Love Delusion: Chapter 34

Pengpeng, who had already finished work, pressed on the computer’s power button with a sad face. He sat in front of the computer screen, immersed in the bitter pain of having to work again.

He wasn’t like Lin Anran, who worked from home. Lin Anran was a freelancer, and as a result, his working hours were flexible. He could take holidays anytime and anywhere. Unlike him, Pengpeng also worked from home, but he was sometimes forced to work overtime.

The only difference between his company and Zhou the Exploiter was that one forced people to work in the early morning and the other forced people to get off work late. There was no difference in essence between the two.

There was a burst of brisk music, and the computer in front of him booted up. Pengpeng numbly took out his mobile phone and opened the happy software.

It was impossible for anyone to not seize the opportunity to slack off before starting work. Impossible? Definitely. It was important to know that this kind of slacking off was like a clandestine love affair, full of stimulating excitement and happiness. Most especially at the beginning of work and before starting an exam.

This was a matter of experience. Once the computer was turned on, he had to start work. So now was the time for him to relax. He leaned back against the back of his chair and swiped his phone without guilt.

The gossip section of today’s forum was incredibly lively, and the refresh button couldn’t be pressed fast enough.

Pengpeng was a professional at eating melons and so he had a keen sense of smell for many first-hand gossip news. Feeling bored, he strolled around the forum and clicked on a post that was steadily increasing in popularity.

The title was: “[The Source of a Joke] Invite all ladies and gentlemen to examine this person’s self-ego | A great show of humble-bragging.”

“It’s like this. The other day, Iz flocked to eat some melon over some heavyweight’s love affair. The other person happened to be a host that I knew about, but normally didn’t pay attention to.”

“Because of my curiosity, I went to this person’s homepage on a certain platform. I didn’t see or know what was going on, but what I saw shocked me. After flipping through this person’s homepage, I completely couldn’t forget about it.”

“To me, this was the source of happiness in this new age. I also laughed a great deal over it. Anyway, I completely couldn’t forget about this. Ladies and gentlemen who came to watch this play, take a look at the screenshots below. This is Iz’s true source of eating melons.”

The subject of this public spectacle was astonishingly exactly the comments of the melon-eating online friends on Lin Anran’s Weibo.

“The mysterious and rich object that my wifey mentioned before, and the sudden appearance of Shang Hao… Tell me, am I the only one who is having bold thoughts?”

Downstairs replied:

“Upstair, you’re not the only one who has this thought.”

“Shang Hao’s love affair being exposed, this will be on the news…The front row, take a group photo for souvenir! Mom, I’m going to be on TV!”

The screenshot ended here. But this image had gradually attracted the attention of a group of people, and the number of posts here were increasing, many of them constantly urging lz to update.

The poster then continued to post:

“Are you like me, thinking that a new rich and powerful Madam was inspecting the sentiments of the public and ended up inattentively dropping the ball?”

“Please note that, from the very beginning, the poster himself completely ignored the discussions under the comment section of his posts, making no efforts to prevent or correct the ideas in the discussion. This was apparently the development that he was hoping for.”

“The result also proved this to be the case. This person’s post then became somewhat hidden, but the Internet has a long memory. Iz was lucky enough to find a screenshot of this part of the conversation. I guarantee that this image is absolutely true. Everyone, feel free to check at any time.”

Then he sent out several pictures in a row, all of which were screenshots of Lin Anran’s homepage.

The earliest one was when Lin Anran posted a drawing of two hands holding, one of which intentionally or unintentionally revealed a priceless watch.

lz explained, “This was when he first wanted to reveal some information to fans. After this, the style of the person’s homepage changed drastically, and it was here that it began to really change. At that time, the comment area was full of praise…With all due respect, this is just a drawing. Guys, can you not be so mindless to chase and rush to show your lack of knowledge?”

The second one was a painting with a note attached. It was a screenshot of the picture Lin Anran had posted of a famous painting that was auctioned off.

lz continued, “There is no way to verify the authenticity of the photo, but this painting is a well-known work. It is not difficult to find an imitation on the Internet.”

