The post title and images instantly pierced his vision.
Lu Feng’s pupils abruptly contracted!
Those unsightly intimate photos, those malicious comments reveling in the drama…
Although he knew that given Lin Ran’s personality and pride, she would never do such a thing.
The intense discomfort brought by the visual impact still instantly seized his gaze.
Seeing those filthy, slanderous comments, an inexplicable anger mixed with an indescribable irritation suddenly surged in his heart.
His fingers gripping the book pages tightened, the paper emitting a faint crumpling sound.
“Fake,” he said in a low voice.
“Huh?” Zheng Zhijie didn’t catch it clearly. “What did you just say?”
Lu Feng repeated, his voice colder, “The photos are photoshopped.”
“Really?” Zheng Zhijie leaned closer. “But there are so many…”
“They’re all fake.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the forum page automatically refreshed.
A new post popped up.
Poster: Lin Ran
The title and content consisted of only one line.
[The photoshopping is pretty good, but the man is too ugly, unworthy of my peerless beauty.]
Following the text was a system-provided “smiling” emoji.
Lu Feng stared at this line for three seconds. Suddenly, the corner of his mouth uncontrollably curved upward.
Although the movement was slight, it was indeed a smile.
He could imagine the condescending, sarcastic, and nonchalant expression on Lin Ran’s face as she typed that line.
Her eyes would be lazy, as if saying, “How dare you bring out such low-level tactics to embarrass yourselves.”
He knew she wouldn’t let it go at that.
Lu Feng had Zheng Zhijie take away the computer and continued reading.
But his attention couldn’t focus.
His mind uncontrollably pondered what her next move might be.
The phone on the table suddenly vibrated.
Lu Feng’s heart skipped a beat as he picked it up to check.
On the screen was a notification that he had passed the preliminary selection for the architectural design competition.
Lu Feng put down the phone, forcefully pinched the bridge of his nose, and forced himself to refocus his energy on the book.
＊
Lin Ran personally stepping in to reply under her real name instantly stirred up a thousand waves.
[Is the person involved admitting it?]
[Was your Chinese teacher a P.E. teacher? This is clearly sarcasm, okay?]
[So it really is photoshopped? Who’s so malicious?]
[What photoshopping? She just made a sarcastic remark. If she has the ability, she should provide evidence!]
The forum remained divided.
Lin Ran’s efficiency in reporting to the police and filing a lawsuit was astonishingly high.
The next morning, the Beijing police and the university jointly issued an official announcement, accompanied by a professional institution’s appraisal report.
The report clearly stated that the images circulating on the campus network were false images synthesized using technical means, suspected of serious defamation and infringement of citizens’ portrait rights.
The police had already filed a case for investigation. The posting account was tracked and confirmed to have logged in through multiple hops via overseas servers. Related work was under further investigation.
The university stated it would actively cooperate with the investigation and strongly condemn the acts of rumor-mongering and spreading false information.
Lin Ran posted this official announcement on the forum with an accompanying line:
[The little rat behind this better hide well, because I’m coming to catch you~]
At the end was again a system-provided “smiling” emoji.
This post exploded across the entire forum, and public opinion immediately reversed!
[Wow, an official slap in the face! Lin Ran is awesome!]
[I told you it was photoshopped! How do those who followed the trend and insulted her feel now?]
[Miss Lin is mighty! This speed of handling, this force of counterattack… Miss, are you in need of a follower?]
[“I’m going to start catching you now”… Hiss, why do I feel a chill down my spine?]
[“Spreading rumors kills the whole family! Support Lin Ran in defending her rights to the end!”]
[“Am I the only one who thinks… Lin Ran’s words sound really cool?”]
[“+1, so beautiful and fierce, love it~”]
[“So who could be so malicious? What kind of grudge do they have against Lin Ran?”]
[“Could it be a love rival? Lin Ran keeps the campus heartthrob Lu by her side as a servant. There are so many people who like Lu, and among the surrounding universities, there are a few young ladies from influential families. Maybe one of them is retaliating against Lin Ran.”]
[“The person above just opened up a new line of thought—that really could be it~”]
The gossip-loving crowd eagerly speculated about what would happen next.
Only Su Wanyu couldn’t bring herself to smile.
When she saw the official announcement and Lin Ran’s post, her face instantly turned pale.
She hadn’t expected Lin Ran to react so quickly and decisively, directly resorting to legal measures and obtaining the appraisal results so soon.
The words “I’m going to start catching you now” hung over her head like a sharp sword, making her restless and uneasy.
She hurriedly contacted Du Hao.
When the call connected, her voice trembled, “Senior, did you see? Lin Ran reported it to the police! She even said she’s going to catch someone! Could she… could she find us?”
Du Hao’s voice also sounded a bit shaky, but his nature wouldn’t allow him to show weakness, so he forced himself to reassure her.
“What are you afraid of? Didn’t I tell you? I hired a top foreign hacker. The IP address was perfectly disguised, hopping through seven or eight countries, and the final location was in a war-torn region.”
“The officials even said the investigation is ongoing, which means their technical capabilities are limited and they can’t trace it.”
“Besides, even if they find the hacker, their reach isn’t that far, and there’s no way they could trace it back to us.”
“Don’t worry. As long as we don’t slip up ourselves, Lin Ran won’t have any evidence and won’t be able to do anything to us.”
The more Du Hao spoke, the more confident he became.
His heart no longer felt so uneasy.
Hearing this, Su Wanyu’s fear lessened considerably.
For now, she could only trust that Du Hao was right.
In fact, Du Hao wasn’t wrong.
Whether it was the police or Lin Ran using her private resources, they had indeed traced the hacker’s real IP address.
But due to jurisdictional limitations across different countries, it was impossible to cross the Atlantic to arrest someone.
Besides, there was no guarantee they could even catch them.
However, what Du Hao and Su Wanyu didn’t know was that Lin Ran possessed abilities beyond the ordinary.
Her system came with a detection function and had long ago revealed the mastermind’s name to her.
[Host, without evidence, how do you plan to deal with Du Hao and Su Wanyu?]
Lin Ran smiled faintly, “If there’s no evidence, can’t we just create some?”
The system was puzzled: […What do you mean? Are you going to fabricate evidence?]
“Silly, just wait and see.”
Lin Ran picked up her phone and dialed Chen Chao’s number.
Chen Chao’s excited voice came through eagerly.
“Ran Jie, I saw the official announcement—well done! What’s our next move? Should I gather some people and track down those idiots who were cursing the loudest before?”
“Not interesting.” Lin Ran’s voice was calm but carried a cold, murderous edge. “Are you free tonight?”
“Of course.”
“Gather some people.”
“Who are we dealing with?” Chen Chao immediately straightened up.
“A… clueless, ugly rat who doesn’t know their place.” Lin Ran’s tone was indifferent. “I’ll send you the address later. Bring a few ‘understanding’ ones.”
“Got it!”
Chen Chao chuckled and hung up the phone.