“Although this possibility sounds a little far-fetched, given the current circumstances, we can’t rule it out,” the cyber police officer said. “But we have no way of determining whether she even had an account like that. And when would she have gone to the internet café?”
Although real-name registration was now required almost everywhere to access the internet, management at some small internet cafés in smaller counties wasn’t particularly strict. If they saw high school students who looked old enough, they might let them in even without ID.
“I know a few internet cafés like that,” one of the special investigation team members said. “I’ll take her photo and ask around right now.”
Since this was their only lead at the moment, they couldn’t let it slip away no matter how unlikely it seemed.
Shu Yu knew they were now also worried that Yang Jie might have been induced to commit suicide, so the investigation process became rigorous once again.
“Something still doesn’t quite add up. Even if she had spare time to go online, that doesn’t necessarily mean anything. Maybe she just went there to play games.” The special investigation team leader didn’t quite understand why Shu Yu and the others were so sensitive about her internet activity.
“We can’t rule out the possibility that she committed suicide because of cyberbullying,” Feng Tang explained. “Kids these days do all kinds of things online, and their circles often have all sorts of rules that we can’t understand. For someone her age, if she was severely ostracized or cyberbullied within a community she regarded as an emotional refuge, that could also have driven her to suicide.”
This was still a topic that very few people paid attention to. At the very least, criminal investigators around the age of those on the special investigation team had probably never encountered anything like it.
Shu Yu and the others worked with the internet, so they needed to keep themselves constantly informed about every new development online. As a result, the members of the Public Opinion Response Division were very familiar with these things.
And there had indeed been cases of suicide caused by bullying within small online communities, so they didn’t dismiss the possibility.
After all, when they couldn’t find the slightest clue in her real life, the internet became the last remaining possibility.
“What does any of this have to do with that man in black?” Xiao Que suddenly interrupted Shu Yu’s train of thought. “That man definitely exists in the real world.”
“I don’t know. But now that we have possible directions, we need to investigate all of them.” Shu Yu didn’t directly connect the man in black to Yang Jie. “At a time like this, every additional clue gives us another possibility to explore.”
“Forget it. I’d better deal with the public opinion exploding online first.” Xiao Que hugged his laptop. “Good thing we didn’t release our statement. Otherwise, this would’ve been really difficult to explain.”
And so, amid the surging tide of public opinion, Xiao Que used the official account to repost the marketing account whose video had received the most views.
“The case is still under investigation. Those involved in causing the disturbance have already been removed from the premises in accordance with the law. We hope that members of the public will neither believe nor spread rumors. We will also provide a clear answer regarding this case as soon as possible.”
After making that repost, Xiao Que uploaded another set of photographs showing the special investigation team investigating Yang Jie’s social connections and reviewing surveillance footage in the office.
All important information had been censored, but their attitude appeared sincere enough.
In truth, it would have been fine whether they responded at this point or not. But Shu Yu wanted to test whether the other side would make another move after they issued this response.
After all, this time it was their prediction that had been wrong.
The two Weibo posts Xiao Que released in quick succession cooled the heated public discussion somewhat. Since the case was still under investigation, there was no need to jump to conclusions so early. After spending so much time in the online world, netizens nowadays weren’t quite so easy to fool.
In any case, they had established a new direction for the investigation. Perhaps they would get results today.
Whether it was the man in black or the unlicensed internet café, something had to turn up.
Watching the special investigation team get busy, Shu Yu naturally couldn’t remain idle either.
After several days of fermenting, the case had become a heated topic of discussion across all the major platforms. Lu Anran and Feng Tang were both using their own accounts to steer the discussion, and naturally, Shu Yu was doing the same.
After opening Weibo, reposting several posts, and firing back at a few brainless trolls, Shu Yu saw a WeChat message from Shu Ling.
“Sis, this is the new marketing plan they came up with. Can you take a look at it for me?” Shu Ling seemed to have noticed that Shu Yu’s main Weibo account was online and only then decided that she probably had some free time.
After receiving the document, Shu Yu skimmed through it and found that this plan was much more professional than the previous one.
“Did you switch PR teams?” Shu Yu asked.
“Yeah. It’s a new company that’s become pretty well-known in the industry recently. They haven’t been around for long, but their marketing strategies are really good. A few of my celebrity friends worked with them before and thought they were good, so they recommended them to me,” Shu Ling quickly replied.
“This company is very good at identifying attention-grabbing points and pain points. Following this marketing strategy should maximize the attention you get while also cleaning up your past ‘black history.’ Just go with their plan.” After reading through it, Shu Yu didn’t find any major flaws.
“Then should I start buying trending spots today?” Shu Ling asked. “The case you guys are dealing with in F City has gotten pretty big these past few days. Would it be inappropriate for me to trend right now?”
“People who follow this kind of social news won’t mind following celebrity gossip at the same time. Especially since although this case is getting a lot of attention, the guidance of public opinion has been going fairly well. There hasn’t been any major narrative taking hold for the time being,” Shu Yu said. “Your next drama is about to start filming. Building up some attention now will also help with the promotion of your next drama.”
