an award in a national competition, looked like identical twins with an old work Wang Hongzhi had painted five years ago, with hardly any discernible difference.

Holding the original of that painting, Sang Zhiyi couldn’t help but feel a bit emotional.

Chen Junze really did like to keep fleecing the same sheep.

Wang Hongzhi was truly talented, but unfortunately, his talent was now buried, trapped by the demands of making a living.

Sang Zhiyi also organized and sent out all the human and material evidence regarding Chen Junze’s plagiarism in the national painting competition.

With so many melons all sliced up and served by Sang Zhiyi, the melon-eating public could not help but be stunned.

[College entrance exam cheating?!

The exam?!

Cheating?!]

[This matter must be dealt with seriously!

It must be dealt with seriously!!!

If the fairness and justice of the college entrance exam cannot be guaranteed, the vital interests of thousands upon thousands of students and families will be harmed!!!]

[Isn’t this the guy with the cuckold fetish who falsely accused his girlfriend of selling herself?

Holy shit, what kind of luck did he have?

Not only did he have that stupid, willing girlfriend who let him bleed her dry, but he also found a classmate whose work he could plagiarize to his heart’s content, essentially knowing the exam questions in advance!]

[The most amazing thing is that the classmate who was plagiarized didn’t even take the exam himself.

If this hadn’t been exposed, who would have known that Chen Junze cheated on the college entrance exam?!]

[Oh my god, I remember participating in that painting competition too.

She was one of the first-prize winners at the time!

After the awards were announced, she told me that this second-prize work was very inspired and that with some improvement in technique, his future would be limitless.

But it turned out to be plagiarized?!]

And that was not all.

Along with these, Sang Zhiyi also sent out the matter of Chen Junze’s older sister.

Chen Junze lived in a family that prioritized sons over daughters.

His older sister had been taught by their parents from a young age to put her brother first in everything.

When she couldn’t even eat her fill, Chen Junze, with his parents’ indulgence, could already pick and choose his food at will, wasting the food his sister could only dream of having.

As the two siblings grew up, this differential treatment became even harsher and more cruel.

To afford Chen Junze’s art studies in high school, the parents simply married off their then only seventeen-year-old daughter to a widower in a neighboring village, obtaining a considerable bride price.

The widower was already advanced in years and had beaten two previous wives to death.

Chen Junze’s sister cried and begged not to marry, but was still forced into it by her parents.

Now, five full years later, she had not escaped the same fate, being battered and bloodied by the widower’s domestic violence.

Sang Zhiyi found, from neighbors, photos taken by chance that included Chen Junze’s sister in the frame.

The young woman, not yet in her early twenties, looked like she was over fifty, with graying hair and was gaunt and bony.

Just last year, Chen Junze’s sister could no longer bear such a life.

Taking advantage of the widower being drunk and asleep, she cut his neck with a kitchen knife.

She herself no longer wanted to live either, swallowing a bottle of paraquat and leaving this painful world.

This incident had caused quite a stir locally at the time, with reports in newspapers and magazines, and the causes and consequences were investigated quite clearly, making the evidence quite easy to find.

Such true news sparked an even larger wave of heated discussion.

[Too tragic… This sister is truly too tragic…]

[It brings tears to my eyes.

How desperate must she have been when she drank that bottle of paraquat…]

[Aren’t these parents afraid their daughter will come back from the underworld to haunt them?

Even towards a stray cat or dog, they wouldn’t be this cruel.

Is she really their biological daughter, not an enemy?!]

[My own family of origin also favors sons over daughters, but my parents wouldn’t go so far as to treat me like livestock!]

[My anger is rising.

Chen Junze just feels entitled to bleed his sister dry, and after she dies, he switches to bleeding his girlfriend dry?!]

And so on, and so forth.

In the shortest possible time, Sang Zhiyi brought to light as much of the evil that Chen Junze had directly or indirectly committed as she could.

