An Unexpected Breakthrough

In the western part of the city, in an old residential building built in the 1990s.

In Unit 3, Room 401, the living room curtains were drawn tightly, with only the light from the computer screens flickering on the wall. Six desks were crammed into the room, with seven or eight monitors on them. The clatter of keyboards filled the air, which was thick with the pungent smell of instant noodles, cigarette smoke, and sweat.

This is the studio of "Xunda Network Media". The business license says "online marketing and promotion", but in reality, its main businesses are three things: fake orders, fake reviews, and fake traffic. Occasionally, they also take on some "public opinion management" work - to put it bluntly, they are online trolls.

At the table by the window sat a young man in his early twenties, whom everyone called A Jie. He wore black-rimmed Glasses, had slightly greasy hair, and a pilling gray hoodie. He was staring at three screens, his fingers flying across the keyboard.

The left screen shows the Weibo interface, where he's posting tons of comments under a topic about "pre-made meals":

"I've eaten fish from Dongbei before; it's freshly killed, and the meat is very tender!"

"The cost of spreading rumors is so low these days; anyone can shoot a video and dare to smear a big brand."

"Those two customers were obviously shills, deliberately causing trouble."

He would tick off each comment as it was posted in the backend logbook. Each comment cost 50 cents, and he would post 300 comments a day, earning 150 yuan. This was the basic workload.

The right-hand screen shows Douyin. He copied and pasted similar comments under a food blogger's video, occasionally changing a few words to avoid being identified as a bot by the system.

The central screen displays WeChat, with four work groups open. One of the groups, named "Dongbei Special Project," is currently posting tasks.

[Team leader: Attention everyone, tonight we will focus on attacking the car owner with the license plate number 'Lin A XXXXX'. Keywords: paralegal, knowing the law and breaking the law, having a backer, arrogance. I will post the same words in the comment area immediately.]

Immediately afterwards, a document link was sent into the group.

A Jie clicked on it, and there were more than a dozen carefully crafted attack lines:

"The owner of the car with the license plate 'A XXXXX' is an assistant at Zhou Wenyuan Law Firm. No wonder he's so arrogant."

"Is the legal assistant ignorant of the law? Did they take bribes to deliberately defame a restaurant business?"

"If you're so capable, show us your work ID and let's see which law firm produced this kind of talent."

"Trying to show off in the law firm's car, got it overturned, huh?"

A Jie quickly skimmed through it; nothing particularly noteworthy. In the six months he'd been doing this, he'd sent far more vicious messages. That's how the online world is; behind a screen, no one knows if the person on the other end is a human or a dog. He just needed to copy, paste, take the money, and run.

He started editing the comments. The first one read, "The owner of the car with the license plate 'A' XXXXX is an assistant at Zhou Wenyuan Law Firm. No wonder he's so arrogant."

Finished typing, ready to send.

etc.

A Jie's finger hovered over the send button.

Zhou Wenyuan Law Firm.

The name of this law firm... sounds familiar.

He frowned and thought for a moment, then suddenly remembered—about two months ago, when he was hospitalized for appendicitis surgery, the man in the next bed was an older man who had fractured his leg in a car accident. The man's surname was Wang, and he was a sanitation worker. During their conversation, he mentioned that his son was an assistant at a very prestigious law firm, the firm's name seemed to be... Zhou Wenyuan?

A Jie even joked at the time, "Then if I ever get into trouble, I can ask your son to defend me."

The uncle smiled honestly, "My son is just a small assistant, but the lawyer Zhou in their law firm is really good. He helped me fight the lawsuit without asking for a penny."

A Jie shook his head, dismissing these irrelevant memories. It was probably just a coincidence of names; Zhou Wenyuan wasn't an obscure name.

He continued editing his second comment, "The legal assistant doesn't understand the law? Deliberately defaming a restaurant business..."

He stopped editing halfway through.

I had a strange feeling inside, like something was scratching at me.

He opened the document, opened his browser, and typed "Zhou Wenyuan Law Firm" into the search bar.

The first search result was the law firm's official website. Clicking on it revealed a simple page with a dark blue background and a gold logo. In the lawyer introduction section, Zhou Wenyuan's photo was first; he was in his forties, wore Glasses, and looked very refined.

Scroll down for the law firm's news updates. The latest item is from two weeks ago. "Our firm successfully represented a listed company in an equity dispute case..."

Nothing special.

Just as A Jie was about to close the page, his eyes fell on the contact information at the bottom. Address: 17th Floor Golden Cauldron Building, No. 188 Zhongshan Road. Phone: XXXX-XXXXXXXX.

