Love Delusion: Chapter 35

“It is recommended that the legal department also check the works that the wanna-be Mrs. Shang Hao drew before. Maybe there will be unexpected gains.”

“I’ll say that it’s good to sue him directly. Punish him as an example to others, or else there will inevitably be another person without eyes.”

“So awesome. Just suing without saying anything?”

“Just now, the people in this building who refuted the rumor, and those who said Shang Hao have a lover, fucking go home and recieve the lawyer’s letter.”

“I just saw this topic under the hot search. It should be that this got so big that it’s affecting the reputation of the family company.”

Comments from several latecomers appeared from time to time in the building, and the discussion gradually became more heated.

At this moment, an inconspicuous comment of only a few words caught everyone’s attention.

It was sent by a brand-new side account with no past comment record. It was clearly such a short sentence, but because the style was so outstanding, everyone smelled something unusual.

There was only one sentence in that comment: “Who is your leader?”

“Fuck, these words give me too big of a psychological shadow, so much like ‘Which department are you from?,’ ‘Who’s in charge of your department?.’ These words subconsciously make me break out in a cold sweat.”

“Who on earth is upstairs? Why show such a strong temperament of ‘You’re dead, but no one in the room is on a level high enough to talk to me.’”

At the same time, everyone also noticed that his sentence was a special reply to the main post and the original poster, who wrote, “Iz flocked to eat some melon over some heavyweight’s love affair…”

Someone suddenly realized, “Finally, someone who understands! You guys think about it. In the end, this matter was originally just a rumor that was difficult to distinguish from the truth. What’s so special about this group chat that President Shang would pay attention to this kind of gossip?”

“Just now, that person who just asked about the leader, is it someone from inside the company?”

“Pay attention to the words of this anonymous side account. His exact word isn’t ‘which,’ it’s ‘who’! In the end, what is this person’s background?”

“Why is this melon getting more and more delicious, ah? Quick, continue.”

The incident became increasingly more confusing, and so the atmosphere in the building gradually heated up once more until it reached a new high.

The longer this comment stayed up, the more people joined the crowd of onlookers, snowballing the post to a scale that was quickly expanding.

“But shouldn’t it be the public relations department taking the initiative right now? Why is it the legal department? It seems that Tianning is taking this seriously this time.”

“Shang Hao takes his personal scandal very seriously. Just wait and see whether this will restrain that person humblebragging about being Mrs. President.”

“Aren’t they going to speak about this matter today? Public relations, quickly give a statement, ah. I really want to see more of this big drama!”

Just as the discussion in the building was in full swing, a shout interrupted everyone.

“Flash report!!! Tianneng Group has issued a statement!!!”

“Fuck, the shortest and most powerful statement in history.”

“This efficiency is faster than a rocket. How long has it been? Who said Tianneng’s public relations department isn’t working?”

“Upstair, don’t run your mouth. The public relations department really had no time to work. Go and read the statement yourself.”

On another larger public platform, the Tianneng Group’s official homepage suddenly updated with news that had nothing to do with official business.

“@TiannengHoldingGroupLtdV: Muah muah, Ranran |｡･ω･`｡)”

It forwarded the content of Lin Anran’s previous message to @ShangHao and directly responded in the same fashion.

Because of this incomparably crude and powerful statement, the platform’s servers ushered in another wave of exaggerated traffic highs. The hot topic that was still hovering at the bottom of the hot search list shot directly to the sky within minutes.

And the people talking on the forum could no longer measure the magnitude of this incident.

At this moment, onlooking netizens were truly dumbfounded.

“Are we stupid or has Tianneng been hacked?? Am I crazy or is the company crazy?”

“Upstair, are you really innocent or just pretending to be stupid? Even now, you’re still thinking it’s Tianneng Group? It’s Shang Hao himself who directly came out to talk!!!”

“Am I the only one wondering why he doesn’t use his own account? Could it be that the corporate account is managed by Shang Hao’s?”

“Don’t think too much. There’s an 80% chance that the President’s account has been handed over for others to manage. I think he simply forgot he had an account.”

Most companies would select a time when the situation was calming down to make a statement. But instead, Tianneng chose the moment when the waves and wind were fiercest to the suddenly emerge to stand before the muzzle of the gun. It was clear that the company was deliberately being high-profile.

That Iz re-emerged at this moment and stood up on the chaotic crusade against Lin Anran.