Thus, Sang Zhiyi thoroughly established Chen Junze’s public image.

He was not only a man with a cuckold fetish, but also an art student who could only plagiarize and had no talent of his own, as well as a beneficiary of a family that favored sons over daughters, and one of the culprits who caused his own sister’s death.

[So he’s a scumbag rotten to the core.

No wonder he could open his mouth and spread sexual rumors about his own girlfriend…]

[How did this guy manage to be so steeped in every kind of evil?

It’s astonishing!]

[I was waiting to see if he had any evidence to refute Shi Qiongqiong’s clarifications, but now I don’t think I need to wait anymore.

Nothing this idiot does would be surprising.

Shi Qiongqiong is truly unlucky.]

That is how public opinion works.

When a person is deemed “bad” by the majority, then no matter what they do, it will be criticized from every angle.

Chen Junze was now covered in black stains, impossible to wash clean.

The false rumors Chen Junze had casually started, which led to Shi Qiongqiong being doxxed and cyberbullied, were now being reflected back onto him.

In just a few days, Chen Junze’s past experiences were completely dug up.

Even some flaws that Chen Junze himself might not even remember were unearthed online.

For example, the paintings Chen Junze posted on his own Weibo account, which he claimed were his usual creations, also showed very obvious signs of plagiarism.

Another example: Chen Junze had, on more than one occasion, made crude sexual jokes about other female classmates in the class group chat, and had also made lewd remarks to a young female teacher, his words being extremely perverted.

There was also stealing other people’s takeout, bullying classmates in middle school, openly spreading rumors about the People’s Liberation Army on social media platforms, and so on.

A dense array of flaws was laid out before the millions of netizens eating this melon.

[Ugh, this guy is so gross?!]

[Academic plagiarism, despicable character—is there any part of this idiot that isn’t rotten?]

[His face is still quite handsome.

I suspect that his resentful girlfriend was fooled by his appearance.]

[You can know a person’s face but not their heart.

He looks decent enough on the outside, but what kind of creature is he inside?!]

[I wonder, this guy had already drained his poor, miserable girlfriend dry.

Could just his pitiful, working girlfriend alone support his appetite?]

Public opinion fermented faster and faster, quickly spreading from the existing evidence.

Regarding Chen Junze’s behavior of living off his girlfriend’s money, and his equally outstanding appearance, it was very easy to come to a comprehensive conclusion: Chen Junze must have sold his body to wealthy older women.

[He said his girlfriend was unclean, but actually he was the unclean one, right?

He became a male prostitute himself, so he thought everyone else was the same?]

[That’s right.

Why did he equate his girlfriend’s bar job with a “special profession”?

It must be because he himself has a lot of experience in that area!]

In the end, some people even swore that Chen Junze not only sold himself to wealthy older women, but also didn’t spare men, doing anything for money, and they claimed to know which men Chen Junze had slept with.

[He swings both ways, tsk tsk tsk.]

[Wait, so this is a case of a gay man trying to marry a woman for appearances?!

He actually liked men, but for money, he insisted on going after a girl!]

[I’m already throwing up…

This man is like a human-shaped germ.

Even a sewer is cleaner than him!]

Sang Zhiyi was very satisfied with the direction these comments had taken.

The taste of being attacked by a deluge of sexual rumors that Shi Qiongqiong had experienced back then could finally be tasted, at least a little, by the instigator, Chen Junze.

She wanted to make Chen Junze know what it felt like to be unable to defend himself.

However, for men, the destructive power of sexual rumors is far less than the harm they cause to women.

Moreover, the majority of the personal attacks against Chen Junze were based on things he had actually done; the “rumor” component was not that significant.

That scumbag got off easy.

***

Chen Junze himself was very aware of how great the harm of online violence could be.

Starting from when he saw Sang Zhiyi’s clarification video online, he hardly dared to open his various social media apps.

Because he knew that once he opened them, seeing the bright red notification badges, whether they were @mentions or private messages, every single one would be cursing him.