“The point is that he has ulterior motives in posting this, which is also what I think was his intention—According to lz’s investigation, the buyer of this famous painting that day was not someone else, but the second protagonist in this incident: Shang Hao.”

“Do you see it? He is already hinting something crazy here. It’s a pity that the audience who follows him are too short-sighted and don’t understand the meaning of the poster’s crazy hint. The first time this humble-bragging failed, I was happy to death.”

The last screenshot was Lin Anran’s drawing exercise of a body in a suit. This was proof of the above statement.

“Wants to do it, but doesn’t want others to criticize. He creates the illusion that he has always been low-key and that netizens are too serious. But every post after that seems to guide others in that direction. He never speaks, never takes responsibility, and refuses to acknowledge anything. This poor, pitiful green tea white lotus.

lz continued: “The climax is coming. Just after this post, this person went to exact a show, urgently and purposefully setting his sleeves on fire. Please see him under Shang Hao’s every post these days. In order to let everyone experience the real meaning of the source of this great joke, I put together a long picture–”

A picture that spliced all of Lin Anran’s previous comments was shown.

“Hao ge is awesome ヾ (◍°▽ °◍ ) ノ* ”, “Hao ge go to work, I’m cheering you on”, “Muah muah Hao ge |｡･ω･`｡)”, “Good morning Hao ge ~Love Hao ge~.”

lz: “Puff.”

lz: “Thanks for the laugh.”

“Look here, this is so wonderful I’m really truly clapping my hands in endless praise. Is this the source of a great joke or what, my friends?”

Below was everyone’s response:

“LMAO, this big master is really good at rubbing. It couldn’t be that since other people called him wifey, he really thought he’s Mrs. Shang Hao?”

“Wow, I know this illustrator! He’s a low-key person. Originally, he’s super (timid) now going for (glory-seeking). His heart is too powerful, right?….”

“Shang Hao is really miserable.”

“Although, even if it’s humble-bragging a little bit, just looking at the screenshots the poster gave, this person is just in his own fantasy. He hasn’t hindered anyone.”

“Upstair, are you serious? Isn’t hindering others? Do you know who Shang Hao is? Check this big guy first. Shang Hao is not an ordinary person, and so he would be infringing on the personal reputation of a public figure at will. How does this not interfere with others? Don’t you know that the crime of “damage to reputation” is a crime written into the criminal law?”

“Right, this person hasn’t bothered anyone.”

“The things people will do to spread rumors is really low.”

“The most disgusting thing is that he won’t admit it. His attitude has always been ambiguous just so that others could speculate, thinking that others couldn’t get to the truth. Does he really not know how the Internet is?”

“Even if it’s not with a famous person, an ordinary person would be disgusted too if such obscene things were done behind their back.”

“I have to remind everyone on this page to avoid doing this. Everyone must be careful not to become infected by this person. This is genuinely online sexual harassment. This kind of person is truly awful.”

But a voice of doubt soon appeared. “lz’s speech is too subjective. How can you be so sure that this illustrator isn’t in a relationship with Shang Hao? Don’t write a long article and call it truth based on your speculations. I also advise everyone in the crowd to be rational. I can’t stand some of your comments.”

As soon as this statement came out, many replies immediately echoed it, and the development in the building gradually changed from criticism to questioning. All of a sudden, two groups of people who insisted on different things changed from having a debate into having a quarrel. The number of replies soared, and the popularity of the post went higher and higher until it was finally directly labeled as “hot.”

The original poster finally reappeared to leave behind a sentence. “Interesting. Look at this first before you say more.”

He released a picture link.

This time, the screenshot was a picture of what looked like a group called “Interdimensional Love”, which let people know the nature of the group chat at a glance. After scanning through the group members, one could see that one of the members was impressively Lin Anran, the protagonist of this event.

The evidence released this time directly caused another uproar, and the building directly exploded.

