He was just putting forward his speculations. What was wrong with that? After all, Li Weiguo had sent Yang Minghui and the other two women to prison, which had a tremendous impact on their families—that was an undeniable fact! Moreover, so many people supported him. Thinking of this, he suddenly felt fearless and continued to post comments under the second video.
"This uploader is panicking, isn’t he? Did I hit the nail on the head? Is he feeling guilty? You sued those three women just for that 480,000 yuan, didn’t you?"
"But you’re too cruel! Not only did you take the money, but you also want to send the children’s mothers to jail?"
"I checked, and they’re just ordinary country folk. How could you report them for fraud and refuse to settle?"
Three comments in a row. After posting them, he suddenly felt much better.
And after his comment appeared, it quickly attracted many like-minded people, who launched a verbal and written assault on Qin Mu and Li Weiguo.
Of course, there were also those who were "unaware of the truth" and kept defending Qin Mu.
These shills have no empathy at all! Are they indifferent to the suffering of others? Qian Tao lay in bed, browsing other people’s comments while muttering his own complaints. Meanwhile, he became increasingly convinced that things were as he had imagined: Qin Mu and Li Weiguo were simply fishing for fame, using donations as a pretext to swindle those women out of their money. If I hadn’t exposed them, other netizens would still be in the dark, he thought. If that wasn’t the case, why haven’t they come forward with evidence to refute me yet? The more silent they are, the more it proves they’re guilty. As for the so-called police report, he didn’t take it seriously at all. I just posted a comment, he mused. Could that really get me arrested?
「At the same time.」
「Jin City, Internet Information Office.」
"Captain Shen, we’ve located the target IP address," someone reported.
Shen Dao took a piece of paper that listed the suspect’s city and residential complex, specific down to the building, unit, and apartment number. After receiving Qin Mu’s report, he had immediately decided to personally lead the investigation team and went directly to the Internet Information Office. In fact, tracking an IP address was a simple matter for them.
It’s actually in Yangcheng... Glancing at the address, Shen Dao’s expression shifted slightly. Yangcheng was not far from Jin City, just over a hundred kilometers away. Furthermore, the police chief in Yangcheng had once been his old classmate. It seemed there had also been a case involving a phone scammer recently, where Zhou Qin had led a team to Jin City. That case also appeared to be somewhat connected to Qin Mu and the Jin City Nursing Home.
Later, after checking the time, he took two people with him and set off decisively, traveling by high-speed train to Yangcheng.
Two hours later, Shen Dao led his team to Yangcheng and went straight to the police station where Zhou Qin worked.
"Old Shen? Is there a case?" Zhou Qin asked, surprised to see his old classmate.
Shen Dao gave a wry smile and explained the situation regarding Qin Mu’s report.
After listening, Zhou Qin was exasperated. "Qin Mu again?" He realized that hardly any time had passed, yet Qin Mu seemed to be constantly sending people to prison. The previous two instances were one thing... but this time, it was actually due to online slander!
"The other party has indeed committed defamation, and we have his address. We need your station’s cooperation to carry out the arrest, as we aren’t familiar with this area," Shen Dao stated seriously.
Zhou Qin shook his head. He couldn’t resist muttering, "Why would someone deliberately provoke Qin Mu?"
But despite his grumbling, he cooperated, gathering his men and joining Shen Dao to respond to the call. They rushed to the designated residential complex.
「Yangcheng, a certain residential complex.」
Inside a rental apartment.
Qian Tao lay on the bed, still scrolling through his phone. He realized that after he commented on the second video, the number of "shills" had increased significantly. Fortunately, he felt he was in the right and typed furiously, managing to suppress all the shills.
"Do none of you have mothers? Why can’t you put yourselves in their shoes? If it were your mother who was sued and sent to prison, I hope you could still remain so calm."
"It hasn’t happened to you, so you really can’t feel the pain!"
"If the uploader wasn’t in the wrong, why hasn’t he come out to clarify by now?"
"The uploader hasn’t even spoken yet, so what are you all getting worked up about?"
Gradually, the comment section was filled with "allies." Everyone was denouncing Qin Mu and Li Weiguo, accusing them of being hypocritical, cruel, and merely fishing for fame.
Looking at his handiwork, Qian Tao felt an inexplicable sense of achievement swell inside him.
Just then.
KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK—
Suddenly, there was a knocking sound outside the rental apartment.
"Who is it?" Qian Tao put down his phone and tentatively called out.
But there was no response from outside.
KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK—
The knocking continued.
Could it be the takeout I ordered? Qian Tao muttered to himself and opened the door.
Then... he saw five or six police officers in uniform, who immediately blocked the door as it opened.
"You’re Qian Tao, right?" one of them asked.
Qian Tao, having never witnessed such a scene before, was too scared to move. He nodded blankly.
The lead middle-aged police officer, after confirming his identity, continued, "Someone has reported you for suspected defamation. We need to take you to the police station."
Def... defamation? Upon hearing this, Qian Tao’s legs nearly gave out. He instantly thought of the second video Qin Mu had released not long before.
He stammered an explanation, "I... I... I didn’t defame anyone. I just made a post online, I didn’t do anything else..." His words lacked any of the bravado he had displayed online.
"We’ll discuss these matters back at the station," the middle-aged police officer said with a wave of his hand. Then he had someone confiscate all of Qian Tao’s electronic devices, like his phone and computer, to be taken back to the station. The data on them would later serve as evidence for sentencing.
「Yangcheng, Police Station.」
6:00 PM.
"Captain Shen, Captain Zhou, it’s been clarified. All these statements were posted by Qian Tao himself; no one else was involved." After a joint interrogation, several police officers reported this, looking towards Shen Dao and Zhou Qin.
After being brought to the station, the ordinary office worker, Qian Tao, was thoroughly intimidated and had confessed everything. However, he kept insisting that his online posts were just normal comments and did not constitute defamation.
Shen Dao nodded and instructed, "The chain of evidence is complete. Notify his family."
Qian Tao was already over eighteen years old and considered an adult, capable of bearing independent criminal responsibility. Notifying his family was mainly because they were about to take Qian Tao back to Jin City for trial and sentencing. Cases like this were usually handled by the jurisdiction where the reporting authority was located.
Half an hour later, a middle-aged couple in their fifties, with slightly graying hair, rushed to the police station.
"Officer, could there be some mistake? Our son is usually very quiet and honest; he’s never even argued with anyone. How could he commit defamation?"
"Yes, officer, please investigate this carefully. Please don’t accuse an innocent person..."
Mr. and Mrs. Qian clutched Shen Dao’s hands, pleading desperately. They simply couldn’t believe that Qian Tao could commit a crime.