Chapter 36: Cyberbullying
Xiao Fengxian was exceptionally astonished. “You actually have money to hire a lawyer?”
Wasn’t everyone saying lawyers were expensive these days? She watched Jiang Si cry poverty every day and genuinely thought he was broke, with barely two coins to rub together.
Reading the skepticism in her eyes, Jiang Si defended himself, “I’m not actually that poor… Okay, fine, the bonus arrived. I have enough to hire a lawyer.”
“That’s even better!” Xiao Fengxian clapped her hands and laughed. “I was embarrassed to say it earlier, but I promised those followers of mine triple the labor fees… Remember to pay up. I’m the Big Sister, after all; I can’t lose face.”
Jiang Si: “…”
It was rare to see Xiao Fengxian embarrassed. Just how much money had she promised?
Oh well, if he had to pay, heâd pay. It would just take a bit of effort to buy more gold and silver paper to fold into ingots.
As they were speaking, there was a knock on the ward door, and Shen Hu pushed it open. He froze upon seeing the scene of a man and a ghost chatting happily, then asked in surprise, “Youâre raising other ghosts?”
Why did his tone make it sound like Jiang Si was keeping a mistress?
After a few seconds of self-doubt, Jiang Si decided he was overthinking it. Shen Hu was a decent person.
“Friends from filming,” Jiang Si explained.
Thinking of Jiang Si’s unique fate and line of work, Shen Hu accepted this.
Xiao Fengxian didn’t have a good impression of Taoist priests. Seeing Shen Hu enter, she didn’t want to stay any longer. She winked at Jiang Si and reminded him, “Remember to pay the money.”
She twisted her body and floated out through the wall.
Interrupted by this, Shen Hu suddenly forgot what he had come to say.
Jiang Si stared at him for a long time. Seeing Shen Huâs expression grow increasingly solemn, his heart skipped a beat. “There isn’t another Evil Ghost, is there?”
Was that Ghost Master so capable that he raised two Evil Ghosts?
If that were the case, even if he died, Jiang Si would dig the man up and whip his corpse.
What kind of person raised things just to harm others blindly?
Shen Hu said, “No, don’t be nervous. It’s just that earlier, when I was offering incense at the Daoist temple, I couldn’t get it to light for a long time. When it finally lit, it burned one long and two short. It felt wrong, so I cast a divination and found it was related to you. Thatâs why I came to ask: have you noticed anything abnormal in the hospital recently?”
Humans feared unexpected misfortunesâoften referred to as “three long and two short”âwhile incense feared burning unevenly: one long and two short.
Since Shen Hu asked, Jiang Si thought about it seriously but couldn’t find any issues.
“No, I don’t think so. I’ve been busy dealing with work matters lately. I haven’t even seen many ghosts.”
“You mentioned the Evil Ghost just now… Let me ask you, was the Evil Ghost truly taken away by the Underworld Officer?” Shen Hu asked.
“Of course. I watched them leave with my own eyes.”
“That is strange.” Seeing Jiang Si didn’t know the inside story, Shen Hu explained.
“You should have noticed that there are more and more ghosts lingering in the mortal realm. Rumor has it that something went wrong in the Underworld, making it difficult for Underworld Officers to come up and hook souls. Since those above can’t go down, they accumulate. Usually, Daoist temples and Buddhist monasteries hold rituals to superinted the ghosts and send them down directly. The fact that you could summon an Underworld Officer instantly is truly unheard of.”
Jiang Si asked, “It couldn’t be that the aging population is so severe that there’s no place for ghosts to reincarnate, so they’re stuck here?”
“…That wouldn’t be it. If the Human Path isn’t available, there’s still the Animal Path. There’s always a place to reincarnate.”
Jiang Si said faintly, “But nowadays, livestock farms basically use hormones to accelerate growth. Even if they reincarnate, theyâd be back in half a year or a year.”
Shen Hu was astonished. “No wonder meat doesn’t taste as good as it used toâ”
Jiang Si was even more surprised than him. “You actually didn’t know that?”
Realizing the topic had strayed, Shen Hu hurriedly pulled it back. “…I divined for you. At most, you’ll encounter some bumps in the road, but nothing life-threatening.”
