Reporting a Crime

It was the end of September, but the weather was still hot.

That afternoon, the city had been baked under the sun all day and was as hot as a furnace.

After walking around the streets for a while, Ning Yifan found a milk tea shop. He ordered a milk tea and some pastries, then finished them off in the cool air conditioning.

After carefully thinking through what might happen next, Ning Yifan murmured, "It's about time."

He paid and left.

Just before five that afternoon, Ning Yifan arrived at the nearest police station, Lianhua Street Police Station.

Looking anxious, Ning Yifan hurried into the station, taking the steps two at a time.

"Hello, I'd like to report a crime!" Ning Yifan said gravely as he reached the front desk.

"What happened?" a police officer asked.

Ning Yifan took a couple of deep breaths, composed his anxious expression, and began to speak.

"I'd like to report a crime. Someone extorted six hundred thousand yuan from me!"

The officer perked up at the enormous sum. He picked up his pen and began taking notes. "Take your time. Tell me exactly what happened."

Ning Yifan nodded and said:

"Here's what happened. About ten days ago, a video blogger called Boiling Digital Reviews contacted me after buying one of my company's products. He said he wanted to work with us—he'd endorse and promote our products in exchange for a fee of five hundred thousand yuan.

"Our products were selling pretty well at the time, so I didn't agree to his demand.

"Since I refused, things ended on a sour note between us.

"Before we ended the conversation, he threatened me, saying he'd ruin our products' reputation. I didn't think much of it then. I figured he was just angry that he hadn't made any money, and that it was an offhand threat.

"But the very next day, after we failed to reach an agreement, he uploaded a video to his account that deliberately twisted the facts and smeared the quality of our company's products.

"He has a substantial following on several video platforms, so his video attracted a lot of attention as soon as it went up. Consumers who didn't know the truth watched it and began doubting our products' quality, causing our company huge losses.

"On top of that, a bunch of paid trolls appeared online out of nowhere and started smearing our products everywhere.

"He has millions of followers, while our company was only just getting started. We didn't have many customers who had actually bought our products. Even when some of them spoke up for us, no one paid attention.

"I've been worrying about this for the past few days and had no idea what to do. We're a small company that was only recently established. In fact, I'm the company's owner and only employee, and I had no idea how to handle a situation like this. I don't know anything about crisis management.

"At first, I thought it was normal for a newly established company to run into problems that were hard to deal with. As for our products' reputation, I figured that as more people bought them and tried them for themselves, the rumors would naturally fall apart. So I didn't pay much attention to it. I thought I only needed to focus on making good products.

"But this afternoon, the blogger from Boiling Digital Reviews contacted me again. He said he could help me deal with the crisis my company was facing, and all I had to do was give him one million yuan!

"I'd planned to think it over carefully. I even figured the trouble would pass eventually and didn't want to agree. But during the call, he threatened me again, saying that if I didn't pay him, he'd make things worse and ensure I'd never sell another product!

"He's a public figure with millions of followers, while our company has been around for less than a month. I had no experience dealing with something like this, so I panicked.

"About half an hour ago, I transferred six hundred thousand yuan to him through my bank, hoping that once he got the money, he'd let us off the hook. I even hoped he might say something nice about our products and help sales recover.

"But after I calmed down and thought it over, I decided I couldn't handle things this way, so I came to report it."

As he recalled what had happened, Ning Yifan explained it all to the two officers. Everything he said had really happened.

The officer taking notes set down his pen. "All right, sir. We've recorded everything you've told us. Could you show us your ID and any other evidence that the person extorted you?"

Ning Yifan pulled the documents from his pocket. "I have my ID with me. I used it for the bank transfer earlier, too. Here you go!"

After thinking for a moment, Ning Yifan added, "As for evidence, there's a recording of the call, the bank account number he sent me on my phone, the transfer record from half an hour ago, and screenshots and chat logs from our conversation through JD.com's seller service. Oh, and the video he posted online smearing our products—it's completely different from what they can actually do. Would that count as evidence, too?"

