The video Qin Ren's studio released was a clarification. Thanks to the huge success of Guo Huai's video, this one drew plenty of attention too.
"First, let me make one thing clear: our studio produced the promotional video for Qinglin Villa's sea of flowers. And here's another thing: was the person who posted that smear video an idiot? If you want to smear someone, shouldn't you look into who they are first? The man is actually the chairman of the Blue Sea Group here in the city, one of the leading companies in all of Min Province. Why would he need to be a paid shill?"
"We've also looked into the matter. It all started because a brat misbehaved, and his unreasonable parents, instead of teaching him a lesson, made a scene. Do they really think owning a phone makes them right?"
The video also included footage from the villa's surveillance cameras, along with audio captured by the microphones. Qin Ren had gotten it directly from Qin Lin.
As soon as the video came out, it set off a storm across the city.
The promotional video for Qinglin Villa had already gone viral after appearing on the outdoor screen at Oriental Commercial Plaza. Yesterday's incident had made the villa even more famous, though last night it had been infamous, with everyone cursing it.
But no one had expected the whole story to be turned on its head overnight.
Qin Ren's studio had invested heavily too, paying to promote the video through DOU+. Riding on the wave of attention surrounding Guo Huai's video, theirs went viral as well. Chen Shengfei even got a little famous in the process, and plenty of videos introducing him started appearing.
Those were naturally posted by local social media accounts that knew who Chen Shengfei was and wanted to ride the wave.
In no time, the story had turned into another hot topic about badly behaved kids, a subject that concerned the whole public.
There were so many cases of badly behaved kids getting into trouble while their parents refused to see reason. And unreasonable parents treating someone like Chen Shengfei as a paid shill made the story even more dramatic, making them look even more ignorant and stupid.
So everyone who had watched the video yesterday was stunned.
The reversal left them unable to react.
Many people looked at the nasty comments they had posted, quietly deleted them, and then let their sense of justice flare up again as they commented anew: "Brats..."
After watching the video, Guo Huai hurriedly took out his phone and looked up information on the Blue Sea Group. When he saw Chen Shengfei's profile, his legs nearly gave out.
"Damn it! You've ruined me!" Guo Huai cursed furiously.
He had trusted his cousin and her husband, so he hadn't bothered to investigate properly. He had hoped to use the incident to gain followers. Who knew his cousin would screw him over? The person she'd called a shill had a background like that?
He immediately tried to delete the video, but suddenly received an official system notification: "Your video has been found to contain illegal and false information and has been removed."
Then another official notification appeared: "Your account has been found to have disseminated illegal and false videos. Due to the serious nature of the violation, your account has been permanently banned."
"No... No, please..." Guo Huai panicked.
He had spent three years building up his social media account, gathering material, filming, and paying to promote his content through DOU+. He had poured a lot of money into it and had only just started earning it back this year. On top of that, he had taken on two advertising contracts. If he lost the account, he would have to pay double in compensation.
In a panic, Guo Huai took out his phone and contacted the Douyin staff member who managed his account, only to find that he had been blocked.
He was dumbfounded.
An account with over 200,000 followers, many of them fake, was obviously insignificant to Douyin. Especially after the other party's legal team sent a lawyer's letter, why would they care what happened to him?
If the other party let the matter go, that would be one thing. If they kept pursuing it, he could fend for himself.
"I'm done for!" Guo Huai wasn't stupid. Once he understood his situation, he called his cousin in frustration. "Cousin, you told me it was true! How did this happen? I treated you like family, and you screwed me over like this? You're worse than a dog!"
Lin Chunlan was obviously annoyed at being cursed out. "It was just a video. Delete it, and that's that. I'm having a hard time too. I got filmed, and now I don't even know how I'm supposed to go to work."
With that, Lin Chunlan angrily hung up on Guo Huai.
"Damn it..." Guo Huai smashed his phone in a rage. Did she really think deleting the video would solve everything?
It was just a video?
Never mind that he'd lost enough money to make him sick.
If the other party reported them for slander and damaging his reputation, all those hundreds of thousands of likes and the many videos jumping on the bandwagon could mean a stay in prison.
Now he finally understood: the people you trusted most could be the ones who brought you down.
After getting up in the morning, Qin Lin set aside 300 pounds of the mature okra and delivered the rest to RT-Mart. Then he took the remaining strawberries, watermelons, and okra from the game to the villa.