“Apology Statement:

I am the author of the original post. I hereby solemnly declare that the information about Mr. Shang Hao and his lover that I had posted is completely false and untrue. I also earnestly request that everybody must not continue to spread it.

Due to my impulsive actions, I have caused a negative impact on Mr. Shang Hao and his beloved over the Internet. I have realized that what I did this time is wrong, and I solemnly apologize to the victims. I also hope that you will not listen to rumors and spread false news.”

The rapid retreat and the sudden, direct betrayal of allies immediately made many people in the building look foolish all at once. The countless people who had stood on the side of the original poster’s army looked at the apology statement and felt like they’d swallowed a mouthful of flies.

“Original poster, do you have some kind of sickness? First, you opened this building to guide others to ridicule an innocent illustrator, and now, on an impulse, you suddenly stop, saying you want to apologize? Does an apology make everything better? Do you still have any face left?”

“Both stupid and bad, the original poster is a bad person.”

“This person has a good calculation and a light apology letter. The illustrator who was involved in your schemes suffered the mob’s online bullying for nothing? And this wasn’t your intention?”

“…What is going on?”

“I hope you all know: Iz’s sudden kneeling isn’t without reason. I believe that Shang Hao’s lawyers already spoke with this person about his conduct and deeds. Gave him a good, good chat.”

“Damn shocked. Don’t tell me that so many people piled on abuses in the building for half a day and managed to fish out the parties concerned? The end result was that, from the very beginning, it wasn’t just any random person but the real boss lady?!!!”

“This is the biggest chicken without its neck incident I’ve ever seen this year, swinging around the host’s neck and dancing into other people’s homes.”

“This shocking reversal is definitely better than the main show. It’s no big deal. Original poster, just take note for your next life.”

“People, don’t think that things will blow over so easily. I keep saying that if you persist in doing evil, you will bring about your own self-destruction. You guys don’t know who you’d provoked this time, do you? Shang Hao’s top-notched team of lawyers have already been dispatched.”

“Since some people might not understand the seriousness of this matter yet, I’ll put out a single sentence today: Forum pills.”

“The warriors who were cursing here, I hope you don’t run away. Hahahaha. I look forward to watching the show.”

This reversal was beyond the scope of people’s cognition, shocking countless. Some still couldn’t even react yet.

“This innocent illustrator is the true boss lady. Oh my god, what kind of misfortune is this? He didn’t do anything from start to finish and yet he was dragged out for the Internet to take bites out of.”

“Too repulsive. From the original poster who led the internet bullies to those who rushed to his homepage to curse him, the entire thing is too repulsive.”

“This must be said. President Shang is a true official of the upper class, directly using public tools for personal means, right?”

“Can these rotten maggots just take a hike? Squatting around the dung pile all day long makes me vomit.”

“Your wisdom really makes this grandpa laugh. The entire Tianneng is his family business. The account is regarded as his. Why on earth would this be regarded as using public tools for personal means?”

“Heck no. Just find a cliff, upstairs. Why do you care about who’s an official of the upper class? This matter is your own wishful thinking. Your short-sightedness is also quite clear.”

“Oh, it’s still updating. President Shang’s team of lawyers will settle scores at the opportune moment, and the list of names is beyond what you and I can see.”

“President Shang said he likes to watch you loser’s powerless appearance.”

“There’s an updated statement over there…I can’t say it…You go and take a look…”

“I’m like a seal crazily applauding in front of the screen!!! President Shang is awesome!!!”

As soon as this post came out, a large number of people immediately changed platforms. By the time they managed to rush over there, Tianneng’s original statement had already broken ten thousand revolutions in a short period of time. At a glance, it was this kind of arrangement:

The first one was still the original one: “@TiannengHoldingGroupLtdV: Muah muah, Ranran.

Followed by a large string of unclear substance:

@TiannengHoldingGroupLtdV: Muah muah, Boss Lady (*╯3╰) // @TiannengRealEstateCoLtdV: Muah muah, Boss Lady (*╯3╰) //
@TiannengTheaterChainV: Muah muah, Boss Lady (*╯3╰) //
@TiannengHospitalityConstructionV: Muah muah, Boss Lady (*╯3╰) //
@TiannengBusinessManagementV: Muah muah, Boss Lady (*╯3╰) //

This large line of public welcomes was like a wave of weapons. It was unclear which subsidiary company was the first to step under the corporation’s banner and follow the wind. What was certain was that this incident was like nothing ever seen before in the past. It was like a big shot had, on his own, personally trek ten thousand mile, thus causing subsidiary companies to take the initiative to cleverly forward the original post.