“As long as I can stay alive, I’m good.” Jiang Si had a very open perspective.
Having discussed the serious matters, Jiang Si thought they were done and prepared to get up to see him out, taking the chance to stretch his legs.
Shen Hu hesitated but brought up another matter. “Don’t take those comments on the internet to heart. I believe in you.”
“Thank you. I haven’t taken them to heart.”
Not only did he not take them to heart, but Jiang Si had also taken out a small notebook to write them down, waiting to meet his lawyer to retaliate one by one.
There was no reason for him to be unemployed and still have to put up with this kind of grievance.
Unaware of his mental activities, Shen Hu thought of those unsightly comments and then looked at Jiang Siâs indifferent appearance. A sense of admiration welled up spontaneously. “That’s good. Hang in there.”
Jiang Si hummed in agreement and saw him out.
After all, he was young and physically fit. After staying in the hospital for a few days, his body had mostly recovered, so he hurriedly processed his discharge and returned home.
Dingâ The elevator doors opened. Just as Jiang Si fished out his keys to open his door, he heard someone call him from behind.
“Brother Jiang.”
Lin Nan was shuffling in slippers, wearing a loose jacket over his pajamas. He held a trash bag in one hand and was yawning behind the other. Halfway through the yawn, he saw Jiang Si return and immediately called out.
“…Uh, good morning?” Jiang Si hesitated. Although it was already two in the afternoon, for this guy, it was probably just after waking up.
“Great, Brother Jiang, you’re finally back.” Lin Nan breathed a sigh of relief. “I haven’t seen you home for a few days. I went to the shop to find you and heard you went to the hospital. How are you? Nothing serious, right?”
“Still alive,” Jiang Si said. “Did you need something?”
“Yes, yes, yes.” Lin Nan tossed the trash in his hand toward the wall and, without standing on ceremony, ushered Jiang Si inside, saying, “Let’s go in and talk.”
“Brother Jiang, are you free in a couple of days?”
“Why?” Jiang Si put down his things and turned to look at him. Lin Nan smiled shyly, his dark eyes shining with a clear light. “A script murder mystery (LARP) place opened nearby. I plan to go play with some friends.”
“You young people go play by yourselves; I won’t join in the fun,” Jiang Si thought to himself. As expected of a college student; you can tell from his eyes he’s heartless and carefree.
“The script we want to play is a little bit unusual…” Lin Nan pinched his fingers to show a tiny amount. Under Jiang Siâs puzzled gaze, he explained, “We’re playing a supernatural script… People online say this script is a bit mystical, so I thought…”
“You want me to go along to see if it’s real?” Jiang Si was speechless. “Have you forgotten how you just narrowly escaped death from the Snake Immortal?”
Truly a college student; once the scars heal, the pain is forgotten.
The image of Lin Nan hugging him and crying bitterly was still vivid in his mind, yet here he was, ready to play a horror script game.
“Hehe…” Lin Nan scratched his head. “Mainly because the reviews from people who played it say it’s very mysterious. I’m too curious. Brother Jiang, will you go?”
Jiang Si warned him, “Curiosity killed the cat. I advise you to go out and exercise more, and visit places with heavy Yin energy less.”
“You’re really not going? It feels like it would be really interesting.” Lin Nan tried to persuade him.
Jiang Si refused cleanly and crisply, “Not going. I have things to do.”
“Alright then.” Lin Nan was only downcast for a few seconds before thinking of something interesting. He took out his phone to share with him. “Bro, have you seen the news lately? There’s a guy with the same name as you who’s super viral right now. Tsk tsk… seems to be some kind of director.”
“I was startled when I was following the gossip earlier. I thought, ‘What a coincidence to encounter someone with the same name.'”
“…” If he didn’t look so lacking in brains, Jiang Si would have thought he was being sarcastic on purpose.
Looking at him like he was looking at a foolâhelpless yet with a touch of pityâJiang Si asked earnestly, “What was your score in the college entrance exam for Chinese?”
“103, I think. Why?”
“You actually passed?” Jiang Si was surprised. His gaze was too weird, causing Lin Nan’s excited gossip-loving expression to falter. He asked, “Is… is there a problem?”
“…”
Jiang Si hooked his finger at him, pointing to the text on his screen. “Director, Rong City, Paper Effigies. Did you see these keywords? Think about it carefully yourself.”
