Dating Myself - Chapter 25

There was a lot of commotion at the hospital. A shot was administered to bring down the fever, and an IV drip was set up. At 39.8°C (103.6°F), Jian Yixi was lucky she didn’t get brain damage. She was just young and healthy. An Mu sat by the bed and watched Jian Yixi’s face, which was flushed from the fever. She gently brushed a strand of hair from her lips. Jian Yixi’s mouth moved slightly, and she fell asleep. She was exhausted after the ordeal, sick, and the antibiotics made her drowsy. She had been pushing herself to the limit.

An Mu watched her for a while, then looked at the IV bag, which was still half-full. She took out her phone. Weibo was in an uproar, and her private messages were blowing up. An Mu scrolled through them, seeing a mix of messages: some were cursing her, others were worried, and some wanted to know what happened.

Her gaze stopped at a few messages from Chen Han.

@DesignerChen: The person in that video is so unlike the capricious little girl I once knew. The price of growing up is brutal. I know it’s too late to say anything, but I have to apologize.

@DesignerChen: For the past six months, I’ve been wondering what went wrong. Now I understand. It was my fault. I always treated you like a child and ignored the difficulties of your teenage years. You have a strong sense of pride, even more so than others. I hurt you.

The messages seemed odd. An Mu knew that Chen Han was a well-known fashion designer who had been her teacher. She rarely took on students, and when she did, it was a way for her to improve herself. An Mu had become her student by chance after Chen Han saw her talent.

About six months ago, Chen Han suddenly stopped mentoring An Mu and ended their relationship. No one knew why. An Mu woke up as herself three months after that, and Chen Han had never contacted her. The only reason An Mu had reached out to Chen Han for help was that her phone was still logged into Weibo, and she had seen dozens of private messages from Chen Han. The main message was always the same: Contact me anytime. I’ll help with anything I can.

If not for Chen Han, An Mu would have asked her best friend for help. Although she was originally a friend of An Mu’s, they had become close over the past three months. Her friend knew An Mu had amnesia and would tell her stories about the past. But she never mentioned Chen Han. An Mu had asked, and her friend said that Chen Han was arrogant and she didn’t know much about her. An Mu had left it at that. Now, seeing Chen Han’s abrupt apologies, An Mu was confused but didn’t have time to dig into it. She scrolled down.

@DesignerChen: That Jian Yihu doesn’t seem to be a good person. Be careful. Contact me if you need anything.

An Mu thought for a moment and replied:

@Rainboat: Teacher Chen, you’ve helped me so much. But I think I forgot to tell you that I have amnesia. Whatever happened before, let it go. Thank you very much.

She had just sent the message when Chen Han replied.

@DesignerChen: I heard you had amnesia. I thought it was just a rumor, but it’s real. Life is stranger than fiction. It’s good that you have amnesia. It’s a new beginning. I hope you’re doing well.

An Mu replied with a “thank you,” and the conversation ended.

Jian Yihu hadn’t posted her suicide photos yet because she probably hadn’t gotten her phone. On the internet, the discussion about the deleted live stream was getting out of control. Many people were mocking Qin Yige on his Weibo.

“Weren’t you going to live stream slapping that girl? Where’s the replay? Why did you delete it? Is your face swollen?”

“Qin God? My ass! You can only fool those dumb girls who have never seen the world. Anyone with a brain would spit on you!”

“Slimeball! Disgusting!”

“My dream has been shattered!”

“Congratulations to the blogger for winning the Best Actor award! Go congratulate Jian Yihu on her Best Actress award!”

“They’re a match made in heaven! I’m calling it! I forbid you to divorce!”

“They’re allies. Let’s stand down.”

“A fake and a simp? Perfect for each other.”

Some fans were trying to defend Qin Yige, but they were quickly silenced.

Jian Yihu’s Weibo was a mess. People were cursing at her, and it was a hub for angry comments. From amateurs to experienced internet fighters, there was every kind of insult imaginable, both with and without profanity. An Mu scrolled for a bit and then put her phone down. But when she refreshed the page, five bloody pictures appeared on Qin Yige’s Weibo. He had posted them a few seconds ago.

#HumanTrafficking# Don’t bully her anymore. Your eyes can deceive you, and your ears can deceive you. What you see isn’t always real, and what you hear can be fake. But blood is warm! Life is real! I beg you to spare her. Don’t let a flower wither before it has a chance to bloom… #JianYihu#; #MostBeautifulSister#

[Bloody wrist] [Bandaged wrist] [Hospital bill] [Pale Jian Yihu] [Jian Yihu crying close-up]

The five pictures, especially the first one of the blood and the last one of the beautiful girl crying, were a strong visual that could easily garner sympathy.

Qin Yige also posted the school’s notice of punishment for An Mu, Jian Yixi, and Xie Maomao for assaulting Jian Yihu. He must have gotten Zhao Xudong’s permission to post it. The school wanted to cover up Jian Yihu’s scandal. After all, she was more famous than An Mu. If she was ruined, it would be bad for the school’s reputation. Especially now that the school was applying for government funding, protecting Jian Yihu was a no-brainer.