He stared at the address, and the vague memory in his mind suddenly became clear.

While he was hospitalized, Uncle Wang mentioned the address of the law firm where his son worked. It seemed to be... Zhongshan Road? Golden Cauldron Building?

A cold sweat broke out on A Jie's back.

He switched back to WeChat and opened his chat history with Uncle Wang —they had added each other on WeChat and even liked each other's Moments posts after being discharged from the hospital. There weren't many chat records; the most recent one was during the Spring Festival, when he sent Uncle Wang a New Year's red envelope, and Uncle Wang replied with a thank you.

He scrolled up and found a record from two months ago.

Uncle Wang: "Xiao Jie, my stitches were removed today. The doctor said I'm recovering well. How are you?"

A Jie: "I'll be soon too. By the way, Uncle Wang, which law firm does your son work at? It'll be good to consult him if I have any legal questions in the future."

Uncle Wang: "Zhou Wenyuan Law Firm is in the Golden Cauldron Building on Zhongshan Road. But he's just a junior assistant, not much help, haha."

A Jie stared at the message, the screen light reflecting off his face, making him appear deathly pale.

The address matches.

Zhou Wenyuan Law Firm, Golden Cauldron Building, No. 188 Zhongshan Road.

He slowly turned his head to look at the comment on the left screen that hadn't been posted yet. "The owner of the car with license plate number AXXXXX is an assistant at Zhou Wenyuan Law Firm..."

My fingers started to tremble.

He opened the "Dongbei Special Project" work group and scrolled up the chat history. The group leader had sent several screenshots an hour earlier, saying they were of "target vehicles" and "target individuals."

One of the images is a screenshot from a video, showing the profile of a young man in a jacket. It's a bit blurry, but you can still make out his general outline.

The other image is a screenshot from a parking lot surveillance camera, showing a black Volkswagen SUV with a license plate that is indeed temporary (临A XXXXX).

A Jie zoomed in on the screenshot of the person and stared at it intently.

He didn't know this person. But this person was Uncle Wang's son's colleague.

And right now, he's taking on a job attacking this person.

The group leader sent another message in the WeChat group:

[Team Leader: @Everyone, hurry up! The client is pressing us for results by midnight tonight! Every comment must include the license plate number and the keyword "legal assistant"!]

Next came a red envelope with the words "Express Fee" written on it.

The group chat instantly became lively:

["Receive!"]

["Refreshing!"]

"Mission accomplished!"

A Jie looked at the rapidly scrolling replies, then glanced at the two comments he had edited.

He deleted the text from the input box.

Then he opened his WeChat contacts and found a contact labeled "Boss"—his only superior when he joined the network. He had only met him once; the man was a middle-aged man in a trench coat who spoke very little, only telling him, "Report important information, don't contact me unless necessary."

A Jie's fingers were a little stiff from nervousness as he typed.

"Situation detected. My online marketing company is currently attacking a target. Target information: Lin Feng, assistant at Zhou Wenyuan Law Firm, license plate number: Temporary A XXXXX. Client: Dongbei Catering. Attack method: flooding the internet with negative comments, focusing on the license plate number and the lawyer's assistant's identity. Should we follow up further?"

He checked it twice and then clicked send.

The message indicates "delivered".

Ten seconds later, the other party replied:

"Received. Continue normal operations and do not expose yourself. Gather task details, including the client's contact person, specific attack scripts, execution time, and expected scale. Summarize and report by midnight."

A Jie: "Understood."

He put down his phone, took a few deep breaths, and tried to calm his racing heart.

Then he reopened the script document and started copying, pasting, and commenting on it line by line.

My fingers are still flying across the keyboard, but my eyes are different now.

With each comment he posted, he silently noted it down: this one attacked the license plate number, this one attacked the lawyer's identity, this one implied taking bribes...

The light from the screen illuminated his young but somewhat numb face.

On the left screen, another comment was posted:

"Trying to show off in a law firm's car, got it overturned, huh?"

The number of likes began to rise slowly.

11 PM, Lin Feng Apartment.

Lü Yi was sprawled on the sofa, munching on Apple and scrolling through her phone when she suddenly burst out laughing.

"Boss, look at these people, they can't even come up with any new insults. They just keep repeating the same few phrases: 'The legal assistant is arrogant,' 'He has powerful connections,' 'He knowingly breaks the law'... They have absolutely no creativity."

Lin Feng was reviewing the fund transfer analysis report sent by K from the Northern Myanmar industrial park, and without even looking up, he said, "Online trolls."