The facts were already clear. Lin Anran once joined a group of virtual lovers. A coincidence was a coincidence, but several consecutive crashes was no longer just suspicion.

“Hahahaha on the spot, in your face! I feel so good, how about you?”

“Damn. He knew he was ill.”

“Did you see it clearly, the people in the building who are defending him? Your wifey’s contact details are here.It says so on the homepage that this is his!”

“As I’m watching a cool drama in a trance, I appreciate people like lz who don’t talk too much.”

“Since this building is so hot, I’ll take advantage of it. Let’s take a look at my family Chairman Shang Hao! Even with a single glance, Shang Hao’s peerless mixed-race face is too perfect. I guarantee you won’t regret it sisters!!”

Below that was a group of similar ridicules.

By the time Pengpeng scanned to the end, he was furious. From start to finish, these people were absolutely being slanderous. Making false accusations! Yapping their mouths!

Forgetting all about work, he immediately logged in to his account and posted angrily:

“Each and everyone of you people mocking in this building, do you know Shang Hao? If you do, then you can talk drivel. But even then, I’ll still say that you’re being slanderous!”

“His family and friends came so soon, this illustrator might as well stop drawing and go do multi-level marketing (sincere suggestion).”

“Don’t scold him! Let him speak!!! If you scold him away, there will be no jokes to see!”

“This stickiness is dreadful. Even after a long time, it can still give you hallucinations.”

There was another taunting voice.

Pengpeng’s words were like bait thrown into a school of fish. A group of people suddenly rushed up, tacitly accepting that he was a living target that could be laughed at. No matter what he said, it was a joke, and they surrounded him, laughing and pointing.

It was one thing to watch other people’s excitement. But when this excitement fell onto oneself and one became the source of that excitement, it simply felt as if heaven was collapsing.

Pengpeng was terrified. He couldn’t bear this much noisy ridicule by himself, and the output of his typing fingers just weren’t satisfactory. When he looked at those malicious words, he got so angry that he was about to explode.

Right! Lin Anran! He needed to go to Lin Anran!!

But when he found Lin Anran’s phone number, Pengpeng hesitated.

Lin Anran lived isolated in the mountains like a god. He really didn’t know how to deal with people. Could he really cope with such malicious cyber bullying?

Inside, people were speaking very offensively. Some people were saying that Lin Anran was sick, that he was hungry and thirsty, that he was short of men, that he loves to rub, and so much more…

Pengpeng decided to temporarily take the place of Lin Anran and monitor the discussion.

But during this moment of hesitation, he swiped his phone again and immediately gasped.

This was simply too excessive. Why must he hesitate? Lin Anran’s account name was already hovering at the bottom of the hot search list!

It was too scary!

After thinking about it carefully, the reason this matter was quickly gaining heat was most likely because the name “Shang Hao” was involved.

The essence of human beings was that they loved to read about other people’s “jokes” and were easily affected by emotions. If he allowed things to continue like this, then it’ll become disastrous.

Pengpeng hesitated for a second, and then angrily pressed the call button.

This moment was still evolving! Now that things had reached this point, of course he must tell Lin Anran!

——–

In fact, even if he didn’t call, Lin Anran was already starting to notice some signs. After looking at his mobile phone for a while, he discovered that he seemed to have gained a lot of followers, and his homepage had many puzzling comments:

“Hello, can you post on Weibo to make me laugh?”

“Coach, I want to learn how to daydream too.”

“Many CEOs: My pampered wife loves fantasizing.”

“A single drawing can show all kinds of superiority in life? You deserve to be fooled for a lifetime.”

And so on and more still. Occasionally, there would be weak comments from small fans speaking up for him, but they were drowned out by these mystifying comments.

Many people came to leave a message all at once, and so he had to come and take a look. Just when he was holding his phone and reading the comments, completely puzzled, Pengpeng’s phone call came in.

Pengpeng hemmed and hawed, and asked him what he was doing, circling around the issue. Finally, he told Lin Anran, “I’m going to tell you something. But first, you must not worry. I’ll say it slowly.”

