CHAPTER 266: CHAPTER 266: SOLVE THE TROUBLE WITH A DETOUR

Apart from Shen Yao, who still called Fu Bing "Sister Bing," everyone else called her "President Fu."

They were not that close to Fu Bing, but they had lived together for quite some time, and they did share a bond.

Many of them were unfortunate souls. Circumstances had forced them to resist.

They had barely crawled out of darkness when President Fu offered them a chance at a new life.

Yet someone had trampled the very person who brought them light, grinding her into the mire.

They were furious! They were indignant! But they didn’t know how they could help her.

Auntie Zhang said, "Xiaoyao, we are incapable and don’t know how to clear the slanders thrown at President Fu. Just tell us what to do, and we’ll do it."

Shen Yao did not respond immediately.

"If you are willing to trust me, give me some time to think of a plan."

Auntie Zhang and the others nodded quickly and filed out of the room, leaving Shen Yao in quiet solitude to think.

Shen Yao sat at her computer, repeatedly watching the defamatory video about Sister Bing and the torrent of vile comments.

They had witnessed the deepest darkness.

They weren’t afraid of the dark but were afraid of others extinguishing their light.

Fu Bing was their light.

If she tried to defend herself, it would only embolden those pulling the strings. They had undoubtedly planned more than just this one move. They wanted her or Sister Bing to try and prove their innocence. Once they fell into the trap of self-vindication, they would lose the initiative. But if they didn’t refute the claims, Sister Bing would continue to be slandered by those ignorant of the truth.

Shen Yao forced herself to think clearly, not allowing her emotions to get the better of her.

She had to find a breakthrough.

How could a group of people with stained pasts best counter society’s scrutiny?

Suddenly, Shen Yao thought of a method.

In the authors’ group, she found Mu Tian, a male author known for his hacker novels.

Mu Tian was a hacker himself. He was quick with his main job, which left him free time to write novels as a pastime.

Shen Yao asked, "Could you help me with something?"

Mu Tian replied, "Tell me first."

"Hack into Xu Yun’s Moments and post a status. The content should be: ’My conscience is troubled. My son got what he deserved. I shouldn’t have disrespected the court’s judgment for money from others.’"

Shen Yao sent him the documents she had prepared.

After reading them, Mu Tian laughed.

"This job isn’t hard, but it won’t come cheap. Your author earnings can’t cover my fee."

Shen Yao said, "Name your price. I’ll work hard to earn it."

Mu Tian replied, "Just kidding. I’m a fan of Sister Bing. Seeing her slandered infuriates me too. I’ve been arguing with people online for seven hours straight; those idiots are about to drive me mad!"

"Your approach is more interesting than what I had thought of."

With that said, Mu Tian got to work.

Novelists generally have a much broader perspective than ordinary people, and their sense of morality isn’t always as rigid. Otherwise, they couldn’t comprehend diverse characters, and their writing would end up flat and lacking depth.

After Mu Tian finished, he sent the results to Shen Yao.

He even went a step further, fabricating a series of chat records showing those who slandered Fu Bing expressing remorse. He also discovered that their bank accounts had received large sums of money in recent days.

Mu Tian fearlessly posted this information on his account along with some text: "Some people are just disgusting! Unable to confront directly, they resort to underhanded tactics. With that kind of dedication, their actual works should have been readable by now!"

He was familiar with marketing tactics and immediately used paid promoters to push his post to the top of the trending searches.

Apart from posting on Weibo, he also posted a copy on the Douyu Platform. He knew the Douyu Platform was Fu Bing’s staunchest supporter. Unlike other platforms where such posts might be suppressed or deleted, that would never happen on Douyu.

As expected, his post, deliberately promoted by the Douyu Platform, exploded in popularity.

Netizens, realizing they had been manipulated, quickly turned their fury on the accounts of the so-called victims and their families.

Shen Yao saw this and sighed in relief.