An Mu had expected Jian Yihu to do something like this. She wasn’t in a hurry. She opened WeChat, selected a few people, and sent them a message at the same time.

Rainboat: Go.

Before Jian Yihu’s suicide post could gain traction, a user who had been inactive for months, @IWishIWillRideTheWindAndWaves, suddenly posted on Weibo.

#HumanTrafficking# @JianYihu Do you remember me? I’m not dead. Are you disappointed? Justice will prevail. You can’t escape. [Recording of the criminal’s confession] @WeichengPolice; @WeichengCourt; #JianYihu#; #MostBeautifulSister#; #VictimAlliance#

[Screenshot of the criminal and the fan leader’s chat 1] [Screenshot 2] [Screenshot 3]

[Screenshot of the fan leader’s QQ profile] [Picture of Jian Yihu’s private JK uniform photo]

[Screenshot of all the QQ numbers from Jian Yihu’s phone in An Mu’s video]

The last picture had a red circle around one of the QQ numbers, which was the same one used by the fan leader who had talked to the criminal!

Qi Liran also tagged many of her former classmates in the comments. Most of them were silent, but some finally spoke up and talked about how Qi Liran was bullied. Someone even posted a picture of Qi Liran being humiliated.

The pictures were the only evidence they could find.

The people who were about to show sympathy for Jian Yihu were now confused.

“What’s going on?! Who is @IWishIWillRideTheWindAndWaves? Can someone explain?”

“I know! She was the one who bullied Jian Yihu. Jian Yihu posted about it and was bullied so much that she had to delete her account.”

“Wait, who bullied who?!”

“I don’t know who bullied who, but I know about the criminal case. Look it up. It happened a few days before the college entrance exam. @LindongProvinceNews”

“Oh my god! Go look! The people who were tricked into taking those photos have posted! @YueyueIsNotCute; @Ababa; @YuDaBaJiaoWoDaNi”

The three people had all posted the same message a minute ago.

#HumanTrafficking# We are the Victim Alliance. We are united in exposing the true face of a fake innocent girl to prevent her from harming others. @JianYihu; @Rainboat; @Jiangbianbiel; @IWishIWillRideTheWindAndWaves; @DesignerChen; #JianYihu#; #MostBeautifulSister#; #VictimAlliance#

Below the message, there were screenshots of the three people’s chat history. It was a subtle way of proving their identities, and there were also some private messages from Jian Yihu’s side account.

The netizens noticed that @IWishIWillRideTheWindAndWaves had also used the #VictimAlliance# tag.

Everyone was confused. They didn’t have time to show sympathy for Jian Yihu. They all went into detective mode to figure out what was happening.

Some were conspiracy theorists.

“Don’t you think Jian Yihu has been under a lot of attack lately? This must be the doing of her rivals. They’re trying to ruin her!”

“Wake up! She doesn’t have enough followers to threaten anyone. I won’t say there are no rivals, but anyone who is jealous of her can’t have much power. How could they cause so much trouble? That’s not logical!”

Others were righteous.

“Justice delayed is justice served!”

“You either die in silence or you explode in silence. Where there’s oppression, there’s resistance!”

There were other crazy theories, but most people sided with An Mu and the victims. The people who were sympathetic to Jian Yihu were quickly silenced. Chen Han, who had millions of followers, also posted.

“Say no to bullying. Let’s create a better world for our youth.”

With An Mu’s video of Jian Yihu, Qi Liran’s evidence, and the three witnesses, it was clear that Jian Yihu was being exposed. When they looked at Jian Yihu’s suicide post, anyone could see that it was a fake.

“You took a picture of yourself committing suicide? What a joke!”

“That’s a small cut. Why are you in the hospital? You look so pale. How many boxes of foundation did you use?”

“What about your sister? You bullied her, and she didn’t try to kill herself. Who are you trying to fool?”

“Everyone, be nice. She’s bleeding. Have some sympathy. She’s a little princess. Her heart is made of glass.”

“Glass heart? She should get a new one. She’s rich. Why is she doing this? We don’t have to feel bad for her.”

“You guys are too much! She’s a girl! You loved her when she was popular. Now you’re so cold. It’s like you’re pulling a hit-and-run! At least she gave us some entertainment. I’ll make a rule. Everyone can only curse at her nine times. If you curse her more than that, you have to curse ten times for a different person!”

The comments were too vulgar for An Mu to read. She put her phone down and rang the nurse. It was already noon, and the IV drip was empty.

At the hospital, Jian Yihu was furious. She threw her phone on the ground. Wen Qiaoyun was startled and ran to her. Before she could say anything, Jian Yihu hugged her and cried.

“Mom! You have to help me! I’m going to be sent to a labor camp! I’m so scared! Mom!!!”