Ye Sibei and Qin Nan stayed in the car for a while when her cell phone rang rapidly. She looked down and saw that it was Zhao Shuhui's number.
When she picked up the phone, she heard Zhao Shuhui ask sharply, "Did you find the media?"
"no."
"You posted it online, you said this online, right?!"
"It's not me." Ye Sibei calmed down after listening to Zhao Shuhui's anxious voice. "The fact that your splashing of paint was exposed on the Internet has nothing to do with me."
"How can it be unrelated? It must be you! Ye Sibei, you called the police, I'll be the one to pay the fine, and I'll be the one to stay in the detention center, what else do you want? I didn't push you into a desperate situation, did I?"
"You didn't?" Ye Sibei thought it was ridiculous. "You had people throw paint at my house, harass me, and send me text messages. You had people fire Zhao Chuchu, causing my brother to lose his job. If this isn't pushing me to a dead end, what else can you call it?"
Zhao Shuhui was silent for a long time before she spoke: "Zhao Chuchu resigned on her own, and so did your brother."
"You gave me an impossible choice. Is that called voluntary resignation?!"
“This has nothing to do with me!”
"This reporter today," Ye Sibei emphasized word by word, "has nothing to do with me."
After these words were spoken, no one spoke again. In silence, Ye Sibei turned his head to look at the passing traffic. After a long while, Zhao Shuhui spoke in a hoarse voice: "Ye Sibei, you are not the only one who has paid the price. These days are also difficult for our family. Having come to this point, do you really not feel that you have done something wrong?"
Ye Sibei looked out the window and said hoarsely, "No."
After saying that, she hung up the phone and threw it aside.
Qin Nan turned to look at her, he reached out and held her hand.
This small movement was like grabbing a piece of driftwood for her, and she sat in the chair without saying a word.
After returning home, they did not dare to turn on the lights for fear that the reporters would come back, so they hid at home and used flashlights to wash.
After a whole day of hard work, Qin Nan felt exhausted. He lay down on the bed and wanted to rest for a while, but he fell asleep as soon as he touched the pillow.
When Ye Sibei came out of the shower, he saw Qin Nan sleeping soundly on the bed.
She hesitated for a moment, went forward and gently covered him with the quilt, then lay back in bed.
After lying down, she felt someone sleeping next to her. She opened her eyes for a long time, then she reached out and gently held Qin Nan's hand.
Qin Nan felt Ye Sibei's movement and tried to open his eyes. Ye Sibei looked at him in the dark. They stared at each other quietly. Qin Nan suddenly asked, "Are you scared?"
"Afraid."
Ye Sibei admitted it frankly. Qin Nan turned sideways and looked at her: "If you are afraid, why don't you take the initiative to say it?"
"I've already caused a lot of trouble for everyone," Ye Sibei lowered his head, "I don't want to make you worry anymore."
The two of them were facing each other on the bed, holding hands. Qin Nan didn't know what to do for a long time. He asked softly, "Can I hug you?"
Ye Sibei looked up and stared into the man's eyes. She drew strength from his eyes. She felt that there was someone who was always by her side, supporting her unconditionally and without reason.
With tears in her eyes, she couldn't help laughing, and asked in a choked voice, "Can I hug you?"
Qin Nan pulled her into his arms and hugged her tightly.
The two of them hugged each other in the dark night, and Ye Sibei hugged this person so tightly that his hands began to tremble.
She gently lowered her head, rested her forehead on his chest, and whimpered softly.
That night, not only Ye Sibei couldn't sleep, but Zhao Shuhui also couldn't sleep.
The Fan family lived in a high-end residential area in the south city. There was a guard outside. The reporter couldn't go in, so he called Zhao Shuhui.
After Zhao Shuhui received two calls, she turned off her cell phone, then turned on her computer and began searching for relevant keywords.
There is already a topic about this incident on Weibo, and many regular media have joined in on the topic called #South City executives sexual assault in the workplace#, but the topics that spread faster are more emotional topics such as #rape/covering mouth# and #reporting rape to the police and being chased and beaten#.
Zhao Shuhui randomly clicked on a topic and saw that the first post was a photo. The photo seemed to be a forwarded one. The blogger sent two "crying" emojis and wrote: What should I do? I'm already crying after seeing this photo.
Zhao Shuhui looked at the photo and recognized that this was Ye Sibei's home.