“?!!” Lin Nan took a few seconds to react, then was dumbfounded. “It’s talking about you!”
Holy crap, holy crap. What are the odds of eating melon (gossip) right next to the person involved?
And he had even blabbered about it right to his face.
Too awkward.
But for a gossip lover, even awkwardness couldn’t suppress curiosity. Lin Nan thickened his skin and continued to ask, “Bro, what’s actually going on? Can you tell me? Don’t worry, I’m definitely on your side, and I absolutely won’t tell anyone.”
Jiang Si looked at him. The atmosphere was stagnant, but Lin Nan didn’t notice at all.
“Nothing much. Simply put, I was scammed. I’m contacting a lawyer to clarify things in a bit. Keep up your enthusiasm for the drama; you’ll see the results tonight.” As Jiang Si spoke, he opened the door and pushed the guy out. “Remember to keep your wits about you when you work in the future, otherwise, I’ll be your cautionary tale.”
“Huh?” Before Lin Nan could react, he was already outside. Just as he turned to say something else, the door slammed shut snap right in front of his nose.
Lin Nan: “…”
He touched his nose and muttered to himself, “Alright then.”
True to his word, Jiang Si spoke with his lawyer that evening, finalized the time and the clarification evidence, and at exactly 10:00 PM, released everything at once.
The timeline spanned five years back to the present, clearly listing everything from his initial inspiration in college to his research arrangements, plot settings, sketch evolution, and the final product.
Eighty percent of the workload for the Escapism story arcâincluding the script, storyboard design, and finished productionâwas completed by Jiang Si alone. Zhang Shuo, who had crowned himself the main creator, had merely inserted himself halfway through to do some repetitive tasks during production.
There were also chat logs where he asked Jiang Si if he could join the production of Escapism and offered to help as an assistant.
The evidence was so complete that even an idiot could see who was lying, let alone netizens who were accustomed to seeing big storms online every day.
After two years, Jiang Si logged into his social media account again and posted only one sentence: “One dog barks at a shadow, a hundred dogs bark at the sound.”
The law firm he commissioned immediately reposted Jiang Siâs text, attaching the relevant lawyer’s letter.
This crisp and decisive attitude, showing no fear of people digging deeper, immediately silenced those who were still speaking up for Zhang Shuo.
Netizens who had been led by the nose saw the evidence, and upon recalling the incident where over a dozen marketing accounts flipped sides the previous night, understood everything.
Those with a sense of morality went back to curse Zhang Shuo for slandering and backstabbing his classmate.
Those without morals only saw the word “dog” twice in Jiang Si’s sentence, assumed they were being scolded, and stiffened their necks to persist, “Why didn’t you release the evidence earlier? You’re just generating traffic with him, aren’t you? They say negative fame is still fame; people really have no bottom line to make money nowadays! And you called netizens dogs; I’m going to report you!”
But to Jiang Si, these people were no different from an automatic lifting barrier (an ETC); they didn’t even need a fulcrum to leverage the whole world (raise a fuss). Saying a single word to them was a waste of breath.
More importantly, his goal wasn’t to bicker with these ordinary netizens.
The official Rong City Tourism account reposted at the same time, with a caption much more tactful than Jiang Siâs: “‘A soft tongue can snap a person’s bones; words can sometimes hurt more than violence.’ We ask all netizens to distinguish right from wrong, speak cautiously, and apologize to the victim.”
The boiling fervor of the internet burned from the virtual world all the way into reality. In a commercial building far away in Ning City, the lights stayed on all night.
“Where is that idiot Zhang Shuo? How could things develop like this?” The person in charge was so angry his face turned the color of pig liver. He slammed the table and questioned, “I went through so much trouble to get the full copyright of this movie from Jiang Si, and now look! Everyone knows it’s his work. All our publicity was just making wedding clothes for him!”
“Wasn’t leeching off his heat enough? What kind of garbage did Zhang Shuo post trying to be smart? Now look, the whole platform is boycotting us!”
“Three years! Our three years of time, all wasted!”
His roaring voice passed through the crack in the door, clearly heard by everyone in the project department. Everyone held their breath, terrified of being dragged into it.
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