The patient involved in the medical disturbance felt utterly innocent. He had been entirely incited and manipulated by the baseball cap and the journalist.
When the police asked the patient for evidence, he actually had some. Although the recording device was old and battered, the video quality was decent and the audio was captured clearly. The entire process of the baseball cap goading the patient into causing the disturbance and the journalist encouraging the patient to boldly “seek justice” had all been filmed.
When the journalist was brought to the police station, he was completely dumbfounded.
As a journalist who often conducted undercover filming, being secretly recorded by the subject of his news was a first in his career.
Because the patient was in the recovery period after surgery, the baseball cap and the journalist always took the initiative to visit him at home. This provided great convenience for the patient’s “secret filming”. Neither the baseball cap nor the journalist had any guard up against a patient recuperating at home. The two had succeeded too many times, reaping fame and fortune each time. Over time, they gradually stopped taking the affected parties seriously, feeling that they could manipulate them at will.
The “double scoundrels” who often walked by the river finally got their shoes wet this time.
The baseball cap had incited the patient to cause the medical disturbance and had an agreement for sharing the spoils afterwards. He was directly classified as engaging in “extortion”.
Although this time the journalist had only sought sensational news and not mentioned sharing spoils, as soon as he was brought to the police station, a concerned citizen called to say they wanted to provide evidence proving that the journalist and the baseball cap were not doing this unethical deed for the first time.
Only then did the journalist come to his senses. He defended himself by saying he had been set up. He had merely acted excessively in pursuit of news sensationalism and had not participated in the “extortion”!
But when asked who had set him up, the journalist hemmed and hawed for a long while without naming anyone specific.
No help for it. He had done too many unethical deeds and had too many enemies. How could he match them all up one by one?
In the end, he could only vaguely blame it on “professional jealousy”. It must be a colleague plotting against him!
The journalist wanted to clear his name, but the police were not like those duped affected parties. They would not take his word as gospel. The baseball cap certainly disagreed as well. With the journalist sharing some of the blame, the baseball cap could get a lighter sentence.
At such a time, even the most solid partnership was useless. One person nobly taking all the blame was a plot only found in films and dramas. The baseball cap desperately tried to clear himself, pushing all the blame onto the journalist. He insisted that he was uneducated and did not know such actions were illegal. He had merely followed the journalist’s instructions.
The police loved suspects who turned on each other like this.
Without turning on each other, how would more criminal evidence be exposed?
Talking too much inevitably revealed loopholes. This time, the “evidence” provided by the medical disturbance party and the “evidence” from the concerned citizens combined meant that neither the baseball cap nor the journalist could escape.
Pursuing news sensationalism and actively manufacturing incidents were two different matters. The previous medical disturbance report had had considerable impact. Now that a major reversal had occurred, the hospital, as the victim, was determined to pursue the matter to the end for the sake of its reputation. It refused apologies and settlements, demanding legal accountability!
The once-renowned journalist became a despised rat in the media circle. Colleagues feared being implicated and all distanced themselves from him. His original employer immediately dismissed him. Whether he would go to prison depended on the final investigation results.
In any case, whether imprisoned or not, this renowned journalist’s career prospects were ruined. No newspaper or television station would dare hire him again.
Because the medical disturbance news had fermented and then undergone a major reversal, even official media outlets published articles criticising it. Using this renowned journalist’s behaviour as a counterexample, they called for establishing industry norms and vigilance against the “fourth estate” abusing their power.
“Exposing social issues does not equate to manufacturing social conflicts.”
“The pen in hand is a sharpened weapon. Reasonable oversight does not equal deliberate harm!”
The official media’s articles addressed not only this “medical disturbance news” incident.
The rise of social networking platforms had given many ordinary netizens channels and platforms to voice their opinions.
Ordinary netizens had to be responsible for improper remarks. Should media journalists be allowed to fabricate reports in pursuit of news sensationalism without accountability?