Ye Sibei wore an apron, wrapped his hair with cloth, turned his back to the screen, and painted the wall on tiptoe.
She had already brushed the word "bitch" clean off and left it next to the word "female". The bright red "cousin" looked glaring and vicious next to her thin body.
Zhao Shuhui scrolled down and saw various Weibo posts. It was obvious that someone from South City had compiled this incident. They even sorted out the timeline, from Ye Sibei being victimized, calling the police, to having paint thrown at their home, and posted them one by one.
Many people said: "I want to donate to the young lady, I want to support the young lady!"
"Oh my god, I can't hold on any longer. How did you do it, young lady?"
"The victim is innocent and does not need to be held accountable!"
"Have we filed a case? Have we filed a lawsuit? We must not let that bastard off!"
In addition to such mild words, there are also many violent and abusive words:
"What kind of rubbish is that rapist? Does he have a daughter? Isn't he afraid that his daughter will also be raped in the future?"
"What kind of family can raise such a scum?"
"Is he married? Is his wife a garbage dump? Doesn't his wife even come out to apologize?"
Zhao Shuhui flipped through the posts one by one. She didn't know why, but what she saw more and more were insults and humiliations. Someone wentssiped about Fan Jiancheng's name, his appearance, and his job, and then found photos of their family.
"He actually has a daughter? Is this kind of person worthy of having a daughter?"
"I finally understand why his wife can accept such a man. He is ugly both at heart and as a person."
"The house he lives in is so nice, is there something fishy going on? Check it out quickly."
…
A barrage of insults came pouring in, and Zhao Shuhui hugged herself and cried bitterly at night.
Fan Jiancheng's mother noticed that the lights were still on in the early morning. She walked out of the room and wanted to scold her daughter-in-law, but when she saw Zhao Shuhui's face full of tears, she couldn't help but panic: "What's going on? Did something happen to Jiancheng?"
Zhao Shuhui shook her head and was speechless.
Fan's mother hurried forward and grabbed Zhao Shuhui: "Speak, what's the point of crying?"
"Mom," Zhao Shuhui finally broke down. She raised her head and asked while crying, "Jiancheng won't do that, right?"
"He's such a good person," Zhao Shuhui grabbed Fan's mother, "how could he be so bad?"
"I'm not that bad. I was forced to do it. I had no choice..."
"Don't cry!" Fan's mother's eyes turned red and she scolded her, "Don't wake Wenwen up."
When Zhao Shuhui heard this, she bit her lower lip and tried to hold back her tears.
At that moment, she missed her parents and her family. She thought, if she was not Fan Jiancheng's wife, Fan Wenwen's mother, or the daughter-in-law of the Fan family, but was just Zhao Shuhui, her mother would definitely hug her and tell her how to walk the right path.
But her identity has become a shackle, and it is difficult for her to be herself.
While Zhao Shuhui was crying at home, the Ye family did not go to bed either. Zhao Chuchu sat alone in Ye Nianwen's room, and the Ye family sat in the living room.
There were people in the house, but there was no sound. They didn't dare to turn on the lights or make any noise. They just sat there quietly. After a long time, Ye Ling sighed, "Why is Sibei so stubborn? If she is willing to bow her head and talk to the Fan family, this matter will be over."
"Don't you understand yet?"
Ye Nianwen said with a sense of fatigue: "If I could bow my head, I would have bowed my head long ago. It is because I didn't bow my head that I have come to this point. If she hadn't sued, the Fan family wouldn't come to negotiate with her. Now that the Fan family has come to negotiate with her, no matter how much money they offer, I will bear the crime of false accusation for the rest of my life. Dad," Ye Nianwen looked up at Ye Ling, "you are pushing me to a dead end."
"Why are you pushing yourself to the edge?" Ye Ling was anxious. "Who doesn't suffer some grievances in life?"
“Is this a grievance?”
Ye Nianwen looked at Ye Ling: "Since ancient times, injustice has been like snow in June. How can you say that this is just a little grievance? If it were you," Ye Nianwen suppressed his anger, "could you bear it?"
"I can!" Ye Ling stressed, "What can't I endure? Haven't I endured enough for your sister and brother? Haven't I said a word in the past two months? There is nothing I can do now. My family is waiting for the rice to be cooked. What can you do? Can you conjure up money?!"