As for whom to copy? Of course, copy the boss. Who did the boss copy? Copy the Boss Lady.

Immediately afterward, like a swarm of bees, subsidiary companies flew in to take advantage of the situation one after another, advancing wave upon wave, and resulting in this current line of public welcomes.

Because they didn’t know the gender of this Lin Anran, the name “Boss Lady” was called out particularly smoothly.

“This historical scene, is this the battle array of the rich and powerful? I kneel in awe.”

“Damn, this row made my knees a little bit soft for a moment.”

“This group of companies are so good at flattering, hahaha. I’m going to die of laughter.”

“Those provoking people who shouldn’t be provoked, I’m hawking my melon seeds at the front row, waiting for a good show.”

“If I have half the awareness of this group of companies, I would have a good job now and wouldn’t still be serving tea and pouring water. Pain.”

This update rapidly soared as the number of flattering subsidiaries increased, attracting a larger wave of traffic.These netizens were simply flocking to where the crowds were and weren’t at all resentful of this big, lively matter. Their collective participation in this curious amusement resulted in an upsurge.

This matter was far from over, and the incident quickly grew into a new hot spot. Many people had never seen such a historical scene, and the server continued to usher in wave after waves of traffic highs.

It wasn’t just the Tianneng subsidiaries. Other large and small, cooperative and uncooperative companies, after seeing the stakes, followed the game and led their own business to take part in “Muah muah, Boss Lady next door.”

In an instant, Lin Anran’s status changed from a street mouse yelled at and abused by everyone to a boss lady who was chased and hugged by companies and netizens.

Finally, the people who didn’t know the truth came out to ask questions, “Does anyone know what happened? When did this start?”

Enthusiastic netizens explained, “Everyone must go here to eat big melons! An unrivalled once-in-a-century great drama! I laughed so much my tears won’t stop!”

“It was said that Tianneng’s boss lady was stupidly hung up to kill, saying that he was just delusional about his love being reciprocated and passionately sticking to Shang Hao, causing President Shang to come out and beat them up in the middle of the night.”

“It is strongly recommended that you come to look around in person and eat melon. Over there in the melon eating site, the situation have become very interesting. You will come back and thank me later.”

So many people turned around and went back to take a look at the forum. It turned out that the building with so many floors suddenly had one primary top floor. On the one hand, this top floor was gleefully amusing, but on the other hand, it was also full of bitter hardship.

It was unknown when this gossip forum, which was famous for its repulsive mouth and callous trampling, had built a tall building staked with apologies from countless people. It was an unprecedented, never-seen-before spectacle.

Netizens were amazed. Today’s grand excitement was really full of unceasing praise, not nearly enough, and exulting.

The original name of the post was “[The Source of a Joke] Invite all ladies and gentlemen to examine this person’s self-ego | A great show of humble-bragging.” This building that was entirely based on trash talking someone, under the lead of the original poster, became the first standard guide for the slide and kneel. Below, countless people who had tried to escape after speaking anonymously ended up rolling back with their tail between their legs to automatically copy the apology statement from the first floor and repost it.

There were so many people that the building directly became an apology structure in the forum.

The lines between lines of each layer of replies hinted from the overflowing screen the desire to survive.

Why was this scene called an internet marvel? Because of the anonymous speaking mechanism here, countless intrepid people hid between their screen and keyboard unobstructed, allowing them to bad mouth people and leave while patting their buttocks. Henceforth, they disappeared without a trace, only to reemerge later and make waves once more.

When this post appeared, no one expected that the matter would end like this.

Under this post, each message posted by a person counts as a single person. As long as they cursed at someone of their own accord, they would return to claim their comments and apologize.

“This battle…I want to know how many letters Tianneng’s lawyers had sent out!”

#theworldisaninvigoratingplay# #extremelyrelaxing# #dispicablepeoplegotheavensretribution#

This drama was too exciting and too climactic, permitting people to feast their eyes upon from beginning to end. In order to not disturb the performance of this year’s apology show, another building dedicated to eating melons was built directly next to the apology building.

The enthusiasm was already there, and this building immediately gained traction. Many people gathered for discussion, always ready to update with new melon-eating progress.