Chen Junze could, without any burden, pour bucket after bucket of dirty water on his ex-girlfriend Shi Qiongqiong, but when it came to himself, he couldn’t stand even a single flaw.

He had also tried to confront those people, using all the swear words he had accumulated over twenty years to insult their entire families for eighteen generations, but in the end, he was only one person.

How could one person fight against the tens of thousands on the other side of the internet connection?

Chen Junze was cursed into acting like an ostrich, pretending he couldn’t hear or see anything.

He had clearly realized that no matter what he said or how he argued, no one would believe him.

In a daze, Chen Junze thought: When Shi Qiongqiong was being cursed by the entire internet, was this the same feeling she had?

Collapse, helplessness, rage…

Had Shi Qiongqiong faced all that alone back then?

Chen Junze grew even angrier.

Shi Qiongqiong clearly knew how painful this was, yet she still made him face the same situation?!

Chen Junze, of course, would not reflect on the severe disaster he had brought upon Shi Qiongqiong.

He never thought the problem could lie with himself; it must be someone else’s fault.

Hadn’t Shi Qiongqiong promised him, “Junze, just focus on your painting.

I’ll help you with everything else”?

Was that all for nothing?!

Shi Qiongqiong, that b*tch!!!

Chen Junze retreated into the small apartment outside school that Shi Qiongqiong had paid for, grinding his teeth and cursing Shi Qiongqiong with the most vicious words to relieve his inner anguish and resentment.

But playing the ostrich couldn’t maintain even superficial peace for long.

When Chen Junze had spread rumors about Shi Qiongqiong, strange men had approached her in reality.

Now that Sang Zhiyi had thoughtfully sent the evidence of clarifications and exposures to Chen Junze’s university’s freshman group, confession wall, forum, class group, local Z City short video apps, and some media outlets—everywhere that could be well publicized—of course, more people would come to know Chen Junze in reality.

All of a sudden, no matter how much Chen Junze wanted to hide, he couldn’t.

Because even his own classmates would ask him, “Is this you?” “Is this true?”

When he went out to eat, the restaurant owner would recognize him and look surprised.

Even if they didn’t say any critical words to Chen Junze, or even show much disgust, Chen Junze still felt as if he had been stripped naked in broad daylight and thrown onto the street for everyone to point and whisper.

Chen Junze felt like he was going crazy.

It was also through the people around him that Chen Junze learned just how ridiculously the rumors about him had spread.

Using trembling hands, he logged into his social media accounts for the first time in a long while.

Seeing people calling him a “man who sleeps with men for money,” “kept by a wealthy older woman but too small,” he finally exploded.

What kind of nonsense was all this?!

These people should all go to hell!!!

In his quite emotionally crazed state, Chen Junze still did not change his nature.

He knew that killing all the people attacking him online was certainly impossible, but he could kill Shi Qiongqiong!

If Shi Qiongqiong hadn’t insisted on making that clarification video, he wouldn’t have been cursed like this!

It was all Shi Qiongqiong’s fault!

The reason he was facing such a collapse situation was entirely Shi Qiongqiong’s fault!

He wanted to kill Shi Qiongqiong!!!

Chen Junze’s eyes were bloodshot.

Where was Shi Qiongqiong?!

He wanted to go settle accounts with that b*tch!

***

During those days when Chen Junze was hiding and pretending to be dead, Sang Zhiyi was still very busy.

The root culprit, Chen Junze, had temporarily received some of the punishment he deserved, but the ones who caused Shi Qiongqiong’s tragic death were not limited to Chen Junze.

Those who, hiding behind an internet connection, acted as if they weren’t human, wantonly attacking and slandering others, were also not innocent.

For an ordinary person, fighting back against online violence and making all the perpetrators pay the price is an extremely difficult thing to do.

Many people don’t even know how to do it.

File a lawsuit?

Wouldn’t that cost a lot of money?