Then he told Lin Anran about the post he’d seen.

He spoke deliberately, leaving out the most hurtful comments. Even so, Lin Anran became more and more silent as he listened.

“Who’s the person who posted it?” After a long moment of silence, Lin Anran asked Pengpeng, “Is he someone I knew?”

“I don’t know who he is. Maybe just an anonymous netizen. I don’t think he’s someone you know in real life. Otherwise, how can he not know about you and Shang Hao?”

Lin Anran believed now that the internet can be truly terrible. Now matter what he did, he inadvertently left behind footprints, and today, these footprints were pulled out as a show to the public.

The phone was still connected, but the person on the other side didn’t say a single word. Both ends of the phone were extremely quiet.

If what Pengpeng felt before was a raging anger, then this anger had already nearly fizzled at this point in time. After his blood had cooled, what remained were things that must be considered.

Pengpeng was a qualified social animal who had experience in society. This kind of thing…It was hard to explain in words, but he understood Lin Anran’s difficultes very well.

No matter how outrageous this post was, no matter how troublesome it was, it was only a forum without a name. Compared to the real Boss Shang’s social influences, this was completely something that would never be up to par and wasn’t even worth mentioning.

But if they took a step back, then if this matter became confirmed as true, it would be in the headline news about Shang Hao tomorrow.

After all, this was about the status of a well-known entrepreneur. Usually, a little bit of turmoil had to be reported, and the company’s stock was closely related to personal news. Now matter how good Lin Anran’s relationship with him was, he couldn’t rashly influence the man’s reputation.

It must be said that little city residents like them being together with big people, they ought to be a little more sensible about certain matters. Even ordinary couples knew how to be considerate of each other.

The reason Pengpeng thought so much was primarily because he knew Lin Anran’s character.

All of his life, this person was an expert at avoiding and patiently enduring. Ordinarily, he had to endure all the little trivialities that came with being with Shang Hao, let alone this matter that might have an impact on Shang Hao himself. Asking him to speak of his own accord was even harder than reaching the sky.

Pengpeng’s great many thoughts made a mess of him, until Lin Anran finally spoke.

“Thank you, Pengpeng.”

Pengpeng didn’t pay attention to the wrongness of Lin Anran’s tone of voice. He opened his mouth and exclaimed, “Don’t think too much about it. This is the kind of environment that’s online now. After some time, these people will have other things to talk about, and soon this will pass.”

“Soon, it’ll pass…” Lin Anran repeated his words mechanically.

Pengpeng couldn’t see what he looked like and so he was little worried when he heard Lin Anran’s faint voice,

Pengpeng hesitated. “Anran ah…”

It wasn’t easy for Lin Anran to speak completely at this time. The more his mood fluctuated, the less he spoke.

He was a clumsy-mouthed person. Once he became too emotional or too agitated, the logic of his speech would be reduced to that of a child.

Lin Anran told Pengpeng, “No, Pengpeng.”

“In the past, they could say that I was wrong.”

“But now, they can’t talk about me like that anymore.”

Lin Anran couldn’t control the tightness of his throat and the shaking of his jaw, but he insisted on finishing the sentence. “They are wrong to do this.”

Because Shang Hao was real.

The experience of being misunderstood once was enough. Shang Hao was real. His aunt believed him, Pengpeng believed him, and Teacher Zhou also believed him.

Shang Hao was real.

Lin Anran knew that his current condition was abnormal. He also didn’t know what to think. Pengpeng was also silent, and so Lin Anran hung up the phone.

Because of the chaotic, boiling emotions in his body that were rushing up toward his forehead and disturbing his thought processes, the only thing he was clear about at this very moment was that he was angry. Countless jeering voices surrounded him, combined with those people’s mystifying laughters…

This kind of nightmare was something he was all too familiar with. He stood alone in the crowd, the object of everyone’s ridicule.