She immediately gathered Auntie Zhang and the others to film clarification videos.

After the ten videos were released, netizens were deeply moved by their past suffering and their current efforts to build new lives.

「Meanwhile.」

The guards from Jiangcheng Women’s Prison also spoke out.

"The inspirational stories of Shen Yao, Zhang Jing, and the eight other women are worthy of study by all of us. They crawled out from a dark hell. With Sister Bing’s help, it was already incredibly difficult for them to adapt so quickly to their new identities. Not only have they managed to stand firmly on their own two feet, but they are also striving to provide employment opportunities for fellow ex-inmates."

"If every ex-inmate had such a warm, supportive hand to guide them upon release, their suffering would be greatly diminished."

"It’s alright if you don’t understand, but please, don’t let yourselves be used as weapons to hurt those who have fought so hard to pick themselves up and move forward!"

The netizens who had once spewed nasty comments were now overwhelmed with shame.

The online sentiment changed swiftly.

Netizens delved into their individual cases and backstories, discovering they had no other relatives. Besides each other, they had nothing.

If Fu Bing hadn’t provided them with a place to shelter them from the storms of life, what would have awaited them?

They dared not dwell on it.

As a result of this ordeal, Fu Bing gained more new fans than she lost.

Fu Bing had the background of the situation investigated and learned that Shen Yao had arranged it.

She was very pleased with Shen Yao’s indirect approach.

The biggest trap in this world is the urge for self-vindication. The more desperately one tries to prove their innocence, the more control they cede to others over the situation’s tempo. Shen Yao had taken a detour, allowing those people to expose themselves. While the tactic was somewhat unsophisticated, it was undeniably effective. Undermining them from within was indeed twice as effective with half the effort. The hacker she found was also highly imaginative, realistically fabricating a series of chat histories. Those chat records appeared genuine because, although not sent by the individuals themselves, they were posted by the hacker using their accounts, and the conversations were with real people. This subtly expanded the battlefield, making the situation appear more authentic. By dragging the people around the slanderers into the turmoil, they would naturally become more cautious.

Fu Bing made a call to Shen Yao.

"How are you and the others holding up?"

Upon hearing Fu Bing’s warm voice, tears instantly welled up in Shen Yao’s eyes.

"Sister Bing, I’m sorry, we’ve implicated you."

"I’ve seen all sorts of storms. It’s nothing."

"Even if you can handle it, it must still be upsetting. Sister Bing, I had someone do a little something that might help with this mess."

Shen Yao wasn’t trying to claim credit; she just didn’t want Fu Bing to be bitterly disappointed in them.

"Go on," Fu Bing said.

Shen Yao explained everything.

Fu Bing laughed and said, "Thank you all, you did well. I can feel how much you’re all trying to protect me."

Shen Yao couldn’t help but show a sincere smile.

"Sister Bing, just wait for me. I’ll work hard to improve, and in the future, I’ll definitely be able to shield you from more storms."

"Not just scrambling helplessly when trouble arrives."

"We need to be proactive and prevent problems before they start!"

"Yaoyao, I’ll be waiting!"

Shen Yao grinned sheepishly. "When you’re free, you must come over for a meal. We all miss you."

After ending the call, Shen Yao immediately told Auntie Zhang and the others what had happened.

Auntie Zhang and the others were relieved to find out the matter was already resolved.

Shen Yao told them about her approach.

Zhang Jing, despite her resolve after some painful reflection, still looked troubled.

"I still have to study academic subjects. It’s exhausting!"

She’d start dozing off the moment she opened a book. But... oh well, she’d study anyway! The ten of them couldn’t just rely on Shen Yao to do all the thinking.

Auntie Zhang, the eldest of the ten, said, "No matter how busy we are each day, we must set aside two hours for reading. We can’t let Xiaoyao do all the mental work; it’s too exhausting for her. We need to learn more to minimize trouble for President Fu. Understood?"

"Understood!"