"I said," Ye Nianwen lowered his head, "Sell the house."
"Have you asked Chuchu before selling the house?" Ye Ling raised his hand and pointed to the bedroom, "Are you going to let her down like this?"
Ye Nianwen didn't say anything. Ye Ling looked at Huang Guifen and said, "Guifen, say something! Are you just sitting there and watching your son act stupid?!"
"Have the reporters outside left?"
Huang Guifen didn't respond to Ye Ling's words. She looked outside tiredly. Ye Nianwen stood up and opened a crack in the curtains. After seeing that there was no one around, he turned around and said to Huang Guifen: "It's late at night. They should have gone to rest."
"Send Chuchu back first."
Huang Guifen stood up and said, "I'm going to sleep."
"No," Ye Ling said anxiously, "Gui Fen, tell me about Nianwen..."
Huang Guifen walked into the room numbly and closed the door with a bang.
Ye Ling stood at the door in a daze. Ye Nianwen knocked on the door: "Chu Chu."
Zhao Chuchu was sitting on the bed. She listened to Ye Nianwen's words, stood up and opened the door.
Ye Nianwen smiled tiredly at her: "It's late, I'll take you home."
Zhao Chuchu smiled and nodded.
There were no buses at night, so Ye Nianwen stopped a taxi. The two of them didn't talk in the car until they arrived at Zhao Chuchu's house. Ye Nianwen sent her to the gate of the courtyard. Zhao Chuchu finally spoke: "Just send her here."
"Um."
Ye Nianwen nodded, Zhao Chuchu turned around and went home, Ye Nianwen suddenly called her: "Chuchu."
Zhao Chuchu paused, Ye Nianwen lowered his head, tears in his eyes: "I want to... sell the house."
Zhao Chuchu didn't say anything, Ye Nianwen said with great difficulty: "I'm sorry, Chuchu, I don't have any ability, I don't know when I can settle down, my family is already like this, I don't want to suffer with you."
"Chu Chu," Ye Nianwen said, looking up, his eyes blurred by tears, his voice trembling, "We... We..."
"Ye Nianwen," Zhao Chuchu turned around and looked at the young man in front of her who couldn't stop crying, her eyes red, "Do you like me?"
Ye Nianwen was speechless. He didn't dare to say that he liked her. He was afraid that if he said it out loud, this person would be reluctant to leave.
But he couldn't bear to let her stay.
When Zhao Chuchu looked at him, she felt something overflowing in her heart.
"If you like me and feel sorry for me," Zhao Chuchu stood on the steps and hugged him, "that's it."
"Actually, I don't care that much about the house. What I care about is your feelings and your personality. We can make money together. It doesn't matter. We are still young."
As soon as Zhao Chuchu opened her mouth, Ye Nianwen's army was defeated in an instant.
He leaned into her arms and cried loudly.
Zhao Chuchu sniffed and hugged him: "You grow up, you are fine. Just remember that no matter what -"
"Ye Nianwen likes Zhao Chuchu, and Zhao Chuchu likes Ye Nianwen."
Ye Nianwen nodded desperately: "I remember, I will remember it for the rest of my life."
Ye Nianwen likes Zhao Chuchu, and Zhao Chuchu likes Ye Nianwen.
After making the decision, Ye Nianwen went to find the developer the next day and reached an agreement with them. The developer charged them a handling fee of 30,000 yuan and helped them list the house on their company's side and sell it again.
Then he started posting everywhere on the Internet, asking for advice and looking for business.
Ye Sibei no longer went out. She stayed at home every day. When Qin Nan was around, she did housework, chatted, watched TV series and played games with him.
When Qin Nan was not around, she couldn't help but go online and keep checking the news.
People on the Internet are very different from people in reality. There are not so many interests involved, and their understanding of good and evil is simpler and purer.
Most people were condemning Fan Jiancheng and insulting him.
What is infuriating about this incident is not just that Fan Jiancheng used his workplace advantage to commit sexual assault, but more importantly, his series of actions afterwards, such as throwing paint, in an attempt to use his power to silence the victim.
This made netizens extremely angry, and they tried their best to expose the family. They insulted, doxed, and looked for any possibility of moral degradation in the Fan family.
Ye Sibei saw a video with the words "The wife and daughter of a rapist" written on it. It had a very high number of views. She opened the video and found that it was at the entrance of a primary school. Zhao Shuhui was holding Fan Wenwen in the crowd. An old lady rushed up and called the person who filmed it: "What are you filming? Hand over your phone!"