The officer nodded. "All right, we understand. The call recording, the video smearing your products, the transfer records, and so on can all be used as evidence. We'll investigate as soon as possible. If things are indeed as you've described, we'll file a case immediately."

After speaking with Ning Yifan, the officer turned to his colleague. "Contact the team. Have everyone assemble right away and get the evidence-collection equipment ready."

"Thank you. Sorry for the trouble," Ning Yifan said.

Then he asked, "By the way, I don't really know much about this sort of thing. Would it be all right if I brought in a lawyer?"

The officer answered patiently, "Of course. If you go out and turn left, there's a law firm about two hundred meters away where you can find a lawyer. You may also need to help us with the investigation and evidence collection."

The officer glanced at the clock on the wall. "You've got about ten minutes to find a lawyer. We'll assemble the officers and start the investigation right away. The amount involved is substantial, and the sooner we figure things out, the sooner we can minimize your losses."

"Thank you, thank you!" Ning Yifan said gratefully.

Then he added, his heart aching, "That six hundred thousand was all of our company's working capital. Please, you have to help me get it back!"

The officer reassured him, "Don't worry. We'll do everything we can to help. All right, time's short. If you need a lawyer, you should go find one now."

Ning Yifan nodded. "All right. Thank you."

After hurrying out of the station, Ning Yifan went to the law firm and gave them a rough account of what had happened. He spent ten thousand yuan to hire a lawyer who was supposedly the best at the firm to help him handle the case.

After listening to Ning Yifan's account, the middle-aged lawyer in a suit said, "I understand the situation, and the facts are fairly clear. The other party's real-name phone number, the call recording, and the owner of the bank account will all establish his identity. This should be a straightforward case, so you can rest assured."

Ning Yifan said seriously, "Then I'll leave it to you. I want him to publicly apologize to my company on the video platforms, clarify the truth about our products after smearing them, and compensate us for our company's financial losses and my emotional distress!"

"No problem. This is part of our job, especially since you've paid my fee. All right, we shouldn't delay. Let's go help the police handle this."

With the lawyer in tow, Ning Yifan hurried back to the police station. By then, ten officers had assembled. As soon as Ning Yifan and the lawyer arrived, everyone set off.

With two vehicles leading the way, they hurried to Ning Yifan's rented apartment.

At the apartment, the police carefully examined Ning Yifan's chat history with Zhou Yuánlěi. They also inspected the virtual projectors manufactured by Ning Yifan's company, randomly opening ten boxes. Every unit displayed an excellent image, leaving everyone astonished.

The actual performance of the Phantom Projector was completely different from what was shown in the Boiling Digital Reviews video. It was a malicious smear that distorted the facts!

And when the fully automatic robotic arm assembled a virtual projector in just a few minutes in front of everyone, they were all impressed with Ning Yifan.

The officer in charge praised him. "You really are an exceptional young man. At your age, you've managed to build such sophisticated electronic machinery right at home. You've got a bright future ahead of you!"

Ning Yifan gave a bitter smile. "What do you mean, an exceptional young man? I've just been extorted for six hundred thousand! That money was supposed to go toward buying components to manufacture projectors. And because of Boiling Digital Reviews' malicious lies, our company's image has been damaged, causing us serious losses. I estimate they may amount to several million!"

The officer patted Ning Yifan on the shoulder and reassured him. "Nobody's perfect. It's normal to panic when something like this happens, especially when you're young. We've seen many cases like this. Now that you've been through it once, you'll know what to do next time."

"We've looked into the situation and finished collecting evidence. The evidence is conclusive: the other party did commit extortion. We'll take action immediately. Please wait patiently."

"All right. Sorry for the trouble!"

"Protecting the lives and property of the people is our duty. Team, move out!" With that, the police officers hurried out of Ning Yifan's apartment to carry out the next steps.

The lawyer Ning Yifan had hired also left to prepare the documents needed for the trial after reviewing the evidence.

Once everyone had gone, Ning Yifan finally let out a sigh of relief. Now he could get back to selling products and making money. He'd only wanted to quietly sell his own products, but people kept throwing themselves into the line of fire!