It was a little after nine that night in Lingyuan City, at Zhou Yuánlěi's home.
He had just returned from a lavish dinner. Taking out his phone once more, Zhou Yuánlěi checked his bank balance and smiled happily.
He opened the Autohome app and went to the BMW forum. He logged in, wrote his post, and published it all in one smooth motion.
"I'm 25, with a budget of 600,000 yuan. Should I get a 3 Series or a 5 Series? I'm leaning toward the 5 Series, but the 3 Series seems like it'd be enough. Hope the guys on the forum can give me some advice."
"If you've got no money but love looking at cars, my recommendation is the 5 Series. Go straight for the top trim and get it over with!"
"If you can afford a 5 Series, why not add a little more and get a 7 Series?"
"Are you only considering sedans? The Q7 and X5 are pretty good too."
"Another rich big shot. I'm so jealous! When will I ever make that kind of money?"
After quickly reading through the replies, Zhou Yuánlěi responded.
"If the guy above just works a little harder, he can do it too. There are still plenty of ways to make money these days. You just have to be good at spotting opportunities!"
"Thanks for all the recommendations. I'll look into them first, then go check out the cars in person at the dealership tomorrow."
Holding his phone, Zhou Yuánlěi replied to the forum posts, unable to hide the smile on his face. He was already imagining the envious looks from his friends after he bought a car.
Knock, knock, knock—
Just as Zhou Yuánlěi was looking at cars and dreaming about the future, someone knocked on his door.
"Who is it?" Zhou Yuánlěi asked, puzzled.
It was already past nine. Why would anyone come looking for him now? A friend?
The knocking continued, but no one answered Zhou Yuánlěi's question.
"It's so late..." Zhou Yuánlěi got up and reluctantly opened the door.
"Don't move! Stay right there!" As soon as the door opened, a group of fully equipped officers rushed in. Two police officers worked in perfect sync and quickly restrained Zhou Yuánlěi, snapping a shiny pair of silver handcuffs around his wrists.
"Who are you? What are you doing?" Zhou Yuánlěi shouted.
Under the light inside the room, the officers involved in the arrest carefully examined Zhou Yuánlěi's face, then exchanged nods.
"Target confirmed!"
"We're with the Lingyuan City police. Here are our credentials." One officer held his credentials in front of Zhou Yuánlěi so he could see the official seal. A couple of seconds later, the arresting officer continued.
"You're Mr. Zhou Yuánlěi, correct?"
"The police? Why are you arresting me? I haven't broken the law!" Zhou Yuánlěi said, completely bewildered.
After checking that his body camera was recording, the officer said, "Whether you broke the law is something we'll determine after investigating. Please cooperate with us and assist with our inquiry. I'm going to ask you a few questions. You must answer truthfully. If we find that you've concealed facts, you'll be held legally responsible. Do you understand?"
"I understand. I'll cooperate with you. I really haven't broken the law. Please believe me!" Faced with a situation like this, an ordinary man like Zhou Yuánlěi was completely terrified.
The officer nodded and asked, "All right. Tell me, did you speak on the phone this afternoon with a man named Ning Yifan, the owner of Shenma Technology Company?"
"I... I did call him," Zhou Yuánlěi replied after hesitating.
"Then listen and tell me if this is a recording of your conversation." Taking out a police device, the officer played a clip of the call between Ning Yifan and Zhou Yuánlěi, in which Zhou Yuánlěi had demanded one million yuan from Ning Yifan.
Hearing their familiar conversation, Zhou Yuánlěi couldn't deny it. He said helplessly, "That... yes, it is. But, officer, that's not against the law, is it? I took his money to help him resolve the problems his company was facing, and I was going to promote its products. That's normal compensation for work."
Hearing Zhou Yuánlěi's explanation, the officer in charge shook his head. "It seems you still don't understand. But it doesn't matter. Since you admit that this is a recording of your conversation, come with us to the station so we can continue the investigation. Don't worry—we won't wrong an innocent person, and we won't let a guilty person get away. We hope you'll cooperate. If you resist or obstruct our investigation, you may face a harsher penalty. That's enough for now. Let's go!"
A task force jointly formed by officers from Lianhua Police Station and the local police took Zhou Yuánlěi to the station in a hurry.
In the interview room, with a lawyer hired by Ning Yifan present, the task force from the two police departments began questioning Zhou Yuánlěi and recording his statement. "Confess and receive leniency; resist and face severity." The officer, dressed in a uniform, looked solemn and imposing.