“You stinky-mouthed people, get ready to experience the joy of getting sued by a top legal team as an amateur…Don’t think that you can’t be held responsible for the things you say on the internet. No one was serious with you before, but now Shang Hao is undertaking this task. No matter the cost, he must seek justice for his wifey. Th number of people who’d read this building exceeded 3,000, many specializing in personally attacking and slandering him. The original poster might be suspected of engaging in criminal activities. I’m most happy to watch how this case might develop.”

“The sheer number and scale of the lawyer’s letters issued by Shang Hao is the largest in history. I think it probably set a new record when compared to many celebrities’ dark news.”

“More than a new record. Upstairs, be bold. It’s a new era.”

“I haven’t felt this good in so long. This is the power of money, right? Dad, I feel so invigorated!!!”

“I’m so confused. Am I watching a real face slapping drama, right, right?”

“Upstair, this is also a fairy love idol drama.”

“News update: This retarded statement showed up on a certain platform. I’ve copied it so that everyone can take a look at it together. The original text is as follows:

“Today, I finally gained first-hand experience of Shang Hao’s narrow-mindedness. The capacity and scope of his stomach is much worse compared to other company’s presidents. Don’t tell me that all public figures would read and care about every little article and statement made by netizens? Can public figures cover everyone’s mouth and not allow them to speak? You want to eat fame but don’t want to be held accountable?”

“And then what?”

“Then Shang Hao’s lawyer also sued him.”

“News update: That person already ran off crying.”

“News flash: China’s constitution protects their citizen’s right to reputation and personal dignity.”

“This is so awesome!!! It’s truly too awesome. Mommy, open that door to awesomeness–to the highest degree of awesomeness!!!”

“President Shang! The man with the power to wipe out an Internet mob by himself!”

——-

From when Lin Anran called up to now, the call interface of his phone hadn’t changed and he continued to maintain the call with Shang Hao.

Shang Hao temporarily refused to let him go online to see what people were saying. He coaxed Lin Anran to choose a new set of pajamas for himself, saying that he couldn’t wait to wear it when he came back.

Lin Anran listened to Shang Hao’s voice, stiffly scrolling through the shopping interface. His eyes were fixed on the screen but they were out of focus. He still felt very uneasy.

He didn’t dare talk to Shang Hao. He could hear the other person’s voice through the call, and he could tell that Shang Hao was in a horrific rage, like something terrible that would explode with the slightest touch. If Lin Anran expressed worry, he would comfort Lin Anran, but afterward, he wouldn’t be able to help but start cursing.

He stayed with Lin Anran for the duration of the incident, and the call was never disconnected. After who knew how much time had passed, Shang Hao suddenly said, “Now you can go on and take a look.”

By this time, Lin Anran had calmed down from the intense emotion he’d felt before. But he still hesitated. Those insults were like being stabbed with a sharp sword, and it felt too uncomfortable to be besieged in such a manner.

But if Shang Hao told him that, then Lin Anran believed that this meant he had blocked all those people for him.

So he clicked on the software and went to take a look. At a glance, Lin Anran almost couldn’t recognize his own account.

His homepage had become a super large scale reformed and behavioral rehabilitation scene. There were countless heartbroken apologies and cries of regrets. There were even photos of people sending tears, which directly made Lin Anran stare in a daze.

The people who’d sent him private messages even stood up to apologize for their vile messages.

Why did these people abuse him so aggressively at first, then suddenly changed their attitude and sent him photos of tears instead? Were these even the same people?

Lin Anran was stunned and he scrolled through the messages one by one. The words scolding him were gone, and all he could see were words of apology and confession…It would be more accurate to say that there were wails all over the country.

It was not so much that they were repenting for their mistakes. It was better to say that they were repenting because of the punishment they deserved.

These apologetic comments only reached the front row, loud and clear. But there was a following that was truly the largest group in this wave.

They all paid tribute to the Tianneng boss who was provoked and, while they were at it, watched the apologies with glee.

“This is amazing. I’m so amazed. I hope this will be known as the International Apology Day.”

“I announce the official opening of the 1st Tianneng Cup Apology Contest.”

“Ahhh, this is the boss lady. Please bless my fortune for the second half of the year.”

“Oh my god, before I saw this, I thought there would be a lot of humblebragging. But in the end, this homepage is so clean and upright. Don’t tell me that this kind of showing love isn’t low-key enough? What do you guys expect from him? How can you have the face to speak those kinds of bullshit to him?!”