He tried his best to pull back his previous state so that he could deal with this, but although his vision was clear, his thoughts were chaotic. His hands were shaking. Just like when he’d run several kilometers in a long-distance race, he could hear the sounds of his heartbeat and his harsh breathing. Although he tried his best to rush forward, his sluggish body wouldn’t listen and the finish line seemed so far away.

Li Anran understood now. All those comments that he’d read earlier, that puzzled him, now made sense. He re-logged into his account and saw that more people had gathered under his homepage, drowning out the original comments.

Lin Anran didn’t know why he was like this. His body didn’t seem to be his own. The only reason his face remained calm was because he couldn’t control his numb facial muscles. His fingers were cold and stiff, shaking so violently that they could barely hold on to the phone.

Lin Anran put the phone on his desk and repeatedly pressed the buttons but failed to press the correct key. The comments were refreshed one by one:

“It’s so strange and bewildering. Why are there always pheasants with delusions of matching a phoenix. So sickening.”

Lin Anran’s logic was completely gone. It was even difficult for him to identify the letters on his keyboard. He typed out a reply letter by letter.

“I didn’t. What you’re saying is wrong.”

Now that the host himself had appeared for the first time with a response, the turmoil intensified. The moment he came out, he stood in the center of a storm.

“This is terrified? Not fun at all.

“That’s it? That’s it? If you can struggle a little bit longer and get some fake evidence, I can still respect you as a good person.”

“I suddenly found that this person’s rank is too low. No wonder he’s full of these kinds of tricks.”

Lin Anran forced himself to take a deep breath again and again. His mind was empty. He quit the app and controlled his numb finger to open up the call interface. After several attempts, he finally succeeded and tried his best to get through to Shang Hao.

Lin Anran also had a problem with his hearing. He heard the voice on the other side, but it was blurry and distorted, making it difficult to distinguish the content.

As soon as Shang Hao’s voice sounded, Lin Anran didn’t care what the other person said. Without thinking, he directly said, “Hao ge, people are bullying me.”

———-

At the same time, on the forum that was the main battlefield, the post with the label “hot” was still being updated. Many more people joined in the excitement and took part in the team of ridicule.

“He licked so hard, I feel embarrassed for him. How can he not feel embarrassed? You can see the real Shan Hao’s care for him. At this time, let’s resort to the famous saying that has been handed down since ancient times: Damn, this is the most annoying b ever! Really, these sayings handed down since ancient times will never go out of style~~~

“Don’t look at Shang Hao, who is usually low-key and inactive on social media, and think that this golden thigh is good to hug. Have you ever personally seen Tianneng Group’s legal team at work?

“A person who studied law is here to report. In the jianghu, this ministry of rules and discipline that they spoke of is too great, too great. Once, they set an all-time record by consecutively filing and winning 30 lawsuits, making them an undefeated legend. Their success rate surpassed 90 percent, you must believe me!”

“Why can I already visualize this as a major dramatic production featuring an unqualified canary forcing the emperor to abdicate? He just wants to force Shang Hao to come out and admit it, okay?”

“Upstair, your statement suddenly became more contrived….”

Amidst the buzzing discussion, an overly calm reply suddenly appeared. It came out like an ice cube thrown into boiling water.

“Upstair, don’t force it.”

“The person who cue the legal department above, I hope you’re still there. Melon-eating friends, you ate a melon too big for you to swallow.”

“Our company is next to Tianneng Group. I just inquired today and found out that the Tianneng Group’s legal department had called the entire team back to work overtime. These brave people who spoke arrogant nonsense, each and every one of you, be prepared for a lawsuit. You can’t run (a warm reminder: it’s useless to delete your posts now…)”

After this reply, no one spoke for a full minute. It was like Moses dividing the sea, magically drawing a clear demarcation line in the building.

The originally noisy, vigorous discussion building suddenly quieted down, and after a refresh, a new flimsy reply came:

“Tianneng must have detected public opinion right? And now they wanted to sue this person who infringed on Shang Hao’s reputation?”

———————-

Xixi: This chapter was 11 pages long QAQ. Poor Lin Anran. People can be really vicious and judgmental online.

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