This year, there had even been an entertainment journalist rumouring on a blog that the head of a dairy group had engaged in unspoken rules with an artist. Backed by evidence, the exposé fulfilled the “fourth estate’s” professional duty. Without evidence, it was rumour-mongering and slander!
Rumours spread with one mouth, but refuting them runs one ragged.
After an internal investigation by the dairy group confirmed that General Manager Liu had not engaged in any such behaviour, they sued the entertainment journalist. The case had been pronounced just a few days ago. The journalist was ordered to publicly apologise and compensate the dairy group a sum for reputational damage. He also had to cover General Manager Liu’s personal medical expenses. Ever since being rumoured and slandered by the entertainment journalist, General Manager Liu had suffered immense mental stress, developing severe psychological illness and nearly unable to work normally. This had greatly impacted his personal life.
Psychological counselling was typically billed by the hour. Surely these costs could not be borne by the victim General Manager Liu himself?
Whether General Manager Liu had a psychological illness was, of course, clear to the dairy group internally.
When General Manager Liu insisted he did and required psychological treatment, no one would step forward to debunk it. Thus, it simply was so.
The renowned journalist bought off by Zhao Qian and the exposé entertainment journalist arranged by Manager Guan both became counterexamples named and criticised by official media. This was truly too coincidental.
Wen Ying read the official media article and felt perplexed.
She suspected that Xie Qian had done something. Xie Qian glossed over it, “Those who do too much evil will meet their end. This is heaven’s arrangement.”
The baseball cap and renowned journalist’s mishap and arrest were indeed arranged by Xie Qian, who had instructed Gong Sheng to guide and lure the pair of scoundrels into the trap.
Even those willing concerned citizens providing evidence were results from Inspector Luo’s investigation before going abroad. They were setups arranged by Xie Qian.
But arranging for official media to publish defining articles?
Xie Qian truly could not manage that.
The two incidents had erupted too closely in time and were bundled together by official media for criticism. It was pure coincidence.
Wen Ying half-believed Xie Qian’s explanation.
From the moment after rebirth when her magazine submission was rejected, Wen Ying had known that rebirth had not given her the “lucky heroine’s script”. Now, such a good thing as crushing two villainous clowns at once had suddenly descended. Wen Ying still felt a bit uneasy.
“Too fortunate. It does not sit right with me!”
Wen Ying always felt that the luck heaven gave a person was roughly constant. If it gave a bit more here, it would take a bit away there.
Wen Ying was on tenterhooks for several days, fearing some mishap. In the end, absolutely nothing happened.
In her latest monthly exam, she had performed quite well, advancing into the top 100 of her year for the first time!
The top 100 in the year at a provincial key high school in Rong City was something Wen Ying had never achieved even at the peak of her studies in her previous life.
As soon as the results came out, Chen Ru, who had just got off the plane, perked up upon hearing it. The fatigue from house-hunting in the Magic City over two weekends vanished in an instant.
Chen Li was particularly perceptive and seized the chance to flatter her sister lavishly, “Wen Ying that girl has staying power in her studies. Sis, what more do you have to worry about?”
Chen Ru said sternly, “How can I not worry? There is still over half a year until the gaokao. Who knows if she might slack off midway!”
The top 100 in the year at Rong City’s provincial key high school was certainly impressive. However, as parents, they always hoped their child would excel even more. Unless one day Wen Ying’s academic performance could catch up to the academically divine Xie Qian, Chen Ru would never truly relax.
No, even if her grades were good enough to enter a top university, Chen Ru would still fret as she ought.
Wen Ying was a girl. High school focused on studies, but after university, there would be dating. After university graduation, there would be work. After work, when to marry and whom. Every step in life was crucially important.
However, thinking of the two properties just purchased in the Magic City, Chen Ru’s anxiety faded somewhat.
Immovable assets in a first-tier metropolis were absolutely stable with potential for appreciation. With these two houses in hand, even if Wen Ying squandered all the royalties she had earned now, she would still have a fallback and confidence!
