Chapter 55: The Matter Is More Complicated Than Imagined

“Yes, I understand.”

Receiving Green Parsley’s reply, Xie Jinchuan said nothing more. He waved his hand and ended the communication.

Then he embraced Shen Qingli and drifted into a peaceful sleep, entirely unaware that what had transpired at the opening night banquet was already being sensationalized across the internet.

The next morning, when Shen Qingli awoke, Xie Jinchuan had already left the villa early to attend to company matters.

As usual, Shen Qingli opened Weibo on her phone, but the overwhelming number of notifications—99+—caused her phone to freeze for a moment.

#Shen Qingli suspected of wearing counterfeit goods#
#Rong Qiaoyi ignored by a certain Shen after trying to make peace#
#Shen Qingli deliberately disappeared to frame Rong Qiaoyi#
#Xie Jinchuan takes action against Rong Qiaoyi#

First thing in the morning, Shen Qingli found herself occupying several spots in Weibo’s top ten trending topics—a true, if dubious, opening flourish.

“President Shen, most of the content online consists of malicious videos and photos. We’re already preparing to gather evidence,” Li Xi messaged her, and even in the written words, their urgency was palpable.

“All right.”

She replied simply, then leisurely opened her own Weibo page. Calmly, she posted a photo of her breakfast, set the phone aside, and counted the minutes in her mind. As expected, the screen never went dark.

“They certainly are enthusiastic.”

She scrolled through the comments, her expression utterly unmoved. Compared to other storms she’d weathered, this was simply another ordinary day.

“Shen Qingli, you still have the nerve to eat breakfast? Our Qiaoyi’s arm is swollen and red! You and President Xie are just using your power to bully others—this is outrageous!”

“That’s right! To think you even signed our Qiaoyi, only to treat her like this!”

“Get out of the entertainment industry! We don’t need people like you—just leave!”

Seeing the chaotic and barely coherent comments, Shen Qingli clicked her tongue.

“Parsley, is there a way to expose the IP addresses?”

[Host, there is!]

At her call, Green Parsley, who seemed to have been waiting an eternity, replied with excitement.

“Lower your voice, you’re practically deafening me.”

Green Parsley giggled and immediately quieted down. [Host, it only takes fifty Face-Slapping Points to modify the system and reveal everyone’s IP addresses.]

[However, just a reminder, you’re already eighty points in the negative. But if you counterattack this time, you’ll gain five hundred Face-Slapping Points.]

At that, the previously uninterested Shen Qingli’s eyes lit up.

“Let’s begin the counterattack!”

With her command, three minutes later, after Green Parsley signaled it was ready, Shen Qingli restarted Weibo and saw that the usernames had been replaced by IP addresses and names.

“Isn’t revealing names a bit unethical?”

She frowned. After all, a few people had spoken decently.

Just as she debated whether to undo the change, Green Parsley’s voice sounded in her mind: [Don’t worry, Host. Only those spewing abusive language have their identities revealed. The kind commenters are unaffected!]

“How considerate.”

Shen Qingli smiled, sliding her finger across the phone.

She soon noticed a pattern: all those cursing her were conveniently from the same area, only their names differed.

In other words, they were likely paid trolls.

Sure enough, the tone of the comments under her Weibo post shifted.

“This is hilarious—these must be troll accounts, right?”

“One’s more outrageous than the next. Who knew Weibo would suddenly update with this feature?”

“No wonder the insults are so vicious. Turns out they’re trolls. How much do they pay per comment? Count me in—I’d love to get rich overnight.”

“I heard it’s a bug, but it just so happened to appear right after Shen Qingli was attacked. Looks like someone powerful is protecting his wife!”

For a while, the trending topics were all about the exposed IP addresses, though the focus on Shen Qingli remained hot.

Time was tight, and Shen Qingli couldn’t be bothered to keep reading. She drove to the company.

But the situation online was far worse than Shen Zhinan had anticipated.

In the underground parking lot, a group of shady people had gathered.

“This time, Shen Qingli will know that Qiaoyi is not to be trifled with!”

“That’s right! I even brought all the rotten eggs from home. No one bullies our Qiaoyi!”

The group swore fervently, oblivious to the man among them whose eyes briefly flickered red.

As her car entered, Shen Qingli felt a surge of unease.

Green Parsley’s voice chimed in: [Host, be careful. There are many people ahead. One of them seems to emit demonic energy!]

At that, Shen Qingli immediately slammed on the brakes. Seeing the crowd surrounding her car, she understood whose people these were.

“All rabid fans of Rong Qiaoyi.”

They were all wearing Rong Qiaoyi’s merchandise, each carrying a basket.

“If I’m not mistaken, those baskets are full of rotten eggs and wilted vegetables.”

She winced. In the past, she’d only ever seen such scenes in dramas. She never expected to become the target herself.

“Shen Qingli! Get out of there, stop hiding like a coward! We won’t let you off!”

A man’s shout rang out, followed by a vicious kick to the car door.

Shen Qingli’s eyes grew icy as she looked at the man who struck first.

“Parsley, scan him.”

The man kept kicking, his aggression emboldening the others, who now began hurling things at the car.

“Get out! Get out!”

As the car endured the barrage, Shen Qingli glanced at the time on the dashboard, her gaze growing even colder.

At that moment, Green Parsley finished scanning. [Host, you were right. The man who acted first carries demonic energy, but it seems to be under someone’s influence—specifically, fox clan energy.]

The mention of the fox clan made Shen Qingli think of An Yan.

After a moment’s thought, she said, “I have to get out there.”

Green Parsley, seeing the frenzied crowd outside, tried to stop her at once. [Host, this isn’t wise. They’re clearly waiting for you to get out so they can do something to you.]

Hearing the concern in Parsley’s voice, Shen Qingli felt a warmth in her heart.

“No one’s coming to help us. From the moment we entered the parking lot until now, it’s been about ten minutes, but there’s still no sign of security or police. The surveillance room can’t possibly have missed what’s happening here…”

Her voice was cold as she unfastened her seatbelt.