JR Chapter 29

The moment Mo Lin went live, the flood of insults in the comments began. The commenters showed remarkable creativity, mixing expected abuse and humiliation with unexpected mockery and sarcasm. It was like a net of blades trying to tear her apart.

Mo Lin kept the comments open, allowing everyone to speak freely.

As the comments poured in like a torrent, Mo Lin couldn’t keep up with reading them. She steadied herself and calmly narrated the recent events of her store being vandalized and her own injury. She urged everyone to remain rational and not let their kindness turn into malice. Finally, she briefly summarized her life story, explaining the reasons behind her refusal to support her birth mother, to prove her innocence.

As she had anticipated, the audience didn’t buy it.

When she mentioned her injury, the comments shouted “Serves you right.”

When she called for rationality, the comments displayed madness.

When she stated the facts, the comments accused her of “playing the victim.”

Seeing that playing the victim wasn’t working, Mo Lin decided to start selling products live.

She quickly transitioned into the pre-planned sales process.

As expected, an even fiercer wave of attacks followed.

After two hours of live streaming, Mo Lin calmly signed off. She realized that once her mindset changed, the comments lost their initial sting. Sometimes, the mockery and sarcastic remarks even seemed amusing to her.

Of course, this was because she had a plan in place and…

A team.

The moment she closed the live stream, Mo Lin looked up at Jiang Yuanmu and Ji Ming across from her. The first thing she asked was, “Do we have enough material?”

“More than enough, Boss Mo!” Ji Ming had changed the way he addressed her, “The news about the malicious attack will be released tonight, and our publicity is all prepared. I’m heading back to get busy.”

With that, Ji Ming left with his phone.

Jiang Yuanmu also nodded at Mo Lin. As he walked to the door, he turned back to look at her, “How about dinner tonight?”

Mo Lin thought for a moment, feeling that today’s task was enough, and the rest could be left to time. She readily agreed, “Sure.”

“I’ll bring a bottle of champagne,” Jiang Yuanmu said.

Mo Lin smiled and used a recent internet reference she had learned, “I hope Boss Jiang isn’t celebrating too early.”

Jiang Yuanmu responded with ease, “I don’t do anything I’m not confident about, just like Boss Mo.”

Watching Jiang Yuanmu leave, Mo Lin turned around and met Cheng Lulu’s scrutinizing gaze.

“There’s something off between you two.”

Mo Lin was taken aback, “What’s off?”

“You two are joking around now. You used to look loving but didn’t really joke.”

“Really?” Mo Lin thought for a moment and admitted, “Maybe things have been a bit different lately.”

“Oh?” Cheng Lulu was surprised, “You admit it?”

“Hmm…” Mo Lin thought seriously for a while, “I’ve had some new thoughts about my relationship with him recently.”

“What are they?”

“They’re not very clear yet, just a rough idea. I plan to solve work-related issues first, one thing at a time.” Mo Lin asked Cheng Lulu, “During the live stream, I saw some orders. Were they completed?”

“Tsk…” Cheng Lulu clicked her tongue, marveling at Mo Lin’s mental strength. She checked her phone, “Some orders were completed. Some seemed like they were just for fun and then got canceled, but there were a few that went through and stayed. I think your explanation had an effect on some people, even if they couldn’t express it in the comments.”

Mo Lin nodded, “No rush. We’ve done everything we can for now. Let’s wait and see.”

The news about Mo Lin’s shop being vandalized and the online violence extending offline was released.

Jiang Yuanmu’s company began to take action, releasing the interviews with bystanders one by one. In the face of facts, all malicious speculations became meaningless.

The balance of public opinion began to tilt.

Other voices emerged from the “flood,” led by He Ye using his account to share the story, followed by other influencers joining in.

With each wave of accounts retelling and re-editing the story, the audience’s kindness was redirected to the other side.

The amount of sympathy Mo Lin received was equal to the amount of insults she had received before.

The “story” had been reversed.

It wasn’t easy, but it wasn’t overly difficult either.

When Jiang Yuanmu and Mo Lin had dinner that evening and popped the champagne midway, they were already confident that they had won the whole game.

However, as Mo Lin looked at the bubbling champagne in her glass, she fell into deep thought.

Jiang Yuanmu noticed her mood, “What’s wrong?”

“I just… suddenly feel very grateful. Grateful that I have a ‘partner’ like you, who happens to be good at handling things like this.”

Mo Lin put down her glass and said softly.

“Just now, while holding the champagne, I was thinking, if it weren’t for you and your company, what would I do when facing such a situation?”

Jiang Yuanmu pondered for a moment, “With your determination, you would have handled these things yourself.”

“Maybe, but it would certainly be a hundred times more painful.”

Mo Lin spoke frankly:

“I might not have thought to gather evidence from others and quickly interview old neighbors and my homeroom teacher from school as you did.”

“Even if I thought of it, I would have to find them, match their schedules, and explain one by one why I needed to do the interview. After gathering the material, I would have to edit and produce it through a series of professional operations to create an interview piece like yours.”

“During this time, I would have to stop working and stop earning income. It might take me months, and by then, the internet would have forgotten about this issue. I would have to start a live stream with no hype, reopen old wounds, and present various pieces of evidence to prove that I am not a heartless “villain.”

“The viewers probably wouldn’t care about the truth. My innocence or guilt has nothing to do with them. They only care about sensationalism. “I’m not a bad person” is not an attractive narrative. In the world of public opinion, long after, people will only remember that there was an evil woman who abandoned her birth mother, without knowing how she proved herself.”

Mo Lin laughed self-deprecatingly:

“Thinking about this, the resilience you mentioned seems fragile. I might choose to remain silent until death comes, not bringing up this turmoil again. In the end, I would just comfort myself by saying that the innocent will clear themselves.”

After she finished speaking, Jiang Yuanmu was silent for a long time. He looked at Mo Lin and then at the champagne in his glass. “Now, it’s my turn to feel grateful.”

Mo Lin tilted her head slightly, not understanding his meaning.

“Grateful that I became your partner. Allowing the innocent to clear themselves at this moment.”

Mo Lin’s heart stirred at Jiang Yuanmu’s words.

She didn’t know how to respond, so she just looked away and took a sip of champagne.

In the restaurant’s dim light, Mo Lin slowly felt an idea becoming clearer in her mind, about Jiang Yuanmu, about the child…

She opened her mouth, carefully choosing her words, when suddenly the phone on the table rang, the screen displaying “Ji Ming.”

Mo Lin was a bit dazed. She looked at Jiang Yuanmu.

It was clear that Jiang Yuanmu didn’t know why Ji Ming would call Mo Lin directly.

Could it be…

Did they really celebrate too soon with the champagne?

Mo Lin’s heart pounded as she answered the call.

“Sis, there’s some news. It’s excellent for our public opinion situation, but for you, I’m not sure if it’s good or bad.”

Mo Lin steadied herself, holding the stem of the champagne glass. “Go ahead.”

“We found the person who threw the brick. His name is Chen Jianyang, your half-brother.”

For a moment, Mo Lin’s heart was in turmoil, but she quickly suppressed it.

“It’s a good thing,” she told Ji Ming. “Do what is most favorable for our public opinion.”

“Really?” Ji Ming asked. “This could bring your mother into the center of public attention.”

“She’s always been at the center of public opinion,” Mo Lin replied calmly. “As a victim.”