“I’m angry to death. What’s wrong with you guys? Why? This person hadn’t relied on Shang Hao to eat a bite of rice and hadn’t even mentioned Shang Hao’s name once. Why come to scold him?”

“I feel so distressed seeing him defend himself. Without even speaking of his relationship to Shang Hao, from beginning to end, this matter was completely framing him! I hope President Shang will sue them to death!”

“I’ll just say it straight. All the people going with the flow and slandering others are just a few who speak a few words.”

“Anyway, I didn’t see anything wrong with his post. If I were to be with Shang Hao, I would like to beat the gongs and drums all over the street for publicity.”

“Poor boss lady. He really isn’t delusional.”

“Poor…”

Shang Hao asked him on the other end of the phone whether he was relieved.

Lin Anran answered in the affirmative. He’d forgotten about being angry. With so many voices of apology flooding his homepage all at once, he could no longer find the feeling of anger he’d felt before.

He asked Shang Hao what was going on with those “boss lady” comments.

Shang Hao scoffed and said with disdain, “Public relations tricks.”

“The post is already being investigated, and the result will soon be available.”

Because he was angry, he robbed the business’ official account to send out the “Muah muah, Ranran” message, which would likely give other people a pretext to gossip. The public relations team ended up urgently using all the official business accounts to direct a lively flattering show, thus using a playful way to diffuse the situation and snatching back the momentum before the situation could ferment. The latter would result in the masses being misled by rumors and refusing to listen.

Once Shang Hao sent out a post, someone hurriedly offered up his original account.

Shang Hao took a look and remembered that he originally had a personal account, so he became quite busy replying to Lin Anran’s previous messages.

Lin Anran’s every word and every sentence was like sneaking him a little bit of love.

In the end, this was dragged out by those trash to use as evidence to slander him.

Shang Hao couldn’t wait to pull out the trash hiding behind the scene one by one along the network cable and beat them up.

His lawyers had already issued a statement stating his legal rights. It stood to reason that Shang Hao should also post a statement on Weibo to explain the incident. The public relations team also put out an edited statement early in the morning, expressing gratitude to the netizen’s attention and to make his legal rights clear.

Shang Hao glanced at the long article, and he had a new idea. He called Lin Anran meaningfully, “Ranran?”

Lin Anran: ?

—————

Netizens were immersed in the aftermath of this incident and passed on this wonderful story by word of mouth. As they were talking about it, they only heard a spy report, “News flash!! Shang Hao’s personal account finally made a post on Weibo!!!”

In the past, it was actually the public relations team who created an account on behalf of Shang Hao, but he had long ignored this official account. In the end, the @ShangHao account sent out something that confused people and made them doubt their eyes.

The people who see it couldn’t help but rub their eyes to confirm that they were actually seeing these genuine black and white letters. On Shang Hao’s weibo was:

“@ShangHaoV: Humph”

A group of netizens rushed to comment.

“Humph, even humph so nicely. He is a man worthy of being the president.”

“What an extremely loving, pampered hump, hahahaha.”

“The president’s voice is inconsistent with his outstanding image, ah.”

Finally, someone who understood stood up and awakened all the dreamers who were still eating melons.

“No, you blind fans. You’re exaggerating this much, but don’t tell me that none of you people understood there’s something strange about this? This tone, this style, why does it look like the statement made by the boss lady on Weibo?”

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.”

“Ahhh, why is the boss lady so cute and alluring. I’ll take on this 800-meter sprint!”

“Warning the boss lady to look out for me when going to bed at night. I climb the water pipe super fast!”

“Save me. I’m choking on dog food. I’m so happy, I’m ascending to heaven.”

“I order you two to allow me in the bridal chamber. Immediately!!! Right now!!!”

“Upstairs, now that you mentioned it, I must say that when this beautiful love story happened today, Mr. Shang was in a foreign country, which means that the two of them were still together but were thousands of miles apart.”

“Ah, does that mean no bridal chamber?”

“Probably not. At this point, according to Shang Hao’s schedule, he should be attending the International Cooperation Forum as an entrepreneur representative.”

At this very moment, Shang Hao had already boarded a plane on his way back home and was currently sitting in the airplane seat and fastening his seat belt.

“How do you know that the other person isn’t in the country? Maybe, he’d already come back.”

—————-
Xixi: My apologies for taking so long to post. Real life events intruded and so I’ve been incredibly busy. It didn’t help that this was also another long chapter.

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