Everyone around was looking at Zhao Shuhui. Fan Wenwen was crying loudly in her arms. Zhao Shuhui lowered her head and hurried forward holding Fan Wenwen.
Compared to the embarrassment of the Fan family, Ye Sibei was much better off. The Internet described Ye Sibei as a perfect, tragic and pitiful saint. She was kind, brave, hardworking, diligent and hardworking. Seeing those people praising her, she was happy and scared.
Because she knew that she was not that good, but she couldn't help but indulge in such praise.
With big Vs holding her accountable and the media fanning the flames, public opinion fermented quickly. For a time, Ye Sibei's Weibo was crowded with people, and many people sent her private messages, encouraging her and telling her to cheer up.
In addition to encouragement, there are also some strange voices under each related Weibo post. For example:
"Oh, how pitiful! Girls should learn to protect themselves."
"A gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall. Everyone should take this as a warning. If anyone asks you to drink, resign."
A hundred words of consolation did not seem to have as much impact on the person concerned as this one plain word, because beneath these plain words, they seemed to vaguely echo the world's consistent traditions, madly shaking her determination that she had made with great difficulty.
In particular, some second-rate self-media released photos of her taken that day. Although many people criticized these media for their violent interviews and exposure of the parties involved, in fact, with titles such as "Photos of sexual assault victims in Nancheng exposed, no wonder men can't control themselves", the traffic was much greater than that of serious reports.
Under such reports, the comments are much more unbearable to read.
In addition to Ye Sibei, Fan Jiancheng, Zhao Shuhui and other closely related people, the media also broke the details of the case at the first time. Everyone solved the case online and speculated about what happened that day.
The key witness Zhao Chuchu was dug out by everyone, and the photos of her taken by the media together with Ye Sibei were circulated everywhere. Compared with Ye Sibei, she was more beautiful and dressed more fashionably. She was the woman who left Ye Sibei in the car that night and was the last person to see him. As a result, all kinds of speculations and comments came one after another.
"Did she do that on purpose? Why would someone put an unconscious friend in a man's car?"
"Big waves, high heels, stockings, wow, this woman is smart."
"Don't comment on a woman's appearance casually. She may be a little more beautiful, but that doesn't represent her character..."
There are also stories about the vampire Ye Nianwen, Huang Guifen who sells his daughter to get a house, and Ye Ling who lives alone and eats gigolo...
Everyone who appears on the Internet seems to carry original sin, and there is a label on their head for netizens to comment on.
During those days, not only Ye Sibei, but also Zhao Chuchu, Huang Guifen, and Zhao Shuhui, everyone was browsing the Internet every day, looking at information related to themselves.
Huang Guifen read the accusations against her on the Internet, analyzed the suffering of women, Ye Sibei's difficulties, and her incompetence as a mother, and had trouble sleeping night after night.
Zhao Chuchu hid in her room and didn't dare to go out, looking at the doubts and insults on the Internet about her abandoning Ye Sibei, as well as the attacks on her appearance and dress.
Ye Sibei, Huang Guifen, Ye Ling, Ye Nianwen, Qin Nan…
The information pressed down layer by layer, as if treating the person as a rubber band, grabbing both ends and pulling to the side, the more you pull, the tighter it becomes, and the thinner it becomes.
Everyone was in agony, and after a few days of waiting, Ye Sibei received a notice from the Procuratorate asking her to confirm the transcript.
She answered, and after hanging up the phone, she took a cigarette, stood on the balcony, and watched the city fade into the night. Her mind was full of online comments and the video of Zhao Shuhui rushing forward while holding her child and being surrounded by people.
Qin Nan finished cooking and found that Ye Sibei was not in the living room. He looked around and went to the balcony. He saw Ye Sibei smoking. He walked over to her and asked, "What's wrong?"
"The procuratorate asked me to go there tomorrow."
"Isn't that a good thing?"
Qin Nan didn't understand. Ye Sibei lowered her head. She was silent, as if she was struggling. After a long time, she said softly, "Qin Nan, I'm scared."
"Having come this far, what is there to be afraid of?" Qin Nan smiled. "I see a lot of people supporting us online. With so many people supporting you, the one who should be afraid is Fan Jiancheng."