Wouldn’t you also need to hire a lawyer?

Even if you hire a lawyer and have money to sue, you don’t even know who the other party is, so you can’t write the lawsuit!

And there are so many of them; how could you possibly sue them all?

Because it’s too troublesome and seems too expensive, most people eventually give up and let it go.

But in fact, ordinary people do have channels and ways to achieve just revenge.

Sang Zhiyi did just that.

Since the other party broke the law, follow legal procedures to resolve the issue.

Filing a lawsuit is definitely necessary, but it’s not directly suing the perpetrators.

Instead, sue the platforms where the perpetrators published their attacking remarks.

The perpetrators are numerous and obscured by the ocean of the internet, making them hard to see clearly in the short term.

But platforms all have registrations and systems; they are like fixed islands in the ocean, not too difficult to find.

Regarding the previous online statements that slandered and defamed Shi Qiongqiong, Sang Zhiyi spent over a week copying, storing, and archiving all the evidence.

Then, Sang Zhiyi took the evidence to court and sued the platforms, clearly stating on the lawsuit that the platforms must provide the personal information of those who had infringed and committed violence.

A single lawsuit against one platform costs only fifty yuan, not too much.

The court will send the lawsuit to the platform, and the platform’s lawyers will immediately handle these matters.

The core responsibility does not lie with them; as long as the person suing pursues the infringers, the platform is unwilling to be entangled in a lawsuit.

Sang Zhiyi didn’t have to wait long before the platforms’ lawyers all sent messages requesting a settlement.

The other party is very cooperative.

Regarding the names, phone numbers, ID numbers, IP addresses, and so on of those suspected of infringement—as long as it is information the platform has, as long as Sang Zhiyi says she needs it, they can hand it over.

In this way, the biggest shield of this group of perpetrators—the virtual fig leaf of the internet—is completely torn away.

With the detailed personal information of the perpetrators, one can directly sue the perpetrators themselves.

Because the number of perpetrators to sue is quite large, this process also takes Sang Zhiyi a considerable amount of time.

Even until today, she is still busy with this matter.

Occasionally, for some perpetrators, the information the platform can provide is insufficient to file an effective lawsuit.

Sang Zhiyi also organizes and lists them, hiring a lawyer to apply to the court for assistance in investigation, thereby obtaining complete information.

For such lawsuits with conclusive evidence, once the other party receives the summons, there is only one way: to lose.

Sang Zhiyi can then obtain compensation for the perpetrator’s mental distress, reputational damages, and other damages.

Of course, this group of perpetrators, who only know how to hide behind internet connections, are very likely to refuse to accept the summons.

In that case, one can directly apply to the court for service by publication.

After spending money to publish a notice in the newspaper for sixty days, if the other party continues to play dead and hide in their shell, the court can rule in Sang Zhiyi’s favor without going through court proceedings.

Then, apply to the court for compulsory enforcement, and the compensation from the perpetrators can also be obtained.

The internet is not a lawless place.

Breaking the law requires taking responsibility.

Going through this entire process costs significantly less money than the general, vague concept of “filing a lawsuit.”

The compensation from the perpetrators can also fully cover the costs.

More importantly, this is an approach that ordinary people can relatively easily operate.

Simply put, the idea is to obtain the other party’s information by suing the platform, then use that information to sue the person directly, all the way to the core.

Today, Sang Zhiyi continues to file targeted lawsuits.

Doing all this by herself is indeed time-consuming and labor-intensive.

However, Sang Zhiyi currently has no one else to entrust.

The money Shi Qiongqiong left behind is limited, and Sang Zhiyi has spent it where it was needed more, leaving little funds to hire others to help.

Moreover, Sang Zhiyi herself is willing to spend the time and effort.

She wants to write each lawsuit herself, writing the real names of those perpetrators who commit crimes online, writing their addresses, writing their ID numbers, writing their phone numbers.

—Not one of the criminals who killed a vibrant life should escape the sanction of justice.

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