As soon as he arrived, he saw Gao Yaoyao run out, her face full of excitement. "Boss, do you know who that Mr. Chen is? He's the chairman of a major group in the city. That social media account that slandered you is in trouble. Their video and account were just taken down."
She had been very worried about the villa being slandered and had kept a close eye on the story. Now that she saw Qin Lin, she couldn't wait to share the good news.
Qin Lin had Chen Dabe and the security guards unload the goods from the car, then took out his phone to check what was going on.
As expected, yesterday's video was no longer available, and the account had been banned too.
This was just what he'd expected. Once Mr. Chen's identity came to light, even if he didn't say a word, Douyin probably wouldn't let the person who posted the video off the hook. After all, it was their platform, and they were probably afraid Mr. Chen would take issue with them.
Still, he wasn't going to let it go just because someone had smeared him.
If things had gone differently and he'd had no way to fight back, his villa might have been finished, and all the work he'd put in lately would have gone to waste.
Besides, he knew very well that people in the tourism business would keep running into troublemakers like this if they didn't make an example of one of them.
So Qin Lin left the villa again and headed straight for Youcheng Police Station.
There was a criminal offense called defamation.
Slandering someone's reputation could constitute defamation if the information spread widely enough or caused the victim serious psychological harm. Depending on the severity, the offender could face up to three years in prison, criminal detention, public surveillance, or deprivation of political rights.
However, the law also allowed for an exception: unless the offense seriously endangered public order or national interests, it could only be prosecuted if the victim filed a complaint.
The phrase "prosecuted only upon complaint" meant that in a defamation case, the victim had to bring a private prosecution before the court would accept it. Otherwise, the court wouldn't take the case. In other words, it gave the parties a chance to settle privately.
This was one reason the cost of defamation was so low and so many people online acted without restraint. When something like this happened, the offender might put on a show of remorse, or claim they were young and didn't know better, and many victims would let it go.
Others would simply offer money to settle the matter privately.
Once the damage had been done, many victims just wanted to get some immediate benefit out of it, so they accepted a private settlement.
Of course, some people refused both options and insisted on teaching the offender a lesson. In serious cases, that meant a free stay in prison.
Qin Lin wanted to make an example of them, so he was determined to report the matter first.
If a kid acted out, it was the parents' fault for not teaching him better. If the parents knew they should teach him but still chose to make a scene, Qin Lin would do society a favor and teach them a lesson himself, setting an example for the brat.
Qin Lin went into the police station, filed a report, and submitted the evidence. The video had caused such a stir that the officers at Youcheng Police Station already knew about it, so they accepted the report without any trouble.
Afterward, the police told Qin Lin to head home while they began investigating the woman in the video.
Meanwhile, Guo Huai received a message on his phone, and his expression darkened further.
"Mr. Guo, your account has been banned, and you have failed to fulfill your advertising contract. Please compensate us as soon as possible, or we will file a lawsuit against you..."
He had taken on two advertising contracts. The compensation required by the contracts would be more than he could afford even if he sold his car.
The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. He had lost his career trying to help his cousin and her husband get revenge, while his cousin acted as if nothing had happened.
Furious, Guo Huai stormed out and drove straight to his cousin's house. When he arrived, he pounded on the door viciously.
"Cousin, you're here?" His cousin looked a little embarrassed. "I know this has affected you, but the video's been taken down. Let me treat you to a meal to make it up to you."
"Do you think a meal can fix this?" Guo Huai roared furiously. "Do you know that my account was banned because I helped you? I spent over a hundred thousand yuan on that account! And I've lost two advertising deals. Now I have to pay over 200,000 yuan in compensation. You're going to cover all of it, or I'll make sure you regret it!"
Hearing that, Lin Chunlan came out from inside, clearly displeased. "Guo Huai, you're the one in the wrong here. I only showed you the video and vented to you a little. Don't think I don't know you wanted to use it to get more views. Now that things have gone wrong, you come here and make a scene at our door."
Guo Huai nearly spat blood when he heard that. He finally understood what kind of person his cousin was. No wonder she had made such a fool of herself at Qinglin Villa with that same scene-making routine.
As they were arguing, several police officers suddenly came upstairs.
One of the officers saw the three of them and said, "Ms. Lin Chunlan and Mr. Jiang Hang, we'd like you to cooperate with our investigation into the defamation of Qinglin Villa. Also, please tell us who owns the account for Youcheng Huaiying Media."
Lin Chunlan was stunned. She had thought it was just a minor matter and never imagined the police would come looking for her. Her legs nearly gave out in fright.
Before you continue