After finishing her previous modern drama, Shu Ling had half a month off. Although news about her next drama had long since become common knowledge, the opening ceremony and behind-the-scenes photos after she joined the production would still need the actors’ popularity to generate attention.
Shu Yu roughly calculated the lifespan of entertainment gossip. By the time the opening ceremony for Shu Ling’s next drama took place, the buzz should be right at its peak.
After all, according to this marketing plan, the campaign revealing her identity as a rich second-generation heiress was supposed to last nearly half a month.
“I guess that’s true.” Shu Ling was silent on WeChat for a while. “Sis, after this marketing campaign is over, will there still be so many people insulting me with awful words?”
“Your rivals definitely will.” Shu Yu shattered Shu Ling’s beautiful fantasy. “But the companies behind them will probably rein things in a little. At the very least, the insults will change to calling you someone who gets opportunities through connections. Well, compared to what you used to deal with, that barely even counts as being insulted.”
“…………”
The string of ellipses Shu Ling sent this time was particularly long.
“Or you could consider Dad’s suggestion. Go to his alma mater for a master’s degree in business management, then come back and work at the family company,” Shu Yu said.
This time, Shu Ling genuinely held her phone and thought about it for five whole minutes.
The father of the Shu sisters was named Shu Xinhua, and his alma mater was the University of Cambridge.
Shu Yu had a master’s degree, while Shu Ling had stepped straight into the entertainment industry after graduating from university and hadn’t continued her studies.
Going to her father’s alma mater had always been something Shu Xinhua hoped Shu Ling would do. After all, people of his generation tended to look down on the entertainment industry.
“Forget it,” Shu Ling replied.
“You actually thought about it for five whole minutes this time. That means you’re not as determined as you used to be,” Shu Yu replied. “Have you gotten bored after spending so long in the entertainment industry?”
“I just feel like this place isn’t what I imagined it would be.” Shu Ling never hid her feelings from Shu Yu.
“How is it different?” Shu Yu was a little curious.
“Before I debuted as an entertainer, I always thought the entertainment industry was a place where everything depended on talent. I never expected that the longer I stayed, the more I’d realize that capital still rules everything here.” Shu Ling rapidly typed out a huge block of text. “And I didn’t graduate from one of the Big Three, so I can’t get into their circles either.”
It had to be said that Shu Ling really had been innocent and naive when she first graduated from university.
“There’s no need to force yourself into a circle you don’t belong to. I remember a few of Dad’s friends have children or younger relatives in the entertainment industry too. If all else fails, go hang out with them.” Shu Yu offered a suggestion that wasn’t particularly reliable.
Shu Ling: “……”
“Now that you put it that way, I suddenly really do feel like I’d be hanging around with people who get opportunities through connections,” Shu Ling said.
Shu Yu had no choice but to remind her repeatedly.
“My dear little sister, wake up. You need to have a little confidence in the fact that you can also be someone who gets opportunities through connections.”
Shu Ling clearly preferred the image she had built for herself—someone who had fought her way into the entertainment industry step by step from being an influencer. Unfortunately, that kind of image was far too difficult for a female celebrity to maintain.
“Our dad isn’t some judgment debtor or anything, right?” After compromising, Shu Ling began paying attention to some practical issues.
“You can relax about that. The fact that your sister passed the political background check at least proves our family is squeaky clean,” Shu Yu gave Shu Ling a powerful reassurance.
Shu Ling thought that made a lot of sense, but she also began considering whether she should study abroad.
“Sis, I think I’ll probably study abroad sooner or later. I just don’t really want to study business management,” Shu Ling complained. “I obviously like software engineering more.”
“Don’t talk to a humanities student like me about that,” Shu Yu politely declined. “Go talk to Dad about it.”
Shu Ling thought of their father’s old-fashioned face and immediately abandoned the idea. She decided that when the time came to further her education, she would act first and tell him afterward.
Their conversation ended there. Shu Ling went back to studying the script for her new drama, while Shu Yu continued waiting for news.
That afternoon, three pieces of good news arrived at the same time.
The first was that they had found a lead on the identity of the man in black. The second was that they had located the unlicensed internet café Yang Jie had previously visited. The third was that Shu Ling had reached number one on the trending searches, which helped divert some attention away from them.
Although the third one was purely incidental.
“The man in black is the internet café owner?” Shu Yu froze when she heard the answer. “The owner of the same unlicensed internet café Yang Jie frequently visited?”
“Yes. We didn’t find him by tracking the van. We accidentally matched him to the photo while investigating the unlicensed internet cafés,” a member of the special investigation team said. “When we showed him Yang Jie’s photo, we noticed that his expression was strange. Then my mentor realized that his build looked very similar to the man in black we were searching for. After comparing them, we confirmed that the jacket he had draped over his chair was the same one we saw in the video.”
The eyes of a veteran criminal investigator could be trusted. Shu Yu simply hadn’t expected that the mysterious stranger would turn out to be the internet café owner.
How had he gotten in contact with the Yang family, and what exactly was his purpose?
None of them had the slightest idea.