"I know it's a paid troll," Lü Yi, turning the phone around. "But look at this, they even tagged Dongbei's official account, saying, 'We suggest thoroughly investigating this person's background; they might have financial problems.' They don't even know your name, and they're already making up financial issues. It's hilarious."

Lin Feng glanced at the screen but didn't say anything.

His phone vibrated; it was a message from the encrypted channel. He opened it; it was a report from "Sanitation Worker - Wang Jianguo".

The content is very detailed:

"Dongbei Catering, through a third-party online trolling company, ' Xunda Network Media,' has hired a large number of online trolls to launch a concentrated attack on you. The key targets are: 1. License plate number 'Appendix A' XXXXX; 2. Legal assistant status; 3. Implications of accepting bribes from competitors. The contact person for the client is ' Lao Xing,' suspected to be directly assigned by Dongbei's senior management. The attack started at 8 PM tonight and is expected to continue until tomorrow morning, involving approximately 5,000 negative comments. Should we retaliate?"

After reading it, Lin Feng replied, "Continue monitoring and collect evidence linking ' Lao Xing ' to Dongbei. Leave the online trolls alone for now."

"Clear."

Lin Feng put down his phone and continued reading the report.

Lü Yi leaned closer. "Boss, is there any new information?"

"Yes. Dongbei hired an online army."

"I knew it! These comments are being posted like they're from bots." Lü Yi grinned. "Should I go and take down that online marketing company? I know where they are. It's that old residential building in the West District, Unit 3, Room 401. I used to pass by when I was delivering food, and it always smelled like instant noodles. They're definitely involved in online marketing."

Lin Feng glanced at him. "When did you go to scout the location?"

"This afternoon," Lü Yi said matter-of-factly. "I saw them cursing you, so I checked their IP address and followed the trail to their address. I was originally planning to 'visit' them tonight, but then I thought I'd ask you first."

"No need to go," Lin Feng said. "Let them process it."

"Huh? Why?" Lü Yi asked, puzzled. "They're insulting you."

"Scolding them won't hurt you," Lin Feng said, turning a page of the report. "Besides, the more harshly they criticize, the more it shows Dongbei is guilty."

Lü Yi tilted his head and thought for a moment, "That makes sense. But boss, are we just going to stand by and watch? Should we... hire some online trolls to smear them back?"

"No need," Lin Feng said. "K is investigating Dongbei's supply chain; we'll have results soon."

"Investigate the supply chain?" Lü Yi's eyes lit up. "Find evidence that they're using pre-prepared meals?"

"Um."

"And then what? Post it online? Ruin their reputations?"

Lin Feng didn't answer. He closed his laptop, stood up, and said, "It's time to sleep."

"Oh." Lü Yi was a little disappointed, but he didn't ask any more questions. He knew that his boss had his own rhythm and would naturally take action when the time was right.

Lin Feng walked to the window and looked at the night view outside.

The city lights merged into a blurry sea of light in the night, while the traffic on the elevated highway in the distance resembled a slowly flowing galaxy.

He recalled what Zhou Wenyuan had said during the day, "Zheng Dong values brand reputation more than his own life."

That's why they went to such lengths. Hiring online trolls, sending lawyer's letters, harassing him with phone calls, doxxing him... they used every method imaginable, just to get him to say "I'm sorry."

Unfortunately, he doesn't like to apologize.

Especially when I'm not wrong.

My phone vibrated again; it was an encrypted message from K:

"We have preliminarily obtained access to Dongbei's central kitchen production record system. The data is being downloaded and is expected to be completed tomorrow morning. We have also discovered that Dongbei has long-term cooperation agreements with three cold chain logistics companies, and delivery records from service area stores show that all ingredients are frozen. The evidence chain is 70% complete; further subjective evidence, such as internal meeting minutes, is needed."

Lin Feng replied, "Continue. Focus on checking internal meeting minutes, especially the decision-making process related to the 'freshly made' promotional rhetoric."

"Clear."

He put down his phone and drew the curtains.

The bedroom was plunged into darkness.

In the living room, Lü Yi was still scrolling through his phone, the screen's light reflecting off his excited face. He was using a secondary account to argue with online trolls.

"You're the one who's a paid troll! Your whole family are paid trolls!"

"How much did Dongbei pay you? I'll pay double!"

"Did your legal assistant eat your rice? Why are you meddling in my business!"

He would send a message and then chuckle twice, as if he were playing a fun game.

In the darkness, Lin Feng closed his eyes.

The comments from online trolls are still circulating online, Dongbei's anger continues, and Zheng Dong's paranoia is escalating.

But these are just ripples on the water's surface.

The real Undercurrent have already quietly gathered underwater.