"Who exactly are you? What business is this of yours?" Sun Chenglin, kneeling on the ground, looked displeased.
"?" Qin Mu pointed at himself and offered a slight smile. "I was the one who sent Yang Minghui and her group to prison. Who do you think I am?"
Hearing this, Sun Chenglin’s pupils contracted. His body trembled involuntarily. He had so idea of how his wife had ended up in prison. Li Weiguo was incapable of filing lawsuits or handling legal matters himself; it seed the entire process had been due to the "help" of a young man.
However, a few seconds later, rembering the purpose of his visit, he gritted his teeth and feigned composure. "So what? We haven’t committed any fraud! We haven’t hidden anything! We’re just asking Mr. Li for help. What right do you have to interfere?!"
Saying this, he avoided Qin Mu’s gaze and turned back to Li Weiguo, continuing his pitiful act.
"Mr. Li, we really can’t go on like this!"
"Our families were already destitute, and now our properties and bank accounts are frozen. We have nowhere to live, and we don’t even know where our next al is coming from."
"It’s one thing for us n to go hungry, but the children are so young, and they’re still growing..."
After he began, the other two n also started playing the victim, weeping about their tragic circumstances. Under their parents’ prior instruction, the children repeatedly kowtowed to Li Weiguo.
This entire scene was being livestread.
「On a certain platform.」
「An outdoor livestreaming room.」
The number of viewers was slowly climbing from 3,000.
"What’s going on today? Where’s the strear? Why are they at a nursing ho?"
"Didn’t the description say? The strear lent their channel to a friend whose family is going through a tough ti and is seeking help."
"Look at these kids—so sallow and emaciated, not an ounce of flesh on them. They look so pitifully starved, don’t they?"
"This family does seem to be in a wretched state. I heard the children’s mother went to jail, and all their assets have been frozen..."
"..."
In the livestream chat, the scrolling comnts were all discussing the events unfolding at the nursing ho.
It had to be said that Sun Chenglin and his companions’ ploy to garner sympathy had successfully won over the public. Moreover, the livestream’s description deliberately distorted and concealed the truth, emphasizing the poverty-stricken circumstances of the three families. The previous fraud was not ntioned at all.
Consequently, most of the comnts sided with Sun Chenglin.
"So, it was this old man who sued the children’s mother, which led to her imprisonnt."
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. It’s true what they say: the older the person, the harder the heart. How could this man do such a thing?"
"Hold on, why did their mother go to jail? The description doesn’t say. Could there be more to this story?"
"What more could there be? She’s a woman from an impoverished family. What kind of heinous cri could she possibly commit?"
"Exactly! This family is already suffering so much. I really hope this old man can issue a letter of forgiveness. It would be a good deed, you know..."
"Sigh... If they weren’t desperate to survive, if it wasn’t for his wife and children, what man would willingly kneel before so many people?"
"..."
The few rational comnts that appeared were quickly drowned out by an avalanche of sanctimonious replies.
Gradually, the livestream chat filled entirely with voices condemning Li Weiguo and supporting Sun Chenglin.
As the incident brewed and escalated, the livestream’s popularity continued to rise. Viewership reached 5,000, with more and more people joining the chorus condemning Li Weiguo.
「anwhile, in the nursing ho.」
Sun Chenglin knelt before Li Weiguo. Seeing the growing wave of support in the livestream, he was secretly delighted and pleaded even more desperately.
"The children are so young; they really can’t be without their mother."
"Mr. Li, we truly can’t go on like this. Please, you have to help us..."
He spoke with tears streaming down his face, his voice choked with sobs, as if they would simply die if Li Weiguo didn’t help them.
"Xiao Qin, about this... perhaps..." Li Weiguo, unable to withstand the pressure, looked to Qin Mu for help once more.
To be honest, Yang Minghui and the others got what they deserved, Li Weiguo thought. But these poor children... they’re suffering because of it. Coupled with Sun Chenglin and the others constantly playing the victim and pressuring him, he was beginning to consider showing leniency.
However, Qin Mu gently patted his shoulder, giving him a reassuring look.
Afterward, Qin Mu stepped forward, approached Sun Chenglin, and glanced at the livestream on the phone stand. He instantly noticed the dense, incessant stream of scrolling comnts denouncing Mr. Li.
"So many living Bodhisattvas?" he raised an eyebrow and couldn’t help muttering.
Because he was so close to the phone, his voice was heard clearly by the thousands of viewers in the livestream.
Those scrolling comnts, which had been criticizing Li Weiguo, suddenly changed their tune and started targeting him.
"Who’s this guy? Does he have no compassion at all?"
"Their family is already in such a miserable state, and he can still laugh? He has no humanity!"
"We don’t know if we’re living Bodhisattvas, but we sure see a living King Yan!"
"I heard this is the guy who had the children’s mother locked up! I knew it! How bad can an old man be? This young fellow is probably behind it all!"
"Wait, why does this person look so familiar? I feel like I’ve seen him sowhere before..."
"..."
His remark instantly enraged the comnters, who began to lambast him.
But Qin Mu rely glanced at the livestream and then looked away, paying it no further attention.
These people are clueless, Qin Mu mused. They’re just grandstanding online, blindly taking sides and spewing nonsense, completely oblivious to the harm and distress they’re causing. No different from Qian Tao, really.
He decided there was no need to stoop to their level.
"Sun Chenglin, is it?" he asked, looking at the still-kneeling man.
Sun Chenglin and the other two n swallowed nervously, their shoulders hunching, sowhat afraid to et Qin Mu’s gaze directly. After all, their wives had been imprisoned because of this very young man.
"You three are grown n, able-bodied and strong," Qin Mu said, gesturing to them with disgust. "Even if you worked on a construction site, surely you could support your families, right? When I had your wives put away, I investigated your family situations."
"The three of you usually just loaf around the village, gambling whenever you get the chance. Since getting married, none of you has held down a proper job. You’ve relied entirely on your wives to figure out how to earn money and support your families."
"If you weren’t so utterly good-for-nothing, they wouldn’t have had to resort to fraud!"
"In your current state, what’s the difference between you and beggars?"
"No, to be more precise, even beggars are better than you."
"At least beggars don’t drag their own children out to beg with them!"
Qin Mu’s voice, neither too loud nor too soft, echoed clearly in the courtyard, articulating the thoughts Li Weiguo had wanted to express but never had.
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