Ye Sibei didn't say anything. She lowered her head for a long time, and then she murmured, "What if one day they find out that I'm not who they thought I was?"
"What?"
Ye Sibei took a deep puff of cigarette, exhaled smoke rings, raised his hand and crushed the cigarette into the ashtray: "Go back and eat."
The news of going to the procuratorate to confirm the transcript also reached Ye Nianwen. Ye Nianwen answered the phone and was about to confirm the route for tomorrow with Ye Sibei when Huang Guifen, who was sitting next to him, suddenly asked, "Are you going to the procuratorate tomorrow?"
"Yeah." Huang Guifen rarely spoke recently, basically staying by the computer, searching for news about Ye Sibei. When she asked, Ye Nianwen replied, "I need to check the previous transcript."
"Is she alone? There will be a lot of reporters, right? Will those reporters take her words out of context and write nonsense?"
"My brother-in-law and I will send her off together." Ye Nianwen avoided so many questions and only answered the most crucial one.
Huang Guifen lowered her head. Ye Nianwen walked towards her room. As soon as he took a step, he heard Huang Guifen speak hoarsely: "I'm going too."
Ye Nianwen was stunned for a moment, and Huang Guifen said softly: "Your father and I will go."
Ye Ling looked back blankly, Huang Guifen looked up at him and said firmly: "Let's go together."
Compared to Ye Sibei and Ye Nianwen who received phone notifications, Zhao Shuhui got the news from her lawyer.
The lawyer she hired, Meng Xin, is the best criminal defense lawyer in South City and the director of Ye Nianwen Law Firm.
Meng Xin sat at Fan's house and told Huang Guifen the general situation: "Ye Sibei and other witnesses will go to the procuratorate tomorrow to confirm the record. Mr. Fan has not pleaded guilty and there are still some areas that need to be supplemented in the case. The procuratorate has applied to extend the detention time, and he cannot be released on bail for the time being."
Zhao Shuhui was a little dazed. Next to her was a piece of paper, which she had taken down from the door just now. On it were the words "Home of Rapist" written on it.
Meng Xin looked at her and lowered his head, as if he couldn't bear it: "Is your daughter still attending classes recently?"
"No more," Zhao Shuhui finally responded when Fan Wenwen was mentioned. "She had a fight with a classmate at school a few days ago, and then I let her rest at home."
"I also told Mr. Fan about your situation. He cried a lot in the detention center and said he was sorry for you and your daughter."
Zhao Shuhui lowered her head and said nothing more.
"Oh, he has one more thing to ask of you," Meng Xin remembered, "He asked you to pray to the Bodhisattva at home more often and pray for safety for you and Wenwen."
When Zhao Shuhui heard this, she looked up in a daze. Meng Xin saw that she was in a bad mood, so he comforted her a few more words and finally left.
After Zhao Shuhui saw Meng Xin off, she stared blankly at the statue of Bodhisattva not far away in the living room.
This statue of Bodhisattva was worshipped by Fan Jiancheng's mother. Fan Jiancheng never believed in Bodhisattva. Why would he suddenly ask her to worship Bodhisattva
Although Meng Xin was the lawyer they hired, he would only convey some trivial matters of life and would never reveal any key information of the case.
If Fan Jiancheng wanted to pass on a message to her, he could only use a more tactful method.
Buddha
Zhao Shuhui walked to the shrine and began to feel around.
On the first day Fan Jiancheng was arrested, the police had already sealed off and turned over his house. She searched everywhere but found nothing unusual. Finally, she set her sights on the Bodhisattva.
She walked forward cautiously, placed her hands on the golden Bodhisattva, hesitated for a long time, and then picked up the Bodhisattva with trembling hands.
She was not a Buddhist, but she felt scared at that moment. She held the Buddha statue, but after a long time, she smashed it to the ground.
Fan's mother heard it in the bedroom, rushed out, and yelled at Zhao Shuhui: "What are you doing? You even rejected the Buddha, are you crazy?!"
Zhao Shuhui said nothing. She stared blankly at the golden Buddha hitting the ground and breaking into pieces. The debris flew up and the sound of porcelain cracking revealed the ugliness of human nature.
Buddha said, the sea of suffering is boundless, and turning back is the shore.
But the sentient beings struggling in the sea of suffering may have even forgotten the good and evil of gods and Buddhas.