After a series of questions about his name, age, occupation, and other basic details, the interview moved on to the main issues.
"Zhou Yuánlěi, did you contact the owner of Shenma Technology Company through the customer service chat on JD.com on September 7? Are these your chat records?" The officer placed several printed sheets of chat logs in front of Zhou Yuánlěi and questioned him.
After carefully reading through the chats, Zhou Yuánlěi hesitated. "These are our chat records, but I only wanted to work with the company and help promote its products. I had no intention of committing a crime!"
The officer responded sternly, "Whether you committed a crime is for the law to determine. Before we ask you questions about the case, you only need to answer whether these materials are genuine or not."
"O-okay." The solemn atmosphere around him made Zhou Yuánlěi nervous.
Had he really broken the law? The thought crossed Zhou Yuánlěi's mind, but he didn't have much time to dwell on it. After confirming the authenticity of those documents, the police presented several more and asked him to verify them.
These included the phone recording mentioned earlier at Zhou Yuánlěi's home, bank transfer records, and videos he had posted online that falsely smeared Shenma Technology Company.
Faced with all the evidence, Zhou Yuánlěi was hesitant, but in the end, he didn't deny that any of it was genuine.
The evidence was clear. After discussing the matter briefly among themselves, the officers addressed Zhou Yuánlěi again. "Zhou Yuánlěi, your actions constitute suspected extortion, as well as maliciously fabricating and spreading false information that damaged another party's business reputation and the reputation of its products, causing significant losses. The evidence is conclusive. Do you have anything to say about this?"
"I didn't break the law! People say all kinds of things online. Nobody takes them seriously. Lots of people do the same thing, so why are you arresting just me?" Zhou Yuánlěi's eyes were bloodshot as he tried desperately to argue his case.
The officer said sternly, "There's no need to say any more about that. Just tell us whether there's anything else you want to add about the case—anything related that we might not know."
"Uh..." After thinking it over, Zhou Yuánlěi shook his head. "No."
The officer nodded. "All right, that makes things quite clear. The investigators want you to cooperate with our efforts to minimize the losses suffered by Shenma Technology Company and help ensure you receive lenient treatment. Make sure you show a sincere attitude about admitting your guilt!"
"I... I... I understand." Zhou Yuánlěi sat in the chair in despair.
The case progressed smoothly. Just two days later, with the police's help, Zhou Yuánlěi's video account posted a new video.
Dressed in a blue-and-white striped outfit, he stood in front of a slogan that read: "Loyal to the Party, Serve the People, Enforce the Law Impartially, Maintain Strict Discipline."
In the solemn setting, Zhou Yuánlěi, who hadn't slept well for two days, began to speak.
"Hello, everyone. I'm Zhou Yuánlěi, the owner of the Boiling Digital Reviews account. I'd like to clarify the review video I posted on September 8 about Shenma Technology Company's Phantom Projector. That video contained a great deal of false and malicious statements intended to smear the company.
"In the video, I modified the Phantom Projector without permission, preventing it from functioning as intended. I then posted a false review video, causing Shenma Technology Company significant losses. I deeply regret what I did, and I hereby offer my sincere apology to Shenma Technology Company.
"I'm sorry. I now understand how serious this matter is, and I hope Shenma Technology Company will accept my apology."
The video was brief. At the end, the police included a notice about the case.
"On September 7, suspect Zhou contacted Shenma Technology Company through an online shopping platform and attempted to obtain 500,000 yuan in exchange for promoting the company's products.
"After negotiations between the two parties failed, Zhou posted false information the next day to maliciously smear Shenma Technology Company's products. He also used paid online commenters and other methods to manipulate public opinion and escalate the situation, severely damaging the company's business reputation and the reputation of its products.
"Ten days later, he contacted the owner of Shenma Technology Company by phone again. He threatened to delete his fabricated online review of the Phantom Projector and help restore the company's reputation in exchange for one million yuan. He extorted the company's owner, receiving 600,000 yuan by bank transfer, while his attempt to obtain the remaining 400,000 yuan was unsuccessful.
"In this case, Zhou was primarily guilty of extortion, as well as maliciously fabricating and spreading false information that damaged another party's business reputation and the reputation of its products, causing significant losses. He will receive the punishment he deserves."
"The internet is not beyond the reach of the law!"
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