Chapter 281: The Way To Use Troops Lies In The Ever-Changing And Unexpected (1/2)

I told Xiaotao I would go down to the station at once. When Dali asked me where I was going, I pointed towards the Weibo app.

Upon scrolling through, Dali cried indignantly, ”How can Yi Xi distort the facts like that? Any good impression I had of the man is gone! I have to post something to save your reputation!”

”No, no, you mustn't get involved,” I said, waving my hands at him. “The mobs on the internet are terrible. Don’t involve yourself.”

Dali clapped his chest and retorted, ”But I can't just stand idly by as my buddy suffers. I don’t care what they say about me anyway!”

”I appreciate your kindness,” I laughed. “But we can't all fall into his trap. We need someone on the outside looking in, am I right?”

When I left my dormitory, I couldn’t fight the anxiety that I would be surrounded by a group of fans holding up their banners. In the cab, even the driver was scrolling through Weibo. ”Gee, the police nowadays are so corrupt!” he commented. “If it weren't for the fact that the suspect was a star, perhaps this kind of abuse would never be exposed... By the way, why are you two going to the public security bureau so early in the morning?”

Beads of cold sweat covered my forehead as I endeavored to find an excuse. Fortunately, Dali responded quickly, ”We’re fans of Yi Xi and we’re going there to support him!”

The driver gave a thumbs-up. ”That’s the right attitude! We shouldn’t be afraid just because the police have power. I hope this young celebrity will be cleared of the accusations soon!”

From the driver's reaction, I realized that Yi Xi’s microblog had successfully transformed him from suspect to victim and diverted public attention. Later on, I found that all the famous accounts on Weibo spoke out for Yi Xi, and his fans rose by millions.

When we arrived at the station, the large crowd had already dispersed. Xiaotao greeted me and said, ”Director-General Cheng just called and instructed us not to take any action. He wants to talk to us.”

”Talk?” I suddenly had a bad feeling.

”Dude, there’s someone pretending to be you online!” Dali exclaimed, his eyes fixed to his cell phone screen.

I went on Weibo and discovered that someone had registered an account with the nickname, ”Nanjiang City Bureau Police Officer Song.” The first post was an arrogant, offensive one–”Don't think that being a star makes you special. No one can save you if you’ve committed a crime. Keep running that mouth of yours and I’ll torture you to death!”

There were many similar comments below and the number of reposts was astounding. A group of keyboard warriors was always sharpening their swords at the mention of any sensitive or offensive subjects. These radical people should really be pulled out and executed.

”Stop looking at it,” I said. “You’ll only feel worse.”

We discussed countermeasures while eating breakfast, the officers complained about the injustice and grumbled about Yi Xi’s underhanded means. How could a star be so cold-blooded?

Their opinion was to quickly dispel the rumors but Xiaotao explained that people were more likely to believe in gossip than trust the credibility of the government. Moreover, the other party was a star who had his own fan base.

I scarfed down breakfast sullenly, too distracted to hear Xiaotao calling for me so she had to repeat herself several times. My reaction gave her the impression that I was depressed.

I quickly explained, ”I was just thinking about something. We can ask Lao Yao if there’s something he can do about the situation.”

I called Lao Yao who excitedly picked up at once. ”Xiao Song-song, how could you hit someone?” he accused. “Even if he looks prettier than you and makes you jealous, you can’t resort to violence! Several people have come up to ask me if that Officer Song is you but I didn't reveal anything. Aren’t I loyal?”

”Do you really believe that?” I scoffed. “It's all fabricated. I haven’t laid a finger on him. By the way, do you have any tricks to deal with him?”

”This sort of thing will only worsen unless they deny the rumor,” said Lao Yao.

”Is that even possible?” I laughed bitterly. “Wouldn’t he be contradicting himself?”

Lao Yao broke out in wicked laughter, ”But what if we have something on him? I will churn out everything about him right now. We may have to hire a water army. About the cost...”